midnight
From every direction came the sound of the wailing of women whose husbands , sons , and brothers had perished in the battle . No wonder that they wailed , for over twelve thousand men , or nearly a fifth of the Kukuana army , had been destroyed in that awful struggle . It was heart-rending to lie and listen to their cries for those who never would return ; and it made me understand the full horror of the work done that day to further man 's ambition . Towards midnight , however , the ceaseless crying of the women grew less frequent , till at length the silence was only broken at intervals of a few minutes by a long piercing howl that came from a hut in our immediate rear , which , as I afterwards discovered , proceeded from Gagool `` keening '' over the dead king Twala . After that I got a little fitful sleep , only to wake from time to time with a start , thinking that I was once more an actor in the terrible events of the last twenty-four hours . Now I seemed to see that warrior whom my hand had sent to his last account charging at me on the mountain-top ; now I was once more in that glorious ring of Greys , which made its immortal stand against all Twala 's regiments upon the little mound ; and now again I saw Twala 's plumed and gory head roll past my feet with gnashing teeth and glaring eye . At last , somehow or other , the night passed away ; but when dawn broke I found that my companions had slept no better than myself .