six o’clock in the morning
Detached parties do not like to go far into the country , where the smallest tussock , the thinnest brushwood , may conceal an accomplished marksman . I do n't fancy we shall pick up an escort of the 40th Regiment . But there are mission-stations on this west coast , and we shall be able to make them our halting-places till we get to Auckland . '' ON the 7th of February , at six o'clock in the morning , the signal for departure was given by Glenarvan . During the night the rain had ceased . The sky was veiled with light gray clouds , which moderated the heat of the sun , and allowed the travelers to venture on a journey by day . Paganel had measured on the map a distance of eighty miles between Point Kawhia and Auckland ; it was an eight days ' journey if they made ten miles a day .