Part 29 (1/1)

CHAPTER FORTY-FOURTH

Conclusion-The Certificate-The French Settlelish Frigate-The Return to London

The expedition upon the bank of the river had been sent by the governor of Senegal It consisted of two officers, Messrs Dufraisse, lieutenant of eant and seven soldiers For two days they had been engaged in reconnoitring the most favorable situation for a post at Gouina, when they becareetings and felicitations of which our travellers were the recipientshad ocular proof of the accouson's witnesses Hence the doctor at once asked theive their official testimony of his arrival at the cataracts of Gouina

”You would have no objection to signing a certificate of the fact, would you?” he inquired of Lieutenant Dufraisse

”At your orders!” the latter instantly replied

The Englishmen were escorted to a provisional post established on the bank of the river, where they found theto supply their wants And there the following certificate was drawn up in the terms in which it appears to-day, in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society of London: ”We, the undersigned, do hereby declare that, on the day herein uson and his two co to the cordage and network of a balloon, and that the said balloon fell at a distance of a few paces fro swept away by the current was lost in the cataracts of Gouina In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals beside those of the persons hereinabove named, for the information of all whom it may concern

”Done at the Cataracts of Gouina, on the 24th of May, 1862

”(Signed), ”SAMUEL FERGUSON ”RICHARD KENNEDY, ”JOSEPH WILSON, ”DUFRAISSE, Lieutenant of Marines, ”RODAMEL, Naval Ensign, ”DUFAYS, Sergeant, ”FLIPPEAU, MAYOR, } ”PELISSIER, LOROIS, } Privates”

RASCAGNET, GUIL- } LON, LEBEL, } Here ended the astonishi+ng journey of Dr Ferguson and his brave companions, as vouched for by undeniable testi friends in the midst of most hospitable tribes, whose relations with the French settlements are frequent and aal on Saturday, the 24th of May, and on the 27th of the same month they reached the post of Medina, situated a little farther to the north, but on the river

There the French officers received them with open arms, and lavished upon them all the resources of their hospitality Thus aided, the doctor and his friends were enabled to embark almost immediately on the small steamer called the Basilic, which ran down to the mouth of the river

Teeks later, on the 10th of June, they arrived at Saint Louis, where the governor gave thenificent reception, and they recovered coue

Besides, Joe said to every one who chose to listen: ”That was a stupid trip of ours, after all, and I wouldn't advise any body who is greedy for exciteets very tiresome at the last, and if it hadn't been for the adventures on Lake Tchad and at the Senegal River, I do believe that we'd have died of yawning”

An English frigate was just about to sail, and the three travellers procured passage on board of her On the 25th of June they arrived at Portsmouth, and on the next day at London

We will not describe the reception they got froraphical Society, nor the intense curiosity and consideration of which they becah, with his famous rifle, for he was in haste to relieve the anxiety of his faithful old housekeeper

The doctor and his devoted Joe re that one change took place at their own suggestion

They ceased to be master and servant, in order to become boso in their praises of the bold explorers, and the Daily Telegraph struck off an edition of three hundred and seventy-seven thousand copies on the day when it published a sketch of the trip

Doctor Ferguson, at a public ave a recital of his journey through the air, and obtained for hioldenexpedition of the year 1862

The first result of Dr Ferguson's expedition was to establish, in the raphical surveys reported by Messrs Barth, Burton, Speke, and others Thanks to the still lin and Muntzinger, who have been ascending to the sources of the Nile, and penetrating to the centre of Africa, we shall be enabled ere long to verify, in turn, the discoveries of Dr Ferguson in that vast region corees of east longitude