THE LIBRARY

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY . PROVOt UTAH

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TKAYELS IN THE AIR.

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AERIAL YGYAGERS.

[ They Landed in a Wisconsin Cran- berry Bog.

I^ive Days' Experience They Will Not Soon Forget.

CHICAGO, Oct. 21.— A private dispatch from hippewa Falls, Wis., announces that Prof, ing and the signal service officer who accom- panied biru have arrived sately at that place. 'fee balloon made a descent in the « oods. and they have been two days in getting out of the wilderness.

The following has just been, received from Chippewa Falls, Wis.: "We are nil safe. Just out of the woods. [Signed] "King,

"Balloonist." Chippewa Palls is situated on the Chippewa river, about 185 miles northwest of Malison. Late advices state that the ballo .u dropped quite near there, but that King and his com- panion were lost in the swamps for live days and suffered greatly .

The Xcws' Chippewa Falls special says: Prof.

King is now here. The balloon landed Friday

light 65 miles up the liver from here. The

Aeronauts were two days in working their way

p human habitation and it has been iuipos-

tble to reach a railway or telegraph station

mil now owing- lo iho impassability of the

oads which is due in a large measure to the

mmeccdented fall of rain.

The Daily Xctvs has the following from J. G.

(ashagan, signal service employe, who went

p in King's balloon:

The voyagers who look such hastv flight last r's-arsa u from civi nation fe„l no such dispo- sition to-day. If you should see us now I dragged, torn, water-soaked and exposed, you would sorely bay we loved civilization before. Five minutes after leaving terra firms wc reached an altitude of 4,300 feet, moving hwest; a few minutes later we readied ah upper current moving slo--.lv westward, so slowly thru we barely moved: but what a pros- pect beneath ns; were soon shut out by night and saw nothing but myriads of lights ' twink- ling in the distance. We remained there suspended, neither rising nor falling for several noms. But at last a puff of air sent us southwest, changing before morning to west and northwest. We remained about be- calmed three bonis, swinging in a circle over a II City that, from its locution, I judged to Peoria, 111. At 5:15 on Friday we passed over Spring Valley, Wis., startling the natives by dragging our drag rope over their roofs, >ne ambitions fellow sent a shot af er us We passed over the Platte mounds at 7:15 a. M. Wc remained lor a long time, swinging around these picturesque mounds, when the ball ion, as though anxious to give us a heav- view, took an upward turn, carrying as to ieet above the strata el clouds and liter- ally burying us in milk lor an hour. In pass- ing Little Falls, Monroe county, Wis., we came tear the ground that wc came m contact with the trees and were compelled to take a large portion ot one along as a souv- enir. When v.e neare.d the ground we were rreeted with a beautiful view of verdure in ev- -ry variety of form. Children were hushed, dogs culled off, horses whipped up, and old Wintry matrons stood in their doors with arms dumbo, and with the most surprised and com- ical attitnde.

At 8 a.m. we passed over Pntlan, or some similarly named place. At 9:40 A. M. we passed To mall, Wis. Ar 9:50 we arose among the clouds and lost sight of Mother Earth for a tew hours. The wind increasing carried us at a rapid rate — probably forty or Si y miles per hour — and uot being able to discern stationary objeets Me could not tell where we were or what course we were pursuing. Mean- while the rain poured in torrents. Collecting on the outside of the balloon, it poured do»n from the mouth of the bag into the basket in a steady stream, compelling us to put away the instruments; but it was useless— there was no dry pin-head among them. At 12:15 P. M.. the highest known elevation was reached, being 9.UOO feet. From the last person spoken we found we were forty miles from St. Paul, and when we deseeiidoi aL 2:30 p. M. on the west bank of the rrver, a half-mile inland, we concluded we were in the stato of Minnesota, probably forty miles from St. Faul, on the Mississippi river. Wi.h this supposition in mind stepped out ol our ear into about eighteen inches ol" ice water, a. id we found we were ill a cranberry bog and had to get out.

To recite our experience after that tor fivei succeeding days is too horrible. How wc walked five days up to our knees through bog- gy swamps without food except a half pfm ol berries; how the wolves and beats have snarled around us at night; how wa slept on the wet ground a eight, through heavy rr ■ -:- . only to start again in the morning through swamps with its ice water and failing over muddy logs at every step— I cannot put in words". As a last resort we built a ra;t expect - ing to go over St. Anthony 'a falls. Of our sub- sequent disappointment and our subsequent tramp 1 will tell later. But, oh! our joy when

u 1 o'clock in the evening of the fifth day we reached Flambeau river and were carried across by Cletamoc and Michael Minor, wood- men, and here we are enjoying the good things given us. [Signed] J. George Hasuagen.

licit the Balloon. Chippewa Falls. Wis.. Oct. 21.— Prof. King remarks that water is a very lair diet for five days, after a man gels used to it. At 4 o'clock the filth day they discovered two men in a on the Flambeau river, who came to their res- cue and guided them to Bruno Vinette's stop- ping place. They then organized a force and started for the balloon, but found it too heavy to move, so they left it until next winter, when they will remove it. They left for Chicago to- day.

2f. 133Z

#*» '" "" A,

?•

JAMES GLAISHER, F.H.S., CAMILLE FLAMMARION, W. DE FONVIELLE,

GASTON TISSANDIER.

EDITED BY JAMES GLAISHEK, F.K.S.

WITH ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS.

PHILADELPHIA:

l H. LIPPINCOTT A CO.. L\l L'ORTEPvS.

1871.

Uf±.l2H

Ur to this time Prof. King, the aeronaut, has made a poor showing in his attempt to glide from Minnesota to New York: City in an air-ship. His balloon is of a new pattern, and it is constructed on the most scientific principles. All that is known of air-sailing is combined in this gigantic apparatus, and yet the results indicate that we are no further ahead in this branch of science than we were ten years ago. We have faith in the ultimate ability of man to cleave the atmosphere and ride about at will in air-ships. When Keelv perfects his Motor and is able with a few drops of water to impart enough power to a pocket engine to drive a locomotive, then we will have balloons with paddle-wheels and wings which can be steered and directed with perfect ease. At present a balloon is at the mercy of winds and currents. Itmxybe necessary in the future to carry in air-ships an apparatus for the manufacture of gas, for the constant escape of the volatile substance renders prolonged yoyiges absolutely im- possible. We feel a deep and profound inter- est in this business of air navigation, for if train-robbiDgis to continue in Missouri we will have to find some mode of travel that will place passengers with valuables beyond the reach of every Bassafras and sage-bush citizen who is able to buy a shot-gun or a self-cockinsr revolver. A balloon flying at an altitude of about two miles would seem to be about the proper caper, and we are not cer- tain but that a line between St. Louis and Kansas City would pay now, even though ballooning is anything but safe and certain as at present conducted.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

A Second Edition enables me to speak concerning the use of the balloon during the siege of Paris.

When I laid down my pen a few months ago, I little thought that a new chapter was about to be added to the History of Aerostation, and that the time when the balloon would take its place as a necessary means of communication was so near at hand. Although, in common with my colleagues, I had long hoped to see more attention paid to the improvement of aerial navigation, still it is painful to reflect that the stimulus has been afforded by the misfortunes of France.

I had long felt satisfied that the balloon could be used with great advantage to explore the ocean overhead. As a philosophical instru- ment, although rude, costly, and most unmanageable, it had so many good points about it, that I was hopeful — as will be seen from the narratives in the body of the work — that its use would be attended with varied and important benefits to science. But an invention, however beautiful or interesting, unless it commends itself to some definitely expressed interest, or fulfils a purpose generally understood, is apt to languish. The balloon is a case in point. The necessity of exploring the aerial ocean, and seeking within its depths for the causes of atmospheric phenomena, has never yet been generally recognized. Situated at the lower confines of the atmosphere, we are limited in our observation of forces which, expended upon the earth, are conceived and regulated above. To trace the origin of these forces, to visit them in operation, to enter upon the boundless sea of inquiry they open, are sufficient reasons why physicists should

vi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

regret the imperfection of the instrument, and the absence of com- bined efforts to improve it, bnt, it must be admitted, they afford no direct stimulus to quicken the apathy of the world at large.

When I say that Paris, under pressure of the siege, had recourse to the invention of her country, that for four months the balloon afforded the sole means of departure from the capital, and materially assisted in prolonging the resistance of the nation ; and that, under the direction of the Tost Office, it became the means of transmitting letters and despatches, and by it were conveyed from the city the pigeons by which alone it was possible for the provinces to com- municate with the capital, I merely repeat what everybody knows ; but the comprehensive scheme, organized by the Government, for the construction and management of balloons, and the regularity with which they were despatched, are not so well known. Further on will be found a list of the times of departure and places of descent of these air-ships, sent out in time of war to navigate an unknown ocean, to contend with darkness by night, and the enemy's fire by day.

"Whatever may be the future of aerial navigation, the history of these first regularly sustained and hazardous ventures will never be without interest. Intimately connected with the siege, their record will ever remain to testify to the suffering and endurance of Paris.

For the following details, relating to the management and working of the Postal Service, and. the manufacture of the balloons, I am indebted to the kindness of my colleagues, as well as to M. Jules Godard and M. de Simonin, the author of La Vie souterraine, Les Pierres, Sec., who had himself ascended several times, and whose published account of aerostation during the siege, which recently appeared in the Revue des Dnix Mondes, attracted general attention. Apart from the interest which must attach to all particulars illustrative of the state of Paris during the siege, these details have a special interest in their present place, as they carry on the course of enterprise pursued under happier auspices by MM. Flammavion, De Fonvielle, and Tissandier; the names of the last two gentlemen will appear once more in connection with new efforts.

/

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. vii

It should also be noticed that there is no break in the continuity of the voyages previously recorded with those belonging to the siege. The need was urgent, and there was no time to originate fresh con- structions, or introduce new principles. The old invention as it stood was to be stimulated into success, if success were to be had. But it was necessary that new balloons should be made, and at once, for not a balloon in Paris at the commencement of the siege proved on examination to be sufficiently trustworthy to pass over the besieging lines in safety. To remedy at once this state of affairs extensive works were commenced. No pains were spared to avoid failure, and no detail was thought trifling enough to be overlooked.

The material was naturally the first consideration ; this needed to be of even texture, without fault of manufacture, and above all strong. The fabric of greatest strength it is well known is that of silk, but silk was far too costly.

The material decided upon was calico, either white or coloured. That it should be gas-tight it was varnished with a mixture of linseed oil and oxide of lead. To make the oil consistent and dry the -varnish was applied by a rag, and not by means of a brush, so that all the pores or chance apertures in the material were sealed and rendered thoroughly impervious to the escape of gas. This applica- tion was made to both sides when time permitted, but generally the outside alone was coated.

Two factories were established, one at the Orleans, and the other at the Northern Railway Station. The former was placed under the management of M. Godard ; the latter under the direction of MM. Yon and Dartois. MM. Godard and Yon are known in London as having superintended and directed the ascents of M. Giffard's Captive balloon, at Ashburnham Park, Chelsea, in 18G9. Both factories were uuder the direction of the Post Office.

The material employed at the Northern Station was white, that at the Orleans Station coloured, and both places adopted the same method of procedure in commencing. The size of each gore for the intended balloon was carefully drawn on a horizontal plan, just as is done in the construction of a globe. These gores were sewn together by hand at the Orleans Station, and by sewing machines at the

viii rBEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

Northern ; each method had its advantages, the one affording greater speed, the other better work. After the sewing was completed, the balloons were varnished and rilled with air for the purpose of search- ing out defects or flaws which might have been overlooked ; while thus inflated the varnish dried most rapidly. The network, made of tarred flax, the car, and all the other appurtenances, were manufac- tured at these establishments.

Each of the two railway stations during this time of activity pre- sented an extraordinary scene, the Orleans Station in particular. There women were engaged in the various branches of the work, drying and ironing, or carefully examining the materials to ensure their soundness. The calico was washed to destroy the acridity of the dye, and hung up to dry upon the woodwork of the station, ready to be cut up on the ground-plan. This operation, which required accu- racy, was performed by numerous workwomen, under the personal direc- tion of M. Godard; there might be seen every day nearly a hundred women, silent and attentive, marking with mathematical precision, by means of a pin and card, the distance between each point : this part of the work was shown to but few visitors. If time permitted, a second coating of varnish was applied : and this work, as well as all that followed, was performed by men, chiefly sailors.

It is stated that the sadors seemed to be quite at home with their work, painting, varnishing, weaving nets, twisting cables, and finally taking charge of the balloon on its journey.

The use of sewing machines rendered the activity at the Northern Station less remarkable, but these works also were full of interest. The endless pieces of calico hanging from wooden rails, the numerous work-people all busy with their needles, and the swollen shapes of the nearly completed balloons, are said to have afforded an extra- ordinary spectacle.

At the Northern Station the work-rooms were divided ; but at the Orleans the enormous Salic dCattente was occupied, and the long row of coloured fabrics — yellow, blue, black, and green — suspended from the roof to dry, and occupying the midst of the immense nave, are described by visitors as being strongly suggestive of the interior of the Chapel of the Tnvalides.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. ix

The balloons, which were constructed to contain about 70,000 cubic feet, were generally inflated with ordinary coal-gas. The bags of letters and despatches were firmly fixed outside the car. Higher up was secured a cage containing carrier-pigeons, intended to bring back news and replies to the outgoing letters.

I have endeavoured to learn some particulars about the pigeons employed, but, owing to the disturbed state of Paris, I have obtained but little information beyond that which has appeared in the news- papers. E. W. Alldridge, Esq., of Charlton, however, informs me that the pigeons used for the postal service during the siege were birds of a composite race and of no particular breed ; their prominent charac- teristics were those of the Antwerp strain, the Antwerp itself being the produce of a variety of races of no intrinsic value.

In remarking that fancy pigeons may be produced of any colour or mark, and almost of any variety of feather, Mr. Alldridge assures me, from his own experience, that it is equally possible to regulate their intellectual development, and that these birds can be produced with different powers of orientation to meet the requirements of particular cases. The bird required to make journeys under 50 miles would materially differ in its pedigree from one capable of flying 5U0 or 600 miles. Attention in particular must be given to the colour of the eye : if wanted for broad daylight, the bird known as the " Pearl-eye," from its colour, should be selected, but if for foggy weather or for twilight living, the black or blue-eye bird should receive the preference.

It can hardly, therefore, be matter of surprise that so many pigeons failed to return to Paris.

It was necessary to resort to special methods of preparing the return document which would have been otherwise too heavy and voluminous for their power of carriage. Photography was equal to the occasion, and long letters were reduced to within an area not exceeding one or two square inches on paper of the thinnest texture. These slips were sometimes rolled around the central feather of the bird's tail, being firmly secured about the shaft towards its base; at other times the despatches were wrapped around the legs of the bird ; but gene- rally they were enclosed inside a quill, and fastened to the central feather of the tail ; the central feather is chosen, because it remains

x PEE FACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

unmoved •while its fellows radiate fan-like on either side during the bird's flight On receiving these minute despatches they were submitted to the microscope, enlarged, copied, and forwarded to their destination.

Some of the pigeons returned on the day of departure, some after two or three days, and others after long intervals. Several returned, injured by birds of prey; a few were wounded by shots, for the Germans were as anxious to prevent the pigeons returning to Paris, as they were to stop the balloons leaving it. A great many of the pigeons were never heard of. One bird which left Paris on the 12th of October from the Orleans Station, by the balloon Washington, did not return till the 5th of December. The balloon itself took a northerly direction, and crossed the Prussian outposts in the midst of a well-sustained fire. The projectiles reached them at 2,500 and 3,000 feet, and the travellers did not feel secure until they had gained a height of 3,500 feet. They met with the same reception at Chantilly, Senlis, Compiegne, and Noyon. The enemy's fire ceased at some distance from Ham. Towards half-past eleven the balloon descended at Carriercs, near Cambrai, in the midst of a violent gale, and the passengers were much hurt. The tables on pages xvi. to xx., containing the statistics and particulars of the departures of all the balloons that left Paris during the siege, their size, &c, have been most kindly furnished me by M. Jules Godard.

