



Produced by Judy Boss






FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON

Or,

Journeys And Discoveries In Africa By Three Englishmen.

Compiled In French

By Jules Verne,

From The Original Notes Of Dr. Ferguson.

And Done Into English By

"William Lackland."




PUBLISHERS' NOTE.

"Five Weeks in a Balloon" is, in a measure, a satire on modern books of
African travel. So far as the geography, the inhabitants, the animals,
and the features of the countries the travellers pass over are
described, it is entirely accurate. It gives, in some particulars, a
survey of nearly the whole field of African discovery, and in this
way will often serve to refresh the memory of the reader. The mode
of locomotion is, of course, purely imaginary, and the incidents and
adventures fictitious. The latter are abundantly amusing, and, in view
of the wonderful "travellers' tales" with which we have been entertained
by African explorers, they can scarcely be considered extravagant; while
the ingenuity and invention of the author will be sure to excite the
surprise and the admiration of the reader, who will find M. VERNE
as much at home in voyaging through the air as in journeying "Twenty
Thousand Leagues under the Seas."




DETAILED CONTENTS.


CHAP. FIRST.

The End of a much-applauded Speech.--The Presentation of Dr. Samuel
Ferguson.--Excelsior.--Full-length Portrait of the Doctor.--A Fatalist
convinced.--A Dinner at the Travellers' Club.--Several Toasts for the
Occasion

CHAP. SECOND.

The Article in the Daily Telegraph.--War between the Scientific
Journals.--Mr. Petermann backs his Friend Dr. Ferguson.--Reply of the
Savant Koner.--Bets made.--Sundry Propositions offered to the Doctor

CHAP. THIRD.

The Doctor's Friend.--The Origin of their Friendship.--Dick Kennedy at
London.--An unexpected but not very consoling Proposal.--A Proverb by
no means cheering.--A few Names from the African Martyrology.--The
Advantages of a Balloon.--Dr. Ferguson's Secret

CHAP. FOURTH.

African Explorations.--Barth, Richardson, Overweg, Werne, Brun-Rollet,
Penney, Andrea, Debono, Miani, Guillaume Lejean, Brace, Krapf and
Rebmann, Maizan, Roscher, Burton and Speke

CHAP. FIFTH.

Kennedy's Dreams.--Articles and Pronouns in the Plural.--Dick's
Insinuations.--A Promenade over the Map of Africa.--What is contained
between two Points of the Compass.--Expeditions now on foot.--Speke and
Grant.--Krapf, De Decken, and De Heuglin

CHAP. SIXTH.

A Servant--match him!--He can see the Satellites of Jupiter.--Dick
and Joe hard at it.--Doubt and Faith.--The Weighing Ceremony.--Joe and
Wellington.--He gets a Half-crown

CHAP. SEVENTH.

Geometrical Details.--Calculation of the Capacity of the Balloon.--The
Double Receptacle.--The Covering.--The Car.--The Mysterious
Apparatus.--The Provisions and Stores.--The Final Summing up

CHAP. EIGHTH.

Joe's Importance.--The Commander of the Resolute.--Kennedy's
Arsenal.--Mutual Amenities.--The Farewell Dinner.--Departure on the
21st of February.--The Doctor's Scientific
Sessions.--Duveyrier.--Livingstone.--Details of the Aerial
Voyage.--Kennedy silenced

CHAP. NINTH.

They double the Cape.--The Forecastle.--A Course of Cosmography by
Professor Joe.--Concerning the Method of guiding Balloons.--How to seek
out Atmospheric Currents.--Eureka

CHAP. TENTH.

Former Experiments.--The Doctor's Five Receptacles.--The Gas
Cylinder.--The Calorifere.--The System of Manoeuvring.--Success certain

CHAP. ELEVENTH.

The Arrival at Zanzibar.--The English Consul.--Ill-will of the
Inhabitants.--The Island of Koumbeni.--The Rain-Makers.--Inflation of
the Balloon.--Departure on the 18th of April.--The last Good-by.--The
Victoria

CHAP. TWELFTH.

Crossing the Strait.--The Mrima.--Dick's Remark and Joe's
Proposition.--A Recipe for Coffee-making.--The Uzaramo.--The Unfortunate
Maizan.--Mount Duthumi.--The Doctor's Cards.--Night under a Nopal

CHAP. THIRTEENTH.

