Works of Jules Verne/Five Weeks in a Balloon/Chapter 16
CHAPTER XVI
THE FUTURE OF AFRICA
"There!" cried Joe, "that comes of being sons of the moon without leave. That satellite was very nearly playing us a shabby trick. Do you think, now, sir, that you in any way compromised her reputation by your medicine?"
"By-the-by," said the Scot, "who is this sultan of Kazeh?"
"An old, half-dead drunkard, whose loss will not be very much felt; but the moral of the thing is this: that honors are ephemeral, and we ought only to taste them."
"So much the worse," said Joe; "that was my case. To be adored, to play the god at one's pleasure, when, all of a sudden, the moon rises with a very red face to show she does not approve of it."
During this conversation, and subsequently, while Joe was examining the evening star from an entirely new point of view, the sky towards the north was covering itself with heavy clouds—with heavy and threatening clouds too. A pretty brisk breeze had sprung up at 300 feet from the ground, and was impelling the "Victoria" towards the north-northwest. The sky was clear, but the air felt heavy.
The travelers found themselves about eight o'clock in 32° 40' longitude, and latitude 4° 17'; the atmospheric currents, under the influence of an approaching storm, hurried them forward at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour. The fertile and undulating plains of Mfuto passed rapidly beneath. The view was worthy of admiration, and was duly admired.
"We are now regularly in the country of the moon," said Doctor Ferguson, "for it has retained this name, which was anciently bestowed upon it, doubtless, because the moon has been always worshiped here. It is indeed a magnificent district, and it would be difficult to find a more beautiful vegetation."
"That sort of thing would not be natural near London," said Joe, "but it would be very pleasant. Why are all those lovely things reserved for these barbarous countries?"
"How do you know that some day this country will not have become the center of civilization? The people of the future ages may come here when the countries of Europe can no longer support their inhabitants."
"Do you believe that?" asked Kennedy.
"Certainly, my dear Dick. Look at the march of events, consider the successive emigrations of the human race, and you will arrive at the same conclusion as I have. Is it not true that Asia was the first nurse of the world? For 4,000 years, perhaps, she was fruitful and bore her children, and then when stones appear where the golden crops of Homer appeared, her children leave her dry and withered bosom. They then are seen invading Europe, young and strong, which nourishes them for 2,000 years. But she is already losing her fertility, her producing qualities are diminishing every day; these new evils each year which attack the produce of the soil, the deceptive harvests, the insufficient supplies, all are undoubted signs of decreasing vitality, of approaching weakness. Also, you can already perceive that people are throwing themselves upon the richer bosom of America, not indeed inexhaustible, but still inexhausted. In its turn, this newer Continent will become old. Its virgin forests will fall under the ax of industry, its soil will be enervated, because it had produced too much, as too much was demanded of it.
"There, where two crops would grow every year, scarcely one will come to the sickle. Then Africa will offer to new generations the accumulated treasures of centuries. The fatality of the climate to strangers will yield to the purifying influence of distribution of crops and drainage; the scattered streams will be united in one navigable river; and this district, over which we are passing, more fertile, richer, quicker producing than the others, will become some great kingdom, where discoveries will be made even more wonderful than steam and the electric telegraph."
"Ah, sir," said Joe, "I should like to see all that."
"You were born a trfle too soon," said the doctor.
"After all, that will be perhaps a more tiresome period, in which industry will absorb all to its profit. In consequence of inventing machines, men will be devoured by them. I am always picturing to myself that the last day of the world will be when some immense boiler, heated up to three thousand millions of atmospheres, will blow our globe into space."
"And I daresay the Americans will not be the last to work at the machine," said Joe. "In fact, those people are wonderful tinkers; but, without letting ourselves be carried away by such discussions, let us admire the 'Land of the Moon,' since we are in a position to see it."
The sun was pouring his last rays beneath the heaped-up masses of cloud, and was gilding the small elevations with a golden crest. The huge trees, arborescent herbs, the cut corn, all had a share of the luminous rays. The earth, gently undulating, rose here and there into little conical hills. There were no mountains to break the horizon. Immense brambly palisades, impassable hedges, thorny jungles separated the clear spaces in which numerous villages were spread out. The gigantic euphorbia surrounded them with natural fortifications, entwining themselves with the coral-like branches of the shrubs.
