four o'clock in the afternoon
Two years before , he had attached himself to me , and had made a voyage with me to the Caroline Islands , during which he had acquired an enormous vocabulary of sailors ' bad language . This gave him great local kudos . Sui was to accompany me to the top of the range , and then return , as otherwise he would be in hostile territory . By four o'clock in the afternoon we had gained a clear spot on the crest of the range , from where we had a most glorious view of the south coast imaginable . Three thousand feet below us were the russet-hued thatched roofs of the houses of Siumu Village ; beyond , the pale green water that lay between the barrier reef and the mainland , then the long curving line of the reef itself with its seething surf , and , beyond that again , the deep , deep blue of the Pacific , sparkling brightly in the westering sun . Leaning my gun against one of the many buttresses of a mighty _ masa'oi _ tree , I was drinking in the beauty of the scene , when we heard the shrill , cackling scream of a mountain cock , evidently quite near . Giving the boy my gun , I told him to go and shoot it ; then sitting down on the carpet of leaves , I awaited his return with the bird , half-resolved to spend the night where I was , for I was very tired and began to feel the premonitory chills of an attack of ague .