Part 5 (1/2)
”You all know, gentlemen, what a calorifere, to heat apartments, is You kno it acts The air of the aparth its pipes, and is then released with a heightened te more nor less than a calorifere
”In fact, what is it that takes place? The cylinder once lighted, the hydrogen in the spiral and in the concave cone becoh the pipe that leads to the upper part of the balloon A vacuuas in the lower parts; this becomes heated in its turn, and is continually replaced; thus, an extreas is established in the pipes and in the spiral, which issues froain, incessantly
”Now, the cases increase 1/480 of their voluree of heat applied If, then, I force the teen of the balloon will dilate 18/480 or 1614 cubic feet, and will, therefore, displace 1614 more cubic feet of air, which will increase its ascensional power by 160 pounds This is equivalent to throwing out that weight of ballast If I augas will dilate 180/480 and will displace 16,740 cubic feet entlees of equilibrium The volume of the balloon has been calculated in such ht of air exactly equal to that of the envelope containing the hydrogen gas, and of the car occupied by the passengers, and all its apparatus and accessories At this point of inflation, it is in exact equilibrium with the air, and neither mounts nor descends
”In order, then, to effect an ascent, I give the gas a te air by er distention, and inflates the balloon more The latter, then, ascends in proportion as I heat the hydrogen
”The descent, of course, is effected by lowering the heat of the cylinder, and letting the temperature abate The ascent would be, usually, more rapid than the descent; but that is a fortunate circumstance, since it is of no importance to me to descend rapidly, while, on the other hand, it is by a very rapid ascent that I avoid obstacles The real danger lurks below, and not above
”Besides, as I have said, I have a certain quantity of ballast, which will enable me to ascend more rapidly still, when necessary My valve, at the top of the balloon, is nothing more nor less than a safety-valve The balloon always retains the saen, and the variations of teas are, of the and descending entlemen, as a practical detail, let en at the point of the cylinder produces solely the vapor or steam of water I have, therefore, provided the lower part of the cylindrical iron box with a scape-pipe, with a valve operating by means of a pressure of two atmospheres; consequently, so soon as this amount of pressure is attained, the steaallons of water, separated into its constituent eleen This represents, at atmospheric tension, 1,800 cubic feet of the former and 3,780 cubic feet of the latter, or 5,670 cubic feet, in all, of the mixture Hence, the stopcock of my cylinder, when fully open, expends 27 cubic feet per hour, with a flae lae, then, and in order to keep myself at a very moderate elevation, I should not burn allons of water represent six hundred and thirty-six hours of aerial navigation, or a little more than twenty-six days
”Well, as I can descend when I please, to replenish ht be indefinitely prolonged
”Such, gentles, it cannot fail to succeed The dilation and contraction of the gas in the balloon is my s, nor any other es of teenerate the heat, are neither inconvenient nor heavy I think, therefore, that I have couson here terminated his discourse, and was most heartily applauded There was not an objection to make to it; all had been foreseen and decided
”However,” said the captain, ”the thing erous”
”What matters that,” replied the doctor, ”provided that it be practicable?”
CHAPTER ELEVENTH
The Arrival at Zanzibar-The English Consul-Ill-will of the Inhabitants-The Island of Koumbeni-The Rain-Makers-Inflation of the Balloon-Departure on the 18th of April-The last Good-by-The Victoria
An invariably favorable wind had accelerated the progress of the Resolute toward the place of her destination The navigation of the Mozareeable character of the trip by sea was regarded as a good oh the air Every one looked forward to the hour of arrival, and sought to give the last touch to the doctor's preparations
At length the vessel hove in sight of the town of Zanzibar, upon the island of the same na, she anchored in the port
The island of Zanzibar belongs to the Iland, and is, undoubtedly, his finest settlereatcountries
The island is separated froreatest width of which is but thirty ureat slave-es all the booty captured in the battles which the chiefs of the interior are continually fighting This traffic extends along the whole eastern coast, and as far as the Nile latitudes Mr G Lejean even reports that he has seen it carried on, openly, under the French flag
Upon the arrival of the Resolute, the English consul at Zanzibar came on board to offer his services to the doctor, of whose projects the European newspapers had made him aware for a month past But, up to that moment, he had remained with the numerous phalanx of the incredulous
”I doubted,” said he, holding out his hand to Dr Ferguson, ”but now I doubt no longer”
He invited the doctor, Kennedy, and the faithful Joe, of course, to his oelling Through his courtesy, the doctor was enabled to have knowledge of the various letters that he had received from Captain Speke The captain and his coer and bad weather before reaching the Ugogo country They could advance only with extreain for a long time
