Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/371

 vast hives, and were screened behind bristling palisades. The wilder slopes of the hills recalled to Kennedy's mind the glens of the Scottish Highlands, and he frequently made the remark.

Despite the doctor's efforts the balloon was drifted towards the northeast, in the direction of Mount Mendif, which was hidden in the clouds. The high summits of these mountains separate the basin of the Niger from that of Lake Tchad.

Bagalé, with its eighteen villages hung upon its flanks, soon appeared, like a group of children round their mother; a magnificent group for those who, being overhead, could take the whole in at once. At three o'clock the "Victoria" was opposite Mount Mendif. They could not avoid it, so were obliged to go over it. The doctor, by means of a temperature of 180°, gave to the balloon a new ascensional force of nearly 1,600 lbs. It rose more than 8,000 feet. This was the greatest elevation obtained during the journey, and the temperature was so low that the doctor and his companions were glad to make use of their rugs.

Ferguson hastened to descend, for the envelope of the balloon threatened disruption. He had time, however, to verify the volcanic origin of the mountain, whose extinct craters were only deep chasms. Great agglomerations of the dung of birds gave the sides of the Mendif the appearance of calcareous rocks, and there was sufficient there to manure the whole United Kingdom.

At five o'clock the "Victoria," impelled by the south wind, sailed slowly along the slopes of the mountain, and halted in a large open space at a distance from any habitation. So soon as they touched the ground, precautions were taken to secure the balloon firmly, and Kennedy, gun in hand, started in the plain. He was not long before he returned with half-a-dozen wild ducks and a sort of snipe, which Joe served up to the best of his ability. The meal was a pleasant one, and the night passed without any disturbance.