ten o'clock
The undertaking would be a serious one , but the prospect of danger is never deterrent to a British sailor . There was great satisfaction when , presently , it became known that the crews of the whole of the boats were to muster . Arms were inspected , cutlasses ground , and everything prepared . It was early in the morning when the Spanish barque had been first discovered ; and ten o'clock when the frigate had sailed away from land , as if considering the Spanish craft too strongly protected to be attacked . When five miles away from land , her course was laid east and , under easy sail , she maintained the same distance on the coast . The plan of operations was that the first lieutenant , with thirty marines and as many sailors , should land at a spot some two miles from the battery ; and should make their way inland , and come down upon the position from the rear . A hundred men , in the rest of the boats , should make for the barque , direct .