About four
o'clock
I can compare the feeling to nothing except the struggles of a man against the overpowering nausea of the Channel passage -- only my agony was of the spirit and infinitely more terrible . As the day wore on , the inhabitants began to appear in full strength to catch the rays or the afternoon sun , which were now sloping in at the mouth of the crater . They assembled in little knots , and talked among themselves without even throwing a glance in my direction . About four o'clock , as far as I could judge , Gunga Dass rose and dived into his lair for a moment , emerging with a live crow in his hands . The wretched bird was in a most draggled and deplorable condition , but seemed to be in no way afraid of its master . Advancing cautiously to the river front , Gunga Dass stepped from tussock to tussock until he had reached a smooth patch of sand directly in the line of the boat 's fire . The occupants of the boat took no notice .