They soon came in sight of the Malagazari, the principal tributary of Lake Tanganyika, which wound round the verdant masses of vegetation. Into this river ran numerous watercourses, born of the torrents overflowed during the great rising of the waters, or from ponds hollowed out in the clayey soil. It appeared to the observers, elevated as they were, that a regular network of rivulets was flowing over the face of the country.
Immense beasts with humps were feeding in the prairies, and occasionally disappeared altogether in the long grass; the forests, of a wonderful species of trees, appeared like enormous bouquets, but in these bouquets, lions, leopards, hyenas, and tigers took refuge from the declining heat of the day. Sometimes an elephant made the coppices shake, and they distinctly heard the crashing of the trees which gave way before his tusks.
"What a hunting country!" exclaimed Kennedy, enthusiastically; "a bullet sent in there at hazard, right into the forest, would meet with game worthy of it. Can we not have a try at it?"
"No, no, my dear Dick; night is upon us, and a rather 'nasty' night too, bringing a storm up with it. Storms in this country are no joke, I can tell you, where the earth plays the part of an immense electric battery."
"You are right, sir," said Joe; "the heat is becoming stifling, the breeze has quite died away, and one feels that something is going to happen."
"The atmosphere is surcharged with electricity," replied the doctor; "every living thing is aware of the state of the air which precedes a conflict of the elements; but I confess I never have been impregnated with it at such a height myself."
"Well," said the Scot, "should we not rather descend?"
"On the contrary, Dick, I would rather go higher up. I fear only to be hurried out of my course during the cross atmospheric currents."
"Do you wish, then, to abandon our route towards the coast?"
"If possible," replied Ferguson, "I will go more directly towards the north for seven or eight degrees. I will endeavor to go up towards the supposed latitude of the sources of the Nile. Perhaps we shall discover some traces of Captain Speke's expedition, or even the caravan of M. de Heuglin. If my calculations be correct, we are in 32° 40″ longitude, and I should like to go up beyond the equator."
"Look here," cried Kennedy, interrupting, "look at those hippopotami swimming about the pools—what masses of flesh they are—and see the crocodiles gasping in their attempts to breathe."
"They are choking," said Joe. "Ah! what a splendid way this is to travel, and how we can despise all those horrible vermin. Mr. Samuel, Mr. Kennedy—look at those bands of animals marching closely together. There must be 200 of them, at least; they are wolves."
"No, Joe, but wild dogs; a famous breed, which have no scruple in attacking lions. To meet such a pack is the most fearful experience a traveler can undergo. He would be immediately torn in pieces."
"Well, it will not be Joseph who will endeavor to muzzle them," replied that pleasant youth; "after all, it is their nature, and one needn't see much of them."
All this time a dread silence was falling around little by little, under the influence of the approaching storm. It seemed as if the heavy air had become incapable of transmitting sounds; the atmosphere appeared thickened, and, like a room hung with tapestry, lost all sonorousness. The pigeons, the crested crane, the red and blue jays, the mocking birds, the moucherolles, hid themselves in the leafy trees. All nature betrayed the symptoms of an approaching convulsion. At nine o'clock in the evening, the "Victoria" was hanging motionless above Mséné, a large collection of villages scarcely distinguishable in the gloom. Sometimes the reflection of stray beams of light in the dark water indicated the regularly placed ditches, and, by an opening in the clouds, they could descry the dark forms of palms, tamarinds, sycamores, and the gigantic euphorbia.
"I am stifled," said the Scot, taking a full breath. "We are not moving any longer. Shall we descend?"
"But how about the storm?" said the doctor, who was not very comfortable.
"If you are afraid of being carried away by the wind, it seems to me you can do nothing else."
"The storm may not burst to-night," replied Joe; "the clouds are very high."
"That is the very reason I am hesitating to pass them; we should have to go so very high up, and lose sight of the earth, and would not know all night whether we were making any 'way,' or, if so, in what direction we were moving."
"Well, make up your mind, my dear Samuel; time presses."
