Five Weeks in a Balloon
secret. It is just to mix equal quantities of Mocha, of Bourbon coffee,
and of Rio Nunez.”
A few moments later, three steaming cups of coffee were served, and
topped off a substantial breakfast, which was additionally seasoned by
the jokes and repartees of the guests. Each one then resumed his post
of observation.
The country over which they were passing was remarkable for its
fertility. Narrow, winding paths plunged in beneath the overarching
verdure. They swept along above cultivated fields of tobacco, maize,
and barley, at full maturity, and here and there immense rice-fields,
full of straight stalks and purple blossoms. They could distinguish
sheep and goats too, confined in large cages, set up on piles to keep
them out of reach of the leopards’ fangs. Luxuriant vegetation spread
in wild profuseness over this prodigal soil.
Village after village rang with yells of terror and astonishment at the
sight of the _Victoria_, and Dr. Ferguson prudently kept her above the
reach of the barbarian arrows. The savages below, thus baffled, ran
together from their huddle of huts and followed the travellers with
their vain imprecations while they remained in sight.
At noon, the doctor, upon consulting his map, calculated that they were
passing over the Uzaramo[2] country. The soil was thickly studded with
cocoa-nut, papaw, and cotton-wood trees, above which the balloon seemed
to disport itself like a bird. Joe found this splendid vegetation a
matter of course, seeing that they were in Africa. Kennedy descried
some hares and quails that asked nothing better than to get a good shot
from his fowling-piece, but it would have been powder wasted, since
there was no time to pick up the game.
[2] U and Ou signify country in the language of that region.
The aëronauts swept on with the speed of twelve miles per hour, and
soon were passing in thirty-eight degrees twenty minutes east
longitude, over the village of Tounda.
“It was there,” said the doctor, “that Burton and Speke were seized
with violent fevers, and for a moment thought their expedition ruined.
And yet they were only a short distance from the coast, but fatigue and
privation were beginning to tell upon them severely.”
In fact, there is a perpetual malaria reigning throughout the country
in question. Even the doctor could hope to escape its effects only by
rising above the range of the miasma that exhales from this damp region
whence the blazing rays of the sun pump up its poisonous vapors. Once
in a while they could descry a caravan resting in a “_kraal_,” awaiting
the freshness and cool of the evening to resume its route. These kraals
are wide patches of cleared land, surrounded by hedges and jungles,
where traders take shelter against not only the wild beasts, but also
the robber tribes of the country. They could see the natives running
and scattering in all directions at the sight of the _Victoria_.
Kennedy was keen to get a closer look at them, but the doctor
invariably held out against the idea.
“The chiefs are armed with muskets,” he said, “and our balloon would be
too conspicuous a mark for their bullets.”
“Would a bullet-hole bring us down?” asked Joe.
“Not immediately; but such a hole would soon become a large torn
orifice through which our gas would escape.”
“Then, let us keep at a respectful distance from yon miscreants. What
must they think as they see us sailing in the air? I’m sure they must
feel like worshipping us!”
“Let them worship away, then,” replied the doctor, “but at a distance.
There is no harm done in getting as far away from them as possible.
See! the country is already changing its aspect: the villages are fewer
and farther between; the mango-trees have disappeared, for their growth
ceases at this latitude. The soil is becoming hilly and portends
mountains not far off.”
“Yes,” said Kennedy, “it seems to me that I can see some high land on
this side.”
“In the west—those are the nearest ranges of the Ourizara—Mount
Duthumi, no doubt, behind which I hope to find shelter for the night.
I’ll stir up the heat in the cylinder a little, for we must keep at an
elevation of five or six hundred feet.”
“That was a grand idea of yours, sir,” said Joe. “It’s mighty easy to
manage it; you turn a cock, and the thing’s done.”
“Ah! here we are more at our ease,” said the sportsman, as the balloon
ascended; “the reflection of the sun on those red sands was getting to
be insupportable.”
“What splendid trees!” cried Joe. “They’re quite natural, but they are
very fine! Why a dozen of them would make a forest!”
“Those are baobabs,” replied Dr. Ferguson. “See, there’s one with a
trunk fully one hundred feet in circumference. It was, perhaps, at the
foot of that very tree that Maizan, the French traveller, expired in
1845, for we are over the village of Deje-la-Mhora, to which he pushed
on alone. He was seized by the chief of this region, fastened to the
foot of a baobab, and the ferocious black then severed all his joints
while the war-song of his tribe was chanted; he then made a gash in the
prisoner’s neck, stopped to sharpen his knife, and fairly tore away the
poor wretch’s head before it had been cut from the body. The
unfortunate Frenchman was but twenty-six years of age.”
“And France has never avenged so hideous a crime?” said Kennedy.
“France did demand satisfaction, and the Said of Zanzibar did all in
his power to capture the murderer, but in vain.”
“I move that we don’t stop here!” urged Joe; “let us go up, master, let
us go up higher by all means.”
“All the more willingly, Joe, that there is Mount Duthumi right ahead
of us. If my calculations be right we shall have passed it before seven
o’clock in the evening.”
“Shall we not travel at night?” asked the Scotchman.
“No, as little as possible. With care and vigilance we might do so
safely, but it is not enough to sweep across Africa. We want to see
it.”
“Up to this time we have nothing to complain of, master. The best
cultivated and most fertile country in the world instead of a desert!
