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PUBLISHERS’ NOTE.
PUBLISHERS’ NOTE.
“Five Weeks in a Balloon” is, in a measure, a satire on modern books of African travel. So far as the geography, the inhabitants, the animals, and the features of the countries the travellers pass over are described, it is entirely accurate. It gives, in some particulars, a survey of nearly the whole field of African discovery, and in this way will often serve to refresh the memory of the reader. The mode of locomotion is, of course, purely imaginary, and the incidents and adventures fictitious.
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CHAPTER FIRST.
CHAPTER FIRST.
The End of a much-applauded Speech.—The Presentation of Dr. Samuel Ferguson.—Excelsior.—Full-length Portrait of the Doctor.—A Fatalist convinced.—A Dinner at the Travellers’ Club.—Several Toasts for the Occasion. There was a large audience assembled on the 14th of January, 1862, at the session of the Royal Geographical Society, No. 3 Waterloo Place, London. The president, Sir Francis M——, made an important communication to his colleagues, in an address that was frequently interrupted by applause
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CHAPTER SECOND.
CHAPTER SECOND.
The Article in the Daily Telegraph.—War between the Scientific Journals.—Mr. Petermann backs his Friend Dr. Ferguson.—Reply of the Savant Koner.—Bets made.—Sundry Propositions offered to the Doctor. On the next day, in its number of January 15th, the Daily Telegraph published an article couched in the following terms: “Africa is, at length, about to surrender the secret of her vast solitudes; a modern Œdipus is to give us the key to that enigma which the learned men of sixty centuries have not b
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CHAPTER THIRD.
CHAPTER THIRD.
The Doctor’s Friend.—The Origin of their Friendship.—Dick Kennedy at London.—An unexpected but not very consoling Proposal.—A Proverb by no means cheering.—A few Names from the African Martyrology.—The Advantages of a Balloon.—Dr. Ferguson’s Secret. Dr. Ferguson had a friend—not another self, indeed, an alter ego , for friendship could not exist between two beings exactly alike. But, if they possessed different qualities, aptitudes, and temperaments, Dick Kennedy and Samuel Ferguson lived with o
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CHAPTER FOURTH.
CHAPTER FOURTH.
African Explorations.—Barth, Richardson, Overweg, Werne, Brun-Rollet, Penney, Andrea, Debono, Miani, Guillaume Lejean, Bruce, Krapf and Rebmann, Maizan, Roscher, Burton and Speke. The aërial line which Dr. Ferguson counted upon following had not been chosen at random; his point of departure had been carefully studied, and it was not without good cause that he had resolved to ascend at the island of Zanzibar. This island, lying near to the eastern coast of Africa, is in the sixth degree of south
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CHAPTER FIFTH.
CHAPTER FIFTH.
Kennedy’s Dreams.—Articles and Pronouns in the Plural.—Dick’s Insinuations.—A Promenade over the Map of Africa.—What is contained between two Points of the Compass.—Expeditions now on foot.—Speke and Grant.—Krapf, De Decken, and De Heuglin. Dr. Ferguson energetically pushed the preparations for his departure, and in person superintended the construction of his balloon, with certain modifications; in regard to which he observed the most absolute silence. For a long time past he had been applying
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CHAPTER SIXTH.
CHAPTER SIXTH.
A Servant—match him!—He can see the Satellites of Jupiter.—Dick and Joe hard at it.—Doubt and Faith.—The Weighing Ceremony.—Joe and Wellington.—He gets a Half-crown. Dr. Ferguson had a servant who answered with alacrity to the name of Joe. He was an excellent fellow, who testified the most absolute confidence in his master, and the most unlimited devotion to his interests, even anticipating his wishes and orders, which were always intelligently executed. In fine, he was a Caleb without the growl
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CHAPTER SEVENTH.
CHAPTER SEVENTH.
