Works of Jules Verne/Five Weeks in a Balloon/Chapter 18
CHAPTER XVIII
A NIGHT ON AN ISLAND
Next morning, at five o'clock, they prepared to depart. Joe, with the ax which he had fortunately recovered, cut off the elephant's tusks. The "Victoria," restored to liberty, carried our travelers to the northeast at a speed of eighteen miles an hour.
The doctor had carefully ascertained his position by the altitude of the stars during the night. He made it 2° 4′ latitude below the equator, or say 160 geographical miles distant from it. They now passed over several villages without noticing the cries their appearance provoked. He took notes of the form of the locality with rapid sketches. He crossed over the slopes of the Rubemhé, almost as steep as the summits of the Ousagara, and later on reached the Tenga, the first spurs of the Karagwah chain, which, according to him, are the commencement of the Mountains of the Moon. Now the old legend, which states that these hills are the cradle of the Nile, appears to be not far from the truth, inasmuch as they border upon Lake Ukéréoné, the supposed reservoir for the waters of the big river.
From Kafuero, the central market of the native merchants, he perceived at length on the horizon the long-sought lake which Captain Speke got a glimpse of on the 3rd of August, 1858.
Samuel Ferguson was moved. He had almost arrived at one of the principal points of his expedition, and, telescope in hand, he did not lose a corner of this mysterious country which his gaze thus drank in.
Beneath him the ground appeared generally exhausted; there was scarcely a hollow cultivated; the plain, dotted here and there with mounds of medium elevation, became level as it approached the lake; fields of barley took the place of rice. There was the plantain, from which the wine of the country is made, and the "mwani," a wild plant that yields coffee. A collection of fifty circular huts, covered with a flowery thatch, constituted the capital of Karagwah. They could easily distinguish the astonished faces of a race apparently good-looking and of a yellowish-brown color. Women of a most incredible corpulence were working in the fields, and the doctor astonished his companions by informing them that this stoutness, which is highly appreciated, is obtained by an obligatory diet of curdled milk.
At mid-day the "Victoria" was in 1° 45' South latitude; in an hour the wind carried it over the lake. Captain Speke called this Lake "Victoria" Nyanza. In this place it measures ninety miles wide. At its southern extremity the captain found a group of islands which he designated the Archipelago of Bengal. He pushed his researches as far as Muanza on the eastern side, where he was well received by the sultan. He made a triangulation of this part of the lake; but he could not procure a boat either to cross it or to visit the great island of Ukéréoné. This very populous island is governed by three sultans, and only forms a peninsula at low water.
The "Victoria" approached the lake more towards the north to the doctor's great disappointment, who wanted to note the lower bends. The banks bristled with thorny thickets and tangled brushwood, and were entirely hidden under a cloud of millions of mosquitoes of a clear brown color; the country then appeared to be uninhabitable and uninhabited. They could see troops of hippopotami wallowing amidst the reeds, whence they plunged beneath the pellucid water of the lake.
The lake, seen from above, extended to such a distance towards the west as almost to appear a sea. The distance between the opposite sides of the lake is too great for the establishment of communications; besides, the storms are frequent and fierce, for the winds rage terribly in that elevated and open basin.
The doctor had some difficulty to manage the balloon—he was afraid of being carried away towards the sea; but fortunately a current bore him directly to the north, and at 6 P. M. the "Victoria" pulled up at a small desolate island in 0° 30′ lat. and 32° 52' long., about twenty miles from the border of the lake.
The travelers were enabled to make the balloon fast to a tree, and the wind having dropped as evening came on, they remained quietly at anchor. They did not venture to get down on the ground, for here, as upon the banks of the Nyanza, legions of mosquitoes covered the earth in a thick cloud. Joe returned from the tree even covered with bites, but he did not trouble himself about them, as he fancied that such conduct was only "the nature of the animal."
Nevertheless, the doctor, somewhat less of an optimist, let out the rope to its furthest extent with the view to escape these pestilent insects, which were hovering about with a never-resting "trumpeting."
The doctor reckoned that the height of the lake above the level of the sea was as determined by Captain Speke; that is to say, 3,750 feet.
"So we are on an island!" cried Joe, scratching himself as if he would dislocate his wrists.
"We shall have quickly made the tour of it," replied the Scot, "and, except these blessed insects, I don't think there is a living thing on it."
"The islands, with which the lake is studded," replied Doctor Ferguson, "are only, in fact, the summits of submerged hills, but we are fortunate in finding shelter here, for the shores of the lake are inhabited by ferocious tribes. So go to sleep in peace, as the sky gives assurance of a quiet night."
