six in
the morning
The little column was accompanied by four waggons , two of which were intended for the conveyance of any who should prove unable to march ; and the others were filled with provisions for consumption by the way , together with a few tents , as many of the villages that would be their halting places were too small to afford accommodation for the 400 men , even if every house was taken up for the purpose . Although the first day 's march was only twelve miles , the two empty waggons were quite full before they reached their halting place ; and many of the guard had placed their guns and cartridge boxes on the other carts . It was now the middle of August , and the heat in the valley of the Tagus was overpowering . The convoy , however , had marched at six in the morning ; and halted at eight , in the shade of a large olive wood ; and did not continue its march until five in the afternoon . The night was so warm that the English prisoners , and many of their guards , preferred lying down in the open and throwing the blanket -LRB- with which each had been furnished -RRB- over him to keep off the dew , to going into the stuffy cottages , where the fleas would give them little chance of rest . On the third day they arrived at the village of Escurial . The next morning they began to mount the pass over the Sierra , and slept that night in an empty barracks , at Segovia .