Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/270

 made. Three hours later, the prediction of Doctor Ferguson was verified. Kennedy's fever had departed, and he breakfasted with a good appetite.

"This is better than sulphate of quinine," said he, with evident satisfaction.

"Decidedly," cried Joe. "I shall come up here when I grow old."

About six o'clock in the morning the atmosphere cleared. They perceived an opening in the clouds; the earth reappeared, and the "Victoria" insensibly approached it. Doctor Ferguson was on the look-out for a current to carry the balloon towards the northeast, and at about 600 feet from the ground he fell in with it. The country became uneven, and even hilly. The district of Zongomero was lost in the east, and with it the last cocoa-nut trees of that latitude.

The mountains soon began to assume a more decided form. Some peaks shot up here and there. It was necessary to keep a watchful eye upon the sharp peaks, which appeared to rise up in an unexpected manner. "We are amongst the breakers," said Kennedy.

"All right, Dick. Don't be uneasy, we shall not touch them," said the doctor.

"This is a first-rate way to travel, all the same," said Joe.

The doctor managed his balloon with a wonderful dexterity, certainly.

"If we had been obliged to go on foot over that marshy ground," said the doctor, "we should have had to crawl slowly along in a regular slimy morass. Since our departure from Zanzibar, in that case, half our beasts of burthen would have been now dead with fatigue. We should have been looking like ghosts, and despair would have been gnawing at our hearts. We should have had incessant disputes with our guides and porters, and exposed to their attacks. During the day we should have suffered from a damp steamy air insupportable, and altogether enervating. At night there is frequently an almost intolerable coldness in the atmosphere, and the bites of a species of fly, which can pierce the stoutest cloth, would drive us mad. All these little enjoyments we should have had, without counting wild beasts and ferocious people."