four o'clock
in the afternoon
But no wonder ; he seemed to be a man of fine feelings , altogether above his situation ; a most inglorious one , indeed ; worse than driving geese to water . And now , to proceed with the crew . At daylight , all hands were called , and the decks were washed down ; then we had an hour to go ashore to breakfast ; after which we worked at the rigging , or picked oakum , or were set to some employment or other , never mind how trivial , till twelve o'clock , when we went to dinner . At half-past nine we resumed work ; and finally knocked off at four o'clock in the afternoon , unless something particular was in hand . And after four o'clock , we could go where we pleased , and were not required to be on board again till next morning at daylight . As we had nothing to do with the cargo , of course , our duties were light enough ; and the chief mate was often put to it to devise some employment for us . We had no watches to stand , a ship-keeper , hired from shore , relieving us from that ; and all the while the men 's wages ran on , as at sea .