six a.m.
`` Now , I ai n't a-goin ' to ` ave none o ' YOUR cheek , so you 'd better git forrard . You can betcher life you wo n't get no more fresh messes this voy ` ge . '' So , with grumbling and ill-will on both sides , the conference came to an end . But I thought , and still think , that the mess set before those men , who had been working hard since six a.m. , was unfit for the food of a good dog . Out of my own experience I might give many other instances of the kind , but I hope these will suffice to show that Jack 's growling is often justified , when both sides of the story are heard . Day and night being now only distinguishable by the aid of the clock , a constant look-out aloft was kept all through the twenty-four hours , watch and watch , but whales were apparently very scarce . We did a good deal of `` pelagic '' sealing ; that is , catching seals swimming .