Geometrical Details.—Calculation of the Capacity of the Balloon.—The Double Receptacle.—The Covering.—The Car.—The Mysterious Apparatus.—The Provisions and Stores.—The Final Summing up. Dr. Ferguson had long been engaged upon the details of his expedition. It is easy to comprehend that the balloon—that marvellous vehicle which was to convey him through the air—was the constant object of his solicitude. At the outset, in order not to give the balloon too ponderous dimensions, he had decided to fi
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CHAPTER EIGHTH.
CHAPTER EIGHTH.
Joe’s Importance.—The Commander of the Resolute.—Kennedy’s Arsenal.—Mutual Amenities.—The Farewell Dinner.—Departure on the 21st of February.—The Doctor’s Scientific Sessions.—Duveyrier.—Livingstone.—Details of the Aerial Voyage.—Kennedy silenced. About the 10th of February, the preparations were pretty well completed; and the balloons, firmly secured, one within the other, were altogether finished. They had been subjected to a powerful pneumatic pressure in all parts, and the test gave excellen
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CHAPTER NINTH.
CHAPTER NINTH.
They double the Cape.—The Forecastle.—A Course of Cosmography by Professor Joe.—Concerning the Method of guiding Balloons.—How to seek out Atmospheric Currents.—Eureka. The Resolute plunged along rapidly toward the Cape of Good Hope, the weather continuing fine, although the sea ran heavier. On the 30th of March, twenty-seven days after the departure from London, the Table Mountain loomed up on the horizon. Cape City lying at the foot of an amphitheatre of hills, could be distinguished through t
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CHAPTER TENTH.
CHAPTER TENTH.
Former Experiments.—The Doctor’s Five Receptacles.—The Gas Cylinder.—The Calorifere.—The System of Manœuvring.—Success certain. “The attempt has often been made, gentlemen,” said the doctor, “to rise and descend at will, without losing ballast or gas from the balloon. A French aëronaut, M. Meunier, tried to accomplish this by compressing air in an inner receptacle. A Belgian, Dr. Van Hecke, by means of wings and paddles, obtained a vertical power that would have sufficed in most cases, but the p
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CHAPTER ELEVENTH.
CHAPTER ELEVENTH.
The Arrival at Zanzibar.—The English Consul.—Ill-will of the Inhabitants.—The Island of Koumbeni.—The Rain-Makers.—Inflation of the Balloon.—Departure on the 18th of April.—The last Good-by.—The Victoria. An invariably favorable wind had accelerated the progress of the Resolute toward the place of her destination. The navigation of the Mozambique Channel was especially calm and pleasant. The agreeable character of the trip by sea was regarded as a good omen of the probable issue of the trip thro
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CHAPTER TWELFTH.
CHAPTER TWELFTH.
Crossing the Strait.—The Mrima.—Dick’s Remark and Joe’s Proposition.—A Recipe for Coffee-making.—The Uzaramo.—The Unfortunate Maizan.—Mount Dathumi.—The Doctor’s Cards.—Night under a Nopal. The air was pure, the wind moderate, and the balloon ascended almost perpendicularly to a height of fifteen hundred feet, as indicated by a depression of two inches in the barometric column. At this height a more decided current carried the balloon toward the southwest. What a magnificent spectacle was then o
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CHAPTER THIRTEENTH.
CHAPTER THIRTEENTH.
Change of Weather.—Kennedy has the Fever.—The Doctor’s Medicine.—Travels on Land.—The Basin of Imenge.—Mount Rubeho.—Six Thousand Feet Elevation.—A Halt in the Daytime. The night was calm. However, on Saturday morning, Kennedy, as he awoke, complained of lassitude and feverish chills. The weather was changing. The sky, covered with clouds, seemed to be laying in supplies for a fresh deluge. A gloomy region is that Zungomoro country, where it rains continually, excepting, perhaps, for a couple of
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CHAPTER FOURTEENTH.
CHAPTER FOURTEENTH.
