An expedition sent by the Chamber of French Deputies arrives on the coast of Central Africa. Its goal is to explore the area of the Niger Loop, study the existing morals and customs of the local population of this French colony and finally decide on the issue of granting the said population the right to vote. The expedition will be equipped with everything necessary, it will of course set off under heavy security and will be completed successfully. What can an expedition of parliamentarians, the robbery of a large London bank, a lonely English reclusive lord and fabulous tales circulating among semi-wild African tribes about a big city supposedly have in common? standing in the middle of the desert - a city from which no one returns?.. The novel was written by Michel Verne based on sketches for two planned novels by Jules Verne - “Study Trip” and “City in the Sahara”; the work is given in the corrected translation by A.M. Volkova.