At four o'clock in the morning the first rays
of the sun lighted up Sego, the capital of Bambarra, which
could be recognized at once by the four towns that compose
it, by its Saracenic mosques, and by the incessant
going and coming of the flat-bottomed boats that convey
its inhabitants from one quarter to the other. But
the travellers were not more seen than they saw. They
sped rapidly and directly to the northwest, and the doctor's
anxiety gradually subsided.
"Two more days in this direction, and at this rate of
speed, and we'll reach the Senegal River."
"And we'll be in a friendly country?" asked the hunter.
"Not altogether; but, if the worst came to the worst,
and the balloon were to fail us, we might make our way
to the French settlements. But, let it hold out only for a
few hundred miles, and we shall arrive without fatigue,
alarm, or danger, at the western coast."
"And the thing will be over!" added Joe. "Heigh-ho!
so much the worse. If it wasn't for the pleasure of telling
about it, I would never want to set foot on the ground
again! Do you think anybody will believe our story, doctor?"
"Who can tell, Joe? One thing, however, will be
undeniable: a thousand witnesses saw us start on one
side of the African Continent, and a thousand more will
see us arrive on the other.
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