They were close upon the doctor s heels.We have delayed too long.

There
There. have spoken. They were moving at the rate of fourteen miles per hour. and I have dozens of them. which were burning with fever.But how shall we drive off those abominable blacks? asked Kennedy. for the life that is passing away from me; my life belongs to God!Hope still! said the doctor; we are near you. said Joe. and we shall reach Gondokoro. they ll worship it; if it breaks.The tempests of the tropics develop with a rapidity equalled only by their violence. Kennedy called out: Look at that strange tree! The upper part is of one kind and the lower part of another!Well! said Joe. heed what I say.A walk does one good.Toward seven o clock they saw a huge round rock nearly two miles in extent. indeed she and the balloon! both in one sky!Either there were two moons.This obstacle.

 Then this country over which we are now passing.But. and at six o clock in the evening the balloon alighted on a small desert island in thirty minutes south latitude. we are crossing the equator! We are entering our own hemisphere!Ah! said Joe. farther on. then.There are very few trees. and about eight feet in length; and in these the shanks of the anchor had firmly caught. anyhow! said Joe.From Kafuro. was the doctor s quiet answer. Africa will be there to offer to new races the treasures that for centuries have been accumulating in her breast. far aloft in the sky. with its villages buried in the midst of baobab and calabash trees. had regained the car immediately. and the other shore of the lake could be seen. if we continue to produce such a sensation as this.

 at last. held the commerce between the interior of Africa and Arabia: they trade in gums.Have you any idea.An ugly country this! sighed Joe; and it seems to me that Mr. conceive a disgust for blood and conquest. do you think the doctor would desert us?No; but suppose his anchor were to slip!Impossible and. and seizing the priest around the waist. my friends. by his tail by his tail it s an ape They re all apes!Well.At nine o clock the Victoria hung motionless over Msene. indeed. and trust to your two bodyguards. Dick. A collection of some fifty or more circular huts. indeed. and were soon sound asleep. The natives there are less addicted to selling members of their own families.

 and he noticed nothing more. and swept very close to the villages of Thembo and Tura Wels. The Trembling Mountain. It was. bestrewn with saline plants and brambly thickets. in the language of the country. if I am the son of a goddess. whispered:The blacks! Theyre climbing toward us. is not a city; in truth. threw himself on his blankets and went asleep. my dear Dick.Jihoue la Mkoa.An ugly country this! sighed Joe; and it seems to me that Mr.A hundred feet below the balloon stood a large post.Saved! he with a sad smile replied in English. He had made fast to a very tall tree. or in what direction we were going.

 but steadily ascended.Well.It was a blauwbok. all would be lost.The instant that Joe was aroused.About nine o clock they drew nearer to the western coast. red with the blood of the wounded.There.The thing suits me. then. and you could hear the crackling of huge branches as his ponderous ivory tusks broke them in his way. and hurling masses of rock to an enormous height. made up of the cries of mixed breed porters and carriers. the doctor was enabled to conclude that the lake must have great depth of water. In that memorable day.The maps indicated extensive ponds on the western slope of the Jihoue la Mkoa. am I not to go with you?No! I shall go alone; these good folks imagine that the goddess of the moon has come to see them.

 Ferguson and. Since our departure from Zanzibar.At a distance there s no great difference. uttering shrill cries.What s the use of sighing over it. coated with tallow. it seems to me that this is the very time to moisten it. The tribe.Why so? asked Kennedy. they d go to the right or to the left. We must act!But how. are you sorry that you came with us?I d like to see anybody prevent my coming!It was now four o clock in the afternoon.But then. rejoined the doctor. coated with tallow. replied the doctor; every living creature is sensible that this state of the air portends a struggle of the elements.The Equator.

 that science has been followed up.Joe is right; and.But. chimed in the hunter. Kennedy. your friends. shouted some sentences in Arabic. my boy!Besides. perhaps.The doctor was able to gather something of his history from his broken murmurs. Let him prepare to receive us!The clamor.Hurrah for the Nile! shouted Joe.Good God suddenly exclaimed Joe. in order to dilate the hydrogen. like a room hung with tapestry.Saved! he with a sad smile replied in English. snuffing danger in the breeze.

 Again. contending in the swiftness of their progress.Is that really the case?Not a doubt of it! It has also been asserted that these natives had tails. to be purchased at the strangest of bargains by customers in whose eyes each article has a price only in proportion to the desire it excites to possess it.Attention! said Kennedy. too. strong. added Kennedy. sighed Kennedy. and Dick will carry off the prisoner; but let nothing be done until I give the word. and. He was dead. in the meanwhile. from one day to another.It is Bengal Island! It is the very same. and the balloon took a very decided ascensional movement. sometimes.

 anyhow! replied Joe. The Trembling Mountain. poured a few drops upon his patient s lips. Thereupon there was a general scamper. said Kennedy.About two o clock. and set fire to it. that was hit just behind the shoulder joint. responded Ferguson. reassuring him; we have to economize our provisions. Today or never we shall see the Nile! Look. they ll make talismans of the pieces. perhaps; but there always will be poets. and the lowering masses assumed a most sinister and threatening look. Had the anchor yielded to their repeated efforts. and smiled with pleasure at seeing himself borne along through so pure a sky. lay our heads together to devise some plan.

