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@@ -0,0 +1,5366 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wonderful Balloon Ascents, by Fulgence Marion + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wonderful Balloon Ascents + or, the Conquest of the Skies + +Author: Fulgence Marion + +Posting Date: August 10, 2008 [EBook #899] +Release Date: May, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WONDERFUL BALLOON ASCENTS *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean + + + + + +WONDERFUL BALLOON ASCENTS + +or, the Conquest of the Skies + +A History of Balloons and Balloon Voyages. + +By F. Marion + +1870 + + + + +PREFACE + +"Let posterity know, and knowing be astonished, that on the fifteenth +day of September, 1784, Vincent Lunardi of Lucca, in Tuscany, the first +aerial traveller in Britain, mounting from the Artillery Ground in +London, and traversing the regions of the air for two hours and fifteen +minutes, on this spot revisited the earth. In this rude monument for +ages be recorded this wondrous enterprise successfully achieved by +the powers of chemistry and the fortitude of man, this improvement in +science which the great Author of all Knowledge, patronising by his +Providence the inventions of mankind, hath graciously permitted, to +their benefit and his own eternal glory." + +The stone upon which the above inscription was carved, stands, or stood +recently, near Collier's End, in the parish of Standon, Hertfordshire; +and it will possibly afford the English reader a more accurate idea of +the feelings with which the world hailed the discovery of the balloon +than any incident or illustration drawn from the annals of a foreign +country. + +The work which we now introduce to our readers does not exaggerate the +case when it declares that no discovery of modern times has aroused so +large an amount of enthusiasm, has excited so many hopes, has appeared +to the human race to open up so many vistas of enterprise and research, +as that for which we are mainly indebted to the Brothers Montgolfier. +The discovery or the invention of the balloon, however, was one of those +efforts of genius and enterprise which have no infancy. It had reached +its full growth when it burst upon the world, and the ninety years which +have since elapsed have witnessed no development of the original idea. +The balloon of to-day--the balloon in which Coxwell and Glaisher have +made their perilous trips into the remote regions of the air--is in +almost every respect the same as the balloon with which "the physician +Charles," following in the footsteps of the Montgolfiers, astonished +Paris in 1783. There are few more tantalising stories in the annals of +invention than this. So much had been accomplished when Roziers made his +first aerial voyage above the astonished capital of France that all the +rest seemed easy. The new highway appeared to have been thrown open +to the world, and the dullest imagination saw the air thronged with +colossal chariots, bearing travellers in perfect safety, and with more +than the speed of the eagle, from city to city, from country to +country, reckless of all the obstacles--the seas, and rivers, and +mountains--which Nature might have placed in the path of the wayfarer. +But from that moment to the present the prospect which was thus opened +up has remained a vision and nothing more. There are--as those who +visited the Crystal Palace two years ago have reason to know--not a few +men who still believe in the practicability of journeying by air. But, +with hardly an exception, those few have abandoned all idea of utilising +the balloon for this purpose. The graceful "machine" which astonished +the world at its birth remains to this day as beautiful, and as useless +for the purposes of travel, as in the first hour of its history. The day +may come when some one more fortunate than the Montgolfiers may earn the +Duke of Sutherland's offered reward by a successful flight from the Mall +to the top of Stafford House; but when this comes to pass the balloon +will have no share in the honour of the achievement. Not the less, +however, is the story of this wonderful invention worthy of being +recorded. It deserves a place in the history of human enterprise--if +for nothing else--because of the daring courage which it has in so +many cases brought to light. From the days of Roziers down to those of +Coxwell, our aeronauts have fearlessly tempted dangers not less terrible +than those which face the soldier as he enters the imminent deadly +breach; and, as one of the chapters in this volume mournfully proves, +not a few of their number have paid the penalty of their rash courage +with their lives. All the more is it to be regretted that so little +practical good has resulted from their labours and their sacrifices; and +that so many of those who have perished in balloon voyages have done +so whilst serving to better end than the amusement of a holiday crowd. +There is, however, another aspect which makes at least the earlier +history of the balloon well worth preserving. This is the influence +which the invention had upon the generation which witnessed it. As +these pages show, the people of Europe seem to have been absolutely +intoxicated by the success of the Montgolfiers' discovery. There is +something bitterly suggestive in our knowledge of this fact. Whilst +pensions and honours and popular applause were being showered upon +the inventors of the balloon, Watt was labouring unnoticed at his +improvements of the steam-engine--a very prosaic affair compared with +the gilded globe which Montgolfier had caused to rise from earth amidst +the acclamations of a hundred thousand spectators, but one which had +before it a somewhat different history to that of the more startling +invention. England, when it remembers the story of the steam-engine, +has little need to grudge France the honour of discovering the balloon. +After all, however, Great Britain had its share in that discovery. The +early observations of Francis Bacon and Bishop Wilkins paved the way for +the later achievement, whilst it was our own Cavendish who discovered +that hydrogen gas was lighter than air; and Dr. Black of Edinburgh, who +first employed that gas to raise a globe in which it was contained from +the earth. The Scotch professor, we are told, thought that the discovery +which he made when he sent his little tissue-paper balloon from his +lecture-table to the ceiling of his classroom, was of no use except as +affording the means of making an interesting experiment. Possibly our +readers, after they have perused this volume, may think that Dr Black +was not after all so far wrong as people once imagined. Be this as it +may, however, in these pages is the history of the balloon, and of +the most memorable balloon voyages, and we comprehend the story to our +readers not the less cordially that it comes from the land where the +balloon had its birth. + +London, January, 1870. + + + + +BALLOONS AND AIR JOURNEYS. + + + + +PART I. THE CONQUEST OF THE SKIES.--1783. + + + +Chapter I. Introduction. + +The title of our introduction to aeronautics may appear ambitious to +astronomers, and to those who know that the infinite space we call the +heavens is for ever inaccessible to travellers from the earth; but +it was not so considered by those who witnessed the ardent enthusiasm +evoked at the ascension of the first balloon. No discovery, in the +whole range of history, has elicited an equal degree of applause and +admiration--never has the genius of man won a triumph which at first +blush seemed more glorious. The mathematical and physical sciences +had in aeronautics achieved apparently their greatest honours, and +inaugurated a new era in the progress of knowledge. After having +subjected the earth to their power; after having made the waves of the +sea stoop in submission under the keels of their ships; after having +caught the lightning of heaven and made it subservient to the ordinary +purposes of life, the genius of man undertook to conquer the regions of +the air. Imagination, intoxicated with past successes, could descry no +limit to human power; the gates of the infinite seemed to be swinging +back before man's advancing step, and the last was believed to be the +greatest of his achievements. + +In order to comprehend the frenzy of the enthusiasm which the first +aeronautic triumphs called forth, it is necessary to recall the +appearance of Montgolfier at Versailles, on the 19th of September, 1783, +before Louis XVI, or of the earliest aeronauts at the Tuileries. Paris +hailed the first of these men with the greatest acclaim, "and then, as +now," says a French writer, "the voice of Paris gave the cue to France, +and France to the world!" Nobles and artisans, scientific men and +badauds, great and small, were moved with one universal impulse. In the +streets the praises of the balloon were sung; in the libraries models +of it abounded; and in the salons the one universal topic was the great +"machine." In anticipation, the poet delighted himself with bird's-eye +views of the scenery of strange countries; the prisoner mused on what +might be a new way of escape; the physicist visited the laboratory in +which the lightning and the meteors were manufactured; the geometrician +beheld the plans of cities and the outlines of kingdoms; the general +discovered the position of the enemy or rained shells on the besieged +town; the police beheld a new mode in which to carry on the secret +service; Hope heralded a new conquest from the domain of nature, and the +historian registered a new chapter in the annals of human knowledge. + +"Scientific discoveries in general," says Arago, "even those from +which men expect the most advantage, like those of the compass and the +steam-engine, were greeted at first with contempt, or at the best with +indifference. Political events, and the fortunes of armies monopolised +almost entirely the attention of the people. But to this rule there +are two exceptions--the discoveries of America and of aerostatics, the +advents of Columbus and of Montgolfier." It is not here our duty +to inquire how it happened that the discoveries made by these two +personages are classed together. Air-travelling may be as unproductive +of actual good to society as filling the belly with the "east wind" is +to the body, while every one knows something of the extent to which the +discovery of Columbus has influenced the character, the civilisation, +the destinies, in short, of the human race. We are speaking at present +of the known and well-attested fact, that the discovery of America +and the discovery of the method of traversing space by means of +balloons--however they may differ in respect of results to man--rank +equally in this, that of all other discoveries these two have attracted +the greatest amount of attention, and given, in their respective eras, +the greatest impulse to popular feeling. Let the reader recall the marks +of enthusiasm which the discovery of the islands on the east coast of +America excited in Andalusia, in Catalonia, in Aragon and Castile--let +him read the narrative of the honours paid by town and village, not only +to the hero of the enterprise, but even to his commonest sailors, and +then let him search the records of the epoch for the degree of sensation +produced by the discovery of aeronautics in France, which stands in the +same relationship to this event as that in which Spain stands to the +other. The processions of Seville and Barcelona are the exact prototypes +of the fetes of Lyons and Paris. In France, in 1783, as in Spain two +centuries previously, the popular imagination was so greatly excited by +the deeds performed, that it began to believe in possibilities of +the most unlikely description. In Spain, the conquestadores and their +followers believed that in a few days after they had landed on American +soil, they would have gathered as much gold and precious stones, as were +then possessed by the richest European Sovereigns. In France, each one +following his own notions, made out for himself special benefits to flow +from the discovery of balloons. Every discovery then appeared to be only +the precursor of other and greater discoveries, and nothing after that +time seemed to be impossible to him who attempted the conquest of the +atmosphere. This idea clothed itself in every form. The young embraced +it with enthusiasm, the old made it the subject of endless regrets. When +one of the first aeronautic ascents was made, the old Marechal Villeroi, +an octogenarian and an invalid, was conducted to one of the windows of +the Tuileries, almost by force, for he did not believe in balloons. The +balloon, meanwhile, detached itself from its moorings; the physician +Charles, seated in the car, gaily saluted the public, and was then +majestically launched into space in his air-boat; and at once the old +Marechal, beholding this, passed suddenly from unbelief to perfect faith +in aerostatics and in the capacity of the human mind, fell on his knees, +and, with his eyes bathed in tears, moaned out pitifully the words, +"Yes, it is fixed! It is certain! They will find out the secret of +avoiding death; but it will be after I am gone!" + +If we recall the impressions which the first air-journeys made, we shall +find that, among people of enthusiastic temperament, it was believed +that it was not merely the blue sky above us, not merely the terrestrial +atmosphere, but the vast spaces through which the worlds move, that +were to become the domain of man--the sea of the balloon. The moon, +the mysterious dwelling-place of men unknown, would no longer be an +inaccessible place. Space no longer contained regions which man could +not cross! Indeed, certain expeditions attempted the crossing of the +heavens, and brought back news of the moon. The planets that revolve +round the sun, the far-flying comets, the most distant stars--these +formed the field which from that time was to lie open to the +investigations of man. + +This enthusiasm one can well enough understand. There is in the simple +fact of an aerial ascent something so bold and so astonishing, that the +human spirit cannot fail to be profoundly stirred by it. And if this is +the feeling of men at the present day, when, after having been witnesses +of ascents for the last eighty years, they see men confiding themselves +in a swinging car into the immensities of space, what must have been the +astonishment of those who, for the first time since the commencement +of the world, beheld one of their fellow-creatures rolling in space, +without any other assurance of safety than what his still dim perception +of the laws of nature gave him? + +Why should we be obliged here to state that the great discovery that +stirred the spirits of men from the one end of Europe to the other, +and gave rise to hopes of such vast discoveries, should have failed +in realising the expectations which seemed so clearly justified by the +first experiments? It is now eighty-six years since the first aerial +journey astonished the world, and yet, in 1870, we are but little +more advanced in the science than we were in 1783. Our age is the most +renowned for its discoveries of any that the world has seen. Man is +borne over the surface of the earth by steam; he is as familiar as the +fish with the liquid element; he transmits his words instantaneously +from London to New York; he draws pictures without pencil or brush, and +has made the sun his slave. The air alone remains to him unsubdued. The +proper management of balloons has not yet been discovered. More +than that, it appears that balloons are unmanageable, and it is to +air-vessels, constructed more nearly upon the model of birds, that we +must go to find out the secret of aerial navigation. At present, as in +former times, we are at the mercy of balloons--globes lighter than the +air, and therefore the sport and the prey of tempests and currents. +And aeronauts, instead of showing themselves now as the benefactors of +mankind, exhibit themselves mainly to gratify a frivolous curiosity, or +to crown with eclat a public fete. + + + +Chapter II. Attempts in Ancient Times to Fly in the Air. + +Before contemplating the sudden conquest of the aerial kingdom, as +accomplished and proclaimed at the end of the last century, it is at +once curious and instructive to cast a glance backward, and to examine, +by the glimmering of ancient traditions, the attempts which have been +made or imagined by man to enfranchise himself from the attraction of +the earth. + +"The greater number of the arts and sciences can be traced along a +chronological ladder of great length: some, indeed, lose themselves in +the night of time." The accomplishment of raising oneself in the air, +however, had no actual professors in antiquity, and the discovery +of Montgolfier seems to have come into the world, so to speak, +spontaneously. By this it is to be understood that, unlike Copernicus +and Columbus, Montgolfier could not read in history of any similar +discovery, containing the germ of his own feat. At least, we have no +proof that the ancient nations practiced the art of aerial navigation +to any extent whatever. The attempts which we are about to cite do not +strictly belong to the history of aerostatics. + +Classic mythology tells us of Daedalus, who, escaping with his son +Icarus from the anger of Minos, in the Isle of Crete, saved himself from +the immediate evil by the aid of wings, which he made for himself and +his son, and by means of which they were enabled to fly in the air. The +wings, it appears, were soldered with wax, and Icarus, flying too high, +was struck by a ray of the sun, which melted the wax. The youth fell +into the sea, which from him derived its name of Icarian. It is possible +that this fable only symbolisms the introduction of sails in navigation. + +Coming down through ancient history, we note a certain Archytas, of +Tarentum, who, in the fourth century B. C., is said to have launched +into the air the first "flying stag," and who, according to the Greek +writers, "made a pigeon of wood, which flew, but which could not +raise itself again after having fallen." Its flight, it is said, "was +accomplished by means of a mechanical contrivance, by the vibrations of +which it was sustained in the air." + +In the year 66 A.D., in the time of Nero, Simon, the magician--who +called himself "the mechanician"--made certain experiments at Rome of +flying at a certain height. In the eyes of the early Christians this +power was attributed to the devil, and St. Peter, the namesake of this +flying man, is said to have prayed fervently while Simon was amusing +himself in space. It was possibly in answer to his prayers that the +magician failed in his flight, fell upon the Forum, and broke his neck +on the spot. + +From the summit of the tower of the hippodrome at Constantinople, a +certain Saracen met the same fate as Simon, in the reign of the Emperor +Comnenus. His experiments were conducted on the principle of the +inclined plane. He descended in an oblique course, using the resistance +of the air as a support. His robe, very long and very large, and of +which the flaps were extended on an osier frame, preserved him from +suddenly falling. + +The inclined plane probably suggested to Milton the flight of the angel +Uriel, in "Paradise Lost," who descended in the morning from heaven to +earth upon a ray of the sun, and ascended in the evening from earth to +heaven by the same means. But we cannot quote here the fancies of +pure imagination, and we will not speak of Medeus the magician, of the +enchantress Armida, of the witches of the Brocken, of the hippogriff +of Zephyrus with the rosy wings, or of the diabolical inventions of the +middle ages, for many of which the stake was the only reward. + +Roger Bacon, in the thirteenth century, inaugurated a more scientific +era. In his "Treaty of the Admirable Power of Art and Nature," he puts +forth the idea that it is possible "to make flying-machines in which the +man, being seated or suspended in the middle, might turn some winch or +crank, which would put in motion a suit of wings made to strike the +air like those of a bird." In the same treatise he sketches a +flying-machine, to which that of Blanchard, who lived in the eighteenth +century, bears a certain resemblance. The monk, Roger Bacon, was worthy +of entering the temple of fame before his great namesake the Lord +Chancellor, who in the seventeenth century inaugurated the era of +experimental science. + +Jean Baptiste Dante, a mathematician of Perugia, who lived in the latter +part of the fifteenth century, constructed artificial wings, by means of +which, when applied to thin bodies, men might raise themselves off +the ground into the air. It is recorded that on many occasions he +experimented with his wings on the Lake Thrasymenus. These experiments, +however, had a sad end. At a fete, given for the celebration of the +marriage of Bartholomew d'Alvani, Dante, who must not be confounded with +the poet, whose flights were of quite another kind--offered to exhibit +the wonder of his wings to the people of Perugia. He managed to raise +himself to a great height, and flew above the square; but the iron +with which he moved one of his wings having been bent, he fell upon the +church of the Virgin, and broke his thigh. + +A similar accident befell a learned English Benedictine Oliver of +Malmesbury. This ecclesiastic was considered gifted with the power of +foretelling events; but, like other similarly circumstanced, he does +not seem to have beer able to divine the fate which awaited himself. +He constructed wings after the model of those which according to Ovid, +Daedalus made use of. These he attached to his arms and his feet, and, +thus furnished, he threw himself from the height of a tower. But the +wings bore him up for little more than a distance of 120 paces. He fell +at the foot of the tower, broke his legs, and from that moment led a +languishing life. He consoled himself, however, in his misfortune +by saying that his attempt must certainly have succeeded had he only +provided himself with a tail. + +Before going further, let us take notice that the seventeenth century +is, par excellence, the century distinguished for narratives of +imaginary travels. It was then that astronomy opened up its world of +marvels. The knowledge of observers was vastly increased, and from that +time it became possible to distinguish the surface of the moon and of +other celestial bodies. Thus a new world, as it were, was revealed for +human thought and speculation. We learned that our globe was not, as we +had supposed, the centre of the universe. It was assigned its place far +from that centre, and was known to be no more than a mere atom, lost +amid an incalculable number of other globes. The revelations of the +telescope proved that those who formerly were considered wise actually +knew nothing. Quickly following these discoveries, extraordinary +narratives of excursions through space began to be given to the world. + +Those scientific romances were simply wild exaggerations, based upon the +thinnest foundation of scientific facts. In order, however, to describe +a journey among the stars, it was necessary to invent some mode of +locomotion in these distant regions. In former times Lucian had been +content with a ship which ascended to the rising moon upon a waterspout; +but it was now necessary to improve upon this very primitive mode, as +people began to know something more of the forces of nature. One of the +first of these travellers in imagination to the moon in modern times was +Godwin (1638), and his plan was more ingenious than that of Lucian. He +trained a great number of the wild swans of St. Helena to fly constantly +upward toward a white object, and, having succeeded in thus training +them, one fine night he threw himself off the Peak of Teneriffe, poised +upon a piece of board, which was borne upward to the white moon by a +great team of the gigantic swans. At the end of twelve days he arrived, +according to his story, at his destination. A little later another +writer of this peculiar kind of fiction, Wilkins, an Englishman, +professed to have made the same ascent, borne up by an eagle. Alexandre +Dumas, who recently wrote a short romance upon the same subject, only +made a translation of an English work by that author. Wilkins' work is +entitled, "The Discovery of a New World." One chapter of the book bears +the title, "That 'tis possible for some of our posterity to find out a +conveyance to this other world; and, if there be inhabitants there, to +have commerce with them." It is thus that the right reverend philosopher +reasons:-- + +"If it be here inquired what means there may be conjectured for our +ascending beyond the sphere of the earth's mathematical vigour, I +answer.--1. 'Tis not possible that a man may be able to fly by the +application of wings to his own body, as angels are pictured, as +Mercury and Daedalus are feigned, and as hath been attempted by divers, +particularly by a Turk in Constantinople, a Busbequius relates. 2. If +there be such a great duck in Madagascar as Marcus Polus, the Venetian, +mentions, the feathers of whose wings are twelve feet long, which can +scoop up a horse and his rider, or an elephant, as our kites do a mouse; +why, then, 'Tis but teaching one of these to carry a man, and he may +ride up thither, as Ganymede does upon an eagle. 3. Or if neither of +these ways will serve yet I do seriously, and upon good grounds, affirm +it is possible to make a flying chariot, in which a man may sit and +give such a motion to it as shall convey him through the air. And this, +perhaps, might be made large enough to carry divers men at the same +time, together with food for their viaticum, and commodities for +traffic. It is not the bigness of anything in this kind that can hinder +its motion if the motive faculty be answerable "hereunto. We see that; +great ship swims as well as a small cork, and an eagle flies in the air +as well as a little gnat. This engine may be contrived from the same +principles by which Archytas made a wooden dove, and Regiomontanus +a wooden eagle. I conceive it were no difficult matter (if a man had +leisure) to show more particularly the means of composing it. The +perfecting of such an invention would be of such excellent use that it +were enough, not only to make a man famous but the age wherein he lives. +For, besides the strange discoveries that it might occasion in this +other world, it would be also of inconceivable advantage for travelling, +above any other conveyance that is now in use. So that, notwithstanding +all these seeming impossibilities, it is likely enough that there may be +a means invented of journeying to the moon; and how happy shall they be +that are first successful in this attempt!" + +Afterwards comes Cyrano of Bergerac, who promulgates five different +means of flying in the air. First, by means of phials filled with dew, +which would attract and cause to mount up. Secondly, by a great bird +made of wood, the wings of which should be kept in motion. Thirdly, by +rockets, which, going off successively, would drive up the balloon by +the force of projection. Fourthly, by an octahedron of glass, heated by +the sun, and of which the lower part should be allowed to penetrate the +dense cold air, which, pressing up against the rarefied hot air, would +raise the balloon. Fifthly, by a car of iron and a ball of magnetised +iron, which the aeronaut would keep throwing up in the air, and which +would attract and draw up the balloon. The wiseacre who invented these +modes of flying in the air seems, some would say, to have been more in +want of very strict confinement on the earth than of the freedom of the +skies. + +In 1670 Francis Lana constructed the flying-machine shown on the next +page. The specific lightness of heated air and of hydrogen gas not +having yet been discovered, his only idea for making his globes rise was +to take all the air out of them. But even supposing that the globes were +thus rendered light enough to rise, they must inevitably have collapsed +under the atmospheric pressure. + +As for the idea of making use of a sail to direct the balloon, as one +directs a vessel, that also was a delusion; for the whole machine, +globes and sails, being freely thrown into the air, would infallibly +follow the direction of the wind, whatever that might be. When a ship +lies in the sea, and its sails are inflated with the wind, we must +remember that there are two forces in operation--the active force of +the wind and the passive force of the resistance of the water; and in +working these forces the one against the other, the sailor can turn +within a point of any direction he pleases. But when we are subjected +wholly to a single force, and have no point of support by the use of +which to turn that force to our own purposes, as is the case with the +aeronaut, we are entirely at the mercy of that force, and must obey it. + +After the flying-machine of Lana there was constructed by Galien (who, +like the former, was an ecclesiastic) an air-boat, less chimerical in +its form, looked at in view of the conditions of aerial navigation, +but much more singular. Galien describes his air-boat, in 1755, in his +little work entitled, "The Art of Sailing in the Air." His project was +a most extraordinary one, and its boldness is only equalled by the +seriousness of the narrative. According to him, the atmosphere is +divided into two horizontal layers, the upper of which is much lighter +than the lower. "But," says Galien, "a ship keeps its place in the water +because it is full of air, and air is much lighter than water. Suppose, +then, that there was the same difference of weight between the upper and +the lower layer of air as there is between the lower stratum and water; +and suppose, also, a boat which rested upon the lower layer of air, with +its bulk in the lighter upper layer--like a ship which has its keel in +the water but its bulk in the air--the same thing would happen with the +air-ship as with the water-ship--it would float in the denser layer of +air." + +Galien adds that in the region of hail there was in the air a separation +into two layers, the weights of which respectively are as 1 to 2. +"Then," says he, "in placing an air-boat in the region of hail, with its +sides rising eighty-three fathoms into the upper region, which is much +more light, one could sail perfectly." + +But how to get this enormous air-boat up to the region of hail? This is +a minor detail, respecting which Galien is not clear. + +From the labours of Lana and Galien, with their impossible flying +machines, the inventor of the balloon could derive no benefit whatever; +nor is his fame to be in the least diminished because many had laboured +in the same field before him. Nor can the story of the ovoador, +or flying man, a legend very confused, and of which there are many +versions, have given to Montgolfier any valuable hints. It appears that +a certain Laurent de Guzman, a monk of Rio Janeiro, performed at Lisbon +before the king, John V., raising himself in a balloon to a considerable +height. Other versions of the story give a different date, and assign +the pretended ascent to 1709. The above engraving, extracted from the +"Bibliotheque de la Rue de Richelieu," is an exact copy of Guzman's +supposed balloon. + +In 1678 a mechanician of Salle, in Maine, named Besnier invented a +flying-machine. The machine consisted of four great wings, or paddles, +mounted at the extremities of levers, which rested on the shoulders of +the man who guided it, and who could move them alternately by means of +his hands and feet. The following description of the machine is given in +the Journal de Paris by an eye-witness: + +"The 'wings' are oblong frames, covered with taffeta, and attached to +the ends of two rods, adjusted on the shoulders The wings work up and +down. Those in front are worked by the hands; those behind by the feet, +which are connected with the ends of the rods by strings. The movements +were such that when the right hand made the right wing descend in front, +the left foot made the left wing descend behind; and in like manner +the left hand in front and the right foot behind acted together +simultaneously. This diagonal action appeared very well contrived; it +was the action of most quadrupeds as well as of man when walking; but +the contrivance, like others of the same kind, failed in not being +fitted with gearing to enable the air traveller to proceed in any other +direction than that in which the wind blew him. The inventor first flew +down from a stool, then from a table, afterwards from a window, and +finally from a garret, from which he passed above the houses in the +neighbourhood, and then, moderating the working of his machine, he +descended slowly to the earth." + +Tradition records that under Louis XIV. a certain rope-dancer, named +Alard, announced that on a certain day he would perform the feat of +flying in the air. We have no description of his wings. It is recorded, +however, that he set out on his adventurous flight; but he had not +calculated all the necessities of the case, and, falling to the ground, +he was dangerously hurt. + +Leonardo da Vinci might have known the art of flying in the air, and +might even have practiced it. A statement to this effect, at least, is +found in several historians. We have, however, no direct proof of the +fact. + +The Abbe Deforges, of Etampes, announced in the journals in 1772 that +he would perform the great feat. On the appointed day multitudes of the +curious flocked to Etampes. The abbe's machine was a sort of gondola, +seven feet long and about two feet deep. Gondola conductor, and baggage +weighed in all 213 pounds. The pious man believed that he had provided +against everything. Neither tempest nor rain should mar his flight, +and there was no chance of his being upset; whilst the machine, he had +decided, was to go at the rate of thirty leagues an hour. + +The great day came, and the abbe, entering his air-boat amidst the +applause of the spectators, began to work the wings with which it was +provided with great rapidity. "But," says one who witnessed the feat, +"the more he worked, the more his machine cleaved to the earth, as if it +were part and parcel of it." + +Retif de la Bretonne, in his work upon this subject, gives the +accompanying picture of a flying man, furnished with very artistically +designed wings, fitting exactly to the shoulders, and carrying a basket +of provisions, suspended from his waist; and the frontispiece of the +"Philosophic sans Pretention" is a view of a flying-machine. In the +midst of a frame of light wood sits the operator, steadying himself with +one hand, and with the other fuming a cremaillere, which appears to +give a very quick rotatory movement to two glass globes revolving upon +a vertical axis. The friction of the globes is supposed to develop +electricity to which his power of ascending is ascribed. + +To wings, however, aerial adventurers mostly adhered. The Marquis de +Racqueville flew from a window of his hotel, on the banks of the +Seine, and fell into a boat full of washerwomen on the river. All +these unfortunate attempts were lampooned, burlesqued on the stage, and +pursued with the mockery of the public. + +Up to this time, therefore, the efforts of man to conquer the air had +miscarried. They were conducted on a wrong principle, the machinery +employed being heavier than the air itself But, even before the time +of Montgolfier, the principles of aerostation began to be recognised, +though nothing was actually done in the way of acting upon them. Thus, +in 1767, Professor Black, of Edinburgh, announced in his class that a +vessel, filled with hydrogen, would rise naturally in the air; but +he never made the experiment, regarding the fact as capable of being +employed only for amusement. Finally, Cavallo, in 1782, communicated +to the Royal Society of London the experiments he had made, and which +consisted in filling soap-bubbles with hydrogen. The bubbles rose in the +atmosphere, the gas which filled them being lighter than air. + + + +Chapter III. The Theory of Balloons. + +A certain proposition in physics, known as