by Jules Verne
CHAPTER THIRTY-THIRD.
Conjectures.--Reestablishment of the Victoria's Equilibrium.--Dr.Ferguson's New Calculations.--Kennedy's Hunt.--A Complete Exploration ofLake Tchad.--Tangalia.--The Return.--Lari.
On the morrow, the 13th of May, our travellers, for the first time,reconnoitred the part of the coast on which they had landed. It was asort of island of solid ground in the midst of an immense marsh. Aroundthis fragment of terra firma grew reeds as lofty as trees are in Europe,and stretching away out of sight.
These impenetrable swamps gave security to the position of the balloon.It was necessary to watch only the borders of the lake. The vast stretchof water broadened away from the spot, especially toward the east, andnothing could be seen on the horizon, neither mainland nor islands.
The two friends had not yet ventured to speak of their recent companion.Kennedy first imparted his conjectures to the doctor.
"Perhaps Joe is not lost after all," he said. "He was a skilful lad,and had few equals as a swimmer. He would find no difficulty in swimmingacross the Firth of Forth at Edinburgh. We shall see him again--but howand where I know not. Let us omit nothing on our part to give him thechance of rejoining us."
"May God grant it as you say, Dick!" replied the doctor, with muchemotion. "We shall do everything in the world to find our lost friendagain. Let us, in the first place, see where we are. But, above allthings, let us rid the Victoria of this outside covering, which is ofno further use. That will relieve us of six hundred and fifty pounds, aweight not to be despised--and the end is worth the trouble!"
The doctor and Kennedy went to work at once, but they encountered greatdifficulty. They had to tear the strong silk away piece by piece, andthen cut it in narrow strips so as to extricate it from the meshes ofthe network. The tear made by the beaks of the condors was found to beseveral feet in length.
This operation took at least four hours, but at length the inner balloononce completely extricated did not appear to have suffered in the leastdegree. The Victoria was thus diminished in size by one fifth, and thisdifference was sufficiently noticeable to excite Kennedy's surprise.
"Will it be large enough?" he asked.
"Have no fears on that score, I will reestablish the equilibrium, andshould our poor Joe return we shall find a way to start off with himagain on our old route."
"At the moment of our fall, unless I am mistaken, we were not far froman island."
"Yes, I recollect it," said the doctor, "but that island, like all theislands on Lake Tchad, is, no doubt, inhabited by a gang of pirates andmurderers. They certainly witnessed our misfortune, and should Joe fallinto their hands, what will become of him unless protected by theirsuperstitions?"
"Oh, he's just the lad to get safely out of the scrape, I repeat. I havegreat confidence in his shrewdness and skill."
"I hope so. Now, Dick, you may go and hunt in the neighborhood, butdon't get far away whatever you do. It has become a pressing necessityfor us to renew our stock of provisions, since we had to sacrificenearly all the old lot."
"Very good, doctor, I shall not be long absent."
Hereupon, Kennedy took a double-barrelled fowling-piece, and strodethrough the long grass toward a thicket not far off, where the frequentsound of shooting soon let the doctor know that the sportsman was makinga good use of his time.
Meanwhile Ferguson was engaged in calculating the relative weight of thearticles still left in the car, and in establishing the equipoise of thesecond balloon. He found that there were still left some thirty poundsof pemmican, a supply of tea and coffee, about a gallon and a half ofbrandy, and one empty water-tank. All the dried meat had disappeared.
The doctor was aware that, by the loss of the hydrogen in the firstballoon, the ascensional force at his disposal was now reduced to aboutnine hundred pounds. He therefore had to count upon this difference inorder to rearrange his equilibrium. The new balloon measured sixty-seventhousand cubic feet, and contained thirty-three thousand four hundredand eighty feet of gas. The dilating apparatus appeared to be in goodcondition, and neither the battery nor the spiral had been injured.
The ascensional force of the new balloon was then about three thousandpounds, and, in adding together the weight of the apparatus, of thepassengers, of the stock of water, of the car and its accessories, andputting aboard fifty gallons of water, and one hundred pounds of freshmeat, the doctor got a total weight of twenty-eight hundred and thirtypounds. He could then take with him one hundred and seventy pounds ofballast, for unforeseen emergencies, and the balloon would be in exactbalance with the surrounding atmosphere.
His arrangements were completed accordingly, and he made up for Joe'sweight with a surplus of ballast. He spent the whole day in thesepreparations, and the latter were finished when Kennedy returned. Thehunter had been successful, and brought back a regular cargo of geese,wild-duck, snipe, teal, and plover. He went to work at once to draw andsmoke the game. Each piece, suspended on a small, thin skewer, was hungover a fire of green wood. When they seemed in good order, Kennedy, whowas perfectly at home in the business, packed them away in the car.
On the morrow, the hunter was to complete his supplies.
Evening surprised our travellers in the midst of this work. Their supperconsisted of pemmican, biscuit, and tea; and fatigue, after having giventhem appetite, brought them sleep. Each of them strained eyes and earsinto the gloom during his watch, sometimes fancying that they heard thevoice of poor Joe; but, alas! the voice that they so longed to hear, wasfar away.
"At the first streak of day, the doctor aroused Kennedy.
"I have been long and carefully considering what should be done," saidhe, "to find our companion."
"Whatever your plan may be, doctor, it will suit me. Speak!"
"Above all things, it is important that Joe should hear from us in someway."
"Undoubtedly. Suppose the brave fellow should take it into his head thatwe have abandoned him?"