Change of Weather.--Kennedy has the Fever.--The Doctor's
Medicine.--Travels on Land.--The Basin of Imenge.--Mount Rubeho.--Six
Thousand Feet Elevation.--A Halt in the Daytime

CHAP. FOURTEENTH.

The Forest of Gum-Trees.--The Blue Antelope.--The Rallying-Signal.--An
Unexpected Attack.--The Kanyeme.--A Night in the Open Air.--The
Mabunguru.--Jihoue-la-Mkoa.--A Supply of Water.--Arrival at Kazeh

CHAP. FIFTEENTH.

Kazeh.--The Noisy Market-place.--The Appearance of the Balloon.--The
Wangaga.--The Sons of the Moon.--The Doctor's Walk.--The Population
of the Place.--The Royal Tembe.--The Sultan's Wives.--A Royal
Drunken-Bout.--Joe an Object of Worship.--How they Dance in the Moon.--A
Reaction.--Two Moons in one Sky.--The Instability of Divine Honors

CHAP. SIXTEENTH.

Symptoms of a Storm.--The Country of the Moon.--The Future of the
African Continent.--The Last Machine of all.--A View of the Country at
Sunset.--Flora and Fauna.--The Tempest.--The Zone of Fire.--The Starry
Heavens.

CHAP. SEVENTEENTH.

The Mountains of the Moon.--An Ocean of Venture.--They cast Anchor.--The
Towing Elephant.--A Running Fire.--Death of the Monster.--The Field
Oven.--A Meal on the Grass.--A Night on the Ground

CHAP. EIGHTEENTH.

The Karagwah.--Lake Ukereoue.--A Night on an Island.--The
Equator.--Crossing the Lake.--The Cascades.--A View of the Country.--The
Sources of the Nile.--The Island of Benga.--The Signature of Andrea
Debono.--The Flag with the Arms of England

CHAP. NINETEENTH.

The Nile.--The Trembling Mountain.--A Remembrance of the
Country.--The Narratives of the Arabs.--The Nyam-Nyams.--Joe's
Shrewd Cogitations.--The Balloon runs the Gantlet.--Aerostatic
Ascensions.--Madame Blanchard.

CHAP. TWENTIETH.

The Celestial Bottle.--The Fig-Palms.--The Mammoth Trees.--The Tree of
War.--The Winged Team.--Two Native Tribes in Battle.--A Massacre.--An
Intervention from above

CHAP. TWENTY-FIRST.

Strange Sounds.--A Night Attack.--Kennedy and Joe in the Tree.--Two
Shots.--"Help! help!"--Reply in French.--The Morning.--The
Missionary.--The Plan of Rescue

CHAP. TWENTY-SECOND.

The Jet of Light.--The Missionary.--The Rescue in a Ray of
Electricity.--A Lazarist Priest.--But little Hope.--The Doctor's
Care.--A Life of Self-Denial.--Passing a Volcano

CHAP. TWENTY-THIRD.

Joe in a Fit of Rage.--The Death of a Good Man.--The Night of watching
by the Body.--Barrenness and Drought.--The Burial.--The Quartz
Rocks.--Joe's Hallucinations.--A Precious Ballast.--A Survey of the
Gold-bearing Mountains.--The Beginning of Joe's Despair

CHAP. TWENTY-FOURTH.

The Wind dies away.--The Vicinity of the Desert.--The Mistake in
the Water Supply.--The Nights of the Equator.--Dr. Ferguson's
Anxieties.--The Situation flatly stated.--Energetic Replies of Kennedy
and Joe.--One Night more

CHAP. TWENTY-FIFTH.

A Little Philosophy.--A Cloud on the Horizon.--In the Midst of a
Fog.--The Strange Balloon.--An Exact View of the Victoria.--The
Palm-Trees.--Traces of a Caravan.--The Well in the Midst of the Desert

CHAP. TWENTY-SIXTH.

One Hundred and Thirteen Degrees.--The Doctor's Reflections.--A
Desperate Search.--The Cylinder goes out.--One Hundred and
Twenty-two Degrees.--Contemplation of the Desert.--A Night
Walk.--Solitude.--Debility.--Joe's Prospects.--He gives himself One Day
more

CHAP. TWENTY-SEVENTH.

