"Gentlemen," answered Barbicane, "I thank you for your kind attention; but it is time to be off."
It was five A.M. when Barbicane and his party,quitting Tampa Town, made their way along the coast in the direction of Alifia Creek. This little river falls into Hillisborough Bay twelve miles above Tampa Town. Barbicane and his escort coasted along its right bank to the eastward. Soon the waves of the bay disappeared behind a bend of rising ground, and the Floridan "champagne" alone offered itself to view.