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.
About three o'clock in the morning, Joe, who was then on watch, at length saw the city move away from beneath his feet. The Victoria was once again in motion, and both the doctor and Kennedy awoke.
The former consulted his compass, and saw, with satisfaction, that the wind was carrying them toward the north-northeast.
"We are in luck!" said he; "every thing works in our favor: we shall discover Lake Tchad this very day."
"Is it a broad sheet of water?" asked Kennedy.
"Somewhat, Dick. At its greatest length and breadth, it measures about one hundred and twenty miles."
"It will spice our trip with a little variety to sail over a spacious sheet of water."
"After all, though, I don't see that we have much to complain of on that score. Our trip has been very much varied, indeed; and, moreover, we are getting on under the best possible conditions."
"Unquestionably so; excepting those privations on the desert, we have encountered no serious danger."
"It is not to be denied that our noble balloon has behaved wonderfully well. To-day is May 12th, and we started on the 18th of April. That makes twenty-five days of journeying. In ten days more we shall have reached our destination."
"Where is that?"
"I do not know. But what does that signify?"
"You are right again, Samuel! Let us intrust to Providence the care of guiding us and of keeping us in good health as we are now. We don't look much as though we had been crossing the most pestilential country in the world!"
"We had an opportunity of getting up in life, and that's what we have done!"
"Hurrah for trips in the air!" cried Joe. "Here we are at the end of twenty-five days in good condition, well fed, and well rested. We've had too much rest in fact, for my legs begin to feel rusty, and I wouldn't be vexed a bit to stretch them with a run of thirty miles or so!"
"You can do that, Joe, in the streets of London, but in fine we set out three together, like Denham, Clapperton, and Overweg; like Barth, Richardson, and Vogel, and, more fortunate than our predecessors here, we are three in number still. But it is most important for us not to separate. If, while one of us was on the ground, the Victoria should have to ascend in order to escape some sudden danger, who knows whether we should ever see each other again? Therefore it is that I say again to Kennedy frankly that I do not like his going off alone to hunt."
"But still, Samuel, you will permit me to indulge that fancy a little. There is no harm in renewing our stock of provisions. Besides, before our departure, you held out to me the prospect of some superb hunting, and thus far I have done but little in the line of the Andersons and Cummings."
"But, my dear Dick, your memory fails you, or your modesty makes you forget your own exploits. It really seems to me that, without mentioning small game, you have already an antelope, an elephant, and two lions on your conscience."
"But what's all that to an African sportsman who sees all the animals in creation strutting along under the muzzle of his rifle? There! there! look at that troop of giraffes!"
"Those giraffes," roared Joe; "why, they're not as big as my fist."
"Because we are a thousand feet above them; but close to them you would discover that they are three times as tall as you are!"
"And what do you say to yon herd of gazelles, and those ostriches, that run with the speed of the wind?" resumed Kennedy.
"Those ostriches?" remonstrated Joe, again; "those are chickens, and the greatest kind of chickens!"
"Come, doctor, can't we get down nearer to them?" pleaded Kennedy.
"We can get closer to them, Dick, but we must not land. And what good will it do you to strike down those poor animals when they can be of no use to you? Now, if the question were to destroy a lion, a tiger, a cat, a hyena, I could understand it; but to deprive an antelope or a gazelle of life, to no other purpose than the gratification of your instincts as a sportsman, seems hardly worth the trouble. But, after all, my friend, we are going to keep at about one hundred feet only from the soil, and, should you see any ferocious wild beast, oblige us by sending a ball through its heart!"
The Victoria descended gradually, but still keeping at a safe height, for, in a barbarous, yet very populous country, it was necessary to keep on the watch for unexpected perils.
The travellers were then directly following the course of the Shari. The charming banks of this river were hidden beneath the foliage of trees of various dyes; lianas and climbing plants wound in and out on all sides and formed the most curious combinations of color. Crocodiles were seen basking in the broad blaze of the sun or plunging beneath the waters with the agility of lizards, and in their gambols they sported about among the many green islands that intercept the current of the stream.
It was thus, in the midst of rich and verdant landscapes that our travellers passed over the district of Maffatay, and about nine o'clock in the morning reached the southern shore of Lake Tchad.
There it was at last, outstretched before them, that Caspian Sea of Africa, the existence of which was so long consigned to the realms of fable--that interior expanse of water to which only Denham's and Barth's expeditions had been able to force their way.
The doctor strove in vain to fix its precise configuration upon paper. It had already changed greatly since 1847. In fact, the chart of Lake Tchad is very difficult to trace with exactitude, for it is surrounded by muddy and almost impassable morasses, in which Barth thought that he was doomed to perish. From year to year these marshes, covered with reeds and papyrus fifteen feet high, become the lake itself. Frequently, too, the villages on its shores are half submerged, as was the case with Ngornou in 1856, and now the hippopotamus and the alligator frisk and dive where the dwellings of Bornou once stood.
The sun shot his dazzling rays over this placid sheet of water, and toward the north the two elements merged into one and the same horizon.
