Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/425

 useless, and particularly when there was a mountain to be cleared.

This continued for more than 120 miles; they got tired of ascending and descending. The balloon, like the stone of Sisyphus, kept falling back continually. The contour of the balloon already was losing its roundness, and the wind hollowed out large "pockets" in its loose covering.

Kennedy could not help remarking this.

"Is there a hole in the balloon?" he asked.

"No," replied the doctor; "but the gutta-percha has evidently become softened by the heat, and the hydrogen escapes."

"How can we prevent that?"

"It is impossible to do so. Let us lighten the balloon; it is our only way. Throw out all we can spare."

"But what?" asked the Scot, looking round the half-denuded car.

"The tent—it is very heavy."

Joe, whom this order concerned, mounted above the ring which fastened the cords to the netting, and quickly detached the thick curtains and threw them down.

"There is a treat for a whole tribe of negroes," he said. "There is sufficient to clothe a million of them; they are very sparing of the material."

The balloon rose a little, but it soon became evident that it again was approaching the ground.

"Let us descend, and see if we cannot repair the envelope," said Kennedy.

"I tell you, Dick, we have no means to repair it."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"We will sacrifice everything not absolutely indispensable. I wish at all cost to avoid a halt in these regions. The forests we skimmed just now are nothing but dens."

"What, of lions or hyenas?" asked Joe.

"Worse than that—of men, and the most cruel men in Africa."

"How do you know that?"

"From travelers who have preceded us; then the French who occupy the colony of Senegal, have had dealings with the neighboring tribes. Under Colonel Faidherbe a reconnaissance was made into the country; officers, such as Pascal, Vincent, and Lambert, have brought back the pre-