ten minutes to eight
There was a small easterly swell running , just enough to impart motion to the ship and let us know that we were afloat , and we were slipping along at a fine rate upon the last of the ebb tide , and as smoothly and as free from vibration as though we had been under sail . We rounded the North Foreland just before midnight ; and when at eight bells Mr Briscoe came on deck to relieve Mr Kennedy I heard the latter instruct him to get the ship under canvas , and , as soon as she was under command , stop the engine and have the propeller feathered . Then I went below , very tired , to snatch four hours ' sleep before turning out to keep the morning watch . I tumbled into my bunk and instantly fell asleep , only to be awakened the next moment , as it seemed to me , by a quartermaster , who informed me , as he switched on the light , that it wanted ten minutes to eight bells . Accordingly I hopped out of bed , washed and dressed , and was in the act of ascending the poop ladder when eight bells struck . I found the ship under all plain sail , heading south-west , with the lights of Dover just abaft the starboard beam , some five miles distant ; and was informed by Mr Briscoe that the pilot had left us about half an hour earlier , and that we were now `` on our own '' . There was a fine fresh breeze blowing from the north-east , and we were sweeping along in fine style , with squared yards and the mainsail brailed up .