nine in the morning
It was on the Sunday morning after I had escaped that it moderated sufficiently for our purpose , when both vessels stood close in , and Peter and I were sent to reconnoitre the entrance of the port in the gig . Having sounded and taken the bearings of the land , we returned on board , when the Gleam 's provisions were taken out and her water started . The ballast was then shifted , so as to bring her by the head , that she might thus draw less water by being on an even keel , all sharp vessels of her class requiring much deeper water aft than forward ; the corvette 's launch , with a 12-pound carronade fitted , was then manned and armed with thirty seamen and marines , under the command of the second lieutenant ; the jolly boat and the two quarter boats , each with twelve men , followed in a string , under the third lieutenant , the master , and the senior midshipman ; thirty picked hands were added to the schooner 's crew , and I was desired to take the gig with six smart hands and Peter Mangrove , and to accompany the whole as pilot ; but to pull out of danger so soon as the action commenced , so as to be ready to help any disabled boat , or to carry orders from the commanding officer . At nine in the morning , we gave three cheers , and leaving the corvette , with barely forty hands on board , the Gleam made sail towards the harbour 's mouth , with the boats in tow ; but when we got within musket shot of the entrance , the breeze failed us , when the order of sailing was reversed , the boats now taking the schooner in tow , preceded by your humble servant in the gig . We dashed safely through the small canal of blue water , which divided the surf at the harbour 's mouth , having hit it to a nicety ; but when about a pistolshot from the entrance , the channel narrowed to a muddy creek , not more than twenty yards wide , with high trees , and thick underwood close to the water 's edge . All was silent , the sun shone clown upon us like the concentrated rays of a burning glass , and there was no breeze to dissipate the heavy dank mist that hovered over the surface of the unwholesome canal , nor was there any appearance of a living thing , save and except a few startled waterfowl , and some guanoes on the trees , and now and then an alligator , like a black log of charred wood , would roll off a slimy bank of brown mud , with a splash into the water . We rowed on , the schooner every now and then taking the ground , but she was always quickly warped off again by a kedge ; at length , after we had in all proceeded , it might be , about a mile from the beach , we came to a boom of strong timber clamped with iron , stretching across the creek .