About midnight
Of these , two were appointed for every watch . Masters and servants shared this disagreeable duty equally . Particularly disagreeable it was that night , for the rain came down in such torrents that it was difficult to keep the fires alight despite a good supply of firewood . About midnight the sleeping camp was aroused by the roar of a lion close to the tents . It was so loud and so tremendous that some of the sleepy-heads thought for a moment a thunderstorm had burst upon them . Every one was up in a second -- the men with guns , pistols , swords , and knives . There was no mistaking the _ expression _ of the roar -- the voice of fury as well as of power .