Five Weeks in a Balloon · Chapter
Chapter XV explained
Dr.
What happens
Dr. Ferguson is escorted to the sultan's palace in Kazeh, where he attempts to revive the drunken sultan. Meanwhile, Joe entertains the locals with dancing. When the moon rises, the crowd realizes the travelers are not lunar deities, leading to a hostile reaction. A sorcerer climbs to retrieve the anchor but is carried off by the balloon, eventually dropping to safety as the Victoria escapes.
Themes in this chapter
Colonialism and Cultural Superiority
The travelers are initially worshipped as lunar deities, but when the moon appears, the crowd turns hostile, revealing the fragility of the imposed divine status.
Survival and Resilience
The doctor and his crew must quickly adapt to the changing mood of the crowd and escape using the balloon's ascensional force.
Characters to notice
- Dr. Samuel Ferguson
Visits the sultan, administers cordial, and orchestrates the balloon's escape.
- Joe
Dances for the locals, tastes pombé, and prepares to cut the anchor rope.
- Dick Kennedy
Observes from the balloon, rifle in hand, ready to defend.
- Victoria
Rises rapidly to escape the hostile crowd, carrying the sorcerer briefly.
Key passages
“His favorites and the women kept on bended knees during this solemn visit. By means of a few drops of powerful cordial, the doctor for a moment reanimated the imbruted carcass that lay before him.”
The sultan's attendants knelt while the doctor revived the nearly lifeless ruler with a few drops of strong cordial.
Describes the doctor's attempt to revive the sultan.
“Either there were two moons, then, or these strangers were imposters, designing scamps, false deities! Such were the very natural reflections of the crowd, and hence the reaction in their feelings.”
The crowd realized that if the moon was in the sky, the travelers could not be moon deities, so they turned hostile.
Explains the sudden shift in the crowd's attitude.
“The sorcerer, having climbed to the right place, worked so vigorously that he succeeded in detaching the anchor, and the latter, violently jerked, at that moment, by the start of the balloon, caught the rascal between the limbs, and carried him off astride of it through the air.”
The sorcerer freed the anchor but was caught by it as the balloon rose, carrying him into the sky.
Depicts the sorcerer's unintended flight.