The Country in the Elbow of the Niger.--A Fantastic View of the Hombori Mountains.--Kabra.--Timbuctoo.--The Chart of Dr. Barth. --A Decaying City.--Whither Heaven wills.
During this dull Monday, Dr. Ferguson diverted his thoughts by giving his companions a thousand details concerning the country they were crossing. The surface, which was quite flat, offered no impediment to their progress. The doctor's sole anxiety arose from the obstinate1 northeast wind which continued to blow furiously, and bore them away from the latitude2 of Timbuctoo.
The Niger, after running northward3 as far as that city, sweeps around, like an immense water-jet from some fountain, and falls into the Atlantic in a broad sheaf. In the elbow thus formed the country is of varied4 character, sometimes luxuriantly fertile, and sometimes extremely bare; fields of maize5 succeeded by wide spaces covered with broom-corn and uncultivated plains. All kinds of aquatic6 birds--pelicans, wild-duck, kingfishers, and the rest--were seen in numerous flocks hovering7 about the borders of the pools and torrents8.
From time to time there appeared an encampment of Touaregs, the men sheltered under their leather tents, while their women were busied with the domestic toil9 outside, milking their camels and smoking their huge-bowled pipes.
By eight o'clock in the evening the Victoria had advanced more than two hundred miles to the westward10, and our aeronauts became the spectators of a magnificent scene.
A mass of moonbeams forcing their way through an opening in the clouds, and gliding11 between the long lines of falling rain, descended12 in a golden shower on the ridges14 of the Hombori Mountains. Nothing could be more weird15 than the appearance of these seemingly basaltic summits; they stood out in fantastic profile against the sombre sky, and the beholder16 might have fancied them to be the legendary17 ruins of some vast city of the middle ages, such as the icebergs18 of the polar seas sometimes mimic19 them in nights of gloom.
"An admirable landscape for the 'Mysteries of Udolpho'!" exclaimed the doctor. "Ann Radcliffe could not have depicted20 yon mountains in a more appalling21 aspect."
"Faith!" said Joe, "I wouldn't like to be strolling alone in the evening through this country of ghosts. Do you see now, master, if it wasn't so heavy, I'd like to carry that whole landscape home to Scotland! It would do for the borders of Loch Lomond, and tourists would rush there in crowds."
"Our balloon is hardly large enough to admit of that little experiment--but I think our direction is changing. Bravo!--the elves and fairies of the place are quite obliging. See, they've sent us a nice little southeast breeze, that will put us on the right track again."
In fact, the Victoria was resuming a more northerly route, and on the morning of the 20th she was passing over an inextricable network of channels, torrents, and streams, in fine, the whole complicated tangle22 of the Niger's tributaries23. Many of these channels, covered with a thick growth of herbage, resembled luxuriant meadow-lands. There the doctor recognized the route followed by the explorer Barth when he launched upon the river to descend13 to Timbuctoo. Eight hundred fathoms24 broad at this point, the Niger flowed between banks richly grown with cruciferous plants and tamarind-trees. Herds25 of agile26 gazelles were seen skipping about, their curling horns mingling27 with the tall herbage, within which the alligator28, half concealed29, lay silently in wait for them with watchful30 eyes.
Long files of camels and asses31 laden32 with merchandise from Jenne were winding33 in under the noble trees. Ere long, an amphitheatre of low-built houses was discovered at a turn of the river, their roofs and terraces heaped up with hay and straw gathered from the neighboring districts.
"There's Kabra!" exclaimed the doctor, joyously34; "there is the harbor of Timbuctoo, and the city is not five miles from here!"
"Then, sir, you are satisfied?" half queried35 Joe.
"Delighted, my boy!"
"Very good; then every thing's for the best!"
In fact, about two o'clock, the Queen of the Desert, mysterious Timbuctoo, which once, like Athens and Rome, had her schools of learned men, and her professorships of philosophy, stretched away before the gaze of our travellers.
Ferguson followed the most minute details upon the chart traced by Barth himself, and was enabled to recognize its perfect accuracy.
The city forms an immense triangle marked out upon a vast plain of white sand, its acute angle directed toward the north and piercing a corner of the desert. In the environs there was almost nothing, hardly even a few grasses, with some dwarf36 mimosas and stunted37 bushes.