The Forest of Gum-Trees.—The Blue Antelope.—The Rallying-Signal.—An Unexpected Attack.—The Kanyemé.—A Night in the Open Air.—The Mabunguru.—Jihoue-la-Mkoa.—A Supply of Water.—Arrival at Kazeh. The country, dry and parched as it was, consisting of a clayey soil that cracked open with the heat, seemed, indeed, a desert: here and there were a few traces of caravans; the bones of men and animals, that had been half-gnawed away, mouldering together in the same dust. After half an hour’s walking, Dick
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CHAPTER FIFTEENTH.
CHAPTER FIFTEENTH.
Kazeh.—The Noisy Market-place.—The Appearance of the Balloon.—The Wangaga.—The Sons of the Moon.—The Doctor’s Walk.—The Population of the Place.—The Royal Tembe.—The Sultan’s Wives.—A Royal Drunken-Bout.—Joe an Object of Worship.—How they Dance in the Moon.—A Reaction.—Two Moons in one Sky.—The Instability of Divine Honors. Kazeh, an important point in Central Africa, is not a city; in truth, there are no cities in the interior. Kazeh is but a collection of six extensive excavations. There are e
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CHAPTER SIXTEENTH.
CHAPTER SIXTEENTH.
Symptoms of a Storm.—The Country of the Moon.—The Future of the African Continent.—The Last Machine of all.—A View of the Country at Sunset.—Flora and Fauna.—The Tempest.—The Zone of Fire.—The Starry Heavens. “See,” said Joe, “what comes of playing the sons of the moon without her leave! She came near serving us an ugly trick. But say, master, did you damage your credit as a physician?” “Yes, indeed,” chimed in the sportsman. “What kind of a dignitary was this Sultan of Kazeh?” “An old half-dead
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CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH.
CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH.
The Mountains of the Moon.—An Ocean of Verdure.—They cast Anchor.—The Towing Elephant.—A Running Fire.—Death of the Monster.—The Field-Oven.—A Meal on the Grass.—A Night on the Ground. About four in the morning, Monday, the sun reappeared in the horizon; the clouds had dispersed, and a cheery breeze refreshed the morning dawn. The earth, all redolent with fragrant exhalations, reappeared to the gaze of our travellers. The balloon, whirled about by opposing currents, had hardly budged from its pl
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CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH.
CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH.
The Karagwah.—Lake Ukéréoué.—A Night on an Island.—The Equator.—Crossing the Lake.—The Cascades.—A View of the Country.—The Sources of the Nile.—The Island of Benga.—The Signature of Andrea Debono.—The Flag with the Arms of England. At five o’clock in the morning, preparations for departure commenced. Joe, with the hatchet which he had fortunately recovered, broke the elephant’s tusks. The balloon, restored to liberty, sped away to the northwest with our travellers, at the rate of eighteen miles
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CHAPTER NINETEENTH.
CHAPTER NINETEENTH.
The Nile.—The Trembling Mountain.—A Remembrance of the Country.—The Narratives of the Arabs.—The Nyam-Nyams.—Joe’s Shrewd Cogitations.—The Balloon runs the Gantlet.—Aerostatic Ascensions.—Madame Blanchard. “Which way do we head?” asked Kennedy, as he saw his friend consulting the compass. “North-northeast.” “The deuce! but that’s not the north?” “No, Dick; and I’m afraid that we shall have some trouble in getting to Gondokoro. I am sorry for it; but, at last, we have succeeded in connecting the
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CHAPTER TWENTIETH.
CHAPTER TWENTIETH.
The Celestial Bottle.—The Fig-Palms.—The Mammoth Trees.—The Tree of War.—The Winged Team.—Two Native Tribes in Battle.—A Massacre.—An Intervention from above. The wind had become violent and irregular; the balloon was running the gantlet through the air. Tossed at one moment toward the north, at another toward the south, it could not find one steady current. “We are moving very swiftly without advancing much,” said Kennedy, remarking the frequent oscillations of the needle of the compass. “The b
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST.
