nine
o’clock
It might almost have been said that Ferguson managed it with a wave of the hand ; and hence , without knowing in advance , where the point of arrival would be , the doctor had no fears concerning the successful issue of his journey . However , in this country of barbarians and fanatics , prudence obliged him to take the strictest precautions . He therefore counselled his companions to have their eyes wide open for every thing and at all hours . The wind drifted a little more to the northward , and , toward nine o'clock , they sighted the larger city of Mosfeia , built upon an eminence which was itself enclosed between two lofty mountains . Its position was impregnable , a narrow road running between a marsh and a thick wood being the only channel of approach to it . At the moment of which we write , a sheik , accompanied by a mounted escort , and clad in a garb of brilliant colors , preceded by couriers and trumpeters , who put aside the boughs of the trees as he rode up , was making his grand entry into the place . The doctor lowered the balloon in order to get a better look at this cavalcade of natives ; but , as the balloon grew larger to their eyes , they began to show symptoms of intense affright , and at length made off in different directions as fast as their legs and those of their horses could carry them .