The doctor was desirous of determining the character of the water, which was long believed to be salt. There was no danger in descending close to the lake, and the car was soon skimming its surface like a bird at the distance of only five feet.
Joe plunged a bottle into the lake and drew it up half filled. The water was then tasted and found to be but little fit for drinking, with a certain carbonate-of-soda flavor.
While the doctor was jotting down the result of this experiment, the loud report of a gun was heard close beside him. Kennedy had not been able to resist the temptation of firing at a huge hippopotamus. The latter, who had been basking quietly, disappeared at the sound of the explosion, but did not seem to be otherwise incommoded by Kennedy's conical bullet.
"You'd have done better if you had harpooned him," said Joe.
"But how?"
"With one of our anchors. It would have been a hook just big enough for such a rousing beast as that!"
"Humph!" ejaculated Kennedy, "Joe really has an idea this time--"
"Which I beg of you not to put into execution," interposed the doctor. "The animal would very quickly have dragged us where we could not have done much to help ourselves, and where we have no business to be."
"Especially now since we've settled the question as to what kind of water there is in Lake Tchad. Is that sort of fish good to eat, Dr. Ferguson?"
"That fish, as you call it, Joe, is really a mammiferous animal of the pachydermal species. Its flesh is said to be excellent and is an article of important trade between the tribes living along the borders of the lake."
"Then I'm sorry that Mr. Kennedy's shot didn't do more damage."
"The animal is vulnerable only in the stomach and between the thighs. Dick's ball hasn't even marked him; but should the ground strike me as favorable, we shall halt at the northern end of the lake, where Kennedy will find himself in the midst of a whole menagerie, and can make up for lost time."
"Well," said Joe, "I hope then that Mr. Kennedy will hunt the hippopotamus a little; I'd like to taste the meat of that queer-looking beast. It doesn't look exactly natural to get away into the centre of Africa, to feed on snipe and partridge, just as if we were in England."
夜间动身——三人聊天——肯尼迪的天性——预防措施——沙里河——乍得湖——湖水——河马——打飞的一枪
早上3点钟左右， 正在值班的乔终于看到脚下的城市移动了。“维多利亚号”又开始上路。这时，弗格森醒了。
博士查看了一下罗盘。他满意地发现风正带着他们向东北偏北方向移动。
“我们很走运，”他说，“样样顺利，今天，我们就能见到乍得湖了。”
“湖的面积大吗？”肯尼迪问。
“亲爱的肯尼迪，大得很，这个湖最长的地方和最宽的地方有120英里呢。”
