By this time it had grown so dark that they could just make out the buildings and surroundings.  The former seemed to be nothing more than rude huts with rounded thatched roofs covered by saplings.  The flyers saw many dark figures, with little or no garb, running about and excitedly gesticulating upward to their position.  As they circled lower, these figures, evidently natives, suddenly vanished within their abodes.