After the 20th of January MM. Godard removed from the Orleans to the Eastern Railway Station, in consequence of the works at the latter place having been damaged by Prussian shells, and one of the balloons in course of construction injured. An examination of the tables will show that after November 21 the ascents were at night. This change was made with the view of avoiding the fire of the besiegers. It was not, however, foreseen that the air is much calmer by night than by day, and that consequently the balloon would make but little pro- gress at night ; unfortunately, too, it was a ride estabbshed in Paris that no light of any kind should be used in a balloon — not even a Davy lamp — for fear of an explosion. It was therefore impossible to read the barometer ; and in addition to the perils of these nocturnal ascents, the voyagers had no idea of their rate of travelling or their

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. xi

distance from the earth. This arose from an error, for I had myself used a Davy lamp and read all my instruments by its means at night ; and when M. de Fonvielle left England, after his escape from Paris, with the view of attempting to re-enter the city by means of a balloon, I gave him a lamp which I had taken up several times previously in my ascents, for the triple purpose of enabling him to read the barometer, to warm his hands, and to heat coffee, with the assurance of its perfect safety.

Dr. Janssen, charged with a scientific mission to Algeria by the Government and the Academy of Sciences, for the purpose of observ- ing the total eclipse of the Sun on December 22, left Paris December 2, 1870, at six o'clock in the morning, in the balloon Volta, of which he took the management. He carried several dismounted telescopes, packed with special care in such a manner as to prevent any accidents in the descent.

The Volta rose at first to 3,600 feet by parting with ballast, and afterwards by the action of the sun it rose by degrees to 7,200 feet, from which height it descended on the completion of its voyage.

Dr. Janssen offers some remarks on the rise and height of his balloon, and writes that, exposed to the full action of the sun's rays, the "balloon itself became heated ; that this heat was in turn com- municated to the gas inside, which readily absorbed the higher temperature as gas absorbs, Dr. Janssen remarks, obscure heat more readily than luminous heat. Under this action the gas became equal- ized in temperature, and warm throughout as a solid body, leading him to believe that at 3,600 feet the action of the sun is felt chiefly through the medium of the envelope or material of the balloon, which acts as a transformer of the solar force.

But it struck Dr. Janssen with surprise that at sunrise the balloon fell, and rose again when the suu was several degrees above the horizon.

He explains these effects by the same principle : the power of the sun on rising dissipated the mist, and increased the calmness of the sky, while the envelope of the balloon radiating heat into space became rapidly cooler, and was far from receiving as much heat from the rising sun as it parted with by radiation. The result showed

xii PREFACE TO THE SECOXD EDITION.

itself in the cooling of the gas and consequent descent of the balloon. Later on, the balloon rose high in the heavens, the gain was greater than the loss, and the balloon continued to rise unchecked so long as the temperature of the gas increased.

The Yalta passed above Chart res, Le Mans, and Chateau-Gontier. The weather was very fine. Dr. Janssen marked the route by means of a compass placed for this purpose. His descriptions of an instrument for determining the speed and route of a balloon appear in Les Comptcs Paulas dc I' 'Academic des Sciences de Paris, 27th February and 13th March.

During the journey he had occasion to make various scientific observations, in brief detail as follows : —

At lib. 15m. the sea was visible, and M. Janssen commenced the descent, which took place without accident, although the wind on the ground was very strong.

This fortunate result he attributes to the employment of a guide- rope 980 feet in length, which moderated the fall and checked the dragging.

At the time of landing the Vol fa was at Briche-Blanc, arron- dissement of St. Nazaire, at the mouth of the Loire.

The balloon had travelled nearly 300 miles in five hours and a quarter.

The instruments were found to be in perfect order, and the voyage proves that it is possible to carry in a balloon delicate astronomical instruments, if precautions are taken, as in this journey.

The siege of Paris gave a great impetus to all aerostatical inquiries; and many attempts were made during the siege, in different parts of the city, to steer balloons. The Western Railway Company lent some of their rooms to be used for such experiments, and a part of the manufactory at Cail was placed at the disposal of M. Vert, whose invention was shown at the exhibition of the Aeronautical Society at the Crystal Palace, a year or two since.

Of all these attempts, the most appreciated in Paris is that of M. Dupuy de Lome, a shipbuilder, a practical man, and a mathe- matician. The Government granted to this gentleman a sum of

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. xiii

£1,600, necessary to carry out his design, which is to make a balloon in the form of a fish, furnished in the hack part with a sail like a helm, and with a screw for propulsion. Within the balloon the inventor proposes to place a spherical ball filled with air, similar to the swimming bladder of a fish, in order to avoid any waste of gas, and to assist in ascending and descending ; it would also keep the balloon well filled. M. Dupuy de Lome considers that his balloon will never struggle with the wind, but will move forward against the pressure of the air current with the speed of five miles an hour, and that six men, relieving one another, will be sufficient to turn the wheel which puts the screw in motion.

For inflating the balloon hydrogen gas will be employed, and silk is the material adopted for its outer casing. Great hopes have been entertained in Paris, and may be still, that this invention of M. Dupuy de Lome may help to solve the problem of Aerial Navigation. I cannot affect to share in this expectation.

In England the subject of Aerostation has made but little progress, and no valuable invention has arisen to facilitate travelling in the air. In all my ascents I used the balloon as I found it. The desire which influenced me was to ascend to the higher regions and travel by its means in furtherance of a better knowledge of atmospheric phenomena ; neither its management nor its improvement formed a part of my plan. I soon found that balloon travelling was at the mercy of the wind, and I saw no probability of any method of steering balloons being obtained. It even appeared to me that the balloon itself, admirable for vertical ascents, was not necessarily a first step in Aerial Navigation, and might possibly have no share in the solution of the problem. It was this conviction that led to the formation of the Aeronautical Society a few years since, under the presidency of the Duke of Argyll. In the number of com- munications made to this Society, it is evident that many minds are taxing their ingenuity to discover a mode of navigating the air ; all kinds of imaginary projects have been suggested, some showing great mechanical ingenuity, but all indicating the want of more knowledge of the atmosphere itself. The first great aim of the Society is the

xiv PEE FACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

connecting the velocity of the air with its pressure on plane surfaces at various inclinations.

There seems no prospect of obtaining this relation otherwise than by a careful series of experiments. But little can be expected from the mathematical theory ; it is a hundred and forty years since the general differential equations of fluid motion were given to the world by D'Alembert ; but although many of the greatest mathematicians have attempted to deduce from them results of practical value, it cannot be said that any great success has attended their efforts. The progress made has been very slight in the case of water, where the analysis is much simpler than for an elastic fluid like air ; and the Theory of Besistances, which is the part of Hydromechanics which has the most direct bearing on Aerial Navigation, is perhaps the part of the subject about which least is known.

A good deal of attention has been paid to one subject, namely, the resistance of the air to the motion of projectiles, and numerous experiments, from the time of Halley to our own day, have been made on this subject.

It needs but a slight acquaintance with these researches to appre- ciate the difficulties of the investigation, which, on account of the comparatively small size of the projectile and the great rapidity of its motion, presents some features which render the inquiry some- what more simple than the general investigation on which the foundation of the science of Aerial Navigation must rest.

The Aeronautical Society have been endeavouring for some time to organize a systematic series of experiments on the connection between the pressure and velocity of air, and it is believed that these will afford the only data on which a true science of Aeronautics can be founded.

Even if the experiments should not advance Aeronautics as much as there is every reason to expect, at all events they will yield results not only of very high scientific interest, but also of practical value.

The siege of Paris is now a thing of the past, as are also the balloon pigeon-posts; but the balloon has proved itself so great an assistance to the French nation, that it will command attention and

l'HEFACE TO THE SECOND EDIT/OX.

xv

study which must be a source of great benefit to Aerial Navigation, and verify, in one instance at least, the well-known saying, which however is very far from being universally true, that Progress and Invention spring limn the exigencies of war.

JAMES GLATSHElt.

March 1871.

JAMES C.I.AISTIKH, F, U.S.

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t- a,

CONTENTS.

PART I. AERIAL TRAVELS OF MR. GLAISHER.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC ASCENTS IN ENGLAND 23

CHAPTER II.

MY FIRST ASCENT — WOLVERHAMPTON, JULY 17, 1862 33

CHAPTER III.

ASCENTS FROM WOLVERHAMPTON, AUG. 18 AND SEPT. 5, 1862 48

CHAPTER IV.

ASCENTS FROM THE CRYSTAL PALACE, ArRIL 18 AND JULY 11, 1863. . . 59

CHAPTER V.

ASCENT FROM WOLVERTON, JUNE 26, 1863 64

ASCENT FROM THE CRYSTAL PALACE, JULY 21, 1863 72

CHAPTER VI.

ASCENT FROM WINDSOR, MAY 29, 1866 74

CHAPTER VII.

OVER LONDON BY DAY, MARCH 31, 1863 78

OVER LONDON BY NIGHT, OCTOBER 2, 1865 80

xx ii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII.

PAGE

DECREASE OF TEMPERATURE WITH ELEVATION S4

ANEROID BAROMETER I BLACKENED BULB THERMOMETER 90

LINES IN THE SPECTRUM : TIMES OF VIBRATION OF A MAGNET 91

DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS OF THE WIND \ VELOCITY OF THE WIND .... 92

PHYSIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS : PROPAGATION OF SOUND 94

CHAPTER IX.

THE HIGH REGIONS 94

APPEARANCE OF THE EARTH VIEWED FROM A BALLOON 99

PART II.

TRAVELS OF M. C. FLAMMARION. PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.

A SKETCH OF SCIENTIFIC BALLOONING FROM 1783 TO 1867 105

CHAPTER II.

MY FIRST AERIAL VOYAGE, ASCENSION DAY, 1867 122

CHAPTER III.

MY SECOND VOYAGE, 9TII JUNE, 1867 — DESCRIPTION OF THE BALLOON —

CONDITIONS OF SECURITY REQUIRED FOR AN AERIAL VOYAGE .... 132

CHAPTER IV.

HORNING ASCENT — THE BLUE SKY — THE RESPIRABLE ATMOSPHERE . . . 143

CHAPTER V.

A VOYAGE [3 TWO STAGES — EVENING : ST. CLOUD, VERSAILLES, DREIX.

NIGHT: VERNEUIL, LAIGLE, DESCENT INTO THE RIVER ORNE .... 157

CHAPTER VI.

FROM PARIS TO I.AP.OCIIEFOUCAULT-ANGOULEME— SIXTH VOYAGE .... 172

CONTENTS. xxiii

CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

ASCENT AT SUNSET 186

CHAPTER VII J.

rROM PARIS INTO PRUSSIA, BV ROCROI, A1X-LA-CHAPELLE, AND COLOGNE . V.fi

CHAPTER IX. from paris into Prussia continued 206

CHAPTER X.

FROM THE CONSERVATOIRE DES ARTS ET METIERS TO THE GARDENS OF

BEAUGEXCY 217

PART III. TRAVELS OF MM. FOXVIELLE AXD TISSANEIER.

CHAPTER I.

THE LAST VOYAGES OF THE " GIANT " 233

(W. tie Fonvielle.)

CHAPTER II.

THE CAPTIVE BALLOON AT THE EXHIBITION— THE FALLING STARS . . . 253

\V. <le Fonvielle.)

CHAPTER III.

THE " ENTREPREXANT " BALLOON— VOYAGE FROM PARIS TO FERRILRES . . 267

SECOND ASCENT — FROM PARIS TO COMPIEGXE 271

THIRD ASCENT — FROM PARIS TO COURCELLES (LOIP,ET) 282

(W. de Fonvielle.)

CHAPTER IV.

1IV DEBUT IN AEROSTATION — VOYAGE ABOVE THE NORTH SEA 290

(G Tissandier.)

xxiv CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

PAI E FORTUNE AMi MISFORTUNE. — VOYAGE FROM THE CONSERVATOIRE .... 310 (W. de Fonvielle and G. Tissandier.)

CHAPTER VI.

SNOW AND SUNSET— ASCENT OF THE " UNION " 32!)

(G. Tissandier.)

CHAPTER VII.

WINDY ASCENTS AND DRAGGING 34<>

(W. de Fonvielle and G. Tissandier.)

CHAPTER VIII.

TWO HOURS OVER PARIS IN A CALM 355

(\V. de Fonvielle and G. Tissandier.)

CHAPTER IX.

THE GREAT " CAPTIVE " BALLOON AT LONDON 370

(\Y. de Fonvielle and G. Tissandier.)

CHAPTER X.

AN ASCENT FROM THE CHAMP DE MARS. — THE "NORTH POLE" BALLOON . 380 (AV. de Fonviello and G. Tissandier. |

CONCLUSION 39(5

LIST OF CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS.

To face puge

Mirage and Luminous Aureola Frontispiece.

(See p. 221 1.

A Thunderstorm above Fontainebleau, as seen from the Balloon 128

Falling Stars, as observed from the Balloon 262

Shadow and Luminous Effect, as seen from the Balloon 277

After Sunset, as seen from the Balloon 342

A Sunset, as seen from the Balloon 375

LIST OF LITHOGRAPHS.

To fan pagt Path of the Balloon in its ascent from Wolverhampton to Langliam, July 17,

1862 43

Path of the Balloon in its ascent from Wolverhampton to Solihull, 18th

August, 1862 48

Path of the Balloon in its ascent from Wolverhampton to Cold Weston,

5th Sept., 1862 50

Path of the Balloon in its ascent from the Crystal Palace to Newhaven,

18th April, 1S63 60

Path of the Balloon in its ascent from Wolverton to Ely, 26th June, 1S63 . 64

Path of the Balloon in its ascent from the Crystal Palace to Epping Forest,

21st July, 1863 72

Path of the Balloon in its ascent from Windsor to near Pulborough, 29th

May, 1866 74

Path of the Balloon over London (at night), 2nd October, 1865 80

Temperature of the Air at different heights, 6th April, 1864 86

Course of the Balloon in M. Flammarion's ascent from Paris to Laroche-

foucault, June 23-24, 1867 178

Course of the Balloon in M. Flammarion's ascent from Paris to Soliugen,

in Prussia, July 14-15, 1867 199

Double Balloon Ascent of M. G. Tissandier, 8th November, 1868 .... 338

LIST OF WOODCUTS.

PAET I. AERIAL TRAVELS OF MR. GLAISHER.

PAGE

Portrait of James Glaisher, F.R.S xv

Ascent of Mont Blanc 1

Mr. Glaisher in the car 23

Green falls into the .sea 25

Blanchard's car 32

The balloon forming a parachute 33

The instruments of Mr. Glaisher arranged in the car 39

Shadow of the balloon on the clouds 45

Above the clouds 47

" We passed through a magnificent cumulus cloud " 48

Beneath a beautiful mass of cumulus clouds 51

Mr. Glaisher insensible at the height of seven miles 55

The pigeons 58

The departure 59

Descent at Newhaven 63

Between two clouds, four miles high 64

Three miles high : " Clouds below us, others on our level at a distance, and

yet more above " .* 65

" Rain fell pattering on the balloon " 69

Nimbi, or rain-clouds, above four miles high 73

The descent 74

The cottage 77

Filling a balloon 78

The suburbs of London in the distance 83

" The moon was shining, but seemed to give no light " 84

" After a time the moon shone with increased brightness " 93

The rainbow 94

" The sun rose, flooding with light the whole extent of cloudland beyond " . . 97

Charles and De Saussure 10.1

xxviii LIST OF WOODCUTS.

PART II. TRAVELS OF C. FLAMMARION.

PAUE

The instruments 105

C. Flanimarion 107

The sun reflected by tho clouds 121

The adieu 122

We touch the top of the trees 131

Leaving Paris in a balloon 132

The Seine and the Marne, as seen from the car in M. Flamniarion's second

ascent 137

Captive ascent at Barbison 142

Butterflies hovering round the car of the balloon 143

" Absolute silence reigns supreme in all its sad majesty " 149

" It is the Devil himself ! " 156

" They are drowned ! " 157

A moonlight effect as seen from the balloon by M. Flanimarion 163

" But the sceptre of the night is held by Jupiter " 167

A descent among a herd of cattle 171

"The lights of the evening fires were seen in the distant villages" 172

" The sun appears like an immense beacon-light, placed upon layers of snow" . 175

" These fires seen from a distance were like lighthouses " 181

The Chateau of Larochefoucault 185

" Your passports, gentlemen ! " 186

The river Seine and the west of Paris — a view from the car of the balloon . 189

The statue of Napoleon as seen from on high 196

Rain in the higher regions 197

Lunar halo observed by M. Flanimarion (night of 14-15th July, 1867) . . . 203

A glance into space below, at night 205

The banks of the Meuse 206

" The moon shines forth with peculiar brilliancy " 209

" The orb of day has just appeared, and its golden disc rises among the purple

clouds" 213

The satellite balloons 216

Ascent of M. Flanimarion from the garden of the Conservatoire 217

Optical phenomenon observed by M. Flanimarion 229

PART III.

