five o'clock in the afternoon
On the walls , on both sides , grew small patches of grass , a great many thorns , and here and there even a tree . Gebhr directed his way by this stony gullet because it went continually upwards ; so he thought that it would lead him to some eminence from which he could descry smoke during the daytime and Smain 's camp-fires at night . In some places the ravine became so narrow that only two horses could go side by side ; in other places it widened into small , round valleys , surrounded as if by high stone walls , on which sat big baboons , playing with each other , barking , and displaying their teeth at the caravan . It was five o'clock in the afternoon . The sun already lowered towards the west . Gebhr thought of a resting place ; he wanted only to reach some small valley in which he could construct a zareba , that is , enclose the caravan and horses with a fence of thorny mimosa and acacias , for protection against attacks of wild animals . Saba rushed ahead , barking at the baboons which at sight of him shook uneasily , and all of a sudden disappeared in the bend of the ravine .