--The Uzaramo.--The
Unfortunate Maizan.--Mount Dathumi.--The Doctor's Cards.--Night
under a Nopal.
The air was pure, the wind moderate, and the balloon
ascended almost perpendicularly to a height of fifteen
hundred feet, as indicated by a depression of two inches
in the barometric column.
At this height a more decided current carried the
balloon toward the southwest. What a magnificent spectacle
was then outspread beneath the gaze of the travellers!
The island of Zanzibar could be seen in its entire extent,
marked out by its deeper color upon a vast planisphere;
the fields had the appearance of patterns of different
colors, and thick clumps of green indicated the groves and
thickets.
The inhabitants of the island looked no larger than
insects. The huzzaing and shouting were little by little
lost in the distance, and only the discharge of the ship's
guns could be heard in the concavity beneath the balloon,
as the latter sped on its flight.
"How fine that is!" said Joe, breaking silence for the
first time.
He got no reply. The doctor was busy observing the
variations of the barometer and noting down the details
of his ascent.
Kennedy looked on, and had not eyes enough to take
in all that he saw.
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