Three degrees south of the Equator rises the chain of Kilimanjaro, which lifts its highest summit over 18,000 feet above the sea, and commands northwards, southwards, and westwards, the vast and fertile plains of the Wamasai.
A few miles below the first slopes of the mountain lies the town of Kisongo, where the Sultan resides. The capital is, truth to tell, but a large village. It is occupied by a population, highly gifted and intelligent, and working hard as much by itself as by its slaves under the iron yoke2 of Bali-Bali, who is justly considered to be one of the most remarkable3 sovereigns of Central Africa.
Impey Barbicane and Captain Nicholl, accompanied by ten foremen devoted5 to the enterprise, had arrived at Kisongo in the first week of January. The fact of their departure had only been communicated to J. T. Maston and Mrs. Scorbitt. They had embarked6 at New York for the Cape7 of Good Hope; thence they had gone to Zanzibar; and a barque, secretly chartered, had taken them to Mombasa on the other side of the channel. An escort from the Sultan had met them at this port, and after a difficult journey of about 300 miles across this harassed8 region, obstructed9 by forests, cut up by streams, and chequered with marshes10, they had reached the royal residence.
As soon as he had obtained J. T. Maston’s calculations, Barbicane had put himself in communication with Bali-Bali through a Swedish explorer who intended to spend a few years in this part of Africa. The Sultan had become one of the warmest admirers of the audacious Yankee after the celebrated11 Moon Voyage, the fame of which had spread even to this distant country. Without disclosing his object Barbicane had obtained from the Wamasai the needful authority to open important works at the southern base of Kilimanjaro. For the very considerable sum of three hundred thousand dollars Bali-Bali had engaged to furnish him with the labour he required to do what he liked with Kilimanjaro. He could take it down if he liked, or carry it away if he could; and he became as much the owner of the mountain as he was of the North Pole.
Barbicane and his colleague were cordially welcomed at Kisongo. Bali-Bali felt an admiration12 bordering on adoration13 for the two illustrious voyagers who had launched out into space to attain14 the circumlunar regions, and sympathized enthusiastically with the projectors15 of the mysterious works they wished to establish in his kingdom. He undertook that the enterprise should be kept secret, both by himself and his subjects, for all of whom he could answer, as not one of the negroes engaged had the right to leave the works for a day under penalty of the most dreadful punishments.
On this account the operation was enveloped16 in a mystery that the cleverest detectives of America and Europe failed to penetrate17, and if it was discovered at last it was because the Sultan had relaxed his severity after the completion of the works, and that there are traitors18 or chatterers even among negroes. It was in this way that Richard W. Trust, the consul19 at Zanzibar, got wind of what was happening at Kilimanjaro. But at that date, the 13th of September, it was too late to stop Barbicane in the accomplishment20 of his plans.
The reason that Barbicane & Co. had chosen the country of the Wamasai as the scene of their operations was that, in the first place, it was little known and rarely visited by travellers, and, secondly21, that the mass of Kilimanjaro offered all the qualities of solidity and position necessary for their work. Besides, the country was rich in all the materials they required, and these were found under conditions that made them easily workable.
A few months before leaving the United States, Barbicane had learnt from the Swedish explorer that iron and coal were abundant in the Kilimanjaro chain. There were no mines to be opened, and no shafts22 to be driven thousands of feet into the crust of the earth. The minerals were on the surface, and had only to be picked up from the ground. And in addition to these, there were large deposits of nitrate of soda23 and iron pyrites, such as were required for the manufacture of the meli-melonite.
Barbicane and Nicholl had brought no staff of workmen with them except the ten foremen, on whom they could depend. These could take command of the ten thousand negroes placed at their disposal by Bali-Bali, to whom was entrusted24 the task of making the monster cannon25 and its no less monster projectile26.
A fortnight after the arrival of Barbicane and his colleague among the Wamasai, three large workshops had been erected27 on the south of the mountain; one as the foundry for the gun, one as the foundry for the shot, and one as the factory for the meli-melonite.
