by Jules Verne
CHAPTER NINETEENTH.
The Nile.--The Trembling Mountain.--A Remembrance of theCountry.--The Narratives of the Arabs.--The Nyam-Nyams.--Joe'sShrewd Cogitations.--The Balloon runs the Gantlet.--AerostaticAscensions.--Madame Blanchard.
"Which way do we head?" asked Kennedy, as he saw his friend consultingthe compass.
"North-northeast."
"The deuce! but that's not the north?"
"No, Dick; and I'm afraid that we shall have some trouble in gettingto Gondokoro. I am sorry for it; but, at last, we have succeeded inconnecting the explorations from the east with those from the north; andwe must not complain."
The balloon was now receding gradually from the Nile.
"One last look," said the doctor, "at this impassable latitude, beyondwhich the most intrepid travellers could not make their way. There arethose intractable tribes, of whom Petherick, Arnaud, Miuni, and theyoung traveller Lejean, to whom we are indebted for the best work on theUpper Nile, have spoken."
"Thus, then," added Kennedy, inquiringly, "our discoveries agree withthe speculations of science."
"Absolutely so. The sources of the White Nile, of the Bahr-el-Abiad,are immersed in a lake as large as a sea; it is there that it takes itsrise. Poesy, undoubtedly, loses something thereby. People were fond ofascribing a celestial origin to this king of rivers. The ancients gaveit the name of an ocean, and were not far from believing that it floweddirectly from the sun; but we must come down from these flights fromtime to time, and accept what science teaches us. There will not alwaysbe scientific men, perhaps; but there always will be poets."
"We can still see cataracts," said Joe.
"Those are the cataracts of Makedo, in the third degree of latitude.Nothing could be more accurate. Oh, if we could only have followed thecourse of the Nile for a few hours!"
"And down yonder, below us, I see the top of a mountain," said thehunter.
"That is Mount Longwek, the Trembling Mountain of the Arabs. This wholecountry was visited by Debono, who went through it under the name ofLatif-Effendi. The tribes living near the Nile are hostile to eachother, and are continually waging a war of extermination. You may formsome idea, then, of the difficulties he had to encounter."
The wind was carrying the balloon toward the northwest, and, in order toavoid Mount Longwek, it was necessary to seek a more slanting current.
"My friends," said the doctor, "here is where OUR passage of the AfricanContinent really commences; up to this time we have been following thetraces of our predecessors. Henceforth we are to launch ourselves uponthe unknown. We shall not lack the courage, shall we?"
"Never!" said Dick and Joe together, almost in a shout.
"Onward, then, and may we have the help of Heaven!"
At ten o'clock at night, after passing over ravines, forests, andscattered villages, the aeronauts reached the side of the TremblingMountain, along whose gentle slopes they went quietly gliding. In thatmemorable day, the 23d of April, they had, in fifteen hours, impelledby a rapid breeze, traversed a distance of more than three hundred andfifteen miles.
But this latter part of the journey had left them in dull spirits, andcomplete silence reigned in the car. Was Dr. Ferguson absorbed in thethought of his discoveries? Were his two companions thinking of theirtrip through those unknown regions? There were, no doubt, mingledwith these reflections, the keenest reminiscences of home and distantfriends. Joe alone continued to manifest the same careless philosophy,finding it QUITE NATURAL that home should not be there, from the momentthat he left it; but he respected the silent mood of his friends, thedoctor and Kennedy.
About ten the balloon anchored on the side of the Trembling Mountain,so called, because, in Arab tradition, it is said to tremble the instantthat a Mussulman sets foot upon it. The travellers then partook of asubstantial meal, and all quietly passed the night as usual, keeping theregular watches.
On awaking the next morning, they all had pleasanter feelings. Theweather was fine, and the wind was blowing from the right quarter; sothat a good breakfast, seasoned with Joe's merry pranks, put them inhigh good-humor.
The region they were now crossing is very extensive. It borders on theMountains of the Moon on one side, and those of Darfur on the other--aspace about as broad as Europe.
"We are, no doubt, crossing what is supposed to be the kingdom of Usoga.Geographers have pretended that there existed, in the centre of Africa,a vast depression, an immense central lake. We shall see whether thereis any truth in that idea," said the doctor.
"But how did they come to think so?" asked Kennedy.
