The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-07-07
COULD NOT TELL WHERE HB
 WAS


 wind began to abate was in just as
 bad a position as before. In what di-
 reotiOn had gone did not know.
 knew that had been carried north
 ward before the storm proper had come
 up, but whether that course had bsen maintained by the wind had no means whatever of knowing I might have
 been sweryed and blown out over. the
 ocean toward Madagascar; I might
 have been carried several hundred
 miles south toward Cape Town; any of these things were possible, though I clung to the belief that my direction
 had been northerly. I estimated the
 height of the balloon at about fifteen
 hundred feet when the heavy winds
 subsided, and as soon as the conditions were more favorable, began eau
 tious descent, not with the intention of
 making a landing, but to get down suf- ficiently far to ascertain definitely if I
 really wsre still iver land. After going
 down probably a thousand feet
 checked the descent and was able to 1 mark moist coolness in the atmOs-
 phere, but whether this meant sea or
 forest couldn't tell. It was nerve
 racking situation; riding along at a rate of about fifteen or twenty miles an hour in darkness so opaque that I | seemed to be in the center of a black lined room, without the slightest
 knowledge of my whereabouts or the direction in which I was going. If I
 were over land, as long as it was level was all right, but if encountered
 any sudden elevations the chances ! were I'd be dashed to pieces against the 1 rocks and my fate nev5r known. If I
 were riding out over the very little fre- | quented South Seas my end was as l surely sealed. To make matters worse, | my supply of ballast was limited, and | to cast any considerable quantity of it | out in order to rise to reasonably safe height would have been foolish, for
 might have more pressing need of it latera when the buoyancy of the gas
 began to suffer somewhat. The early
 hours of that night were such as I nev-
 CT care to experience again.
 Along about midnight, as l estimated
 the time, the clouds which had covered the sky began to break up a little, and at last a few pale stars twinkled faint ly in the gaps. It was now only a
 question of a short time at the most before would at any rate know a tri- file about my immediate surroundings. In due course the moon peered out of it's cloud envelope, and, leaning over the side of my basket, was able to de-
 scry the tumbled masses of a thick for est, I breathed a sigh of relief, for
 there was chance, at least, for land- ing later, and perhaps a safe return. Within a couple of hours the moon- light was strong, and had fine view
 of the land, or rather, forest, beneath
 me. Swiftly I spsd overit, anxiously scanning the prospect for g. landing
 place. Where thos forest was situated could not tell, but at the first oppor-
 tunity I resolved to make a descent. The opportunity wasn't long coming.
 The forest became more sparse, and as a comparatively open tract of land re- | vealed itself to me eased off on the valve a little, let out my anchor rope
 and in few minutes was firmly an- chored on a ledge of rocks over small stream. climbed over the edge of the
 basket and began to descsnd the taut
 rope I hadn't gone far when a sudden shout was borne to my ears, and look ing in the direction from which it came was surprised to observe a large fire burning in the forest not many hun dred feet away, a fire whose glare I l ought to have noticed even through the | flames were concealed by the overhang- ing foliage. For a moment I chung to
 the rope undecided what was the, best course for me to puBsue. That they
 were savages who had kindled that fire felt certain, for a perfect babel of sounds came to me from the direction. l If I fell into the hands of a warlike tribe, what my fate would be was l scarcely a matter for much speuclation. To continue on down and take chances
 of it being friendly to tine whites, or to climb back, cut the rope and attempt 8
 descent elsewhere was a problem for 8 | moment, and then came the decision to 1 risk the descent then and there.
 T might be just as badly off at the ! place of the next descent as here, so 1 climbed down hand over hand with a hundred warriors eyes gazing at me as
 I neared the ground. They were fully
 armed swith assegam and other imple- ! ments of war, but made no immediate hostile demonstration. Many of them | looked 8 little unpleasant, thought, at
 the swawing bulk of the balloon, and all maintained a respectful distance. At last I was completely surrounded, and in the center of the throng of war riors, and as he had a big gum ring in his wool and leopard skin thrown over his back, presumed he was the chief. I Advancing toward him with upraised | hands to show that I was unarmed, I 1 addressed him in English, but without eliciting a, response. He stood his ground as came near, but at a guttu- ral sound from his lips two of his men
 levelled assegals at my breast and forced me to retreat half a dozen steps or so where I was permitted to stand. l Under guard of these warriors, I was l compelled to maintain that position while the chief and. the group with him approached the balloon, gazing up curi- ously at it, but witout any signs of fear. He was standing quite close to | the rope when freshet of breeze ! striking the balloon caused it to drag I its anchor and it shot up again into the Ioir T.T-inYe NryY1 jy,Eo