Terrific Heat.--Hallucinations.--The Last Drops of Water.--Nights of
Despair.--An Attempt at Suicide.--The Simoom.--The Oasis.--The Lion and
Lioness.

CHAP. TWENTY-EIGHTH.

An Evening of Delight.--Joe's Culinary Performances.--A Dissertation
on Raw Meat.--The Narrative of James Bruce.--Camping out.--Joe's
Dreams.--The Barometer begins to fall.--The Barometer rises
again.--Preparations for Departure.--The Tempest

CHAP. TWENTY-NINTH.

Signs of Vegetation.--The Fantastic Notion of a French Author.--A
Magnificent Country.--The Kingdom of Adamova.--The Explorations of
Speke and Burton connected with those of Dr. Barth.--The Atlantika
Mountains.--The River Benoue.--The City of Yola.--The Bagele.--Mount
Mendif

CHAP. THIRTIETH.

Mosfeia.--The Sheik.--Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney.--Vogel.--The
Capital of Loggoum.--Toole.--Becalmed above Kernak.--The Governor and
his Court.--The Attack.--The Incendiary Pigeons

CHAP. THIRTY-FIRST.

Departure in the Night-time.--All Three.--Kennedy's
Instincts.--Precautions.--The Course of the Shari River.--Lake
Tchad.--The Water of the Lake.--The Hippopotamus.--One Bullet thrown
away

CHAP. THIRTY-SECOND.

The Capital of Bornou.--The Islands of the Biddiomahs.--The
Condors.--The Doctor's Anxieties.--His Precautions.--An Attack
in Mid-air.--The Balloon Covering torn.--The Fall.--Sublime
Self-Sacrifice.--The Northern Coast of the Lake

CHAP. THIRTY-THIRD.

Conjectures.--Reestablishment of the Victoria's Equilibrium.--Dr.
Ferguson's New Calculations.--Kennedy's Hunt.--A Complete Exploration of
Lake Tchad.--Tangalia.--The Return.--Lari

CHAP. THIRTY-FOURTH.

The Hurricane.--A Forced Departure.--Loss of an Anchor.--Melancholy
Reflections.--The Resolution adopted.--The Sand-Storm.--The Buried
Caravan.--A Contrary yet Favorable Wind.--The Return southward.--Kennedy
at his Post

CHAP. THIRTY-FIFTH.

What happened to Joe.--The Island of the Biddiomahs.--The Adoration
shown him.--The Island that sank.--The Shores of the Lake.--The Tree
of the Serpents.--The Foot-Tramp.--Terrible Suffering.--Mosquitoes and
Ants.--Hunger.--The Victoria seen.--She disappears.--The Swamp.--One
Last Despairing Cry

CHAP. THIRTY-SIXTH.

A Throng of People on the Horizon.--A Troop of Arabs.--The Pursuit.--It
is He.--Fall from Horseback.--The Strangled Arab.--A Ball from
Kennedy.--Adroit Manoeuvres.--Caught up flying.--Joe saved at last

CHAP. THIRTY-SEVENTH.

The Western Route.--Joe wakes up.--His Obstinacy.--End of Joe's
Narrative.--Tagelei.--Kennedy's Anxieties.--The Route to the North.--A
Night near Aghades

CHAP. THIRTY-EIGHTH.

A Rapid Passage.--Prudent Resolves.--Caravans in Sight.--Incessant
Rains.--Goa.--The Niger.--Golberry, Geoffroy, and Gray.--Mungo
Park.--Laing.--Rene Caillie.--Clapperton.--John and Richard Lander

CHAP. THIRTY-NINTH.

The Country in the Elbow of the Niger.--A Fantastic View of the Hombori
Mountains.--Kabra.--Timbuctoo.--The Chart of Dr. Barth.--A Decaying
City.--Whither Heaven wills

CHAP. FORTIETH.

Dr. Ferguson's Anxieties.--Persistent Movement southward.--A Cloud
of Grasshoppers.--A View of Jenne.--A View of Sego.--Change of the
Wind.--Joe's Regrets

CHAP. FORTY-FIRST.

The Approaches to Senegal.--The Balloon sinks lower and lower.--They
keep throwing out, throwing out.--The Marabout Al-Hadji.--Messrs.
Pascal, Vincent, and Lambert.--A Rival of Mohammed.--The Difficult
Mountains.--Kennedy's Weapons.--One of Joe's Manoeuvres.--A Halt over a
Forest

CHAP. FORTY-SECOND.

