Heroic Sacrifice: Joe invokes this twice-first, when the protagonists are stranded in the desert, he announces that he's going to pick a direction and keep travelling, to get help-or, it is implied, to die trying.Joe is entranced by the gold and is very reluctant to throw any overboard. Greed: Deep in Africa, the travellers come upon rocks with gold deposits, and take some as ballast.Great White Hunter: Dick does a lot of hunting throughout, and is very protective of his guns.The jig is up when the real Moon rises in the sky. God Guise: At one point, the protagonists find themselves in an African village whose inhabitants are certain that 'Victoria' is the Moon, and the passengers are 'Moon's sons'.Darkest Africa: The setting of the book.It probably counts as 'cool' thanks to its advanced steering system. Cool Airship: 'Victoria' is a balloon, not an airship, but hey, that's the closest trope we have.Chekhov's Gun: 'Victoria' contains a secondary, smaller balloon on the inside, in case the external one gets damaged.Thankfully, it has a secondary, spare shell on the inside, but they still need to frantically toss stuff overboard to avoid a catastrophic fall. Balloon-Bursting Bird: The 'Victoria' is attacked by a flock of condors and its shell pierced.He dies soon after his rescue from his injuries and the rescue cost them critical supplies, causing problems later on

Almost Dead Guy: The adventurers rescue a missionary who was being tortured to death by the natives.But hey, it was the era that culminated in The Gay '90s, the scientific progress seemed unstoppable and for all they knew such devices could appear any day. On a related note: such impossibly powerful batteries are the staple of many stories by Jules Verne and his contemporaries.This is the only SF element in the novel. Modern technology still cannot create anything as powerful and portable. Yet it's small enough to be carried in hand. It's been electrolyzing water several hours every day for five weeks and still has a lot left by the end.

Applied Phlebotinum: The 'powerful Bunzen battery'.

Naturally, throughout their trip they have a lot of dramatic adventures, interspersed with musings about Africa's geography (as it was known at the time.)Ī couple of film adaptations were produced, including a 1962 adaptation with the same title. On his way, he is accompanied by his old friend, the Scottish hunter Dick Kennedy, and by the manservant Joe. The vehicle is equipped with Fergusson's ingenious invention which allows him to control the altitude without ballast or releasing gas.

Samuel Fergusson, who intends to fly across Africa in a balloon called 'Victoria'. Set in the times when Darkest Africa was still not fully explored, the novel follows Dr. Jules Verne's first published (in 1863) novel, which immediately propelled him to fame.

Five weeks in a balloon by jules verne