the "Principle of +Archimedes," runs to the following effect:--"Every body plunged into a +liquid loses a portion of its weight equal to the weight of the fluid +which it displaces." Everybody has verified this principle, and knows +that objects are much lighter in water than out of it; a body plunged +into water being acted upon by two forces--its own weight, which tends +to sink it, and resistance from below, which tends to bear it up. But +this principle applies to gas as well as to liquids--to air as well as +to water. When we weigh a body in the air, we do not find its absolute +weight, but that weight minus the weight of the air which the body +displaces. In order to know the exact weight of an object, it would be +necessary to weigh it in a vacuum. + +If an object thrown into the air is heavier than the air which it +displaces, it descends, and falls upon the earth; if it is of equal +weight, it floats without rising or falling; if it is lighter, it +rises until it comes to a stratum of air of less weight or density than +itself. We all know, of course, that the higher you rise from the earth +the density of the air diminishes. The stratum of air that lies upon the +surface of the earth is the heaviest, because it supports the pressure +of all the other strata that lie above. Thus the lightest strata are the +highest. + +The principle of the construction of balloons is, therefore, in perfect +harmony with physical laws. Balloons are simply globes, made of a light, +air-tight material, filled with hot air or hydrogen gas which rise in +the air because (they are lighter than the air they displace). + +The application of this principle appeared so simple, that at the time +when the news of the invention of the balloon was spread abroad the +astronomer Lalande wrote--"At this news we all cry, 'This must be! Why +did we not think of it before?'" It had been thought of before, as we +have seen in the last chapter, but it is often long after an idea is +conceived that it is practically realised. + +The first balloon, Montgolfier's, was simply filled with hot air; and it +was because Montgolfier exclusively made use of hot air that balloons +so filled were named Montgolfiers. Of course we see at a glance that +hot air is lighter than cold air, because it has become expanded and +occupies more space--that is to say, a volume of hot air contains +actually less air than a volume of the same size of air that has not +been heated. The difference between the weight of the hot air and the +cold which it displaced was greater than the weight of tire covering of +the balloon. Therefore the balloon mounted. + +And, seeing that air diminishes in density the higher we ascend, the +balloon can rise only to that stratum of air of the same density as the +air it contains. As the warm air cools it gently descends. Again, as the +atmosphere is always moving in currents more or less strong, the balloon +follows the direction of the current of the stratum of air in which it +finds itself. + +Thus we see how simply the ascent of Montgolfiers, and their motions, +are explained. It is the same with gas-balloons. A balloon, filled with +hydrogen gas, displaces an equal volume of atmospheric air; but as the +gas is much lighter than the air, it is pushed up by a force equal to +the difference of the density of air and hydrogen gas. The balloon then +rises in the atmosphere to where it reaches layers of air of a density +exactly equal to its own, and when it gets there it remains poised in +its place. In order that it may descend, it is necessary to let out a +portion of the hydrogen gas, and admit an equal quantity of atmospheric +air; and the balloon does not come to the ground till all, or nearly +all, the gas has been expelled and common air taken in. Balloons +inflated with hydrogen gas are almost the only ones in use at the +present day. Scarcely ever is a Montgolfier sent up. There are +aeronauts, however, who prefer a journey in a Montgolfier to one in a +gas-balloon. The air voyager in this description of balloon had formerly +many difficulties to contend with. The quantity of combustible material +which he was bound to carry with him; the very little difference that +there is between the density of heated and of cold air; the necessity +of feeding the fire, and watching it without a moment's cessation, as it +hangs in the rechaud over the middle of the car, rendered this sort of +air travelling subject to many dangers and difficulties. Recently, M. +Eugene Godard has obviated a portion of this difficulty by fitting a +chimney, like that which is found of such incalculable service in the +case of the Davy lamp. It is principally on account of this improvement +that the Montgolfiere has risen so highly in popular esteem. + +Generally it is not pure hydrogen that is made use of in the inflation +of balloons. Aeronauts content themselves with the gas which we burn in +our streets and houses, and thus it suffices, in inflating the balloon, +to obtain from the nearest gas-works the quantity of gas necessary, and +to lead it, by means of a pipe or tube, from the gasometer to the mouth +or neck of the machine. + +The balloon is made of long strips of silk, sewn together, and rendered +air-tight by means of a coating of caoutchouc. A valve is fitted to the +top, and by means of it the aeronaut can descend to the earth at will, +by allowing some quantity of the gas to escape. The car in which he +sits is suspended to the balloon by a network, which covers the whole +structure. Sacks of sand are carried in this car as ballast, so +that, when descending, if the aeronaut sees that he is likely to be +precipitated into the sea or into a lake, he throws over the sand, and +his air-carriage, being thus lightened, mounts again and travels away to +a more desirable resting-place. The idea of the valve, as well as that +of the sand ballast, is due to the physician Charles. They enable the +aeronaut to ascend or descend with facility. When he wishes to mount, +he throws over his ballast; when he wants to come down, he lets the gas +escape by the valve at the roof of the balloon. This valve is worked by +means of a spring, having a long rope attached to it, which hangs down +through the neck to the car, where the aeronaut sits. + +The operation of inflating a balloon with pure hydrogen is represented +in the engraving on the next page. + +Shavings of iron and zinc, water, and sulphuric acid, occupy a number of +casks, which communicate, by means of tubes, with a central cask, which +is open at the bottom, and is plunged in a copper full of water. The gas +is produced by the action of the water and the sulphuric acid upon the +zinc and the iron this is hydrogen mixed with sulphuric acid. In passing +through the central copper, or vat, full of water, the gas throws off +all impurities, and comes, unalloyed with any other matter, into the +balloon by a long tube, leading from the central vats. In order to +facilitate the entrance of the gas into the balloon two long poles +are erected. These are furnished with pulleys, through which a rope, +attached also to a ring at the top of the balloon, passes. By means +of this contrivance the balloon can be at once lightly raised from the +ground, and the gas tubes easily joined to it. When it is half full it +is no longer necessary to suspend the balloon; on the contrary, it has +to be secured, lest it should fly off. A number of men hold it back by +ropes; but as the force of ascension is every moment increasing, the +work of restraining the balloon is most difficult and exciting. At +length, all preparations being complete, the car is suspended, the +aeronaut takes his seat, the words "Let go all!" are shouted, and away +goes the silken globe into space. + +The balloon is never entirely filled, for the atmospheric pressure +diminishing as it ascends, allows the hydrogen gas to dilate, in virtue +of its expansive force, and, unless there is space for this expansion, +the balloon is sure to explode in the air. + +An ordinary balloon, with a lifting power sufficient to carry up three +persons, with necessary ballast and materiel, is about fifty feet high, +thirty-five feet in diameter' and 2,250 cubic feet in capacity. Of such +a balloon, the accessories--the skin, the network, the car--would weigh +about 335 lbs. + +To find out the height at which he has arrived, the aeronaut consults +his barometer. We know that it is the pressure of the air upon the cup +of the barometer that raises the mercury in the tube. The heavier the +air is, the higher is the barometer. At the level of the sea the column +of mercury stands at 32 inches; at 3,250 feet--the air being at this +elevation lighter--the mercury stands at 28 inches; at 6,500 feet above +sea level it stands at 25 inches; at 10,000 feet it falls to 22 inches; +at 20,000 feet to 15 inches. These, however, are merely the theoretic +results, and are subject to some slight variation, according to +locality, &c. + +Sometimes the aeronaut makes his descent by means of the parachute, +a separate and distinct contrivance. If, from any cause, it appears +impracticable to effect a descent from the balloon itself, the parachute +may be of the greatest service to the voyager at the present day it is +chiefly used to astonish the public, by showing them the spectacle of +a man who, from a great elevation in the air, precipitates himself into +space, not to escape dangers which threaten him in his balloon, but +simply to exhibit his courage and skill. Nevertheless, parachutes are +often of great actual use, and aeronauts frequently attach them to their +balloons as a precautionary measure before setting out on an aerial +excursion. + +The shape of a parachute, shown on the previous page, very much +resembles that of the well-known all serviceable umbrella. The strips of +silk of which it is formed are sewn together, and are bound at the top +around a circular piece of wood. A number of cords, stretching away from +this piece of wood, support the car in which the aeronaut is carried. At +the summit is contrived an opening, which permits the air compressed +by the rapidity of the descent to escape without causing damage to the +parachute from the stress to which it is subjected. + +The rapidity of the descent is arrested by the large surface which the +parachute presents to the air. When the aeronaut wishes to descend by +the parachute, all that is required is, after he has slipped down from +the car of the balloon to that of the parachute, to loosen the rope +which binds the latter to the former, which is done by means of a +pulley. In an instant the aeronaut is launched into space with a +rapidity in comparison with which the wild flights of the balloon are +but gentle oscillations. But in a few moments, the air rushing into +the folds of the parachute, forces them open like an umbrella, and +immediately, owing to the wide surface which this contrivance presents +to the atmosphere, the violence of the descent is arrested, and the +aeronaut falls gently to the ground, without receiving too rude a shock. + +The virtues of the parachute were first tried upon animals. Thus, +Blanchard allowed his dog to fall in one from a height of 6,500 feet. +A gust of wind caught the falling parachute, and swept it away up above +the clouds. Afterwards, the aeronaut in his balloon fell in with the dog +in the parachute, both of them high up in the cloudy reaches of the +sky, and the poor animal manifested by his barking his joy at seeing his +master. A new current separated the aerial voyagers, but the parachute, +with its canine passenger, reached the ground safely a short time after +Blanchard had landed from his balloon. + +Experience has proved that, in the case of a descending parachute, if +the rapidity of the descent is doubled the resistance of the air is +quadrupled; if the rapidity is triple the resistance is increased +ninefold; or, to speak in language of science, the resistance of the air +is increased by the square of the swiftness of the body in motion. This +resistance increases in proportion as the parachute spreads, and thus +the uniformity of its fall is established a minute after it has been +disengaged from the balloon. We can, therefore, check the descent of a +body by giving it a surface capable of distension by the action of the +air. + +Garnerin, in the year 1802, conceived the bold design of letting himself +fall from a height of 1,200 feet, and he accomplished the exploit before +the Parisians. When he had reached the height he had fixed beforehand, +he cut the rope which connected the parachute with the balloon. At first +the fall was terribly rapid; but as soon as the parachute spread out +the rapidity was considerably diminished. The machine made, however, +enormous oscillations. The air, gathering end compressed under it, would +sometimes escape by one side sometimes by the other, thus shaking and +whirling the parachute about with a violence which, however great, had +happily no unfortunate effect. + +The origin of the parachute is more remote than is generally supposed, +as there was a figure of one which appeared among a collection of +machines at Venice, in 1617. + +Another species of parachute, less perfect, to be sure; than that of +Garnerin, but still a practical machine, was described 189 years before +the great aeronaut's feat at Paris. We read in the narrative of the +ambassador of Louis XIV at Siam, at the end of the seventeenth century, +the following passage--"A mountebank at the court of the King of Siam +climbed to the top of a high bamboo-tree, and threw himself into the air +without any other support than two parasols. Thus equipped, he abandoned +himself to the winds, which carried him, as by chance, sometimes to +the earth, sometimes on trees or houses, and sometimes into the river, +without any harm happening to him." + +Is not this the idea of our parachutes? + + + +Chapter IV. First Public Trial of the Balloon. + +(Montgolfier's Balloon Annonay, 5th of June of 1783.) + +We are accustomed to rank the brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier +as equally distinguished in the field of science. The reason for thus +associating these two names seems to have been the fraternal friendship +which subsisted in an extraordinary degree in the Montgolfier family, +rather than any equality of claim which they had to the notice of +posterity. After special investigation, we find that Joseph Montgolfier +was very superior to his brother, and that it is to him principally, if +not exclusively, that we owe the invention of aerostation. Nevertheless, +we shall not insist upon this fact; and seeing that a sacred amity +always cemented a perfect union in the Montgolfier family, we will +regard that union as unbroken in any sense, and will not insinuate that +the brother of Montgolfier was undeserving of the honoured rank which in +his lifetime he held. + +In 1783, the sons of Pierre Montgolfier, a rich papermaker at Annonay +department of Ardeche, were already in the prime of life, and it is +related of them that their principal occupation was experimenting in the +physical sciences. Joseph Montgolfier, after being convinced by a number +of minor experiments made in 1782 and 1783, that a heat of 180 degrees +rarefied the air and made it occupy a space of TWICE the extent it +occupied before being heated--or, in other words, that this degree of +heat diminished the weight of air by one half--began to speculate on +what might be the shape and the material of a structure which being +filled with air thus heated, would be able to raise itself from the +earth in spite of the weight of its own covering. + +His first balloon was a small parallelopiped in very thin taffeta, +containing less than seventy-eight cubic inches of air. He made it rise +to the roof of his apartment in November, 1782--at Avignon, where he +then happened to be. Having returned some little time after to Annonay, +Joseph and his brother performed the same experiment, together in the +open air with perfect success. Certain, then, of the new principle, they +made a balloon of considerable size, containing upwards of sixty-five +feet of heated air. + +This machine likewise rose, tore away the cords by which it was at first +held down, and mounting in the air to the height of from two to three +hundred feet, fell upon the neighbouring hills after a considerable +flight. The brothers Montgolfier then made a very large and strong +balloon, with which they wished to bring their discovery before the +public. + +The appointed day was the 5th of June, 1783 and the nobility of the +vicinity were invited to be present at the experiment. Faujas de +Saint Fond, author of "La Description des Experiences de la Machine +Aerostatique," published the same year, gives the following account of +it:-- + +"What," says Saint Fond, "was the general astonishment when the +inventors of the machine announced that immediately it should be full +of gas, which they had the means of producing at will by the most simple +process, it would raise itself to the clouds. It must be granted that, +in spite of the confidence in the ingenuity and experience of the +Montgolfiers, this feat seemed so incredible to those who came to +witness it, that the persons who knew most about it--who were, at the +same time, the most favourably predisposed in its favour--doubted of its +success. + +"At last the brothers Montgolfier commenced their work. They first +of all began to make the smoke necessary for their experiment. The +machine--which at first seemed only a covering of cloth, lined with +paper, a sort of sack thirty-five feet high--became inflated, and grew +large even under the eyes of the spectator, took consistence, assumed a +beautiful form, stretched itself on all sides, and struggled to escape. +Meanwhile, strong arms were holding it down until the signal was given, +when it loosened itself, and with a rush rose to the height of 1,000 +fathoms in less than ten minutes." It then described a horizontal line +of 7,200 feet, and as it had lost a considerable amount of gas, it began +to descend quietly. It reached the ground in safety; and this first +attempt, crowned with such decisive success, secured for ever to +the brothers Montgolfier the glory of one of the most astonishing +discoveries. + +"When we reflect for a moment upon the numberless difficulties which +such a bold attempt entailed, upon the bitter criticism to which it +would have exposed its projectors had it failed through any accident, +and upon the sums that must have been spent in carrying it out, we +cannot withhold the highest admiration for the men who conceived the +idea and carried it out to such a successful issue." + +Etienne Montgolfier has left us a description of this first balloon. +"The aerostatic machine," he says, "was constructed of cloth lined with +paper, fastened together on a network of strings fixed to the cloth. +It was spherical; its circumference was 110 feet, and a wooden frame +sixteen feet square held it fixed at the bottom. Its contents were about +22,000 cubic feet, and it accordingly displaced a volume of air weighing +1,980 1bs. The weight of the gas was nearly half the weight of the air, +for it weighed 990 lbs., and the machine itself, with the frame, weighed +500: it was, therefore, impelled upwards with the force of 490 lbs. Two +men sufficed to raise it and to fill it with gas, but it took eight +to hold it down till the signal was given. The different pieces of +the covering were fastened together with buttons and button-holes. +It remained ten minutes in the air, but the loss of gas by the +button-holes, and by other imperfections, did not permit it to continue +longer. The wind at the moment of the ascent was from the north. The +machine came down so lightly that no part of it was broken." + + + +Chapter V. Second Experiment. + +(Charles's Balloon, Paris, Champ de Mars, 27th of August, 1783.) + +The indescribable enthusiasm caused by the ascent of the first balloon +at Annonay, spread in all directions, and excited the wondering +curiosity of the savants of the capital. An official report had been +prepared, and sent to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, and the result +was that the Academy named a commission of inquiry. But fame, more rapid +than scientific commissions, and more enthusiastic than academies, +had, at a single flight, passed from Annonay to Paris, and kindled the +anxious ardour of the lovers of science in that city. The great desire +was to rival Montgolfier, although neither the report nor the +letters from Annonay had made mention of the kind of gas used by that +experimenter to inflate his balloon. By one of the frequent coincidences +in the history of the sciences, hydrogen gas had been discovered six +years previously by the great English physician Cavendish, and it had +hardly even been tested in the laboratories of the chemists when it all +at once became famous. A young man well versed in physics, Professor +Charles, assisted by two practical men, the brothers Robert, threw +himself ardently into the investigation of the modes of inflating +balloons with this gas, which was then called INFLAMMABLE AIR. Guessing +that it was much lighter than that which Montgolfier had been obliged to +make use of in his third-rate provincial town, Charles leagued himself +with his two assistants to constrict a balloon of taffeta, twelve feet +in diameter, covered with india-rubber, and to inflate it with hydrogen. + +The thing thus arranged, a subscription was opened. The projected +experiment having been talked of all over Paris, every one was struck +with the idea, and subscriptions poured in. Even the most illustrious +names are to be found in the list, which may be called the first +national subscription in France. Nothing had been written of the +forthcoming event in any public paper, yet all Paris seemed to flock to +contribute to the curious experiment. + +The inflation with hydrogen was effected in a very curious manner. As +much as 1,125 lbs. of iron and 560 lbs. of sulphuric acid were found +necessary to inflate a balloon which had scarcely a lifting power of +22 lbs., and the process of filling took no less than four hours. At +length, however, at the end of the fourth hour, the balloon, composed of +strips of silk, coated with varnish, floated, two-thirds full, from the +workshop of the brothers Robert. + +On the morning of the 26th of August, the day before the ascent was +to be made, the balloon was visited at daybreak, and found to be in +a promising state. At two o'clock on the following morning its +constructors began to make preparations to transport it to the Champ +de Mars, from which place it was to be let loose. Skilled workmen were +employed in its removal, and every precaution was taken that the gas +with which it was charged should not be allowed to escape. In the +meantime the excitement of the people about this wonderful structure +was rising to the highest pitch. The wagon on which it was placed +for removal was surrounded on all sides by eager multitudes, and the +night-patrols, both of horse and foot, which were set to guard the +avenues leading to where it lay, were quite unable to stem the tide of +human beings that poured along to get a glimpse of it. + +The conveyance of the balloon to the Champ de Mars was a most singular +spectacle. A vanguard, with lighted torches, preceded it; it was +surrounded by special attendants, and was followed by detachments of +night-patrols on foot and mounted. The size and shape of this structure, +which was escorted with such pomp and precaution--the silence that +prevailed--the unearthly hour, all helped to give an air of mystery +to the proceedings. At last, having passed through the principal +thoroughfares, it arrived at the Champ de Mars, where it was placed in +an enclosure prepared for its reception. + +When the dawn came, and the balloon had been fixed in its place by +cords, attached around its middle and fixed to iron rings planted in the +earth, the final process of inflation began. + +The Champ de Mars was guarded by troops, and the avenues were also +guarded on all sides. As the day wore on an immense crowd covered the +open space, and every advantageous spot in the neighborhood was crowded +with people. At five o'clock the report of a cannon announced to the +multitudes, and to scientific men who were posted on elevations to make +observations of the great event, that the grand moment had come. The +cords were withdrawn, and, to the vast delight and wonder of the crowd +assembled, the balloon shot up with such rapidity that in two minutes it +had ascended 488 fathoms. At this height it was lost in a cloud for an +instant, and, reappearing, rose to a great height, and was again lost +in higher clouds. The ascent was a splendid success. The rain that fell +damped neither the balloon nor the ardor of the spectators. + +This balloon was 12 feet in diameter, 38 feet in circumference, and had +a capacity of 943 cubic feet. The weight of the materials of which it +was constructed was 25 lbs., and the force of ascension was that of 35 +lbs. + +The fall of the balloon was caused by the expansion and consequent +explosion of the hydrogen gas. This event took place some distance out +in the country, close to a number of peasants, whose terror at the +sight and the sound of this strange monster from the skies was beyond +description. The people assembled, and two monks having told them that +the burst balloon was the hide of a monstrous animal, they immediately +began to assail it vigorously with stones, flails, and pitchforks. The +cure of the parish was obliged to walk up to the balloon to reassure his +terrified flock. They finally attached the burst envelope to a horse's +tail, and dragged it far across the fields. + +Many drawings and engravings of the period represent the peasants armed +with pitchforks, flails, and scythes, assailing it, a dog snapping at +it, a garde-champetre firing at it, a fat priest preaching at it, and a +troop of young people throwing stones at the unfortunate machine. + +The news of this fiasco came to Paris, but too late. When search was +made for the covering, scarcely a fragment could be found. + +A somewhat humorous result of all this was the issue of a communication +from government to the people, entitled, "Warning to the People on +kidnapping Air-balloons." This document, duly signed and approved of, +describes the ascents at Annonay and at Paris, explains the nature and +the causes of the phenomena, and warns the people not to be alarmed when +they see something like a "black moon" in the sky, nor to give way to +fear, as the seeming monster is nothing more than a bag of silk filled +with gas. + +This first ascent in Paris was an important event. Every one, from the +smallest to the greatest, was deeply interested in it, while to the man +of science it was one of the most exciting of incidents. For the purpose +of observing the altitude to which the balloon rose, and the course it +took, Le Gentil was on the observatory, Prevost was on one of the towers +of Notre Dame, Jeaurat was on La Place Louis XV., and d'Agelet was on +the Champ de Mars. It was only Lalande that frowned as he witnessed +the success of the experiment. He had predicted the year before that +air-navigation was impossible. + + + +Chapter VI. Third Experiment. + +(Montgolfier's Balloon, Paris, Faubourg St. Antoine.) + +As we have seen, the triumph of aerostation was sudden and complete. The +young Montgolfier had arrived in Paris prior to the experiment of the +27th of August, and was present as a simple spectator on that occasion. +immediately afterwards he set to work upon a balloon, which was to +be made use of when the Academy should investigate the phenomenon at +Versailles in presence of the king, Louis XVI. + +It was at this time (September, 1783) that those small balloons, made +of gold-beaters' skin, which are used as children's toys to the present +day, were first made. The whole of Paris amused itself with them, +repeating in little the phenomenon of the great ascent. The sky of the +capital found itself all at once traversed by a multitude of small rosy +clouds, formed by the hand of man. + +Faujas de Saint Fond says that at first an attempt was made to construct +balloons of fine, light paper; but this material being permeable, and +the gas being inflammable, balloons thus made did not succeed. It +was necessary to seek a material less porous, and, if possible, still +lighter. + +The Journal de Paris, of the 11th of September, 1783, informed the +public that the Baron de Beaumanoir, "who cultivated the sciences and +the fine arts with as much success as zeal," would send up a balloon +eighteen inches in diameter. At noon of the same day he made this +experiment in presence of a numerous assembly in the garden in front of +the Hotel de Surgeres.. The little balloon mounted freely, but was held +in, like a kite, by means of a silk thread. In the course of the same +afternoon, the baron took down the balloon and filled it anew with +hydrogen, and then let it off. The spectators had the pleasure of seeing +it rise to a great height, and pass away in the direction of Neuilly, +and it is said to have been found at a distance of several leagues, by +peasants. + +However trifling this experiment may appear at first sight, it added +a new fact to the science of aerostation. The material employed by +the baron was lighter and better than paper. It was what is called +gold-beaters' skin. This skin is simply the interior lining of the +large bowel of the ox. It is carefully prepared, is relieved of the fat, +stringy and uneven parts, is dried, and is afterwards softened. Little +balloons of this material came to be the fashion, and they are still +frequently seen. + +At the same time, Montgolfier was busy constructing, at the request +of the Academy of Sciences, a balloon seventy feet high and forty +in diameter, with which it was proposed to repeat the experiment of +Annonay. He took up his quarters in the magnificent gardens of his +friend Reveillon, proprietor of the royal manufactory of stained paper +in the Faubourg St. Antoine. The new balloon was of a very singular +shape: the upper part represented a prism, twenty-four feet high the top +was a pyramid of the same height; the lower part was a truncated cone, +twenty feet in depth. It was made of packing-cloth, lined with good +paper, both inside and out. + +The gossipping and prolix Faujas de Saint Fond thus describes this +machine:--"It was painted blue, represented a sort of tent, and was +richly ornamented with gold Its height was seventy feet; its weight +1,000 lbs.; the air which it displaced was 4,500 lbs. in volume, and the +vapor with which it was filled was half the weight of ordinary air. The +approach of the equinox having brought rain, all the conditions under +which this balloon was constructed and exhibited were unfavourable. The +structure was so large that it was impossible to get it together +and stitch it, except in the open air--in the garden, in fact, where +Montgolfier commenced its construction. It was a great labour to turn +and fold this heavy covering, while the liability of the thick paper +to crack was an additional difficulty. Not less than twenty men were +required to move it, and they were obliged to use all their skill, and +every precaution, not to destroy it. No balloon had ever given so much +trouble. On the 11th of September the weather improved, and the balloon +was entirely completed and prepared for the first experiment. In the +evening the attempt was made. It was with admiration that the beholders +saw the beautiful machine filling itself in the short space of nine +minutes, swelling out on all sides and showing the full symmetry of its +artistic form. It was firmly held in hand, or it would have risen to a +great height. On the following day the actual ascent was to take place, +and the commissioners of the Academy of Sciences were invited to be +present. In the morning thick clouds covered the horizon, and a tempest +was expected; but as there was an ardent desire that the ascent should +take place without delay, and as all the gearing was in order, it was +resolved to proceed. + +"Fifty pounds of dry straw were fired in parcels under the balloon, and +upon the fire were thrown at intervals several pounds of wool. This fuel +produced in ten minutes such a volume of smoke that the huge balloon was +speedily filled. It rose, with a weight of 500 lbs. holding it down, to +some height above the ground, and had the ropes by which it was attached +to the ground been cut, it would have mounted to a great height. +Meantime the storm broke, rain descended, and the wind blew with great +force. The most likely means of saving the balloon was to let it fly +but as it was to ascend again on another occasion, at Versailles, the +greatest efforts were made to bring it down, and these, together with +the damage caused by the storm, eventually rent it into numberless +fragments and tatters. It withstood the storm for twenty-four hours; +then, however, the paper came peeling off, and this beautiful structure +was a wreck." + + + +Chapter VII. Fourth Experiment. + +(Versailles, 19th September, 1783, in presence of Louis of XVI.) + +Of course another balloon was wanted for the fete at Versailles. The +king had demanded an ascent for the 19th, a week after the disaster at +the Faubourg St. Antoine. Already the possibility of a man going up with +the balloon was discussed, and people indulged in visions of splendid +aerial trips; but the king would not hear of the proposal. Balloons were +novelties, not offering sufficient security, and he was unwilling that +any of his subjects should risk their lives in attempting the unknown. +He consented, however, to a proposal that animals might be sent up in +the first instance, by way of experiment, suspended in an osier cage +attached to the neck of the balloon. + +Montgolfier at once began a new balloon. A few days only were at his +disposal; but, assisted by friends, he worked with such ardour +and success that he was able, on the date appointed, to produce +a magnificent spherical balloon, much stronger than the former, +constructed of good strong cotton cloth, and painted in distemper. + +It is proper here to remark that the first balloons were much more +elegant in appearance than those afterwards made. The coloured prints +and engravings of the period enable us to form an opinion of the +splendour of their ornamentation and the beauty of their design. +Sometimes the figures painted upon them represented scenes from +the heathen mythology, and sometimes historical scenes; while rich +embroideries, royal insignia, and gaily-coloured draperies added much +to the general effect. The Versailles balloon was painted blue, with +ornaments of gold, and it presented the form of a richly decorated tent. +It was fifty-seven feet in height, and sixty-seven in diameter. + +It was first tried at Paris, and succeeded perfectly. On the morning of +the 19th it was carried to Versailles, where due preparation had been +made for its reception In the great court of the castle a sort of +theatre had been temporarily erected with a scaffolding, covered +throughout with tapestry In the middle was an opening more than fifteen +feet in diameter, in which was spread a banquet for those who had +constructed the balloon. A numerous guard formed a double cordon around +the structure. A raised platform was used for the fire by means of which +the balloon was to be inflated; a covered funnel or chimney of strong +cloth, painted, was suspended over the fire-place, and received the hot +smoke as it arose. Through this funnel the heated air ascended straight +up into the balloon. + +At six in the morning, the road from Paris to Versailles was covered +with carriages. Crowds came from all parts, and at noon the avenues, +the square of the castle, the windows, and even the roofs of the houses, +were crowded with spectators. The noblest, the most illustrious, and +most learned men in France were present, and the splendour of the scene +was complete when their majesties and the royal family entered within +the enclosure, and went forward to inspect the balloon, and to make +themselves familiar with the preparations