TRAVELS OF MM. FONVIELLE AND TISSAXD1EH.

The " Giant " balloon and the " Imperial" balloon 233

W. de Fonvielle 235

" The new-comers fall, pell-mell, one over the other" 243

"' It's the Giant smoking his pipe,' said some one" 249

LIST OF WOODCUTS. xxix

PAGE

Breakfast in the car of the " Giant " 252

Inflation of the captive balloon at the Exhibition 253

" The crows seem frightened at us, and presently fly off precipitately "... 259

The peat bogs of La Somme, as seen from the car of the " Swallow "... 263

" A peasant succeeds in climbing up to us " 267

" The fixity of the snow-like wreaths of vapour was really very striking " . . 273

Effect produced by a vault of clouds 285

The valve of the " Entreprenant " balloon 289

Calais as seen through the clouds from the balloon 290

Gaston Tissandier 293

Mirage in the sky, as seen from the balloon 299

Sunset whilst the balloon is at sea 303

Descent of the "Neptune" at Cape Gris-Nez 307

Direction of the aerial currents above Calais, August 17, 1868 309

The " Neptune" in the clouds 310

The " Neptune " at the Conservatoire 311

Circular effect of the clouds 317

" The balloon has burst I " 323

The " Captive " balloon of Paris 328

Departure from the gasworks of La Villette 329

" We rise slowly amidst the snow " 331

" A few vigorous arms lift up the car " 335

" In one bound we pass through the thick layer of cloud " 339

" We fell softly to the ground in a field " 343

The " Union " balloon in the snow 345

"The ' Swallow' balloon, when inflated, lay down upon its side" 346

" The branches of the trees bent beneath the car " 347

Return of the aeronauts 351

Dragging 355

Interior of the " Union" balloon inflated with air 357

The Seine, as seen from the balloon above Asnieres 361

Descent of the "Union" balloon in the Cemetery of Clichy 365

Inflation of the balloon with a ventilator 369

Construction of the " Captive " balloon of London 370

The weighing machine of the " Captive " 371

The pulley 371

View of the " Captive " balloon at London 373

Sunset above the Thames, as seen from the " Captive " balloon 377

The car of the " Captive " balloon 379

The " North Pole " balloon in the air 380

The valve of the " North Pole " balloon 384

" The balloon began to bend over " 389

"Thousands of peasants came from great distances to see us " 393

The car of the " North Pole " balloon 395

PART I.

AERIAL TRAVELS OF MR. GLAISHER.

ASCENT OF MONT BLANC.

TRAVELS IN THE AIR.

INTRODUCTION.

1 have elsewhere expressed my opinion that the Balloon should be received only as the first principle of some aerial instrument which remains to be suggested. In its present form it is useless for commercial enterprise, and so little adapts itself to our necessities that it might drop into oblivion to-morrow, and we should miss nothing from the conveniences of life. But we can afford to wait, for already it has done for us that which no other power ever accom- plished ; it has gratified the desire natural to us all to view the earth in a new aspect, and to sustain ourselves in an element hitherto the exclusive domain of birds and insects. We have been enabled to ascend among the phenomena of the heavens, and to exchange con- jecture for instrumental facts, recorded at elevations exceeding the highest mountains of the earth.

Doubtless among the earliest aeronauts a disposition arose to estimate unduly the departure gained from our natural endowments, and to forget that the new faculty we had assumed, while opening the boundless regions of the atmosphere as fresh territory to explore, was subject to limitations a century of progress might do little to extend. In the time of Lunardi. a lady writing to a friend about a

B

Tit A VELS IN THE AIR

lull loon voyage slie had recently made, expresses the common feeling of that day when she says that " the idea that I was daring enough to push myself, as I may say, before my time, into the presence of the Deity, inclines me to a species of terror " — an exaggerated senti- ment, prompted by the admitted hazard of the enterprise (for Pilatre de Kozier had lately perished in France, precipitated to the earth by the bursting of his balloon), or dictated by an exultant and almost presumptuous sense of exaltation : for the first voyagers in the air, reminded by no visible boundary that for a few miles only above the earth can we respire, appear to have forgotten that the height to which we can ascend and live has so definite a limitation.

But no method more simple could have been imagined than that by which the aeronaut ascends, and which leaves the observer entire freedom to note the phenomena by which he is surrounded. "With the ease of an ascending vapour he rises into the atmosphere, carried by the imprisoned gas, which responds with the alacrity of a sentient being to every external circumstance, and lends obedience to the slightest variation of pressure, temperature, or humidity. The balloon when full and on the earth, with a strong wind, is vehemently agitated, and if a stiff breeze prevail during the progress of inflation, it is for the time almost ungovernable. When prepared for flight it offers the greatest powers of resistance to mechanical control, and, bent on soaring upwards, struggles impatiently to be free.

In a line of perpendicular ascent the balloon has a motion of its own. It therefore rises or falls according to the action of the atmosphere upon the imprisoned gas. The second motion, which, united to the first, carries the balloon out of the perpendicular line on rising, and directs its onward motion in a plane, is not inherent in the balloon, but is due to the external force of horizontal currents which sweep it in the direction of their course, and communicate a compound motion we can neither direct nor calculate. The simple inherent motion we can repeat at will.

I believe the most timorous lose their sense of fear as the balloon ascends and the receding earth is replaced by the vapours of the air ; and I refer this confidence chiefly, as has been suggested, to the con- sciousness of isolation by which the balloon traveller feels more like a part of the machine above than of the world below. Thus situated, he is induced to forget the imperfections of the machine in witnessing the close accordance of its movements with those of the surrounding clouds. The balloon strives to attain a height where it may rest in equilibrium with the air in which it floats ; its ascent is checked by allowing gas to escape by the valve, and by the weight of ballast, but

iXTRonrt'Tiox.

facilitated by keeping the gas in and discharging the ballast. These are the methods by which it is made to rise or fall at the will of the aeronaut, and the only objection to the frequent employ- ment of the valve and the use of ballast is to be found in the greatly abbreviated life of the balloon and too rapid diminution of its powers which follow.

Up to the time of the Balloon we bad no means of ascending by which we could test the conditions of the atmosphere for even a mile above the surface of the earth, apart from the terrestrial influences and the inevitable labour of ascending the mountain side. "When, therefore, Messrs. Charles and Robert made their first ascent, and recorded the history of their sensations and the conditions of the atmosphere at various elevations, as the natural incidents and circum- stances of their voyage, a practical application of the Balloon was thus spontaneously suggested.

Before Gay-Lussac solicited the French Government for the use of the balloon in which he ascended to the height of 23,000 feet, M. de Saussure, of Geneva, had alone made observations at a height of 15,000 feet and upwards ; a distinction he had won by accomplishing the desire of his life, and ascending to the summit of Mont Blanc.

This memorable journey De Saussure performed in the summer of 1787, four years after the first balloon ascent of Messrs. Robert and Charles in a hydrogen balloon from Paris, and seventeen years before Gay-Lussac made his ascent for the advancement of science. The weather was favourable, and the snow compact and hard. Accom- panied by his servant and eighteen guides, De Saussure began his journey. There was no difficulty or danger in the early part of tl e ascent, their footsteps being either on the grass or the rock itself. After six hours' incessant climbing, they found themselves 0,000 feet above the village of Chamouni, from which they started, and 9, 500 feet above the level of the sea. At this height, the same to which M. Robert had attained in his balloon, De Saussure and his party prepared to encamp, and slept under a tent on the edge of the glacier of the Montague de la Cote. By noon the next day they were 2,000 feet above the level of perpetual frost. In the afternoon, after eight hours of climbing, they had arrived at an elevation of 13,300 feet above the level of the sea. They were now on the second of the three tremendous steppes which extend from 800 to 1,300 feet each between Les Grands Mulets and the summit of Mont Blanc. On the second of Les Mulets, De Saussure intended to pass the night. The guides dug out the snow for their lodging, and threw some straw into the bottom of the pit, across which they stretched a tent. Their

B 2

TRAVELS JX THE All!.

water was frozen, and they had hut a small charcoal brazier, which proved quite insufficient to melt snow for twenty persons. When morning came, they prepared again for departure. The cold was excessive, but before breakfast could be obtained it was necessary to melt the snow which also served for the water in their journey to come. They crossed the great ice plain, or Grand Plateau, without difficulty ; but the rarefaction of the air began to affect their lungs, and this inconvenience continued to increase at every step. A pro- longed rest was made in holies of recruiting their forces, but with little advantage. They had not gone a dozen steps before they were compelled to halt to recover breath, and in this manner, slowly and with great toil and discomfort, the summit was reached.

"At last," writes De Saussure, " I had arrived at the long-wished- for end of my desires. As the principal points in the view had been before my eyes for the last two hours of this distressing climb, almost as they would appear from the summit, my arrival was by no means a coup de theatre ; it did not even give me the pleasure that one might imagine. My keenest impression was one of joy at the cessa- tion of all my troubles and anxieties : for the prolonged struggle and the recollection of the sufferings this victory had cost me produced rather a feeling of irritation. At the very instant that I stood upon the most elevated point of the summit, I stamped my foot on it more with a sensation of anger than pleasure. Besides, my object was not only to reach the crown of the mountain : I had to make such obser- vations and experiments as alone would give any value to the enter- prise, and I was afraid I should only be able to accomplish a portion of my intentions. I had already found out, even on the plateau where we slept, that every careful observation in such a rarefied atmosphere is fatiguing, because the breath is held unconsciously ; and as the tenuity of the air is obliged to be compensated for by the frequency of respiration, this suspended breathing causes a sensible feeling of uneasiness. I was compelled to rest and pant as much, alter regarding one of my instruments attentively, as after having mounted one of the steepest slopes/'

De Saussure spent three hours and a half in observations, and after four hours passed on the summit, began with his party to descend. They passed the night on Les Mulets, the third since they left Chamouni, and De Saussure writes : " We supped merrily together and with famous appetites. It was not until then that 1 really felt pleased at having accomplished the wish of twenty-seven years. At the moment of my reaching the summit I did not feel really satisfied. 1 was less so when 1 left it : 1 only reflected then upon what 1 had

IXTHODUCTIOX.

not done. But in the stillness of the night, after having recovered from my fatigue, when I went over the observations I had made; when especially I retraced the magnificent expanse of the mountain peaks, which I had carried away engraven in my mind ; and when I thought T might accomplish on the Col de (leant what most assuredly I should never do on Mont Blanc, I enjoyed a true and unalloyed satisfaction." The simple narrative of this eminent man is through- out a commentary upon the use of the Balloon for the purpose of vertical ascent. To lie carried up with speed and certainty at any number of feet per minute, with instruments complete and carefully prepared for observation, the observer seated as calmly as in his observing room at home, are advantages which speak for themselves. The ohservations of to-day can be repeated to-morrow, and succes- sively throughout the seasons of the year, and at different hours of the day; and the importance of this repetition is rendered clear by considering of what slight value is a single set of observations, whether in meteorology or any other branch of inquiry, except to appease curiosity, and how little gain to science is one isolated day's experience; and yet to ascend Mont Blanc was the one great fact of J )e Saussure's life.

The view which oilers itself to an aeronaut seated conveniently in the car' of a balloon is far more extended than any the eye can embrace within its scope from the summit of a lofty mountain, [t is gained without fatigue, hut then there is no succession of magni- ficent scenery which compensates for the toil of the Alpine traveller, and suggests a variety of ohservations unknown to the voyager of the atmosphere. To the latter, situated at a heighl above the earth, separated from all communication with it, the scenery on its surface is dwarfed to a level plane, and the whole country appears like a prodigious map spread out beneath his feet. Better than the Alpine traveller he can trace the history of physiological sensations, and pursue the ohservations of meteorology. In the one case he travels tree from the effects of muscular exertion, which makes fatigue so formidable in the higher regions of the earth's scenery, and, apart from all terrestrial influences of soil and temperature, scans the true conditions of the atmosphere.

On looking into the annals of aerostation, 1 do not find that balloon travellers in general have cared to ascend beyond the height to which De Saussure attained on the summit of Mont Blanc, and the greater number of ascents are within this limit, Most aeronauts have taken care to keep well within recognition of the visible scenery of the earth, and would seem to have been too eager to enjoy the privilege

6 TRAVELS IN THE AIR.

of movement, and the varied prospect in any direction they could travel, to wish to prove their capacity for vertical ascents. We have few reliable observations to a great height. High ascents have now and then been attempted by professional aeronauts eager to gain the attention of the public and enlist its sympathy in their results. Voyages in illuminated balloons by night, in weather not always suitable, were performed successively by M. Blanchard, and after him by M. (larnerin, who preceded the late Mr. Green. Beyond the passing sensation of the moment, recorded in the public prints of the day, their ascents have left no permanent trace in the history of the Balloon. The ascent made by M. Charles, after a joint expedition of Messrs. Charles and Robert, is the first experience of value we have to compare with others. It was, we may suppose, the first occasion on which sunset was witnessed a second time in the same day by any living mortal.

On December 1, 1783, having descended and landed his companion, M. Charles determined to ascend alone. It was towards sunset, and ballast could not be readily procured. Without waiting, therefore, JV1. Charles gave the signal to the peasants, who were holding his machine, to let go ; " and I sprang," says M. Charles, " like a bird into the air. In twenty minutes I was 1,500 toises high, out of sight of terrestrial objects. The globe, which had been flaccid, swelled in- sensibly ; I drew the valve from time to time, but still continued to ascend. For myself, though exposed to the open air, I passed in ten minutes from the warmth of spring to the cold of winter : a sharp, dry cold, but not too much to be borne. In the first moment I felt nothing disagreeable in the change. In a few minutes my fingers were benumbed by the cold, so that I could not hold my pen. I was now stationary as to rising and tailing, and moved only in a horizontal direction. I rose up in the middle of the car to contemplate the scenery around me. When I left the earth, the sun had set on the valleys ; he now rose for me alone ; he presently disappeared, and I had the pleasure of seeing him set twice on the same day. I beheld for a few seconds the circumambient air, and the vapours rising from the valleys and rivers. The clouds seemed to rise from the earth, and collect one upon the other, still preserving their usual form, only their colour was grey and monotonous from the want of light in the atmosphere. The moon alone enlightened them, and showed me that I had changed my direction twice. Presently I conceived, perhaps a little hastily, the idea of being able to steer my course. In the midst of my delight I felt a violent pain in my right ear and jaw, which I ascribed to the dilatation of the air in the cellular construction ot

INTRODUCTION.

those organs as much as to the cold of the external air. I was i.i a waistcoat and bare-headed ; I immediately put on a woollen cap, yet the pain did not go off till I gradually descended."

M. de Meusnier made various calculations as to the height attained by M. Charles, and calculated it to have been at least 9,000 feet. The temperature at the time of starting was 47° on the earth, but in ten minutes had descended to 21°. When M. Charles came down and landed his companion, they were met by the Due de Chartres and some French noblemen, who had followed on horseback for twenty miles the course of the balloon. A contemporary pamphlet records the particulars of the ascents, and has a postscript to the effect that Messrs. Charles and Robert were arrested on returning to Paris, by order of the King, who, at the suggestion of two of his ecclesiastics, adopted this course to prevent the further endangering the lives of his subjects. " But," adds the writer of the pamphlet, "as great interest is making for them, it is thought they will speedily be discharged."