Strange Sounds.—A Night Attack.—Kennedy and Joe in the Tree.—Two Shots.—“Help! help!”—Reply in French.—The Morning.—The Missionary.—The Plan of Rescue. The night came on very dark. The doctor had not been able to reconnoitre the country. He had made fast to a very tall tree, from which he could distinguish only a confused mass through the gloom. As usual, he took the nine-o’clock watch, and at midnight Dick relieved him. “Keep a sharp lookout, Dick!” was the doctor’s good-night injunction. “Is t
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND.
The Jet of Light.—The Missionary.—The Rescue in a Ray of Electricity.—A Lazarist Priest.—But little Hope.—The Doctor’s Care.—A Life of Self-Denial.—Passing a Volcano. Dr. Ferguson darted his powerful electric jet toward various points of space, and caused it to rest on a spot from which shouts of terror were heard. His companions fixed their gaze eagerly on the place. The baobab, over which the balloon was hanging almost motionless, stood in the centre of a clearing, where, between fields of Ind
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD.
Joe in a Fit of Rage.—The Death of a Good Man.—The Night of watching by the Body.—Barrenness and Drought.—The Burial.—The Quartz Rocks.—Joe’s Hallucinations.—A Precious Ballast.—A Survey of the Gold-bearing Mountains.—The Beginning of Joe’s Despair. A magnificent night overspread the earth, and the missionary lay quietly asleep in utter exhaustion. “He’ll not get over it!” sighed Joe. “Poor young fellow—scarcely thirty years of age!” “He’ll die in our arms. His breathing, which was so feeble bef
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH.
The Wind dies away.—The Vicinity of the Desert.—The Mistake in the Water-Supply.—The Nights of the Equator.—Dr. Ferguson’s Anxieties.—The Situation flatly stated.—Energetic Replies of Kennedy and Joe.—One Night more. The balloon, having been made fast to a solitary tree, almost completely dried up by the aridity of the region in which it stood, passed the night in perfect quietness; and the travellers were enabled to enjoy a little of the repose which they so greatly needed. The emotions of the
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIFTH.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIFTH.
A Little Philosophy.—A Cloud on the Horizon.—In the Midst of a Fog.—The Strange Balloon.—An Exact View of the Victoria.—The Palm-Trees.—Traces of a Caravan.—The Well in the Midst of the Desert. On the morrow, there was the same purity of sky, the same stillness of the atmosphere. The balloon rose to an elevation of five hundred feet, but it had scarcely changed its position to the westward in any perceptible degree. “We are right in the open desert,” said the doctor. “Look at that vast reach of
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH.
One Hundred and Thirteen Degrees.—The Doctor’s Reflections.—A Desperate Search.—The Cylinder goes out.—One Hundred and Twenty-two Degrees.—Contemplation of the Desert.—A Night Walk.—Solitude.—Debility.—Joe’s Prospects.—He gives himself One Day more. The distance made by the balloon during the preceding day did not exceed ten miles, and, to keep it afloat, one hundred and sixty-two cubic feet of gas had been consumed. On Saturday morning the doctor again gave the signal for departure. “The cylind
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENTH.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENTH.
Terrific Heat.—Hallucinations.—The Last Drops of Water.—Nights of Despair.—An Attempt at Suicide.—The Simoom.—The Oasis.—The Lion and Lioness. The doctor’s first care, on the morrow, was to consult the barometer. He found that the mercury had scarcely undergone any perceptible depression. “Nothing!” he murmured, “nothing!” He got out of the car and scrutinized the weather; there was only the same heat, the same cloudless sky, the same merciless drought. “Must we, then, give up to despair?” he ex
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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTH.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTH.
An Evening of Delight.—Joe’s Culinary Performance.—A Dissertation on Raw Meat.—The Narrative of James Bruce.—Camping out.—Joe’s Dreams.—The Barometer begins to fall.—The Barometer rises again.—Preparations for Departure.—The Tempest. The evening was lovely, and our three friends enjoyed it in the cool shade of the mimosas, after a substantial repast, at which the tea and the punch were dealt out with no niggardly hand. Kennedy had traversed the little domain in all directions. He had ransacked e
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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINTH.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINTH.
