the afternoon, about
three o'clock
I have dwelt perhaps too long upon the manners and habits of these people ; I can not help , however , giving my readers a proof of the knowledge which the higher classes among them really possess . I have said that they are good astronomers , and I may add that their intuitive knowledge of geometry is remarkable . I once asked a young chief what he considered the height of a lofty pine . It was in the afternoon , about three o'clock . He walked to the end of the shadow thrown by the pine-tree , and fixed his arrow in the ground , measured the length of the arrow , and then the length of the shadow thrown by it ; then measuring the shadow of the pine , he deducted from it in the same proportion as the difference between the length of the arrow , and the length of its shadow , and gave me the result . He worked the Rule of Three without knowing it . But the most remarkable instance occurred when we were about to cross a wide and rapid river , and required a rope to be thrown across , as a stay to the men and horses .