And how did Barbicane & Co. intend to cast a cannon of such colossal28 dimensions? The only chance for the inhabitants of the world was, as we have seen, in the difficulty of dealing29 with such a huge undertaking30.
To cast a cannon a million times larger than a four hundred pounder would have been beyond the power of man. To make a four hundred pounder is difficult enough, but a four hundred million pounder! Barbicane and Co. did not attempt to do so. It was not a cannon, nor even a mortar31, that they had in their minds. They simply intended to drive a gallery into the mountain.
Evidently this enormous mine would have the same effect as a gigantic Columbiad, the manufacture of which 121would have been as costly32 as it was difficult, owing to the thickness it would have to be to avoid the risk of bursting. Barbicane & Co. had always intended to act in this way, and if J. T. Maston’s note-book spoke33 of a cannon, it was the four hundred pounder he had taken as the basis of his calculations.
Consequently, a spot was chosen a hundred feet up the southern side of the chain, from the base of which the plains extended for miles and miles, so that nothing would be in the way of the projectile when it was hurled34 from the long tube in the mass of Kilimanjaro.
With great precision and much labour Barbicane carried on the driving of his tunnel. Easy to him was the construction of boring machines worked with air compressed by the power of the large waterfalls in the district. The holes bored by the machines were charged with meli-melonite, and the blasting of the rock was easy, it being a kind of syenite composed of orthoclastic felspar and amphibolic hornblende. It was a favourable35 circumstance that a rock so constituted would strongly resist the frightful36 pressure developed by the expansion of the gas; but the height and thickness of the mountain afforded ample security against any exterior37 splitting or cracking.
The thousands of workmen under the guidance of the ten foremen, superintended by Barbicane, progressed with such zeal38 and intelligence that in less than six months the tunnel was finished. It measured nearly ninety feet in diameter and two thousand feet long. As it was important that the projectile should glide39 along a perfectly40 smooth surface without losing any of the gas of deflagration, the interior was lined with a smooth tube of cast iron. This was a much larger affair than the celebrated Columbiad of Tampa Town, which had sent the aluminium41 projectile round the Moon. But what is there that is impossible to the engineers of the modern world?
While the boring went on in the flank of Kilimanjaro, the workmen were busy at the second foundry. While the tube was being built the enormous projectile was in process of manufacture.
All it consisted of was a mass of cast iron, cylindro-conical in form, weighing one hundred and eighty thousand tons. It had never been intended to make such a casting in one piece, but to provide one hundred and eighty masses, each of a thousand tons, which could be hoisted42 into the tube and arranged in front of the meli-melonite so as to form a compact charge.
It thus became necessary to furnish the second foundry with four hundred thousand tons of ore, seventy thousand tons of flux43, and four hundred thousand tons of good coal, which at the outset was transformed into two hundred and eighty thousand tons of coke. As the deposits were all in the vicinity, this was only a matter of transport.
The greatest difficulty was the construction of the blast furnaces for dealing with the ore; but nevertheless, before a month was out ten furnaces were at work, capable, each, of an output of one hundred and eighty tons a day. This gave eighteen hundred tons in the twenty-four hours, and a hundred and eighty thousand tons in ten working days.
In the meli-melonite factory the work went on easily, and so secretly that the composition of the explosive was never discovered.
The Sultan was delighted. He followed the operations with indefatigable44 assiduity, and it may be imagined how his Majesty’s presence stimulated45 the zeal of his faithful subjects.
When he asked what it all meant, Barbicane would reply enigmatically,—
“It is a work which will change the face of the world!”
“A work,” Captain Nicholl would add, “that will confer on the Sultan Bali-Bali a glory that will never fade among the monarchs46 of Eastern Africa!”
And that the Sultan of the Wamasai felt proud there is no need for us to insist!
On the 29th of August the works were completed. The tunnel was lined with the smooth iron tube built up within it. At the end lay stored two thousand tons of meli-melonite in communication with the box of fulminate. Then came the projectile three hundred and forty-five feet long. In front of the projectile was a space of fourteen hundred and fifty feet in which effect would be given to the impulse due to the expansion of the gas.
