[CHAPTER I.]On the Banks of the Orange River
[CHAPTER II.]Official Presentations
[CHAPTER III.]The Land Journey
[CHAPTER IV.]A Few Words about the "Metre"
[CHAPTER V.]A Hottentot Village
[CHAPTER VI.]Better Acquaintance
[CHAPTER VII.]The Base of the Triangle
[CHAPTER VIII.]The Twenty-fourth Meridian
[CHAPTER IX.]The Kraal
[CHAPTER X.]The Rapid
[CHAPTER XI.]A Missing Companion
[CHAPTER XII.]A Station to Sir John's liking
[CHAPTER XIII.]Pacification by Fire
[CHAPTER XIV.]A Declaration of War
[CHAPTER XV.]A Geometric Progression
[CHAPTER XVI.]Danger in Disguise
[CHAPTER XVII.]An Unexpected Blight
[CHAPTER XVIII.]The Desert
[CHAPTER XIX.]Science Undaunted
[CHAPTER XX.]Standing a Siege
[CHAPTER XXI.]Suspense
[CHAPTER XXII.]Hide and Seek
[CHAPTER XXIII.]Homeward Bound

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

[William Emery and the Bushman]
[At length an exclamation of the Bushman made his heart beat]
[Meeting of Members of the Expedition]
["The Hunter Mokoum," said William Emery, presenting his Companion]
[All these Objects were deposited on the Beach]
[The Mission Home Establishment]
[Chief Moulibahan]
[William Emery and Michael Zorn in advance of the Expedition]
[The Bushman pointing to the Plain]
[Commencement of the Geodesic Operations]
[Measuring the Arc of the Meridian]
[Taking the Measurements]
[The Astronomers at Work]
[Encampment under an immense Baobab]
[The Hunters]
[The Elephant and the Dog]
["He is ours! he is ours!"]
[The Hippopotamus did not quit his hold, but shook the Boat as a Dog would a Hare]
["There he is," cried Mokoum]
[A missing Companion]
[It was a deep Grotto, strewn with Bones and stained with Blood]
[The Entrance to the Lion's Den]
[A Ball from the Bushman arrested the Lioness]
["Well," said Mokoum, "I hope you like our African Partridges"]
[Sir John was soon asleep]
[The Forest on Fire]
["War is declared between England and Russia"]
[The Parting of Emery and Zorn]
["The Rhinoceros!" exclaimed Sir John]
[The Advance of the Caravan]
[The Hunters glided through the Creepers and Brushwood]
[The empty Oryx Skin]
[Emery and two Natives struck by Lightning]
[A strange Cloud]
[Crossing the Desert]
["The Ngami! the Ngami!"]
[The English come to the relief of the Russians]
[On Guard on Mount Scorzef]
[An Attack on Mount Scorzef]
[The Rice of the Bochjesmen]
[Watching for the Signal from Mount Volquiria]
[The Steamboat leaving Mount Scorzef]
[Palander robbed by the Chacma]
[Palander's Combat with the Chacma]
[Descending the Zambesi]
[Adieu to Mokoum]
[The Natives regarded with superstitious admiration the smoking vessel]

MERIDIANA;
THE ADVENTURES OF THREE ENGLISHMEN AND THREE RUSSIANS.

[CHAPTER I.]

ON THE BANKS OF THE ORANGE RIVER.

On the 27th of January, 1854, two men lay stretched at the foot of an immense weeping willow, chatting, and at the same time watching most attentively the waters of the Orange River. This river, the Groote of the Dutch, and the Gariep of the Hottentots, may well vie with the other three great arteries of Africa—the Nile, the Niger, and the Zambesi. Like those, it has its periodical risings, its rapids and cataracts. Travellers whose names are known over part of its course, Thompson, Alexander, and Burchell, have each in their turn praised the clearness of its waters, and the beauty of its shores.