"
"Very good, doctor, I shall not be long absent."
Hereupon, Kennedy took a double-barrelled fowling-piece,
and strode through the long grass toward a thicket
not far off, where the frequent sound of shooting soon let
the doctor know that the sportsman was making a good
use of his time.
Meanwhile Ferguson was engaged in calculating the
relative weight of the articles still left in the car, and in
establishing the equipoise of the second balloon. He found
that there were still left some thirty pounds of pemmican,
a supply of tea and coffee, about a gallon and a half of
brandy, and one empty water-tank. All the dried meat
had disappeared.
The doctor was aware that, by the loss of the hydrogen
in the first balloon, the ascensional force at his disposal
was now reduced to about nine hundred pounds. He
therefore had to count upon this difference in order to
rearrange his equilibrium. The new balloon measured sixty-seven
thousand cubic feet, and contained thirty-three
thousand four hundred and eighty feet of gas. The dilating
apparatus appeared to be in good condition, and neither
the battery nor the spiral had been injured.
The ascensional force of the new balloon was then
about three thousand pounds, and, in adding together the
weight of the apparatus, of the passengers, of the stock of
water, of the car and its accessories, and putting aboard
fifty gallons of water, and one hundred pounds of fresh
meat, the doctor got a total weight of twenty-eight hundred
and thirty pounds.
Pages:
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332