midday
He was a man considerably advanced in years ; he was not -LRB- as his name might imply -RRB- a white man , but had merely assumed his Portuguese title for purposes of business ; his true name was Kendélé , and he was a pure negro by birth , being a native of Dondo on the Coanza . He had commenced life as a slave-dealer 's agent , and was now on his way towards becoming a first-class trader ; that is to say , he was a consummate rascal under the guise of an honest man . He it was whom Cameron met at the end of 1874 at Kilemba , the capital of Urua , of which Kasongo is chief , and with whose caravan he travelled to Bihé , a distance of seven hundred miles . It was midday when the caravan entered Kazonndé . The journey from the Coanza had lasted thirty-eight days , more than five weeks of misery as great as was within human power to endure . Amidst the noise of drums and coodoo-horns the slaves were conducted to the marketplace . The soldiers of the caravan discharged their guns into the air , and old Alvez ' resident retinue responded with a similar salute .