Three o'clock in the morning
It seemed a long time -- following father step by step -- before we came to the place where I thought the cattle were going to be driven over the precipice . Here we pulled up for a bit and had a smoke . It was a queer time and a queer look-out . Three o'clock in the morning -- the stars in the sky , and it so clear that we could see Nulla Mountain rising up against it a big black lump , without sign of tree or rock ; underneath the valley , one sea of mist , and we just agoing to drop into it ; on the other side of the Hollow , the clear hill we called the Sugarloaf . Everything seemed dead , silent , and solitary , and a rummier start than all , here were we -- three desperate men , driven to make ourselves a home in this lonesome , God-forsaken place ! I was n't very fanciful by that time , but if the devil had risen up to make a fourth amongst us I should n't have been surprised . The place , the time , and the men seemed regularly cut out for him and his mob .