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(9) Aventures de trois Russes et de trois Anglais (The Adventures of Three Englishmen and Three Russians in South Africa, aka Measuring a Meridian, 1872) (1 volume) 69K words


The ninth novel of the Extraordinary Voyages takes us back to Africa, where we hadn't been since the first novel in the series (Five Weeks in a Balloon). The Adventures of Three Englishmen and Three Russians in South Africa is the least-known novel so far in the series, replacing The Floating City.


First read or reread?: This is a first read for me.


What is it about?: Three Russian and three English scientists depart to South Africa to measure the 24th meridian, going northwards from the Orange River to the Zambezi River. As their mission is proceeding, the Crimean War breaks out, and the members of the expedition find themselves citizens of enemy countries.


So, we get to the second African adventure by Verne. I found it an engaging read, although I can understand why it's not among the most popular ones. It's just kind of unremarkable among Verne's work. It doesn't have a science-fiction hook (despite being about science); it doesn't feature a high-tech vehicle, it's mostly an old-fashioned African exploration tale. The kind of adventures the scientific expedition gets into won't surprise readers of the previous books in the series: hunting, problems with wild animals, natural obstacles, hostile native people...

The novel starts slowly, like some Verne novels do. The scientist who was already working in the Cape Town observatory organizes the expedition. Meanwhile, the rest of the team, coming from Europe, gets there sailing along the Orange River on a steam boat, which is quite interesting because it can be disassembled and carried piece by piece when necessary, to save unsailable sections.

Once the expedition finally starts, we get a couple of chapters explaining what they intend to do and how. I found this quite interesting, although the feeling is not universal, judging by some reviews in Goodreads. But this is actually the main element that distinguishes this novel from other Verne stories. The objective of this expedition is not exploration, but accurately measuring a meridian along this part of the world.

As we know, the Earth is not a perfect sphere. We usually take for granted that we know the precise measurements, but it's only through very careful measurements like the one this expedition intends to do that we know them.

I didn't know the way these measurements were done in the 19th century, but here we learn how: first they locate a plain where they very accurately measure the distance between two points, maybe 10 or 20 kilometers apart. This is a very lengthy and delicate procesure, involving metal rulers, where you have to take into account even the temperature, to calculate the dilatation of the metal. Then you choose a third reference point and measure the angles between the extremes of the segment you have measured and that new point. That allows you to establish a triangle, and with the length of one side and the two angles you can calculate every side and angle of that triangle. Then you choose another reference point in the direction you want to go, and form a new triangle with one of the sides of the triangle you have already calculated and the new reference point. That way you continue forming and measuring triangles, but you don't have to do the difficult measuring of the length of the sides, because you always have one side you already know the length of, and you only have to measure the new angles to calculate the new triangle. That way you can cover a lot of territory, and eventually end up calculating the length of the meridian sector you are interested in.

Anyway, this time, a joint expedition with three English and three Russian scientists has to do this in a mostly unexplored region of Africa. The chiefs of the expedition are Colonel Everest on the English side and Mathieu Strux on the Russian side. Both are distinguished and highly respected scientists, but unfortunately there's tension and rivalry between them. From England we also have Sir John Murray, an amateur scientist and a keen hunter. From Russia we have Nicolas Palander, who is a prodigy with numbers but easily distracted and not very sociable. Finally, the youngest scientists are William Emery from England and Michel Zorn from Russia, who become good friends and try to keep the conflict between their bosses from growing.

Another important member of the group is Mokoum, the chief of their native guides and escorts, who accompanied Dr. Livingstone on several expeditions. Mokoum is extremely capable and reliable, reminding me of Thalcave from the South American part of In Search of the Castaways. Giving an important and dignified role to a native character compensates in part for the supercilious 19th century attitudes towards uncivilized tribes.

Another thing that can bother modern urban readers is the emphasis on hunting. The reservations we may have now about killing wild animals were simply not there in the 19th century, where hunting was not only a way to procure food but also a very respectable sport. This is not the first Verne novel where hunting plays an important role, but I think it's a good way to understand the mentality of the time, because modern novels set in this period tend to have characters with a modern outlook.

Apart from the geographical obstacles, the wild animals and some hostile natives, part of the plot is based on the rivalry between the English and the Russian sides of the expedition. This rivalry worsens when they learn, on a visit to a missionary outpost, that England and Russia are at war with each other (the Crimean War), to the dismay of the two youngest scientists who are good friends. Verne certainly describes this rivalry but, for better or for worse, his style never loses sight of the adventure, so don't expect the novel to become a psychological study of the characters.


Enjoyment factor: I found it enjoyable and a quick read. The start is a bit slow but afterwards the pace becomes good. Perhaps one problem is that the adventures are of a kind we have already seen in other Verne works, with the main novelties being the internal conflict within the expedition and the nature of the scientific goal. I have used the adjective geeky about other Verne novels, and I got some geeky enjoyment out of learning how these Earth measures were made. Because of that, the scientific disgressions were enjoyable for me. I imagine that for some readers they may be boring.


Next up: The Fur Country