"Are you not going to do the same, Samuel?"
"No, I cannot close my eyes. My thoughts are such as to banish sleep. To-morrow, my friends, if the wind be favorable, we shall proceed due north, and perhaps discover the sources of the Nile—the impenetrable secret! So near to the sources of the Great River I cannot sleep."
Kennedy and Joe, whose scientific cogitations did not trouble them to so great an extent, did not hesitate to sleep soundly under the doctor's guardianship.
On Wednesday, April 23rd, the "Victoria" set out at four o'clock under a gray sky. The darkness seemed loath to leave the waters of the lake, which was enveloped in a thick mist. Soon, however, a strong breeze dispersed all this fog. The "Victoria" was for some minutes balanced, in more senses than one, and at last made up its mind and set off directly towards the north.
Doctor Ferguson clapped his hands joyously.
"We are now in the right track," he cried; "to-day or never we shall see the Nile. My friends, now we are crossing the equator—we are entering our own hemisphere."
"Oh!" cried Joe. "Do you think, sir, that the equator does pass by here?"
"At this very spot, my brave lad!"
"Well, 'saving your presence,' sir, it seems to me advisable to 'wet' it without further loss of time."
"Go and fetch the grog," said the doctor, laughing; "you have a way of understanding cosmography which is not to be despised."
And that was how they celebrated the "crossing of the line" in the "Victoria."
The balloon continued to glide rapidly along. In the west they could perceive the low and somewhat undulating coast; at the end, the more elevated plains of Uganda and Usoga. The wind now blew with great force.
The waters of the Nyanza rose and broke in billows, like those of the ocean. From the observation of certain waves, which kept breaking a long time after the wind lulled, the doctor reckoned that the lake was of great depth. Only one or two large boats were descried during the rapid transit.
"This lake," said the doctor, "is evidently, from its elevated position, the natural reservoir of the rivers in the eastern parts of Africa. Heaven gives it again in rain what it absorbs in vapors from its effluents. It appears to me certain that the Nile ought to have its source here."
"We shall soon see," said Kennedy.
Towards nine o'clock the coast towards the west was neared: it appeared desert and wooded. The wind backed a little to the east, and they could get a glimpse of the other side of the lake. It trended so as to terminate in a very obtuse angle, about 2° 40' North latitude. High mountains stood up with arid peaks at this end of the Nyanza, but between them a deep and winding gorge gave vent to a rippling stream.
All the while he was regulating the balloon, Doctor Ferguson kept examining the country with an anxious gaze.
"There it is, my friends, there it is!" he cried; "the accounts of the Arabs were correct. They spoke of a river by which the Lake Ukéréoné discharged itself towards the north, and this river exists. We will descend with it, and it flows with a rapidity equal to ours. And this drop of water which passes under our feet is surely on its way to mingle with the Mediterranean waves. It is the Nile!"
"It is the Nile," replied Kennedy, who had yielded to the enthusiasm of Samuel Ferguson.
"Long live the Nile!" cried Joe, who cried long live anything when he was pleased.
The enormous rocks here and there hindered the course of this mysterious river. The water boiled up, forming rapids and cataracts, which confirmed the doctor in his suppositions. These surrounding mountains gave rise to numerous torrents foaming in their fall, which could be counted by hundreds. They could see little scattered jets of water springing from the earth, crossing each other, mingling together, and vying in speed, and all hastening to this newborn stream, which became a river after it had absorbed them all.
"That is really the Nile," replied the doctor, now convinced. The origin of the name has puzzled the learned as much as the source of its waters. They have declared it comes from the Greek, from the Coptic, from the Sanscrit. After all it is not much matter, since they could not disclose the secret of its source."
"But," said the Scot, "how are we to be assured of the identity of this river with that which travelers from the north have discovered?"
"We shall have certain irresistible and infallible proofs," replied Ferguson, "if the wind only favor us for another hour."
The mountains fell back, giving place to numerous villages, to fields cultivated with the oil plant, dourrah, and sugar-canes. The tribes of these countries appeared excited and hostile. They approached nearer to anger than adoration; they looked upon the travelers as strangers, and not as gods. It seemed to them that in coming to the sources of the Nile they had come to steal something. The "Victoria" was obliged to keep out of musket range.
"To land here would be difficult," said the Scotchman.
"Well," said Joe, "so much the worse for the natives—we shall deprive them of the benefit of our conversation."