The height to which M. Charles ascended was thought to be enormous. There had been nothing like it before, and this, the first essay of the hydrogen balloon, brought it at once into public favour and notice. The same elevation, attained one year and ten months later upon the mountain side, made De Saussure console himself under failure, with the thought that he had made more valuable barometric observations and had been higher than any other traveller in Europe. On this occasion he had attempted to ascend Mont ISlanc; but the route to the summit remained undiscovered, and after journeying for a day his party were forced to return. Passing the night at an elevation of 9,000 feet, within the walls of a rude hut which had been constructed for the expedition, De Saussure gained his first impressions of these elevated regions. Two mattresses had been deposited within the hut, and an open parasol set against the entrance formed the door. De Saussure says : " As night came on, the sky was completely pure and cloudless ; the stars, brilliant indeed, but unscintillating, cast a pale light over the summit of the mountain peaks, sufficient to define their size and distance. The repose and dead silence which reigned in this immeasurable space, increased by the imagination, inspired me almost with terror. It appeared as though I was left living alone in the world, and that I saw its corpse at my feet. I either slept lightly and calmly, or my thoughts were so bright and peaceful I was sorry to slumber. "When the parasol was not before the door 1 could see from my bed the snow, the ice, and the rocks below the cabin, and the rising of the moon gave the most singular appearance to the view." Some of the party

8 TRAVELS IN THE A III

who shared the luit with I)e Saussure suffered greatly from the rarefaction of the air, and could not eat anything. The next morning, after an hour's climb, they were forced to return. The snow was soft, and they encountered treacherous drifts and blocks of ice. De Saussure therefore with reluctance abandoned his attempt, the last which was made before the discovery of the true mute to the summit

Whether by mountain ascents or balloon voyages, the traveller who quits the ordinary level 'of the earth for the upper regions finds two inevitable conditions presented to his endurance, arising respec- tively from the gradual loss of heat, and the tenuity of the atmo- sphere. The effects of these conditions will differ, we may assume, with every individual, but certainly are more uniform in their relation to the occupant of a balloon car, who is spared the necessity of exer- tion and consequent fatigue, than the effects of similar conditions upon a mountain traveller, who, to attain a height to which the aeronaut can ascend in an hour, is subjected to the continuous toil of two successive days, devoted to an ascent which is granted only to a certain degree of strength and activity; for of those wdio have attempted to reach the summit of Mont Blanc, many have failed tin (nigh physical inability to endure fatigue. The test, therefore, of the rigorous severity of the upper regions has been experienced by those chiefly of more than average physique, men equal to the toil, and who have kept themselves in previous training for. the severe exercise involved in the undertaking. But the aeronaut enters upon his expedition unprepared, and attains an elevation not dependent on his physical strength. To this cause, probably, balloon voyages under apparently similar circumstances of elevation show results by no means uniform : a fact which has provoked severe criticism, and has been supposed to arise from the vanity of individuals wishing to prove their experiences greater than those of others. I should be sorry to have to be the champion of all the marvellous histories that have been related ; but on looking over a collection of narratives from 1783 to 1835, including the principal aerostatic voyages per- formed in England, Italy, and France, 1 believe that, as a rule, authors have written their true experiences, and have correctly recorded their impressions. Aeronauts by trade may at times have been guilty of exaggeration, but the tyro who ascends once and never again is most likely to make demands upon our credulity. It happens thus — that the diminished pressure of the air, and the unfamiliar circumstances of his position, act with far greater force upon an individual who ascends for the first time than ever afterwards. This' I can attest,

INTRODUCTION. 9

having ascended without the slightest inconvenience to a height which used to produce discomfort, and even discoloration of the hands and lace, until at length I became so acclimatized to the effects of a more rarefied atmosphere, that I could breathe at an elevation of four miles at least above the earth without inconvenience, and I have no doubt that this faculty of acclimatization might be so developed as to have a very important bearing upon the philo- sophical uses of balloon ascents. At six and seven miles high, I experienced the limit, of our power of breathing in the attenuated atniosjfhere. More frequent experiments would increase this height, I have little doubt, and artificial appliances might be contrived to continue it higher still. A boundary must exist, but I have little hesitation in saying that it might be removed beyond its present limit. To the terrestrial traveller the conditions of dimi- nished heat and increased tenuity of atmosphere present themselves in the light of problems which have more relation to the influences of the earth than of the atmosphere. Clinging to the earth at every step, and completing his journey upon the highest point of his ter- restrial pinnacle, he cannot clear his observations from the influences of the earth; or mark the gradual diminution of temperature con- jointly with the amount and degree of cloud present, and estimate, by repeated observations, the extent to which the latter serves as a radiating screen to keep back the heat of the earth within the limits of the lower atmosphere. He cannot mark the fluctuations of tem- perature through which he rises on a fine but cloudy day, and make them comparable with others taken during cloudless ascents, with no local disturbing causes present to interfere with the law of a decreasing temperature with increase of height. These belong to the balloon voyager alone.

As a rule, the toil of a terrestrial ascent has induced the painful sensations of a rarefied air at an elevation where the aeronaut would have sat at ease, with little or but trifling inconvenience. Thus, at the height to which M. Charles ascended and felt but a slight pain in the muscles of his face and discomfort in his ears, M. Bouret, the friend of De Saussure, suffered so keenly that he was compelled to descend. At a height of three miles I never experienced any annoy- ance or discomfort; yet there is no ascent, I think, of Mont Blanc in which great inconvenience and severe pain have not been felt at a height of 13,000 feet; but then, as before remarked, this is an elevation attained only after two successive days of toil. About this elevation, Dr. Hamel and his party, having passed the Grand Plateau, speak of incessant thick and laboured respiration. They returned,

10 TRAVELS IN THE AIR.

however, without reaching the summit, appalled by the catastrophe of an avalanche of snow, which hurried three of the guides into the frightful depths of a crevasse on the ascending slope of Le Mont Maudit This fatal attempt was made in the early part of the present century, Dr. Hamel being anxious to make the ascent in furtherance of some especial observations taken in compliance with instructions received from the Emperor of llussia. Later still, the same ground was passed over by a party including Sir Francis Talfourd and his son. The effects of cold and diminished pressure are clearly shown in the narrative which is elsewhere published. " Tbe line ^>f our inarch," observes Sir Francis, " lay up long slopes of snow ascending in a steep inclination before us. There was nothing to vary the toil ox the pain, except that, as fatigue crept on, and nature began to discriminate between the stronger and the weaker, our line was no longer continuous, but broken into parties. The rarity of the atmo- sphere now began to affect us, and as the disorder arising from this cause was more impartial than the distribution of muscular activity, our condition was for a time almost equalized. Violent nausea and headache were experienced by one of our party, while I only felt, in addition to the distress of increasing weakness, the taste or scent of blood in the mouth, as if it were about to burst from the nostrils. We thus reached the Grand Plateau, a long field of snow in the bosom of the highest pinnacles of the mountain."

Until the aeronaut shall have found means to ascend beyond the present limit, he will, I believe, feel no sensation of cold so painful as that of the Alpine traveller. At the extreme height to which 1 have ascended, the lowest temperature was 12° below zero, or 4-4° below the freezing-point of water. The cold was intense, but not painfully severe, and no amount of suffering was experienced from this cause ; of five pigeons taken up, but one perished. All authorities agree that cold, however intense, is supportable under a calm temperature, whereas a moderate degree of cold with a fresh breeze, or the slightest air stirring, produces the sensation of a very low temperature. The balloon voyager, who feels no wind because he always travels with it, and when sweeping along with the speed of an express train yet meets no current as he cleaves the air and knows no motion, can bear the cold to which he is subjected with little demand on his power of endurance. It is true he is condemned to immovability and to vicis- situdes of cold both dry and wet, but these extremes can be guarded against by due precautions of fur and warm clothing. During the period of his voyage the aeronaut may create defence enough against the fluctuations of the atmosphere.

INTRODUCTION. 11

The subject of cold, physiologically considered with regard to our own sensations, M. Martins has ably treated in his essay, " Du Froid thermometrique et de ses Relations avec le Froid physiologique," on plains and mountains. " Of those who suffer death from cold," M. Martins writes, " let us suppose a single traveller, or a small caravan, wishing to cross one of the ' Cols' covered with eternal snow which lead from Valais to Piedmont, or from France to Spain. It is winter, or the commencement of spring, or the end of autumn. The journey is long, the time uncertain. The voyagers are not perfectly acquainted with the country. They set out. The sky is covered with cloud, which descends little by little, and envelops them in a thick mist. They walk in the snow, in the track of those travellers who have preceded them ; but soon other traces cross those by which they guide themselves, or a recent fall of snow has obliterated every mark. They stop, hesitate, return upon their steps, turn themselves sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, always making for a summit; they can scarcely see through the fog and mist. The snow begins to fall, not flaky as on the plains, but granulated, dry, and like hail. Driven by the wind it penetrates to the skin through the strongest vestments ; striking incessantly the face, it produces a permanent giddiness which soon becomes vertigo. Then the poor traveller, worried, harassed, and not seeing two steps before him, feels an irresistible desire to sleep. He knows that sleep is death ; but, lost and despairing, he seeks some rock, and abandoning himself lies down to rise no more. His pulse declines as in a lethargy, and he dies of cold, as one dies of inanition. Moral energy in these moments is the only means of safety. It is necessary at all risks to combat sleep, to walk, to defend oneself against the cold by muscular exercise."

" Jacques Balmat, who was the first to make the ascent of Mont Blanc," observes M. Martins, "knew it well. He was left alone on the Grand Plateau. There he was surprised by night : to mount to the summit was impossible ; to redescend in the obscurity equally impossible. He took his post valiantly, and walked about the snow till morning." This man was a native of Chaniouni, and had accom- panied the party of Dr. Paccard. Being, it is supposed, at the time unpopular among his comrades, he had been neglected by them during the ascent : when they decided to return he had lost sight of them, and his companions, either forgetful of him or determined to descend without him, had returned upon their steps, and he found himself, at an elevation of 14,000 feet, abandoned in the midst of a blinding storm of snow, without food, and but poorly clad. Half dead from the piercing cold, his limbs numbed by the labours he had undergone,

12 TRAVELS IN THE Alii.

the poor fellow passed this terrible night as best he could. When morning dawned, Balmat decided upon his part ; his feet were frost- bitten and had lost all sensation ; but his limbs, benumbed and paralysed, he resolved should carry him to the summit never before attained. Alone he accomplished that which had been denied his treacherous comrades. Alone he traversed the untrodden fields of snow, climbed hitherto inaccessible slopes of ice, and forced his way to the summit by a route but little changed up to the present time. That evening he returned to his village, and, prostrate and despairing of his life, submitted himself to the services of Dr. Paccard, the physician of Chamouni. After an illness of several weeks, in gratitude to the doctor he revealed to him in confidence his secret; and when Balmat was sufficiently recovered, he and Paccard made the first ascent together. They were delighted with their success, and wrote at once to De Saussure at Geneva, who immediately ordered an equipment of mules and guides, to be accompanied and attended by porters and attendants. With the first favourable op- portunity of the season, De Saussure made his celebrated ascent, as we have related, Jacques Balmat being appointed chief of the troop of guides. This is the popular narrative, and to his moral energy alone Balmat owed his preservation from death on the night that he was exposed to the piercing and insidious cold of so great an elevation.

A very rapid descent is productive of inevitable discomfort. To this cause probably M. liobert owed the severe pain and inconvenience he experienced at 9,000 feet. The year following, Messrs. Charles and Eobert ascended to a height of 14,000 feet. In March 1784, M. Blanchard, the celebrated French aeronaut, made his first ascent from Paris ; he mounted high above the clouds, and attained the elevation of 9, GOO feet. There is no mention in either case of personal incon- venience. Messrs. Morveau and Bertrand ascended from Dijon in April 1784, when they attained the height of 13,000 feet, and travelled eighteen miles in twenty-five minutes. The temperature of the air descended to 25°. In June 1784, M. Pleurand and Madame Thible ascended at Lyons in a very large fire-balloon, named Le Gklstave, before the King of Sweden. They reached the height of 8,500 feet, and travelled only two miles in forty-five minutes. In Signor Lunardi's balloon, Mrs. Sage ascended with Mr. Biggin from London ; in kneeling down to secure the fastenings of the network in the opening of the gallery, the lady broke the barometer, and they had no measure therefore of the height to which they ascended. It was, however, considerable.

INTRODUCTION. 13

In July 1784, M. Robert ascended from Paris with the Due de Chartres and other gentlemen. Within the hydrogen balloon was enclosed a smaller one, filled with common air. They ascended to a height of 5,100 feet, and were greatly beaten about by an eddy or revolving current. The gas expanded ; they had no valve, and the inner balloon choked up the aperture of the neck and permitted no escape. In this dilemma, at the mercy of a whirlwind, they decided to make a rent in the outer covering. The Due de Chartres himself took one of the banners and made two holes in the balloon, which formed an aperture between seven and eight feet in length. The gas escaped in volumes through the open rents, and they came down with great velocity, but no one was injured.

In September 1784, Signor Vincenzo Lunardi ascended, taking with him one small thermometer. He attained no considerable elevation. In January 1785, M. Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries crossed the Channel in a hydrogen balloon from Dover to Calais. From some defect in the gas, or deficiency in its amount, far from being affected by the rarity pf the air, they could with difficulty keep themselves at a level above the sea, and to do so were obliged to part with everything in the car, and even take oft" their clothes and throw them overboard. As they neared the land, however, the balloon rose, and, describing a magnificent arch, carried them over the high ground surrounding Calais, and finally landed them in the Forest of Cuiennes. On July 22, Signor Lunardi ascended from Liverpool. The process of filling the balloon was tedious, and the imparience of the populace made it necessary to ascend before the process of inflation could be properly performed. He therefore found himself with barely enough rising power to carry him, and without ballast of any kind ; so that when after being be- calmed he was gently wafted towards the sea, he had not ballast to throw out to enable him to rise and meet some other current. When suspended over the sea, to lighten his weight he threw down his hat, upon which the balloon rose, and the thermometer fell 3°. The Lalloon entered a cloud, and, with the thermometer at 50°, Lunardi wus surprised at finding himself surrounded with a shower of snow. Being desirous to ascend higher, he threw down his banner, and shortly after took off his coat (the uniform of the Honourable Artillery Com- pany) and threw it away. He then rose majestically, and bore towards the land. Ten minutes later he perceived a thunder-cloud and signs of a gathering storm. To pass from its vicinity he threw down his waistcoat. The temperature had fallen to 32°, and five minutes later fell to 27°; the snow had melted on the top of his balloon, and had trickled down in the form of water. It was now concealed in the

14 TEA VELS IN THE AIR.

colder temperature, and hung in icicles round the neck of the balloon ; he shook off about a pound's weight, and it fell upon the floor of the gallery, Lunardi looking upon it as the ballast of Providence. The temperature descended to 2G°. He now began to descend. It was three minutes to seven, and six minutes after he was safely landed in a cornfield about twelve miles from Liverpool. Here we have a practical commentary upon the necessity of a proper freight of ballast, and of a nicely regulated equilibrium between the balloon and sur- rounding atmosphere before starting. In the month preceding, M. Pilatre de Rozier and M. Romain had made their last and fatal voyage from Boulogne. The balloon employed was compound, a small fire- balloon being appended to a hydrogen balloon above. The one set fire to the other, and the aeronauts were precipitated to the earth and killed.

In the beginning of the next century the name of M. Garnerin is closely associated with Balloon history, and replaces that of M. Mlanehard. He is chiefly memorable for night ascents with an illu- minated balloon. On July 5, 1802, M. Garnerin ascended from Marylebone; the wind was high, but he rose to a height of 7,800 feet, and descended at Chingford, near Epping Forest. His fame as an aeronaut was considerable, and his popularity about this time was at its culminating point with the people of the metropolis, who were in a state of tumult to witness his ascent. This was his twenty-seventh voyage in Europe.

In 1804, Professor Robertson ascended from St. Petersburg, accom- panied by the Academician Sacharof. This was purely a scientific voyage, instituted at the request of the Russian Academy, to ascertain the physical state of the atmosphere, and the component parts of it at different determinate heights; also the difference between the results given by vertical ascent and the observations of De Luc, Saussure, Humboldt, and others, on mountains, which it was rightly concluded could not be so free from terrestrial influences as those made in the open air. Among the experiments proposed by the Academy which were to be made at great distances from the earth, the following were included : — The change of rate of evaporation of fluids; the decrease or increase of the magnetic force ; the in- clination of the magnetic needle ; the increase of the power in the solar rays to excite heat; the greater faintness of the colours pro- duced by the prism ; the existence or non-existence of electric matter ; observations on the influence and changes which the rarefaction of the air occasions in the human body ; the flying of birds ; the filling with air of exhausted flasks, at each fall of an

INTRODUCTION. 11

inch in the barometer ; and some other chemical and philosophical experiments.

