noon
Of course , we kept a watch ; but the night passed away without any event to disturb our rest . Even before the sun was up , our friend the `` laughing jackass '' woke us with his strange cries . Pullingo would have killed him with his boomerang , had we not begged his life ; and soon after the sun was up , I observed him flying away to a place of safety , disturbed by seeing so many people moving about . As our rest had been cut short at the last place , my father settled to remain here till past noon , and to make only half a day 's journey , so that we might start at dawn the next day and make some progress during the cool hours of the morning . We therefore sat quiet after breakfast , enjoying the rest we all more or less needed . Though I have not before mentioned it , my father , I should have said , invariably called all the party together for prayers , both morning and evening , and either he or my mother read a portion of the Bible to us . After this had been done , Mudge and I took our guns , in the hope of shooting some birds for dinner , which we intended to take before starting .