Round the World in Seven Days

men. Even if he had been, the speed at which he travelled over the Bosp

he graceful caiques rowed by boatmen in zouaves of crimson and gold, in the sterns of which the flower of Circassian beauty in gossamer veils reclined on divans and carpets from the most famous looms of Persia and Bokhara

r forty-five miles, and his tank had a capacity of eighty gallons, so that with good luck he would not need to replenish it until he reached Karachi. Though he hoped that his own endurance and the engine's woul

ach of which towns he would almost certainly find Europeans. It had the further advantage that, when he had once sighted the Gulf, he would have no anxiety about the accuracy of his course, since by keeping generally to the coastline of Persia and Balu

d when he was fairly afloat. He had to make allowance for it by sheer guesswork, unless he was prepared to slow down or even to alight. He had reckoned that, even with the slight assistance of the wind, he could hardly hope to reach the head of the Persian Gulf before six o'clock, which would be past

ge bleak masses stretching away to right and left, but still a hundred miles or more distant, although, on the right, spurs of the Cilician part of the range jutted out much nearer to him. On the right, too, he descried from his great height a broad and glittering expanse of water,

h. Half-an-hour more brought him within sight of another city, doubtless Aleppo. He still steered almost due east, though a point or two southward would be more direct, because he wished

es," he shou

d time for a swim

uries of time, recalling the names of Sennacherib, Cyrus and Alexander; and how Cyrus had not shrunk from drying up the bed of this very river in his operations against Babylon. On the ground over which he now flew migh

ht. At length, however, about two hours before sunset, Smith noticed a strange wobbling of the compass needle. It swung this way and that with rapid gyrations, its movements becoming more viol

dies of the wind, that continually altered its elevation, now hurling it aloft, now plunging it as it were into an abyss. Once or twice he tried to rise above the storm, but abandoned the attempt when he saw how great an additional strain it placed upon the planes. It seemed safer to keep the engine going steadily and make no attempt to steer. He was no longer over

e compass was oscillating less jumpily, and it was now possible to see some distance ahead. Owing to the extraordinary behaviour of the compass, the baffling gusts of wind, and the necessity of keeping his whole attention fixed on the machinery, he had lost all idea of direction and even of tim

t least see his way, he planed downwards, calling to Rodier to keep a sharp look-out for a landing place. Suddenly, in the midst of the downpour, a huge dark shape loomed up ahead, appearing to rise almost perpendicularly above the plain. For a few seconds

g lever; the aeroplane glided into the fissure; in two or three seconds there was a b

of love for which he was very jealous. He believed it was his mission to reveal to an astonished world the long-buried secrets of ancient civilizations; he could not bear a rival near the throne of arch?ological eminence; and in this exclusive attitude of mind he had undertaken this expedition without

unts, seals, bas-reliefs, differing little from those which could be found in many a European museum; but he had not for many months lig

deed, already despatched a portion of his caravan to begin its long journey to the coast, remaining with a few men to finish the excavation of the tell-the mound covering the remains of a Babylonish city-on wh

In his enthusiasm he had no more thought of his caravan, and though a terrific thunderstorm burst over the place just as his men were getting into position the rude derrick by means of which they would lower the masonry into the trench cut in the side of the tell, his ardour would suffer no intermission in the work. It is t

ased the ropes, and took to their heels. Mons

the derrick, and it came down with a crash. But this was not the worst. In the semi-darkness, the nature of the intruder could not have been clear to Monsieur de Montausé; but he heard a voice calling in some unknown tongue; some human being had

Know you not that I-oui, moi qui vous parle-have alone the right of entry into this tell? Has not the

began Rodier, step

permit, come before his time, and arrived to enter upon the fruits of his predecessor's labours and rob him of half his glory? "Mais, monsieur," said Rodier, but the explorer fairly shrieked him to silence, approache

" And then he began over again, abuse, recrimination, expostulation, entreaty, pouring in full tide from his trembling lips. More than once Rodier tried to stem the flood, but finding that i

at our visit is purely accidental. My friend and myself desire only too

a thing of the present; I have to do only with the past; there were no aeroplanes in Babylonia. Once mo

how? You perceive that our aeroplane is so placed that one cannot extricate it without assistance. If

assistance, I give you none, none absolutely. You brought your aeroplane here without assist

our mission is

ave just made a discovery of the highest importance. I have but a short time left; you, you and your ridiculous machine, have scared away

d just see in the growing darkness. "We regret extremely having put you to this trouble and inconvenience, and I assure you t

man can hardly rave against a person who remains calm. Moreover, the Frenchma

sieur?" he sa

that we can repair the leg of your derrick and assist you to place the masonry where you will. All that I

aid the Frenchman eagerly; "I will light my l

red the mass of brickwork to the spot the explorer pointed out. It was no sooner safely settled than Monsieur de Montausé, oblivious of everything else, bent over it, and, holding one of the lanterns

n a portion of the tomb of Ur-Gur; see, the inscription: 'The tomb of Ur-Gur, the powerful champion, King of Ur, King of Shumer and Akkad, builder of the wall of Nippur to B

the aeroplane sinks into insigni

up. "Let us be quick, then; you take one

no obstruction, and then if you could persuade some of your men to come back, we sho

e trench; the explorer hailed them, and assuring them that they would suffer no harm, persuaded, them to lend a hand. Rodier, meanwhile, had walked through the trench to see that the course was clear

n: "As for you, imbeciles, I have no more need of you at present. Go and eat your

r course by the storm, and I am not certain of our whereabout

the nut; I seek the juice, the kernel. But I can tell you this: We are not far from the left bank of the Tigri

o have suffered no injury: then took their places. When the sparking began, and noisome smoke poured from the exhaust, the work