five o’clock in the afternoon
We did not dare to wander about to search for game . At two o'clock we got off again , taking a supply of broiled fish with us , and shortly afterwards the rain came on harder than ever . Also the river began to get exceedingly difficult to navigate on account of the numerous rocks , reaches of shallow water , and the increased force of the current ; so that it soon became clear to us that we should not reach the Rev. Mackenzie 's hospitable roof that night -- a prospect that did not tend to enliven us . Toil as we would , we could not make more than an average of a mile an hour , and at five o'clock in the afternoon -LRB- by which time we were all utterly worn out -RRB- we reckoned that we were still quite ten miles below the station . This being so , we set to work to make the best arrangements we could for the night . After our recent experience , we simply did not dare to land , more especially as the banks of the Tana were clothed with dense bush that would have given cover to five thousand Masai , and at first I thought that we were going to have another night of it in the canoes . Fortunately , however , we espied a little rocky islet , not more than fifteen miles or so square , situated nearly in the middle of the river .