noon
`` Allow me , Joe , to prefer a favorable wind to your team of eagles . It costs less for fodder , and is more reliable . '' `` Well , you may have your choice , master , but I stick to my idea . '' It now was noon . The Victoria had been going at a more moderate speed for some time ; the country merely passed below it ; it no longer flew . Suddenly , shouts and whistlings were heard by our aeronauts , and , leaning over the edge of the car , they saw on the open plain below them an exciting spectacle . Two hostile tribes were fighting furiously , and the air was dotted with volleys of arrows .