That being the case, there remained the question—a question of pure ballistics—would the projectile have the trajectory47 assigned to it by J. T. Maston? The calculations were correct. They indicated in what measure the projectile would deviate48 to the east of the meridian49 of Kilimanjaro in virtue50 of the earth’s rotation51, and what would be the form of the hyperbolic curve which it described in virtue of its enormous initial velocity52.
Second question: Would it be visible during its flight? No, for when it left the tube plunged53 in the darkness of the earth, it could not be seen, and besides owing to its moderate height it would have a very considerable angular velocity. Once it entered the zone of light, the smallness of its volume would conceal54 it from the most powerful glasses, and for a stronger reason it would, when free from the influence of terrestrial attraction, gravitate for ever round the Sun.
Assuredly Barbicane & Co. might be proud of the work they were about to complete. Why was not J. T. Maston there to admire the admirable execution of the works which was worthy55 of the precision of the calculations that had inspired them? And above all things why was he far away when the formidable detonation56 would awake the echoes of the most distant horizons of Africa?
In thinking of him his colleagues had no notion that he had had to leave Ballistic Cottage after escaping from Baltimore Gaol57, and was now in hiding to save his precious life. They knew not to what a degree public opinion had risen against the North Polar Practical Association. They knew not what would be the massacres58, quarterings, and roastings if the people happened to lay hold of them. Indeed they were fortunate that when the mine was fired they could only be saluted59 by the shouts of the Wamasai.
“At last!” said Captain Nicholl, when on the evening of the 22nd of September they were strolling about at the mouth of the mine.
“Yes! At last! And also—Ha!” and Barbicane gave a sigh of relief.
“If you had to begin again?”
“Bah! We should begin again!”
“What luck,” said Nicholl, “that we should have at our disposal this admirable meli-melonite!”
“Which will make you illustrious, Nicholl!”
“Doubtless, Barbicane,” said the captain modestly. “But do you know how many galleries we should have had to drive in the flanks of Kilimanjaro to obtain the same result if we had only had fulmi-cotton like that which flung our projectile at the Moon?”
“Tell me.”
“One hundred and eighty, Barbicane!”
“Well, we would have driven them!”
“And a hundred and eighty projectiles60 of a hundred and eighty thousand tons!”
“We would have made them, Nicholl!”
There is no nonsense about men of this stamp. But when artillerists have made the round of the Moon, or what could they not be capable?
And that very evening, an hour or two only before the discharge was to take place, and while Barbicane and Nicholl were thus congratulating themselves, Alcide Pierdeux, shut up in his room at Baltimore, jumped to his feet and whooped61 like a Redskin.
“Whoooop! Mr. J. T. Maston! You brute62, you shall swallow your problem, you shall! And why didn’t I see that before! In the name of a cosine! If I knew where you were I would ask you to supper, and we would have a glass of champagne63 together at the very moment your gun is to go off!”
“Whoooop, you old plum-tree! You must have had a big bang when you calculated the cannon of Kilimanjaro! Hurrah65 for the cannon of Kilimanjaro; and how many more would you like? That is not only the sine quâ non, my boy, but the sine cannon! Whoooop!”
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1
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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6
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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obstructed
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| 阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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11
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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12
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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projectors
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| 电影放映机，幻灯机( projector的名词复数 ) | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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21
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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projectile
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| n.投射物，发射体；adj.向前开进的；推进的；抛掷的 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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28
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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39
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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41
aluminium
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| n.铝 (=aluminum) | |
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42
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
flux
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| n.流动；不断的改变 | |
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indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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45
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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trajectory
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| n.弹道，轨道 | |
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48
deviate
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| v.(from)背离，偏离 | |
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meridian
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| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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51
rotation
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| n.旋转；循环，轮流 | |
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52
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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53
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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54
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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55
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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56
detonation
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| n.爆炸；巨响 | |
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57
gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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massacres
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| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
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59
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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projectiles
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| n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器 | |
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61
whooped
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| 叫喊( whoop的过去式和过去分词 )； 高声说； 唤起 | |
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62
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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63
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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64
capered
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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