for the ascent. + +In a short time the fire was lit, the funnel extended over it, and the +smoke rose inside, while the balloon, unfolding, gradually swelled to +its full size, and then, drawing after it the cage, in which a sheep +and some pigeons were enclosed, rose majestically into the air. Without +interreruption, it ascended to a vast height, where, inclining toward +the north, it seemed to remain stationary for a few seconds, showing +all the beauty of its form, and then, as though possessed of life, it +descended gently upon the wood of Vaucresson, 10,200 feet from the point +of its departure. Its highest elevation, as estimated by the astronomers +Le Gentil and M. Jeaurat, Jeaurat, was about 1,700 feet. + + + +Chapter VIII. Men and Balloons. + +It is not natural that the human mind should stop upon the way to the +solution of a problem, especially when it seems to be on the point of +arriving at a satisfactory conclusion to its labours. The osier cage +of Versailles very soon transformed itself into a car, bearing human +passengers, and the age of the "Thousand and One Nights" was expected +to come back again. It was resolved to continue experiments, with the +direct object of finding out whether it was impossible or desperately +dangerous for man to travel in balloons. Montgolfier returned from +Versailles, and constructed a new machine in the gardens of the Faubourg +St. Antoine. It was completed on the 10th of October Its form was oval, +its height 70 feet, its diameter 46 feet and its capacity 60,000 cubic +feet. The upper part, embroidered with fleurs-de-lis, was further +ornamented with the twelve signs of the zodiac, worked in gold. The +middle part bore the monogram of the king, alternating with figures of +the sun, while the lower part was garnished with masks, garlands, and +spread eagles. A circular gallery made of osiers and festooned with +draperies and other ornaments, was attached by a set of cords to the +bottom of the structure. The gallery was three feet wide, and was +protected by a parapet over three feet in height. It did not in any way +interfere with the opening at the neck of the balloon, under which +was suspended a grating of iron wire upon which the occupants of the +gallery, who were to be provided with dried straw and wool, could in +a few minutes kindle a fire and create fresh smoke, when that in the +balloon began to be exhausted. The machine weighed, in all, 1,600 lbs. +The public had previously been warned, in the Journal de Paris de Paris, +that the approaching experiments were to be of a strictly scientific +character; and as they would be only interesting to savants, they would +not afford amusement for the merely curious. This announcement was +necessary, to abate in some degree the excitement of the people until +some satisfactory results should be obtained; it was also necessary for +those engaged in the work, whose firmness of nerve might have suffered +from the enthusiastic cries of excited spectators. On Wednesday, the +15th of October, Pilatre des Roziers, who had on other occasions given +proofs of his intelligence and courage in performing dangerous feats, +and who had already signalised himself in connection with balloons, +offered to go up in the new machine. His offer was accepted; the balloon +was inflated; stout ropes, more than eighty feet long, were attached +to it, and it rose from the ground to the height to which this tackle +allowed it. At this elevation it remained four minutes twenty-five +seconds; and it is not surprising to hear that Roziers suffered no +inconvenience from the ascent. What was really the interesting thing in +this experiment was, that it showed how a balloon would fall when the +hot air became exhausted, this being the point which caused the greatest +amount of disquietude among men of science. In this instance the balloon +fell gently; its form distended at the same time, and, after touching +the ground, it rose again a foot or two, when its human passenger had +jumped out. + +On Friday, the 17th of October, this experiment was repeated, and the +excitement of the public on this occasion was unbounded. "All the world" +came to see. Roziers was again lifted up in the balloon, to the height +of eighty feet; but so strong was the wind, and the strain on the ropes +was so great, that the balloon was somewhat unsteady, and the exhibition +was not on the whole such a splendid success as that of the preceding +Wednesday. + +On Sunday, Montgolfier chose a fine day for the following +ascents:--"First Ascent: On the 19th of October, 1783, at half-past +four, in presence of two thousand spectators, 'the machine' was filled +with gas in five minutes, and Roziers, being placed in the gallery with +a counterbalancing weight of 110 lbs. in the other side of the gallery, +was carried up to the height of 200 feet. The machine remained six +minutes at this elevation without any fire in the grating. Second +Ascent: The machine carried Roziers and the counterbalancing +weight--fire being in the grating--to the height of 700 feet. At this +height it remained stationary eight and a half minutes As it was drawn +back, a wind from the east bore it against a tuft of very tall trees in +a neighbouring garden, where it got entangled, without, however, losing +its equilibrium. The gas was renewed by Roziers, and the balloon +again rising, extricated itself from among the branches, and soared +majestically into the air, followed by the acclamations of the public. +This second ascent was very instructive, for it had been often asserted +that if ever a balloon fell upon a forest it would be destroyed, and +would place those who travelled in it in the greatest peril. This +experiment proved that the balloon does not FALL it DESCENDS; that it +does not overturn; that it does not destroy itself on trees; that it +neither causes death, nor even damage, to its passengers; that, on the +contrary, the latter, by making new gas, give it the power of detaching +itself from the trees; and that it can resume its course after such an +event. The intrepid Roziers gave in this ascent a further proof of the +facility he had in descending and ascending at will. When the machine +had risen to the height of 200 feet it began to descend lightly, and +just before it came to the earth the aeronaut very cleverly and quickly +threw on more fuel and produced more smoke, at which the balloon, to +the astonishment of every one, suddenly soared away again to its +former elevation. Third Ascent: The balloon rose again with Roziers, +accompanied this time by another aeronaut, Gerond de Villette; and as +the cords had been lengthened, the adventurers were carried up to the +height of 324 feet. At this elevation the balloon rested in perfect +equilibrium for nine minutes. It was the first time that human beings +had ever been carried to an equal elevation, and the spectators were +astonished to find that they could remain there without danger and +without alarm. The balloon had a superb effect at this elevation; it +looked down upon the whole town, and was seen from all the suburbs. Its +size seemed hardly diminished in the least, though the men themselves +were barely visible. By the aid of glasses, Roziers could be seen calmly +and industriously making new gas. When the balloon descended the two men +declared that they had not experienced the slightest inconvenience from +the elevation. They received the universal applause which their zeal and +courage so well deserved. The Marquis d'Arlandes, a major of infantry, +afterwards went up with Roziers, and this latter experiment was as +successful as the former." + +Some days after these experiments the conductors of the Journal de Paris +who described them, received a letter from Montgolfier, and also one +from Gerond de Villette. The latter only is of interest here. Gerond +de Villette says: "I found myself in the space of a quarter of a minute +raised 400 feet above the surface of the earth. Here we remained six +minutes. My first employment was to watch with admiration my intelligent +companion. His intelligence, his courage and agility in attending to the +fire, enchanted me. Turning round, I could behold the Boulevards, from +the gate of St. Antoine to that of St. Martin, all covered with people, +who seemed to me a flat band of flowers of various colours. Glancing at +the distance, I beheld the summit of Montmartre, which seemed to me much +below our level. I could easily distinguish Neuilly, St. Cloud, Sevres, +Issy, Ivry, Charenton, and Choisy. At once I was convinced that this +machine, though a somewhat expensive one, might be very useful in war +to enable one to discover the position of the enemy, his manoeuvres, +and his marches; and to announce these by signals to one's own army. 1 +believe that at sea it is equally possible to make use of this machine. +These prove the usefulness of the balloon, which time will perfect +for us. All that I regret is that I did not provide myself with a +telescope." + + + +Chapter IX. The First Aerial Voyage--Roziers and Arlandes. + + These experiments had only one aim--the application of + Montgolfier's discovery to aerial navigation. The knowledge + gained in the Faubourg St. Antoine having led to the most + favourable conclusions, it was resolved that a first aerial + voyage should be attempted. + +"If," says Linguet, "there existed an autograph journal, written by +Columbus, descriptive of his first great voyage with what jealous care +it would be preserved, with what confidence it would be quoted! We +should delight to follow the candid account which he gave of his +thoughts, his hopes, his fears; of the complaints of his followers, of +his attempts to calm them, and, finally, of his joy in the moment +which, ratifying his word and justifying his boldness, declared him the +discoverer of a new world All these details have been transmitted to us, +but by stranger hands; and, however interesting they may be, one cannot +help feeling that this circumstance makes them lose part of their +value." + +The narrative of the first aerial voyage, written by one of the two +first aeronauts, exists, and we are in a position to place it before our +readers. Such an enterprise certainly demanded great courage in him who +was the first to dare to confide himself to the unknown currents of the +atmosphere It threatened him with dangers, perhaps with death by a fill, +by fire, by cold, or by straying into the mysterious cloud-land. Two men +opposed the first attempt. Montgolfier temporised, the king forbade it, +or rather only gave his permission on the condition that two condemned +criminals should be placed in the balloon! "What!" cried Roziers, in +indignation at the king's proposal, "allow two vile criminals to have +the first glory of rising into the sky! No, no; that will never do!" +Roziers conjured, supplicated, agitated in a hundred ways for permission +to try the first voyage. He moved the town and the court; he addressed +himself to those who were most in favour at Versailles; he pleaded with +the Duchess de Polignac, who was all-powerful with the king. She +warmly supported his cause before Louis. Roziers dispatched the Marquis +d'Arlandes, who had been up with him, to the king. Arlandes asserted +that there was no danger, and, as proof of his conviction, he offered +himself to accompany Roziers. Solicited on all sides, Louis at last +yielded. + +The gardens of La Muette, near Paris, were fixed upon as the spot from +which this aerial expedition should start. The Dauphin and his suite +were present on the occasion. It was on the 21st of October, 1783, at +one o'clock p.m., that Roziers and Irelands took their leave of the +earth for the first time. The following is Arlandes' narrative of the +expedition, given in the form of a letter, addressed by the marquis to +Faujas de Saint Fond:--"You wish, my dear Faujas, and I consent most +willingly to your desires, that, owing to the number of questions +continually addressed to me, and for other reasons, I should gratify +public curiosity and fix public opinion upon the subject of our aerial +voyage. + +"I wish to describe as well as I can the first journey which men have +attempted through an element which, prior to the discovery of MM. +Montgolfier, seemed so little fitted to support them. + +"We went up on the 21st of October, 1783, at near two o'clock, M. +Roziers on the west side of the balloon, I on the east. The wind was +nearly north-west. The machine, say the public, rose with majesty; but +really the position of the balloon altered so that M. Roziers was in the +advance of our position, I in the rear. + +"I was surprised at the silence and the absence of movement which +our departure caused among the spectators, and believed them to be +astonished and perhaps awed at the strange spectacle; they might well +have reassured themselves I was still gazing, when M. Roziers cried to +me-- + +"'You are doing nothing, and the balloon is scarcely rising a fathom.' + +"'Pardon me,' I answered, as I placed a bundle of straw upon the fire +and slightly stirred it. Then I turned quickly, but already we had +passed out of sight of La Muette. Astonished, I cast a glance towards +the river. I perceived the confluence of the Oise. And naming the +principal bends of the river by the places nearest them, I cried, +'Passy, St. Germain, St. Denis, Sevres!' + +"'If you look at the river in that fashion you will be likely to bathe +in it soon,' cried Roziers. 'Some fire, my dear friend, some fire!' + +"We travelled on; but instead of crossing the river, as our direction +seemed to indicate, we bore towards the Invalides, then returned upon +the principal bed of the river, and travelled to above the barrier of La +Conference, thus dodging about the river, but not crossing it. + +"'That river is very difficult to cross,' I remarked to my companion. + +"'So it seems,' he answered; 'but you are doing nothing I suppose it is +because you are braver than I, and don't fear a tumble.' + +"I stirred the fire, I seized a truss of straw with my fork; I raised +it and threw it in the midst of the flames. An instant afterwards I felt +myself lifted as it were into the heavens. + +"'For once we move,' said I. + +"'Yes, we move,' answered my companion. + +"At the same instant I heard from the top of the balloon a sound which +made me believe that it had burst. I watched, yet I saw nothing. +My companion had gone into the interior, no doubt to make some +observations. As my eyes were fixed on the top of the machine I +experienced a shock, and it was the only one I had yet felt. The +direction of the movement was from above downwards I then said-- + +"'What are you doing? Are you having a dance to yourself?' + +"'I'm not moving.' + +"'So much the better. It is only a new current which I hope will carry +us from the river,' I answered. + +"I turned to see where we were, and found we were between the Ecole +Militaire and the Invalides. + +"'We are getting on.' said Roziers. + +"'Yes, we are travelling.' + +"'Let us work, let us work,' said he. + +"I now heard another report in the machine, which I believed was +produced by the cracking of a cord. This new intimation made me +carefully examine the inside of our habitation. I saw that the part that +was turned towards the south was full of holes, of which some were of a +considerable size. + +"'It must descend,' I then cried. + +"'Why?' + +"'Look!' I said. At the same time I took my sponge and quietly +extinguished the little fire that was burning some of the holes within +my reach; but at the same moment I perceived that the bottom of the +cloth was coming away from the circle which surrounded it. + +"'We must descend,' I repeated to my companion. + +"He looked below. + +"'We are upon Paris,' he said. + +"'It does not matter,' I answered 'Only look! Is there no danger? Are +you holding on well?' + +"'Yes.' + +"I examined from my side, and saw that we had nothing to fear. I then +tried with my sponge the ropes which were within my reach. All of them +held firm. Only two of the cords had broken. + +"I then said, 'We can cross Paris.' + +"During this operation we were rapidly getting down to the roofs. We +made more fire, and rose again with the greatest ease. I looked down, +and it seemed to me we were going towards the towers of St. Sulpice; +but, on rising, a new current made us quit this direction and bear more +to the south. I looked to the left, and beheld a wood, which I believed +to be that of Luxembourg. We were traversing the boulevard, and I cried +all at once-- + +"'Get to ground!' + +"But the intrepid Roziers, who never lost his head, and who judged more +surely than I, prevented me from attempting to descend. I then threw a +bundle of straw on the fire. We rose again, and another current bore us +to were now close to the ground, between two mills. As soon to the +left. We as we came near the earth I raised myself over the gallery, +and leaning there with my two hands, I felt the balloon pressing softly +against my head. I pushed it back, and leaped down to the ground. +Looking round and expecting to see the balloon still distended, I was +astonished to find it quite empty and flattened. On looking for Roziers +I saw him in his shirt-sleeves creeping out from under the mass of +canvas that had fallen over him. Before attempting to descend he had +put off his coat and placed it in the basket. After a deal of trouble we +were at last all right. + +"As Roziers was without a coat I besought him to go to the nearest +house. On his way thither he encountered the Duke of Chartres, who +had followed us, as we saw, very closely, for I had had the honour of +conversing with him the moment before we set out." + +The following report of this first aerial voyage was drawn up by +scientific observers, among other signatures to it being that of +Benjamin Franklin. + +"Today 21st of October, 1783, at the Chateau de la Muette, an experiment +was made with the aerostatic machine of M. Montgolfier. The sky was +clouded in many parts, clear in others--the wind north-west. At mid-day +a signal was given, which announced that the balloon was being filled. +Soon after, in spite of the wind, it was inflated in all its parts, and +the ascent was made. The Marquis d'Arlandes and M. Pilatre des Roziers +were in the gallery. The first intention was to raise the machine and +pull it back with ropes, to test it, to find out the exact weight which +it could carry, and to see if everything was properly arranged before +the actual ascent was attempted. But the machine, driven by the wind, +far from rising vertically, was directed upon one of the walks of +a garden, and the cords which held it shook with so much force that +several rents were made in the balloon. The machine, being brought back +to its place, was repaired in less than two hours. Being again inflated, +it rose once more, bearing the same persons, and when it had risen +to the height of 250 feet, the intrepid voyagers, bowing their heads, +saluted the spectators. One could not resist a feeling of mingled fear +and admiration. Soon the aeronauts were lost to view, but the balloon +itself, displaying its very beautiful shape, mounted to the height of +3,000 feet, and still remained visible. The voyagers, satisfied with +their experience, and not wishing to make a longer course, agreed to +descend, but, perceiving that the wind was driving them upon the houses +of the Rue de Sevres, preserved their self-possession, renewed the hot +air, rose anew and continued their course till they had passed Paris. + +"They then descended tranquilly in the country, beyond the new +boulevard, without having experienced the slightest inconvenience, +having still the greater part of their fuel untouched. They could, had +they desired, have cleared a distance three times as great as that which +they traversed. Their flight was nearly 30,000 feet, and the time it +occupied was from twenty to twenty-five minutes. This machine was 70 +feet high, 46 feet in diameter, and had a capacity of 60,000 cubic +feet." + +It is reported that Franklin, more illustrious in his humility than the +most brilliant among the lords of the court, when consulted respecting +the possible use of balloons, answered simply, "C'est l'enfant qui vient +de naitre?" + + + +Chapter X. The Second Arial Voyage. + +(1st December 1783.--Charles and Robert at the Tuileries.) + +The first ascent of Roziers and Arlandes was a feat of hardihood almost +unique. The men's courage was, so to speak, their only guarantee. Thanks +to the balloon, however, they accomplished one of the most extraordinary +enterprises ever achieved by our race. + +On the day after the experiment of the Champ de Mars (27th of August), +Professor Charles--who had already acquired celebrity at the Louvre, by +his scientific collection and by his rank as an official instructor--and +the Brothers Robert, mechanicians, were engaged in the construction of +a balloon, to be inflated with hydrogen gas, and destined to carry a car +and one or two passengers. For this ascent Charles may be said to have +created all at once the art of aerostation as now practiced, for he +brought it at one bound to such perfection that since his day scarcely +any advance has been made upon his arrangements. His simple yet complete +invention was that of the valve which gives escape to the hydrogen gas, +and thus renders the descent of the balloon gentle and gradual; the car +that carries the travellers; the ballast of sand, by which the ascent is +regulated and the fall is moderated; the coating of caoutchouc, by means +of which the material of the balloon is rendered airtight and prevents +loss of gas; and, finally, the use of the barometer, which marks at +every instant, by the elevation or the depression of the mercury, the +position in which the aeronaut finds himself in the atmosphere. Charles +created all the contrivances, or, in other words, all the ingenious +precautions which make up the art of aerostation. + +On the 26th of November, the balloon, fitted with its network, and +having the car attached to it, was sent away from the hall of the +Tuileries, where it had been exhibited. The ascent was fixed for the 1st +of December, 1783, a memorable day for the Parisians. + +At noon upon that day, the subscribers, who had paid four louis for +their seats, took their places within the enclosure outside the circle, +in which stood the casks employed for making the gas. The humbler +subscribers, at three francs a-head, occupied the rest of the garden. +The number of spectators, as we read underneath the numerous coloured +prints which represent this spectacle, was 600,000; but though, without +doubt, the gardens of the Tuileries are very large, it is probable this +figure is a considerable overstatement, for this number would have been +three-fourths of the whole population of Paris. + +The roofs and windows of the houses were crowded, whilst the Pont Royal +and the square of Louis XV. were covered by an immense multitude. About +mid-day a rumour was spread to the effect that the king forbade the +ascent. Charles ran to the Chief Minister of State, and plainly told him +that his life was the king's, but his honour was his own: his word was +pledged to the country and he would ascend. Taking this high ground, +the bold professor gained an unwilling permission to carry out his +undertaking. + +A little afterwards the sound of cannon was heard. This was the signal +which announced the last arrangements and thus dissipated all doubt as +to the rising of the balloon, There had during the day been considerable +disturbance among the crowd, between the partisans of Charles and +Montgolfier; each party extolled its hero, and did everything possible +to detract from the merits of the rival inventor. But whatever +ill-feeling might have existed was swept away by Professor Charles with +a compliment. When he was ready to ascend, he walked up to Montgolfier, +and, with the true instinct of French politeness, presented him with a +little balloon, saying at the same time-- + +"It is for you, monsieur, to show us the way to the skies." + +The exquisite taste and delicacy of this incident touched the bystanders +as with an electric shock, and the place at once rang out with the most +genuine and hearty applause The little balloon thrown up by Montgolfier +sped away to the north-east, its beautiful emerald colour showing to +fine effect in the sun. + +From this point let us follow the narrative of Professor Charles +himself. + +"The balloon," he says, "which escaped from the hands of M. Montgolfier, +rose into the air, and seemed to carry with it the testimony of +friendship and regard between that gentleman and myself, while +acclamations followed it. Meanwhile, we hastily prepared for departure. +The stormy weather did not permit us to have at our command all the +arrangements which we had contemplated the previous evening; to do so +would have detained us too long upon the earth. After the balloon and +the car were in equilibrium, we threw over 19 lbs. of ballast, and we +rose in the midst of silence, arising from the emotion and surprise felt +on all sides. + +"Nothing will ever equal that moment of joyous excitement which filled +my whole being when I felt myself flying away from the earth. It was not +mere pleasure; it was perfect bliss. Escaped from the frightful torments +of persecution and of calumny, I felt that I was answering all in rising +above all. + +"To this sentiment succeeded one more lively still--the admiration of +the majestic spectacle that spread itself out before us. On whatever +side we looked, all was glorious; a cloudless sky above, a most +delicious view around. 'Oh, my friend,' said I to M. Robert, 'how great +is our good fortune! I care not what may be the condition of the earth; +it is the sky that is for me now. What serenity! what a ravishing scene! +Would that I could bring here the last of our detractors, and say to the +wretch, Behold what you would have lost had you arrested the progress of +science.' + +"Whilst we were rising with a progressively increasing speed, we +waved our bannerets in token of our cheerfulness, and in order to give +confidence to those below who took an interest in our fate. M. +Robert made an inventory of our stores; our friends had stocked our +commissariat as for a long voyage--champagne and other wines, garments +of fur and other articles of clothing. + +"'Good,' I said; 'throw that out of the window.' He took a blanket and +launched it into the air, through which it floated down slowly, and fell +upon the dome of l'Assomption. + +"When the barometer had fallen 26 inches, we ceased to ascend. We were +up at an elevation of 1,800 feet. This was the height to which I had +promised myself to ascend; and, in fact, from this moment to the time +when we disappeared from the eyes of our friends, we always kept a +horizontal course, the barometer registering 26 inches to 26 inches 8 +lines. + +"We required to throw over ballast in proportion as the almost +insensible escape of the hydrogen gas caused us to descend, in order to +remain as nearly as possible at the same elevation. If circumstances had +permitted us to measure the amount of ballast we threw over, our course +would have been almost absolutely horizontal. + +"After remaining for a few moments stationary, our car I changed its +course, and we were carried on at the will of the wind. Soon we passed +the Seine, between St. Ouen and Asnieres. We traversed the river a +second time, leaving Argenteuil upon the left. We passed Sannois, +Franconville, Eau-Bonne, St. Leu-Taverny, Villiers, and finally, Nesles. +This was about twenty-seven miles from Paris, and we had I reached this +distance in two hours, although there was so little wind that the air +scarcely stirred. + +"During the whole course of this delightful voyage, not the slightest +apprehension for our fate or that of our machine entered my head for a +moment. The globe did not suffer any alteration beyond the successive +changes of dilatation and compression, which enabled us to mount and +descend at will. The thermometer was, during more than an hour, between +ten and twelve degrees above zero; this being to some extent accounted +for by the fact that the interior of the car was warmed by the rays of +the sun. + +"At the end of fifty-six minutes, we heard the report of the cannon +which informed us that we had, at that moment, disappeared from view at +Paris. We rejoiced that we had escaped, as we were no longer obliged +to observe a horizontal course, and to regulate the balloon for that +purpose. + +"We gave ourselves up to the contemplation of the views which the +immense stretch of country beneath us presented. From that time, though +we had no opportunity of conversing with the inhabitants, we saw +them running after us from all parts; we heard their cries, their +exclamations of solicitude, and knew their alarm and admiration. + +"We cried, 'Vive le Roi!' and the people responded. We heard, very +distinctly--'My good friends, have you no fear? Are you not sick? How +beautiful it is! Heaven preserve you! Adieu, my friends.' + +"I was touched to tears by this tender and true interest which our +appearance had called forth. + +"We continued to wave our flags without cessation, and we perceived +that these signals greatly increased the cheerfulness and calmed the +solicitude of the people below. Often we descended sufficiently low to +hear what they shouted to us. They asked us where we came from, and at +what hour we had started. + +"We threw over successively frock-coats, muffs, and habits. Sailing on +above the Ile d'Adam, after having admired the splendid view, we made +signals with our flags, and demanded news of the Prince of Conti. One +cried up to us, in a very powerful voice, that he was at Paris, and +that he was ill. We regretted missing such an opportunity of paying our +respects, for we could have descended into the prince's gardens, if we +had wished, but we preferred to pursue our course, and we re-ascended. +Finally, we arrived at the plain of Nesles. + +"We saw from the distance groups of peasants, who ran on before us +across the fields. 'Let us go,' I said, and we descended towards a vast +meadow. + +"Some shrubs and trees stood round its border. Our car advanced +majestically in a long inclined plane. On arriving near the trees, I +feared that their branches might damage the car, so I threw over two +pounds of ballast, and we rose again. We ran along more than 120 feet, +at a distance of one or two feet from the ground, and had the appearance +of travelling in a sledge. The peasants ran after us without being able +to catch us, like children pursuing a butterfly in the fields. + +"Finally, we stopped, and were instantly surrounded. Nothing could equal +the simple and tender regard of the country people, their admiration, +and their lively emotion. + +"I called at once for the cures and the magistrates. They came round +me on all sides: there was quite a fete on the spot. I prepared a short +report, which the cures and the syndics signed. Then arrived a company +of horsemen at a gallop. These were the Duke of Chartres, the Duke of +Fitzjames, and M. Farrer. By a very singular chance, we had come down +close by the hunting-lodge of the latter. He leaped from his horse and +threw himself into my arms, crying, 'Monsieur Charles, I was first!' + +"Charles adds that they were covered with the caresses of the prince, +who embraced both of them. He briefly narrated to the Duke of Chartres +some incidents of the voyage. + +"'But this is not all, monseigneur. I am going away again,' added +Charles. + +"'What! Going away!' exclaimed the duke. + +"'Monseigneur, you will see. When do you wish me to come back again?' I +said. + +"'In half an hour.' + +"'Very well: be it so. In half an hour I shall be with you again.' + +"M. Robert descended from the car, and I was alone in the balloon. + +"I said to the duke, 'Monseigneur, I go.' I said to the peasants who +held down the balloon, 'My friends, go away, all of you, from the car +at the moment I give the signal.' I then rose like a bird, and in +ten minutes I was more than 3,000 feet above the ground. I no longer +perceived terrestrial objects; I only saw the great masses of nature. + +"In going away, Charles had taken his precautions against the possible +explosion of the balloon, and made himself ready to make certain +observations. In order to observe the barometer and the thermometer, +placed at different extremities of the car, without endangering the +equilibrium, he sat down in the middle, a watch and paper in his left +hand, a pen and the cord of the safety-valve in his right. + +"I waited for what should happen," continues he. "The balloon, which +was quite flabby and soft when I ascended, was now taut, and fully +distended. Soon the hydrogen gas began to escape in considerable +quantities by the neck of the balloon, and then, from time to time, I +pulled open the valve to give it two issues at once; and I continued +thus to mount upwards, all the time losing the inflammable air, which, +rushing past me from the neck of the balloon, felt like a warm cloud. + +"I passed in ten minutes from the temperature of spring to that of +winter; the cold was keen and dry, but not insupportable. I examined all +my sensations calmly; _I_ COULD HEAR MYSELF LIVE, so to speak, and I am +certain that at first I experienced nothing disagreeable in this sudden +passage from one temperature to another. + +"When the barometer ceased to move I noted very exactly eighteen inches +ten lines. This observation is perfectly accurate The mercury did not +suffer any sensible movement. + +"At the end of some minutes the cold caught my fingers; I could hardly +hold the pen, but I no longer had need to do so. I was stationary, or +rather moved only in a horizontal direction. + +"I raised myself in the middle of the car, and abandoned myself to the +spectacle before me. At my departure from the meadow the sun had sunk to +the people of the valleys; soon he shone for me alone, and came again to +pour his rays upon the balloon and the car. I was the only creature in +the horizon in sunshine--all the rest of nature was in shade. Ere long, +however, the sun disappeared, and thus I had the pleasure of seeing him +set twice in the same day. I contemplated for some moments the mists and +vapours that rose from the valley and the rivers The clouds seemed to +come forth from the earth, and to accumulate the one upon the other. +Their colour was a monotonous grey--a natural effect, for there was no +light save that of the moon. + +"I observed that I had tacked round twice, and I felt currents which +called me to my senses. I found with surprise the effect of the wind, +and saw the cloth of my flag: extended horizontally. + +"In the midst of the inexpressible pleasure of this state of ecstatic +contemplation, I was recalled to myself by a most extraordinary pain +which I felt in the interior of the ears and in the maxillary glands. +This I attributed to the dilation of the air contained in the cellular +tissue of the organ as much as to the cold outside. I was in my vest, +with my head uncovered. I immediately covered my head with a bonnet of +wool which was at my feet, but the pain only disappeared with my descent +to the ground. + +"It was now seven or eight minutes since I had arrived at this +elevation, and I now commenced to descend. I remembered the promise I +had made to the Duke of Chartres, to return in half an hour. I quickened +my descent by opening the valve from time to time. Soon the balloon, +empty now to one half, presented the appearance of a hemisphere. + +"Arrived at twenty-three fathoms from the earth, I suddenly threw over +two or three pounds of ballast, which arrested my descent, and which I +had carefully kept for this purpose. I then slowly descended upon the +ground, which I had, so to speak, chosen." + +Such is the narrative of the second aerial voyage. After such a +memorable ascent one is astonished to learn that Professor Charles never +repeated his experiment. It has been said that, in descending from +his car, he had vowed that he would never again expose himself to such +perils, so strong had been the alarm he felt when the peasants ceasing +to hold him down he shot up into the