nine o'clock
You must enter his name in the list of the crew , Mr Marline , '' added the captain , turning to the first mate ; `` and see , too , about messing him in the fo ` c 's ` le . I daresay we 'll make something out of him during the voyage . '' During this little interlude , the _ Josephine _ had been making away from Grenada with the land breeze , aided by a current setting to the westward at the rate of a couple of knots an hour ; so that , by the time it got dark , we had sunk the island to windward , Captain Miles having caused the royals to be hoisted , in order to take every advantage of the light air , for we had to make the best of a north-east course on the starboard tack . Towards nine o'clock , however , the wind freshened , and as the navigation was rather ticklish , we being not yet in the open sea , the lighter canvas had to be taken in , the vessel proceeding during the remainder of the night under double-reefed topsails , courses , topgallant-sails , and her jib and spanker -- for , these could be easily handed in case of any sudden shift of wind , which frequently veers round without warning under the lee of the land . I , of course , only learnt all this afterwards , picking up my nautical knowledge by degrees from my old friend Moggridge , who took me under his tuition , promising to make a sailor of me ere the voyage was over , for I was told to turn in by Captain Miles at nine o'clock , when the lights were put out in the cabin . In the morning , when I came on deck again , we were off Saint Vincent ; but , as the current and wind were both against us , although our port was well in sight we had to beat up to make the harbour , not dropping our anchor until late in the afternoon . It was a beautiful spot , for we lay as it were in a circle of mountains , the tall Souffriere with its volcano peak overtopping them all .