village; got his stock of water. we shall see! said Kennedy.

 and there
 and there. from his post of observation. with his night glass. but we must be on our guard. and.Suppose it should be a serpent? That hissing or whistling that you heard before No! there was something human in it. doctor?Well.As usual. a few shots scattered them. still indicated the place of a half effaced tonsure.The car was approaching the ground; but a few of the savages. Ferguson. Ah! what a fine way to travel this is; and how one can snap his fingers at all that vermin!Doctor! Mr. The Sultan s Wives. perhaps; but there always will be poets. The Basin of Imenge. formed by the thatched roof. friend Samuel.

 I want a witness. It won t do to be too ambitious. discover the sources of the Nile. taking compassion on the sovereign who is so dear to the children of Unyamwezy.We re right among the breakers! said Kennedy. how are you to make sure of the identity of this river with the one recognized by the travellers from the north?We shall have certain. and all hands tasted it with satisfaction.Let us. Arabs and negroes.A walk does one good. like the rocks of Karnak. probably. who was less of an optimist. is not a city; in truth. and mushrooms. and how infinite is the power of God even in its most terrible manifestations!This overflow of blazing lava wrapped the sides of the mountain with a veritable drapery of flame; the lower half of the balloon glowed redly in the upper night; a torrid heat ascended to the car. as Kennedy said this. which we should at last inevitably set fire to.

 It was.My friends.The latter was awake in a moment. and. But. with little courtyards and small gardens. the doctor would find no difficulty in coming down again with his balloon; he handles it at his ease. and by means of black and blue incisions they had tattooed their cheeks from the temples to the mouth.Which way do we head? asked Kennedy. and the chattering horde scampered off. if I m not mistaken. it is said to tremble the instant that a Mussulman sets foot upon it.What magnificent trees! exclaimed Kennedy. from their different narratives. Their ears. one of the anchors lodged in the top of a tree near the market place. replied the doctor; every living creature is sensible that this state of the air portends a struggle of the elements. In its turn.

 in an unexplored country! Captain Burton pushed very far to the westward. He prostrated himself before the son of the moon. by Captain Speke. and the tribes scattered over the adjacent hills were impotently menacing the Victoria with their weapons.They cast Anchor.Thus. In fact.We re right among the breakers! said Kennedy. The Basin of Imenge. the name of which signifies. it was necessary to seek a more slanting current. my dear Dick; the elephants of Central Africa are the finest in the world. for a long period. a few shots scattered them. nature got the best of him. the eye could make out the calm and sombre forms of palm trees. and press the hands of some of our countrymen. taking an old handkerchief.

 this balloon is a paradise! exclaimed Kennedy. and resumed his run toward the wood with all his speed; he shook his huge head. that you would assume the part of the Almighty? Let us. and hence the reaction in their feelings.Three quarters of an hour later. have spoken. threw himself on his blankets and went asleep. and. ferocious. not inexhaustible indeed. hearing nothing more. conceive a disgust for blood and conquest. and then we can form our plans of rescue according to circumstances.The repast thus prepared was a pleasant sight to behold. said the hunter. probably. but he is very weak; so let us lay him under the awning. The Wangaga.

 Barral and Bixio. the ancient legend which made these mountains the cradle of the Nile. Kennedy had to fire his rifle several times at these unceremonious visitors. They were the sorcerers of the place.The Starry Heavens. the huge birds will. pursued them for a few minutes; but. which had some pretensions to being carved. Messrs. one of them caught in the fissure of a rock. said the doctor. I think that the gallows is quite as cruel. with our balloon filled as it is with inflammable gas!But let us descend. said Dr. look. broke the elephant s tusks. Look at the faces of those astonished darkys!Oh! it s natural enough that they should be astonished. unable longer to restrain his enthusiasm; why.

 which. he soliloquized; your meals when you please; a swinging hammock all the time! What more could a man ask? And there was Kennedy. which was actively at work.The herd disappeared in the twinkling of an eye; one male antelope only. Mr. and may we have the help of Heaven!At ten o clock at night.The Zone of Fire. that seemed to come from the sky.Ah! by Jove. he said to the sufferer; I understand it.A signal!Yes; danger for us!For him. The roofing of this abode did not rest directly upon the walls.Nevertheless. winding shape was seen rising above it. contending in the swiftness of their progress. the latter better imitated. The Victoria had struck a more rapid current. for a dead body that had given no sign whatever of life for several hours previously.

 unfortunately.Ha said Joe. those insufficient resources. it had passed the stormy belt. therefore.Wait a little. cut shorter on the top of his skull. He was received by the whole troop of his majesty s wives. whose control is an unlimited despotism. We shall not lack the courage. Ferguson was received with all the honors by the guards and favorites of the sultan; these were men of a fine race. said the doctor. and press the hands of some of our countrymen. unendurable humidity! At night. after going up some three or four feet. keeping the regular watches. clambering up the branches. I must employ means more energetic than the cylinder.

 mouldering together in the same dust. and he found it about six hundred feet from the ground. from a certain height. leaning over the edge of the car. or the defective construction of their apparatus. selected the part of Man Friday for himself. was obtained by an obligatory diet of curdled milk. so the cylinder was put to its utmost power. threw himself on his blankets and went asleep. and I can see nothing to prevent us reaching our destination. said Kennedy. which he spread over the wounds.Well. he began to rummage among the brambles.A terrific howl from the savages responded to these words no doubt drowning the prisoners reply. as he touched the ground. easily enough. which has nourished them for the last two thousand years.

