about noon
But it was high time that our wanderings should be conducted with something like method . Our object was , of course , to rejoin the ship with the least possible delay ; and before making a fresh start Smellie thought it would be just as well to acquaint our companion with this our desire . He accordingly undertook to do so , and a very amusing scene resulted ; but he succeeded at last in making his wish clearly understood , and this achieved we once more resumed our march . By the time that we were finally ready to start it was about noon , and the heat had become intensely oppressive . The refreshing zephyrs of the morning had died completely away , and the motionless atmosphere , rarefied by the burning rays of the sun , was all a-quiver . Not a beast , bird , or insect was stirring throughout the whole length and breadth of the far-stretching forest aisles . The grass , the flowers , the leaves of the trees , the graceful festoons of parasitic creepers , were all as still as though cut out of iron .