two o'clock
Water was very scarce , no really drinkable water having been met with during the day . In addition to this they had undergone the excitement of a long and obstinate fight with an enemy concealed in the bush , after work of almost equal severity upon the day before , and had passed a sleepless night in a tropical rainstorm , yet with the exception of a few fever stricken men not a single soldier fell out from his place in the ranks . Nor was the first night in Coomassie destined to be a quiet one . Soon after two o'clock a fire broke out in one of the largest of the collections of huts , which was soon in a blaze from end to end . The engineers pulled down the huts on either side and with great difficulty prevented the flames from spreading . These fires were the result of carriers and others plundering , and one man , a policeman , caught with loot upon him , was forthwith hung from a tree . Several others were flogged , and after some hours ' excitement the place quieted down .