noon
As well take Berselius 's road as any other . Sunset would tell them whether they were facing the sunset ; but he wished that Berselius would cease . The situation was bad enough to bear without those triumphant calls . It was past noon now ; the light wind that had been blowing in their faces had died away ; there was the faintest stirring of the air , and on this , suddenly , to Adams 's nostrils came stealing a smell of corruption , such as he had never experienced before . It grew stronger as they went . There was a slight rise in the ground before them just here , and as they took it the stench became almost insupportable , and Adams was turning aside to spit when a cry from Berselius , who was a few yards in advance , brought him forward to his side . The rise in the ground had hidden from them a dried-up river-bed , and there before them in the sandy trough , huge amidst the boulders , lay the body of an elephant .