A Struggle of Generosity.--The Last Sacrifice.--The Dilating
Apparatus.--Joe's Adroitness.--Midnight.--The Doctor's Watch.--Kennedy's
Watch.--The Latter falls asleep at his Post.--The Fire.--The Howlings of
the Natives.--Out of Range

CHAP. FORTY-THIRD.

The Talabas.--The Pursuit.--A Devastated Country.--The Wind begins to
fall.--The Victoria sinks.--The last of the Provisions.--The Leaps of
the Balloon.--A Defence with Fire-arms.--The Wind freshens.--The Senegal
River.--The Cataracts of Gouina.--The Hot Air.--The Passage of the River

CHAP. FORTY-FOURTH.

Conclusion.--The Certificate.--The French Settlements.--The Post of
Medina.--The Battle.--Saint Louis.--The English Frigate.--The Return to
London.




FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON.



CHAPTER FIRST.

The End of a much-applauded Speech.--The Presentation of Dr. Samuel
Ferguson.--Excelsior.--Full-length Portrait of the Doctor.--A Fatalist
convinced.--A Dinner at the Travellers' Club.--Several Toasts for the
Occasion.

There was a large audience assembled on the 14th of January, 1862, at
the session of the Royal Geographical Society, No. 3 Waterloo
Place, London. The president, Sir Francis M----, made an important
communication to his colleagues, in an address that was frequently
interrupted by applause.

This rare specimen of eloquence terminated with the following sonorous
phrases bubbling over with patriotism:

"England has always marched at the head of nations" (for, the reader
will observe, the nations always march at the head of each other), "by
the intrepidity of her explorers in the line of geographical discovery."
(General assent). "Dr. Samuel Ferguson, one of her most glorious sons,
will not reflect discredit on his origin." ("No, indeed!" from all parts
of the hall.)

"This attempt, should it succeed" ("It will succeed!"), "will complete
and link together the notions, as yet disjointed, which the world
entertains of African cartology" (vehement applause); "and, should it
fail, it will, at least, remain on record as one of the most daring
conceptions of human genius!" (Tremendous cheering.)

"Huzza! huzza!" shouted the immense audience, completely electrified by
these inspiring words.

"Huzza for the intrepid Ferguson!" cried one of the most excitable of
the enthusiastic crowd.

The wildest cheering resounded on all sides; the name of Ferguson was in
every mouth, and we may safely believe that it lost nothing in passing
through English throats. Indeed, the hall fairly shook with it.

And there were present, also, those fearless travellers and explorers
whose energetic temperaments had borne them through every quarter of the
globe, many of them grown old and worn out in the service of science.
All had, in some degree, physically or morally, undergone the sorest
trials. They had escaped shipwreck; conflagration; Indian tomahawks and
war-clubs; the fagot and the stake; nay, even the cannibal maws of the
South Sea Islanders. But still their hearts beat high during Sir Francis
M----'s address, which certainly was the finest oratorical success that
the Royal Geographical Society of London had yet achieved.

But, in England, enthusiasm does not stop short with mere words. It
strikes off money faster than the dies of the Royal Mint itself. So a
subscription to encourage Dr. Ferguson was voted there and then, and
it at once attained the handsome amount of two thousand five hundred
pounds. The sum was made commensurate with the importance of the
enterprise.

A member of the Society then inquired of the president whether Dr.
Ferguson was not to be officially introduced.

"The doctor is at the disposition of the meeting," replied Sir Francis.

"Let him come in, then! Bring him in!" shouted the audience. "We'd like
to see a man of such extraordinary daring, face to face!"

"Perhaps this incredible proposition of his is only intended to mystify
us," growled an apoplectic old admiral.

"Suppose that there should turn out to be no such person as Dr.
Ferguson?" exclaimed another voice, with a malicious twang.

"Why, then, we'd have to invent one!" replied a facetious member of this
grave Society.

"Ask Dr. Ferguson to come in," was the quiet remark of Sir Francis
M----.

And come in the doctor did, and stood there, quite unmoved by the
thunders of applause that greeted his appearance.

He was a man of about forty years of age, of medium height and physique.
His sanguine temperament was disclosed in the deep color of his cheeks.
His countenance was coldly expressive, with regular features, and a
large nose--one of those noses that resemble the prow of