Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1874-01-21

nothing would have been msdder than to
abandon the balloon and begin a march
on the sand without the slightest knowl-
edge of the distance TO civilization.
IL filed my pipe with some of the
pouchiu of caporal which luckily | had
taken with me, and held council of war
with myself. The balloon contained two
entire loaves of bread, n bottle aud a half
of wine, q box Of sardines, lew ounces
OF cheese. a piece of sausage, some scraps
of cold meat, and two gallons Of water.
| had neither arms nor ammunition, and
only the clothes in which l stood. But
here were provisions which. upon short
rations. would last nearly a week, to.
geather with plenty of water. My bal
last was almost Observation-Disclosures to the
care with which the balloon was Vanished,
and the fact that my journey had been
made chiefly at night. | could not go
back, neither could land with any hope
of escapirg with my life. There was
clearly nothing left but to go forward.
Il made up my mimi. and as my pipe
went out. | rose up and threw out ballast.
The balloon sho upwards. AT 2,20O feet
it struck the current that had hroug ght me
so far on my way, aud started cncc more
at more than railroad speed towards the
south.
Now that | had decided upon the
course to be pursued nay spirits rose with
tho balloon. was embarked upon the
grandcst voyage ever undertaken l had
always been an enthusiastic student OF
African geography. and the opportunity to
rival the exploits Of CaiIle and Bartb was
before me. Besides, thought. might
perhaps reach Senegambia, and astonish
the Governor by news fr"m Paris of ony
two days date. | ate comfortable
breakfast aud felt full of confidence. |
even sang patriotic songs, aud shouted to
the desert the cry Vice la France"
"The heat bcramc intense as the sun
rose, and the expansion of the gas obvia-
ted the necessity Of discharglng ballast.
| saw no wild beast or any living
thiag in the desert except caravan slow
ly pros. cding southwark, aud few part
les Of wandering Brdou,n-. The caravan
halted as | passed over it, ana greeted
me with discharge Of musketry. The
balls could not reach the balloon, but |
replied by dropping fifty pound sand-hag,
which completely demoralizel those
amoug whum it felt,
Toward unset approached the south
crn boundary otlhe de. err ahd the balloon
contracting with the cooling Of she y mos.
phere, slowly descended. ASH drlfied
away from the region of the sand found
myself saiIng directly towards a large
lake surrounded by extensive mofasses,
which the map told Me, must he lake
Tcbad. Bel seven Europeans had ever
before gazed upon the lake, and in the
excitement OF the moment | totally forgoJ
my dsnger. aud felt all the divine en-.
inusiasm Of the explorer.
.On the borA'rs of the lake | saw
drove after drove tf huge elephants, end
gazeilcs aud anteopcs without number
Not II native was however, visibIc--tht
pesti!cn,iaI Ct aracicr Of the morasscs
doubtless keeping The ncgros away from
it, except when cn fishing or hunting ex
cursions. A; s o'clock l was directly
over the lake. the balloon having sunk
: until l, was only about fifty feet from the
water, aud where it remained mo,ionles
in periound calm. During the nigh
the moon shone brightly aud while from
The lake came the strange believing of tn,
hippopo,amus the forest was made hidcou
with the roaring and chattcring Of beast
of all kinds. Nothing could surpass th'
wild grandeur of the hour, felt neilhe
+ fatigue nor sleepincss until the mornin!
dawned aud the noise OF the midnigh
tadei into the hush of tho tropical day
IL threw out ballast as soon as it wa
Iigkt, and, as on the day before found tn,
: same current "f wind blowing sou,hwar,
D at about the same height. During thi
day | passed over region which DO otbe
white man has ever seen. lmmediatcll
south of Lake Tchad the country wa
r cleared aud cultivated to u great ex,er
| ard was densely populated. Numerou
D large towns aud cities were visible. ant
{ at one time | passed directly over bat
, tIe.tieid whore thousands Of wild troop
were Fighting hand-to.hand hattie. Conlt
, l have spared it l would have dropped
bag of ballast among them but NV bal
t last vas running short and had just pre-
viously discharged all that was immedi
ately necessary te enable me TO maintain
my altitude.
About noon l caught sight Of an i'm
!. meusc lake lying about south southeas, o
my apparent course. AS | rapidly camt
up with it detected IA river that ran in
t to il and flowed out again in northcrl,
. direction, uear the nosiherly end OF th'
lake. This my map told me must be tn
: Albert N'yanza and theNile. So anxiou
was | to confirm this belief that | wa
, guilty Of wasting ballast bag. The re
suit. however was to give me an altitude
from which could distinctly perceive tn
5 Victory Lake, while far away to the east
y ward the faint outlines Of majestic Kill
t manjaro, with its snowy summit was visi
, bio.
''Dcscending slowly, passed accros
: the southern arm of Albert Lake, an
! soon found myself over group Of in an
. ssas that remind ono of tie vast lakes Q
: North America. immediately below m
] was the Albert Lake. Farther south an
g little to the eastward lay Tonganida
) which | readily recognized, and whic
t was conneeled by stream issuing at
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