midnight
Snorting , snarling and shrieking filled the woods beneath us . ` From the hills echoed the mournful howl of jackals , answered by Fangs in the yard , who was backed up by the barking and yelping of his friends Floss and Bruno . Far away beyond the rocky fastnesses of the Gap , sounded unearthly hollow snortings and neighings , reminding one of the strange cry of the hippopotamus ; above these , occasional deep majestic roarings made our hearts quail with the conviction that we heard the voices of lions and elephants . ` Overawed and silent , we retired to rest , hoping to forget in sleep the terrors of the midnight forest ; but ere long the most fearful cries in the adjoining woods gave notice that the apes were beginning to suffer from the poisoned repast prepared for them . ` As our dogs could not remain silent amid the uproar and din , we had not a wink of sleep until the morning . It was late , therefore , when we rose , and looked on the awful spectacle presented by the multitude of dead monkeys and baboons thickly strewn under the trees round the farm . I shall not tell you how many there were .