midnight
It was like the exodus of some warlike tribe ; but , as Brace told me , it was quite the regular thing . `` You see , everything is done to spare our men labour . Their profession is to fight , and as long as they do that well , John Company is willing that they should have plenty of assistance to clean their horses , guns , and accoutrements . '' Our marches were always made in the very early morning , many of our starts being soon after midnight , and a curious scene it was in the moonlight , as the long train , with its elephants laden with tents , and camels moaning and grumbling at the weight of the necessaries they were doomed to carry , the light flashing from the guns or the accoutrements of the mounted men , and all on and on , over the sandy dust , till I grew drowsy , and nodded over my horse 's neck , rousing myself from time to time with a start to ask whether it was not all some dream . Just as the sun was getting unpleasantly hot , and the horses caked with sweat and dust , a halt would be called in some shady tope , where the tents rose as if by magic , fires were rapidly lighted by the attendants , and , amidst quite a babel of tongues , breakfast was prepared , while parroquets of a vivid green shrieked at us from the trees , squirrels leaped and ran , and twice over we arrived at a grove to find it tenanted by a troop of chattering monkeys , which mouthed and scolded at us till our men drove them far into the depths of the jungle with stones . Here , with our tents set up in the shade of the trees , we passed the hot days , with the sun pouring down with such violence that I have often thought it might be possible for a loaded gun to get heated enough to ignite the powder . There would be plenty of sleeping , of course , with the sentries looking longingly on , and wishing it was their turn ; and then , soon after midnight , the column would be _ en route _ again , to continue its march till seven , eight , or nine o'clock , according to the distance of the camping-place , the same spots being used by the different regiments year after year .