sky with the rapidity of an arrow. +But after him a thousand others have followed the daring example he set. +With this ascent the memorable year 1783 closed, and the seed which had +been sown soon began to be productive. + + + + +PART II. + + + +Chapter I. The History of Aerostation from the Year 1783. + + + The Open Route--Travels and Travellers--Great Increase in + the Number of Air Voyages--Lyons, Ascent of "Le Flesselles-- + Milan, Ascent of Adriani--Flight of a Balloon from London-- + Lost Balloons in the Chief Towns of Europe + +From the year 1783, in which aerostation had its birth, and in which +it was carried to a degree of perfection, beside which the progress +of aeronauts in our days seems small, a new route was opened up for +travellers. The science of Montgolfier, the practical art of Professor +Charles, and the courage of Roziers, subdued the scepticism of those who +had not yet given in their adhesion to the possible value of the great +discovery, and throughout the whole of France a feverish degree of +enthusiasm in the art manifested itself Aerial excursions now became +quite fashionable. Let it be understood that we do not here refer to +ascents in fixed balloons, that is, in balloons which were attached to +the earth by means of ropes more or less long. + +M. Biot narrates that, in his young days, when aeronautic ascents were +less known than they are in these times, there was in the plain of +Grenelle, at the mill of Javelle, an establishment where balloons were +constantly maintained for the accommodation of amateurs of both sexes +who wished to make ascents in what were called "ballons captifs," or +balloons anchored, so to speak, to the earth by means of long ropes They +were for a considerable time the rage of fashionable society, and it is +not recorded that any accidents resulted from the practice. Of course +it may be easily understood with these safe balloons the adventurous +aeronauts never ascended to any great height. The reader will find this +subject treated under the chapter of military aerostation. + +We are at present specially engaged with the narrative of the first +attempts in aerostation--the first experiments in the new discovery. +We have followed with interest the exciting details of the first +adventurous ascents, in which the genius of man first essayed the +unexplored paths of the heavens. Yet a continued record of aerial +voyages would not be of the same interest. The results of subsequent +expeditions, and the impressions of subsequent aeronauts are the same +as those already described, or differ from them only in minor points. No +important advance is recorded in the art. We shall therefore endeavour +not to confine ourselves to the narrative of a dry and monotonous +chronology, but to select from the number of ascents that have taken +place within the last eighty years, only those whose special character +renders them worthy of more detailed and severe investigation. + +In order to give an idea of the rapid multiplication of aeronautic +experiments, it will suffice to state that the only aeronauts of +1783 are Roziers, the Marquis d'Arlandes, Professor Charles, his +collaborateur the younger Robert, and a carpenter, named Wilcox, who +made ascents at Philadelphia and London. + +A number of balloons were remarkable for the beauty and elegance which +we have already spoken of. Among the most beautiful we may mention the +"Flesselles" balloon and Bagnolet's balloon. + +Of the ascents which immediately succeeded those that have been treated +in the first part of our volume, and which are the most memorable in +the early annals of aerostation, that of the 17th of January, 1784, is +remarkable. It took place at Lyons. Seven persons went into the car on +this occasion--Joseph Montgolfier, Roziers, the Comte de Laurencin, the +Comte de Dampierre, the Prince Charles de Ligne, the Comte de Laporte +d'Anglifort, and Fontaine, who threw himself into the car when it had +already begun to move. + +A most minute account of this experiment is given in a letter of Mathon +de la Cour, director of the Academy of Sciences at Lyons:--"After the +experiments of the Champ de Mars and Versailles had become known," +he says, "the citizens of this town proposed to repeat them and a +subscription was opened for this purpose. On the arrival of the elder +Montgolfier, about the end of September, M. de Flesselles, our director, +always zealous in promoting whatever might be for the welfare of the +province and the advancement of science and art, persuaded him to +organise the subscription. The aim of the experiment proposed by +Montgolfier was not the ascent of any human being in the balloon. The +prospectus only announced that a balloon of a much larger size than any +that had been made would ascend--that it would rise to several thousand +feet, and that, including the animals that it was proposed it should +carry, it would weigh 8,000 lbs. The subscription was fixed at L12, and +the number of subscribers was 360." + +It was on these conditions that Montgolfier commenced his balloon of 126 +feet high and 100 feet in diameter, made of a double envelope of cotton +cloth, with a lining of paper between. A strength and consistency was +given to the structure by means of ribbons and cords. + +The work was nearly finished when Roziers went up in his fire-balloon +from La Muette. Immediately the Comte de Laurencin pressed Montgolfier +to allow him to go up in the new machine. Montgolfier was only too glad +of the opportunity--refused up to this time by the king--of going up +himself. From thirty to forty people made application to go with the +aeronauts; and on the 26th of December, 1678, Roziers, the Comte de +Dampierre, and the Comte de Laporte, arrived in Lyons with the same +intention. Prince Charles also arrived; and as his father had taken one +hundred subscriptions, his claim to go up could not be refused. + +But while the public papers were full of ascents at Avignon, Marseilles, +and Paris, it is impossible to describe the vexation of Roziers, when +he discovered that Montgolfier's new balloon was not intended to carry +passengers, and had not been, from the first, constructed with that +view. He suggested a number of alterations, which Montgolfier adopted at +once. + +On the 7th of January, 1784, all the pieces of which the balloon was +composed were carried out to the field called Les Brotteaux, outside the +town, from which the ascent was to be made. This event was announced to +take place on the 10th and at five o'clock on the morning of that day; +but unexpected delays occurred, and in the necessary operations the +covering was torn in many places. + +On the 15th the balloon was inflated in seventeen minutes, and the +gallery was attached in an hour--the fire from which the heated air was +obtained requiring to be fed at the rate of 5 lbs. of alder-wood per +minute; but the preparations had occupied so much time, that it was +found, when everything was complete, that the afternoon was too far +advanced for the ascent to be made. This machine was destined to suffer +from endless misfortunes. It took fire while being inflated, and, +several days afterwards, it was damaged by snow and rain. Put nothing +discouraged Roziers and his companions. Places had been arranged in the +gallery for six persons. After the balloon was at last inflated, +Prince Charles and the Comes de Laurencin, Dampierre, and Laporte threw +themselves into the gallery. They were all armed, and were determined +not to quit their places to whoever might come. Roziers, who wished at +the last to enjoy a high ascent, proposed to reduce the number to three, +and to draw lots for the purpose. But the gentlemen would not descend. +The debate became animated. The four voyagers cried to cut the ropes. +The director of the Academy, to whom application was made in this +emergency, admiring the resolution and the courage of the four +gentlemen, wished to satisfy them in their desire. Accordingly the ropes +were cut; but at that moment M. Montgolfier and Roziers threw themselves +into the gallery. At the same time a certain M. Fontaine, who had +had much to do in the construction of the machine, threw himself in, +although it had not previously been arranged that he should be of the +party. His boldness in jumping in was pardoned, on the ground of his +services and his zeal. + +In going away the machine turned to the south-west, and bent a little. +A rope which dragged along the ground seemed to retard its ascent; but +some intelligent person having cut this with a hatchet, it began to +right itself and ascend. At a certain height it turned to the north +east. The wind was feeble, and the progress was slow, but the imposing +effect was indescribable. The immense machine rose into the air as by +some effect of magic. Nearly 100,000 spectators were present, and they +were greatly excited at the view. They clapped their hands and stretched +their arms towards the sky; women fainted away, or (for some reasons +best known to themselves) found relief for their excitement in tears; +while the men, uttering cries of joy, waved their handkerchiefs, and +threw their hats into the air. + +The form of the machine was that of a globe, rising from a reversed and +truncated cone, to which the gallery was attached. The upper part was +white, the lower part grey; and the cone was composed of strips of stuff +of different colours. On the sides of the balloon were two paintings, +one of which represented History, the other Fame. The flag bore the arms +of the director of the Academy, and above it were inscribed the words +"Le Flesselles." + +The voyagers observed that they did not consume a fourth of the quantity +of combustibles after they had risen into the air, which they consumed +when attached to the earth. They were in the gayest humour, and they +calculated that the fuel they had would keep them floating till late +in the evening. Unfortunately, however, after throwing more wood on the +fire, in order to get up to a greater altitude, it was discovered that +a rent had been made in the covering, caused by the fire by which the +balloon had been damaged two or three days previously. The rent was four +feet in length; and as the heated air escaped very rapidly by it, the +balloon fell, after having sailed above the earth for barely fifteen +minutes. + +The descent only occupied two or three minutes, and yet the shock was +supportable. It was observed that as soon as the machine had touched the +earth all the cloth became unfolded in a few seconds, which seemed to +confirm the opinion of Montgolfier, who believed that electricity had +much to do in the ascent of balloons. The voyagers were got out of the +balloon without accident, and were greeted with the most enthusiastic +applause. + +On the day of the ascent, the opera of "Iphigenia in Aulis" was given, +and the theatre was thronged by a vast assemblage, attracted thither +in the hope of seeing the illustrious experimentalists. The curtain had +risen when M. and Madame de Flesselles entered their box, accompanied +by Montgolfier and Roziers. At sight of them the enthusiasm of the house +rose to fever pitch. The other voyagers also entered, and were greeted +with the same demonstrations. Cries arose from the pit to begin the +opera again, in honour of the visitors. The curtain then fell, and when +it again rose, after a few moments, the actor who filled the role of +Agamemnon advanced with crowns, which he handed to Madame de Flesselles, +who distributed them to the aeronauts. Roziers placed the crown that had +been given to him upon Montgolfier's head. + +When the actress who played the part of Clytemnestra, sung the passage +beginning-- + +"I love to see these flattering honours paid." + +The audience at once applied her song to the circumstances, and +re-demanded it, which request the actress complied with, addressing +herself to the box in which the distinguished visitors sat. The +demonstrations of admiration were continued after the opera was over; +and during the whole of the night the gentlemen of the balloon ascent +were serenaded. + +Two days afterwards, Roziers having appeared at a ball, received further +proofs of admiration and honours; and when, on the 22nd of January, he +departed for Dijon on his return to Paris, he was accompanied as in a +triumph by a numerous cavalcade of the most distinguished young men of +the city. + +There was, however, at Paris, much discontent with the ascent of +"Le Flesselles;" and the Journal de Paris de Paris, which notices so +enthusiastically the other ascents of that epoch, speaks slightingly of +that at Lyons. + +The next great ascent took place at Milan, on the 25th of February, +1784, under the direction of the Chevalier Paul Andriani, who had a +balloon constructed by the Brothers Gerli, at his own expense. We read +that this balloon was 66 feet in diameter, and that the envelope was +composed of cloth, lined in the interior with fine paper. + +The balloon was not in all respects constructed like that which rose at +Lyons. The grating which supported the fire that kept up the supply of +hot air was placed at the mouth of the opening. It was made of copper, +was six feet in diameter, and was secured by a number of transverse +beams of wood. M. Andriani thought it best to place his fire--contrary +to general usage--a little way above the mouth of the opening, and he +found out that the activity of the fire was in proportion with that of +the air which entered and fed it. + +In place of making use of a gallery like that employed by Montgolfier, +as much to manage the fire as to carry the traveller and the fuel, he +substituted a wide basket, suspended by cords to the edge of the opening +of the balloon, at such a distance that fuel could be thrown on with the +hand without being inconvenienced by the heat. + +Everything being in readiness, the machine was carried to Moncuco, the +splendid domain of Andriani, where the first experiments were made; for +this gentlemen knew that as the populace are impatient, they are also +often un-reasonable, and jump to the hastiest and most inconsiderate +conclusion when, in witnessing scientific experiments, any of the +arrangements happen to be imperfect, and the results in any respect +prove unsuccessful. + +Andriani did not deceive himself, for, sure enough, his first attempt +did not come up to expectation. The reasons for this failure were the +too great quantity of air which the fire drew in, and the unsuitable +character of the fuel used. + +On the 25th of February, 1784, a second attempt was made. The fire was +lighted under the machine, at first with dry birch-wood and afterwards +with a bituminous composition, ingeniously concocted by one of the +Brothers Gerli. In less than four minutes the balloon was completely +inflated, and the men employed to hold it down with ropes perceived that +it was on the point of rising. The aeronauts then gave the order to +let go. Scarcely was the balloon let off, when it gently rose a short +distance, and then flew in a horizontal direction towards a palace in +the neighbourhood. In order that the structure should not be destroyed +on the walls and the roof of the palace, the voyagers heaped on the +fuel, and the spectators, who had gathered together from the surrounding +villages, then saw this strange vessel of the air rising with rapidity +to a surprising height. Such a phenomenon was so astonishing, that those +who beheld it could hardly believe their own eyes; and when the balloon +disappeared from view, the delight they had manifested was dashed with +fear for the fate of the bold aeronauts. The latter, seeing that the +balloon was driving through the air towards a range of rocky hills in +the neighbourhood, and perceiving, on the other hand, that their stock +of combustibles was nearly exhausted, judged it prudent to descend. They +diminished their fire, and came gradually down, warning the multitude +below of their intention by means of a speaking-trumpet. + +In the course of the descent the balloon alighted upon a large tree, to +the great peril of the travellers; but as soon as the fire was increased +it again mounted and got clear from the branches while the people below, +grasping the cords that were hung out to them, guided the machine to the +spot which the voyagers indicated. To descend to terra firma was then +a comparatively easy matter, and it was safely accomplished. The fire, +which in the case of the French balloons had dried, calcined, and almost +consumed the upper part of the balloon, had no evil effect upon that of +Andriani, which came down looking as fresh as if it had never been used. + +The new idea had now passed the frontiers of France, in which it was +originally conceived, and among the other nations, as at first in +France, the power of the inflated balloon came to be tested everywhere +by the construction of small toy globes. + +It was just about five months after the first experiment at +Annonay--viz., on the 25th of November, 1783--that the first balloon +ascended in London. We are informed, in the History of Aerostation by +Tiberius Cavallo, that an Italian, Count Zambeccari, who was staying in +the English capital, made a balloon of silk, covered with a varnish of +oil. Its diameter was ten feet, and its weight eleven pounds. It was +gilded for the double purpose of enhancing its appearance and preventing +the escape of air. After having been exposed to public inspection for +several days, it was filled three parts full of hydrogen gas, a tin +bottle was suspended from it, containing an address to whoever might +find it when it should fall, and it was let off from the Artillery +Ground, in presence of a vast assembly. + +On the 11th of December, 1783, a little balloon, made of gold-beaters' +skin, was let off publicly at Turin. This was an experiment similar to +that which had been tried at Paris in September. The balloon was seen +to penetrate the clouds, then to mount still higher, and finally to +disappear entirely in five minutes fifty-four seconds from the time when +it was set free. + +It was natural, after the experiments made long before with electric +paper kites, to employ the balloon in the investigation of the electric +conditions of the atmosphere. The first to use it for this purpose was +the Abbe Berthelon de Montpellier. He sent up a number of balloons, to +which he had attached pieces of metal, long and narrow, and terminating +in a cylinder of glass, or other substance suitable for the purpose +of isolation, and he obtained sufficient electricity by these means +to demonstrate the phenomena of attraction and repulsion, as well as +electric sparks. + +Cavallo mentions an accident which took place in England about this +time, and which served as a warning to all who had to do with balloons +filled with hydrogen gas. A balloon thus inflated had been sent up +at Hopton, near Matlock, and was found by two men near Cheadle, in +Staffordshire. These ingenious persons carried it within doors, and +having wished to fully inflate it--half the gas having by this time +escaped--they applied a pair of bellows to its mouth. By this means they +only forced out the volume of the hydrogen gas that was left; and this +gas, coming in contact with a candle that had been placed too near, +exploded. The report was louder than that of a cannon, and so powerful +was the shock that the men were thrown down, the glass blown out of the +windows, and the house otherwise damaged. The men suffered severely, +their hair, beards, and eyebrows being completely burnt away, and their +faces severely scorched. + +At Grenoble, in Dauphine, De Baron let off a balloon on the 13th of +January, 1784. It rose, and at first took a northern direction; +but, having encountered a current of air, it was carried away in a +south-easterly direction, and after flying a distance of three-quarters +of a mile, it fell, having traversed this distance in fifteen minutes. + +A society, under the presidency of the Abbe de Mably, having constructed +a balloon thirty-seven feet high and twenty feet in diameter, sent it +off from the court of the Castle of Pisancon, near Romano, on the same +day, the 13th of February. At first it was carried to the south by +a strong north wind, but after it had risen to 1,000 feet above the +surface, its course was changed towards the north. It was calculated +that, in less than five minutes, this balloon rose to the height of +6,000 feet. + +On the 16th of the same month the Count d'Albon threw off from his +gardens at Franconville a balloon inflated with gas, and made of silk, +rendered air-tight by a solution of gum-arabic. It was oblong, and +measured twenty-five feet in height, and seventeen feet in diameter. +To this balloon a cage, containing two guinea-pigs and a rabbit, +was suspended. The cords were cut, and the inflated globe rose to an +enormous height with the greatest rapidity. Five days afterwards it was +found at the distance of eighteen miles, and it is remarkable that, in +spite of the cold of the season, and particularly of the elevated region +through which the balloon had been passing, the animals were not only +living, but in good condition. + +On the 3rd of February, 1784, the Marquis de Bullion sent up a paper +balloon, of about fifteen feet in diameter. A flat sponge, about a foot +square, placed in a tin dish and drenched with a pint of spirits of +wine, was the only apparatus made use of to create a supply of heated +air. It rose at Paris, and three hours afterwards it was found near +Basville, about thirty miles from the capital. + +On the 15th of the same month Cellard de Chastelais sent up a paper +balloon. Heated air was supplied on this occasion by a paper roll, +enclosing a sponge, and soaked in oil, spirits of wine, and grease. +A cage, which contained a cat, was attached to this air globe. In +thirty-five minutes it had mounted so high that it looked but like the +smallest star, and in two hours it had flown a distance of forty-six +miles from the place where it was thrown off. The cat was dead, but it +was not discovered from what cause. + +The first balloon that traversed the English channel was sent off at +Sandwich, in Kent, on the 22nd of February, 1784. It was five feet in +diameter, and was inflated with hydrogen gas. It rose rapidly, and was +carried toward France by a north-west wind. Two hours and a half after +it had been let off it was found in a field about nine miles from Lille. +The balloon carried a letter, instructing the finder of the balloon to +communicate with William Boys, Esq., Sandwich, and to state where and at +what time it was found. This request was complied with. + +On the 19th of February a similar balloon, five feet in diameter, was +sent up from Queen's College, Oxford. It was spherical, and was made of +Persian silk, coated with varnish. It was the first balloon sent up from +that city. + +De Saussure makes mention, in a letter dated from Geneva, the 26th +of March, 1784, of certain experiments made in that town with the +electricity of the atmosphere by means of fixed balloons--i.e., balloons +attached to the earth by ropes, which gave forth sparks and positive +electricity. + +Mention is also made of a certain M. Argand, of Geneva, who had the +honour of making balloon experiments at Windsor in the presence of King +George III., Queen Charlotte, and the royal family. About this time +(1784) balloons became "the fashion," and frequent instances occur of +their being raised by day and night, by means of spirit-lamps, to the +great delight of multitudes of spectators. + +A letter from Watt to Dr. Lind, of Windsor, dated from Birmingham, 25th +December, 1784, narrates an experiment made the summer preceding with +a balloon inflated with hydrogen. The balloon was made of fine paper +covered with a varnish of oil and filled two-thirds with hydrogen gas, +and one-third common air. To the neck of the balloon was attached a sort +of squib two feet long, the fuse of which was ignited when the balloon +was inflated. The night was calm and dark, and a great multitude was +assembled to witness the ascent, which was accomplished with a success +that gave delight to all; for, at the end of six minutes the fuse +communicated with the squib, and the explosion was like the sound of +thunder. The men who saw it from a distance, but were not present at +its ascent, took it for a meteor. "Our intention," says Watt, "was, if +possible, to discover whether the reverberating sound of thunder was +due to echoes or to successive explosions. The sound occasioned by the +detonation of the hydrogen gas of the balloon in this experiment, does +not enable us to form a definite judgment; all that we can do is to +refer to those who were near the balloon, and-who affirm that the sound +was like that of thunder." + + + +Chapter II. Experiments and Studies--Blanchard at Paris--Guyton de +Morveau at Dijon. + +The most popular name in aerostation during the Revolution and the +Consulate in France is, without doubt, that of Blanchard. We have +already referred to him in the chapter which treats of experiments made +prior to the discovery of Montgolfier, and we now have to speak of his +famous ascent from the Champ de Mars, on the 2nd of March 1784, and of +the ascents which followed. + +We have seen that he constructed a sort of flying boat, a machine +furnished with oars and rigging, with which he managed to sustain +himself some moments in the air at the height of eighty feet. This +curious machine was exhibited in 1782 in the gardens of the great +hotel of the Rue Taranne. But a little time afterwards Montgolfier's +discoveries quite altered the conditions under which the aerostatic art +was to be pursued. It had no sooner become known than it became public +property. The idea was too simple in its grandeur, and was of too easy +a kind not to call up a host of imitators. Of these Blanchard was one +of the first; but this mechanician was anxious to incorporate his own +invention with that of Montgolfier, and he arranged that on the 2nd +of March, 1784, he should make an ascent in what he still called his +"flying vessel," which he furnished with four wings. + +Blanchard and his companion, Pesch, a Benedictine priest, were prevented +from going up in the balloon, as represented in our illustration, which +was drawn before the event it was intended to commemorate. A certain +Dupont de Chambon persisted in accompanying the voyagers. Pushed back by +them, he drew his sword, leaped into the car or boat, wounded Blanchard, +cut the rigging, and broke the oars or wings. The aeronaut was +consequently compelled to have his machine partly re-fitted in great +haste, and in the course of a few hours he made the ascent alone in the +usual way. Blanchard should have known the uselessness of oars, though +he did not abandon their employment in subsequent ascents. The Brothers +Montgolfier had dreamed of the employment of oars as a means of +guidance, but had ultimately rejected the idea. Joseph wrote to his +brother Etienne, about the end of the year 1783: + +"For my sake, my good friend, reflect; calculate well before you employ +oars. Oars must either be great or small; if great, they will be heavy; +if small, it will be necessary to move them with great rapidity. I +know no sufficient means of guidance, except in the knowledge of the +different currents of air, of which it is necessary to make a study; and +these are generally regulated by the elevation." The two brothers often +recurred to this idea. + +The pictures of the first ascent of Blanchard from the Champ de Mars on +the 2nd of March, 1784, in the presence of a vast multitude, show us the +oars and the mechanism of his flying-machine fitted to a balloon. The +design which we here give seems to us deserving of being considered only +as one of the caricatures of the time, especially when we look at +the personage dressed in the fool's head-gear, who sits behind and +accompanies the triumphant ascent of the aeronaut with music. + +It was not with this apparatus that Blanchard effected his ascent, for +we have seen that the gearing of his vessel was broken by the infuriated +Dupont de Chambon. Yet the aeronaut pretends to have been, to some +extent, assisted by his mechanical contrivances. The following is his +narrative:-- + +"I rose to a certain height over Plassy, and perceiving Villette, +which I did not despair of reaching in spite of the misfortune that had +happened to me, I attached a rope of my rigging to my leg, not being +able to make use of my left hand, which I had wrapped in my handkerchief +on account of the sword-wound it had received. I fixed up a piece of +cloth, and thus made a sort of sail with which I hugged the wind. But +the rays of the sun had so heated and rarefied the inflammable air +that soon I forgot my rigging in thinking of the terrible danger that +threatened me." + +Going on to narrate the dangers that beset him, Blanchard describes a +number of most extraordinary experiences, which would be better worthy +of a place here if they were more like the truth. His curious narrative +is thus brought to a close:-- + +"Escaped from these impetuous and contrary winds, during which I had +felt a great degree of cold, I mounted perpendicularly. The cold became +excessive. Being hungry I ate a morsel of cake. I wished to drink, but +in searching the car nothing was to be seen but the debris of bottles +and glasses, which my assailant had left behind him when we were about +to depart. Afterwards all was so calm that nothing could be seen or +heard. The silence became appalling, and to add to my alarm I began to +lose consciousness. I now wished to take snuff, but found I had left my +box behind me. I changed my seat many times; I went from prow to stern, +but the drowsiness only ceased to assail me when I was struck by two +furious winds, which compressed my balloon to such an extent that its +size became sensibly diminished to the eye. I was not sorry when I began +to descend rapidly upon the river, which at first seemed to me a white +thread, afterwards a ribbon, and then a piece of cloth. As I followed +the course of the river, the fear that I should have to descend into +it, made me agitate the oars very rapidly. I believe that it is to these +movements that I owe my being able to cross the river transversely, and +get above dry land. When I saw myself upon the plain of Billancourt, I +recognised the bridge of Sevres, and the road to Versailles. I was then +about as high as the towers above the plain, and I could hear the words +and the cries of joy of the people who were following me below. At +length I came to a plain about 200 feet in extent. The people then +assisted me and brought my vessel to anchor. Immediately I was +surrounded by gentlemen and foot passengers who had run together from +all parts." + +This voyage lasted one hour and a quarter. The most important incident +of it was that the balloon was very nearly burst by the expansion of the +hydrogen gas. No balloon, as we have already seen, should be entirely +inflated at the beginning of a journey. Blanchard had a narrow escape +from being the victim of his ignorance of physics, and it is a wonder +he was not left to the mercy of fate in a burst balloon, at several +thousand feet above the earth. + +Biot, the savant, who had watched the experiment, declared that +Blanchard did not stir himself, and that the variations of his course +are alone to be attributed to the currents of air that he encountered. +As he had inscribed upon his flags, his balloons, and his entrance +tickets, from which he realised a considerable sum, the ambitious +legend, Sic itur ad astra, the following epigram was produced respecting +him:-- + + From the Field of Mars he took his flight: + In a field close by he tumbled; + But our money having taken + He smiled though sadly shaken, + As Sic itur ad astra he mumbled. + +What is most important to examine in each of the great aerial voyages +that have been made, is the special character which distinguishes them +from average experiments. All our great voyages are rendered special +and particular by the ideas of the men who undertook them, and the aims +which they severally meant to achieve by them. The early ascents of +Montgolfier had for their aim the establishment of the fact that any +body lighter than the volume of air which it displaces will rise in the +atmosphere; those of Roziers were undertaken to prove that man can apply +this principle for the purpose of making actual aerial voyages; those +of Robertson, Gay-Lussac, &c., were undertaken for the purpose of +ascertaining certain meteorological phenomena; those of Conte Coutelle +applied aerostation to military uses. A considerable number were made +with the view of organising a system of aerial navigation analogous +to that of the sea-steerage in a certain direction by means of oars or +sails--in a word, to investigate the possibility of sailing through +the air to any point fixed upon. It was with this object that the +experiments at Dijon took place, and these were the most serious +attempts down to our times that have been made to steer balloons. + +At the middle of the globe of the balloon were placed four oars, two +sails, and a helm and these were under the management of the voyagers, +who sat in the car and worked them by means of ropes. The car was also +furnished with oars. The report of Guyton de Morveau to the Academy at +Dijon informs us that these different paraphernalia were not altogether +useless. The following extracts are from this report:-- + +"The very strong wind which arose immediately before our departure, had +driven us down to tee ground many times, making us fear for the safety +of our oars, &c., when we resolved to throw over as much ballast as +would enable us to rise against the wind. The ballast, including from 70 +to 80 lbs. of provisions, was thrown over, and then we rose so rapidly +that all the objects around were instantly passed and were very soon +lost to view. The swelling form of our balloon told us that the gas +inside had expanded under the heat of the sun and the lessening density +of the surrounding air. We opened the two valves, but even this outlet +was insufficient, and we had to cut a hole about seven or eight inches +long in the lower part of the balloon, through which the gas might +escape. At five minutes past five we passed above a village which we did +not know, and here we let fall a bag filled with bran, and carrying with +it a flag and a written message to the effect that we were all well, and +that the barometer was recording 20 inches 9 lines, and the thermometer +one degree and a half below zero." + +Very keen cold attacked the ears, but this was the only inconvenience +experienced, until the voyagers were lost in a sea of clouds that shut +them out from the view of the earth. The sun at length began to descend, +and they then perceived, by a slackening in the lower part of the +balloon, that it was time for them to think of returning to the earth. +Judging from the compass that they were not far from the town of +Auxonne, they resolved to use all their endeavours to reach that place. +The sailing appliances had been considerably damaged by the rough +weather at starting. The rigging being disarranged, one of the oars had +got broken, another had become entangled in the rigging, so that there +remained only two of the four oars, and these, being on the same side, +were absolutely useless during the greatest part of the voyage. The +adventurers, however, assert that they made them work from eight to +nine minutes with the greatest ease, making use of them to tack to the +south-east. + +"We hoped then to be able to descend near where we judged Auxonne to +be," the writer continues, "but we lost much gas by the opening in +the balloon, and descended more rapidly than we expected or wished. We +looked to our small stock of ballast with anxiety, but there was no need +of it, and we came very softly down upon a slope." + +When the aeronauts arrived at Magny-les-Auxonne, the inhabitants gazed +upon them in terror, and two men and three women fell down on their +knees before them. + +Here is an extract from the report of the experiment of the 12th of +June, the principal object of which was the attempt to discover the +means of steering in a certain direction:-- + +"M. de Verley and myself mounted in the balloon," says Guyton +de Morveau, "at seven o'clock. We rose rapidly and in an almost +perpendicular direction. The fall of the mercury in the barometer +was scarcely perceptible when the dilation of the hydrogen gas in the +balloon had become considerable. The globe swelled out, and a light +vapour around the mouth announced to us that the gas was commencing +to escape by the safety-valve. We assisted its escape by pulling the +valve-string. + +"Having reduced the dilation sufficiently for our purposes, we resolved +to attempt the working of the balloon before the whole town and to turn +it from the east to the north. We saw with pleasure that our machinery +answered By the working of the helm, the prow of our air-boat was +turned in the direction we desired. The oars, working only on one side, +supported the helm, and altogether we got on as we wished. We described +a curve, crossing the road from Dijon to Langres. The mercury had +descended to 24 inches 8 lines, which announced that we were gradually +rising. We attempted for some time to follow the route to I Langres, but +the wind drove us off our course in spite of all our efforts. At nine +o'clock our barometer informed us that we had ascended to the height of +6,000 feet. M. de Verley took advantage of this elevation to put some +touch wood to a burning-glass 18 lines in diameter, and the touch wood +lighted immediately." + +The aeronauts decided to direct their course for Dijon. After re-setting +the helm with this intention, they worked their oars, and proceeded in +that direction more than 1,000 feet. But heat and fatigue obliged them +to suspend their endeavours, and the current drove them upon Mirebeau, +where, throwing out the last of their ballast and regulating their +descent, they came softly down upon a corn-field. + +The adventurers were cordially welcomed by the ecclesiastics and the +magistrates of the place, and after a time they, with their balloon, +were carried back on men's shoulders to Dijon. + + + +Chapter III. + + Experiment in Montgolfiers--Roziers and Proust--The Duke of + Chartres--The Comte d'Artois--Voyage of the Abbe Carnus to + Rodez. + +The longest course travelled by Montgolfiere balloons, and the highest +elevation reached by them, were achieved by Roziers and Proust with the +Montgolfiere la Marie Antoinette, at Versailles, on the 23rd of June, +1784. Roziers himself has left us a picturesque narrative of this +excursion from Versailles to Compiegne. He says:-- + +"The Montgolfiere rose at first very gently in a diagonal line, +presenting an imposing spectacle. Like a vessel which has just been +precipitated from the stocks, this astonishing machine hung balanced +in the air for some time, and seemed to have got beyond human control. +These irregular movements intimidated a portion of the spectators, who, +fearing that, should there be a fall, their lives would be in danger, +scattered away with great speed from under us. After having fed my fire, +I saluted the people, who answered me in the most cordial manner. I +had time to remark some faces, in which there was a mixed expression +of apprehension and joy. In continuing our upward progress, I perceived +that an upper current of air made the Montgolfiere bend, but on +increasing the heat, we rose above the current. The size of objects on +the earth now began perceptibly to diminish, which gave us an idea of +the distance at which we were from them. It was then that we became +visible to Paris and its suburbs, and so great was our elevation that +many in the capital thought we were directly over their heads. + +"When we had arrived among the clouds, the earth disappeared from our +view. Now a thick mist would envelop us, then a clear space showed us +where we were, and again we rose through a mass of snow, portions of +which stuck to our gallery. Curious to know how high we could ascend, we +resolved to increase our fire and raise the heat to the highest degree, +by raising our grating, and holding up our fagots suspended on the ends +of our forks. + +"Having gained these snowy elevations, and not being able to mount +higher, we wandered about for some time in regions which we felt were +now visited by man for the first time. Isolated and separated entirely +from nature, we perceived beneath us only enormous masses of snow, +which, reflecting the sunshine, filled the firmament with a glorious +light. We remained eight minutes at this elevation, 11,732 feet above +the earth. This situation, however agreeable it might have been to the +painter or the poet, promised little to the man of science in the way +of acquiring knowledge; and so we determined, eighteen minutes after our +departure, to return through the clouds to the earth. We had hardly left +this snowy abyss, when the most pleasant scene succeeded the most +dreary one. The broad plains appeared before our view in all their +magnificence. No snow, no clouds were now to be seen, except around the +horizon, where a few clouds seemed to rest on the earth. We passed in a +minute from winter to spring. We saw the immeasurable earth covered +with towns and villages, which at that distance appeared only so many +isolated mansions surrounded with gardens. The rivers which wound about +in all directions seemed no more than rills for the adornment of these +mansions; the largest forests looked mere clumps or groves, and the +meadows and broad fields seemed no more than garden plots. These +marvellous tableaux, which no painter could render, reminded us of the +fairy metamorphoses; only with this difference, that we were beholding +upon a mighty scale what imagination could only picture in little. It is +in such a situation that the soul rises to the loftiest height, that the +thoughts are exalted and succeed each other with the greatest rapidity. +Travelling at this elevation, our fire did not demand continual +attention, and we could easily walk about the gallery. We were as much +at peace upon our lofty balcony as we should have been upon the terrace +of a mansion, enjoying all the pictures which unrolled themselves before +us continually, without experiencing any of the giddiness which has +disturbed so many persons. Having broken my fork in my exertions to +raise the balloon, I went to obtain another one. On my way to get it, I +encountered my companion, M. Proust. We ought never to have been on +the same side of the balloon, for a capsize and the escape of all our +hydrogen gas might have been the result. As it was, so well was the +machine ballasted, that the only effect of our being on the one side +made the balloon incline a little in that direction. The winds, although +very considerable, caused us no uneasiness, and we only knew the +swiftness of our progress through the air by the rapidity with which the +villages seemed to fly away from under our feet; so that it seemed, from +the tranquillity with which we moved, that we were borne along by the +diurnal movement of the globe. Often we wished to descend, in order +to learn what the people were crying to us the simplicity of our +arrangements enabled us to rise, to descend, to move in horizontal or +oblique lines, as we pleased and as often as we considered necessary, +without altogether landing." + +When they came to Luzarche, the delighted aeronauts resolved to land. +Already the people were testifying their pleasure at seeing them. Men +came running together from all directions, while all the animals rushed +away with equal precipitation, no doubt taking the balloon for some +wild beast. Finding that their course would lead them straight against +certain houses, the aeronauts again increased their fire, and, slightly +rising, escaped the buildings that had been in their way. Shortly +afterwards they safely landed forty miles from the spot from which they +had started. + +It was not only the man of science or the mechanician that devoted +himself to the task of taking possession of the new empire, but the +nobles gave their hands to the aeronauts, and humbly asked the favour of +an ascent. The king had addressed letters to the Brothers Montgolfier, +and the marvellous invention had become an affair of state. The princes +of the blood and the nobles of the court considered it an honour to +count among the number of their friends a celebrated aeronaut. + +The Count d'Artois, afterwards Charles X., and the Duke de Chartres, +father of Louis Philippe, made experiments in aerial navigation. The +chemists Alban and Vallet made a magnificent balloon for the Count, who +went up many times in it, with several persons of all ranks. + +Already at St. Cloud, the Duke of Chartres, afterwards Philippe Egalite, +had, on the 15th of July, 1784, made, with the Brothers Robert, an +ascent which put their courage to terrible tests. The hydrogen gas +balloon was oblong, sixty feet high and forty feet in diameter, and +it had been constructed upon a plan supplied by Meunier. In order to +obviate the use of the valve, he had placed inside the balloon a smaller +globe, filled with ordinary air. This was done on the supposition that, +when the balloon rose high, the hydrogen being rarefied would compress +the little globe within, and press out of it a quantity of ordinary air +equal to the amount of its dilation. + +At eight o'clock, the Brothers Robert--Collin and Hullin--and the Duke +of Chartres, ascended in presence of an immense multitude. The nearest +ranks kneeled down to allow those behind to have a view of the departure +of the balloon, which disappeared among the clouds amid the acclamations +of the prostrate multitude. The machine, obedient to the stormy and +contrary winds which it met, turned several times completely round. The +helm, which had been fitted to the machine, and the two oars, gave such +a purchase to the winds that the voyagers, already surrounded by the +clouds, cut them away. But the oscillations continued, and the little +globe inside not being suspended with cords, fell down in such an +unfortunate manner as to close up the opening of the large balloon, by +means of which provision had been made for the egress of the gas now +dilated by the heat of the sun, which poured down its rays, a sudden +gust having cleared the space of the clouds. It was feared that the case +of the balloon would crack, and the whole thing collapse, in spite of +the efforts of the aeronauts to push back the smaller balloon from the +opening. Then the Duke of Chartres seized one of the flags they carried, +and with the lance-head pierced the balloon in two places. A rent of +about nine feet was the consequence, and the balloon began to descend +with amazing rapidity. They would have fallen into a lake had they not +thrown over 60 lbs. of ballast, which caused them to rise a little, and +pass over to the shore, where they got safely to the earth. + +The expedition lasted only a few minutes. The Duke of Chartres was +rallied by his enemies, who accused him of cowardice; and Monjoie, his +historian, making allusion to the combat of Ouessant, says that he had +given proofs of his cowardice in the three elements--earth, air, and +water. + +M. Gray, professor at the seminary of Rodez, presented us some years ago +with the following letter from the Abbe Carnus, upon the aerial voyage +which he undertook, August 6th, 1784:-- + +"The progress of the Montgolfiere was so sudden that one might almost +have believed that it arose all inflated and furnished out of some chasm +in the earth The air was calm, the sky without clouds, the sun +very strong. Our fuel and instruments were put into the gallery, my +companion, M. Louchet, was at his post, and I took mine. At twenty +minutes past eight the cords were loosened, we waved a farewell to the +spectators, and while two cannon-shots announced our departure, we were +already high above the loftiest buildings. + +"To the general acclamations of the crowd succeeded a profound silence. +The spectators, half in fear, half in admiration, stood motionless, with +eyes fixed, and gazing eagerly at the superb machine, which rose almost +vertically with rapidity and also with grandeur. Some women, and even +some men, fainted away; others raised their hands to heaven; others shed +tears; all grew pale at the sight of our bright fire. + +"'We have quitted the earth,' said I to my companion. + +"'I compliment you on the fact,' he answered; 'keep up the fire!' + +"A truss of hay, steeped in spirits of wine accelerated the swiftness of +our ascent. I cast my glance upon the town, which seemed to flee rapidly +from under our feet. Terrestrial objects had already lost their shape +and size. The burning heat which I felt at first now gave place to a +temperature of the most agreeable kind, and the air which we breathed +seemed to contain healthful elements unknown to dwellers on the lower +earth. + +"'How well I am!' I said to Louchet; 'how are you?' + +"'As well as can be. Would that I could dispatch a message to the +earth!' + +"Immediately I threw over a roll of paper on which I had written the +words, 'All well on board the City of Rodez.' + +"At thirty-two minutes past eight our elevation was at least 6,000 feet +above sea level. A flame from our fire, rising from eighteen to twenty +feet, sent us up another 1,000 feet. It was then that our machine was +seen by every spectator within a circuit of nine miles, and it appeared +to be right over the heads of all of them. + +"'Send us up out of sight,' said my adventurous confrere. + +"I had to moderate his ardour--a larger fire would have burnt our +balloon. + +"From our moving observatory the most splendid view developed itself. +The boundaries of the horizon were vastly extended. The capital of the +Rouergue appeared to be no more than a group of stones, one of which +seemed to rise to the height of two or three feet. This was no other +than the superb tower of the cathedral. Fertile slopes, agreeable +valleys, lofty precipices, waste lands, ancient castles perched upon +frowning rocks, these form the endlessly varied spectacle which the +Rouergue and the neighbouring provinces present to the view of those who +traverse the surface of the earth. But how different is the scene to the +aerial voyager! We could perceive only a vast country, perfectly round, +and seemingly a little elevated in the middle, irregularly marked with +verdure, but without inhabitants, without towns, valleys, rivers, or +mountains. Living beings no longer existed for us; the forests were +changed into what looked like grassy plains; the ranges of the +Cantal and the Cevennes had disappeared; we looked in vain for the +Mediterranean, and the Pyrenees seemed only a long series of piles +of snow, connected at their bases. Our own balloon, which from Rodez +appeared about the size of a marble, was the only object that for us +retained its natural dimensions. What wonderful sensations then arose +within us! I had often reflected upon the works of nature; their +magnificence had always filled me with admiration. In this soul-stirring +moment how beautiful did nature seem--how grand! With what majesty did +it strike my imagination. Never did man appear to me before such an +excellent being His latest triumph over the elements recalled to my mind +his other conquests of nature. My companion was animated with the same +sentiments, and more than once we cried out, 'Vive Montgolfier! Vive +Roziers! Vivent ceux qui ont du courage et de la constance!' + +"In the meantime our fuel was getting near the end. In eighteen minutes +we had run a distance of 12,000 feet. 'Make your observations while I +attend to the fire,' said my companion to me. I examined the barometer, +the thermometer, and the compass, and having sealed up a small bottle of +the air at this elevation, I asked my companion to reduce the fire. We +descended 1,800 feet, and at this height I filled another bottle with +air. + +"Afterwards we felt the refreshing breath of a slight breeze, which +carried us gently toward the south-east. In six minutes we had run +18,000 feet. Then, having only sufficient fuel to enable us to choose +the place of our descent, we considered whether we should not bring our +aerial voyage to a termination. We had neither lake nor forest to fear, +and we were secure against danger from fire, as we could detach the +grating at some distance from the earth. At fifty-eight minutes past +eight all our fuel was exhausted, except two bundles of straw, of +four pounds each, which we reserved for our descent. The balloon came +gradually down, and terrestrial objects began again to resume their +proper forms and dimensions. The animals fled at the sight of our +balloon, which seemed likely to crush them in its fall. Horsemen were +obliged to dismount and lead their frightened horses. Terrified by such +an unwonted sight, the labourers in the fields abandoned their work. We +were not more than 600 feet from the earth. We threw on the two bundles +of straw, but still gradually descended. The grating was then detached, +and I had no difficulty in leaping to the ground. But now a most +surprising and unlooked-for event happened. M. Louchet had not been able +to descend at the same moment as myself, and the balloon, now free from +my weight, immediately re-ascended with the speed of a bird, bearing +away my companion. I followed him with my eyes, and it was to my +agreeable surprise that I heard him crying to me, 'All is well; fear +not!' though it was not without a species of jealousy that I saw him +mounting up to the height of 1,400 or 1,500 feet. The balloon, after +having run a distance of 3,600 feet in a horizontal direction, began +gently to descend at four minutes past nine, at the village of Inieres, +after having travelled 42,000 feet from the point of departure. When it +had touched the ground it bumped up again two or three feet. M. Louchet +jumped out, and seized one of the ropes, but had much difficulty in +holding the balloon in hand. He cried to the frightened peasants to come +and help him. But they seemed to regard him as a dangerous magician, +or as a monster, and they feared to touch the ropes lest they might be +swallowed up by the balloon. Soon afterwards I came to the rescue. The +balloon was in as thorough repair as when we began our journey. We then +pressed out the hot air, folded up the envelope, placed it upon a small +cart drawn by two oxen, and drove off with it." + + + +Chapter IV. + + Serio-Comic Aspect of the Subject--The Public Duped--The + Abbes Miolan and Janninet at the Luxembourg--Caricatures-- + The "Minerva" of Robertson, and its Voyage Round the World. + +The discovery like that of balloons could not be made public in France +without being travestied, and without offering some comic side for +the amusement of the wits of the day. Under some old coloured prints, +designed with the intention of satirising such unfortunate aeronauts +as had collected their money from the spectators, but had failed in +inflating their balloons, is written, "The Infallible Means of Raising +Balloons"--the infallible means consisting of ropes and pulleys. + +While caricature was thus turning its irony upon the efforts of +believers in the new idea, serious pamphlets were being written and +published with the same object. One of these declares that the discovery +is IMMORAL, I. Because since God has not given wings to man, it is +impious to try to improve his works, and to encroach upon his rights as +a Creator; 2. Because honour and virtue would be in continual danger, +if balloons were permitted to descend, at all hours of the night, into +gardens and close to windows; 3. Because, if the highway of the air were +to remain open to all and sundry, the frontiers of nations would vanish, +and property national and personal would be invaded, &c. We do not wish +to gather together here the stones which critics threw against the new +discovery, unaware all the time that these stones were falling upon +their own heads. + +It is only fair to state that after the first ascents the public were +often duped by pretending aeronauts, whose single aim was to sell their +tickets, and who disappeared when the time came for ascending. The +result of these frauds was that sometimes honest men were made to suffer +as rogues. Even in our own day, when an ascent, seriously intended, +fails to succeed, owing to some unforeseen circumstances, the public +frequently manifests a decided ill-will to the aeronaut, who is +perfectly honest, and only unfortunate. + +The famous ascent of the Abbes Miolan and Janninet, at the Luxembourg, +may be cited as among the failures which suffered most from the satire +of the time. Their immense balloon, constructed at great expense at the +observatory, was expected to rise beyond the clouds, and a multitude, +each of whom had paid dearly for his ticket, had assembled at the +Luxembourg. The morning had been occupied in removing the balloon from +the observatory to the place of ascent, and at midday the inflation of +it began. The rays of a burning July sun--and one knows what that is in +the Luxembourg in Paris--streamed down on the heads of the thousands of +spectators. From six in the morning till four in the evening they had +waited to see the unheard-of wonder; the ascent, however, was to be so +imposing, that nothing could be lost by waiting for it. + +But at five in the afternoon the heavy machine was still +motionless--inert upon the ground. We need not attempt to describe the +scene which took place as the impatience of the multitude increased. +Sneers of derision made themselves heard on all sides. A universal +murmur, rapidly developing into a clamour, arose amongst the multitude; +then, wild with disappointment, the frenzied populace threw themselves +upon the barricade, broke it, attacked the gallery of the balloon, the +instruments, the apparatus, trampling them under foot, and smashing them +in bits. They then rushed upon the balloon and fired it. There was then +a general melee. Far from fleeing the fire, every one struggled to seize +and carry off a bit of the balloon, to preserve as a relic. The two +abbes escaped as they best could, under protection of a number of +friends. + +After this there fell a perfect shower of lampoons and caricatures. The +Abbe Miolan was represented as a cat with a band round its neck, while +Janninet appeared as a donkey; and in a coloured print the cat and +the ass are shown arriving in triumph upon their famous balloon at the +Academy of Montmartre, and are received at the hill of Moulins-a-Vent +by a solemn assembly of turkey-cocks and geese in different attitudes. +Numerous songs and epigrams, of which the unfortunate abbes were the +subjects, also appeared at this time. The letters which composed the +words "l'Abbe Miolan" were found to form the anagram, Ballon abime--"the +balloon swallowed up." + +The most extravagant balloon project was that of Robertson, who +published a scheme for making a tour of the world. He called it "La +Minerva, an aerial vessel destined for discoveries, and proposed to +all the Academies of Europe, by Robertson, physicist" (Vienna, 1804; +reprinted at Paris, 1820), Robertson dedicated his project to Volta, and +in his dedication he does not scruple to say: "In our age, my friendship +seeks only one gratification, that we should both live a sufficiently +long time together to enable you to calculate and utilise the results +of this great machine, while I take the practical direction of it." The +following is this aeronaut's prospectus:-- + +"There is no limit to the sciences and the arts, which cultivation does +not overstep. We have everything to hope and to expect from time, +from chance, and from the genius of man. The difference which there +is between the canoe of the savage and the man-of-war of 124 guns is +perhaps as great as that of balloons as they now are and as they will +be in the course of a century. If you ask of an aeronaut why he cannot +command the motions of his balloon, he will ask of you in his turn why +the inventor of the canoe did not immediately afterwards construct a +man-of-war. It must be recollected that there have not yet elapsed forty +years since the discovery of the balloon, and that to perfect it would +be a work of difficulty, as much from the increased knowledge which such +a work would demand, as from the pecuniary sacrifices and the personal +devotion which it would involve. + +"Thus this invention, after having at first electrified all savants +from the one end of the world to the other, has suffered the fate of all +discoveries--it was all at once arrested. Did not astronomy wait long +for Newton, and chemistry for Lavoisier, to raise them to something like +the splendour they now enjoy? Was not the magnet a long time a toy +in the hands of the Chinese, without giving birth to the idea of the +compass? The electric fluid was known in the time of Thales, but +how many ages did we wait for the discovery of galvanism? Yet these +sciences, which may be studied in silent retreats, were more likely to +yield fruit to the discoverer than aerostatics, which demand courage +and skill, and of which the experiments, which are always public, are +attended with great cost." + +Robertson's proposed machine was to be 150 feet in diameter, and would +be capable of carrying 150,000 lbs. Every precaution was to be taken in +order to make the great structure perfect. It was to accommodate sixty +persons to be chosen by the academics, who should stay in it for several +months should rise to all possible elevations, pass through all +climates in all seasons, make scientific observations, &c. This balloon, +penetrating deserts inaccessible by other means of travel, and visiting +places which travellers have never penetrated, would be of immense use +in the science of geography: and when under the line, if the heat near +the earth should be inconvenient, the aeronauts would, of course, easily +rise to elevations where the temperature is equal and agreeable. When +their observations, their needs, or their pleasures demanded it, they +could descend to within a short distance of the earth, say ninety feet, +and fix themselves in their position by means of an anchor. It might, +perhaps, be possible, by taking the advantage of favourable winds, to +make the tour of the world. "Experience will perhaps demonstrate that +aerial navigation presents less inconvenience and less dangers than the +navigation of the seas." + +The immensity of the seas seemed to be the only source of insurmountable +difficulties; "but," says Robertson, "over what a vast space might +not one travel in six months with a balloon fully furnished with the +necessaries of life, and all the appliances necessary for safety? +Besides, if, through the natural imperfection attaching to all the works +of man, or either through accident or age, the balloon, borne above the +sea, became incapable of sustaining the travellers, it is provided with +a boat, which can withstand the waters and guarantee the return of the +voyagers." + +Such were the ideas promulgated regarding the "Minerva." The following +is the serious description given of the machine. The numbers correspond +with those on the illustration. + +"The cock (3) is the symbol of watchfulness; it is also the highest +point of the balloon. An observer, getting up through the interior to +the point at which the watchful fowl is placed, will be able to command +the best view to be had in the 'Minerva.' The wings at the side (1 and +2) are to be regarded as ornamental. The balloon will be 150 feet in +diameter, made expressly at Lyons of unbleached silk, coated within and +without with indict-rubber. This globe sustains a ship, which contains +or has attached to it all the things necessary for the convenience, the +observations, and even the pleasures of the voyagers. + +"(a) A small boat, in which the passengers might take refuge in case +of necessity, in the event of the larger vessel falling on the sea in a +disabled state. + +"(b) A large store for keeping the water, wine, and all the provisions +of the expedition. + +"(cc) Ladders of silk, to enable the passengers to go to all parts of +the balloon. + +"(e) Closets. + +"(h) Pilot's room. + +"(1) An observatory, containing the compasses and other scientific +instruments for taking the latitude. + +"(g) A room fitted up for recreations, walking, and gymnastics. + +"(m) The kitchen, far removed from the balloon. It is the only place +where a fire shall be permitted. + +"(p) Medicine room. + +"(v) A theatre, music room, &c. + +"--The study. + +"(x) The tents of the air-marines, &c. &c." + +This balloon is certainly the most marvellous that has ever been +imagined--quite a town, with its forts, ramparts, cannon, boulevards, +and galleries. One can understand the many squibs and satires which so +Utopian a notion provoked. + + + +Chapter V. First Aerial Voyage in England--Blanchard Crosses the Sea in +a Balloon. + +In spite of their known powers of industry and perseverance, the English +did not throw themselves with any great ardour into the exploration +of the atmosphere. From one cause or another it is the French and the +Italians that have chiefly distinguished themselves in this art. The +English historian of aerostation gives some details of the first aerial +voyage made in this country by the Italian, Vincent Lunardy. + +The balloon was made of silk covered with a varnish of oil, and painted +in alternate stripes--blue and red. It was three feet in diameter. Cords +fixed upon it hung down and were attached to a hoop at the bottom, from +which a gallery was suspended. This balloon had no safety-valve--its +neck was the only opening by which the hydrogen gas was introduced, and +by which it was allowed to escape. + +In September, 1784, it was carried to the Artillery Ground and filled +with gas. After being two-thirds filled, the gallery was attached with +its two oars or wings, and Lunardy, accompanied by Biggin and Madame +Sage, took his place; but it was found that the balloon had not +sufficient lifting power to carry up the whole three, and Lunardy went +up alone, with the exception of the pigeon, the cat, and the dog, that +were with him. + +The balloon rose to the height of about twenty feet, then followed a +horizontal line, and descended. But the gallery had no sooner touched +the earth than Lunardy threw over the sand that served as ballast, and +mounted triumphantly, amid the applause of a considerable multitude of +spectators. After a time he descended upon a common, where he left the +cat nearly dead with cold, ascended, and continued his voyage. He says, +in the narrative which he has left, that he descended by means of the +one oar which was left to him, the other having fallen over; but, as he +states that, in order to rise again, he threw over the remainder of his +ballast, it is natural to believe that the descent of the balloon was +caused by the loss of gas, because, if he descended by the use of the +oar, he must have re-ascended when he stopped using it. He landed in the +parish of Standon, where he was assisted by the peasants. + +He assures us again that he came down the second time by means of the +oar. He says:--"I took my oar to descend, and in from fifteen to twenty +minutes I arrived at the earth after much fatigue, my strength being +nearly exhausted. My chief desire was to escape a shock on reaching +the earth, and fortune favoured me." The fear of a concussion seems to +indicate that he descended more because of the weight of the balloon +than by the action of the oar. + +It appears that the only scientific instrument he had was a thermometer +which fell to 29 degrees. The drops of water which had attached +themselves to the balloon were frozen. + +The second aerial journey in England was undertaken by Blanchard and +Sheldon. The latter, a professor of anatomy in the Royal Academy, is +the first Englishman who ever went up in a balloon. This ascent was made +from Chelsea on the 16th October, 1784. + +The same balloon which Blanchard had used in France served him on this +occasion, with the difference that the hoop which went round the +middle of it, and the parasol above the car, were dispensed with. At the +extremity of his car he had fitted a sort of ventilator, which he was +able to move about by means of a winch. This ventilator, together with +the wings and the helm, were to serve especially the purpose of steering +at will, which he had often said was quite practicable as soon as a +certain elevation had been reached. + +The two aeronauts ascended, having with them a number of scientific and +musical instruments, some refreshments, ballast, &c. Twice the ascent +failed, and eventually Sheldon got out, and Blanchard went up again +alone. + +Blanchard says that, on this second ascent, he was carried first +north-east, then east-south-east of Sunbury in Middlesex. He rose so +high that he had great difficulty in breathing, the pigeon he had with +him escaped, but could hardly maintain itself in the rarefied air of +such an elevated region, and finding no place to rest, came back +and perched on the side of the car. After a time, the cold becoming +excessive, Blanchard descended until he could distinguish men on the +earth, and hear their shouting. After many vicissitudes he landed upon +a plain in Hampshire, about seventy-five miles from the point of +departure. It was observed that, so long as he could be clearly seen, he +executed none of the feats with his wings, ventilator, &c., which he had +promised to exhibit. + +Enthusiasm about aerial voyages was now at its climax; the most +wonderful deeds were spoken of as commonplace, and the word "impossible" +was erased from the language. Emboldened by his success, Blanchard one +day announced in the newspapers that he would cross from England to +France in a balloon--a marvellous journey, the success of which depended +altogether upon the course of the wind, to the mercy of which the bold +aeronaut committed himself. + +A certain Dr. Jeffries offered to accompany Blanchard. On the 7th of +January the sky was calm, in consequence of a strong frost during +the preceding night, the wind which was very light, being from the +north-north-west. The arranged meets were made above the cliffs of +Dover. When the balloon rose, there were only three sacks of sand of 10 +lbs. each in it. They had not been long above ground when the barometer +sank from 29.7 to 27.3. Dr. Jeffries, in a letter addressed to the +president of the Royal Society, describes with enthusiasm the spectacle +spread out before him: the broad country lying behind Dover, sown with +numerous towns and villages, formed a charming view; while the rocks on +the other side, against which the waves dashed, offered a prospect that +was rather trying. + +They had already passed one-third of the distance across the Channel +when the balloon descended for the second time, and they threw over +the last of their ballast; and that not sufficing, they threw over some +books, and found themselves rising again. After having got more than +half way, they found to their dismay, from the rising of the barometer, +that they were again descending, and the remainder of their books were +thrown over. At twenty-five minutes past two o'clock they had passed +three-quarters of their journey, and they perceived ahead the inviting +coasts of France. But, in consequence either of the loss or the +condensation of the inflammable gas, they found themselves once more +descending. They then threw over their provisions, the wings of the car, +and other objects. "We were obliged," says Jeffries, "to throw out the +only bottle we had, which fell on the water with a loud sound, and sent +up spray like smoke." + +They were now near the water themselves, and certain death seemed to +stare them in the face. It is said that at this critical moment Jeffries +offered to throw himself into the sea, in order to save the life of his +companion. + +"We are lost, both of us," said he; "and if you believe that it will +save you to be lightened of my weight, I am willing to sacrifice my +life." + +This story has certainly the appearance of romance, and belief in it is +not positively demanded. + +One desperate resource only remained--they could detach the car and hang +on themselves to the ropes of the balloon. They were preparing to carry +out this idea, when they imagined they felt themselves beginning to +ascend again. It was indeed so. The balloon mounted once more; they were +only four miles from the coast of France, and their progress through the +air was rapid. All fear was now banished. Their exciting situation, and +the idea that they were the first who had ever traversed the Channel in +such a manner, rendered them careless about the want of certain articles +of dress which they had discarded. At three o'clock they passed over the +shore half-way between Cape Blanc and Calais. Then the balloon, rising +rapidly, described a great arc, and they found themselves at a greater +elevation than at any part of their course. The wind increased in +strength, and changed a little in its direction. Having descended to the +tops of the trees of the forest of Guines, Dr. Jeffries seized a branch, +and by this means arrested their advance. The valve was then opened, the +gas rushed out, and the aeronauts safely reached the ground after the +successful accomplishment of this daring and memorable enterprise. + +A number of horsemen, who had watched the recent course of the balloon, +now rode up, and gave the adventurers the most cordial reception. On the +following day a splendid fete was celebrated in their honour at Calais. +Blanchard was presented with the freedom of the city in a box of gold, +and the municipal body purchased the balloon, with the intention of +placing it in one of the churches as a memorial of this experiment, it +being also resolved to erect a marble monument on the spot where the +famous aeronauts landed. + +Some days afterwards Blanchard was summoned before the king, who +conferred upon him an annual pension of 1,200 livres. The queen, who +was at play at the gambling table, placed a sum for him upon a card, and +presented him with the purse which she won. + + + +Chapter VI. Zambeccari's Perilous Trip Across the Adriatic Sea. + +There is not in the whole annals of aerostation a more moving +catastrophe than that of the unfortunate Comte Zambeccari, who, during +an aerial journey on October the 7th, 1804, was cast away on the waves +of the Adriatic. + +The history of Zambeccari is dramatic throughout. After having been +taken by the Turks and thrown into the Bay of Constantinople, from which +he with difficulty escaped, he devoted himself to the study and practice +of aerial navigation. He fancied he could make use of a lamp supplied +with spirits of wine, the flame of which he could direct at will, in the +hope of thus being able to steer the balloon in whatever direction he +chose. One day his balloon damaged itself against a tree at Boulogne, +and the spirits of wine set his clothes on fire. The flames with which +the aeronaut was covered only served to increase the ascending power of +the balloon, and the frightened spectators, among whom were Zambeccari's +young wife and children, saw him carried up into the clouds out of +sight. He succeeded, however, in extinguishing the fire which surrounded +him. + +In 1804, he organised a series of experiments at Milan, for which he +received, in advance, the sum of 8,000 crowns; but the experiments +failed, in consequence of the inclemency of the weather, the treachery +of his assistants, and the malice of his rivals. + +At length, on the 7th of October, after a fall of rain which lasted +forty-eight hours, and which had delayed the announced ascent, he +resolved, whatever might happen, to carry it out, though all the chances +were against him. Eight young men whom he had instructed, and who had +promised him their assistance in filling the balloon, failed him at the +critical moment. Still, however, he continued his labours, with the +help of two companions, Andreoli and Grassetti. Wearied with his +long-continued efforts, dis-appointed and hungry, he took his place in +the car. + +The two companions whom we have named went with him. They rose gently at +first, and hovered over the town of Bologna. Zambeccari says, "The lamp, +which was intended to increase our ascending force, became useless. We +could not observe the state of the barometer by the feeble light of a +lantern. The insupportable cold that prevailed in the high region to +which we had ascended, the weariness and hunger arising from my having +neglected to take nourishment for twenty-four hours, the vexation +that embittered my spirit--all these combined produced in me a total +prostration, and I fell upon the floor of the gallery in a profound +sleep that was like death. 