Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Zambezi Falls

Ballendre was not seriously injured, the Bushmans massaged his shoulders with some grass with great proficiency, and the Helsinki Astronomer was able to get back on the road, backing him with victory.But that enthusiasm soon wanes, and he's in no time the dedicated scientist who lives only in the digital world, with one record book in his hands, and another with a copy of all his calculations, just as a precaution. , he should be in the custody of Amory, and Ballendre would be happy to do so. The work went on, the triangulation was going fast and well, and now it was just a matter of finding a plain that was good for establishing the base.

On April 1st, the team needed to cross a vast swamp area, and the trip was delayed.On this damp plain, there are many ponds connected one by one, and the water in the ponds emits a foul smell.Colonel Everett and his companions accelerated the triangulation, eager to get out of this filthy area. The team is in good shape, with the best spirit at their disposal.Amory and Zorn were delighted to see that the most perfect rapport existed between the two leaders.The two leaders seemed to have forgotten that an international dispute had torn them apart. My dear William, Zorn said to his young friend one day, I hope that when we return to Europe, we will find peace between England and Russia, so that we will have the right to remain friends as here in Africa .

I think as you do, my dear friend, Amory replied, that modern warfare does not last long, after a battle or two a treaty will be signed.This ill-fated war has been going on for a year, and like you, I hope that when I return to Europe, the two countries will conclude a peace treaty. But isn't your wish, William, to return to Cape Town?Zorn asked, the observatory does not urgently ask you to go back, I hope you can come to Russia to bring glory to our Kiev observatory! Yes, my friend, replied Amory, I will return to Europe with you, and I will not return to Africa without passing through Russia.But isn't it true that you're going to visit me in Cape Town someday?You will get lost in the beautiful constellations of the southern hemisphere, what a rich and colorful sky you will see, and what joy you will draw from it!But not with the hands, but with the eyes.Oh, if you will, together we will split Alpha Centauri in two!I promise you I wouldn't do it without you.

That's a deal?william. It's done, Michelle.I save time for you, and as compensation, I am going to Kiev to calculate one of your nebulae. Brave young man!As if the sky belonged to them!Indeed, who would it have belonged to, if not to these keen scientists who had seen its depths? But in any case, Zorn added, the war must end. Yes, Michelle.A battle with cannons as a weapon lasts less than a quarrel with stars!Russia and Great Britain would come to terms before Colonel Everett and Strux. Don't you believe in their sincere reconciliation after all they've been through together?Zorn asked.

I don't believe it, replied Amory. Come to think of it, the rivalry of scientists, and eminent scientists at that! Let us not be ostentatious, then, my dear William.Zorn replied, we will always be good friends! Eleven days had elapsed since the baboon incident, when the expedition came not far from Zambezi Falls, and saw a plain for miles in circumference, a land well suited for direct measurements of the base.At the edge of the plain sat a village of only a few thatched huts, populated at most by a score of harmless natives, who welcomed the Europeans warmly.This was fortunate for the colonel's contingent, for without four-wheelers, tents, or even camp materials, they had little means of establishing settlements.However, the measurement of the bottom edge lasts for a month, which they can only spend in the open air under the leaves.

The scientific committees then lived in huts which suited them well, and the scientists became easy people to please.The only thing that bothered them was the verification of the work ahead.This test is done by direct measurement of the new base, the last side of the last triangle.In fact, according to calculations, the length of this side has been accurately determined, and the closer the directly measured value is to the calculated value, the more perfect the determination of the meridian can be. Astronomers immediately set to work to start measuring.Supports and platinum rulers were successively laid out on the level ground, and all care was taken for the hem of the foundation, taking into account all atmospheric conditions, temperature variations, levelness of instruments, etc.In short, nothing can be overlooked in this final measurement.Scientists live only in this one thing.

