nine o'clock
By this time I had begun to hate the very sight of sand ; it seemed to me more dreary and pitiless than the stoniest of barren ground . Castro did not mind in the least , but lay on his back looking at the starry sky and placidly chewing his coca . `` Come , lieutenant , '' said he briskly at the end of an hour , `` it is time to mount ; '' and we were soon plodding on as patiently as before . It was nine o'clock when we finally arrived at Ilo . It may have been owing to my own tired state , but I thought I had never seen such a miserable and desolate spot in all my life . The houses were wretched mud-built hovels , and the few people in the place looked woebegone beyond belief . The three brigs were in keeping with the village , being old and worm-eaten , and the craziest craft imaginable .