noon
So I turned in with many forebodings , and all night long I could hear the laugh and song of coming victory , mingled now and again with the fanfare of the trumpets , and the distant boom of the admiral 's signal - gun . Next morning , when we looked out , there was land in sight ahead . For a long while we could discern only a blue haze on the horizon . Then , towards noon , when the sun stood higher , and the wind behind us freshened , there appeared a grey line through the mist , and above that a gleam of green . The sight was hailed by the gay young Spaniards who crowded the deck with a mighty shout and a defiant blare of the trumpets . And , ere the noise died away , we caught a faint answering echo from the vessels nearest us . Then , acting on some arranged signal , the whole fleet seemed to gather itself together , and closing into a great crescent , at about cable distance , advanced with sails full of wind -- a majestic sight , and , to me , who gazed with dismay from end to end of the magnificent line , fraught with doom to my poor country .