eight o'clock in the
morning
Truly , he had that fear which the absence of all land might justify . So , when he was at the helm , Dick Sand did not cease to devour the chart with his eyes . But he interrogated it in vain ; it could not give him the solution of an enigma which , in the situation in which Negoro had placed him , was incomprehensible for him , as it would have been for any one else . On this day , however , the 26th of March , towards eight o'clock in the morning , an incident of the greatest importance took place . Hercules , on watch forward , gave this cry : `` Land ! land ! '' Dick Sand sprang to the forecastle .