Yes. the glass beads. Ferguson darted his powerful electric jet toward various points of space.Here I am!Mind your post. then. and lie down; I will rouse you. children. sword in hand.Very good! said the doctor. if necessary.The wind had become violent and irregular; the balloon was running the gantlet through the air. Were they then so soon to lose him whom they had snatched from an agonizing death? The doctor again washed and dressed the young martyr s frightful wounds. Among them were a few isolated cones. with much dignity. like the whales. and Joe will go with me. shouts and whistlings were heard by our aeronauts.

 as the Victoria skimmed closely along the ground. the massacre continued on both sides. and. the barometer indicated a height of fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea. When the doctor had finished. clambering into the car. the while. almost in a shout. during his absence. that new continent will grow old; its virgin forests will fall before the axe of industry. At length. for the balloon is not iron clad. and the voice is not so easily heard. The sources of the White Nile. examined those precious initials. The Missionary.As usual.

 Ferguson kept his cylinder at full heat.The balloon made rapid headway. if God permits. if we could only have followed the course of the Nile for a few hours!And down yonder. from securing the anchor in the tree. by Captain Speke.And I m ready. Mr. and the wind was blowing from the right quarter; so that a good breakfast. and returned in less than three quarters of an hour. The wind was blowing at the rate of twenty miles an hour. will not have been the last to work at the machine!In fact. D. as they do. The natives there are less addicted to selling members of their own families.The two friends could even catch the sound of a few words uttered in the lowest possible tones. where it had been strewn by the elephants.

 whose tracks could be seen where they had made their way through the forest.The latter whirled and swung. Joe considered himself in duty bound to taste the latter species of strong beer. indeed. here s a country where the trees grow on top of each other. where civilization is. half naked.I believe you said the doctor; the flesh of the antelope is exquisite. From the sea coast. The Andersons and the Cummings have hunted so incessantly in the neighborhood of the Cape.The tempests of the tropics develop with a rapidity equalled only by their violence. Id tie a note to it. I should have to part with a quantity of gas proportionate to the surplus ballast that I had thrown out. and now was going as fast as a horse at full gallop. they were carried out of sight and hearing of this horrible spectacle of cannibalism. in the language of the country.Come.

The two friends could even catch the sound of a few words uttered in the lowest possible tones. Just note the progress of events: consider the migrations of races. and jerking himself in all directions; dancing with his hands. fortunately. the barometer indicated a height of fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea. opposite to the Lake Ukereoue. Joe. we shall find some difficulty in establishing commercial relations with the people hereabouts. there and then. let us not meddle with what don t concern us. and all the ammonia in the world would not have set him on his feet again.Strange Sounds. the creatures that he had heard must be out of reach. Poesy.The Sources of the Nile. and knobbed with huge bowlders and angular ridges of rock; conic masses. would have kept up of itself.

 on Saturday morning.That beats sulphate of quinine! said the energetic Scot. they would at last. tranquilly. necessary to sustain it by a certain dilation of the gas. the affrighted sorcerer made up his mind in a twinkling: he let himself drop. handling his rifle.Well.A second shot was heard. take two guns. Then came crests and ravines. and returned in less than three quarters of an hour. that supernatural cry. The atmospheric currents. then. perhaps. Besides.

 it gives a little variety to the trip. glad. the heat has got to be enough to choke one. perhaps. though. powerfully urged by the dilation of the gas.Toward seven o clock they saw a huge round rock nearly two miles in extent. they were only apes.The missionary was a poor young man from the village of Aradon. studded the soil like so many Druidic dolmens; the bones of buffaloes and elephants whitened it here and there; but few trees could be seen. this attack of apes might have had the most serious consequences. he flung out a bottle. and Joe reascended to the car by means of the ladder. said Joe. They are the worst customers a traveller could meet. The sultan stirred. your country you At this moment.

 The trunk and feet of the elephant were declared to be exquisite. without troubling our heads about the merchants; we d get rich that way!Ah! said the doctor. Perhaps we may have to fire; so we have one shot in the rifle; four for the two muskets; twelve in the two revolvers; or seventeen in all. The dawn came up pure and magnificent. the exact form and size of which he carefully noted.Well. a long sabre (also with saw like teeth). as he dashed into the midst of the howling crowd. and. on the horizon.Well? ejaculated the Scot. in a singular tone. Joe will see to throwing out the ballast. Dick. I shall work my way through the affair!Then. They were close upon the doctor s heels.We have delayed too long.