"It is very annoying that the wind has dropped," said Joe; "it might have carried us out of reach of the storm."
"That is certainly to be regretted, my friends, as the clouds are very dangerous; they contain opposing currents, which may enclose us in their whirlwinds, and the lightning may set us on fire. On the other hand, the force of the squall might precipitate us to the ground if we made fast the grapnel to the top of a tree."
"Then what is to be done?"
"We must keep the "Victoria" in a middle zone between the earth and the perils of the sky. We have a sufficient quantity of water for the blow-pipe, and our 200 lbs. of ballast is intact."
"We are going to sit up with you," said the Scot.
"No, my friends; put the provisions under cover and go to bed. I will call you if necessary."
"But, sir, why will you not take some rest yourself, since nothing threatens us yet?"
"No, thank you, my lad, I would rather watch. We are motionless, and if circumstances do not change we shall find ourselves in the same place to-morrow."
"Good-night, sir."
"Good-night, if that be possible."
Kennedy and Joe then lay down, and the doctor remained by himself—alone in space. Nevertheless, the clouds insensibly descended and the darkness became profound.
The black arch of heaven spread across the terrestrial globe as if about to overwhelm it.
Suddenly a vivid flash lit up the gloom; the opening in the cloud had scarcely closed when a terrific peal of thunder shook the depths of the sky.
"Get up, get up!" cried Ferguson. The two sleepers, roused by the appalling thunder-crash, held themselves in readiness to execute his orders.
"Are you going down?" asked Kennedy.
"No; the balloon would never hold out there. Let us ascend before the rain comes and the wind gets up." And he rapidly urged the flame of the blow-pipe.
Tropical storms are developed with a rapidity proportionate to their violence. A second flash broke the cloud, and was immediately followed by twenty others. The sky was radiant with electric sparks, which shriveled up under the heavy drops of rain.
"We have delayed too long," said the doctor. "We must now pass through a belt of fire with our balloon filled with inflammable air."
"But the ground, the ground!" repeated Kennedy.
"The risk of being struck would be almost the same, and we should be quickly knocked to pieces against the branches of trees," said the doctor.
"We are ascending, Mr. Samuel."
"Quicker! quicker!"
In this part of Africa, during the equinoctial gales, it is not an uncommon experience to count thirty to thirty-five flashes of lightning per minute. The sky is literally on fire, and the thunder is continuous. The wind rages with terrific violence in this fiery atmosphere, it twists and tears the clouds, and it has been compared to the blowing of an immense bellows which keeps all this fire in activity.
Doctor Ferguson maintained his blow-pipe at full pressure; the balloon expanded and ascended. On his knees in the center of the car Kennedy kept hold of the curtains of the tent. The balloon gyrated enough to give the travelers vertigo, and they suffered from the uneven oscillations. Huge hollows showed in the shape of the balloon pressed upon by the blasts. The silk covering strained to the utmost and crackled like a volley of pistol shots.
A sort of hail, preceded by a rushing sound, hissed through the air and rattled upon the "Victoria." It nevertheless continued to ascend; the lightning described flaming tangents from its circumference; it was in the very heart of the storm.
"God preserve us!" said Ferguson, "we are in His hands. He alone can save us. Let us be prepared for any event, even for fire; our fall cannot be very rapid."
The doctor's voice was scarcely heard by his companions, but they could see him standing unmoved in the midst of the flashing lightnings; and he kept looking at the "corpse-light" that flickered upon the network of the balloon. The balloon itself swayed and rolled, but kept ascending; at the end of fifteen minutes it had passed the line of storm-cloud. The electric discharges were now beneath it like an immense crown of artificial fire hanging from the car.
This was one of the most beautiful sights that nature could present to man. Below the storm raged. Above was the starry, quiet, and silent Heaven, with the moon throwing her peaceful rays upon the angry clouds.
Doctor Ferguson looked at the barometer; it indicated 12,000 feet elevation. The time was eleven o'clock.
"Thank Heaven the danger is over," said he; "we have now only to remain here as we are."
"It was awful," said Kennedy.
"Yes," replied Joe, "that gives a little change to our journey, and I am not sorry to have seen a storm from such a height. It was a magnificent sight indeed."