hours after noon
They evidently suspected us , and wished to stop our progress . Bigg talked to them a great deal , but I suspect that they did not even comprehend his very extraordinary lingo . We , however , pushed on and made our escape from them . It was some hours after noon when , from the summit of a high ridge , we caught sight of the sea . We cast our eyes along the horizon , and thought that we could make out the _ Star _ in the offing . How thankful we felt , and how our spirits rose ! We hurried down the hill ; when at the bottom , we were annoyed to find ourselves close to a large negro village .