'The same misfortune overtook my companion +Grassetti. Andreoli was the only one who remained awake and able for +duty--no doubt because he had taken plenty of food and a large quantity +of rum. Still he suffered from the cold, which was excessive, and his +endeavours to wake me were for a long time vain. Finally, however, he +succeeded in getting me to my feet, but my ideas were confused, and I +demanded of him, like one newly awaking from a dream, 'What is the news? +Where are we? What time is it? How is the wind?' + +"It was two o'clock. The compass had been broken, and was useless; the +wax light in the lantern would not burn in such a rarefied atmosphere. +We descended gently across a thick layer of whitish clouds, and when +we had got below them, Andreoli heard a sound, muffled and almost +inaudible, which he immediately recognised as the breaking of waves in +the distance. Instantly he announced to me this new and fearful danger. +I listened, and had not long to wait before I was convinced that he was +speaking the truth. It was necessary to have light to examine the state +of the barometer, and thus ascertain what was our elevation above the +sea level, and to take our measures in consequence. Andreoli broke five +phosphoric matches, without getting a spark of fire. Nevertheless, we +succeeded, after very great difficulty, by the help of the flint +and steel, in lighting the lantern. It was now three o'clock in the +morning--we had started at midnight. The sound of the waves, tossing +with wild uproar, became louder and louder, and I suddenly saw the +surface of the sea violently agitated just below us. I immediately +seized a large sack of sand, but had not time to throw it over before we +were all in the water, gallery and all. In the first moment of fright, +we threw into the sea everything that would lighten the balloon--our +ballast, all our instruments, a portion of our clothing, our money, and +the oars. As, in spite of all this, the balloon did not rise, we threw +over our lamp also. After having torn and cut away everything that did +not appear to us to be of indispensable necessity, the balloon, thus +very much lightened, rose all at once, but with such rapidity and to +such a prodigious elevation, that we had difficulty in hearing each +other, even when shouting at the top of our voices. I was ill, and +vomited severely. Grassetti was bleeding at the nose; we were both +breathing short and hard, and felt oppression on the chest. As we were +thrown upon our backs at the moment when the balloon took such a sudden +start out of the water and bore us with such swiftness to those high +regions, the cold seized us suddenly, and we found ourselves covered all +at once with a coating of ice. I could not account for the reason why +the moon, which was in its last quarter, appeared on a parallel line +with us, and looked red as blood. + +"After having traversed these regions for half an hour, at an +immeasurable elevation, the balloon slowly began to descend, and at +last we fell again into the sea, at about four in the morning I cannot +determine at what distance we were from land when we fell the second +time. The night was very dark, the sea rolling heavily, and we were in +no condition to make observations. But it must have been in the middle +of the Adriatic that we fell. Although we descended gently, the gallery +was sunk, and we were often entirely covered with water. The balloon +being now more than half empty, in consequence of the vicissitudes +through, which we had passed, gave a purchase to the wind, which pressed +against it as against a sail, so that by means of it we were dragged +and beaten about at the mercy of the storm and the waves. At daybreak +we looked out and found ourselves opposite Pesaro, four miles from the +shore. We were comforting ourselves with the prospect of a safe landing, +when a wind from the land drove us with violence away over the open sea. +It was now full day, but all we could see were the sea, the sky, and the +death that threatened us. Certainly some boats happened to come within +sight; but no sooner did they see the balloon floating and striping upon +the water than they made all sail to get away from it. No hope was then +left to us but the very small one of making the coasts of Dalmatia, +which were opposite, but at a great distance from us. Without the +slightest doubt we should have been drowned if heaven had not mercifully +directed towards us a navigator who, better informed than those we had +seen before, recognised our machine to be a balloon and quickly sent his +long-boat to our rescue. The sailors threw us a stout cable, which we +attached to the gallery, and by means of which they rescued us when +fainting with exposure. The balloon thus lightened, immediately rose +into the air, in spite of all the efforts of the sailors who wished to +capture it. The long boat received a severe shock from its escape, +as the rope was still attached to it, and the sailors hastened to cut +themselves free. At once the balloon mounted with incredible rapidity, +and was lost in the clouds, where it disappeared for ever from our view. +It was eight in the morning when we got on board. Grassetti was so ill +that he hardly showed any signs of life. His hands were sadly mutilated. +Cold, hunger, and the dreadful anxiety had completely prostrated me. The +brave captain of the vessel did everything in his power to restore us. +He conducted us safely to Ferrara, whence we were carried to Pola, where +we were received with the greatest kindness, and where I was compelled +to have my fingers amputated." + + + +Chapter VII. Garnerin--Parachutes--Aerostation at Public Fetes. + +"On the 22nd October, 1797," says the astronomer Lalande, "at +twenty-eight minutes past five, Citizen Garnerin rose in a balloon from +the park of Monceau. Silence reigned in the assembly, anxiety and fear +being painted on the visages of all. When he had ascended upwards of +2,000 feet, he cut the cord that connected his parachute and car +with the balloon. The latter exploded, and Garnerin descended in his +parachute very rapidly. He made a dreadful lurch in the air, that forced +a sudden cry of fear from the whole multitude, and made a number of +women faint. Meanwhile Citizen Garnerin descended into the plain of +Monceau; he mounted his horse upon the spot, and rode back to the park, +attended by an immense multitude, who gave vent to their admiration for +the skill and talent of the young aeronaut. Garnerin was the first to +undertake this most daring and dangerous venture. He had conceived the +idea of this feat while lying a prisoner of state in Buda, Hungary." +Lalande adds that he went and announced his success at the Institute +National, which was assembled at the time, and which listened to him +with the greatest interest. + +Robertson conducted an experiment of descending by means of a parachute +at Vienna, in 1804, in which he received all the glory, without +partaking of any of the danger. He made the public preparations for an +ascent in the balloon, his pupil, Michaud, however, took his place in +the car, and made the ascent. + +Robertson says that on this occasion he yielded to the entreaties of a +young man who was his pupil, and had begged to be allowed to make his +debut before such a great multitude. In this case a slight improvement +was made in the parachute. The car was surrounded by a cloth of silk, +which, when the aeronaut cut himself away from the balloon, spread +itself out in such a way as to form a second parachute. + +Robertson made all the preparations, and Michaud had no more to do than +place himself in the car. Loud applause arose on all sides. Michaud +had ascended 900 feet above the earth when the signal for his cutting +himself clear of the balloon was given, by the firing of a cannon. He +at once cut the two strings, and the balloon soared away into the upper +regions, whilst he was left for one terrible moment to fate. The fall +was at first rapid, but the two parachutes soon opened themselves +simultaneously, and presented a majestic appearance. In a few seconds +the aeronaut had traversed the space that intervened between him and +the assembly, and found himself safely landed on the ground, at a short +distance from the place whence he had set out, while the whole air +was rent with shouts of applause. This experiment was deemed a most +extraordinary one. Compliments were showered upon Robertson from all +sides, and the court presented him with rich presents. + +Balloons have always formed a prominent feature at the fetes of +Paris, for the celebration of the chief events of the Revolution, the +Consulate, and the Empire--the first of these epochs being that in which +these aerial vessels were held in highest esteem. + +Jacques Garnerin had played a brilliant role as aeronaut under the +Directory, the Consulate, and the Empire; and it was he who after the +coronation of the Emperor Napoleon I., was charged with the raising of a +monster balloon, which was arranged to ascend, with the accompaniment of +fireworks, on the evening of the 16th of December, 1804. + +An uncommon incident connected with this event serves to show us the +spirit of fatalism with which the character of Napoleon I. was infected. +"The Man of Destiny" believed in the destiny of man; he had faith in +his star alone; and from the height of his greatness the new ruler, +consecrated emperor and king by the Pope, beheld a presage of misfortune +in a chance circumstance, insignificant to all but himself, in the +experiment of which we are about to recount the history. + +The fete given by the city of Paris to their majesties embraced the +whole town, from the Champs Elysees to the Barriere du Trone, on the +square of the Hotel de Ville. Upon the river throughout its length +between the Isle of St. Louis and the bridge of Notre Dame, an immense +display of fireworks was to take place. The scene to be represented was +the passage of Mont St. Bernard. Garnerin was stationed with his balloon +in front of the gate of the church of Notre Dame. At eleven o'clock in +the evening, at the moment when the first discharge of fireworks made +the air luminous with a hundred thousand stars, Garnerin threw off his +immense balloon. The chief feature of it was the device of a crown, +designed in coloured lanterns arranged round the globe. It rose +splendidly, and with the most perfect success. + +On the following morning the inhabitants of Rome were astounded to +behold advancing toward them from the horizon a luminous globe, which +threatened to descend upon their city. The excitement was intense. +The balloon passed the cupola of St. Peter's and the Vatican; then +descending, it touched the ground, but rose again, and finally it sank +into the wafers of Lake Bracciano. + +It was drawn from the water, and the following inscription, emblazoned +in letters of gold upon its vast circumference, was printed, published, +and read throughout the whole of Italy--"Paris, 25eme Primaire, an +XIII., couronnement de l'empereur Napoleon, 1er par S.S. Pie VII." + +In touching the earth, the balloon happened to strike against the tomb +of the Emperor Nero, and, owing to the concussion, a portion of the +crown was left upon this ancient monument. The Italian journals, which +were not so strictly under the supervision of the government as were the +journals of France, gave the full particulars of these minor events; and +certain of them, connecting the names of Nero and Napoleon, indulged in +malicious remarks at the expense of the French emperor. These facts +came to the ear of the great general, who manifested much indignation, +dismissed the innocent Garnerin from his post, and appointed Madame +Blanchard to the supervision of all the balloon ascents which took place +at the public fetes. + +The balloon was preserved in the vaults of the Vatican in Rome, +accompanied with an inscription narrating its travels and wonderful +descent--minus the circumstance of the tomb. It was removed, as might be +supposed, in 1814. From this time the ascents of balloons took place +for the most part only on the occasions of coronations and other great +public fetes. + + + +Chapter VIII. Green's Great Journey Across Europe. + +It is probable that at the origin of navigation, man, before he had +invented oars and sails, made use of trunks of trees upon which he +trusted himself, leaving the rest to the winds and the currents of +the water, whether these were known or unknown. There is some analogy +between such rude rafts, the first discovered means of navigation on +water, and balloons, the first discovered means of navigation in air. +But unquestionably the advantage is with the latter. No means have yet +been found of directly steering balloons, but by allowing the gas to +escape the aeronaut can descend at will, and by lightening his car of +part of the ballast he carries he can ascend as readily. It must also be +remembered that the currents of air vary in their directions, according +to their elevation, and were the aeronaut perfectly acquainted with +aerial currents, he might, by raising or lowering himself, find a wind +blowing in the direction in which he wished to proceed, and the last +problem of aerostation would be solved. That any such knowledge can ever +be acquired it is impossible to say; but this much may with safety be +advanced, that distant journeys may frequently be taken with balloons +for useful purposes. + +One of the most remarkable excursions of this kind was that +superintended by Green, in 1836, from London to Germany. This journey, +1,200 miles in length, is the longest that has been yet accomplished. +Green set out from London on the 7th of November, 1836, accompanied by +two friends--Monk-Mason, the historian of the journey, and a gentleman +named Molland. Not knowing to what quarter of the globe he might be +blown, Green provided himself with passports to all the states of +Europe, and with a quantity of provisions sufficient to last him for +some time, should he be driven by the wind over the sea. Shortly after +mid-day the balloon rose with great grandeur, and, urged by a light +breeze, floated to the south-east, over the plains of Kent. At four +o'clock the voyagers sighted the sea. + +"It was forty-eight minutes past four," says Monk-Mason, "that we first +saw the line of waves breaking on the shores beneath us. It would +have been impossible to have remained unmoved by the grandeur of the +spectacle that spread out before us. Behind us were the coasts of +England, with their white cliffs half lost in the coming darkness. +Beneath us on both sides the ocean spread out far end wide to where the +darkness closed in the scene. Opposite us a barrier of thick clouds +like a wall, surmounted all along its line with projections like so many +towers, bastions, and battlements, rose up from the sea as if to stop +our advance. A few minutes afterwards we were in the midst of this +cloudy barrier, surrounded with darkness, which the vapours of the night +increased. We heard no sound. The noise of the waves breaking on the +shores of England had ceased, and our position had for some time cut us +off from all the sounds of earth." + +In an hour the Straits of Dover were cleared, the lights of Calais shone +out toward the voyagers, and the sound of the town drums rose up toward +them. "Darkness was now complete," continues the writer, "and it was +only by the lights, sometimes isolated, sometimes seen in masses, and +showing themselves far down on the earth beneath us, that we could form +a guess of the countries we traversed, or of the towns and villages +which appeared before us every moment. The whole surface of the earth +for many leagues round showed nothing but scattered lights, and the +face of the earth seemed to rival the vault of heaven with starry fires. +Every moment in the earlier part of the night before men had betaken +themselves to repose, clusters of lights appeared indicating large +centres of population. + +"Those on the horizon gave us the notion of a distant conflagration. In +proportion as we approached them, these masses of lights appeared to +increase, and to cover a greater space, until, when right over them, +they seemed to divide themselves into different parts, to stretch out in +long streets, and to shine in starry quadrangles round the squares, so +that we could see the exact plan of each city, given as on a small map. +It would be difficult to give an idea of what sort of effect such a +scene in such circumstances produces. To find oneself transported in +the darkness of night, in the midst of vast solitudes of air, unknown, +unperceived, in secret and in silence, exploring territories, traversing +kingdoms, watching towns which come into view, and pass out of it +before one can examine them in detail--these circumstances are enough +in themselves to render sublime a science which, independent of these +adjuncts, would be so interesting. If you add to this the uncertainty +which, increasing as we went on into the night, began to assail us +respecting our voyage, our ignorance of where we were, and what were the +objects we were attempting to discover, you may form some idea of our +singular position." + +About midnight, the travellers found themselves above Liege. Situated +in the midst of a thickly-peopled country, full of foundries, smelting +works, and forges, this town was quite a blaze of light. The gas-lamps +with which this town is so well lighted, clearly marked out for our +travellers the main streets, the squares, and the public buildings. But +after midnight, at which time the lamps in continental towns are mostly +put out, the whole of the under world disappeared from the view of the +aeronauts. + +"After the turn of the night," says Mason, "the moon did not show +itself, and the heavens, always more sombre when regarded from great +altitudes, seemed to us to intensify the natural darkness. On the +other hand, by a singular contrast, the stars shone out with unusual +brilliancy, and seemed like living sparks sown upon the ebony vault that +surrounded us. In fact, nothing could exceed the intensity of the night +which prevailed during this part of our voyage. A black profound abyss +surrounded us on all sides, and, as we attempted to penetrate into the +mysterious deeps, it was with difficulty we could beat back the idea and +the apprehension that we were making a passage through an immense mass +of black marble, in which we were enclosed, and which, solid to within a +few inches of us, appeared to open up at our approach." + +Until three o'clock the voyagers were in this state. The height of the +balloon, as calculated by the barometer, was 2,000 feet. They had not +then anything to fear from a disastrous encounter, when all at once a +sudden explosion was heard, the silk of the balloon quivered, the car +received a violent shock, and seemed to be shot suddenly into the gloomy +abyss. A second explosion and a third succeeded, accompanied each time +by this fearful shock to the car. The travellers soon found out that, +owing to the great altitude, the gas had expanded, and the rope which +surrounded it, saturated with water, and frozen with the intense cold, +had yielded to the pressure, in jerks which caused the report and the +shock. + +"From time to time," continues Mason, "vast masses of clouds covered the +lower regions of the atmosphere, and spread a thick, whitish veil over +the earth, intercepting our view, and leaving us for some time uncertain +if this was not a continuation of the same plains covered with snow +which we had already noticed. From these masses of vapour, there seemed +more than once during the night to come a sound as of a great fall of +water, or the contending waves of the sea; and it required all the force +of our reason, joined to our knowledge--such as it was--of the direction +of our route, to repress the idea that we were approaching the sea, and +that, driven by the wind, we had, been carried along the coasts of +the North Sea or the Baltic. As the day advanced these apprehensions +disappeared. In place of the unbroken surface of the sea, we gradually +made out the varied features of a cultivated country, in the midst of +which flowed a majestic river, which lost itself, at both extremities, +in the mist that still lay on the horizon." + +This river was the Rhine, and as the neighbourhood seemed suitable for +a descent, and as the travellers did not wish to be carried too far into +the heart of Europe, they allowed a portion of the gas to escape, came +gradually down, and dropped their anchor. + +It was then half-past seven in the morning. It was only then that +the inhabitants, who had hitherto held themselves aloof, watching the +movements of the strangers from under the brushwood, began to assemble +from all sides. A few words in German spoken from the balloon dissipated +their fears, and, recovering from their mistrust, they hastened +immediately to lend assistance to the aeronauts The latter were now +informed that the place they had selected for their descent was in the +Duchy of Nassau. The town of Wiberg, where Blanchard had descended, +after his ascent at Frankfort in 1785 was, by a singular chance, only +two leagues distant. The three aeronauts received a most flattering +reception, and, in memory of the event, they placed the flag which they +had borne in their car during their adventurous excursion in the ducal +palace, side by side with that of Blanchard. + +"Thus," says Mason, "terminated an expedition which, whether we regard +the extent of the journey, the length of time occupied in it, or +the results which were the objects of the experiment, may justly be +considered as one of the most interesting and most important ever +undertaken. The best answer which one could give to those who would be +disposed to criticise the employment of the peculiar means which we +made use of, or to doubt their efficiency, would be to state that, after +having traversed without hindrance, without either danger or difficulty, +so large a portion of the European continent, we arrived at our +destination still in possession of as much force as, had we wished it, +might have carried us round the whole world." + + + +Chapter IX. The "Geant" Balloon. + +Not a few of our readers will remember the ascent of Nadar's colossal +balloon from Paris, on Sunday, the 18th of October, 1863. This balloon +was remarkable as having attached to it a regular two-story house for a +car. Its ascent was witnessed by nearly half a million of persons. The +balloon, after passing over the eastern part of France, Belgium, and +Holland, suffered a disastrous descent in Hanover the day after it +started on its perilous journey. It was a fool-hardy enterprise to +construct such a gigantic and unmanageable balloon, presenting such an +immense surface to the atmosphere, and being so susceptible to adverse +aerial currents as to become the helpless prey of the elements; and it +was still more fool-hardy to place the lives of its passengers at the +mercy of such terrible and ungovernable forces. A large section of the +public laboured under the delusion that Nadar's balloon was one capable +of being steered. In reality, however, the 'Geant' was unquestionably +the most rebellious and unruly specimen of its class that has been made +since the days of Montgolfier. The object in view when this formidable +monster was designed and constructed was to create the means to collect +sufficient funds to form a "Free Association for Aerial Navigation +by means of MACHINES HEAVIER THAN AIR," and for the construction of +machines on this principle. The receipts from the exhibition of the +"Geant" were intended to form the first capital of the association. The +hopes, however, of the promoters have not been realised in this respect; +for while the expenses of the construction of the balloon have amounted, +directly and indirectly, to the sum of L8,300, its two ascents in Paris +and its exhibition in London produced only L3,300. + +Space forbids us to enter at length on the various stages of the idea of +aerial navigation by means of an apparatus heavier than the atmosphere. +The idea is not, however, by any means so absurd as it appears at first +sight. Those who, like Arago, declare that the word "impossible" +does not exist, except in the higher mathematics, and those who look +hopefully to the future instead of resting content with the past, will +join in applauding the spirit which dictated the manifesto of aerial +locomotion to the founder of the association which we are about to +describe. M. Babinet, speaking on this subject before the French +Polytechnic Association, said: "It is absurd to talk of guiding +balloons. How will you set about it? How is it possible that a +balloon--say, for instance, like the Flesselles, whose diameter measures +120 feet--can resist and manoeuvre against opposing winds or currents +of air? It would require a power equal to 400 horses for the sails of a +ship to struggle on equal terms with the wind. Suppose an impossibility, +namely, that a balloon could carry with it a force equal to 400 +horse-power; this result would be of little use, for under the immense +weight the fragile covering of the balloon would instantly collapse. If +all the horses of a regiment were harnessed to the car of a balloon by +means of a long rope, the result would be that the balloon would fly +into shivers, being too fragile to withstand these two opposing forces. +Man must seek to raise himself in the air by another mode of operation +altogether, if he wish to guide himself at the same time. Some time +ago I bought a play thing, very much in vogue at that time, called a +Stropheor. This toy was composed of a small rotating screw propeller, +which revolved on its own support when the piece of string wound round +it was pulled sharply. The screw was rather heavy, weighing nearly a +quarter of a pound, and the wings were of tin, very broad and thick. +This machine, however, was rather too eccentric for parlour use, for its +flight was so violent that it was continually breaking the pier glass, +if there was one in the room; and, failing this, it next attacked the +windows. The ascending force of this machine is so great that I have +seen one of them fly over Antwerp Cathedral, which is one of the highest +edifices in the world. The air from underneath the machine is exhausted +by the action of the screw, which, passing under the wings, causes a +vacuum, while the air above it replenishes and fills this void, and +under the influence of these two causes the apparatus mounts from the +earth. But the problem is not solved by means of this plaything, whose +motive power is exterior to it. Messrs. Nadar, Ponton, D'Amecourt, and +De la Landelle teach us better than this, although the wings of their +different models are entirely unworthy of men who desire to demonstrate +a truth to short-lived mortals. We have only arrived as yet at the +infancy of the process, but we have made a good beginning, for, having +once proved that a machine capable of raising itself in the air, wholly +unaided from without, can be made, we have overcome with this apparently +small result the whole difficulty. The principle of propulsion by means +of a screw is by no means a novelty. It was first utilised in windmills, +whose sails are nothing more nor less than an immense screw which is +turned by the action of the wind on its surface. In the case of turbine +water-wheels, where perhaps 970 cubic feet of water are utilised by +means of a mechanism not larger than a hat, we see another illustration +of it, with this difference, that water takes the place of wind as the +motive power. + +"The aerial screw is beset with great difficulties, but if we can +succeed through its agency in raising even the smallest weight, we may +be confident of being able to raise a heavier one, for a large machine +is always more powerful in proportion to its size than a small one. + +"Mlle. Garnerin once made a bet that she would guide herself in her +descent from a considerable altitude towards a fixed spot on the earth +at some distance, with no other help than the parachute; and she was +really able to guide herself to within a few feet of the specified spot, +by simply altering the inclination of the parachute. + +"From observations in mountainous districts, where large birds of prey +may be seen to the best advantage hovering with outstretched wings, I +have come to the conclusion that they first of all attain the requisite +height and then, extending their wings in the form of a parachute, +let themselves glide gradually towards the desired spot. Marshal Niel +confirms this opinion by his experience in the mountains of Algeria. +It is, therefore, clear from these examples that we should possess the +power of transporting ourselves from place to place if we could only +discover a means of raising a weight perpendicularly in the air, which +would then act as a capital of power, only requiring to be expended at +will." + +From the foregoing remarks we may gather an idea of the importance which +may be attached to aerial locomotion notwithstanding the successive +failures of all those who have hitherto taken up the subject. We come +now to the description of the memorable ascent of the 'Geant.' + +We learn from the very interesting account of the 'Geant,' published at +the time, all the mishaps and adventures it outlived from the time of +the first stitch in its covering to its final inflation with gas. We +must, however, be content to take up the narrative at the point at which +the 'Geant,' with thirteen passengers on board, had, in obedience to +the order to "let go," been released from the bonds which held it to +the earth. The narrative is, as our readers will perceive, written in +somewhat exaggerated language:-- + +"The 'Geant' gave an almost imperceptible shake on finding itself +free, and then commenced to rise. The ascent was slow and gradual at +first--the monster seemed to be feeling its way. An immense shout rose +with it from the assembled multitude. We ascended grandly, whilst the +deafening clamour of two hundred thousand voices seemed to increase. +We leant over the edge of the car, and gazed at the thousands of faces +which were turned towards us from every point of the vast plain, in +every conceivable angle of which we were the common apex. We still +ascended. The summits of the double row of trees which surround the +Champ de Mars were already under us. We reached the level of the cupola +of the Military School. The tremendous uproar still reached us. We +glided over Paris in an easterly direction, at the height of about six +hundred feet. Every one took up the best possible position on the six +light cane stools, and on the two long bunks at either end of the car, +and contemplated the marvellous panorama spread out under us, of which +we never grew weary. + +"There is never any dizziness in a balloon, as is often erroneously +supposed, for in it you are the only point in space without any +possibility of comparison with another, and therefore the means of +becoming giddy are not at hand." + +A very experienced aeronaut, who numbers his ascents by hundreds, has +assured me that he never knew of a single case of dizziness. + +"The earth seems to unfold itself to our view like an immense and +variegated map, the predominant colour of which is green in all its +shades and tints. The irregular division of the country into fields made +it resemble a patchwork counterpane. The size of the houses, churches, +fortresses, was so considerably diminished as to make them resemble +nothing so much as those playthings manufactured at Carlsruhe. This was +the effect produced by a microscopic train, which whistled very faintly +to attract our attention, and which seemed to creep along at a snail's +pace, though doubtless going at the rate of thirty miles an hour, and +was enveloped in a minute cloud of smoke. What a lasting impression this +microscopic neatness makes on us! What is that white puff I see down +there? the smoke of a cigar? No: it is a cloud of mist. It must be a +perfect plain that we are looking at, for we cannot distinguish between +the different altitudes of a bramble-bush and an oak a hundred years +old! + +"It is one of the delights of an aeronaut to gaze on the familiar scenes +of earth from the immense height of the car of a balloon! What earthly +pleasure can compare with this! Free, calm, silent, roving through this +immense and hospitable space, where no human form can harm me, I despise +every evil power; I can feel the pleasure of existence for the first +time, for I am in full possession, as on no other occasion, of perfect +health of mind and body. The aeronauts of the 'Geant' will scarcely +condescend to pity those miserable mortals whom they can only faintly +recognise by their gigantic works, which appear to them not more +dignified than ant-hills! + +"The sun had already set behind the purple horizon in our rear. The +atmosphere was still quite clear round the 'Geant,' although there was +a thick haze underneath, through which we could occasionally see lights +glimmering from the earth. We had attained a sufficient altitude to be +only just able to hear noises from villages that we left beneath us, and +were beginning to enjoy the delicious calm and repose peculiar to aerial +ascents. + +"There is, however, a talk about dinner, or rather supper, and night is +now fast approaching. Every one eats with the best possible appetite. +Hams, fowls and dessert only appear to disappear with an equal +promptitude, and we quench our thirst with bordeaux and champagne. I +remind our companions of the pigeons we brought with us, and which are +hanging in a cage outside the railing. I knew there was no danger of +their flying away, so fearlessly opened the cage. The three or four +birds I had put in the car seemed struck with terror. They flew +awkwardly towards the centre of our party, tumbling among the plates and +dishes and under our feet. It was not a case of hunger with them, and I +ought to have remembered that their feeding time was long since past. I +replaced them in their cage. + +"Meanwhile, the sun has left us for some time. Our longing gaze followed +it behind the dark clouds in the horizon, whose edges it tipped with a +glorious purple. Its last rays shone on us, and then came a bluish-grey +twilight. Suddenly we are enveloped in a dense fog. We look around, +above us. Everything has disappeared in the mist. The balloon itself is +no longer visible. We can see nothing except the ropes which suspend +us, and these are only visible for a few feet above our heads, when they +lose themselves in the fog. We are alone with our wickerwork house in an +unfathomable vault. + +"We still ascend, however, through the compact and terrible fog, which +is so solid-looking as to seem capable of being carved into forms with +a knife. As we were without a moon, and had no light at all, in fact, +we were unable to distinguish nicely the different shades of colour in +these thick clouds. Now and then, when the clouds seemed to be +lighter, they had a bluish tinge; but the thicker ones were dirty and +muddy-looking. Dante must have seen some like these. + +"Water trickled down our faces, hands, and clothes, and the ropes and +sides of our car. + +"The water did not fall in rain-drops or in flakes, as it sometimes +does in the tropics; but we were as completely saturated by this heavy, +penetrating mist as if we had been under a waterfall. We still continued +to traverse these rainy regions. The thick fog which the balloon +dislodged in forcing a passage closed immediately after it. At one +moment I thought I felt something press against my cheek, which could +only be compared to the points of a thousand needles, or to floating +particles of ice. We were all of us too much absorbed with our situation +to think of the hour or of the height to which we had attained. Suddenly +the Prince of Wittgenstein, who was standing at my left hand, cried out +under his breath-- + +"'Look at the balloon, sir! look at the balloon!' + +"I raised my eyes, in company with several others, and shall never +forget the magnificent sight which awaited them. I saw the balloon, +for which I had been searching in vain a few minutes before. It had +undergone a transformation. It looked now as if coated with silver, +and floating in a pale phosphorescent glimmer. All the ropes and cords +seemed to be of new, bright, and liquid silver, like mercury, caused +by the mist which had rested on them becoming suddenly congealed. Two +luminous arcs intervened between us, in a sea of mother-of-pearl and +opal, the lower one being the colour of red ochre and the upper one +orange. Both of them, blinding in their brilliancy, seemed about to +embrace one another. + +"'How far are they off?' thought I to myself. 