Signs of Vegetation.—The Fantastic Notion of a French Author.—A Magnificent Country.—The Kingdom of Adamova.—The Explorations of Speke and Burton connected with those of Dr. Barth.—The Atlantika Mountains.—The River Benoué.—The City of Yola.—The Bagélé.—Mount Mendif. From the moment of their departure, the travellers moved with great velocity. They longed to leave behind them the desert, which had so nearly been fatal to them. About a quarter-past nine in the morning, they caught a glimpse of so
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CHAPTER THIRTIETH.
CHAPTER THIRTIETH.
Mosfeia.—The Sheik.—Denham, Clapperton, and Oudney.—Vogel.—The Capital of Loggoum.—Toole.—Becalmed above Kernak.—The Governor and his Court.—The Attack.—The Incendiary Pigeons. On the next day, May 11th, the Victoria resumed her adventurous journey. Her passengers had the same confidence in her that a good seaman has in his ship. In terrific hurricanes, in tropical heats, when making dangerous departures, and descents still more dangerous, it had, at all times and in all places, come out safely.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIRST.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIRST.
Departure in the Night-time.—All Three.—Kennedy’s Instincts.—Precautions.—The Course of the Shari River.—Lake Tchad.—The Water of the Lake.—The Hippopotamus.—One Bullet thrown away. About three o’clock in the morning, Joe, who was then on watch, at length saw the city move away from beneath his feet. The Victoria was once again in motion, and both the doctor and Kennedy awoke. The former consulted his compass, and saw, with satisfaction, that the wind was carrying them toward the north-northeast
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SECOND.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SECOND.
The Capital of Bornou.—The Islands of the Biddiomahs.—The Condors.—The Doctor’s Anxieties.—His Precautions.—An Attack in Mid-air.—The Balloon Covering torn.—The Fall.—Sublime Self-Sacrifice.—The Northern Coast of the Lake. Since its arrival at Lake Tchad, the balloon had struck a current that edged it farther to the westward. A few clouds tempered the heat of the day, and, besides, a little air could be felt over this vast expanse of water; but about one o’clock, the Victoria , having slanted ac
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CHAPTER THIRTY-THIRD.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THIRD.
Conjectures.—Reestablishment of the Victoria’s Equilibrium.—Dr. Ferguson’s New Calculations.—Kennedy’s Hunt.—A Complete Exploration of Lake Tchad.—Tangalia.—The Return.—Lari. On the morrow, the 13th of May, our travellers, for the first time, reconnoitred the part of the coast on which they had landed. It was a sort of island of solid ground in the midst of an immense marsh. Around this fragment of terra firma grew reeds as lofty as trees are in Europe, and stretching away out of sight. These im
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOURTH.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOURTH.
The Hurricane.—A Forced Departure.—Loss of an Anchor.—Melancholy Reflections.—The Resolution adopted.—The Sand-Storm.—The Buried Caravan.—A Contrary yet Favorable Wind.—The Return southward.—Kennedy at his Post. At three o’clock in the morning the wind was raging. It beat down with such violence that the Victoria could not stay near the ground without danger. It was thrown almost flat over upon its side, and the reeds chafed the silk so roughly that it seemed as though they would tear it. “We mu
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIFTH.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIFTH.
What happened to Joe.—The Island of the Biddiomahs.—The Adoration shown him.—The Island that sank.—The Shores of the Lake.—The Tree of the Serpents.—The Foot-Tramp.—Terrible Suffering.—Mosquitoes and Ants.—Hunger.—The Victoria seen.—She disappears.—The Swamp.—One Last Despairing Cry. What had become of Joe, while his master was thus vainly seeking for him? When he had dashed headlong into the lake, his first movement on coming to the surface was to raise his eyes and look upward. He saw the Vict
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIXTH.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIXTH.
A Throng of People on the Horizon.—A Troop of Arabs.—The Pursuit.—It is He.—Fall from Horseback.—The Strangled Arab.—A Ball from Kennedy.—Adroit Manœuvres.—Caught up flying.—Joe saved at last. From the moment when Kennedy resumed his post of observation in the front of the car, he had not ceased to watch the horizon with his utmost attention. After the lapse of some time he turned toward the doctor and said: “If I am not greatly mistaken I can see, off yonder in the distance, a throng of men or
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVENTH.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVENTH.