As for the appearance of Timbuctoo, the reader has but to imagine a collection of billiard-balls and thimbles--such is the bird's-eye view! The streets, which are quite narrow, are lined with houses only one story in height, built of bricks dried in the sun, and huts of straw and reeds, the former square, the latter conical. Upon the terraces were seen some of the male inhabitants, carelessly lounging at full length in flowing apparel of bright colors, and lance or musket38 in hand; but no women were visible at that hour of the day.
"Yet they are said to be handsome," remarked the doctor. "You see the three towers of the three mosques39 that are the only ones left standing41 of a great number-- the city has indeed fallen from its ancient splendor42! At the top of the triangle rises the Mosque40 of Sankore, with its ranges of galleries resting on arcades43 of sufficiently44 pure design. Farther on, and near to the Sane-Gungu quarter, is the Mosque of Sidi-Yahia and some two-story houses. But do not look for either palaces or monuments: the sheik is a mere45 son of traffic, and his royal palace is a counting-house."
"It seems to me that I can see half-ruined ramparts," said Kennedy.
"They were destroyed by the Fouillanes in 1826; the city was one-third larger then, for Timbuctoo, an object generally coveted46 by all the tribes, since the eleventh century, has belonged in succession to the Touaregs, the Sonrayans, the Morocco men, and the Fouillanes; and this great centre of civilization, where a sage47 like Ahmed-Baba owned, in the sixteenth century, a library of sixteen hundred manuscripts, is now nothing but a mere half-way house for the trade of Central Africa."
The city, indeed, seemed abandoned to supreme48 neglect; it betrayed that indifference49 which seems epidemic50 to cities that are passing away. Huge heaps of rubbish encumbered51 the suburbs, and, with the hill on which the market-place stood, formed the only inequalities of the ground.
When the Victoria passed, there was some slight show of movement; drums were beaten; but the last learned man still lingering in the place had hardly time to notice the new phenomenon, for our travellers, driven onward52 by the wind of the desert, resumed the winding course of the river, and, ere long, Timbuctoo was nothing more than one of the fleeting53 reminiscences of their journey.
"And now," said the doctor, "Heaven may waft54 us whither it pleases!"
"Provided only that we go westward," added Kennedy.
"Bah!" said Joe; "I wouldn't be afraid if it was to go back to Zanzibar by the same road, or to cross the ocean to America."
"We would first have to be able to do that, Joe!"
"And what's wanting, doctor?"
"Gas, my boy; the ascending55 force of the balloon is evidently growing weaker, and we shall need all our management to make it carry us to the sea-coast. I shall even have to throw over some ballast. We are too heavy."
"That's what comes of doing nothing, doctor; when a man lies stretched out all day long in his hammock, he gets fat and heavy. It's a lazybones trip, this of ours, master, and when we get back every body will find us big and stout56."
"Just like Joe," said Kennedy; "just the ideas for him: but wait a bit! Can you tell what we may have to go through yet? We are still far from the end of our trip. Where do you expect to strike the African coast, doctor?"
"I should find it hard to answer you, Kennedy. We are at the mercy of very variable winds; but I should think myself fortunate were we to strike it between Sierra Leone and Portendick. There is a stretch of country in that quarter where we should meet with friends."
"And it would be a pleasure to press their hands; but, are we going in the desirable direction?"
"Not any too well, Dick; not any too well! Look at the needle of the compass; we are bearing southward, and ascending the Niger toward its sources."
"A fine chance to discover them," said Joe, "if they were not known already. Now, couldn't we just find others for it, on a pinch?"
"Not exactly, Joe; but don't be alarmed: I hardly expect to go so far as that."
At nightfall the doctor threw out the last bags of sand. The Victoria rose higher, and the blow-pipe, although working at full blast, could scarcely keep her up. At that time she was sixty miles to the southward of Timbuctoo, and in the morning the aeronauts awoke over the banks of the Niger, not far from Lake Debo.