"He! He knows us too well for that. Such a thought would never come intohis mind. But he must be informed as to where we are."
"How can that be managed?"
"We shall get into our car and be off again through the air."
"But, should the wind bear us away?"
"Happily, it will not. See, Dick! it is carrying us back to the lake;and this circumstance, which would have been vexatious yesterday, isfortunate now. Our efforts, then, will be limited to keeping ourselvesabove that vast sheet of water throughout the day. Joe cannot failto see us, and his eyes will be constantly on the lookout in thatdirection. Perhaps he will even manage to let us know the place of hisretreat."
"If he be alone and at liberty, he certainly will."
"And if a prisoner," resumed the doctor, "it not being the practice ofthe natives to confine their captives, he will see us, and comprehendthe object of our researches."
"But, at last," put in Kennedy--"for we must anticipate everything--should we find no trace--if he should have left no mark to followhim by, what are we to do?"
"We shall endeavor to regain the northern part of the lake, keepingourselves as much in sight as possible. There we'll wait; we'll explorethe banks; we'll search the water's edge, for Joe will assuredly try toreach the shore; and we will not leave the country without having doneevery thing to find him."
"Let us set out, then!" said the hunter.
The doctor hereupon took the exact bearings of the patch of solid landthey were about to leave, and arrived at the conclusion that it layon the north shore of Lake Tchad, between the village of Lari and thevillage of Ingemini, both visited by Major Denham. During this timeKennedy was completing his stock of fresh meat. Although the neighboringmarshes showed traces of the rhinoceros, the lamantine (or manatee),and the hippopotamus, he had no opportunity to see a single specimen ofthose animals.
At seven in the morning, but not without great difficulty--which toJoe would have been nothing--the balloon's anchor was detached from itshold, the gas dilated, and the new Victoria ro
se two hundred feet intothe air. It seemed to hesitate at first, and went spinning around, likea top; but at last a brisk current caught it, and it advanced over thelake, and was soon borne away at a speed of twenty miles per hour.
The doctor continued to keep at a height of from two hundred to fivehundred feet. Kennedy frequently discharged his rifle; and, whenpassing over islands, the aeronauts approached them even imprudently,scrutinizing the thickets, the bushes, the underbrush--in fine, everyspot where a mass of shade or jutting rock could have afforded a retreatto their companion. They swooped down close to the long pirogues thatnavigated the lake; and the wild fishermen, terrified at the sight ofthe balloon, would plunge into the water and regain their islands withevery symptom of undisguised affright.
"We can see nothing," said Kennedy, after two hours of search.
"Let us wait a little longer, Dick, and not lose heart. We cannot be faraway from the scene of our accident."
By eleven o'clock the balloon had gone ninety miles. It then fell inwith a new current, which, blowing almost at right angles to the other,drove them eastward about sixty miles. It next floated over a very largeand populous island, which the doctor took to be Farram, on which thecapital of the Biddiomahs is situated. Ferguson expected at every momentto see Joe spring up out of some thicket, flying for his life, andcalling for help. Were he free, they could pick him up without trouble;were he a prisoner, they could rescue him by repeating the manoeuvrethey had practised to save the missionary, and he would soon be withhis friends again; but nothing was seen, not a sound was heard. The caseseemed desperate.
About half-past two o'clock, the Victoria hove in sight of Tangalia, avillage situated on the eastern shore of Lake Tchad, where it marks theextreme point attained by Denham at the period of his exploration.
The doctor became uneasy at this persistent setting of the wind in thatdirection, for he felt that he was being thrown back to the eastward,toward the centre of Africa, and the interminable deserts of thatregion.
"We must absolutely come to a halt," said he, "and even alight. ForJoe's sake, particularly, we ought to go back to the lake; but, to beginwith, let us endeavor to find an opposite current."
During more than an hour he searched at different altitudes: the balloonalways came back toward the mainland. But at length, at the height of athousand feet, a very violent breeze swept to the northwestward.
It was out of the question that Joe should have been detained on one ofthe islands of the lake; for, in such case he would certainly have foundmeans to make his presence there known. Perhaps he had been dragged tothe mainland. The doctor was reasoning thus to himself, when he againcame in sight of the northern shore of Lake Tchad.
As for supposing that Joe had been drowned, that was not to be believedfor a moment. One horrible thought glanced across the minds of bothKennedy and the doctor: caymans swarm in these waters! But neither onenor the other had the courage to distinctly communicate this impression.However, it came up to them so forcibly at last that the doctor said,without further preface:
"Crocodiles are found only on the shores of the islands or of the lake,and Joe will have skill enough to avoid them. Besides, they are not verydangerous; and the Africans bathe with impunity, and quite fearless oftheir attacks."
Kennedy made no reply. He preferred keeping quiet to discussing thisterrible possibility.
The doctor made out the town of Lari about five o'clock in the evening.The inhabitants were at work gathering in their cotton-crop in frontof their huts, constructed of woven reeds, and standing in the midstof clean and neatly-kept enclosures. This collection of about fiftyhabitations occupied a slight depression of the soil, in a valleyextending between two low mountains. The force of the wind carried thedoctor farther onward than he wanted to go; but it changed a secondtime, and bore him back exactly to his starting-point, on the sort ofenclosed island where he had passed the preceding night. The anchor,instead of catching the branches of the tree, took hold in the massesof reeds mixed with the thick mud of the marshes, which offeredconsiderable resistance.
The doctor had much difficulty in restraining the balloon; but at lengththe wind died away with the setting in of nightfall; and the two friendskept watch together in an almost desperate state of mind.