noon
Besides this , Mr Meldrum believed that by starting on the half tide , in the event of the stream turning before they were able to reach an available beach in some sheltered cave -- for the current which he had noticed took a southerly direction with the ebb -- the retiring tide could not possibly drift them out to sea . At the very worst , it would only sweep the raft down the coast in the direction of the volcanic peak that had been observed to cap the spur of the mountain chain which stretched out right into the water at an angle with the land ; and , here , there was every probability of their finally finding an opening in the breastwork of adamantine rocks that ranged along the coast-line as if to prevent any intrusive strangers like themselves from getting on shore ! Before Mr Meldrum gave the order for embarkation , however , he had one last duty to perform on board the _ Nancy Bell _ . It was just noon ; and , the sun being for a wonder unobscured , he determined to take a final observation to fix their position , or rather that of the reef on which the ill-fated vessel was doomed to leave her bones . This was an eventuality which evidently could not take long in its accomplishment , for the forward portion of the ship was being rapidly broken to pieces , and it would not be any great time before the stern followed suit , some of the cabin furniture below having already been shaken down , while the poop did not offer a very firm foothold , trembling every now and then from the washing in and out of the waves below , as if , the poor thing were seized with a submarine ague fit ! After a brief calculation , as briefly worked out , Mr Meldrum found that the ridge of rocks , which bore north-west by south-east , was in longitude 68 degrees 45 minutes east , and latitude 49 degrees 16 minutes south . These facts indisputably settled the point of their being to the southwards of Cape Saint Louis , put down on the chart as the westernmost point of Kerguelen Land , and that the highest of the snow-covered mountain peaks to the south-east was Mount Ross .