'Can I touch them with +my hand, or are they separated from me by an immense space?' We are not +capable of forming ideas of perspective, floating as we are in the midst +of such a glimmering splendour. + +"Above and around us are nothing but thick fogs and enormous black +clouds, whose ragged edges and backs are relieved by a pale silver +coating. They undulate ceaselessly to and fro, and either usurp +quietly the place of others, or disappear only to be superseded by more +formidable ones. But the last ray of reflected light has died out, and +we plunge into this chaos of dreadful forms. Monsters seem to wish to +approach us, and to envelop us in their dark embraces. One of them, on +my right hand, looks like a deformed human arm in a menacing attitude, +writhing its jagged top like a blind serpent feeling its way. The vague +monster has disappeared; but the momentary splendour being followed +by the original gloom, we plunge once more into a darkness that can be +felt. + +"The water which had collected on the balloon during its ascent now +began to take effect, and caused it to descend with such rapidity into +the dark abyss that the ballast, which was immediately thrown overboard, +was overtaken in its descent and fell on our heads again. + +"I hear exclamations and voices near me. My companions are evidently +agitated, and with good reason, too; for the lights which we could see a +long way below us approach with terrible rapidity. We reached the earth +rather quicker than we left it. + +"Suddenly we feel a dreadful shock, followed by ominous crackings. The +car has grounded. The 'Geant' has made its descent. But in what part of +the habitable globe, and under what zone? At Meaux!" + +To employ an expression of M. Nadar's it seems that these gentlemen +never before experienced such a "knock-down blow." + +After all these preparations, all this trouble, all the energy employed +in the undertaking--sufficient, indeed, wherewith to attempt to cross +the Atlantic--to "descend at Meaux!" + +The 'Geant,' however, had its revenge. Its second ascent gave it this +revenge. We shall be as brief as possible in relating this voyage; but +the details are all so very interesting that we regret extremely our +being unable to give more than extracts from the narrative. + +Our travellers committed themselves again to the mercy of the air. +The Emperor, following the example of a former King of France, took +considerable interest in the construction of this aerial monster, and +wished the aeronaut "Bon voyage" at starting. The passengers endeavoured +to pass the night as comfortably as possible, having first instituted a +four hours' watch, as on board ship. + +The aerial vessel glided rapidly through the air. "We repeatedly," said +Nadar, "passed over some manufacturing centre, whose lights were not yet +extinguished. I either hailed them with my speaking-trumpet or rang our +two bells. Sometimes we received a reply from below, in the shape of a +shout, for, although we still had no moon, the night was occasionally +clear enough for people to distinguish us; and sometimes we heard a peal +of laughter from out of the atmosphere in which we were travelling. It +was another party of aeronauts in a smaller balloon, who left at the +same time as we did, and who would persist in keeping the 'Geant' +company. We are passing over a small town; we hear the usual shouting +and the report of a gun. Our first thoughts are--Was it loaded with shot +or ball? The inhuman brute who fired will say, 'Certainly not;' but as +balloons have often been damaged in this way, we may be confident there +was more than powder in this one. It would be satisfactory, at any rate, +if the name of the person could be ascertained who favoured us with this +welcome. But it is rather late to make inquiries on this subject. It was +between a quarter and half-past nine o'clock when this occurred. 'The +sea!' cried Jules; 'look at the revolving lights of the lighthouses. +There: one has just disappeared: it will flash out again in a +moment!' But what is this? Before us, as far as our eyes can reach, +we distinguish faint lights, which in this case are neither lamps nor +torches. As we continue to draw nearer we get a better view of these +numerous, violent, and smoking furnaces. Loud and ringing sounds strike +on our ear at the same time. Am I right in my conjectures? Is this not +that splendid country I love more than ever now? It must be Erquelines! +And the dignified Custom-house official, had it been possible, would +have added thereto 'Belgium!' + +"We still continue to pass over fires, forges, tall chimneys, and coal +mines at frequent intervals. Not long after we distinguish a large town +on our right hand, which, by its size and brilliant lighting by gas, +we recognise as Brussels. There could be no mistake, for close by, more +modest in size and appearance, we see Catholic Malines. We have left it +behind us. + +"Onward! Onward! Behind us the fires fade gradually away, and disappear +one after another. Before us nothing at present visible. We seemed to +drift on for about one hundred or one hundred and fifty yards more. We +cannot distinguish a single point in front of us on which to fix our +gaze. But we still continue our course in silence. + +"This mournful darkness, this endless shroud, in which we can discover +neither rent nor spangle, still continues. Where are we? Over what +strange country, possessing neither cities, towns, nor villages, are +we hovering in the tomb-like silence of this interminable darkness? We +seem, indeed, to have been carried by a puff of wind towards the west. + +"But something seems to approach us. What are those pale rays of light +which we can faintly see a long, long way before us--rays pale and soft, +quite unlike those flaming fires we have left behind us? Surely these +do not denote the presence of human activity! As we continue to advance, +these pale flakes of light--resembling nothing so much in appearance as +molten lead--which at first were scanty and isolated, gradually expand, +and leave only narrow strips of darkness to divide them into fantastic +shapes. By their help we discovered we were passing over the immense +marshes of Holland, which extended to and lost themselves in the hazy +horizon. On our right hand we hear a deep moan, still distant, but +rapidly approaching every moment. It is undoubtedly the rushing of the +wind. A fresh breeze for five minutes would bring us to the sea. + +"We experienced another shock not less formidable than the first. The +'Geant' is trembling from its effects. The cable of our first anchor +has just broken like a piece of thread. We could not hope for a better +result. The violence of the wind which is carrying us along seems to be +redoubled. A bump: another and another--then shock after shock. + +"'The second dead men!' + +"Our swift pace was shock after shock. + +"'The anchor is lost,' cries Jules; 'we are all dead men! + +"This truth is too palpable to all of us to require expressing in so +many words, for we are just commencing that furious, tearing course +called 'trailing.' + +"Our swift pace was considerably accelerated by the lower part of +the balloon, which--limp, empty, and forming nearly a third of the +whole--had been set free at the first shock, and flapped against the +distended part, acting as a sail. The shocks continued to multiply so +fast that it was impossible to count them. The car continued to rebound +from these shocks to the height of five, ten, sometimes thirty, forty, +and even fifty feet, for all the world like an India-rubber ball from +the hands of an indefatigable player. Unfortunately, all our human +freight, terror stricken and without advice, had crowded into one side +of the car; and as this happened to be the side on which we invariably +bumped, we experienced all the worst effects of the joltings. + +"What a dizzy whirl! What a succession of breathless shocks! What a +strain on both muscles and nerves! By the least negligence or slip, +or by the loss of presence of mind for one moment, we should have been +thrown out and dashed to atoms. + +"Every collision tries our muscles and strains our wrists or our +shoulders; and every rebound dashes us one against the other, +constituting each individual a tormentor and victim at the same time. +Our flight is so rapid that we can only distinguish an occasional +glimpse of anything. Far, far in the distance we distinguish an isolated +tree. We approach it like lightning, and we break it as though it were a +straw. + +"Two terrified horses, with manes and tails erect, endeavour to fly from +us. But we consume distances; we leave them behind immediately. We skip +over a flock of affrighted sheep in one of our bounds. But now comes the +real danger. + +"At this moment, when we were perfectly benumbed with fear, and had lost +all power of articulation, we saw a locomotive, drawing two carriages, +running along an embankment at right angles to our course. A few more +revolutions of the wheels, and it will be all over with us, for we seem +to be fated to meet with geometrical precision at one spot! + +"What will happen? + +"Travelling at our present hurricane pace, we shall undoubtedly lift +up and overturn the machine and what it is drawing. But shall we not be +crushed ourselves? A few paces still intervene between us and our foe, +and we give vent to a shout of terror. + +"It is heard, and the locomotive answers it by a whistle, then slackens +its pace, and after seeming to hesitate an instant backs quickly and +only just in time to give us a free passage, whilst the driver, waving +his cap, salutes us with-- + +"'Look out for the wires!' + +"The caution was well timed, for we had not noticed the four telegraph +wires which we rapidly approached. We energetically ducked our heads on +seeing them, but fortunately we escaped any more damage than having two +or three of our ropes cut. These we continued to drag after us like the +tail of a ragged comet, having the telegraph-wires and the posts which +lately supported them attached to us." + +After having been dragged thus for some time at the mercy of a hurricane +which they ought to have been able to avoid, these aerial navigators at +last got entangled in the outskirts of a wood near Rethem, in Hanover. +A few broken arms and legs paid for their temerity in meddling with this +monster, and one and all of the passengers have reason to be thankful +that it will be unnecessary for us to proclaim their virtues and their +fate in our next chapter. + + + +Chapter X. The Necrology of Aeronautic + +We will conclude this second part by giving a brief notice of some +of those who, in the early days of aerostation, fell martyrs to their +devotion to the new cause, and sometimes victims to their own want of +foresight and their inexperience. + +First among these is Pilatre des Roziers, with whose courage and +ingenuity our readers are already familiar. After the passage of +Blanchard from England over to France this hero, who was the first to +trust himself to the wide space of the sky, resolved to undertake the +return voyage from France to England--a more difficult feat, owing to +the generally adverse character of the winds and currents. In vain did +Roziers' friends attempt to make him understand the perils to which this +enterprise must expose him; his only reply was that he had discovered +a new balloon which united in itself all the necessary conditions of +security, and would permit the voyager to remain an unusually long time +in the air. He asked and obtained from government the sum of 40,000 +livres, in order to construct his machine. It then became clear what +sort of balloon he had contrived. He united in one machine the two modes +previously made use of in aerostation. Underneath a balloon filled with +hydrogen gas, he suspended a Montgolfiere, or a balloon filled with +hot air from a fire. It is difficult to understand what was his precise +object in making this combination, for his ideas seem to have been +confused upon the subject. It is probable that, by the addition of a +Montgolfiere, he wished to free himself from the necessity of having to +throw over ballast when he wished to ascend and to let off this gas when +he wished to descend. The fire of the Montgolfiere might, he probably +supposed, be so regulated as to enable him to rise or fall at will. + +This mixed system has been justly blamed. It was simply "putting fire +beside powder," said Professor Charles to Roziers; but the latter would +not listen, and depended for everything on his own intrepidity and +scientific skill of which he had already given so many proofs. There +were, perhaps, other reasons for his unyielding obstinacy. The court +that had furnished him with the funds for the construction of the +balloon pressed him, and he himself was most ambitious to equal the +achievement of Blanchard, who was the first to cross the Channel, on the +7th of January, 1785. + +The fact was that at this time the prevailing fear in France was, that +Great Britain should bear off all the honours and profits of aerostation +before any of these had been won by France. It was thus that with an +untried machine, and under conditions the most unfavourable for his +enterprise, Roziers prepared to risk his life in this undertaking, which +was equally dangerous and useless. + +The double balloon was alternately inflated and emptied. While under +cover it was assailed by the rats that gnawed holes in it, and when +brought out of its place it was exposed to the tempests, so that the +longer the experiment was delayed, the worse chance there was of +getting through it successfully. At length Roziers went to Boulogne, and +announced the day of his departure; but, as if by a special Providence, +his attempt was delayed by unfavourable weather. For many weeks in +succession the little trial balloons thrown up to show the course of the +wind were driven back upon the shores of France. During all these trials +the impatient Roziers continued to chafe and torment himself. + +At last, on the 13th and 14th of June, 1785, the Aero-Montgolfiere +remained inflated, waiting a favourable moment for departure. On the +15th at four in the morning, a little pilot balloon that had been +thrown up fell back on the spot from which it had been thrown free, thus +showing that there was no wind. Seven hours later Roziers, accompanied +by his brother Romain, one of the constructors of the balloon, appeared +in the gallery. A nobleman present threw a purse of 200 louis into the +car, and was preparing to follow it and join in the adventure. Roziers +forbade him to enter, gently but firmly. + +"The experiment is too unsafe," he said, "for me to expose to danger the +life of another." + +"Finally," says a narrative of the time, "the Aero-Montgolfiere rose in +an imposing manner. The sound of cannon signalised the departure, the +voyagers saluted the crowd, who responded with loud shouts. The balloon +advanced until it began to traverse the sea, and every one with eyes +fixed upon the fragile machine, regarded it with fear. It had traversed +upwards of a league of its journey, and had reached the height of 700 +feet above sea level, when a wind from the west drove it back toward the +shore, after having been twenty-seven minutes in the air. + +"At this moment the crowd beneath perceived that the voyagers were +showing signs of alarm. They seemed suddenly to lower the grating of the +Montgolfiere. But it was too late. A violet flame appeared at the top +of the balloon, then spread over the whole globe, and enveloped the +Montgolfiere and the voyagers. "The unfortunate men were suddenly +precipitated from the clouds to the earth, in front of the Tour de Croy, +upwards of a league from Boulogne, and 300 feet from the sea beach. + +"The dead body of Roziers was found burnt in the gallery, many of the +bones being broken. His brother was still breathing, but he was not able +to speak, and in a few minutes he expired." + +De Maisonfort, who, against his own will, was left on the earth, was +witness of this sad event. He has given the following explanation of +it:-- + +"Some minutes after their departure the voyagers were assailed by +contrary winds, which drove them back again upon the land. It is +probable that then, in order to descend and seek a more favourable +current of air, which would take them out again to sea, Roziers opened +the valve of the gas balloon; but the cord attached to this valve +was very long, it worked with difficulty, and the friction which it +occasioned tore the valve. The stuff of the balloon, which had suffered +much from many preliminary attempts, and from other causes, was torn to +the extent of several yards, and the valve fell down inside the balloon, +which at once emptied itself." + +According to this narrative, there was no conflagration of the gas in +the middle of the atmosphere, nor is it stated precisely whether the +grating of the Montgolfiere was lighted. + +Maisonfort ran to the spot when the travellers fell, found them covered +with the cloth of the balloon, and occupying the same positions which +they had taken up on departing. + +By a sad chance, that seems like irony, they were thrown down only a few +paces from the monument which marks the spot where Blanchard descended. +At the present day Frenchmen going to England via Calais do not fail to +visit at the forest of Guines the monument consecrated to the expedition +of Blanchard. A few paces from this monument the cicerone will point out +with his finger the spot where his rivals expired. + +"Such was the end of the first of aeronauts, and the most courageous of +men," says a contemporaneous historian. "He died a martyr to honour and +to zeal. His kindness, amiability, and modesty endeared him to all who +knew him. She who was dearest to him--a young English lady, who boarded +at a convent at Boulogne, and whom he had first met only a few days +prior to his last ascent--could not support the news of his death. +Horrible convulsions seized her and she expired, it is said, eight days +after the dreadful catastrophe. Roziers died at the age of twenty-eight +and a half years." + +Olivari perished at Orleans on the 25th of November, 1802. He had +ascended in a Montgolfiere made of paper, strengthened only by some +bands of cloth. His car, made of osiers, and loaded with combustible +matter, was suspended below the grating; and when at a great elevation +it became the prey of the flames. The aeronaut, thus deprived of his +support, fell, at the distance of a league from the spot from which he +had risen. + +Mosment made his last ascent at Lille on the 7th of April, 1806. His +balloon was made of silk, and was filled with hydrogen gas. Ten minutes +after his departure he threw into the air a parachute with which he had +provided himself. It is supposed that the oscillations consequent on the +throwing off of the parachute were the cause of they aeronaut's fall. +Some pretend that Mosment had foretold his death, and that it was caused +by a willful carelessness. However this may be, the balloon continued +its flight alone, and the body of the aeronaut was found partly buried +in the sand of the fosse which surrounds the town. + +Bittorff made a great many successful ascents. He never used any machine +but the Montgolfiere. At Manheim, on the 17th of July, the day of his +death his balloon, which was of paper, sixteen metres in diameter, and +twenty in height, took fire in the air, and the aeronaut was thrown down +upon the town. His fall was mortal. + +Harris, an old officer of the English navy, together with another +English aeronaut, named Graham, had made a great many ascents. He +conceived the idea of constructing a balloon upon an original plan; but +his alterations do not seem to have been improvements. In May, 1824, he +attempted an ascent from London, which had much apparent success, but +which terminated fatally. When at a great elevation, it seems, the +aeronaut, wishing to descend, opened the valve. It had not been well +constructed, and after being opened it would not close again. The +consequent loss of gas brought the balloon down with great force. Harris +lost his life with the fall; but the young lady who had accompanied him +received only a trifling wound. + +Sadler, a celebrated English aeronaut, who, in one of his many +experiments, had crossed the Irish Channel between Dublin and Holyhead, +lost his life miserably near Bolton, on the 28th of September, 1824. +Deprived of his ballast, in consequence of his long sojourn in the air, +and forced at last to descend, at a late hour, upon a number of high +buildings, the wind drove him violently against a chimney. The force of +the shock threw him out of his car, and he fell to the earth and died. +His prudence and knowledge were unquestionable, and his death is to be +ascribed alone to accident. It was an aerial shipwreck. + +Cocking had gone up twice in Mr. Green's balloon as a simple amateur. +He took it into his head to go up a third time. He wished to attempt a +descent in a parachute of his own construction, which he believed was +vastly superior to the ordinary one. He altered the form altogether, +though that form had been proved to be satisfactory. In place of a +concave surface, supporting itself on a volume of air, Cocking used +an inverted cone, of an elaborate construction, which, instead of +supporting him in the air, only accelerated his fall. Unhappily, Green +participated in this experiment. The two made an ascent from Vauxhall, +on the 27th of September, 1836, Green having suspended Cocking's +wretched contrivance from the car of his balloon. Cocking held on by a +rope, and at the height of from 1,000 to 1,200 feet the amateur, +with his patent parachute, were thrown off from the balloon. A moment +afterwards Green was soaring away safely in his machine, but Cocking was +launched into eternity. + +"The descent was so rapid," says one who witnessed it, "that the mean +rate of the fall was not less than twenty yards a second. In less than a +minute and a half the unfortunate aeronaut was thrown to the earth, and +killed by the fall." + +Madame Blanchard, thinking to improve upon Garnerin, who had decorated +the balloon which ascended in celebration of the coronation of Napoleon +I. with coloured lights, fixed fireworks instead to hers. A wire rope +ten yards long was suspended to her car; at the bottom of this wire +rope was suspended a broad disc of wood, around which the fireworks were +ranged. These consisted of Bengal and coloured lights. On the 6th +of July, 1819, there was a great fete at Tivoli, and a multitude had +assembled around the balloon of Madame Blanchard. Cannon gave the signal +of departure, and soon the fireworks began to show themselves. The +balloon rose splendidly, to the sound of music and the shoutings of the +people. A rain of gold and thousands of stars fell from the car as +it ascended. A moment of calm succeeded, and then to the eyes of the +spectators, still fixed on the balloon, an unexpected light appeared. +This light did not come from under the balloon, where the crown of +fireworks was already extinguished, but shone in the car itself. It +was evident that the lady aeronaut, although now so high above the +spectators, was busy about something. The light increased, then +disappeared suddenly; then appeared again, and showed itself finally at +the summit of the balloon, in the form of an immense jet of gas. The +gas with which the balloon was inflated had taken fire, and the terrible +glare which the light threw around was perceived from the boulevards, +and all the Quartier Montmartre. + +It was at this moment--a frightful one for those who perceived what had +taken place--that a general sentiment of satisfaction and admiration +among the spectators found vent in cries of "Brava! Vive Madame +Blanchard!" &c. The people thought the lady was giving them an +unexpected treat. Meantime, by the light of the flame, the balloon was +seen gradually to descend. It disappeared when it reached the houses, +like a passing meteor, or a train of fire which a blast of wind suddenly +extinguishes. A number of workmen and other persons, who had perceived +that some accident had taken place, ran in the direction in which the +balloon appeared to descend. They arrived at a house in the Rue de +Provence. On the roof of this house the balloon had fallen, and the +unfortunate Madame Blanchard, thrown out of the car by the shock, was +killed by her fall to the earth. + +This news spread rapidly from Tivoli, where it occasioned a stupefying +surprise. It was the first time that a fall of the kind had taken place +from the sky at Paris. Fireworks were from this time discontinued, the +fete came to an end, and a subscription was rapidly organised, producing +some thousands of francs, which shortly afterwards were employed in +erecting a monument to the lady, which is now to be seen in the cemetery +of Pere-la-Chaise. + +Madame Blanchard had wished to surpass the ordinary spectacle of an +aerial ascent; she had really prepared a SURPRISE for the spectators. +She had prepared and she took with her a small parachute of about +two yards in diameter. After the extinction of the crown or star of +fireworks, she intended to throw this little parachute loose; and as it +was terminated by another supply of fireworks, it was supposed that the +effect would be as beautiful as surprising. + +The unhappy lady was small in stature, and very light, and unfortunately +made use of a very small balloon. That of the 6th of July, 1819, was +only seven metres in diameter; and to make it ascend with the weight +it carried it had to be filled to the neck with inflammable air. In +quitting the earth some of this gas escaped, and rising above the +balloon, formed a train like one of powder, which would certainly flash +into a blaze the moment it came in contact with the fire. But on this +day it was she who with her own hand fired this train. At the moment +when, detaching the little parachute from her car, she took the light +for the fireworks in her other hand, she crossed this train with the +light and set it on fire. Then the brave woman, throwing away the +parachute and the match, strove to close the mouth of the balloon, and +to stifle the fire. These efforts being unavailing, Madame Blanchard was +distinctly seen to sit down in her car and await her fate. + +The burning of the hydrogen lasted several minutes, during which time +the balloon gradually descended. Had it not been that it struck on the +roof of the house Madame Blanchard would have been saved. At the moment +of the shock she was heard to cry out, "A moi." These were her last +words. The car, going along the roof of the house, was caught by an +iron bar and overturned, and the lady was thrown head foremost upon the +pavement. + +When she reached the ground she immediately expired. Her head and +shoulders were slightly burnt, otherwise she exhibited no marks of the +fire which had destroyed the balloon. + + + + +PART III. Scientific Experiments--Applications of Ballooning. + + + +Chapter I. Experiments of Robertson, Lhoest, Saccarof, &c. + +Robertson is regarded by many as a sort of mountebank; yet such men as +Arago have put themselves to the trouble of examining the aerostatic +feats of this aeronaut, and of examining the results of his +observations. + +"The savant Robertson," says Arago, "performed at Hamburg on the 18th +of July, 1803, with his countryman, Lhoest, the first aeronautic voyage +from which science has been able to draw useful deductions. The two +aeronauts remained suspended in the air during five hours, and came +down near Hanover, twenty-five leagues from the spot from which they set +off." + +The first time that Robertson appears in the annals of aerostation is in +1802, on the occasion of the sale of the balloon used at the battle +of Fleurus, of which mention will be made in the chapter on military +aerostation. But three years previously he had been instructed to make +a balloon of an original form, which should ascend in honour of the +Turkish ambassador at the garden of Tivoli. The fete was completely +successful. Turks, Chinese, Persians, and Bedouins will always be +welcome, as on this occasion, at Paris, appearing as they do only at +rare intervals, and for a short time. + +The fete took place on the 2nd of July. Robertson presented himself at +the house of Esseid-Ali, to obtain his autograph. The Turkish ambassador +willingly granted the request, and wrote his name in letters, each of +which was two inches in height, on a sheet of paper. He then offered the +aeronaut coffee and comfits, and promised to be present to witness the +balloon ascent. His name was painted in large characters on a balloon +fifteen feet in diameter, and on the form of which was the figure of a +crescent. The experiment delighted the ambassador, and was well received +by the public. + +Jacques Garnerin, when he came to make his debut as an aeronaut, made an +attempt with the parachute, the following August, at the garden of the +Hotel de Biron. The ambassador was asked to honour the fete, but he +declined, saying that he had "made up his mind that man was not intended +for flying--Mahomet had not so willed it." + +Of one of Robertson's more interesting ascents he himself has left us +the following sketch:-- + +"I rose in the balloon at nine a.m., accompanied by my fellow-student +and countryman, M. Lhoest. We had 140 lbs. of ballast. The barometer +marked twenty-eight inches; the thermometer sixteen degrees Reaumur. In +spite of some slight wind from the north-west, the balloon mounted so +perpendicularly that in all the streets each of the spectators believed +we were mounting straight up above his head. In order to quicken our +ascent I discharged a parachute made of silk, and weighted in a way to +prevent oscillations. The parachute descended at the rate of two feet +per second, and its descent was uniform. From the moment when the +barometer began to sink we became very careful of our ballast, as we +wished to test from experience the different temperatures through which +we were about to pass. + +"At 10.15, the barometer was at nineteen inches, and the thermometer +at three above zero. We now felt all the inconvenience of an extremely +rarefied atmosphere coming upon us, and we commenced to arrange some +experiments in atmospheric electricity. Our first attempts did not +succeed. We threw over part of our ballast, and mounted up till the +cold and the rarefaction of the air became very troublesome. During +our experiments we experienced an illness throughout our whole system. +Buzzing in the cars commenced, and went on increasing. The pain we felt +was like that which one feels when he plunges his head in water. Our +chests seemed to be dilated, and failed in elasticity. My pulse was +quickened, M. Lhoest's became slower; he had, like me, swelled lips and +bleeding eyes; the veins seemed to come out more strongly on the hands. +The blood ran to the head, and occasioned a feeling as if our hats were +too tight. The thermometer continued to descend, and, as we ascended, +our illness increased, and we could with difficulty