About eleven o'clock in the morning
The engineer , leaning over the rail , seemed deep in thought , and exchanged but a few words with Tom Turner . It did not look as though the `` Albatross '' had attracted the attention of those moving masses , which were often invisible under the impenetrable roof of trees . This was doubtless due to her keeping at a good altitude amid a bank of light cloud . About eleven o'clock in the morning the capital was sighted , surrounded by its walls , defended by a fosse measuring twelve miles round , with wide , regular streets on the flat plain , and a large square on the northern side occupied by the king 's palace . This huge collection of buildings is commanded by a terrace not far from the place of sacrifice . During the festival days it is from this high terrace that they throw the prisoners tied up in wicker baskets , and it can be imagined with what fury these unhappy wretches are cut in pieces . In one of the courtyards which divide the king 's palace there were drawn up four thousand warriors , one of the contigents of the royal army -- and not the least courageous one .