About midnight
Going in a straight line you wo n't find another until you get to the Cape . The diligence travels at night on account of the heat . When we came to the hills I got out and walked beside the carriage , straining for the sensation , in this new atmosphere , of the kiss of the outlying desert . `` About midnight , at the Camp of the Zouaves , a humble post on the road embankment , overlooking a dry valley whence rose the feverish perfume of oleander , we changed horses . They had there a troop of convicts and impressed laborers , under escort of riflemen and convoys to the quarries in the South . In part , rogues in uniform , from the jails of Algiers and Douara , -- without arms , of course ; the others civilians -- such civilians ! this year 's recruits , the young bullies of the Chapelle and the Goutte-d'Or .