We want to see it."
"Up to this time we have nothing to complain of,
master. The best cultivated and most fertile country in
the world instead of a desert! Believe the geographers
after that!"
Let us wait, Joe! we shall see by-and-by."
About half-past six in the evening the Victoria was directly
opposite Mount Duthumi; in order to pass, it had to ascend
to a height of more than three thousand feet, and to accomplish
that the doctor had only to raise the temperature of his gas
eighteen degrees. It might have been correctly said that he
held his balloon in his hand. Kennedy had only to indicate
to him the obstacles to be surmounted, and the Victoria
sped through the air, skimming the summits of the range.
At eight o'clock it descended the farther slope, the
acclivity of which was much less abrupt. The anchors were
thrown out from the car and one of them, coming in contact
with the branches of an enormous nopal, caught on it
firmly. Joe at once let himself slide down the rope and
secured it. The silk ladder was then lowered to him
and he remounted to the car with agility. The balloon
now remained perfectly at rest sheltered from the
eastern winds.
The evening meal was got ready, and the aeronauts,
excited by their day's journey, made a heavy onslaught
upon the provisions.
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