noon
`` He is a man of iron ! '' exclaimed the general , as he gazed at his companion admiringly . `` Of hammered iron , '' replied Passe-partout , who was preparing a hasty breakfast . At noon the driver gave the signal for departure . The country soon became very wild . The dense forest was succeeded by groves of dates and palms ; then came extensive arid plains dotted here and there with bushes , and sprinkled with immense blocks of syenite . The whole of this region of Bundelcund , which is seldom traversed , is inhabited by a fanatical people inured to the most fearful practices of the Hindoos .