These are the questions to which every voyager in behalf of science is required to add some testimony in reply. In the case of Mr. Robertson, the gyrating movemeut of the balloon was a difficulty, as it is to all aeronauts, and rendered observations with the deflecting needle almost impossible. With the barometer at 27 inches, Mr. Robertson and M. Sacharof experienced no more inconvenience than a numbness of sensation in their ears, and no alteration of sound, which at 23 inches was the same as on the earth's surface. At the height of 22 inches they were nearly surrounded by fog, the earth appearing enveloped in a smoke-coloured atmosphere which a good telescope failed to penetrate.

Having discharged their ballast and thrown down every available article from the car of the balloon, they deposited for safety their instruments in the centre of a bundle made of their warm clothing, and lowered it together with their grapnel. This proceeding was intended to obviate the breakage consequent on a rough descent. The balloon, so lightened on descending, flew up again to the limit of the cord, but soon effected a safe and gentle landing. The in- struments, roughly dragged along the surface of the ground with the package of which they formed a part, were, as might have been expected, injured or broken. These gentlemen made various minute observations of interest, and intelligently recorded all that they wit- nessed during their ascent. But the instruments could not easily be used in the car of a balloon, and the results required confirmation by subsequent experiments ; opportunities also were lost by fog and a clouded atmosphere, and the practical embarrassments of balloon management were severely felt ; so that the results are meagre, and show the necessity of system and repeated practice to arrive at results of value.

On October 7, 1803, Count Zambeccari, Dr. Grassati, of Rome, and M. Rascal Andreoli, of Ancona, made a night ascent in a tire-balloon from Bologna. They took with them instruments, and a lantern, by which to see to make observations. The balloon rose with great velocity, and soon attained a height at which Count Zambeccari and Dr. Grassati became insensible. M. Andreoli retained the use of his faculties. About two in the morning they found themselves descend- ing over the waves of the Adriatic ; the lantern had gone out, and to light it was a work of no little difficulty. The balloon continued to descend rapidly, and fell, as they anticipated, into the sea. Thoroughly drenched, they succeeded in throwing out ballast until they rose again,

Hi TRAVELS IX THE All!.

and passed through three successive regions of cloud, which covered their clothes with rime, and in this situation they became deaf, and could not hear each other speak. About three o'clock the balloon again descended, and was driven by a gust of wind to the coast of Istria, bounding in and out of the sea till eight o'clock in the morning, when one Antonio Bazon picked them up in his ship, and carried them to shore. The balloon, left to itself, went o\*er to the Turks, having first mounted to an amazing height. The most intense interest was excited for the fate of the aeronauts, and bulletins of health were sent from Venice to Bologna. Count Zambeccari suffered most, and was forced to have his fingers incised. The wdiole of the party, however, ultimately recovered, and Count Zambeccari, in no way intimidated, continued to persevere in making ascents to a consider- able height. In the year 1812, accompanied by Signor Bonagna, he ascended from Bologna. On coming down the balloon caught in some high trees and took fire ; to avoid being burned they leaped out, when Count Zambeccari was killed, and his companion much injured.

In August 1808, Andreoli and Brioschi ascended at Padua, and rose rapidly to a considerable height. When the barometer had fallen to 15 inches, M. Brioschi felt a violent palpitation of the heart, and when it had reached 12 inches he sank into a state of torpor. M. Andreoli alone could observe the balloon, which rose till the mercury stood at 9 inches ; he then found that he could not use his left arm. Soon after this, with the barometer at 8 inches, the balloon is said to have burst with a loud report, and then all came rapidly down together, with safety, near the place of Petrarch's Tomb. The accuracy of this statement has been questioned by the author of " Aerial and Alpine Voyages," who takes it for granted that the rapid escape of heated air would have caused not only a precipitate descent of the whole machine, but the death of the aeronauts. The only part of the account that 1 feel inclined to question would be that concerning the reading of the barometer, which gives an elevation of more than 30,000 feet. The resistance offered by the air does much in such cases, and it is not an inevitable result that every one must be dashed to pieces. 1 have myself, under the pressure of an immediate necessity to save the land, fallen the last two miles in four minutes, holding to the valve line to ensure its opening to the full extent and the rapid escape of the gas, and though bruised have not been hurt severely. Mr. Wise, the American aeronaut, has also twice descended to the earth with an exploded balloon. The canvas, torn and rent, acts

INTRODUCTION. 17

as the mainsail of a ship, and the balloon gyrates through the air in falling. It is not by any means a situation to be coveted, but one, I should be understood to remark, not necessarily involving loss of life, even from so great an elevation as that of the Italian aeronauts. Increase of height accelerates the velocity of the descent, and much increases the hazard of the situation ; but it is possible to fall and live. In one of my descents from Wolverhampton, the wind made it difficult and dangerous, and with our utmost efforts the balloon came roughly to the ground : it struck the earth and rebounded again and again, until a long tear became visible, which spread rapidly. The sides of the balloon stood out like wings, but the upper part remained, until finally a great rent passed up from neck to valve, when I fully expected all would drop down. But for some little time after this the great valve, with its heavy springs, remained fifty feet high in the air, whilst the whole balloon opened out in one immense sheet, and, kite-like, kept up perhaps for rather more than a minute, though it appeared to me a much longer time. It then gradually fell to the ground. That it did not fall more rapidly was due to the pressure of the atmosphere. We had a few bruises, but none of any importance, and were spared the general reversal of our effects which happened to Mr. Wise, who alighted with his car bottom upwards. If we therefore, in consideration of our own and other authenticated experiences, allow that the Italian aeronauts might have survived the catastrophe of their machine, and that the elevation they attained was nearly, if not quite, equal to that which they record, I may remark that the remainder of their statement bears comparison with the effect of rarefied atmosphere upon others. Thus, Signor Andreoli, of whose ascents there are frequent mention, and who was more inured probably to the higher regions, suffered less than Signor Brioschi, and observed the barometer after his com- panion became insensible. At 15 inches, Signor Brioschi found his respiration seriously affected. At 15 inches, I began to pant for breath. At 12 inches, Signor Brioschi became insensible, — that is, at about 23,000 feet above the earth, the same height to which Gav- Lussac attained without inconvenience. At 9 inches of the b uro- meter, that is, at 29,000 feet, Signor Andreoli, more seasoned than his companion, found only that he could not use his left arm, and was able to observe that the halloon was fully inflated. The balloon employed was doubtless one of Montgolfier's filled with heated air, as such were principally in use in Italy. It ascended with great rapidity, and, unless they carried fire, must have cooled and descended within a very short period of time, without travelling far from the

c

18 TRAVELS IN THE AIR.

place of ascent. Leaving it an open question whether or no the barometer reading may have given too great altitudes, we may fairly suppose that Signor Andreoli, of whom frequent mention is made, had become enabled to support the greater rarity of the air, -whilst his companion is shown to have yielded at an elevation less than that at which, when seasoned, I first became seriously affected. I am inclined to accept the statement as it is written, and the facts described are certainly in accordance with other experiences. It maybe argued that Gay-Lussac felt no inconvenience at the height at which Signor Brioschi fainted; but the French philosopher ascended in a hydrogen balloon, slowly, to take note of the instrumental phenomena com- mitted to his charge, and there is every reason to believe that Signors Brioschi and Andreoli ascended very rapidly to a great height, the sudden effect of which, as I have already said, is a shock which the system is unable to support.

In August 1811, Mr. Sadler and Mr. Henry Beaufoy ascended from Hackney ; they attained an elevation no higher than sufficient to view the landscape of the earth spread out beneath them like an open map, and were not therefore subject to the test of physiological sensations. The idea of unlimited freedom conveyed by the sense of floating in the invisible medium which surrounds the aeronaut; the total unconsciousness of movement, and the sudden sinking away of the earth and the people on it ; the silence of the upper regions succeeding instantaneously to the shouts of the spectators and the noise and turmoil around the car, are among the first impressions which occurred to Mr. Beaufoy.

In 1812, Mr. Sadler ascended at Dublin to cross to Liverpool, but meeting with an adverse current, he resolved to descend into the sea. To escape from drowning, and effect the disablement of his balloon, he caused the crew of a ship to run her bowsprit through it, and then to take him on board. Mr. Sadler, junior, ascended from the Green Bark, and with difficulty saved his life. Not only did the valve become frozen, but the net burst at the top, and the silken covering of the balloon began gradually protruding through it. To save himself from being precipitated to the earth, he tied the long silken neck of the balloon round his body. After being carried to a great height into the upper regions, and almost frozen with the cold, he came down at length near Gravesend.

In 1832, Dr. Foster ascended with Mr. Green from Chelmsford, with the idea of making some further observations on clouds, in addition to those already made on Alpine excursions ; also to test by personal sensation the effect of the higher regions of the air upon the

INTRODUCTION. 19

organs of hearing. They ascended slowly, and were for a time becalmed. " It was towards evening, and looking in the direction of Maldon river, and hovering over its marshy land, we saw," ob- serves Dr. Foster, " what had evidently been a cumnlus now subsiding into a stratus, or white evening mist, stretching in such a manner over the ground in its descent, that we at first took it for smoke. Higher \\\ there were cumuli in the air, and uniform haze, and some warm clouds. The beauty and extent of prospect now increased. All earthly sounds ceased as soon as we had got above the breeze which swept above the surface of the ground, where in a region comparatively calm, and lighter than it was below, we were conscious of no motion whatever. I presently felt a slight movement, and heard the great buoyant balloon above us make a noise, as if touched by the wind. On ad- verting to the cause, we found that we had got into another current, which wafted us back again towards Chelmsford as we moved round with the oscillating machine. ... I remember, in crossing to France," continues Dr. Foster, " the first experience of a steamboat paddling across the level brine like a fish was a curious phenomenon, having before been only conveyed by sailing vessels. But this new-born Leviathan of the deep is nothing to this Pegasus of the air, neither is the sensation produced by a balloon in motion at all comparable to that of a balloon at rest."

The most remarkable ascent of the century was that fitted out by Robert Hollond, Esq., M.P. ; Mr. Green's balloon, afterwards known as the great Nassau, was employed for the expedition, and provided with every imaginable requisite, and provisions to last a fortnight, or longer if need be. On the afternoon of Monday, jSTov. 7, 1836, it left Vauxhall Gardens. The party consisted of Mr. Green and Mr. Robert Hollond, the projector of the enterprise, accompanied by Mr. Monck Mason. It was one o'clock when they left the earth, and, in obedience to the prevailing current, were wafted gently along. By the fading light of the winter day they found themselves leaving land, and vertically placed above the breakers on the beach beneath. Throughout the night, in utter darkness, they voyaged for hours above a dense stratum of cloud, through breaks of which an occasional glimmer of light from the fires on the surface of the earth alone could penetrate by a partial glimpse. As morning dawned the aspect of the country they were traversing afforded them no knowledge of their bearing, and at ten minutes past five they gained their greatest elevation, and mounted to a height of 12,000 feet. At a quarter to six they were brought into full view of the sun, and presently descending, to rise again, enjoyed the spectacle of a sunrise above the clouds. As the sun

c: 2

20 TEA VELS IN THE ATE.

gained p iwer they anxiously endeavoured to gain some knowledge of the position they occupied above the earth, and, in ignorance of the speed with which they had been journeying and of the distance traversed, began to surmise that they might already have passed the limit of that part of Europe where they might expect to find the accommodation and conveniences necessary for their comfort and the safety of the balloon. The large tracts of snow beneath them sug- gested the plains of Poland or the steppes of Russia ; they therefore ] imposed to descend without delay, and, lowering the grapnel, came safely to earth, passing the gentle declivity of a wooded valley, and descending into the bosom of the trees which capped its summit. Bespeaking the assistance of people near, the balloon was speedily se lured, and they learned that they had descended in the duchy of Nassau, about two leagues from the town of Weilburg. The journey had lasted eighteen hours, and was thus brought to a safe and agree- able termination. Mr. Monck Mason drew up an able account of the expedition, which he subsequently published in his " History of Aeros- tation," a work to which I refer my readers who may feel interested in further particulars of the voyage.

Had I attempted a consecutive narrative of balloon ascents (instead of calling attention to those only which were important on account of their elevation), the names of Pilatre de Pozier, the first aeronaut, and Planchard, the first aerial voyager by profession, would have found greater prominence.

In the use of the balloon, distinction must be made between travelling for miles horizontally over a surface of country which is disclosed like a grand natural panorama to the eye of the voyager, and ascending perpendicularly to the gi*eatest altitude within the capacity of the machine and the limits of human life. Vertical and horizontal explorations of the air have each a range of ex- periences of their own ; the latter give rise to personal enjoyment chiefly, while the former add to our knowledge of hitherto un- explored territory.

Fiir vertical motions only is the balloon manageable. With its capacity measured and weight determined, its ascending power can be calculated, and the aeronaut may nerve himself to brave the vicissi- tudes of a certain elevation, and, if inured to the work of observation, make every fresh ascent an epoch in discovery. To Mr. Green is due the employment of coal gas, which has long superseded the use of hydrogen. The filling of a balloon, therefore, is no longer the tedious and uncertain operation it was formerly, extending sometimes over several days, but is performed with ease and certainty in a few hours

IXTlluDrrTlOX. 21

and at a moderate cost. The comparatively easy management of a balloon so fdled in the hands of a practised aeronaut, under whose guidance for a matter of £s. d. one can sit securely and for an hour or two enjoy the delight of an aerial voyage within sight of earth, is one reason, I believe, Avhy the balloon has gradually degenerated into an instrument of popular exhibition and passing amusement, so that its striking characteristics and important bearing are in danger of fading completely out of view.

To guide the balloon in any horizontal direction appears now as far from practicable as it has ever been. We start from a given point to go where chance directs. The compass we carry with us, not that we may steer our course along a given route, but trace by it the erratic and ungoverned movements of the machine that carries us. AVe traverse perhaps the segment of a huge circle, the line of our path in space. We proceed and return, advance onward, now gently, now with velocity. We sit in the car without the slightest knowledge of the earth's landscape hidden beneath the vapours of the air. The voyage itself is to last many hours, if all things should be favourable. Where, let us ask, is the practical advantage of such a machine ? To what use can it be converted ? Are we wrong in supposing it to be a first principle which requires yet to be engrafted into some mechanism which shall be more subordinate to the requirements of life ?

It is not to be supposed that additional frequency of respiration in an attenuated air makes amends for the want of oxygen. Those who have felt the continued dryness of the throat, which is parched so that to swallow is painful, are sensible to the contrary ; but the death it produces is painless, and asphyxia steals away the life of the human being as he moves above, suspended in mid-air, as stealthily as cold does that of the mountain traveller, who, benumbed and insensible to suffering, yields to the lethargy of approaching sleep, and reposes to wake no more. These two powers rule respectively the upper regions of the atmosphere, whether we seek to approach them by vertical ascent or by the steepest mountains, and the element we live in warns back the adventurous traveller to the limits appointed to human life and physical exertion.

Let us take the Balloon as we now find it, and apply it to the use; of vertical ascent ; let us make it subservient to the purposes of war, an instrument of legitimate strategy; or employ it to ascend to the verge of our lower atmosphere ; and, as it is, the balloon will claim its place among the most important of human inventions, even if it remain an isolated power, and should never become engrafted as the ruling principle of the mechanism we have yet to seek.

22 TRAVELS IN THE AIR.

The Balloon, considered as an instrument for vertical exploration, presents itself to us under a variety of aspects, each one of which is fertile in suggestions. [Regarding the atmosphere as the great labora- tory of changes which contain the germ of future discoveries, to belong- respectively as they unfold to the chemist and the meteorologist, the physical relation to animal life of different heights ; the form of death which at certain elevations waits to accomplish its destruction ; the effect of diminished pressure upon individuals similarly placed ; the comparison of mountain ascents with the experiences of aeronauts, are some of the questions which suggest themselves, and faintly indicate inquiries which naturally ally themselves to the course of balloon experiments. Sufficiently varied and important, they will be seen to rank the Balloon as a valuable aid to the uses of philosophy, and rescue it from the impending degradation of continuing a toy, fit only to be exhibited, or to administer to the pleasures of the curious and lovers of adventure.

We can also make use of it to determine the proportions of the gaseous elements we breathe. Do not the waves of the aerial ocean contain, within their nameless shores, a thousand discoveries des- tined to be developed in the hands of chemists, meteorologists, and physicists? Have we not to study the manner in which the vital functions are accomplished at different heights, and the way in which death takes possession of the creatures whom we transport to these remote regions ? Have we not to compare the different effects of the diminution of pressure on individuals placed in identical condition in the car of the same balloon ?

