four o'clock
`` The Spaniards are sure to have outposts placed on all the roads leading inland , '' he said to Colonel Zinzendorf , `` and the Spanish irregulars will be scattered all over the country ; but I do not suppose they will have any down as far as the seashore . '' When they reached the coast they followed a small road running along its margin . Two or three miles further they turned off and rode inland till they struck a main road , so as to avoid following all the windings of the coast . They now pushed on at a sharp trot , and just at four o'clock came down upon the little port . Its streets were cumbered with country carts , and as the dragoons dashed into the place a few shots were fired by some Spanish soldiers belonging to a small detachment which had been sent by Las Torres to act as a convoy for the guns and stores , and who were sleeping on the pavement or scattered among the houses in readiness for a start at daybreak . The resistance soon ceased . Before entering the place Peterborough had placed a cordon of dragoons in a semicircle round it to prevent any one passing out .