noon
I then hauled out the spanker , and gave it sheet . By these means , aided by the action of the breeze on the hull and spars , I succeeded in getting something like three knots ' way on the ship , keeping off a little northerly , in which direction I felt sensible it was necessary to proceed in quest of the spars . I estimated the drift of the wreck at a knot an hour , including the good and moderate weather ; and , allowing for that of the ship itself , I supposed it must be , by that time , some twelve miles to leeward of me . These twelve miles I managed to run by noon , when I hauled up sufficiently to bring the wind abeam , heading northwardly . As the ship would now steer herself , that is as small as it was necessary for me to go , I collected some food , took a glass , and went up into the main-top , to dine , and to examine the ocean . The anxious , anxious hours I passed in that top ! Not an object of any sort appeared on the surface of the wide ocean .