Part 2 (2/2)
”Not the least in the world”
”Why, that makes scarcely one hundred and twenty , Sa place at this moment?”
”No, upon my honor, I do not”
”Very well, then, I'll tell you The Geographical Society regard as very iht a glimpse Under their auspices, Lieutenant (now Captain) Speke has associated with him Captain Grant, of the army in India; they have put themselves at the head of a numerous and well-equipped expedition; their mission is to ascend the lake and return to Gondokoro; they have received a subsidy of more than five thousand pounds, and the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope has placed Hottentot soldiers at their disposal; they set out from Zanzibar at the close of October, 1860 In the lish consul at the city of Karthoun office; he is to equip a steamer at Karthoum, stock it with sufficient provisions, and make his way to Gondokoro; there, he will await Captain Speke's caravan, and be able to replenish its supplies to some extent”
”Well planned,” said Kennedy
”You can easily see, then, that ti labors And that is not all, since, while so with sure steps to the discovery of the sources of the Nile, others are penetrating to the very heart of Africa”
”On foot?” said Kennedy
”Yes, on foot,” rejoined the doctor, without noticing the insinuation ”Doctor Krapf proposes to push forward, in the west, by way of the Djob, a river lying under the equator Baron de Decken has already set out from Monbaz, has reconnoitred thein toward the centre”
”But all this time on foot?”
”On foot or on mules”
”Exactly the same, so far as I am concerned,” ejaculated Kennedy
”Lastly,” resulin, the Austrian vice-consul at Karthouanized a very important expedition, the first aiel, who, in 1853, was sent into the Soudan to associate himself with the labors of Dr Barth In 1856, he quitted Bornou, and determined to explore the unknown country that lies between Lake Tchad and Darfur Nothing has been seen of him since that time Letters that were received in Alexandria, in 1860, said that he was killed at the order of the King of Wadai; but other letters, addressed by Dr Hart to the recital of a felatah of Bornou, Vogel was merely held as a prisoner at Wara All hope is not then lost Hence, a coent of Saxe-Cogurg-Gotha; my friend Petermann is its secretary; a national subscription has provided for the expense of the expedition, whose strength has been increased by the voluntary accession of several learned lin set out fro for Vogel, he is also to explore all the country between the Nile and Lake Tchad, that is to say, to knit together the operations of Captain Speke and those of Dr Barth, and then Africa will have been traversed frouson, it was ascertained that M de Heuglin, owing to soned to his expedition, the co been transferred to Mr
Muntzinger
”Well,” said the canny Scot, ”since every thing is getting on so well, what's the use of our going down there?”
Dr Fergusonof the shoulders
CHAPTER SIXTH
A Servant-match him!-He can see the Satellites of Jupiter-dick and Joe hard at it-Doubt and Faith-The Weighing Cereuson had a servant who answered with alacrity to the name of Joe He was an excellent felloho testified the most absolute confidence in his master, and thehis wishes and orders, which were always intelligently executed In fine, he was a Caleb without the growling, and a perfect pattern of constant good-humor Had he been made on purpose for the place, it could not have been better done Ferguson put himself entirely in his hands, so far as the ordinary details of existence were concerned, and he did well Incomparable, whole-souled Joe! a servant who orders your dinner; who likes what you like; who packs your trunk, without forgetting your socks or your linen; who has charge of your keys and your secrets, and takes no advantage of all this!
But then, what a man the doctor was in the eyes of this worthy Joe! With what respect and what confidence the latter received all his decisions! When Ferguson had spoken, he would be a fool who should atteht was exactly right; every thing he said, the perfection of wisdo he ordered to be done, quite feasible; all that he undertook, practicable; all that he accoht have cut Joe to pieces-not an agreeable operation, to be sure-and yet he would not have altered his opinion of his master
So, when the doctor conceived the project of crossing Africa through the air, for Joe the thing was already done; obstacles no longer existed; from the moment when the doctor hadwith his faithful attendant, too, for the noble felloithout a word uttered about it, that he would be one of the party
Moreover, he was just the ence and his wonderful agility Had the occasion arisen to naical Garden (who are sh, by-the-way!), Joe would certainly have received the appoint-these were all sport to hiuson was the head and Kennedy the arht hand of the expedition He had, already, acco of science appropriate to his condition and style of mind, but he was especially re turn of optiical, natural, and, consequently, he could see no use in coifts, he possessed a strength and range of vision that were perfectly surprising He enjoyed, in common with Moestlin, Kepler's professor, the rare faculty of distinguishi+ng the satellites of Jupiter with the naked eye, and of counting fourteen of the stars in the group of Pleiades, the renitude He presumed none the more for that; on the contrary, he made his bow to you, at a distance, and when occasion arose he bravely kne to use his eyes
With such profound faith as Joe felt in the doctor, it is not to be wondered at that incessant discussions sprang up between him and Kennedy, without any lack of respect to the latter, however
One doubted, the other believed; one had a prudent foresight, the other blind confidence The doctor, however, vibrated between doubt and confidence; that is to say, he troubled his head with neither one nor the other
”Well, Mr Kennedy,” Joe would say
”Well, my boy?”
”The moment's at hand It seems that we are to sail for the moon”
”You mean the Mountains of the Moon, which are not quite so far off But, never erous! What! with a uson?”
”I don't want to spoil your illusions,h!”
”He won't go, eh? Then you haven't seen his balloon at Mitchell's factory in the Borough?”
”I'll take precious good care to keep away froht, sir What a splendid thing it is! What a pretty shape! What a nice car! How snug we'll feel in it!”
”Then you really think of going with your master?”
”I?” answered Joe, with an accent of profound conviction ”Why, I'd go with hi? Leave hiether! Who would help hi over the rocks? Who would attend him when he was sick? No, Mr Kennedy, Joe will always stick to the doctor!”
”You're a fine fellow, Joe!”
”But, then, you're co with us!”
”Oh! certainly,” said Kennedy; ”that is to say, I will go with you up to the last uilty of such an act of folly! I will follow him as far as Zanzibar, so as to stop hi at all, Mr Kennedy, with all respect to you, sir Mytiets started, the Evil One hiive it up”
”Well, we'll see about that”
”Don't flatter yourself, sir-but then, theis, to have you with us For a hunter like you, sir, Africa's a great country So, either way, you won't be sorry for the trip”
”No, that's a fact, I shan't be sorry for it, if I can get this crazy ive up his sche co?”
”Why, hed to-day!”