尼日尔河河套地区——洪博利山①的神幻景象——卡布拉——廷巴克图——巴尔特博士的计划——廷巴克图的没落——天意难违
①位于马里境内南部。
星期一，天空阴沉沉的。弗格森博士兴致勃勃地给他的同伴讲述了许多有关他们所经过地区的细节。地面相当平坦，前方没有任何妨碍他们前进的高山峻岭，唯有这可恶的东北风令博士不安。风迅猛地刮着，使他们渐渐远离了廷巴克图。
尼日尔河一直向北上行到延巴克图后，犹如一股喷泉射出的水柱，在地上划出一个大大的弧线，掉头分成一条条支流，心花怒放地流入大西洋。这个河套地区，土地条件变化很大，一会儿是肥壤沃土，一会儿是不毛之地。玉米地过去是荒芜的平原，接着又是大片长满灌木的旷野。各种各样的小鸟、鹈鸪、野鸭、翠鸟，成群结队地栖息在激流两岸和洼地上。
下面，时不时地出现一个图瓦雷格人的营地。他们躲在皮帐篷下休息，而女人们却在外面忙着干活。她们嘴里叼着大烟斗，边抽烟边挤骆驼奶。
到晚上8点左右， “维多利亚号”已经往西飞了200多英里。这时，3位旅行家亲眼目睹了一幅神奇的景色：
几道月光透出云缝，划过雨帘洒落在绵延不断的洪博利山脉上。没有比这些玄武岩山峦更奇特的了。在阴暗的天空衬托下，它们显示出神奇的轮廓，像是传说里中世纪某个大城市的废墟。这种感觉和黑暗中令人吃惊地看到眼前出现北冰洋的浮冰时一样。
“看呀，这简直是‘尤多尔夫的奥秘’中的一个景色。”博士说，“安娜·拉德克利芙①也未必能勾勒出比这个山景更可怕的场面了。”
①1764—1823，英国女作家，《尤多尔夫的奥秘》是她在1794年的作品。
“我的天！”乔叹道，“我可不愿晚上一个人在这个幽灵出没的地方遛达。主人，您看，如果不是太重的话，我就把这整个景致搬回苏格兰，放到罗蒙湖边上去，肯定会很合适，而且肯定有大批游人蜂拥而至。”
“可惜我们的气球不够大，不能实现你的奇想。现在，我觉得方向似乎变了。好极了！这方土地的神灵实在可爱，他们向我们吹来了东南风。这风正好把我们送上想走的路。”
果然， “维多利亚号”重新向北飞去。5月20日早晨，气球飞过尼日尔河支流上空。这里大大小小的河流纵横交错，织成了一张蜘蛛网般的水网。许多运河里还长满了茂密的青草，像一块块草肥水美的牧地。在这儿，博士找到了巴尔特走过的路线。当年，巴尔特博士就是从这儿上船顺河而下去到廷巴克图。这段尼日尔河宽800托瓦兹， 河两岸全是罗望子树和十字花科植物。成群结队的瞪羚蹦蹦跳跳，弯弯曲曲的犄角在高草中时隐时现。岂不知，虎视眈眈的钝吻鳄静静地伏在草丛深处，正等候着它们的到来呢。
长长的驮驴和骆驼队，载着从热内运来的货物在树下缓缓而行。功夫不大，在一个河湾处出现了一些房顶倾斜的矮房子。这一带地区的土台子上和房顶上都堆放着干草。“这就是卡布拉！”博士高兴地欢呼道，“它是廷巴克图的码头。从这儿到那个城不足5英里了！”
“看来您很满意，先生？”乔问。
“我的小伙子，何止满意，是高兴！”
“那好，这么说，就是一切如愿了。”
果然，下午两点钟时，这颗沙漠明珠展现在旅行家们的眼前。神秘的廷巴克图和雅典、罗马一样，以前曾有过许多学者贤人，文化气息非常浓厚。
弗格森根据巴尔特本人画的平面图核查了城里的每一处。他发现地图绘制的非常精确。
城市在浩瀚的白沙平原中呈一个大大的内接三角形状，三角形的顶点冲北刺入沙漠的一角。城的周围一片荒芜，上面稀稀落落长着一些野生谷物，矮小的含羞草和委靡不振的灌木。
空中俯瞰，气球正下方的廷巴克图城外貌很容易让人想到一堆游戏用的弹子和骰子。街道相当狭窄，路两旁全是些用土坯建造的平房、草屋和芦苇棚。这些房子有些是圆锥形的，有些是方形的。平台上懒洋洋地躺着一些手握长矛或火枪，身穿鲜艳长袍的居民。这个时候，街上一个女人也没有。
“听说这儿的女人很漂亮。 ”博士说，“你们看这3座清真寺的尖塔。它们是众多寺院中仅存的3个了。 廷巴克图已完全失去往日的辉煌，走向了没落！在城区三角形的顶端，耸立着桑科尔大清真寺。绘着精美图案的拱顶支撑着寺里一排排游廊。离桑科尔大清真寺稍远些，在圣—龚古区的附近，是西迪—叶海亚清真寺和几栋两层的房子。别想着能找到什么宫殿和纪念性建筑物。这里的酋长只是个普通的商人，所以，他的官邸不过是个商行罢了。”
“我好像看到了一些颓垣断壁。”肯尼迪说。
“那是1826年富拉尼人给毁掉的。那时的城市要比现在大三分之一呢。廷巴克图从11世纪起就是人人觊觎的对象。它先后曾归图瓦雷格人、桑海人①、摩洛哥人和富拉尼人所有。该城曾是一个重要的文明中心。16世纪时，城里有位学者，如艾哈迈德—巴巴就拥有一个收藏了1600部手稿的私人藏书室。可惜这座历史名城现在竟成了中非的一个贸易货栈。”
①住在马里尼日尔河河套地区的一个民族。
的确，这座城市似乎被人们漫不经心地遗弃了。到处显露出衰败城市惯有的杂乱无章，污秽不堪。郊区堆积着大片大片残砖破坯等废弃物。除了集市广场上的小丘外，它们就是这块平原上唯一起伏不平的地块了。
当“维多利亚号”从上空路过时，城里出现一阵骚动，鼓声顿时响起。然而，恐怕连当地仅存的一位学者也没来得及观察这个新奇的现象，气球就在沙漠来风的吹送下，又飞回尼日尔河蜿蜒水道的上空了。很快，廷巴克图就变成了他们旅行中仅仅能回忆到的一个景点。
“现在，就看老天把我们往哪儿带了！”博士说。
“但愿能往西去！”肯尼迪期望道。
“唔！管它顺原路返回桑给巴尔，还是横渡大西洋到美洲，我都不在乎！”乔大大咧咧地说。
“乔，不管到那儿去，首先得有这种能力。”
“难道我们缺乏这种能力吗？”
“小伙子，我们缺的是气。气球的升力在逐渐减小。要想它把我们带到海岸，就得特别节省气体。我甚至在想，是不是得扔掉压载物。看来，我们太胖了。”
“主人，这都是无所事事的缘故！整天像个懒汉似的躺在吊床上消磨光阴，当然要长膘变重了。没想到，我们竟做了一次懒汉旅行！等回去时，大家一定会发现我们肥肥胖胖的不像个样子。”
“真不愧是乔的想法。”猎人插话说，“不过，出水才见两腿泥，你怎么知道老天爷给我们安排了什么样的命运？我们的旅行还远没结束呢。弗格森，你认为我们会到非洲的哪个地方？”
“肯尼迪，对你的这个问题，我真不知道怎么回答才好。风向变幻不定，我也拿不准。说到底，如果我们能到塞拉利昂和波唐迪克之间的海岸，我会感到非常运气的。在那儿很大一块区域里，我们都可以遇到朋友。”
