eight o’clock
He was rough but kind to me , and though strict was just , which was no common feature in an old African hand to one who had just arrived on the coast . He kept the factory -- we called all houses on the coast factories -- as neat and clean as if it had been a ship . He had the floor of the portion we dwelt in holystoned every week ; and numberless little racks and shelves were fitted up all over the house . The outside walls glittered with paint , and the yard was swept clean every morning ; and every Sunday , at eight o'clock and sunset , the ensign was hoisted and lowered , and an old cannon fired at the word of command . Order and rule were with Jackson observed from habit , and were strictly enforced by him on all the natives employed in the factory . Although I have said the country looked as if uninhabited , there were numerous villages hidden away in the long grass and brushwood , invisible at a distance , being huts of thatch or mud , and not so high as the grass among which they were placed . From these villages came most of our servants , and also the middlemen , who acted as brokers between us , the white men , and the negroes who brought ivory and gum and india-rubber from the far interior for sale .