“在这么一大片平静的湖面上飘荡，倒真使我们的旅行有了些不同。”
“我觉得我们没有什么可抱怨的。这次旅行生活已经非常丰富多彩了，特别是一路上还算顺利。”
“这没说的，弗格森。如果不算沙漠缺水那一段的话，可以说，我们就没有碰到过什么大的危险。”
“可以肯定的是， 我们这忠实的‘维多利亚号’一直干得不赖。今天是5月12日， 我们是4月18日动身的，算来，已经飞了25天，再过10天左右我们就能到达目的地了。”
“哪儿是目的地呢？”
“现在我也毫不清楚。不过，最后到哪儿对我们来说又有什么关系呢？反正旅行的目的已经达到了。”
“你说的对，弗格森。我们就听从上帝的安排吧！让他像过去一样指引我们前进，使我们有付好身体。瞧瞧大家的气色，就好像不是从世界上瘟疫最猖极的地区来的！”
“那是因为我们可以升得高高的，而且确实是这么做的。”
“空中旅行万岁！”乔高呼，“25天过去了，我们依然是身体棒棒的，吃得饱饱的，休息得足足的，甚至可能太足了，因为我的腿都要锈住了。如果现在能走上30英里，活动活动腿脚，我不会不高兴的。”
“乔，你把这种乐趣留到伦敦大街上去享受吧。不过，可以下结论的是，我们比我们的前人幸运。 我们是3个人一起出发的，这一点和丹纳姆、克拉珀顿、奥韦尔韦格一样，也和巴尔特、理查逊及弗格尔一样。但是他们有的死了，有的失踪了，最后没剩下几个。 而我们到现在3个人仍然在一起！最重要的是我们不要分开。如果我们其中一位在陆地上的时候，‘维多利亚号’为躲避突然出现的意外，不得不起飞，那么，谁知道以后还会不会再见到他呢？因此，坦率地说，我是不愿意肯尼迪离开气球去打猎的。”
“弗格森老友，你还是让我再过过这个瘾吧。换换口味也不坏嘛。再说，我们动身来非洲之前，你曾经隐约向我提到过一整套绝妙的打猎计划。可是直到如今，我还没有打过几次猎呢。”
“可是，亲爱的肯尼迪，要么是你的记性不好，要么是你谦虚，忘了自己的功劳。小猎物就不说了，我觉得你该好好问问自己，那一只羚羊，一只大象和两只狮子是怎么死的。”
“嗳！对一个把所有的动物都看作枪下之物的猎人来说，这又算得上什么？喏，喏！瞧那长颈鹿！”
“啊，这就是长颈鹿？”乔问，“也就和拳头差不多大嘛！”
“那是我们在它们的上面1000尺高的缘故。如果离得近，你就会发现，它的个头要比你高3倍。”
“对这群非洲羚羊，你又怎么说？”肯尼迪问，“还有那些跑起来像风一样快的鸵鸟？”
“啊！那就是鸵鸟！”乔又叫道，“简直就是鸡嘛，完完全全像鸡！”
“怎么样，弗格森！就不能靠近点吗？”
“肯尼迪，可以靠近些，但是不能着陆，所以说，这些动物对你没一点儿用处，你又何必打它们呢？假如是只狮子、老虎或鬣狗，我还能理解，至少总是只凶险的野兽，可是像羚羊这样的动物，除非有其他好处，否则，打它们干什么？如果只是想满足你那猎人的打猎瘾， 的确不值得。再说，我们毕竟要待在离地100尺高的空中。当然，如果你认准某个猛兽，一枪打中它的心脏，我们会很高兴的。”
“维多利亚号”一点点地下降，不过，最后还是停在安全高度上。在这个人口稠密的野蛮地区，随时都可能有意想不到的危险，因此，还是提防点儿好。
三位旅行家现在是沿着沙里河飞行。浓密的树荫遮住了迷人的两岸。这里树木的种类繁多，色调各异。遍野的藤本植物和攀援植物弯弯曲曲，纵横交错，相互缠绕，仿佛给大地铺上了一层五颜六色的地毯。鳄鱼就像是生气勃勃的蜥蜴一样，时而在阳光下打斗，时而钻入水中嬉戏。它们一边玩耍，一边向沙里河中星星点点的众多绿岛靠去。
“维多利亚号” 就这样在富饶而苍翠的大自然中飞过了玛法泰地区。早晨9点左右，弗格森博士和他的朋友终于抵达乍得湖南岸。
这就是非洲的里海，这就是只有丹纳姆和巴尔特两只探险队到过的内海。很长时间里，它的存在被一些学者斥为是无稽之谈。
弗格森博士试着记下湖的现在形状。从1847年至今，湖的模样已经有了很大的差异。其实，这个湖的地图是没法画出来的，因为，湖的四周全是几乎无法穿越的泥沼。巴尔特就曾陷到里面险些丧了命。沼泽地里一年到头长着15尺高的芦苇和纸沙草，它们已经成了湖的一部分。湖边的城市常常因此被淹没，1856年，恩戈努城就遇到了此事。河马和凯门鳄现在经常出没的地方原来曾是博尔努城的住宅区。
太阳把耀眼的光芒洒到平静的湖面上，映得湖水一片金光。往北眺望，只见地平线上水茫茫，天无涯，天水交接连成一片。
博士想确认一下水质，因为很久以来，人们一直认为它是咸的。现在靠近湖面没有任何危险，所以吊蓝像一只飞鸟一样在距水面5尺高的空中掠过。
乔放下去一只瓶子，灌了半瓶湖水上来。博士尝了尝，他发觉水带有一种泡碱味，不能喝。正当博士记下水质检验结果时，他身边突然发出一声枪响。原来，肯尼迪实在忍受不住打猎的欲望，对准一只怪模怪样的河马开了一枪。这只正在安闲呼吸的大家伙一听到枪声立即消失了。猎人的圆锥形子弹好像并没有伤害它，只是把它吓跑了。
“要是用鱼叉就好了。”乔遗憾地说。
“这儿哪来的鱼叉？”肯尼迪问。
“就拿我们的锚试试嘛。对付这样的大家伙，锚正好当钩用。”
“哦，乔倒想了个好主意……”肯尼迪说。
“我求求你们，千万别这么做！”博士表示反对，“这怪物会很快把我们拖到我们不愿去的地方。”
“尤其现在，我们已经弄清楚了乍得湖水的味道。”乔表示同意，“弗格森先生，那条大鱼能吃吗？”
“乔，你说的那条鱼实实在在是厚皮动物中的一种哺乳动物。听说，它的肉很好吃，而且是乍得湖沿岸居民买卖最多的东西。”
“听您这么一说，我倒有些可惜了，刚才肯尼迪先生的那一枪要是能击中多好。”
“这种动物只有肚子或两条大腿之间的部位才容易受伤。肯尼迪的子弹压根就没有打中要害。不过，如果湖的北岸有地方合适，我们就停下来休息休息。到了那儿，肯尼迪肯定会觉得像是在动物园里，他可以痛痛快快地过过打猎的瘾，把以前的损失补回来。”
“好极了！”乔说道，“就让肯尼迪先生到时再打只河马吧！我还没尝过这种水陆两栖动物的肉呢，深入到了非洲的中心，还像在英国那样吃吃沙锥鸟和山鹑，的确不怎么样！”