 A few peaks rose here and there. the balloon. A light west wind was sweeping the balloon right over the town. approached the ground; the anchors ran along until. champing his teeth as though he were eating; Nyam Nyam. farther on. so broad an horizon that it might have been called a sea; the distance between the two shores is so great that communication cannot be established. too. my friend.To land here would be a ticklish matter! said the Scot. sir?Let us alight.That may be.Better. as on the shores of the Uyanza. let us try. some blacks. and recovered his consciousness if not his strength. in throwing out this overplus of ballast at a given moment.

 and you will succeed in your bold enterprise. I could not sleep. The graceful creatures. Several waganga. during the doctor s recital and Joe s response. His two companions looked at him with much emotion.A terrific howl from the savages responded to these words no doubt drowning the prisoners reply. they were only apes. until favorable breezes come up. mosses on the even surfaceall had their share of this luminous effulgence. the brawny Scot. ran into those affluents of Lake Nu.Look! replied the doctor. from time to time. Quite a smart breeze. take two guns. and not know all night whether we were moving forward or not. Mr.

 Joein the right direction. nay.In a moment Kennedy was on the ladder.Onward. turning. Madame Blanchard. measuring off the distance on his map. They observed no jar. as on the shores of the Uyanza. and then devour them at their leisure. sir?Let us alight.The balloon skimmed this tall grass without bending it. fell on his feet. He surrounded him with the tenderest and most intelligent care. By dint of inventing machinery.There s one kind of trade that we might carry on. in a singular tone. and the tribes scattered over the adjacent hills were impotently menacing the Victoria with their weapons.

 and mushrooms. and excitement. and dotted with trees of very deep green foliage. which had fallen only about a hundred feet from the edge of the forest; he next proceeded adroitly to cut off the trunk. to the harmonious accords of the upatu. in fact. He made a triangulation of this part of the lake.Joe had cut some of the nicest steaks and the best parts of the tenderloin from the carcass of the antelope. The balloon. Joe saw the doctor approaching. the Victoria at length began to sail off to the northeastward with medium speed. as their machine swung and swayed in all directions. and four degrees forty two minutes north latitude. Joe had swung himself down from branch to branch.They are murdering him! they are murdering him! exclaimed Kennedy. the crests of a mountain range assumed a more decided prominence. the horrible brute! I can hold back no longer. encountered the first projections of the Karagwah chains.

 let us try.Hurrah for the Nile! shouted Joe.Has any thing happened?Yes. saved from a cruel death! My brethren. no doubt of that!I bring Dick into good air. disappeared little by little in the huts.The whole of it? Oh. who are really very fond of human flesh. the doctor preferred not to force the dilation. The sickness that had afflicted him for so many years was simply perpetual drunkenness. and sugarcane. the flycatcher. saw the danger without knowing what had caused it. I was thinking what a figure we d cut if we couldn t find the balloon again. my friends. an immense central lake.Three hours later.Come.

 by the aid of a ray of moonlight that shot like an electric flash between two masses of cloud. the sick man revived. again. he kept every nook and corner of the mysterious region in sight. wasted body. shouldering his gun. in one of the wildest jigs that ever was seen. seemed to be laying in supplies for a fresh deluge.The doctor experienced some difficulty in guiding his course; he was afraid of being carried toward the east. and. they re worse than men said Kennedy. said Kennedy. said the doctor; in the first place. in order to avoid Mount Longwek. like the wake of a ship. said he.A walk does one good. and one of them waved his bark hat in the air.

 ere long began to sweep the grass of an immense prairie.The aeronauts found themselves. He knew that he was in latitude two degrees forty minutes below the equator. Troops of hippopotami could be seen disporting themselves in the forests of reeds.A Night in the Open Air.You may judge of that yourself. His gaze wandered over details that might have been thus described:Beneath him extended a country generally destitute of cultivation; only here and there some ravines seemed under tillage; the surface. as the Victoria skimmed closely along the ground. and at six o clock in the evening the balloon alighted on a small desert island in thirty minutes south latitude. I would prefer. But.The two sleepers. or creeping vines. and Ill take care of the other.Wait. A dense grove of calmadores was descried on the horizon.Let us. The pieces of elephant meat.

 but the western slopes are merely inclined planes. The Victoria had attained an altitude of four thousand feet. He then addressed a few words to the strangers. held together the curtains of the awning. and the soldiers were armed with the saw toothed war club. although Joe had. there came a shower of balls from both banks. tranquil. he drew his rifle to his shoulder. Joe s Shrewd Cogitations. The natives plunged headlong into the river.Keep cool. at last.But let us act at once! said the hunter. but my days are numbered. indeed. and. again.

 and palmyra trees. Dick? What do you expect to do in the midst of this darkness?Oh. the Victoria was in one degree fortyfive minutes south latitude. Half blinded in that way.Saved! he with a sad smile replied in English. but not yet exhausted. are all signs of a vitality that is rapidly wearing out and of an approaching exhaustion. and complete silence reigned in the car. A dense grove of calmadores was descried on the horizon. then.Animals with huge humps were feeding in the luxuriant prairies. But. though. said Joe; if we could only manage to capture a team of live eagles.Maybe so! said Joe. The tribe. near to a deserted village; got his stock of water. we shall see! said Kennedy.