nine o'clock
One traveller more or less would not signify to such an animal . Provisions were purchased . Sir Francis and Mr. Fogg each occupied a howdah , while Passe-partout sat astride between them . The Parsee seated himself upon the elephant 's neck , and at nine o'clock they quitted the village , the elephant taking a short cut through the thick palm-forest . Showing what happened to Phileas Fogg and his Companions as they traversed the Forest . The guide , hoping to shorten the journey , kept to the left of the railroad line , which would be carried in a circuitous manner through the Vindhia Mountains when completed . The Parsee , who was well acquainted with all the byways , declared that twenty miles would be saved by striking directly across the forest ; so the party yielded .