Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/374

 crossed in 1856 to pentrate into the Wadaï, where he disappeared. This young man of twenty-three was despatched to co-operate in the explorations of Doctor Barth; they met on the 1st December, 1854, then Vogel commenced to explore the country; about 1856 he announced in his last letters his intention to examine the kingdom of Wadaï, into which no European had ever previously penetrated. It seems he reached Wara, the capital, where, according to some accounts, he was made prisoner; according to others he was put to death, for having attempted to ascend a sacred mountain in the neighborhood. But we must not lightly accept the report of the death of travelers, for that would obviate any search for them; thus, how often was the death of Doctor Barth officially announced, a circumstance which naturally caused him great irritation. It was therefore very possible that Vogel had been kept a prisoner by the Sultan of Wadaï, in the hope to obtain ransom. Baron Neimaus set out for Wadaï, but he died at Cairo in 1855. We know now that M. Heuglin, with the expedition despatched from Leipsic, followed up the traces of Vogel. Thus we ought to be soon assured of the fate of this youthful and interesting traveler."

Mosfeia had long since disappeared on the horizon. Mandara betrayed its astonishing fertility to the eyes of the travelers, with its acacia forests, the red-flowering locust plant, and the herbaceous plants in the cotton and indigo fields. The Shari, which flows into Lake Tchad eighty miles farther on, here rolled its impetuous course along.

The doctor followed with his companions the maps of Barth. "You see," said he, "that the works of this savant are wonderfully precise. We are traveling right over the district of Loggoum, and perhaps even upon Kernak, its capital. There poor Toole died, when scarcely twenty-two. He was a young Englishman, an ensign in the 8oth foot, who had for some weeks been with Major Denham in Africa, and he there quickly found his death. Ah! they may well call this country the 'Cemetery of Europeans.'"

Some canoes about fifty feet long were descending the Shari. The "Victoria," 1,000 feet above them, attracted little attention from the natives, until the wind, which had hitherto been blowing strongly, showed signs of diminishing.