When the Balloon was invented, the great Lavoisier was charged by the Academy of Sciences to draw up a report in order to estimate the value of this unexpected discovery. After having minutely described the ascents at which he was present, the illustrious chemist stopped, appalled in some measure at the multitude of the problems the Balloon would help to solve, and the series of uses of which it seemed susceptible. I shall imitate his reserve ; for it seems unnecessary to justify further the attempt to make the Balloon a philosophical instrument, instead of an object of exhibition, or a vehicle for carrying into the higher regions of the air excursionists desirous of excitement, mere seekers after adventure.

f--?' . if I <

Mil. ULAIHHEIt IN THE CAR

CHAPTER I.

THE FIKST SCIENTIFIC ASCENTS IN ENGLAND.

Tiieee are no frontiers in the reign of thought, and the conquests of the human mind belong to all the world; yet each civilized nation is called upon to give its contingent to the great work of the study of Nature, and to choose those branches which are most suited to its genius.

France has given the Balloon to the world, but her work is still incomplete, and the conquest of Charles and Montgolfier remains undeveloped. It is not, however, my intention to describe the at- tempts which have been made to this end, or discuss the value of the Balloon as a first step towards the solution of the problem of aerial locomotion ; I desire only to describe the principal results of my own aeronautical excursions, after briefly alluding to the observations of my predecessors in this field of inquiry.

The first persons in England who devoted themselves to aerial navigation were foreigners. The philosopher Tiberius Cavallo and the diplomatist Vincent Lunardi were both Italians. But from the time when Lunardi inaugurated balloon ascents to the present day, it may be truly said that balloons have remained popular with us ; not only have noblemen and gentlemen shown a taste for aerial journeys, but men of science have followed up with avidity the great experi-

■24 TEA VELS JX THE AIR.

ments made on the Continent, and several attempts have been made in England, both by free and captive balloons, to study systematically the phenomena of the atmosphere.

In 1838 and 1850, Mr. Rush ascended several times with Mr. Green, and made some observations mainly on humidity. Public attention was aroused to a certain extent, but the ascents were chiefly known from an incident which occurred at the end of one of them. The balloon descended in the sea near Sheerness, and the car was dragged through the water with considerable rapidity ; the balloon acting as a kite. Mr. Green therefore threw out the grapnel, which caught in a sunken wreck, and detained the balloon till a boat came up and secured the voyagers. A volley of musketry was fired into the balloon to admit of the escape of the gas, and it was ultimately secured.

Soon after the discovery of the Balloon, a desire arose for experi- ments in the higher regions of the air. The first experiments, as 1 have previously stated, were made at St. Petersburg, by command of the Emperor of Russia, by Mr. Robertson, in the years 1803 and 1804, but no important results were obtained.

In the year 1804 two experiments were made at Paris : the first on August 31, by Gay-Lussac and Biot. These gentlemen ascended to the height of 13,000 feet, but did not commence their observations till they were 7,000 feet high. Their experiments in magnetism, elec- tricity, or galvanism, gave results identical with those made on the earth — a source of much disappointment to every one.

It was then supposed that they had not ascended high enough, and Gay-Lussac resolved to go alone, with the view of reaching a greater elevation. This he succeeded in doing on the loth of September following, when he reached a height of 23,000 feet, and found a decline of temperature from 82° to 15°; almost confirming the theory of a decline of temperature of 1° in 300 feet of elevation. The sky was very blue, and the air was found to be very dry. A magnet took a longer time to vibrate than on the earth. He filled two bottles with air from the higher regions, which on analysis was found to be in its component parts the same as the lower air.

Two years after this, the Astronomer Royal of Naples, Carlo Brioschi, wished to ascend higher than Ga)7-Lussac, but this he was unable to do in consequence of the Balloon bursting. Alter this no attempt was made till the year 1S43, when the British Association appointed a committee and voted a sum of money for experiments by means of captive balloons. Several committees were subsequently appointed, and out of the limited resources of the Association considerable sums

If

fc*

THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC ASCENTS IN ENGLAND. 27

of money were granted for experiments by means of balloons ; but no good results were obtained. This want of success omdit neither to discourage nor astonish us ; captive ascents, though easy enough when directed by experienced aeronauts with proper appliances, present inextricable difficulties to novices unaccustomed to the disappoint- ments of aerial navigation.

In the year 1850 MM. Bixio and Barral conceived the project of ascending to a height of 30,000 to 40,000 feet, in order to study the many atmospheric phenomena as yet imperfectly known. On June 29th in that year, a balloon was filled in the garden of the Observatory at Paris with pure hydrogen gas. The weather was bad — a torrent of rain fell ; MM. Bixio and Barral, and the aeronaut, placed themselves in the car without testing the ascending power of the balloon, and darted into the air like an arrow, as described by the spectators, so that in two minutes they were lost in the clouds. At a height of 5,000 feet the gas in the balloon expanded with great force against the netting, which proved to be too small. The balloon became full, and descending upon the voyagers covered them completely as they were seated in the car, which unfortunately was suspended by cords much too short. In this difficult situation, one of them, in his efforts to disengage the cord from the valve, made an opening in the lower part of the balloon, from which the gas escaping at the height of their heads, occasioned them continued illness. Then they found that the balloon was torn and they were falling fast. They threw away everything they could, and came to the earth in a vineyard, having left it only forty-seven minutes previously. A mass of clouds 9,000 feet in thickness was passed through. The decrease of temperature up to 19,000 feet, the highest point reached, seemed to confirm the results obtained by Gay-Lussac in 1804.

In the following month, July 27, the filling of the balloon was commenced early in the morning. It proved to be a long operation, occupying till nearly two o'clock ; then heavy rain fell, the sky became overcast, and it was after four when they left the earth. They soon entered a cloud at 7,000 or 8,000 feet, which proved to be fully 15,000 feet in thickness ; they never, however, reached its highest point, for when at 4h. 50m. the height of 23,000 feet was reached, they began to descend, owing to a tear which was then found in the balloon. After vainly attempting to check this involuntary descent, they reached the earth at 5h. 30m.

On approaching the limit of this cloud of 15,000 feet in thickness, the blue sky was seen through an opening in the surrounding vapour. The polariscope, when directed towards this point, showed an intense

28 TRA VELS IN THE AIR.

polarization, but when directed to the side, away from the opening, there was no polarization.

An interesting optical phenomenon was observed in this ascent. When near their highest point, the bed of the clouds which covered the balloon having become less dense, the two observers saw the sun dim and (piite white, and also at the same time a second sun reflected as from a sheet of water, probably formed by the reflection of luminous lays on horizontal sides of crystal ice floating in the clouds.

The most extraordinary and unexpected result, however, observed in this ascent was the great change of temperature. At the height of about 19,000 feet the temperature was 15°, but in the next 2,000 feet it fell to minus 39°. This wonderful change was experienced in the clouds. What, we may ask, can the constituents of such a cloud linn be ? In this voyage a height short of Gay-Lussac's by 50 feet was reached, but a temperature lower by 54° was recorded, and the clothes of the observers were covered with fine needles of ice. From this time until quite recently no ascents have been made in France in the cause of science.

In the year 1852 Mr. Welsh, of the Kew Observatory, made, under the auspices of the British Association, four ascents in the great Nassau balloon, with the veteran aeronaut Mr. Green, who had then an experience derived from several hundred ascents.

In August, October, and November he reached the respective heights of 10,500, 19,100, 12,(340, and 22,030 feet, and in each ascent made a valuable series of observations.

The facts recorded by Gay-Lussac, relative to the decline of tem- perature with increase of elevation, appeared to confirm the law which had been derived from observations made on mountain-sides, viz. a decrease of 1° for every increase of 300 feet of elevation; and the deductions of .Mr. Welsh from his experiments tended to the Confirma- tion of the same law, with some modifications.

The results of Welsh's observations were published in the Philo- sophical Transactions of the Royal Society for the year 1853, and al'tirwards in the Bulletin Gdographique de Br. Petermann for 1850.

When these ascents were made, they excited the greatest public interest. I watched Mr. Welsh's fourth ascent throughout, from the roof of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, with a good telescope. The day was fine and the air clear, and I was surprised at the facility with which I could follow every movement of the balloon, from its departure to its descent. During the whole time that the balloon was in the air, and while it traversed a course of fifty-seven miles in t he- direction E.S.E., I never lost sight of it for a moment. I saw it rise

THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC ASCENTS IN ENGLAND. 29

from Vauxhall at 21i. 22m., and descend at 3h. 40m., at a place which I afterwards learned was near Folkestone. It was this circumstance which notably influenced me in my desire for balloon observations, and which led me to believe in the possibility of combining terrestrial observations with those made in the balloon, and thereby determining the height of the balloon at different times, independently of observa- tions made in the car. But in my own ascents I never was able to organize, to my satisfaction, the telescopic observations of the balloon from the earth, so as to verify the heights determined from my own observations.

This, however, was not the first time aerial physics had engaged my attention. A taste for these studies was first developed during my residence in Ireland in the years 1829 and 183(3. In these years I was often enveloped in fog for entire weeks, first on the mountain Bencor, in Galway, and afterwards upon the summit of the Keeper Mountain, near Limerick. At this time I was engaged on the principal triangulation of the Trigonometrical Survey of Ireland, and in the performance of my duty I was often compelled to remain, sometimes for long periods, above, or enveloped in cloud. I was thus led to study the colours of the sky, the delicate tints of the clouds, the motion of opaque masses, the forms of the crystals of snow. On leaving the Survey, and entering tire Observatory of Cambridge, and afterwards that of Greenwich, my taste did not change. Often between astronomical observations I have watched with great interest the forms of the clouds, and often, when a barrier of cloud has suddenly concealed the stars from view, I have wished to know the cause of their rapid formation, and the processes in action around them.

The illness of Mr. Welsh interrupted his series of experiments, and scientific ascents ceased to occupy public attention. But the British Association did not lose their interest in aerial experiments, and Colonel Sykes, M.P. for Aberdeen, again brought the subject before the meeting of the British Association at Leeds in 1858, and obtained the appointment of an influential committee. The resources of the Association, composed exclusively of the contributions of its members, are devoted mainly to taking the initiative in important and hitherto unexplored departments of science, and out of these limited means the necessary grants for these scientific balloon ascents were made, the chief expenses being the hire of the balloon, the payment of the aeronaut for its management, and the cost of the gas. Several of the members of the committee had already made balloon ascents with Mr. Green. They were, therefore, well able to appreciate the import- ance of observations made in and above the clouds. It was at first

30 TEA VELS IN THE AIR.

arranged that Mr. Green should direct the ascents, and that the observations should be taken by young men. Mr. Green, who was born in 1784, the same year as the introduction of balloons into England, was then seventy-four years of age.

I gave two young observers all the instructions I could in respect to the observations to be taken, and explained to them all the precau- tions that a long life devoted to observations suggested to me. On the 15th August, 1859, the members of the committee met at Wolver- hampton, in order to assist at the first departure of the balloon. This town was selected on account of its central position. It was sub- sequently the point of departure of some of my most successful expeditions.

The weather was fine when the filling of the great Nassau balloon was begun ; but the wind arose, and many accidents happened which pi*evented the filling of the balloon taking place, so that the ascent was deferred till the 16th of August. The committee was again at its post on this day, but, as it proved, only to see an aerial shipwreck. "When many thousands of feet of gas had been introduced into the balloon, the wind arose and blew it with such violence that it was torn, and all the gas escaped.

Mr. Green, having examined the injury, said it would take many days to repair, and as the meeting of the Association was approaching, it was resolved to defer the experiment. Such accidents would be impossible, or at least of extremely rare occurrence, if a less barbarous mode of inflating balloons than filling them slowly in the open air were adopted.

Mr. Green was greatly distressed at this accident, which was due to no fault of his ; for to it was attributable the interruption of a series of experiments which, he calculated, would have placed aerial naviga- tion in its proper place, and raised it from the inferior position in which he found it. Having had, he said, all his life to contend with similar difficulties at places of amusement only, he was more than anyone else aware of the importance of experiments made under irreproachable conditions, and placed under the patronage of learned men ; and he wished to close his career under such circumstances.

The career of Green began in the year 1821, at the coronation of George IV. ; it continued for thirty-six years, during which he made nearly 1,400 ascents. Three times he crossed the sea ; twice he fell into it. He obtained a large experience, and his accounts arc worthy of all confidence; but, unfortunately, his education was not sufficiently good to make him a competent observer in the higher regions of the atmosphere. However, he improved the general management of

THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC ASCENTS IN ENGLAND. 31

balloons in many particulars — his guide-rope in aerial navigation, particularly of use in crossing seas, and the introduction of carhuretted gas in the place of hydrogen, are worthy of mention. He died in the year 1870, in his eighty-sixth year.

The Balloon Committee, though discouraged by these frequent delays, resolved to organize four ascents from Wolverhampton. It was decided that they should be to the height of four or five miles, in order to verify the facts announced by Gay-Lussac and MM. Bixio and Barral ; but on inquiry it was found that no balloon that would contain a sufficient quantity of gas to enable an observer to ascend so high was to be obtained in England. The largest, it was understood, was the Royal Cremorue, which would hold nearly 50.000 feet. This balloon the committee therefore obtained, and Mr. Lithgoe, who had made nearly one hundred ascents, principally from Cremorne, was employed as aeronaut. Ballooning had been for many years pursued only as a trade, and there was no choice whatever either of balloons or aeronauts. Notwithstanding the desire which I had always felt for observations at high altitudes, I had decided not to take the observa- tions myself, but only to give all necessary instructions in the use of instruments and precautions necessary to be taken.

As the gentleman who first engaged to be the observer declined, the observations were entrusted to Mr. Criswick, assistant at the Observatory at Greenwich, who alone was to accompany the aeronaut. The space within the boundary of the Gas Works was selected for inflating the balloon. Before the hour of the ascent, the membeis of the committee, with Lord Wrottesley and Mr. W. Fairbairn, the President of the British Association, were on the ground.

At lh. 4m. the balloon ascended slowly and steadily. After remain- ing nearly stationary for a few minutes sand was thrown out, and the height of one mile was reached ; in thirteen minutes it passed out of sight ; but little more than a mile had been reached when the balloon descended from sheer inanition. It proved to be full of minute holes, and was quite useless, as were the observations made, which contradicted themselves. The disappointment was great. Arrangements had been made for meteorological observations every few minutes, at thirty different places. This check to the proceedings was very serious, and naturally disgusted many with aeronautical experiences. Colonel Sykes and the committee were bitterly disappointed, but met in con- sultation at Wrottesley Hall. Mr. Lithgoe admitted that the balloon had been in use thirty years, and was worn out ; he advised application to be made to Mr. Coxwell for the use of his Mars balloon.

I must ask pardon of the reader for entering into all these details,

32

TEA VELS IX THE AIR.

but they show the greatness of the difficulties with which such in- vestigations are too often surrounded. One would have believed that the real difficulties would have been met with in the air, but, on the contrary, the greatest difficulties had to be overcome on the earth.

The Mars was found to be injured. Several tailors were set to repair it, but it was found that their combined labour could not effect the reparation in less than several days, and even then Mr. Coxwell said he could not pledge himself to make a safe ascent ; he offered, however, to construct a new balloon, larger than any previously made. It was in the car of this balloon that by far the greater number of my experiments were subsequently made.

BLANCHAUD S CAB.

THE BALLOON FORMING A PARACHUTE.

CHAPTER H.

MY FIRST ASCENT — WOLVERHAMPTON.

July 17, 1862.

Notwithstanding all these accumulated difficulties and the efforts I had been obliged to make to overcome them, I found that in spite of myself I was pledged both in the eyes of the public and the British Association to produce some results in return for the money expended. I therefore offered to make the observations myself. The three or four months which elapsed between the abortive attempt of the Mars and my first ascent were devoted to preparatory studies and experi- ments ; for I was occupied with the construction and management of the apparatus which I intended to take with me. I also accustomed myself to the use and manipulation of the instruments in a limited space, and considered how best to group them on a board such as would have to serve me for a table in the car of the great balloon ; so that when the day for the ascent came, I was able to imagine that I was not making my aerial delft.