"I must descend, nevertheless," replied Doctor Ferguson, "if only for a quarter of an hour. Otherwise I shall not be able to verify the results of our exploration."
"Is that really indispensable, Samuel?
"It is, and we shall descend without the firing of a gun."
"That is my business," replied Kennedy, patting his carbine.
"Whenever you choose, sir," said Joe, preparing himself for fighting.
"This will not be the first time," said the doctor, "that one has worked for science arms in hand; a similar thing happened to a French professor in the Spanish mountains when he was measuring the terrestrial meridian."
"You be quiet, Samuel, and trust to your bodyguard."
"Are we at the place now, sir?" asked Joe.
"Not yet. Indeed we must ascend in order to learn the 'lie of the land' a little."
The hydrogen was expanded, and in less than ten minutes the "Victoria" was floating at a height of 2,500 feet.
They could distinguish from that elevation an inextricable network of streams, which the river received. It flowed more from the west between the hills, in the midst of a fertile country.
"We are not ninety miles from Gondokoro," said the doctor, referring to the map, "and scarcely five miles from the point reached by the discoverers from the north. Let us now approach the earth, but cautiously."
The "Victoria" descended more than 2,000 feet.
"Now, my friends, be ready for anything."
"We are ready," replied Dick and Joe.
"Good," said the doctor.
The "Victoria" sailed over the bed of the river at a height of scarcely 100 feet. The Nile measured fifty fathoms at this spot; and the inhabitants were tremendously excited in the villages along the banks. At the second degree the river formed a cascade about ten feet high, and was consequently impassable for boats.
"There is the very waterfall spoken of by M. Debono!" cried the doctor.
The bed of the river became extended and dotted with numerous islands, which Ferguson scanned narrowly. He seemed to be seeking a landmark which he had not hitherto perceived.
Some negroes were advancing in a boat beneath the balloon. Kennedy saluted them with a shot, which, without touching them, sent them back to the bank pretty quickly.
"Pleasant voyage!" shouted Joe; "in their place I would not take the chance of returning. I should have a wholesome fear of a monster who could hurl thunder at me at his will."
But now the doctor suddenly seized his telescope and directed it towards an island situated in the center of the river.
"Four trees!" he cried. "Do you see them down there? In fact four solitary trees were observable at the extremity of the island.
"'Tis the isle of Benga; it is indeed!" he shouted.
"Well, what then?" asked Dick.
"There we must descend, please goodness."
"But it appears to be inhabited, Mr. Samuel!"
"Joe is right; if I do not mistake, there are about twenty natives assembled there."
"We must put them to flight, that will not be a difficult matter," said Ferguson.
"All right!" said Dick.
The sun was in the zenith. The "Victoria" approached the island.
The negroes, who appeared to be of the Makado tribe, uttered discordant cries. One of them waved his bark head-covering in the air. Kennedy took aim, fired, and the hat was knocked to pieces. There was a general stampede. The natives precipitated themselves into the river, and swam across. From both banks there came a hail of bullets and a shower of arrows, but without any hurt to the balloon, whose grapnel had become fastened in a fissure of a rock. Joe let himself slide down to the ground.
"The ladder, the ladder," cried the doctor. "Follow me Kennedy!"
"What are you going to do?”
"To descend. I want a witness."
"Here I am, then."
"Joe, keep guard, mind."
"All right, sir; I am responsible for everything."
"Come, Dick," said the doctor, putting his foot on the ground.
He led his companion towards a mass of rock that rose up at the extremity of the island. There, after searching for some time, hunting about amongst the brushwood till his hands were cut and bleeding, suddenly he grasped the Scot's arm.
"Look there!" said he.
"Letters!" cried Kennedy.
In fact, two letters engraven in the rock appeared in all their pristine sharpness of outline. They distinctly read:
A. D.
"A. D.," said the doctor. "Andrea Debono! The initials of that very traveler who mounted to the highest point of the course of the Nile."
"That is unimpeachable evidence, friend Samuel."
"Are you now convinced?"
"It is the Nile; we can have no doubt about it."
The doctor took a "last fond look" at the precious initials, of which he made a tracing.
"Now," said he, "for the balloon!"
"Quick, then, for there are some natives preparing to cross the river."
"That does not matter much to us now. If the breeze will only hold to us a few hours we shall reach Gondokoro and shake hands with our own countrymen."
Ten minutes afterwards the "Victoria" rose majestically, and Dr. Ferguson, as a signal of success, unfurled the Royal Standard of England as they sailed along.