Works of Jules Verne/Five Weeks in a Balloon/Chapter 19
CHAPTER XIX
THE NILE
"In what direction are we going?" asked Kennedy, seeing his companion looking at the compass.
"Nor-nor-west," was the reply.
"The devil! That is not north, is it?"
"No, Dick. And I think we shall have some difficulty to reach Gondokoro. I am sorry for it, but, at any rate, we have united the exploration of the east to those of the north, so we must not complain."
The "Victoria" now edged away from the Nile.
"A last look," said the doctor, "at this insurmountable latitude, which the most intrepid travelers have never been able to pass. There are surely those intractable tribes mentioned by Pethwick, Arnaud, Miani, and the young explorer Lejean, to whom we are indebted for the best works upon the Upper Nile."
"So," said Kennedy, our discoveries are in accord with the forecastings of science."
"Entirely. The sources of the White River of the Bahr-el-Abiad are immersed in a great lake like a sea. It takes its rise there. There poetry lost it. They loved to fancy that this king of rivers had a heavenly origin; the ancients called it 'ocean' and it was not a difficult thing to believe that it descended directly from the sun. But it is necessary to refute or to accept, from time to time, that which science has laid down. There will not be learned men for ever, perhaps; but there will always be poets!"
"There are more cataracts," said Joe.
"Those are the cataracts of Makedo in the 3rd degree of latitude. Nothing is more certain. Fancy our being able thus to follow the course of the Nile for hours!"
"And farther down," said the Scot, "I can perceive the summit of a mountain."
"That is Mount Logwek, the 'Shaking Mountain' of the Arabs. All this part has been visited by M. Debono, who explored it under the name of Latif Effendi. The neighboring tribes are hostile to each other and keep up a war of extermination. You can thus estimate without difficulty the extent of the perils he had to overcome."
The breeze now carried the "Victoria" towards the north-east. In order to clear Mount Logwek it was necessary to seek a more inclined current.
"My friends," said the doctor to his companions, we are now about to commence our journey across Africa in real earnest. So far we have only been following the footsteps of our predecessors. We are now about to penetrate into the 'unknown.' Your courage will not fail?"
"Never!" cried Dick and Joe in one breath.
"Let us go on then, and may Heaven guide us on our way!"
At ten o'clock at night, passing over ravines, forests, and villages, the travelers reached the side of the "Shaking Mountain," beside whose slopes they ascended.
In this memorable journey of the 23rd April, during a sail of fifteen hours, they had, under the influence of a strong wind, accomplished a distance of 315 miles.
But this latter part of the journey had left a trace of sadness behind it. Complete silence reigned in the car. Was Doctor Ferguson absorbed in the contemplation of his discoveries? Were his companions thinking of this expedition into the unknown regions? There was all that, without doubt, mingled with very vivid recollections of England and absent friends. Joe was the only one to assume a carelessly philosophic manner, feeling it only natural that his native land was no longer there when he had quitted it; but he respected the silence of the doctor and Kennedy.
The "Victoria" now anchored, "broadside on," to the "Shaking Mountain"; they were enabled to make a substantial meal, and all slept under the successive guard of the other alternately.
Next day, more cheerful thoughts arrived with the working hours. They had a lovely day, and the wind blew in the proper direction. A breakfast, much enlivened by Joe, sufficed to put them into better spirits.
The country passed over just then was very extensive. It stretched from the Mountains of the Moon to those of Darfour, a space as broad as the width of Europe.
"We shall undoubtedly cross what is supposed to be the kingdom of Usoga," said the doctor. "Some geographers have pretended that, in the center of Africa exists a vast depression, an immense central lake. We shall see if this hypothesis has any foundation in fact."
"But how have they arrived at such a conclusion?"
"From the reports of the Arabs, these people are great story-tellers; too much so, perhaps. Some travelers, arriving from Kazeh, or the Great Lakes, have seen slaves brought from the central districts. They have questioned these people respecting their country, they have put together a heap of these various statements, and have thence made their deduction. At the bottom of all this there is a substratum of truth, and you have seen that they did not mistake in the origin of the Nile so much after all."
"Nothing could be more correct," said Kennedy.
"It is from these documents that trial-maps have been attempted. So I am about to follow up my route upon one of these, and to rectify it when necessary."
"Is all this region inhabited?" asked Joe.
"Certainly, but thinly."
"I suspect so."
"These scattered tribes are comprised under the general denomination of Nyam-Nyam, and this name is only another name for 'onomatopy'; it reproduces the sound of mastication."
"Perfectly," replied Joe. "Nyam-Nyam."
"My good Joe, if you were the original cause of this onomatopy, you would not be so perfect?"
"What do you mean?"
"Merely that these people are cannibals!"
"Is that certain?"
"Quite certain People also pretended that these tribes had tails, but it was soon discovered that the tails were those of the animals in whose skins they were clothed."
"So much the worse. A tail is a very useful appendage to keep off the mosquitoes," said Joe.
"Possibly, but we must relegate that tale to the ranks of fable, just like the story told by Brun-Rollet of certain tribes having dogs' heads."
"Dogs' heads! Most convenient for barking, and for cannibals."
"What has been proved is unfortunately this, that the people are most savage, and they are very desirous of human flesh, which they seek for with avidity."
"All I ask is," said Joe, "that they won't seek me individually so anxiously."
"I say!" cried Dick.
"I mean it this way, Mr. Dick. If ever I am to be eaten in a moment of scarcity, I hope that it will be for your advantage, and for my master's. But to sustain those blackamoors, never! I should die of shame!"
"Well, then my brave Joe, now that is understood, we may count upon you at a pinch," said Kennedy.
"At your service, gentlemen," said Joe.
"Joe talks like that," said the doctor, so that we may take great care of him, and feed him up."
"Very likely," replied Joe. Man is a terribly selfish animal."
During the afternoon the sky was hidden by a thick mist, which made the earth damp. The fog scarcely allowed objects to be distinguished on the ground, and, fearful of striking against some invisible peak, the doctor ascended for about five hours. The night passed without accident, but it was necessary to be doubly vigilant in the profound darkness.
The trade-wind blew with extreme violence during the early part of the following day. The wind roared in the lower part of the balloon, and shook the appendages by which the tubes of dilatation penetrated with great force. They were compelled to fasten them with ropes, in which work Joe acquitted himself very skillfully.
They ascertained, at the same time, that the opening at the top of the balloon remained hermetically sealed. "This is of the utmost importance to us," said Doctor Ferguson. "We obviate the escape of the precious gas; besides, we leave nothing round us of an inflammable nature by which, if a light were applied, we should be stopped altogether."
"That would be a very unpleasant incident of our journey," said Joe.
"Should we be precipitated to the ground?" asked Dick.
"No, not precipitated. The gas would burn quietly, and we should descend by degrees. A similar accident happened to the French aëronaut, Madame Blanchard. She set fire to the balloon while setting off fireworks, but she did not fall; and she would not have lost her life had her car not been hurled against a chimney, and she herself thrown to the ground."
"Let us trust that no such accident will happen to us," said Dick. "So far our journey has not appeared to me dangerous, and I see no reason why we should not reach our destination."
"Nor do I, my dear Dick. Accidents, moreover, have always been caused either by imprudence on the part of the aëronauts, or by the badly-constructed apparatus they make use of. So, out of many thousands of aërial ascents, we can reckon only about twenty fatal accidents. Generally it is the landings or the departures which offer most danger. So, in like case, we ought not to neglect any precautions."
"It is breakfast time," said Joe; we must content ourselves with preserved meat and coffee until Mr. Kennedy has the opportunity to treat us to a haunch of venison."