“能和他们见面是一件高兴的事。可是，我们至少现在是在往想去的方向飞吧？”肯尼迪说。
“不完全是，肯尼迪。你瞧瞧磁针，我们又在往南去，也就是说，我们正顺着尼日尔河去它的发源地。”
“如果源头不是已经发现的话，这倒是一个少有的考察机会。”乔俏皮地说，“主人，咱们就不能发现其他的源头了吗？”
“乔，不能。不过，放心吧，但愿我们不至于到那儿。”
夜幕降临时，博士扔掉了最后一袋压载物。“维多利亚号”又上升了一些。氢氧喷嘴尽管已开到了最大火力，维持气球高度仍有些勉为其难。“维多利亚号”这时已位于廷巴克图以南60英里的地方。可是第二天博士醒来时却发现他们到了尼日尔河畔，离德波湖不远了。
收听单词发音 |
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obstinate
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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maize
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aquatic
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| adj.水生的，水栖的 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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beholder
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| n.观看者，旁观者 | |
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legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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icebergs
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| n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 ) | |
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mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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tributaries
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fathoms
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herds
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agile
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mingling
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alligator
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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watchful
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asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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mosques
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| 清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 ) | |
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mosque
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| n.清真寺 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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42
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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43
arcades
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| n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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waft
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| v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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