midnight
So , through all the broiling heat of the day , at hours when no other Europeans in all Bengal were out of doors , the convoy struggled on , making its own road , crossing the dry beds of pools , skirting or laboring over rugged nullahs . At nightfall Desmond learned from one of the drivers that they were still six miles short of being opposite to Hugli . The patient Bengalis could endure no more ; the oxen were done up , the men refused to go farther without a rest . Halting at a hamlet some five miles from the river , they rested and fed till midnight , then set off again . It was not so insufferably hot at night , but on the other hand they were less able to avoid obstructions : and the rest had not been long enough to make up for the terrible exertions of the day . By daybreak they were some distance past Hugli , still keeping about five miles from the river . Desmond was beginning to congratulate himself that the worst was over ; Barrackpur was only about twelve miles away .