The delicate work, which began on April 10 and ended on May 15, took five weeks, and Ballendre and Amory calculated the results immediately. Really, the hearts of the scientists were beating hard when the results were announced.What a compensation for their fatigue, for their hardship, if the full examination of the work could render it irreproachable to future generations! when nicholasBallandre and William.When Amory deduced the known lengths into arcs marked by mean sea level and sixty-one degrees Fahrenheit, the two presented the following figures to their colleagues: Has been measured to know the new bottom edge 5075t. 25

5075t is calculated from the entire triangle series and the base of the foundation. 11 The difference between calculation and observation is 0t. 14 Only fourteen per cent tuises, that is to say less than ten inches, and the distance between the two bases is six hundred miles! When the French meridian was made between Dunkirk and Perpignan, the difference between the base of Moran and the base of Perpignan was eleven inches.The Anglo-Russian committee achieved still more eminent unity, and under difficult conditions, in the deserts of Africa, amidst all kinds of hardship and danger, they accomplished the most complete work hitherto in the field of geodesy.

They cheered this amazing result three times, which is unprecedented in the history of science. Now, for this part of the Earth's ellipsoid.How long is the longitude of one latitude?According to Ballendre's calculations, it was fifty-seven thousand and thirty-seven tuises, which was the same value that Lacaille had obtained at the Cape of Good Hope in 1752.A century later, French astronomers and members of the Anglo-Russian committee met on this approximation. As for the value in meters, it can only be deduced after the results of the experiments conducted in the northern hemisphere come out. This value should be one-tenth of a quarter of the longitude of the earth.According to previous calculations, considering the flatness of the earth as 1/499.15, that quarter includes 1856 meters, so the obtained length is 0t. 513074, or 3 French feet 211.096 French inches, is this number real?Will this be the result of the subsequent work of the Anglo-Russian Committee?

The geodetic work was fully completed, the astronomers had completed their task, and all they had to do now was follow the course of Dr. Livingstone's second voyage, but in the opposite direction from his then, to the mouth of the Zambezi. On May 25th, after a rather difficult journey through a river-ridden area, they arrived at a place geographically known as Victoria Falls. These magnificent waterfalls bear out their Aboriginal name meaning deafening smoke.These water curtains are a mile wide, rushing down from a height twice the height of Nicaragua Falls, crowned with three rainbows, and the torrents from the huge basalt cracks create a roll equivalent to the simultaneous explosion of twenty tons of dynamite. power.

Downstream from the falls, the river becomes calm.The steamboat, which had arrived fifteen days before crossing the lower Zambezi, was waiting for its passengers.All the people arrived, and all sat in the boat. The two remained ashore Bushmen and Forobel.Morcum was no longer merely a faithful guide, but an Englishman, a friend of Lord John's who had remained on the continent.Lord John offered to take Morcombe to Europe, and he would entertain him as long as the latter liked.Morcombe, however, had other promises he insisted upon, for he did not want to break his promise to accompany the intrepid Dr. Livingston on his second journey down the Zambezi. The Bushmen stayed on for it, and got paid well. He thought it appreciated him a little too much, and was squirmed by those who were so grateful to him.The steamer sailed away into the middle of the river, and Lord John gave his Bushman friend a final wave of good-bye. They traveled down the great African river in a swift steamer, passing through the many villages and towns that dotted its banks, without fatigue or accident.The natives looked with superstitious admiration at the smoking boat propelled across the waters of the Zambezi by invisible machinery, and they did nothing to hinder its progress. The first thing Europeans cared about was to ask the British consuls about the war. The war did not end, and Sevastopol was still resisting the British and French troops. The news was disappointing to those Europeans who were now united around the same scientific interests, yet they were unresponsive and ready to go. An Austrian merchant ship, the Novara, was set to sail for Suez, and the members of the committee intended to take it. On board the ship, on June 18th, Colonel Everett called his colleagues together, and addressed them in a calm tone: Gentlemen, in the eighteen months we have lived together, we have passed many trials together, but we have accomplished an enterprise that will be praised by Scientific Europe.I would also say that this common life should produce an unshakable friendship between us. Strux bowed slightly, but did not answer. However, the Colonel added that, to our great regret, the war between Britain and Russia is still going on.They still fought in front of Sevastopol until the city fell to us It will not fall into your hands!Strux said that although the French The future will tell us, sir.Colonel said grimly, until the end of the war, I think we should treat each other as enemies I'm about to bring this up to you.Brokova's astronomers put it simply. The situation was quickly mapped out, and it was under these circumstances that the members of the scientific committee boarded the Novara. A few days later, they arrived in Suez. At the moment of parting, William.Amory held Michelle.Zon's hand said: We are friends forever?Michelle. Yes, my dear William, always, no matter what! (End of the book)