noon
It was strange , to be sure , as Felix Thurstan had said , that such unspeakable heathen orgies should be taking place within sight of a passing Christian English steamer . But if only he had known or reflected to what sort of land he was trying now to struggle ashore with Muriel , he might well have doubted whether it were not better to let her perish where she was , in the pure clear ocean , rather than to submit an English girl to the possibility of undergoing such horrible heathen rites and ceremonies . For on the island of Boupari it was high feast with the worshippers of their god that night . The sun had turned on the Tropic of Capricorn at noon , and was making his way northward , toward the equator once more ; and his votaries , as was their wont , had all come forth to do him honor in due season , and to pay their respects , in the inmost and sacredest grove on the island , to his incarnate representative , the living spirit of trees and fruits and vegetation , the very high god , the divine Tu-Kila-Kila ! Early in the evening , as soon as the sun 's rim had disappeared beneath the ocean , a strange noise boomed forth from the central shrine of Boupari . Those who heard it clapped their hands to their ears and ran hastily forward . It was a noise like distant rumbling thunder , or the whir of some great English mill or factory ; and at its sound every woman on the island threw herself on the ground prostrate , with her face in the dust , and waited there reverently till the audible voice of the god had once more subsided .