Five Weeks in a Balloon

"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 travelers 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. The latter are abundantly amusing, and, in view of the wonderful "travelers' tales" with which we have been entertained by African explorers, they can scarcely be considered extravagant; while the ingenuity and invention of the author will be sure to excite the surprise and the admiration of the reader, who will find Verne as much at home in voyaging through the air as in journeying "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas."

Contents

1. The End of a Much-applauded Speech
2. The Article in the Daily Telegraph
3. The Doctor's Friend
4. African Explorations
5. Kennedy's Dreams
6. A Servant
7. Geometrical Details
8. Joe's Importance
9. They Double the Cape
10. Former Experiments
11. The Arrival at Zanzibar
12. Crossing the Strait
13. Change of Weather
14. The Forest of Gum-Trees
15. Kazeh
16. Symptoms of a Storm
17. The Mountains of the Moon
18. The Karagwah
19. The Nile
20. The Celestial Bottle
21. Strange Sounds
22. The Jet of Light
23. Joe in a Fit of Rage
24. The Wind Dies Away
25. A Little Philosophy
26. One Hundred and Thirteen Degrees
27. Terrific Heat
28. An Evening of Delight
29. Signs of Vegetation
30. Mosfeia
31. Departure in the Night-time
32. The Capital of Bornou
33. Conjectures
34. The Hurricane
35. What Happened to Joe
36. A Throng of People on the Horizon
37. The Western Route
38. A Rapid Passage
39. The Country in the Elbow of the Niger
40. Dr. Ferguson's Anxieties
41. The Approaches to Senegal
42. A Struggle of Generosity
43. The Talabas
44. Conclusion