midnight
Then , when night had set in , and the darkness had become deep enough to conceal our movements , the bags were filled and dropped overboard , the other end of the line being made fast to the ringbolt in the stern of the boat for the use of which it had been destined . A party of thirty men was told off -- ten to each boat , with four additional to take the boat back to the ship in the event of our venture proving successful , -- and the brigantine was then sailed to a position about a mile ahead and half-a-mile to windward of the _ Manilla _ ; that being the ship that we had marked down for our prey . The great difficulty that we now anticipated was that of unhooking the falls with certainty and promptitude the moment that the boats should reach the water ; but our captain provided for that by slinging the boats by strops and toggles attached to the ordinary fall-blocks . We were now all ready to put the matter to the test ; but at the last moment the captain suddenly decided that it was too early , and that it would be better to defer the attempt until after midnight . This was done ; and at the appointed hour the brigantine was once more sailed into a suitable position with regard to the _ Manilla _ ; the boats were manned , lowered , and we managed to get away from the brigantine without much difficulty . She remained hove-to upon the spot where we had left her , and to make matters as safe as possible for us , capsized overboard the contents of two of the oil-barrels . This smoothened the sea to such an extent that , deeply as we were loaded , and heavily as it was blowing , we did not ship a drop of water .