noon
Dick Sand 's calculations were then verified . The journey had lasted thirty-eight days from the departure of the army encamped on the banks of the Coanza . Five weeks of the most fearful miseries that human beings could support . It was noon when the train entered Kazounde . The drums were beaten , horns were blown in the midst of the detonations of fire-arms . The soldiers guarding the caravan discharged their guns in the air , and the men employed by Jose-Antonio Alvez replied with interest . All these bandits were happy at meeting again , after an absence which had lasted for four months .