six
o'clock
`` That is worth five pounds , '' said he ; `` now I know just where we are . '' Then the captain went up on the wheel-box , and we heard the welcome sound , `` Tory Island . '' We were then greatly rejoiced ; this was the twelfth day of our voyage . At night , for one hour , the wind blew a gale , and the ship rocked in a very disagreeable manner ; but at six o'clock on Tuesday morning we were on deck , and there was the beautiful Welsh coast , and Snowdon just taking off his night-cap ; and soon we saw `` England , that precious stone set in a silver sea . '' Next to the thought of friends whom we had parted from for so long a time , my mind during the voyage was occupied with the idea of Columbus . When I looked upon the rude , boundless ocean , and remembered that when he set out with his little vessel to go to a land that no one knew any thing of , not even that there was such a land , he was guided altogether by his faith in its existence ; that he had no sympathy , but only opposition ; that he had no charts , nothing but the compass , that sure but mysterious guide , -- the thought of his sublime courage , of his patient faith , was so present to my mind , that it seemed as if I was actually sometimes in his presence . The other idea was the wonderful skill displayed in the construction of the small , but wonderfully powerful and beautifully arranged and safe home , in which we were moving on this immense and turbid ocean , carrying within her the great central fire by which the engine was moved , which , in spite of winds and waves , carried us safely along ; then the science which enabled the master of this curious nutshell of man 's contriving to know just in what part of this waste of trackless waters we were .