twelve
o’clock
`` Then they will bring you sugar-canes half as thick as your wrist , looking as innocent as may be ; both ends are sealed up with bits of the pith , and when you open one end you find that all the joints have been bored through , and the cane is full of rum . But mind , lads , you are fools if you touch it ; it is new and strong and rank , and a bottle of it would knock you silly . And that is not the worst of it , for fever catches hold of you , and fever out there ai n't no joke . You eats a good dinner at twelve o'clock , and you are buried in the palisades at six ; that 's called yellow jack . It is a country where you can enjoy yourselves reasonable with fruit , and perhaps a small sup of rum , but where you must beware of drinking ; if you do that you are all right . The islands are beautiful , downright beautiful ; there ai n't many places which I troubles myself to look at , but the West Indies are like gardens with feathery sorts of trees , and mountains , and everything that you can want in nature . '' `` It is very hot , is n't it , Bill ? ''