a quarter to ten o'clock
The ship was still maintaining her height of ten thousand feet above the sea-level , and her speed of thirty-five knots through the air , both of which circumstances rendered it necessary for those on board her to make such observations as they desired from the interior of the ship , the outside air being too rarefied and keen , and the ship 's speed through it too rapid for exposure to it to be at all agreeable . It was therefore arranged that , as their passage across the Mediterranean was likely to prove uninteresting , and there would therefore be no inducement for any of them to go out on deck , that passage should be accomplished at full speed . The voyagers would then have time to dress and take breakfast at leisure , and be ready to go out on deck to witness their arrival on the African coast . Accordingly , at a quarter to ten o'clock , ship 's time , the _ Flying Fish _ having been lowered to a distance of three thousand feet above sea-level , and her speed reduced to about ten knots , the pilot-house door was thrown open , and everybody passed out on deck , where they found the air dry and pleasantly bracing , with a temperature of about fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit . They were still over the sea , but the African coast was in plain view some five miles ahead , with the towers and minarets of the city of Alexandria broad on their starboard bow , showing quite distinctly in the lenses of their telescopes ; while , at about the same distance , on their port beam , Aboukir castle could be distinguished , with the historic Bay of Aboukir beyond it . Half an hour later the great African continent was beneath them , and they were looking down upon the ruins of Nicopolisisoi , the line of railway from Alexandria to Rosetta , and the island-dotted Lake Mareotis . Thenceforward , for the rest of the day there was but little of interest to attract the attention of the travellers , apart from the fact that during the afternoon they caught a distant glimpse of the Pyramids , with Cairo beyond , on the far eastern horizon .