noon
Félix was not leading them through the uttermost depths of this place ; he was following the vague indications of a road by which the rubber from M'Bassa was carted to the river . They were travelling along a highway , in fact , and the dimmest indication of a track where other men have been before is a thing which robs the wilderness of much of its terror . The loneliness of the forest beyond track or way , in those vast depths where the rubber collectors have to go alone , I leave you to imagine . At last , at noon , on the third day of their journey to this place they struck rising ground where the trees fell away till no trees were left , and the blue sky of heaven lay above their heads , and before them on the highest point of the rise , Fort M'Bassa burning in the sun . The Parthenon in all its glory could not have looked more beautiful to the returning Greek than this half-ruined fort in the eyes of Adams . A thing built by the hands of white men and shone on by the sun -- what could be more acceptable to the eye after the long , long tramp through the heart-breaking forest ! The fort of M'Bassa was quite small ; the surrounding walls had gone to decay , but the `` guest house '' and the office , and the great go-down where the rubber was stored , were in good repair and well thatched .