two o’clock
If ever complete isolation was to be found on earth , it was on this little out-of-the-way island . Ayrton was informed of its situation , and expressed his willingness to live there apart from his fellows . The head of the vessel was in consequence turned toward it immediately . Two days later , at two o'clock , the man on watch signaled land on the horizon . This was Maria Theresa , a low , elongated island , scarcely raised above the waves , and looking like an enormous whale . It was still thirty miles distant from the yacht , whose stem was rapidly cutting her way over the water at the rate of sixteen knots an hour . Gradually the form of the island grew more distinct on the horizon .