He at the same time carefully weighed his stores of provision, which consisted of tea, coffee, biscuit, salted meat, and _pemmican_, a preparation which comprises many nutritive elements in a small space. Besides a sufficient stock of pure brandy, he arranged two water-tanks, each of which contained twenty-two gallons. The consumption of these articles would necessarily, little by little, diminish the weight to be sustained, for it must be remembered that the equilibrium of a balloon floating in the atmosphere is extremely sensitive. The loss of an almost insignificant weight suffices to produce a very noticeable displacement. Nor did the doctor forget an awning to shelter the car, nor the coverings and blankets that were to be the bedding of the journey, nor some fowling pieces and rifles, with their requisite supply of powder and ball. Here is the summing up of his various items, and their weight, as he computed it: Ferguson 135 pounds Kennedy 153 ” Joe 120 ” Weight of the outside balloon 650 ” Weight of the second balloon 510 ” Car and network 280 ” Anchors, instruments, awnings, and sundry utensils, guns, coverings, etc. 190 ” Meat, pemmican, biscuits, tea, coffee, brandy 386 ” Water 400 ” Apparatus 700 ” Weight of the hydrogen 276 ” Ballast 200 ” ————— 4,000 pounds Such were the items of the four thousand pounds that Dr. Ferguson proposed to carry up with him. He took only two hundred pounds of ballast for “unforeseen emergencies,” as he remarked, since otherwise he did not expect to use any, thanks to the peculiarity of his apparatus. CHAPTER EIGHTH. Joe’s Importance.—The Commander of the Resolute.—Kennedy’s Arsenal.—Mutual Amenities.—The Farewell Dinner.—Departure on the 21st of February.—The Doctor’s Scientific Sessions.—Duveyrier.—Livingstone.—Details of the Aerial Voyage.—Kennedy silenced. About the 10th of February, the preparations were pretty well completed; and the balloons, firmly secured, one within the other, were altogether finished. They had been subjected to a powerful pneumatic pressure in all parts, and the test gave excellent evidence of their solidity and of the care applied in their construction.