Believe the geographers after that!”
“Let us wait, Joe! we shall see by-and-by.”
About half-past six in the evening the _Victoria_ was directly opposite
Mount Duthumi; in order to pass, it had to ascend to a height of more
than three thousand feet, and to accomplish that the doctor had only to
raise the temperature of his gas eighteen degrees. It might have been
correctly said that he held his balloon in his hand. Kennedy had only
to indicate to him the obstacles to be surmounted, and the _Victoria_
sped through the air, skimming the summits of the range.
At eight o’clock it descended the farther slope, the acclivity of which
was much less abrupt. The anchors were thrown out from the car and one
of them, coming in contact with the branches of an enormous nopal,
caught on it firmly. Joe at once let himself slide down the rope and
secured it. The silk ladder was then lowered to him and he remounted to
the car with agility. The balloon now remained perfectly at rest
sheltered from the eastern winds.
The evening meal was got ready, and the aëronauts, excited by their
day’s journey, made a heavy onslaught upon the provisions.
“What distance have we traversed to-day?” asked Kennedy, disposing of
some alarming mouthfuls.
The doctor took his bearings, by means of lunar observations, and
consulted the excellent map that he had with him for his guidance. It
belonged to the Atlas of “Der Neuester Endeckungen in Afrika” (“The
Latest Discoveries in Africa”), published at Gotha by his learned
friend Dr. Petermann, and by that _savant_ sent to him. This Atlas was
to serve the doctor on his whole journey; for it contained the
itinerary of Burton and Speke to the great lakes; the Soudan, according
to Dr. Barth; the Lower Senegal, according to Guillaume Lejean; and the
Delta of the Niger, by Dr. Blaikie.
Ferguson had also provided himself with a work which combined in one
compilation all the notions already acquired concerning the Nile. It
was entitled “The Sources of the Nile; being a General Survey of the
Basin of that River and of its Head-Stream, with the History of the
Nilotic Discovery, by Charles Beke, D.D.”
He also had the excellent charts published in the “Bulletins of the
Geographical Society of London;” and not a single point of the
countries already discovered could, therefore, escape his notice.
Upon tracing on his maps, he found that his latitudinal route had been
two degrees, or one hundred and twenty miles, to the westward.
Kennedy remarked that the route tended toward the south; but this
direction was satisfactory to the doctor, who desired to reconnoitre
the tracks of his predecessors as much as possible. It was agreed that
the night should be divided into three watches, so that each of the
party should take his turn in watching over the safety of the rest. The
doctor took the watch commencing at nine o’clock; Kennedy, the one
commencing at midnight; and Joe, the three o’clock morning watch.
So Kennedy and Joe, well wrapped in their blankets, stretched
themselves at full length under the awning, and slept quietly; while
Dr. Ferguson kept on the lookout.
CHAPTER THIRTEENTH.
Change of Weather.—Kennedy has the Fever.—The Doctor’s
Medicine.—Travels on Land.—The Basin of Imenge.—Mount Rubeho.—Six
Thousand Feet Elevation.—A Halt in the Daytime.
The night was calm. However, on Saturday morning, Kennedy, as he awoke,
complained of lassitude and feverish chills. The weather was changing.
The sky, covered with clouds, seemed to be laying in supplies for a
fresh deluge. A gloomy region is that Zungomoro country, where it rains
continually, excepting, perhaps, for a couple of weeks in the month of
January.
A violent shower was not long in drenching our travellers. Below them,
the roads, intersected by “nullahs,” a sort of instantaneous torrent,
were soon rendered impracticable, entangled as they were, besides, with
thorny thickets and gigantic lianas, or creeping vines. The
sulphuretted hydrogen emanations, which Captain Burton mentions, could
be distinctly smelt.
“According to his statement, and I think he’s right,” said the doctor,
“one could readily believe that there is a corpse hidden behind every
thicket.”
“An ugly country this!” sighed Joe; “and it seems to me that Mr.
Kennedy is none the better for having passed the night in it.”
“To tell the truth, I have quite a high fever,” said the sportsman.
“There’s nothing remarkable about that, my dear Dick, for we are in one
of the most unhealthy regions in Africa; but we shall not remain here
long; so let’s be off.”
Thanks to a skilful manœuvre achieved by Joe, the anchor was
disengaged, and Joe reascended to the car by means of the ladder. The
doctor vigorously dilated the gas, and the _Victoria_ resumed her
flight, driven along by a spanking breeze.
Only a few scattered huts could be seen through the pestilential mists;
but the appearance of the country soon changed, for it often happens in
Africa that some of the unhealthiest districts lie close beside others
that are perfectly salubrious.
Kennedy was visibly suffering, and the fever was mastering his vigorous
constitution.
“It won’t do to fall ill, though,” he grumbled; and so saying, he
wrapped himself in a blanket, and lay down under the awning.
“A little patience, Dick, and you’ll soon get over this,” said the
doctor.
“Get over it! Egad, Samuel, if you’ve any drug in your travelling-chest
that will set me on my feet again, bring it without delay. I’ll swallow
it with my eyes shut!”
“Oh, I can do better than that, friend Dick; for I can give you a
febrifuge that won’t cost any thing.”
“And how will you do that?”
“Very easily. I am simply going to take you up above these clouds that