midnight
Well , the men were so vexed that they would have liked to have scuttled her . I was glad I had n't suggested their taking to the oars , or perhaps they might have turned on me for making them toil so when it was n't necessary ; but of course I was n't to blame , and they knew that . `` Having no authority to stop her , I was obliged to let the dhow proceed on her way , while we lay-to for the night in a sheltered creek under the lee of Saint Juan ; for it was now getting dark , and the navigation being rather treacherous with a lot of coral reefs about , I thought it best to wait for daylight before we did any more cruising . `` On the wind rising again , towards midnight , I anchored the pinnace about a cable 's - length off the beach , where we were pretty secure from drifting ashore on account of the tide setting the other way . Towards morning , however , it came on to blow more strongly , and as the boat rocked uneasily I hauled up the kedge again , for it was bad holding ground , the tackle chafing against the coral banks and sawing away in a manner that promised to make it part if it remained down much longer , the boat 's head bobbing down and up every wave with a jerk that must snap our painter in time . `` Setting the mainsail reefed , and a small storm-staysail forwards , we ran before the wind , which had now increased to a gale , blowing stiffly , as it had done in the early part of the day before , from the south-west . It was of no use trying to lay-to in the open sea , for the rollers were too heavy for the boat to ride over , so we bore right away across the channel towards the north part of Madagascar , having a clear space of water in front of us with no chance of running ashore , for the next twenty-four hours or so at all events , if we kept on to the same point of the compass that the wind was now carrying us to .