midnight
I guessed that we should very soon be on shore if this continued , so I saw that I must resort to the only alternative of anchoring , a dangerous proceeding in the uncertain weather we were having . Still I held on as long as I could , and hoped for a slant of wind to enable me to beat off . My hopes were in vain . It was near midnight , when a heavier gust than we had yet had struck the ship , and soon the man with the lead gave notice that we had shoaled our water to three fathoms . Not a moment was to be lost , so I gave orders to clew up all our canvas and to let go the best bow anchor . This was done without delay . Our cable held on , but I soon discovered that a strong current was setting past us to the east-south-east , at the rate of three knots an hour , which , should our anchor not hold , would very soon send us on shore .