keep awake. Fearing +that my travelling companion might go to sleep, I attached a cord to my +thigh and to his, and we held the extremities of the cord in our hands. +Thus trammelled, we had to commence the experiments which I had proposed +to make. + +"At this elevation, the glass, the brimstone, and the Spanish wax were +not electrified in a manner to show any signs under friction--at least, +I obtained no electricity from the conductors or the electrometer. + +"I had in my car a voltaic pile, consisting of sixty couples--silver +and zinc. It worked very well on the occasion of our departure from the +earth, and gave, without the condenser, one degree to the electrometer. +At our great elevation, the pile gave only five-sixths of a degree to +the same electrometer. The galvanic flame seemed more active at this +elevation than on the earth. + +"I took two birds with me on coming into the balloon--one of these was +now dead, the other appeared stupefied. After having placed it upon the +brink of the gondola, I tried to frighten it to make it take to flight. +It moved its wings, but did not leave the spot; then I left it to +itself, and it fell perpendicularly and with great rapidity. Birds are +certainly not able to maintain themselves at such elevations. + +"It is notable that the atmosphere, which was of a perfect purity near +the earth, was grey and misty above our heads, and the beautiful blue +sky seen from the surface did not exist for us, although the weather was +calm and serene, and the day the most beautiful that could be. The sun +did not seem dazzling to us, and its heat was diminished owing to our +elevation. + +"At half-past eleven, the balloon was no longer visible from Hamburg. +The heavens were so pure beneath us that everything was distinctly seen +by us, though very much diminished by distance. At 11.40, the town of +Hamburg seemed only a red point in our eyes; the Elbe looked like +a straight ribbon. I wished to make use of an opera-glass, but what +surprised me was that when I lifted it up it was so cold that I had to +wrap my handkerchief around it to enable me to hold it. + +"Not being able to support our position any longer, we descended, after +having used up much gas and ballast. Our descent caused that degree +of terror among the inhabitants which the size of our balloon was +calculated to inspire in a country where such machines had never before +been seen. We descended above a poor village called Radenburg, a place +amid the heaths of Hanover. Our appearance caused great alarm, and even +the beasts of the field fled from us. + +"While our balloon rapidly approached the earth, we waved our hats and +flags, and shouted to the inhabitants, but our voices only increased +their terror. The villagers rushed away with cries of terror, leaving +their herds, whose bellowings increased the general alarm. When the +balloon touched the ground, every man had shut himself up in his own +house. Having appealed in vain, and fearing that the villagers might do +us some injury, we resolved to re-ascend. + +"In making this second ascent, we threw over all our ballast; but in +this we were imprudent, for after sailing about at a great height, and +having lost much gas, I perceived that our descent would be very +rapid, and to provide against accident, I gathered together all the +instruments, the bread, the ropes, and even such money as we had with +us, and placed them in three sacks, to which I attached a rope of a +hundred feet in length. This precaution saved us a shock. The weight, +amounting to thirty pounds, reached the ground before us, and the +balloon, thus lightened, came softly to the ground between Wichtenbech +and Hanover, after having run twenty-five leagues in five and a half +hours." + +After this ascent Robertson became acquainted with some savants of +Hamburg, and amongst others with Professor Pfaff, who was interested +in aerial travelling as a means of settling certain meteorological +problems. Some days after Robertson's ascent, the professor wrote to +him-- + +"You speak of a certain height at which the hydrogen gas will find +itself in equilibrium in the air of the atmosphere. I believe that this +height is the extremity of the atmosphere itself; for as the gas has an +elasticity much greater than that of the air, it will go on dilating as +it mounts into the higher regions of the atmosphere, and its specific +weight will diminish as the weight of atmospheric air diminishes; and it +will not cease to mount until it rises above the atmosphere itself, if +two conditions be completely fulfilled--1, the condition that the gas +may be allowed to dilate without leaving the balloon as it rises; 2, +the condition that the gas shall not be allowed to mix at all with the +atmospheric air." + +Another ascent was arranged for the 14th of August, in which Robertson +was to be accompanied by the professor, but the latter, yielding to the +entreaties of his family, did not go. "I went up with my friend Lhoest," +says Robertson, "at forty-two minutes past twelve midday. In a minute or +two we rose up between two masses of cloud, which seemed to open up and +offer us a passage. The upper surfaces of these clouds are not uniformly +level, like the under sides seen from the earth, but they are of a +conical or pyramidal shape. These imposing masses seem to precipitate +themselves upon the earth, as if to engulf it, but this optical illusion +was due to the apparent immobility of the balloon, which at the moment +was rising at the rate of about twenty feet per second. + +"The fear of losing the view of the Baltic, which we perceived between +the clouds at intervals, obliged us to renounce the project of rising as +high as on the last occasion. The barometer was at fifteen inches, and +the thermometer one degree below zero, when I let off two pigeons. + +"One descended in a diagonal direction, its wings half open but not +moving, with a swiftness which seemed that of a fall. The other flew +for an instant, and then placed itself upon the car, and did not wish to +quit us. Acting on the hint of Dr. Reimarus, I tried the same experiment +with butterflies, but the air was too much rarefied for them; they +attempted in vain to raise themselves by their wings, but they did not +forsake the car. + +"The wind continuing to carry me towards the sea, I resolved to bring +my observations to an end. I effected my descent in a meadow, near the +village of Rehorst, in Holstein, after having run sixteen leagues from +France in sixty-five minutes." + +At the commencement of the year 1804, Laplace, at the Institute, +proposed to take advantage of the means offered by aerostation to verify +at great heights certain scientific points--as, for example, those which +concern magnetism. This proposition was made at a favourable time, and +was, so far, carried out in the best possible way. The aeronauts who +were appointed to carry out the expedition were Biot and Gay-Lussac, the +most enthusiastic aeronauts of the period. + +The following is their report:-- + +"We observed the animals we had with us at all the different heights, +and they did not appear to suffer in any manner. For ourselves, we +perceived no effect any more then a quickening of the pulse. At 10,000 +feet above the ground we set a little green-finch at liberty. He flew +out at once, but immediately returning, settled upon our cordage; +afterwards, setting out again, he flew to the earth, describing a very +tortuous line in his passage. We followed him with our eyes till he was +lost in the clouds. A pigeon, which we set free at the same elevation, +presented a very curious spectacle. Placed at liberty on the edge of the +car, he remained at rest for a number of instants, as if measuring the +length of his flight; then he launched himself into space, flying about +irregularly, as if to try his wings. Afterwards he began his descent +regularly, sweeping round and round in great circles, ever reaching +lower, until he also was lost in the clouds." + +As to the voyagers themselves, this is how they speak of their situation +at the height of 3,000 yards:-- + +"About this elevation we observed our animals. They did not appear +to suffer from the rarity of the air, yet the barometer was at twenty +inches eight lines.. We were much surprised that we did not suffer from +the cold; on the contrary, the sun warmed us much. We had thrown aside +the gloves which had been put on board, and which were of no use to us. +Our pulses were very quick; that of M. Gay-Lussac, which is 62 in the +minute on ordinary occasions, now gave 80; and mine, which is ordinarily +89, gave 111. This acceleration was felt by both of us in nearly the +same proportion. Nevertheless, our respiration was in no way interfered +with, we experienced no illness, and our situation seemed to us +extremely agreeable." + +The following is their report to the Galvanic Society-- + +"We have known for a long time that no animal can with safety pass into +an atmosphere much more dense or much more rare than that to which it +has been accustomed. In the first case it suffers from the outer air, +which presses upon it severely; in the second case there are liquids or +fluids in the animal's body which, being less pressed against than +they should be, become dilated, and press against their coverings or +channels. In both cases the symptoms are nearly the same--pain, general +illness, buzzing in the ears, and even haemorrhage. The experience of +the diving-bell has long made us familiar with what aeronauts suffer. +Our colleague (Robertson), and his companion, have experienced these +effects in great intensity. They had swelled lips, their eyes bled, +their veins were dilated, and, what is very remarkable, they both +preserved a brown or red tinge which astonished those that had seen them +before they made the ascent. This distension of the blood-vessels would +necessarily produce an inconvenience and a difficulty in the muscular +action." + + + +Chapter II. Ascent of M. Gay-Lussac Alone--Excursions of MM. Barral and +Bixio. + +Respecting this ascent, Arago states that M. Gay-Lussac has reduced to +their proper value the narratives of the physical pains which aeronauts +say they suffer in lofty aerial ascents. + +M. Gay-Lussac says:--"Having arrived at the most elevated point of +my ascent, 21,000 feet above sea level, my respiration was rendered +sensibly difficult, but I was far from experiencing any illness of a +kind to make me descend. My pulse and my breathing were very quick; +breathing very frequently in an extremely dry atmosphere, I should not +have been surprised if my throat had been so dry as to make it painful +to swallow bread." + +After having finished his observations, which referred chiefly to the +magnetic needle, with all the tranquillity of a doctor in his study, +Gay-Lussac descended to the earth between Rouen and Dieppe, eighty +leagues from Paris. + +After the names of Robertson, Gay-Lussac, and Biot, science has +registered those of Barral and Bixio, two men whose aeronautic +achievements have enriched meteorology with more important discoveries, +perhaps, than any we have yet mentioned. + +These gentlemen had conceived the project of rising by means of a +balloon to a great height, in order to study, with the assistance of the +very best instruments in use in their day, a multitude of phenomena then +imperfectly known. The subjects to which they were specially to direct +their attention, were the law of the decrease of temperature in progress +upwards, the discovery of whether the chemical composition of the +atmosphere is the same throughout all its parts, the comparison of the +strength of the solar rays in the higher regions of the atmosphere +and on the surface of the earth, the ascertaining whether the light +reflected and transmitted by the clouds is or is not polarised, &c. + +All the preparations having been made in the garden of the Observatory +at Paris, the ascent took place on the 29th of June, 1850, at 10.27 +a.m., the balloon being filled with hydrogen gas. The first ascent was a +signal failure. It was found that the weather being bad, the envelope +of the balloon was torn in several places, and had to be mended in all +haste. Immediately preceding the moment of ascent, a torrent of rain +fell. But the voyagers were determined to ascend. They placed themselves +in the car, and, when thrown off from the fastenings, they rose through +the air with the speed of an arrow. The height to which the balloon +reached made it suddenly dilate, and the network, which was much too +small, was stretched to the utmost. The balloon was forced down upon +them by the dilation, and one of them, in the endeavour to work the +valve, made a rent in the lower part of the globe, from which the gas +escaping almost over the heads of the travellers, nearly choked them. +The escape of the gas had the usual result--the balloon descended +rapidly, and fell in a vineyard near Lugny, where they were found by +the peasants holding on to the trees by their legs and arms, and thus +attempting to stop the horizontal advance of the car. They had risen to +the height of over 17,000 feet, and they had descended from this height +in from four to five minutes. + +For all practical purposes, the ascent was a failure, and the aeronauts +immediately commenced preparations for a new voyage, which took place a +month afterwards. They rose to very great altitudes, but experienced no +illness from the rarefied air. M. Bixio did not feel the sharp pains in +the ears from which he had suffered on the former occasion. They passed +through a mass of cloud 15,000 feet in thickness, and they had not yet +passed quite through it, when at the height of over 21,000 feet from the +ground, they began to descend, their descent being caused by a rent in +the envelope of the balloon, from which the gas escaped. They might, in +throwing out the last of their ballast, have, perhaps, prolonged for a +little their sojourn in space, but the circumstances in which they were +placed did not permit them to make many more scientific observations +than those they had made, and thus they were obliged to submit to their +fate. When they had reached their greatest height, there seemed to open +up in the midst of the vaporous mass a brilliant space, from which they +could see the blue of heaven. The polariscope, directed towards this +region, showed an internal polarisation, but, when pointed to the side +where the mist still prevailed, there was no polarisation. + +An optical phenomenon of a remarkable kind was witnessed when the +voyagers had attained their highest point. They saw the sun through the +upper mists, looking quite white, as if shorn of its strength; and, at +the same time, below the horizontal plane, below their horizon, and at +an angular distance from the plane equal to that of the sun above it, +they saw a second sun, which resembled the reflection of the actual sun +in a sheet of water. It is natural to suppose that the second sun was +formed by the reflection of the sun's rays upon the horizontal faces of +the ice crystals floating in this high cloud. + + + +Chapter III. Ascents of the Mssrs. Welsh, Glaisher and Coxwell. + +The most recent balloon ascents in England deserving attention have been +undertaken for scientific objects, and in this country, more than in +any other, it may be said that the conquest of the air has been made to +serve a practical end. + +In July, 1852, the Committee of the Kew Observatory resolved to +undertake a number of balloon voyages. This resolution was approved +of by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and the +necessary instruments for making a number of meteorological observations +were prepared. The balloon employed was that of Mr. Green, who was +accompanied in his ascents by Mr. Welsh. The greatest height to which +Mr. Welsh rose was on the fourth ascent which took place on the 10th of +November, 1852. The balloon rose 22,930 feet, and the lowest temperature +observed was 26 degrees below zero. + +It is to Mr. Glaisher and Mr. Coxwell, however, that the highest +honours of scientific aerostation belong. The ascents made by these +gentlemen--Mr. Glaisher being the scientific observer, and Mr. Coxwell +the practical aeronaut--have become matters of history. Not only did +they, in the course of a large number of ascents undertaken under the +auspices of the British Association, succeed in gathering much valuable +meteorological information, but they reached a greater height than that +ever gained on any previous or subsequent occasion, and penetrated into +that distant region of the skies in which it has been satisfactorily +proved that no life can be long maintained. It was on the 5th of +September, 1862, that Mr. Glaisher and Mr. Coxwell made the famous +ascent in which they reached the greatest height ever attained by an +aeronaut, and were so nearly sacrificed to their unselfish daring. Mr. +Glaisher has given an admirable account of this ascent, which took place +from Wolverhampton. He says:--"Our ascent had been delayed, owing to the +unfavourable state of the weather. It commenced at three minutes past +one p.m., the temperature of the air being 59 degrees, and the dew-point +48 degrees. At the height of one mile the temperature was 41 degrees +and the dew-point 38 degrees. Shortly after wards clouds were entered +of about 1,100 feet in thickness. Upon emerging from them at seventeen +minutes past one, I tried to take a view of their surface with the +camera, but the balloon was ascending too rapidly and spiraling too +quickly to allow me to do so. The height of two miles was reached at +twenty-one minutes past one. The temperature of the air had fallen to +32 degrees and the dew-point to 26 degrees. The third mile was passed +at twenty-eight minutes past one, with an air temperature of 18 degrees, +and a dew-point of 13 degrees. The fourth mile was passed at thirty-nine +minutes past one, with an air temperature of 8 degrees, and a dew-point +of minus 6 degrees and the fifth mile about ten minutes later, with an +air temperature minus 5 degrees, and a dew-point minus 36 degrees. + +"Up to this time I had experienced no particular inconvenience. When at +the height of 26,000 feet I could not see the fine column of the mercury +in the tube; then the fine divisions on the scale of the instrument +became invisible. At that time I asked Mr. Coxwell to help me to read +the instruments, as I experienced a difficulty in seeing them. In +consequence of the rotary motion of the balloon, which had continued +without ceasing since the earth was left, the valve line had become +twisted, and he had to leave the car, and to mount into the ring above +to adjust it. At that time I had no suspicion of other than temporary +inconvenience in seeing. Shortly afterwards I laid my arm upon the +table, possessed of its full vigour; but directly after, being +desirous of using it, I found it powerless. It must have lost its power +momentarily. I then tried to move the other arm, but found it powerless +also. I next tried to shake myself, and succeeded in shaking my body. I +seemed to have no legs. I could only shake my body. I then looked at the +barometer, and whilst I was doing so my head fell on my left shoulder. I +struggled, and shook my body again, but could not move my arms. I got +my head upright, but for an instant only, when it fell on my right +shoulder; and then I fell backwards, my back resting against the side of +the car, and my head on its edge. In that position my eyes were directed +towards Mr. Coxwell in the ring. When I shook my body I seemed to have +full power over the muscles of the back, and considerable power over +those of the neck, but none over my limbs. As in the case of the arms, +all muscular power was lost in an instant from my back and neck. I dimly +saw Mr. Coxwell in the ring, and endeavoured to speak, but could not +do so; when in an instant intense black darkness came over me, and the +optic nerve lost power suddenly. I was still conscious, with as active a +brain as whilst writing this. I thought I had been seized with asphyxia, +and that I should experience no more, as death would come unless we +speedily descended. Other thoughts were actively entering my mind when I +suddenly became unconscious, as though going to sleep. I could not +tell anything about the sense of hearing: the perfect stillness of the +regions six miles from the earth--and at that time we were between six +and seven miles high--is such that no sound reaches the ear. My last +observation was made at 29,000 feet, about fifty-four minutes past +one. I suppose two or three minutes elapsed between my eyes becoming +insensible to seeing the fine divisions and fifty-four minutes past one, +and that other two or three minutes elapsed before I became unconscious; +therefore I think that took place about fifty-six or fifty-seven +minutes past one. Whilst powerless I heard the words 'temperature,' and +'observation,' and I knew Mr. Coxwell was in the car, speaking to me, +and endeavouring to rouse me; and therefore consciousness and hearing +had returned. I then heard him speak more emphatically, but I could not +speak or move. Then I heard him say, 'Do try; now do!' Then I saw the +instruments dimly, next Mr. Coxwell, and very shortly I saw clearly. I +rose in my seat and looked round, as though waking from sleep, and said +to Mr. Coxwell, 'I have been insensible.' He said, 'Yes; and I too, very +nearly.' I then drew up my legs, which had been extended out before +me, and took a pencil in my hand to note my observations. Mr. Coxwell +informed me that he had lost the use of his hands, which were black, and +I poured brandy over them. I resumed my observations at seven minutes +past two. I suppose three or four minutes were occupied from the time of +my hearing the words 'temperature' and 'observation,' until I began to +observe. If so, then returning consciousness came at four minutes past +two, and that gives about seven minutes of total insensibility. Mr. +Coxwell told me that in coming from the ring he thought for a moment +that I had laid back to rest myself; that he spoke to me without +eliciting a reply; that he then noticed that my legs projected, and my +arms hung down by my side. That my countenance was serene and placid, +without earnestness or anxiety, he had noticed before going into the +ring. It then struck him that I was insensible. He wished then to +approach me, but could not, and he felt insensibility coming over +himself. He became anxious to open the valve, but, in consequence of +having lost the use of his hands, he could not; and ultimately he did +so by seizing the cord with his teeth and dipping his head two or three +times. No inconvenience followed our insensibility. When we dropped it +was in a country where no accommodation of any kind could be obtained, +so that we had to walk between seven and eight miles. At the time of +ceasing our observations the ascent was at the rate of 1,000 feet per +minute, and on resuming observations the descent was at the rate of +2,000 feet per minute. These two positions must be connected, having +relation to the interval of time which elapsed between them; and they +can scarcely be connected at a point less than 36,000 or 37,000 feet +high. Again, a very delicate minimum thermometer was found to read +minus 12 degrees, and that reading would indicate an elevation exceeding +36,000 feet. There cannot be any doubt that the balloon attained the +great height of seven miles--the greatest ever reached. In this ascent +six pigeons were taken up. One was thrown out at three miles. It +extended its wings, and dropped like a piece of paper. A second at four +miles, and it flew with vigour. A third between four and five miles, and +it fell downwards. A fourth was thrown out at four miles in descending, +and it alighted on the top of the balloon. Two were brought to the +ground. One was dead, and the other was ill, but recovered so as to fly +away in a quarter of an hour." + +The results gathered by Mr. Glaisher from his numerous ascents are very +interesting. He found that in no instance did the temperature of the air +decrease uniformly with the increase of height. In fact, the decrease +in the first mile is double that in the second, and nearly four times as +great as the change of temperature in the fifth mile. The distribution +of aqueous vapour in the air is no less remarkable. The temperature +of the dew-point on leaving the earth decreases less rapidly than +the temperature of the air; so that the difference between the two +temperatures becomes less and less, till the vapour or cloud plane is +reached, when they are usually together, and always most nearly approach +each other, and that point is usually at about the height of one mile. +On leaving the upper surface of cloud, the dew point decreases more +rapidly than the air, and at extremely high situations the difference +between the two temperatures is wonderfully great, indicating an +extraordinary degree of dryness, and an almost entire absence of water. +Under these circumstances, the presence of cirrus clouds far above this +dry region, apparently as much above as when viewed from the earth, is +very remarkable, and leads to the conclusion that they are not composed +of water. + +In the propagation of sound, M. Glaisher made many curious experiments. +In one ascent (July 17th) he found, when at a distance of 11,800 feet +above the earth, that a band was heard; at a height of 22,000 feet, a +clap of thunder was heard; and at a height of 10,070 feet, the report of +a gun was heard. On one occasion, he heard the dull hum of London at +a height of 9,000 feet above the city, and on another occasion, the +shouting of many thousands of persons could not be heard at the height +of 4,000 feet. + + + +Chapter IV. Balloons Made Useful in Warfare. + + Wars of the French Republic--Company of "Ballooneers"-- + Battle of Fleurus--The Balloons of Egypt--Napoleon--Modern + Services War in Italy--War in America--Conclusion. + +We will conclude our work with a glance at aerostation as applied to +warfare. Scarcely had the first ascents astonished the world, than the +more adventurous spirits began to use the new discovery for a thousand +purposes directly useful to man. The first point of view in which +aerostation was regarded, was in that of its practical utility If one +refers to the pre-occupations of the time--to the great events then +occurring in the history of France, one will easily understand that the +Committee of Public Safety soon thought of employing balloons in the +observation of the forces and the movements of hostile troops. In +1794, the idea was practically carried out, and the French armies were +provided with two companies of aeronauts. The command of one of these +companies was given to Captain Coutelle, a young physicist of great +talent, who rendered memorable services at the battle of Fleurus. The +balloons were not thrown free, but were retained attached by means +of long cords. In this way they took up, so to speak, aerial posts of +observation. Placed in his car, the captain transmitted his instructions +to his men below by means of coloured flags. Coutelle has left us a +lively narrative of certain incidents connected with one of the grand +days of the old Republic. He had been commissioned by the Committee of +Public Safety to go to Maubeuge, where Jourdan's army was encamped, +and to offer him the use of his balloon. The representative to whom the +young doctor presented his commission, knew nothing about balloons, +and not being able to understand the order of the Committee of Public +Safety, it suddenly dawned upon him that Coutelle, with his trumpery +forgery about balloons, was nothing else than a spy, and he was about to +have him shot. The genuineness of the order from the Committee, however, +was proved, and Coutelle's case was listened to. + +"The army was at Beaumont," says Coutelle, "and the enemy, placed at a +distance of only three miles, could attack at any moment. The general +told me this fact, and engaged me to return and communicate it to the +Committee. This I did. The Commission then felt the necessity of making +an experiment with a balloon that could raise two persons, and the +minister placed at my service the garden and the little mansion of +Meudon. Many of the members of the Commission came to witness the first +ascent of a balloon held in hand, like a kite, by means of two cords. +The Commissioners ordered me to place myself in the car, and instructed +me as to a number of signals which I must repeat, and observations which +I must make. I raised myself to the full length of the cord, a height +of 1,500 feet, and at this height, with the help of a glass, I could +distinctly see the seven bends of the river Seine. On returning to the +earth, I received the compliments of the Commission. + +"Arrived at Maubeuge, my first care was to find a suitable spot to erect +my furnace, and to make every preparation for the arrival of my balloon +from Meudon. Each day my observations contained something new either in +the works which the Austrians had thrown up during the night, or in the +arrangement of their forces. On the fifth day a piece of cannon had been +brought to bear upon the balloon, and shots were fired at me as soon as +I appeared above the ramparts. None of the shots took effect, and on the +following day the piece was no longer in position. Experience enforced +upon me the necessity of forming some provision against these unexpected +attacks. I employed the night in fixing cords all round the middle of my +balloon. Each of the aerostiers had charge of one of the ropes, and +by means of them I could easily move about, and thus get myself out +of range of any gun that had been trained to bear against me. I was +afterwards ordered to make a reconnaissance at Mayence, and I posted +myself between our lines and the enemy at half range of cannon. When the +wind, which was tempestuous at first, became calmer, I was able to count +the number of cannon on the ramparts, as well as the troops that marched +through the streets and in the squares. + +"Generally the soldiers of the enemy, all who saw the observer watching +them and taking notes, came to the idea that they could do nothing +without being seen. Our soldiers were of the same opinion, and +consequently they regarded us with great admiration and trust. On the +heavy marches they brought us prepared food and wine, which my men were +hardly able to get for themselves, so closely did they require to attend +to the ropes. We were encamped upon the banks of the Rhine at Manheim +when our general sent me to the opposite bank to parley. As soon as the +Austrian officers were made aware that I commanded the balloon, I was +overwhelmed with questions and compliments. + +"What causes an impression which, till one is accustomed to it, is very +alarming, is the noise which the balloon makes when it is struck by +successive gales of wind. When the wind has passed, the balloon, which +has been pressed into a concave form by the wind, suddenly resumes its +globular form with a loud noise heard at a great distance. The silk of +the balloon would often burst in a case of this kind, were it not for +the restraining power of the network." + +After the days of Coutelle we do not read that balloons were made much +use of in warfare. The only ascent in the Egypt campaign was that of +a tricolor balloon thrown up to commemorate a fete. That Napoleon knew +full well the value of the scientific discoveries of his time is clear +from the following conversation with a learned Mohammedan, which took +place in the great pyramid of Cheops:-- + +Mussamed. "Noble successor of Alexander, honour to shine invincible +arms, and to the unexpected lightning with which your warriors are +furnished." + +Bonaparte. "Do you believe that that lightning is the work of the +children of men? Allah has placed it in our hands by means of the genius +of war." + +Mussamed. "We recognised by your arms that it is Allah that has sent +you--the Delta and all the neighbouring countries are full of thy +miracles. But would you be a conqueror if Allah did not permit you?" + +Bonaparte. "A celestial body will point by my orders to the dwelling of +the clouds, and lightning will descend towards the earth, along a rod of +metal from which I can call it forth." + +Napoleon did not favour the use of balloons in war. Perhaps it was +because he himself had such a splendid genius for war that he depended +alone upon himself, and scorned assistance. Perhaps it was because if +balloons were discovered to be of real utility, his enemies might make +use of them as well as himself, and France retain no special advantage +in them. But however this may be, on his return from Egypt he sold +the balloon of Fleurus to Robertson. The company of ballooneers was +dissolved, and the balloons themselves disappeared in smoke. + +During the war in America, the role which the balloon played was a more +important one. The Government of the United States conferred the title +of aeronautic engineer upon Mr. Allan, of Rhode Island, who originated +the idea of communicating by a telegraphic wire from the balloon to +the camp. The first telegraphic message which was transmitted from +the aerial regions is that of Professor Love, at Washington, to the +President of the United States. The following is this despatch:-- + +"WASHINGTON, Balloon the 'Enterprise.' + +"SIR,--The point of observation commands an extent of nearly fifty miles +in diameter. The city, with its girdle of encampments, presents a superb +scene. I have great pleasure in sending you this despatch--the first +that has been telegraphed from an aerial station--and to know that I +should be so much encouraged, from having given the first proof that the +aeronautic science can render great assistance in these countries." + +In the month of September, 1861, one of the most hardy aeronauts (La +Mountain) furnished important information to General M'Clellan. The +balloon of La Mountain, which arose from the northern camp upon the +Potomac, passed above Washington. La Mountain then cut the cord that +connected his balloon with the earth, and rising rapidly to the height +of a mile and a half, he found himself directly above his enemies' +lines. There he was able to observe perfectly their position and their +movements. He then threw over ballast, and ascended to the height of +three miles. At this height he encountered a current which carried him +in the direction of Maryland, where he descended in safety. General +M'Clellan was so much satisfied with the observations taken in the +balloon, that, at his request, the order was given to the War Department +to construct four new balloons. + +If this volume of "The Library of Wonders" had not had for its single +object "balloons and their history," we would have devoted a chapter +to the numerous attempts made to steer balloons. We shall only say here +that aerial navigation should be divided into two kinds with balloons, +and without balloons. In the first case, it is limited to the study of +aerial currents, and to the art of rising to those currents which suit +the direction of the voyage undertaken. The balloon is not the master +of the atmosphere; on the contrary, it is its powerless slave. In the +second case, the discovery of Montgolfier is useless; and the question +is, to find out a new machine capable of flying in the air, and at +the same time heavier than the air. Birds are, without doubt, the best +models to study. But with what force shall we replace LIFE? The air-boat +of M. Pline seems to us one of the best ideas; but the working of it +presents many difficulties. Let us find a motive power at once light +and powerful (aluminium and electricity, for example), and we will have +definitively conquered the empire of the air. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Wonderful Balloon Ascents, by Fulgence Marion + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WONDERFUL BALLOON ASCENTS *** + +***** This file should be named 899.txt or 899.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/9/899/ + +Produced by Dianne Bean + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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