The Mountains of the Moon.--An Ocean of Verdure.--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.
About four in the morning, Monday, the sun reappeared
in the horizon; the clouds had dispersed, and a
cheery breeze refreshed the morning dawn.
The earth, all redolent with fragrant exhalations,
reappeared to the gaze of our travellers. The balloon,
whirled about by opposing currents, had hardly budged
from its place, and the doctor, letting the gas contract,
descended so as to get a more northerly direction. For
a long while his quest was fruitless; the wind carried him
toward the west until he came in sight of the famous
Mountains of the Moon, which grouped themselves in a
semicircle around the extremity of Lake Tanganayika; their
ridges, but slightly indented, stood out against the bluish
horizon, so that they might have been mistaken for a natural
fortification, not to be passed by the explorers of the
centre of Africa. Among them were a few isolated cones,
revealing the mark of the eternal snows.
"Here we are at last," said the doctor, "in an unexplored
country! Captain Burton pushed very far to the westward,
but he could not reach those celebrated mountains; he even
denied their existence, strongly as it was affirmed by
Speke, his companion.
Pages:
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176