midnight
But nowhere did we see a sign of the canoe of which we were in pursuit ; and ultimately we were driven to the conclusion that she had made the run across under sail , and had secured a sufficiently long start to enable her to make good her escape . It was about four bells in the first watch when we ran out from under the lee of the island and once more felt the full strength of the Trade wind , which in the interim had freshened up until it was now blowing a single-reefed topsail breeze ; and at once the catamaran began to deluge us with spray as we brought her close to the wind and started on our long beat back to our own island . And now it became necessary for me to use a little discretion , lest I should miss the island altogether ; for it was far below the horizon , and I had neither chronometer nor sextant to help me to find it again , all I knew as to its position being that it lay about a hundred miles dead to windward . Therefore I held on upon the starboard tack until midnight , and thereafter tacked every four hours , knowing that by following this plan we should be certain to pick it up sooner or later . And so we did , catching our first glimpse of it shortly after nine o'clock the next morning , when it hove into view above the horizon broad on our port bow , rising a little higher as we brought it abeam , and then gradually sinking again as it swung aft to our port quarter . As soon as it sank out of sight we hove the catamaran about , when it quickly reappeared , rising steadily above the horizon , and this time showing much higher and more clearly before it began to sink again . Finally , about six o'clock , just before sunset , we slid into North Bay once more and beached the catamaran , much to the relief of our companions , who were beginning to grow somewhat anxious as to how our queer-shaped craft would stand the continuous strain of beating to windward for many hours at a stretch against the strong wind and heavy sea .