noon
He superintended the felling of the trees , and then put us in the way of proceeding with the work . We found the toil sufficiently severe , and began to feel the heat , as I thought , to a far greater extent than was the case in the lower part of the country . _ July 8th _ . -- Yesterday we were employed , from early in the morning till beyond noon , in trimming and hollowing out our cradles . While we were seated together outside the tent enjoying a few whiffs of our pipes and cigars , after a famous dinner of smoking-hot steaks and frijoles , we saw the camp below was all in commotion . People were running out of their tents , and shouting to their neighbours , and gradually a little crowd was formed round a group of horsemen , who were just then brought to a halt . That same feeling of curiosity which gets together a London crowd to see the lion on the top of Northumberland House wag his tail , caused us to make our way , with the rest of the gapers , down to Bennett 's shanty , against which all this bustle appeared to be going on .