Five Weeks in a Balloon

Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen is an 1863 novel by Jules Verne.

Synopsis

A scholar, Samuel Ferguson, accompanied by his manservant Joe and his friend Dick Kennedy, sets out to travel across the African continent - still not fully explored - with the help of a hot-air balloon filled with hydrogen. He has invented a mechanism that, by eliminating the need to release gas or throw ballast overboard to control his altitude, allows very long trips to be taken. This voyage is meant to link together the voyages of Sir Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke in East Africa with those of Heinrich Barth in the regions of the Sahara and Chad. Leaving from Zanzibar, the three aviators succeed in their mission, having many adventures before they reach the area of Senegal. They return to England, where they receive a warm welcome home.

Related Topics:
Hot-air balloon - Hydrogen - Sir Richard Burton - John Hanning Speke - Heinrich Barth - Sahara - Chad - Senegal - England

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