"From the recitals of the Arabs. Those fellows are great narrators--toomuch so, probably. Some travellers, who had got as far as Kazeh, orthe great lakes, saw slaves that had been brought from this region;interrogated them concerning it, and, from their different narratives,made up a jumble of notions, and deduced systems from them. Down at thebottom of it all there is some appearance of truth; and you see thatthey were right about the sources of the Nile."
"Nothing could be more correct," said Kennedy. "It was by the aid ofthese documents that some attempts at maps were made, and so I am goingto try to follow our route by one of them, rectifying it when need be."
"Is all this region inhabited?" asked Joe.
"Undoubtedly; and disagreeably inhabited, too."
"I thought so."
"These scattered tribes come, one and all, under the title ofNyam-Nyams, and this compound word is only a sort of nickname. Itimitates the sound of chewing."
"That's it! Excellent!" said Joe, champing his teeth as though he wereeating; "Nyam-Nyam."
"My good Joe, if you were the immediate object of this chewing, youwouldn't find it so excellent."
"Why, what's the reason, sir?"
"These tribes are considered man-eaters."
"Is that really the case?"
"Not a doubt of it! It has also been asserted that these natives hadtails, like mere quadrupeds; but it was soon discovered that theseappendages belonged to the skins of animals that they wore forclothing."
"More's the pity! a tail's a nice thing to chase away mosquitoes."
"That may be, Joe; but we must consign the story to the domain of fable,like the dogs' heads which the traveller, Brun-Rollet, attributed toother tribes."
"Dogs' heads, eh? Quite convenient for barking, and even forman-eating!"
"But one thing that has been, unfortunately, proven true, is, theferocity of these tribes, who are really very fond of human flesh, anddevour it with avidity."
"I only hope that they won't take such a particular fancy to mine!" saidJoe, with comic solemnity.
"See that!" said Kennedy.
"Yes, indeed, sir; if I have to be eaten, in a moment of famine, I wantit to be for your benefit and my master's; but the idea of feeding thoseblack fellows--gracious! I'd die of shame!"
"Well, then, Joe," said Kennedy, "that's understood; we count upon youin case of need!"
"At your service, gentlemen!"
"Joe talks in this way so as to make us take good care of him, andfatten him up."
"Maybe so!" said Joe. "Every man for himself."
In the afternoon, the sky became covered with a warm mist, that oozedfrom the soil; the brownish vapor scarcely allowed the beholder todistinguish objects, and so, fearing collision with some unexpectedmountain-peak, the doctor, about five o'clock, gave the signal to halt.
The night passed without accident, but in such profound obscurity, thatit was necessary to use redoubled vigilance.
The monsoon blew with extreme violence during all the next morning. Thewind buried itself in the lower cavities of the balloon and shook theappendage by which the dilating-pipes entered the main apparatus. Theyhad, at last, to be tied up with cords, Joe acquitting himself veryskilfully in performing that operation.
He had occasion to observe, at the same time, that the orifice of theballoon still remained hermetically sealed.
"That is a matter of double importance for u
s," said the doctor; "in thefirst place, we avoid the escape of precious gas, and then, again, wedo not leave behind us an inflammable train, which we should at lastinevitably set fire to, and so be consumed."
"That would be a disagreeable travelling incident!" said Joe.
"Should we be hurled to the ground?" asked Kennedy.
"Hurled! No, not quite that. The gas would burn quietly, and we shoulddescend little by little. A similar accident happened to a Frenchaeronaut, Madame Blanchard. She ignited her balloon while sending offfireworks, but she did not fall, and she would not have been killed,probably, had not her car dashed against a chimney and precipitated herto the ground."
"Let us hope that nothing of the kind may happen to us," said thehunter. "Up to this time our trip has not seemed to me very dangerous,and I can see nothing to prevent us reaching our destination."
"Nor can I either, my dear Dick; accidents are generally caused by theimprudence of the aeronauts, or the defective construction of theirapparatus. However, in thousands of aerial ascensions, there have notbeen twenty fatal accidents. Usually, the danger is in the moment ofleaving the ground, or of alighting, and therefore at those junctures weshould never omit the utmost precaution."
"It's breakfast-time," said Joe; "we'll have to put up with preservedmeat and coffee until Mr. Kennedy has had another chance to get us agood slice of venison."