In spite of the experience which I had of observations on the earth, and in spite of the time which I had devoted to this first ascent, I had neglected a great number of useful precautions, and encumbered myself with some superfluous apparatus ; in short, I was aide to perfect without cessation my apparatus in even' successive ascent. I

D

U TEA VELS IN THE AIR.

hope that the experience which I have acquired, sometimes to my cost, will show how much those philosophers are in error who think that observations in the higher regions can be made well enough by the first observer that comes.

The novelty of the situation, the rapidity with which all the obser- vations must be made, and the smallness of the space at command, require that the observer should have previously had considerable practice in the use of the instruments under all circumstances. I may mention also that I experienced great anxiety when I reflected that at every instant I might be failing to observe very important phenomena, and that I was excessively fatigued by the extraordinary attention to which I found myself condemned by the fear of not being ready when the moment came to observe a phenomenon which perhaps no human eye had contemplated before.

The objects to which the Committee of the British Association resolved to devote their principal attention were, primarily : — To determine the temperature of the air and its hygrometrical states, at different elevations, to as great a height as possible ; to determine the rate of decrease of temperature with increase of elevation, and to ascertain whether the results obtained by observations on mountain- sides, viz. a lowering of temperature of one degree for every increase of elevation of 300 feet, be true or not ; also to investigate the dis- tribution of the water in the invisible shape of vapours, in the air below the clouds, in the clouds, and above them at different eleva- tions. Secondarily : —

1. To determine the temperature of the dew-point by Daniell's dew- pi lint hydrometer, by Regnault's condensing hygrometer, and by dry and wet bulb thermometers as ordinarily used, as well as when under the influence of the aspirator (so that considerable volumes of air were made to pass over both their bulbs) at different elevations, as high as possible, but particularly up to those heights where man may be resi- dent, or where troops may be located (as in the high lands and plains of India), with the view7 of ascertaining what confidence maybe placed in the use of the dry and wet bulb thermometers at those elevations, by comparison with the results as found from them, and with those found directly by Daniell's and Regnault's hygrometers ; also to com- paie the results as found from the two hygrometers.

2. To compare the readings of an aneroid barometer with those of a mercurial barometer up to five miles.

3. To examine the electrical condition of the air at different heights.

4. To determine the oxygenic condition of the atmosphere by means of ozone papers.

MY FIRST ASCENT. 35

5. To determine whether the horizontal intensity of the earth's magnetism was less or greater with elevation, by the time of vibration of a magnet.

6. To determine whether the solar spectrum, when viewed from the earth, and far above it, exhibited any difference, and whefher there were a greater or less number of dark lines crossing it, particularly near sunset.

7. To collect air at different elevations.

8. To note the height and kind of clouds and their density and thickness.

9. To determine the rate and direction of different currents in the atmosphere.

10. To make observations on sound.

11. To make observations on solar radiation at different heights.

12. To determine the actinic effects of the sun at different eleva- tions by means of Herschel's actinometer.

13. To note atmospherical phenomena in general, and to make general observations.

Every one knows that the pressure of the atmosphere is measured by means of the barometer. A column of air extending to its limit of the same area as the barometer tube is balanced by the column of mercury in the tube ; and if we weigh the mercury, we know the weight or pressure of the column of atmosphere upon that area. If the area of the barometer tube be one square inch, then this would tell us the pressure of the atmosphere on one square inch. The length of a column of mercury thus balanced by the atmosphere, near the level of the sea, is usually about 30 inches, and if this be weighed it will be found to be nearly 15 lbs. : therefore the atmospheric pressure on every square inch of surface is about 15 lbs. — just one-half as many pounds as the number of inches which expresses the height of the column of mercury..

Now, in ascending into the air, part of the atmosphere is below, and part above : the barometer therefore has to balance that which is above only, and will therefore read less.

At the height of three miles and three-quarters, the barometer will read about 15 inches : there is therefore as much atmosphere above this point as there is below, and the pressure on a square inch is 7£ lbs.

At a height of between five and six miles from the earth, the barometer reading will be about ten inches : one-third of the whole atmosphere is then above, and two-thirds beneath ; and the pressure on a square inch is reduced to 5 lbs.

The reading of the barometer varies with the altitude at which it

:3G TEA VELS IN THE AIR.

is observed, and indicates by its increasing or decreasing readings corresponding changes in the pressure of the atmosphere.

At the height of 1 mile the barometer reading is 24/7 in.

„ 2 miles „ 20*3 „

» •' >> )> lb < ,,

j> * »j ?! i'i i ,,

!> o ,, „ Ll"3 ,,

1" „ » 4-2 „

» 15 ,, „ l"b „

20 „ „ 1-0 „ less.

By the reading of the barometer in the balloon, the distance from the earth is known ; and if the balloon be situated above clouds, or in a fog, the reading of the barometer indicates the near approach of the earth, and acts as a warning to the occupants of the car to prepare accordingly. In addition to this temporary use, the readings com- bined with those of temperature enable us to calculate the height of the balloon at every instant at which such readings have been taken.

The temperature of the dew-point also deserves a few explanatory words.

There is always mixed with the air a certain quantity of water, in the invisible shape of vapour, sometimes more, sometimes less ; but there is a 'definite amount which saturates the air at every temperature, though this amount varies considerably with different temperatures.

A cubic foot of air at the temperature of —

30° is saturated with 2 grains of vapour of water.

4>t 4.

7') )> 8 „ „

m h i6 »

The capacity of air for moisture therefore doubles for every increase of temperature of about 20 degrees.

The temperature of the dew-point is the temperature to which air must be reduced in order to become saturated by the water then mixed with it ; or it is that temperature to which any substance, such as the bright bulb of a hygrometer, must be reduced before any of the acpieous vapour present will be deposited as water, and become visible as dew. The temperature at which this first bedewing or dulling of bright surfaces takes place is the temperature of the dew- point. For instance, I have already said that two grains of water saturate a cubic foot of air at 30° : if, therefore, the temperature of the air be 40°, and there be two grains of moisture in a cubic foot of air, then, if the bulb of the hygrometer be reduced to 30°, a ring of dew will appear on it, caused by the deposition of the water in the air.

MY FIRST ASCENT. 37

The determination of the dew-point at once tells ns therefore the amount of water present, and, combined with the temperature, enables us to determine the hygro metrical state of the atmosphere.

If the air be saturated with moisture, the temperature of the air and that of the dew-point are alike ; if it be not saturated, the tem- perature of the dew-point is lower than that of the atmosphere; if there be a great difference between the two temperatures, the air is dry; and if this happen when the temperature is low, there is very little water present in the air.

By the careful simultaneous readings of two thermometers, one with a moistened bulb and the other dry, or by the use of a Daniell's or Eegnault's hygrometer, the amount of water present in the air in the invisible shape of vapour can be determined, as well as the tem- perature of the dew-point and the degree of humidity.

The degree of hitmidity of the air expresses the ratio between the amount of water then mixed with it and the greatest amount it could hold in solution at its then temperature, upon the supposition that the saturated air is represented by 100, and air deprived of all moisture by 0. Thus : Suppose the water present to be one-half of the quantity that could be present, the degree of humidity in this case will be 50. If the air were at the temperature of 30°, and there we're two grains of moisture in the air, it would be saturated, and the degree of humidity would be 100. If there were one grain, that is one-half of the whole quantity that could be present, the air would be one-half saturated, and the degree of humidity would be represented by 50.

At 49° with 4 grains of moisture 70

The air is saturated, and the degree

ao, " ,„ ( of humidity is 100.

„ 924 „ 16 „ ) J

But at 49° with 2 grains of moisture 1 _ . . , ,„

-() . ( The air is one-half saturated, and

" ooi " " ( ^le degree of humidity is 50.

The thermometers employed in the observations were exceedingly sensitive ; the bulbs, long and cylindrical, being almost three-tenths of an inch in length. The graduations, which extended to minus 40°, were all made on ivory scales. These thermometers, on being removed from a room heated 20° above that of the surrounding air, acquired the temperature within half a degree in about ten or twelve seconds. They were so sensitive that no correction was necessary for sluggish- ness ; and this was proved to be the case by the near agreement of the readings at the same height in the ascending and descending curves, in cases when there was no reason to suppose there had been any change of temperature at the same height within the interval between the two series of observations.

38 TEA VELS IN THE AIR.

I had two pairs of dry and wet bulb thermometers ; one pair similar to those ordinarily used, the bulbs being protected from the direct rays of the sun by a highly polished silver shade, in the form of a frustrum of a cone, open at top and bottom, and a cistern fixed near to them for the supply of water to the wet-bulb thermometer, as shown in the diagram.

The second pair were arranged for the employment of the aspirator, the object of which was to induce at will a current of air across the bulbs, which, being highly sensitive, woidd almost instantaneously record the temperature of the air so set in motion. In this arrange- ment the thermometers were enclosed in silver tubes placed side by side, connected together at top by a cross tube, and both protected by a shade, as in ordinary use. In the left-hand tube belonging to the dry-bulb an opening was provided. By means of the aspirator a current of air was drawn in at this opening, which, traversing round the tubes, passed away into the aspirator. Thus the temperature of the air in motion against the bulbs could be determined at pleasure with the utmost nicety. (See diagram.)

IJegnault's condensing hygrometer was made with two thermometers, and as described by Regnault himself. The scales were made of ivory, and the thermometers fitted to the cups with cork, ready for packing up at short notice.

The reader may judge from the diagram the arrangement of some of the instruments.

At the extreme left (No. 1) are seen the dry and wet bulb ther- mometers.

No. 2 is Darnell's hygrometer.

No. 3, the mercurial barometer.

No. 4, a blackened bulb thermometer, with its bulb fully exposed to the sun's rays.

No. 5, two thermometers, dry and wet bulb, in connection with the aspirator.

No. f>, a blackened bulb thermometer, placed in an hermetically sealed vacuum tube, projecting outwards, as in No. 4, so that the bulb was in the full rays of the sun.

No. 7, an aneroid barometer.

No. 8, an excessively delicate thermometer, with its bulb in form of a gridiron. This arrangement was adopted for the purpose of increasing the sensibility of the instrument.

No. 9, Regnault's hygrometer, with its india-rubber tube in con- nection with the aspirator.

No. 10, one of two silver conical shields, the one within the other, with a space between, for protecting the dry thermometer from the

MY FIRST ASCENT. 41

sun's rays. These rested on a silver shoulder affixed to the ther- mometer tube, just above the bulb of each thermometer. The wet thermometer was protected in a similar way. The shields are removed from their proper places in the drawing to show the means adopted to supply water to the bulb by means of capillarity.

No. 11, the water-vessel for the wet-bulb thermometer.

No. 12, a small bottle of water.

No. 13, a compass.

No. 14, a watch or chronometer.

Nos. 15 and 16, two taps connected with the aspirator, the one connected with the dry and wet bulb thermometers (.3), and the other with Regnault's hygrometer (9).

No. 17, a bottle of ether, for use with Daniell's and Regnault's hygrometers.

No. 18, a lens to read the instruments.

No. 19, a weight attached to the barometer to keep it vertical.

No. 20, the aspirator arranged to be worked by the foot.

No. 21, a magnet, for the purpose of giving vibrations to the compass needle.

No. 22, a minimum thermometer.

No. 23, an opera glass.

No. 24, a pair of scissors for cutting the strings.

All the instruments were attached to the table with strings, which could be cut immediately, or they merely rested on stands which were screwed to the table. This table was fixed across the car, and tied there by strong cord. On approaching the earth, all the instruments were rapidly removed and placed, anyhow, in a basket, furnished with a number of soft cushions to cover them in layers, so that they were not broken by the shock on coming in contact with the earth. When more than two or three persons were in the car, besides myself, the arrangement of the instruments was different, and they were less in number.

As such ascents (when several were in the car) of necessity could not be of extreme heights, and as it was found in the high ascents that the aneroid read at all times very nearly the same as the mercurial barometer, the same aneroid which had thus been tested was alone used for the determination of elevation, and the mercurial barometer was therefore not taken up.

It had also always been found that the dry and wet bulb thermo- meters, whether aspirated or not, read alike ; the use of those under the influence of the aspirator was therefore dispensed with ; and as in point of fact one thermometer and one bright surface are all that

42 TEA FELS IN THE AIR,

Regnault's hygrometer needs to determine the temperature of the deposit of dew, one of the thermometers only was used.

By these alterations I was euabled to conveniently place all the necessary instruments in a much smaller space ; and ultimately, in my low ascents, I managed to place them all on a board, projecting beyond the side of the car, which had the double advantage of allowing the air to play more freely about them, and leaving the aeronaut more room. There was also a third arrangement adopted, viz. that for night ascents. The inconvenience of reading instruments at night necessitates the use of even a smaller number. In such experiments I have usually confined myself to the determination of the tempera- ture and humidity of the air at different elevations by the use of the dry and wet thermometers solely.

In the night ascents I took with me a well-made Davy safety-lamp, having previously tested it by plunging it into lighted gas proceeding from a pipe. I also took the lamp up on a day ascent, and found it could be used in a balloon-car with perfect ease. By its use I was therefore able to read the instruments at night, though less quickly than in daylight. I used the same framework, placed outside the car as before, so that I stood with my back towards the aeronaut to whom the management of the balloon was entrusted. At night I also used to place a padded cushion, fitted into the frame, with padded sides, and in this I placed the watch, barometer, pencils, &c.

I have been thus particular in describing my arrangements, as they are the result of much thought and care, based upon experience.

At times I have taken up other instruments, such as the spectroscope, ozone tests, an actinometer, &c. ; and this I was enabled to do when I found I could dispense with all the aspirating apparatus and some of the other instruments which were thought to be necessary at first : these I do not think I need particularize. The great principle to be attended to in the arrangement of the table is to fix everything by nuts, screws, or strings, and to place the instruments in such positions that they can be read with rapidity and ease, and removed in a very short time into a wadded case, so that they are not broken by the concussion.

On the 30th of June, 18G2, Mr. Coxwell brought his new balloon to Wolverhampton; it was not made of silk, but of American cloth, a material possessed of a great strength. Its capacity was 90,000 cubic feet, exceeding in size that of the famous Nassau balloon. Misfortune afrain followed the attempts of the committee ; for, notwithstanding frequent uncomfortable gusts of wind, the inflation of the balloon was proceeded with, and after three hours about 00,000 feet of gas had

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MY FIRST ASCENT. 43

passed in. At this time the wind arose, and great apprehensions were felt for the safety of the balloon, so that the supply of gas had to he cut off. The fierceness of the wind increased, and the balloon split upwards to the first cross seam, and taking the course of the seam, the rent ran almost round the balloon at its widest part. So much injury was done that it took more than a week to repair it, although many persons were employed on the work.

The directors of the Gas Company, and their engineer, Mr. Proud, very kindly consented to make, and to store away, some light gas, which we could not otherwise have procured. It is known that the products of the distillation of coal in a closed retort are richest in illuminating power at the commencement of the operation, and that their value diminishes as the distillation proceeds. The products of the last distillation are composed of a light gas, of weak illuminating power, but most suitable for balloon ascents. These last products were put into a special gasometer, and it is due to this circumstance that I was enabled to make the extreme high ascents, which would have been quite impossible if the Company had not placed a gaso- meter at our disposal.

After the balloon was repaired, a week's bad weather followed, and July 17 was the last day my engagements permitted me to remain at Wolverhampton. The filling of the balloon began at five o'clock in the morning, in the presence of Lord Wrottesley. As it proceeded, the weather increased in badness ; and if it had not been for the already great loss of time and the continued postponement of the ascent that would have otherwise taken place, we should not have set at defiance the terrible W.S.W. wind, which was blowing without interruption. Very great difficulties were experienced in the inflation, and it seemed as if the operation would never be completed. The movements of the balloon were so great and so rapid, that it was impossible to fix a single instrument in its position before quitting the earth, and the state of affairs was by no means cheering to a novice who had never before put his foot in the car of a balloon. When Mr. Coxwell made up his mind, at 9h. 42m., to let go, the balloon, which had been so impatient to be free, did not rise, but moved horizontally on the ground for some distance, dragging the car on its side ; which movement would have been fatal had there been any chimney or lofty buildings in the way.

