Dr. Ferguson's Anxieties.--Persistent Movement southward.--A Cloud of Grasshoppers2.--A View of Jenne.--A View of Sego.--Change of the Wind.--Joe's Regrets.
The flow of the river was, at that point, divided by large islands into narrow branches, with a very rapid current. Upon one among them stood some shepherds' huts, but it had become impossible to take an exact observation of them, because the speed of the balloon was constantly increasing. Unfortunately, it turned still more toward the south, and in a few moments crossed Lake Debo.
Dr. Ferguson, forcing the dilation3 of his aerial craft to the utmost, sought for other currents of air at different heights, but in vain; and he soon gave up the attempt, which was only augmenting4 the waste of gas by pressing it against the well-worn tissue of the balloon.
He made no remark, but he began to feel very anxious. This persistence5 of the wind to head him off toward the southern part of Africa was defeating his calculations, and he no longer knew upon whom or upon what to depend. Should he not reach the English or French territories, what was to become of him in the midst of the barbarous tribes that infest6 the coasts of Guinea? How should he there get to a ship to take him back to England? And the actual direction of the wind was driving him along to the kingdom of Dahomey, among the most savage7 races, and into the power of a ruler who was in the habit of sacrificing thousands of human victims at his public orgies. There he would be lost!
On the other hand, the balloon was visibly wearing out, and the doctor felt it failing him. However, as the weather was clearing up a little, he hoped that the cessation of the rain would bring about a change in the atmospheric8 currents.
It was therefore a disagreeable reminder9 of the actual situation when Joe said aloud:
"There! the rain's going to pour down harder than ever; and this time it will be the deluge10 itself, if we're to judge by yon cloud that's coming up!"
"What! another cloud?" asked Ferguson.
"Yes, and a famous one," replied Kennedy.
"I never saw the like of it," added Joe.
"I breathe freely again!" said the doctor, laying down his spy-glass. "That's not a cloud!"
"Not a cloud?" queried11 Joe, with surprise.
"Eh?"
"A swarm of grasshoppers!"
"That? Grasshoppers!"
"Myriads13 of grasshoppers, that are going to sweep over this country like a water-spout; and woe14 to it! for, should these insects alight, it will be laid waste."
"That would be a sight worth beholding15!"
"Wait a little, Joe. In ten minutes that cloud will have arrived where we are, and you can then judge by the aid of your own eyes."
The doctor was right. The cloud, thick, opaque16, and several miles in extent, came on with a deafening17 noise, casting its immense shadow over the fields. It was composed of numberless legions of that species of grasshopper1 called crickets. About a hundred paces from the balloon, they settled down upon a tract18 full of foliage19 and verdure. Fifteen minutes later, the mass resumed its flight, and our travellers could, even at a distance, see the trees and the bushes entirely20 stripped, and the fields as bare as though they had been swept with the scythe21. One would have thought that a sudden winter had just descended22 upon the earth and struck the region with the most complete sterility23.
"Well, Joe, what do you think of that?"
"Well, doctor, it's very curious, but quite natural. What one grasshopper does on a small scale, thousands do on a grand scale."
"It's a terrible shower," said the hunter; "more so than hail itself in the devastation24 it causes."
"It is impossible to prevent it," replied Ferguson. "Sometimes the inhabitants have had the idea to burn the forests, and even the standing25 crops, in order to arrest the progress of these insects; but the first ranks plunging26 into the flames would extinguish them beneath their mass, and the rest of the swarm would then pass irresistibly27 onward28. Fortunately, in these regions, there is some sort of compensation for their ravages29, since the natives gather these insects in great numbers and greedily eat them."
"They are the prawns30 of the air," said Joe, who added that he was sorry that he had never had the chance to taste them--just for information's sake!
The country became more marshy31 toward evening; the forests dwindled32 to isolated33 clumps34 of trees; and on the borders of the river could be seen plantations35 of tobacco, and swampy36 meadow-lands fat with forage37. At last the city of Jenne, on a large island, came in sight, with the two towers of its clay-built mosque38, and the putrid39 odor of the millions of swallows' nests accumulated in its walls. The tops of some baobabs, mimosas, and date-trees peeped up between the houses; and, even at night, the activity of the place seemed very great. Jenne is, in fact, quite a commercial city: it supplies all the wants of Timbuctoo. Its boats on the river, and its caravans40 along the shaded roads, bear thither41 the various products of its industry.
"Were it not that to do so would prolong our journey," said the doctor, "I should like to alight at this place. There must be more than one Arab there who has travelled in England and France, and to whom our style of locomotion42 is not altogether new. But it would not be prudent43."
"Let us put off the visit until our next trip," said Joe, laughing.
"Besides, my friends, unless I am mistaken, the wind has a slight tendency to veer44 a little more to the eastward45, and we must not lose such an opportunity."
