one
o'clock
On one occasion too , as a tusk of ivory was being hoisted out , there was a sudden cry of alarm among the workers , and a long , yellow snake crawled out of the cavity of the trunk and writhed away into the darkness . It is no uncommon thing to find the deadly creatures hibernating in the hollow of the tusks until the cold English air arouses them from their torpor , to the cost occasionally of some unhappy stevedore or labourer . All day Tom stood amid grease and steam , bustle and blasphemy , checking off the cargo , and looking to its conveyance to the warehouses . At one o'clock there was a break of an hour for dinner , and then the work went on until six , when all hands struck and went off to their homes or to the public-house according to inclination . Tom and the mate , both fairly tired by their day 's work , prepared to accept the captain 's invitation , and to meet him up in his quarters . The mate dived down into his cabin , and soon reappeared with his face shining and his long hair combed into some sort of order . `` I 've been performing my ablutions , '' he said , rolling out the last word with great emphasis and pomposity , for , like many Scotchmen , he had the greatest possible reverence for a sonorous polysyllable .