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between; the mango-trees have disappeared, for their growth
ceases at this latitude. The soil is becoming hilly and
portends mountains not far off."
"Yes," said Kennedy, "it seems to me that I can see
some high land on this side."
"In the west--those are the nearest ranges of the
Ourizara--Mount Duthumi, no doubt, behind which I hope
to find shelter for the night. I'll stir up the heat in the
cylinder a little, for we must keep at an elevation of five
or six hundred feet."
"That was a grant idea of yours, sir," said Joe. "It's
mighty easy to manage it; you turn a cock, and the thing's
done."
"Ah! here we are more at our ease," said the sportsman,
as the balloon ascended; "the reflection of the sun
on those red sands was getting to be insupportable."
"What splendid trees!" cried Joe. "They're quite
natural, but they are very fine! Why a dozen of them
would make a forest!"
"Those are baobabs," replied Dr. Ferguson. "See, there's one
with a trunk fully one hundred feet in circumference. It was,
perhaps, at the foot of that very tree that Maizan, the French
traveller, expired in 1845, for we are over the village of
Deje-la-Mhora, to which he pushed on alone. He was seized by
the chief of this region, fastened to the foot of a baobab,
and the ferocious black then severed all his joints while
the war-song of his tribe was chanted; he then made a gash
in the prisoner's neck, stopped to sharpen his knife, and
fairly tore away the poor wretch's head before it had been
cut from the body. The unfortunate Frenchman was but
twenty-six years of age."
"And France has never avenged so hideous a crime?"
said Kennedy.
"France did demand satisfaction, and the Said of Zanzibar
did all in his power to capture the murderer, but in vain."
"I move that we don't stop here!" urged Joe; "let us
go up, master, let us go up higher by all means."
"All the more willingly, Joe, that there is Mount
Duthumi right ahead of us. If my calculations be right
we shall have passed it before seven o'clock in the evening."
"Shall we not travel at night?" asked the Scotchman.
"No, as little as possible. With care and vigilance
we might do so safely, but it is not enough to sweep across
Africa. We want to see it.
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