The doctor threw overboard some articles that were no longer of use--some empty bottles, and a case that had contained preserved-meat--and thereby46 managed to keep the balloon in a belt of the atmosphere more favorable to his plans. At four o'clock in the morning the first rays of the sun lighted up Sego, the capital of Bambarra, which could be recognized at once by the four towns that compose it, by its Saracenic mosques47, and by the incessant48 going and coming of the flat-bottomed boats that convey its inhabitants from one quarter to the other. But the travellers were not more seen than they saw. They sped rapidly and directly to the northwest, and the doctor's anxiety gradually subsided49.
"Two more days in this direction, and at this rate of speed, and we'll reach the Senegal River."
"And we'll be in a friendly country?" asked the hunter.
"Not altogether; but, if the worst came to the worst, and the balloon were to fail us, we might make our way to the French settlements. But, let it hold out only for a few hundred miles, and we shall arrive without fatigue50, alarm, or danger, at the western coast."
"And the thing will be over!" added Joe. "Heigh-ho! so much the worse. If it wasn't for the pleasure of telling about it, I would never want to set foot on the ground again! Do you think anybody will believe our story, doctor?"
"Who can tell, Joe? One thing, however, will be undeniable: a thousand witnesses saw us start on one side of the African Continent, and a thousand more will see us arrive on the other."
"And, in that case, it seems to me that it would be hard to say that we had not crossed it," added Kennedy.
"Ah, doctor!" said Joe again, with a deep sigh, "I'll think more than once of my lumps of solid gold-ore! There was something that would have given WEIGHT to our narrative51! At a grain of gold per head, I could have got together a nice crowd to listen to me, and even to admire me!"
弗格森博士的不安——持续南飞——乌云般的飞蝗群——热内城一瞥——塞古城①一瞥——风向变了——乔的遗憾
①马里西南部城市，塞古区首府。
尼日尔河流到这儿被一些大岛分裂成许多河面狭窄，水流异常湍急的支流。有一个大岛上建着几所牧羊人住的陋屋。但是，对这块地区做精确测量是根本不可能的，因为“维多利亚号”的速度一直在逐渐加快。糟糕的是，气球还在往南倾斜，一会儿的功夫就飞过了德波湖。
弗格森一面尽量使气体膨胀，一面尝试着变换气球高度在大气层中寻找合适的气流。但一切努力均付之东流。他及时放弃了无谓的寻找，因为这种尝试使气囊老化的内壁压力加大，气体泄漏得更多了。
博士虽然一句话没说，但心里非常不安。这股风一个劲儿把他们向非洲南部地区刮去。弗格森的全盘计划都被打乱了。他现在已弄不清该指望谁，或依靠什么了。如果他们到不了英国或法国的属地，而是落到了骚扰几内亚沿岸的野蛮人手里，他们的命运会怎么样呢？在那儿怎么能指望有船回英国呢？眼下风向在把气球吹向达荷美王国②。那里的部落更野蛮。如果被他们抓住，只有任凭某位国王处置了。那儿的国王非常残暴，每逢大型节日，他都要杀几千人来做祭祀！这样，他们肯定没命了。
②西非国家贝宁的旧称。
另一方面，气球眼看着瘪下去，博士已感觉到它就要带不动他们了。这时，天色有点明朗起来，他期盼着雨停后，气流能有所变化。而恰恰这时，乔的几句话又使他心中忐忑不安起来。
“嘿！”乔叫道，“瞧雨又要下大了。而且从那块乌云运动的速度来看，这场雨小不了！”
“怎么，又来了一块乌云吗？”弗格森问。
“是的，而且这块乌云黑的真少见！”肯尼迪答道。
“我还从来没有见过这样的乌云呢，”乔证实说，“边边棱棱笔直笔直的！”
“嗨，吓了我一跳。”博士放下手中的望远镜，松了一口气说：“哪里是乌云。”
“啊！您说是什么？”乔惊讶地问。
“不是乌云，而是另外一种威胁！”
“这话怎讲？”
“那是一大群飞蝗。”
“飞蝗？”
“是的，几十亿只蝗虫龙卷风般地即将从这个地区飞过。这一带可要遭殃了。只要它们一落下，地上所有能吃的全会被吃的一干二净。”
“我倒想见识见识！”乔有些不相信。
“稍等一下，乔，10分钟后，那群蝗虫就到这儿了。你睁大眼睛好好瞧吧。”
弗格森说的一点不错。这群飞舞的蝗虫黑压压的占了方圆好几英里。它们发着嗡嗡的喧嚣声，地面上拖着巨大的阴影飞过来了。这些被称为“蝗虫”的害虫，多的不计其数， 组成了一支浩浩荡荡的飞蝗大军。在距“维多利亚号”100步远的时候， 它们向绿油油的田野扑去。一刻钟后，蝗虫飞走了。3位旅行家远远望去，只见树、灌木丛全光秃秃的；原本青草茂密的牧场犹如被割过一般，偌大一片原野顷刻间变得荒芜凄凉，好像冬天来临了似的。
“看见了吧，乔？”
“清清楚楚！先生，这实在稀奇，不过也很自然，一个蝗虫微不足道，几十亿个蝗虫在一起可就惊天动地了。”
“这也是一种可怕的雨，”猎人说，“而且比冰雹的摧毁力更可怕。”
“甚至连预防都不可能。”弗格森说，“有时，人们曾想用烧毁树林，甚至庄稼的办法来拦住这些昆虫，不让它们飞过。前面几批蝗虫扑到火中，烧死了，可是火也被扑灭了。后面的蝗虫势不可挡地继续前进。好在这一带地区，有一种补偿蝗灾的办法：当地人大量捕捉这种昆虫，然后津津有味地吃掉它们。”
“那它们就是空中的虾了。味道一定不错的。”乔说道。他很后悔，没有能品尝过这种昆虫。
临近傍晚时，气球下面沼泽地多了起来，树林渐渐被小树丛所代替。河畔地区，可以分辨出一些烟草和长着刍草的大块洼地。这时，在尼日尔河的一个大岛上显现出了热内城和土质清真寺的2个尖塔。与此同时，3位旅行家嗅到空气中弥漫着一股恶臭味。原来，城里的墙上筑着密密麻麻的燕巢，臭气正是从那些燕巢里散发出来的。房舍间夹杂着一些猴面包树、金合欢村或椰枣树。伞状的树冠伸出了房顶。即使在夜间，城里也十分热闹。热内不愧是座繁华的商业城。它供给延巴克图需要的一切。它的小船顺着河流，它的骆驼商队沿着树荫大道往延巴克图运送各种工业品。
“如果不是因为会耽误我们的旅行，我真想降到这个城里看看了。”博士遗憾地说，“这里想必不止一位阿拉伯人周游过法国或英国。我们这种旅行方式或许不会使他们感到陌生。不过，这样做，总归不够谨慎。”
“把这个城市留到我们下次旅行时再来吧。”乔笑着说。
“再说，朋友们，如果我没弄错的话，好像慢慢转成东风了。这种机会不能放过。”
博士把空瓶子，盛肉的空箱子等一些已无用的东西扔出了吊篮。他成功地把气球保持在了最有利的气层里。 清晨4点钟，他们来到了朝霞初照的塞古城。这座城是邦巴拉的首府。 它由4个城区构成，非常好认。这儿的清真寺是摩尔式建筑。向各个城区运送居民的渡船来来往往忙个不停。但由于风速大，还没有几位当地居民看到， 3位旅行家就已经越过该城笔直往西北方向快速飞去。到这时，博士忐忑不安的心情才渐渐平息下来。
“如果方向不变的话， 用这个速度飞下去，再有2天我们就能抵达塞内加尔河了。”博士盘算着说。
“是不是就到了友好地区？”猎人问。
“还不完全是。不过到了那里后，万一‘维多利亚号’飞不动了，我们可以去法国殖民地！但是，只要气球还能坚持几百英里，我们就能一路轻轻松松，无忧无虑，平平安安地到西海岸了！”
“到那时，整个旅行也就结束了！真没劲，只好算了！”乔有些依依不舍地说，“要不是还有机会给人讲述我们旅行的乐趣，我一辈子都不想着陆！主人，您认为大家会相信我们的话吗？”
“可爱的乔，谁知道呢？不过，事实终归是事实，谁也无法驳倒。成千个证人看到了我们从非洲一侧的海岸动身，同样会有成千个证人目睹我们到达非洲另一侧的海岸。”