The Western Route.—Joe wakes up.—His Obstinacy.—End of Joe’s Narrative.—Tagelei.—Kennedy’s Anxieties.—The Route to the North.—A Night near Aghades. During the night the wind lulled as though reposing after the boisterousness of the day, and the Victoria remained quietly at the top of the tall sycamore. The doctor and Kennedy kept watch by turns, and Joe availed himself of the chance to sleep most sturdily for twenty-four hours at a stretch. “That’s the remedy he needs,” said Dr. Ferguson. “Natur
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CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHTH.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHTH.
A Rapid Passage.—Prudent Resolves.—Caravans in Sight.—Incessant Rains.—Goa.—The Niger.—Golberry, Geoffroy, and Gray.—Mungo Park.—Laing.—René Caillié.—Clapperton.—John and Richard Lander. The 17th of May passed tranquilly, without any remarkable incident; the desert gained upon them once more; a moderate wind bore the Victoria toward the southwest, and she never swerved to the right or to the left, but her shadow traced a perfectly straight line on the sand. Before starting, the doctor had pruden
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CHAPTER THIRTY-NINTH.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINTH.
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 obstinate northeast wind which continued to blow furiously, and bore them
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CHAPTER FORTIETH.
CHAPTER FORTIETH.
Dr. Ferguson’s Anxieties.—Persistent Movement southward.—A Cloud of Grasshoppers.—A View of Jenné.—A View of Ségo.—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 i
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CHAPTER FORTY-FIRST.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIRST.
The Approaches to Senegal.—The Balloon sinks lower and lower.—They keep throwing out, throwing out.—The Marabout Al-Hadji.—Messrs. Pascal, Vincent, and Lambert.—A Rival of Mohammed.—The Difficult Mountains.—Kennedy’s Weapons.—One of Joe’s Manœuvres.—A Halt over a Forest. On the 27th of May, at nine o’clock in the morning, the country presented an entirely different aspect. The slopes, extending far away, changed to hills that gave evidence of mountains soon to follow. They would have to cross th
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CHAPTER FORTY-SECOND.
CHAPTER FORTY-SECOND.
A Struggle of Generosity.—The Last Sacrifice.—The Dilating Apparatus.—Joe’s Adroitness.—Midnight.—The Doctor’s Watch.—Kennedy’s Watch.—The Latter falls asleep at his Post.—The Fire.—The Howlings of the Natives.—Out of Range. Doctor Ferguson’s first care was to take his bearings by stellar observation, and he discovered that he was scarcely twenty-five miles from Senegal. “All that we can manage to do, my friends,” said he, after having pointed his map, “is to cross the river; but, as there is ne
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CHAPTER FORTY-THIRD.
CHAPTER FORTY-THIRD.
The Talabas.—The Pursuit.—A Devastated Country.—The Wind begins to fall.—The Victoria sinks.—The last of the Provisions.—The Leaps of the Balloon.—A Defence with Fire-arms.—The Wind freshens.—The Senegal River.—The Cataracts of Gouina.—The Hot Air.—The Passage of the River. “Had we not taken the precaution to lighten the balloon yesterday evening, we should have been lost beyond redemption,” said the doctor, after a long silence. “See what’s gained by doing things at the right time!” replied Joe
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CHAPTER FORTY-FOURTH.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOURTH.
Conclusion.—The Certificate.—The French Settlements.—The Post of Medina.—The Basilic.—Saint Louis.—The English Frigate.—The Return to London. The expedition upon the bank of the river had been sent by the governor of Senegal. It consisted of two officers, Messrs. Dufraisse, lieutenant of marines, and Rodamel, naval ensign, and with these were a sergeant and seven soldiers. For two days they had been engaged in reconnoitring the most favorable situation for a post at Gouina, when they became witn
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