noon
But on the morrow , with the arrival of daylight , the discovery was made that all three blades of our propeller had been completely shorn off , a mishap which , a little later on , resulted in landing us in what might have been a very awkward mess . Possibly this accident may have had the effect of reminding our lady skipper of something that had all but slipped her memory . Be that as it may , the loss of our propeller blades had no sooner been discovered than she issued certain orders , in response to which several heavy cases were swayed up on deck and opened , with the result that when the sun went down that night the _ Stella Maris _ was an armed ship , sporting two main-deck batteries of beautiful four-inch quick-firing guns of the most up-to-date pattern , six of a side , with two one-pound Hotchkisses on her forecastle , and four Maxims on her poop . It was shortly after noon , on our fifth day out from Moulmein , and we were just within the Malacca Strait , when the wind began to fail us ; and by two bells in the first dog-watch it had fallen stark calm , and the yacht 's head was slowly boxing the compass . We were close enough in with the land to see from the deck the ridge of the mountain range that forms the backbone , as it were , of the Malay Peninsula , though not the coast line itself ; but there were quite a number of islands in sight , some of which were of respectable size , while there were others that could not have had an area of more than a few acres -- some of them indeed being scarcely more than rocks . Most of them , however , seemed inhabited , for even on some of the smallest we were able , with the help of our telescopes , to distinguish one or more ramshackle huts , some perched on the top of long , stilt-like poles ; also there were at least a hundred small fishing craft in sight , as well as a few proas , probably coasting craft , becalmed like ourselves . `` Now , '' said Mrs Vansittart , addressing herself to Kennedy and me as we sat upon the poop rail , longing for the sun to go down and leave us the comparative coolness of the night , `` here is just where we miss our propeller .