“这种情况下，我觉得别人很难说我们没有横贯非洲大陆！”肯尼迪自信地说。
“唉，弗格森先生！”乔深深叹了口气说，“以后只要想起我那些金矿石，我就会后悔的。有它们在手可以给我们的探险增色多少啊！给大伙儿讲的时候，拿出来让他们瞧瞧，谁还会不信？每个听众给他一克，没有一大群人听我说才怪呢！他们肯定会为我喝彩！”
收听单词发音 |
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grasshopper
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| n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱 | |
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grasshoppers
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| n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的 | |
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dilation
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| n.膨胀，扩张，扩大 | |
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augmenting
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| 使扩张 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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infest
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| v.大批出没于；侵扰；寄生于 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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atmospheric
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| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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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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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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scythe
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| n. 长柄的大镰刀，战车镰； v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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sterility
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| n.不生育，不结果，贫瘠，消毒，无菌 | |
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devastation
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| n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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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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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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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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ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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prawns
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| n.对虾，明虾( prawn的名词复数 ) | |
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marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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mosque
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| n.清真寺 | |
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putrid
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| adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的 | |
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caravans
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| （可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队） | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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locomotion
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| n.运动，移动 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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44
veer
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| vt.转向，顺时针转，改变；n.转向 | |
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45
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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46
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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47
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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48
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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49
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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50
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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51
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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