four o'clock in the
afternoon
But he was mistaken . A greater danger than any yet experienced now threatened them , though Iris , after perusing that wonderful psalm , might have warned him of it had she known the purpose of those long bamboos carried by some of the savages . For Taung S'Ali , furious and unrelenting , resolved that if he could not obtain the girl he would slay the pair of them ; and he had terrible weapons in his possession -- weapons that could send `` silent death even to the place where they stood . '' Residents in tropical countries know that the heat is greatest , or certainly least bearable , between two and four o'clock in the afternoon . At the conclusion of a not very luscious repast , Jenks suggested that they should rig up the tarpaulin in such wise as to gain protection from the sun and yet enable him to cast a watchful eye over the valley . Iris helped to raise the great canvas sheet on the supports he had prepared . Once shut off from the devouring sun rays , the hot breeze then springing into fitful existence cooled their blistered but perspiring skin and made life somewhat tolerable .