”Those are perils and privations which we shall e of the three travellers was conveyed to the consul's residence Arrange the balloon upon the beach at Zanzibar There was a convenient spot, near the signal-, that would serve to shelter it fro on one end, beside which the fa tun would have seemed but a very ordinary barrel, served as a fortification, and on its platform were stationed Belootchees, arood-for-nothing Janizaries
But, when about to land the balloon, the consul was infor so by force Nothing is so blind as fanatical passion The news of the arrival of a Christian, as to ascend into the air, was received with rage The negroes, more exasperated than the Arabs, saw in this project an attack upon their religion They took it into their heads that some mischief was meant to the sun and the moon Now, these two luminaries are objects of veneration to the African tribes, and they deterious an enterprise
The consul, inforuson and Captain Bennet on the subject The latter was unwilling to yield to threats, but his friend dissuaded him from any idea of violent retaliation
”We shall certainly come out winners,” he said ”Even the imaum's soldiers will lend us a hand, if we need it But, my dear captain, an accident may happen in a moment, and it would require but one unlucky blow to do the balloon an irreparable injury, so that the trip would be totally defeated; therefore we reatest caution”
”But what are we to do? If we land on the coast of Africa, we shall encounter the sa is more simple,” replied the consul ”You observe those small islands outside of the port; land your balloon on one of theuard of sailors, and you will have no risk to run”
”Just the thing!” said the doctor, ”and we shall be entirely at our ease in co our preparations”
The captain yielded to these suggestions, and the Resolute was headed for the island of Kou of the 16th April, the balloon was placed in safety in the reat woods, hich the soil is studded
Two ht, were raised at the same distance from each other Blocks and tackle, placed at their extre the balloon, by the aid of a transverse rope It was then entirely uninflated The interior balloon was fastened to the exterior one, in such manner as to be lifted up in the same way To the lower end of each balloon were fixed the pipes that served to introduce the hydrogen gas
The whole day, on the 17th, was spent in arranging the apparatus destined to produce the gas; it consisted of some thirty casks, in which the decos and sulphuric acid placed together in a large quantity of the first-nae central cask, after having been washed on the way, and thence into each balloon by the conduit-pipes In this manner each of theas For this purpose, there had to be ehteen hundred and sixty-six pounds of sulphuric acid, sixteen thousand and fifty pounds of iron, and nine thousand one hundred and sixty-six gallons of water This operation coht, about three AM, and lasted nearly eight hours The next day, the balloon, covered with its network, undulated gracefully above its car, which was held to the ground by nuether with extre from the balloon were securely fitted to the cylindrical case
The anchors, the cordage, the instru, the provisions, and the arned to them in the car The supply of water was procured at Zanzibar The two hundred pounds of ballast were distributed in fifty bags placed at the bottom of the car, but within arm's-reach
These preparations were concluded about five o'clock in the evening, while sentinels kept close watch around the island, and the boats of the Resolute patrolled the channel
The blacks continued to show their displeasure by grimaces and contortions Their obi-s, pouring fuel on the flame of their fanaticis than the rest, atte, but they were easily driven off
Thereupon the sorceries and incantations commenced; the ”rain-makers,” who pretend to have control over the clouds, invoked the storms and the ”stone-showers,” as the blacks call hail, to their aid To compel them to do so, they plucked leaves of all the different trees that grow in that country, and boiled them over a slow fire, while, at the sa needle into its heart But, in spite of all their ceremonies, the sky re by their slaughtered sheep and their ugly grimaces
The blacks then abandoned theot fearfully drunk on ”tembo,” a kind of ardent spirits drawn from the cocoa-nut tree, and an extrewa” Their chants, which were destitute of allin excellent tiht
About six o'clock in the evening, the captain assembled the travellers and the officers of the shi+p at a farewell repast in his cabin Kennedy, whom nobody ventured to question now, sat with his eyes riveted on Dr Ferguson, uishable words In other respects, the dinner was a gloomy one The approach of the final moment filled everybody with the most serious reflections What had fate in store for these daring adventurers? Should they ever again find themselves in the midst of their friends, or seated at the do apparatus to fail, ould becoions that had never been explored, and in the hts as these, which had been diarded when they came up, returned upon their excited fancies with intense force at this parting uson, still cold and impassible, talked of this, that, and the other; but he strove in vain to overcolooainst the personal safety of the doctor and his coht on board the Resolute At six o'clock in thethey left their cabin, and landed on the island of Kouently to and fro in the s that had held it doere now replaced by so-armed sailors, and Captain Bennet and his officers were present to witness the solemn departure of their friends
At this rasped his hand, and said: ”Sao?”
”Solemnly deter that I could to prevent this expedition, have I not?”