Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/380

 the ground, and if you can perceive any wild animal you can send a bullet to his heart."

The "Victoria" descended by degrees, but still kept up at a safe distance. In this savage and thickly-populated country it was necessary to be on one's guard against unexpected danger.

The travelers followed the course of the Shari. The pleasant banks of this river were hidden beneath the shade of the variously tinted trees; the bind-weed and creeping plants wound in all directions, and produced curious combinations of colors. The crocodiles sported in the sun and plunged into the water with the activity of the lizard, and in their play they crossed numerous green islets, which rose amid the stream.

Thus, in the enjoyment of a luxurious and verdant natural scenery, the district of Maffatay was passed. Towards nine in the morning Ferguson and his companions at length reached the southern coast of Lake Tchad. There was the Caspian of Africa, whose existence was for a long time regarded as fabulous. This inland sea, to which only the expeditions of Denham and Barth had hitherto penetrated, lay before them.

The doctor attempted to decide its actual form, already very different from its shape in 1847; in fact, the map of this lake it is impossible to reconcile with the lake itself. It is surrounded by miry marshes which are almost impassable, and in which Barth nearly perished. From year to year these marshes, covered to a height of fifteen feet with reeds and papyrus, become absorbed into the lake, and often the towns established upon its banks are half submerged, as happened at Ngornou, in 1856, and now alligators and hippopotami swim about in the very spots where the habitations of the natives once stood.

The sun poured down his rays upon this calm sheet of water, and in the north, sky and water seemed to unite upon the horizon.

The doctor was desirous to ascertain the nature of the water, which was for a long time believed to be saline; there was no danger in approaching the surface of the lake, and the car skimmed over it like a bird, at five feet distance.

Joe plunged a bottle into it and raised it half filled; the