noon
And as the hours drifted past without bringing any news , I at length grew so anxious that I began to consider very seriously the advisability of sending away a boat in search of the missing men . After fully discussing the matter with Carter , however , I came to the conclusion that our first duty was to take care of the ship and her passengers , and that the mutinous crew must be left to look after themselves . Finally , having set a strong anchor-watch , I went below and turned in . Daylight arrived , noon came , and still there was no sign of the absentees , and in a fever of anxiety I made my way up to the fore-royal - yard , from which lofty elevation I made a careful survey of the inland district . But there was very little to see beyond a two-mile stretch of a broad , winding river dotted with tree-grown islets here and there . The country itself was so densely overgrown with bush and trees that nothing upon its surface was to be seen . As to the longboat , she was nowhere visible ; but I was not much astonished at that , because , from the glimpse that I was able to catch of the river , I had very little doubt that its characteristics were precisely those of all the other rivers in that region , namely , a somewhat sluggish current of water thick with foul and fetid mud , swampy margins overgrown with mangroves , and numerous shallow , winding creeks , mangrove-bordered , discharging into it on either side ; and it was highly probable that , failing to find a firm bank upon which to land along the margin of the river itself , the mutineers had proceeded in search of such a spot up one of the creeks .