eight p.m.
It was my intention to get among the islands in the South Seas , and scuttling the brig , to pass ourselves off among the natives as shipwrecked seamen , trusting to God 's mercy that some homeward bound vessel might at length rescue us . With this view , I made James Lesly first mate , he being an experienced mariner , and prepared myself , with what few instruments we had , to take our departure from Birches Rock . Having hauled the whale-boat alongside , we stove her , together with the jolly-boat , and cast her adrift . This done , I parted the landsmen with the seamen , and , steering east south-east , at eight p.m. we set our first watch . In little more than an hour after this came on a heavy gale from the south-west . I , and others of the landsmen , were violently sea-sick , and Lesly had some difficulty in handling the brig , as the boisterous weather called for two men at the helm . In the morning , getting upon deck with difficulty , I found that the wind had abated , but upon sounding the well discovered much water in the hold .