merged hills, but we are fortunate in finding shelter here, for the shores of the lake are inhabited by ferocious tribes. So go to sleep in peace, as the sky gives assurance of a quiet night."
"Are you not going to do the same, Samuel?"
"No, I cannot close my eyes. My thoughts are such as to banish sleep. To-morrow, my friends, if the wind be favorable, we shall proceed due north, and perhaps discover the sources of the Nile—the impenetrable secret! So near to the sources of the Great River I cannot sleep."
Kennedy and Joe, whose scientific cogitations did not trouble them to so great an extent, did not hesitate to sleep soundly under the doctor's guardianship.
On Wednesday, April 23rd, the "Victoria" set out at four o'clock under a gray sky. The darkness seemed loath to leave the waters of the lake, which was enveloped in a thick mist. Soon, however, a strong breeze dispersed all this fog. The "Victoria" was for some minutes balanced, in more senses than one, and at last made up its mind and set off directly towards the north.
Doctor Ferguson clapped his hands joyously.
"We are now in the right track," he cried; "to-day or never we shall see the Nile. My friends, now we are crossing the equator—we are entering our own hemisphere."
"Oh!" cried Joe. "Do you think, sir, that the equator does pass by here?"
"At this very spot, my brave lad!"
"Well, 'saving your presence,' sir, it seems to me advisable to 'wet' it without further loss of time."
"Go and fetch the grog," said the doctor, laughing; "you have a way of understanding cosmography which is not to be despised."
And that was how they celebrated the "crossing of the line" in the "Victoria."
The balloon continued to glide rapidly along. In the west they could perceive the low and somewhat undulating coast; at the end, the more elevated plains of Uganda and Usoga. The wind now blew with great force.
The waters of the Nyanza rose and broke in billows, like those of the ocean. From the observation of certain waves, which kept breaking a long time after the wind lulled, the doctor reckoned that the lake was of great depth. Only one
