about midnight
We reached the estate , and the house upon it , just in time to escape a violent thunder-storm , accompanied by such rain as I had never seen before . It came down literally in _ sheets _ , completely obscuring everything beyond a couple of dozen yards distant , and rattling upon the thatched roof as though it would beat it in . It lasted about an hour , ceasing as suddenly as it had commenced , and leaving the air clear , cool , and pure . We had a most excellent dinner , washed down by a glass or two of good wine ; some capital stories illustrative of life on the island were told ; and about midnight we all turned in , I , for one , being almost knocked up by my tramp about Kingston , after the confinement of the ship . The next morning we took a walk over the estate before breakfast , visiting the negroes ' quarters , the sugar-mill , and other buildings , and gaining thereby an appetite which proved most destructive to our host 's pickled mackerel , cold boiled tongue , eggs , etcetera . We made a clean sweep of the comestibles , washed all down with a cup or two of tea , and then started for Kingston , finally arriving on board the `` Astarte '' about noon . We remained at Port Royal two days longer , during which we gave the craft a brush of paint inside and out , and otherwise titivated her up after her run out from England , when we received orders to sail upon a three-months ' cruise among the Windward Islands .