"Let us see, Samuel; admitting that he has found refuge among the lake tribes, cannot he do as other travelers have done—like Denham and Barth? They came home safely."
"My dear Dick, Joe does not know a word of the language—he is alone and without means. The travelers of whom you speak never advanced without sending the chiefs numerous presents with an escort armed and prepared for these expeditions. And even then they did not escape hardships and sufferings of the worst kind. What, then, do you think, can have become of our unfortunate companion? It is horrible to think of, and this is one of the greatest troubles I have ever had to deplore."
"But we shall go back again, Samuel?"
"We shall, of course, Dick. We will abandon the 'Victoria,' if it be necessary, to regain Lake Tchad on foot, and communicate with the Sultan of Bornou. The Arabs cannot have retained a bad opinion of the first Europeans."
"I will follow you, Samuel," replied Kennedy, "with energy; you may depend upon me. We will rather relinquish the object of our journey—Joe is devoted to us—we will sacrifice ourselves for him."
This resolution gave fresh courage to those brave men. They felt strong in the same purpose. Ferguson did all in his power to drift into a current which might take him back to the Tchad, but that was then impossible, and it was impracticable to descend upon such a deserted ground and in such a storm.
Thus the "Victoria" crossed the country of the Tibbons. It passed over Belad and Djérid, a thorny desert, which forms the boundary of the Soudan, and reaches to the sandy deserts marked by the long track of caravans; the last line of vegetation is soon mingled with the sky on the southern horizon, not far from the principal oases of this region, whose fifty wells are shaded by most magnificent trees. But the balloon could not stop. An Arab encampment, with their striped tents, and their camels stretched upon the sand, gave life to the scene, but the "Victoria" passed away like a meteor, and accomplished a distance of sixty miles in three hours, without Ferguson having any command over this headlong flight.
