seven o’clock
`` Of course you will do as you please , '' he said ; `` for , my own part , I shall not abandon my post . It is my duty to remain here , and unless death comes to carry me away , I shall stay where I am to the very last . '' The dull grey fog still hung heavily over the ocean , but the sun was evidently shining above the mist , and would , in course of time , dispel the vapour . Towards seven o'clock I fancied I heard the cries of birds above my head . The sound was repeated three times , and as I went up to the captain to ask him about it , I heard him mutter to himself , -- `` Birds ! why , that looks as if land were not far off . '' But although Curtis might still cling to the hope of reaching land , I knew not what it was to have one sanguine thought .