noon
The cry that had brought them such pleasure had come from the mast-head , and it was some time before those on deck could detect the dim blue cloud , low-lying in the west , that was said to be land . Even then one man , who was known as Simon the Armorer , was heard to mutter that it might be land and then again it might not ; for his part , he believed the whole world had been drowned in a flood , as in the days of Noah , and that the only land they should ever see would be at the bottom of the ocean . As the day wore on , and before a light breeze the ships were wafted towards the blue cloud , it was proved beyond a doubt to be land , for some palm-trees and tall pines became distinguishable , and above all other sounds came , faint but distinct , the heavy , regular boom of surf . By noon the ships had approached as near to the coast as was deemed prudent , and for the first time since leaving France their anchors were dropped and their sails were furled . They had come to anchor off the mouth of an inlet , before which extended a bar upon which the great seas were breaking and roaring so frightfully that no passage for the ships among them seemed to offer itself . Laudonniere thought he recognized the inlet as one leading into a broad river , on the opposite side of which was located an Indian village called Seloy . This place he had visited two years before in company with Admiral Ribault , and he determined to reassure himself as to the locality ; therefore , bidding Réné accompany him , he entered a small boat , and ordering another , full of soldiers , to follow them , he gave the word to pull straight for the breakers .