Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/315

 them for monstrous air-sprites; so we must not be surprised at the natives of the Soudan looking astonished."

"I declare," said Joe, as the "Victoria" just skimmed over a village about 100 feet above it. "I have a great mind to shy an empty bottle at them if you have no objection, sir. If it arrive unbroken they will worship it, if it smash they will make 'charms' of the pieces."

And as he spoke he threw a bottle over; it of course was broken to fragments, while the natives ran into their huts uttering loud cries.

A little farther on Kennedy cried:

"Look at that extraordinary tree—it appears to be of one species at the top and another lower down!"

"Yes," said Joe; "this is apparently a country where trees grow one on top of the other!"

"It is only the trunk of a fig-tree," replied the doctor, "upon which a little mold has fallen. One fine day the wind happened to bring a seed of the palm here, and the palm tree has grown up accordingly."

"A capital plan," said Joe, "and one I shall introduce into England. It would answer capitally in the London parks, not to mention that it would be a way of multiplying fruit trees; one might have gardens in the air, which would be quite to the taste of small proprietors."

At this moment they were obliged to elevate the "Victoria" to about 300 feet, so as to avoid a forest of high trees—very ancient banyans.

"What magnificent trees!" cried Kennedy; "I know nothing finer than these old forests. Look, Samuel!"

"The height of these banyans is truly marvelous, my dear Dick; yet they are not to be compared with the American forests."

"What! are there bigger trees in America?"

"Certainly! amongst those called 'mammoth trees.' Thus in California there is a cedar 450 feet high, which is higher than the tower of the Houses of Parliament or even than the great Pyramid of Egypt. The trunk is 120 feet round at the base, and the concentric rings of the tree declare it to be more than 4,000 years old!"

"Well, sir," said Joe, "that is not very wonderful. When you have lived 4,000 years it is only natural that you should be very big."