We left the earth at about 9h. 43m. A.M., and at 9h. 49m. reached the clouds at an elevation of 4,467 feet. Eising still higher, at 9h. 51m., with an elevation of 5,802 feet, we passed out of this stratum of cloud, but again became enveloped in a cumulo-stratus

44 TRAVELS IN THE AIR.

at the height of 7,980 feet. The sun shone brightly upon us at 9h. 55in., and caused the gas to expand and the balloon itself to assume the shape of a perfect globe. A most magnificent view now presented itself, but, unfortunately, I was not able to devote an}r time to note its peculiarities and its beauty, as I was still arranging my instruments in the positions they were to occupy, and we had reached a height exceeding 10,000 feet before all the instru- ments were in working order. The clouds at this time (lOh. 2m.) were very beautiful, and at lOh. 3m., at an elevation of 12,709 feet, a band of music was heard. At lOh. 4m. the earth became visible through breaks in the clouds. At 10,914 feet the clouds were far below us, both cumulus and stratus, however, at a distance appearing to be at the same height as ourselves, the sky above us being perfectly cloudless and of an intense prussian blue.

At starting, the temperature of the air was 59°, and the dew-point 55° ; at 4,000 feet it was 45°, dew-point 33°, and it descended to 26° at 10,000 feet, dew-point 19°; and then there was no variation of temperature between this height and 13,000 feet. During the time of passing through this space an addition was made to our clothing, as we felt certain we should experience a temperature below zero before we reached the height of five miles ; but, to my surprise, at the height of 15,500 feet, the temperature as shown by all the sensitive instruments was 31°, with a dew-point of 25°, and at each successive reading up to 19,500 feet the temperature increased, and was 42° at this height, with dew-point at 24°. We had both thrown off all extra clothing. Within two minutes after this time, when we had fallen somewhat, the temperature again began to decrease with extraordinary .rapidity to 16°, or 27° less than it was twenty- six minutes previously.

At the height of 18,844 feet, eighteen vibrations of a horizontal magnet occupied 2(V8S, and at the same height my pulse beat at the rate of 100 pulsations per minute. At 19,415 feet palpitation of the heart became perceptible, the beating of the chronometer seemed very loud, and my breathing became affected. At 19,435 feet my pulse had accelerated, and it was with increasing difficulty that I could read the instruments ; the palpitation of the heart was very perceptible. The hands and lips assumed a dark bluish colour, but not the face. At 20,238 feet, twenty-eight vibrations of a horizontal magnet occupied 43s. At 21,792 feet I experienced a feeling analogous to sea-sickness, though there was neither pitching nor rolling in the balloon; and through this illness T was unable to watch the instruments long enough to lower the temperature to get a deposit of dew. The sky at this elevation was of a very deep blue colour, and the clouds were

1 I, :-v

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. ..,,, £1

I

MY FIRST ASCENT.

47

far below us. At 22,357 feet I endeavoured to make the magnet vibrate, but could not ; it moved through arcs of about 20°, and then settled suddenly.

Our descent began a little after 11 a.m., Mr. Coxwell experiencing considerable uneasiness at our too close vicinity to the Wash. We came down quickly, passing from a height of 16,300 feet to one of 12,400 feet between lib. 37m. and llh. 38m. ; at this elevation we entered into a dense cloud which proved to be no less than 8,000 feet in thickness, and whilst passing through this the balloon was invisible from the car. From the rapidity of the descent the balloon assumed the shape of a parachute ; and though Mr. Coxwell had reserved a large amount of ballast, which he discharged as quickly as possible, we collected so much weight by the condensation of the immense amount of vapour through which we passed, that notwithstanding all his exertions we came to the earth with a very considerable shock, which broke nearly all the instruments. All the sand was discharged when we were at a considerable elevation. The amount we had at our disposal at the height of five miles was fully 500 lbs. ; this seemed to be more than ample, and, when compared with that retained by Gay- Lussac, viz. 33 lbs., and by Bush and Green, when the barometer reading was eleven inches, viz. 70 lbs., seemed indeed to be more than we could possibly need ; yet it proved to be insufficient.

The descent took place at Langham, near Oakham, in Rutlandshire.

ABOVE THE CLOl'DS

"WE PASSED THROUGH A MAGNIFICENT CUMULUS CLOUD."

('HATTER IN.

ASCENTS FROM WOLVERHAMPTON.

August 18, 1862.

The weather on this day was favourable ; there was but little wind from the N.E. By noon the balloon was nearly inflated. As it merely swayed in the light wind, the instruments were fixed before starting, and at lh. 2m. 38s. the spring-catch was pulled, when for a moment the balloon remained motionless, and then rose slowly and steadily. In about ten minutes we passed into a magnificent cumulus cloud, and emerged from it into a clear space, with a beautiful deep blue shy, dotted with cirri, leaving beneath us an exceedingly beau- tiful mass of cumulus clouds, displaying a variety of magnificent lights and shades. Our direction was towards Birmingham, which came into view about lh. 15m.

When at the height of nearly 12,000 feet, with the temperature at 38°, or 30° less than on the ground, and the dew-point at 26°, tbe valve was opened, and we descended to a little above 3,000 feet. The view became most glorious ; very fine cumulus clouds were situated far below, and plains of clouds were visible to a great distance. Wolverhampton, beneath us, was sharply and well defined, appearing like a model. The clouds during this ascent were remarkable for their supreme beauty, presenting at times mountain

ASCENTS FROM WOLVERHAMPTON. 49

scenes of endless variety and grandeur, and fine dome-like clouds dazzled and charmed the eye with alternations and brilliant effects of light and shade. The air on descending felt warm.

"We were about midway between "Wolverhampton and a town (Walsall) when the balloon slightly collapsed, causing it to descend a little, and the shouting of people was plainly heard, who expected the balloon would descend (see diagram). At lh. 48 in. sand was discharged, and a very gradual ascent took place, the direction being along the high-road to Birmingham. On looking over the side of the car the shadow of the balloon on the clouds was observed to be surrounded by a kind of corona tinted by prismatic colours, and the rippling of the water on the edges of the canal could be seen very distinctly. "We discharged sand several times to enable us to rise. The view continued very grand ; a great mass of clouds was observed in the east, and a large town lay on our right. The balloon was again full. At 2h. 34m. 20s. and at 2h. 45m. thunder was heard from below, but no cloud could be seen. At 2h. 54m. my pulsations were 100, 107, and 110 successively in one minute. When at the height of 24,(100 feet, at 2h. 59m.. a consultation took place as to the prudence of discharging more ballast, or retaining it so as to ensure a safe descent ; ultimately it was decided not to ascend, as some clouds whose thickness we could not tell had to be passed through. At 3h. 3m. it was difficult to obtain a deposit of dew on the hygrometer, and the working of the aspirator became troublesome. A sound like loud thunder was again heard at 3h. 13m.; at 3h. 25m. I began to feel unwell. About 3h. 26m. a most remarkable view presented itself : the sky was of a fine deep blue, dotted with cirri. The earth and its fields, where visible, appeared very beautiful indeed — here, hidden by vast cumuli and plains or seas of cumulo-strata, causing the country beneath to be shaded for many hundreds of square miles ; there, without a cloud to obscure the sun's rays. Again, in other places there were detached cumuli, whose surfaces appeared connected by vast plains of hillocky clouds, and in the interstices the earth was visible, but partly obscured by blue haze or mist. In another place brightly shining cumuli were observed, and seas of detached clouds which cannot be described. Due north, a beautiful cloud, the same we passed through on leaving Wolverhampton, and which had followed us on our way, still reigned in splendour, and might from its grandeur have been called the monarch of clouds. On looking over the top of the car the horizon appeared to be on a level with the eye ; the image of the balloon and car, in descending, was very distinctly visible on the clouds. We entered clouds at 3h. 45m. and lost sight of the sun,

E

50 TEA VELS IN THE ATE.

but broke through at 3h. 50m. and saw the earth. Preparations were made for the descent, which, after we had passed through some mist, took place at Solihull, about seven miles from Birmingham.

September 5, 1862.

This ascent had been delayed owing to the unfavourable state of the weather. We left the earth at lh. 3m. p.m. ; the temperature of the air was 59°, and that of the dew-point 50°. The air at first was misty; at the height of 5,000 feet the temperature was 41°, dew- point 37°'9. At lh. 13m. we entered a dense cloud of about 1,100 feet in thickness, where the temperature fell to 3G°'5, the dew-point being the same, thus indicating that the air here was saturated with moisture. At this elevation the report of a gun was heard. Momen- tarily the clouds became lighter, and on emerging from them at lh. 17m. a flood of strong sunlight burst iqion us with a beautiful blue sky without a cloud, and beneath us lay a magnificent sea of clouds, its surface varied with endless hills, hillocks, and mountain chains, and with many snow-white tufts rising from it. I here attempted to take a view with the camera, but we were rising with too great rapidity and revolving too quickly to enable me to succeed. The brightness of the clouds, however, was so great that I should have needed but a momentary exposure, Dr. Hill Norris having kindly furnished me with extremely sensitive dry plates for the purpose. We reached the height of two miles at lh. 22m., where the sky was of a darker blue, and from whence the earth was visible in occasional ] latches beneath the clouds. The temperature had fallen to the freezing-point, and the dew-point to 26°. The height of three miles was attained at lh. 28m., with a temperature of 18°, and dew-point 13° ; from lh. 22m. to lh. 30m. the wet-bulb thermometer read incor- rectly, the ice not being properly formed on it. At lh. 34m. Mr. Cox well was panting for breath; at lh. 38m. the mercury of Daniell's hygrometer fell below the limits of the scale. We reached the elevation of four miles at lh. 40m. ; the temperature was 8°, the dew- point minus 15°, or 47° below the freezing-point of water. Discharging sand, we in ten minutes attained the altitude of five miles, and the temperature had passed below zero and then read minus 2o,0. At this point no dew was observed on Kegnault's hygrometer when cooled down to minus 30°. Up to this time I had taken observa- tions with comfort, and experienced no difficulty in breathing, whilst Mr. Coxwell, in consequence of the exertions he had to make, had breathed with difficulty for some time. Having discharged sand,

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ASCENTS FROM WOLVERHAMPTON. 53

we ascended still higher ; the aspirator became troublesome to work ; and I also found a difficulty in seeing clearly. At lh. 51m. the barometer read 10<Sin. About lh. 52m. or later, I read the dry-bulb thermometer as minus 5° ; after this I could not see the column of mercury in the wet-bulb thermometer, nor the hands of the watch, nor the fine divisions on any instrument. I asked Mr. Coxwell to help me to read the instruments. In consequence, however, of the rotatory motion of the balloon, which had continued without ceasing since leaving the earth, the valve-line had become entangled, and he had to leave the car and mount into the ring to readjust it. I then looked at the barometer, and found its reading to be 9|in., still decreasing fast, implying a height exceeding 29,000 feet. Shortly after I laid my arm upon the table, possessed of its full vigour, but on being desirous of using it I found it powerless — it must have lost- its power momentarily ; trying to move the other arm, I found it powerless also. Then I tried to shake myself, and succeeded, but I seemed to have no limbs. In looking at the barometer my head fell over my left shoulder ; I struggled and shook my body again, but could not move my arms. Getting my head upright for an instant only, it fell on my right shoulder ; then I fell backwards, my back resting against the side of the car and my head on its edge. In this position my eyes were directed to Mr. Coxwell in the ring. "When I shook my body I seemed to have full power over the muscles of the back, and considerably so over those of the neck, but none over either my arms or my legs. As in the case of the arms, so all muscular power was lost in an instant from my back and neck. I dimly saw Mr. Coxwell, and endeavoured to speak, but could not. In an instant intense darkness overcame me, so that the optic nerve lost power suddenly, but I was still conscious, with as active a brain as at the present moment whilst writing this. I thought I had been seized with asphyxia, and believed I should experience nothing more, as death would come unless we speedily descended : other thoughts were entering my mind, when I suddenly became unconscious as on going to sleep. I cannot tell anything of the sense of hearing, as no sound reaches the air to break the perfect stillness and silence of the regions between six and seven miles above the earth. My last obser- vation was made at lh. 54m. above 29,000 feet. I suppose two or three minutes to have elapsed between my eyes becoming insensible to seeing fine divisions and lh. 54m., and then two or three minutes more to have passed till I was insensible, which I think, therefore, took place about lh. 56m. or 57m.

Whilst powerless I heard the winds "temperature" and "observa-

54 TRAVELS TN THE AIR

lion," and I knew Mr. Coxwell was in the car, speaking to and endeavouring to rouse me, — therefore consciousness and hearing had returned. I then heard him speak more emphatically, but could not see, speak, or move. I heard him again say, "Do try; now do." Then the instruments became dimly visible, then Mr. Coxwell, and very shortly I saw clearly. Next I arose in my seat and looked around as though waking from sleep, though not refreshed, and said to Mr. Coxwell, "I have been insensible." He said, "You have, and I too, very nearly." I then drew up my legs, which had been ext 'lided, and took a pencil in my hand to begin observations. Mr. Coxwell told me that he had lost the use of his hands, which were black, and I poured brandy over them.

I resumed my observations at 2h. 7m., recording the barometer reading at 11*53 inches, and temperature minus 2°. It is probable that three or four minutes passed from the time of my hearing the words "temperature" and "observation," till I began to observe; if so, returning consciousness came at 2h. 4m. p.m., and this gives seven minutes for total insensibility. I found the water in the vessel supplying the wet-bulb thermometer one solid mass of ice, though I had, by frequent disturbance, kept it from freezing. It did not all melt until we had been on the ground some time. Mr. Coxwell told me that while in the ring he felt it piercingly cold, that hoarfrost was all round the neck of the balloon, and that on attempting to leave the ring he found his hands frozen. He had, therefore, to place his arms on the ring, and drop down. When he saw me he thought for a moment that I had lain back to rest myself, and he spoke to me without eliciting a reply ; he then noticed that my legs projected and my arms hung down by my side, and saw that my countenance was serene and placid, without the earnestness and anxiety he had observed before going into the ring : then it struck him that I was insensible. He wished to approach me, but could not ; and when he felt insensi- bility coming over him too, he became anxious to open the valve. But in consequence of having lost the use of his hands he could not do this; ultimately he succeeded, by seizing the cord with his teeth, and dipping his head two or three times, until the balloon took a decided turn downward.

No inconvenience followed my insensibility ; and when we dropped it was in a country where no conveyance of any kind could be obtained, so I had to walk between seven and eight miles.

During the descent, which was at first very rapid, the wind was easterly. To check the rapidity of the descent, sand was thrown out at 2h. 30m. The wet hull) seemed to he free from- ice at this time,

MR. GLAISHEB INSENSIBLE AT THE HEMiHT OF SEVEN MILES.

ASCENTS FROM WOLVERHAMPTON. 57

but 1 held the hull) between my thumb and finger, for the purpose

of melting any ice remaining on it or the connecting thread. The readings after this appeared correct. The final descent took place in the centre of a large grass-field belonging to Mr. Kersall, at Cold Weston, seven miles and a half from Ludlow.

1 have already said that my last observation was made at a height of 29,000 feet ; at this time (lh. 54m.) we were ascending at the rate of 1,000 feet per minute ; and when I resumed observations we were descending at the rate of 2,000 feet per minute. These two positions must be connected, taking into account the interval of time between, viz. 13 minutes. And on these considerations, the balloon must have attained the altitude of 36,000 or 37,000 feet. Again, a very delicate minimum thermometer read minus 11.°'9, and this would give a height of 37,000 feet. Mr. Coxwell, on coming from the ring, noticed that the centre of the aneroid barometer, its blue hand, and a rope attached to the car, were all in the same straight line, and this gave a reading of 7 inches, and leads to the same result. Therefore, these independent means all lead to about the same elevation, viz. fully seven miles.

In this ascent six pigeons were taken up. One was thrown out at the height of three miles, when it extended its wings and dropped like a piece of paper ; the second, at four miles, flew vigorously round and round, apparently taking a dip each time ; a third was thrown out between four and five miles, and it fell downwards as a stone. A fourth was thrown out at four miles on descending ; it flew in a circle, and shortly alighted on the top of the balloon. The two remaining pigeons were brought down to the ground. One was found to be dead ; and the other, a carrier, was still living, but would not leave the hand when I attempted to throw it off, till, after a quarter of an hour, it began to peck at a piece of ribbon with which its neck was encircled ; it was then jerked off the finger, and shortly afterwards flew with some vigour towards Wolverhampton. One of the pigeons returned to Wolverhampton on Sunday the 7th, and it was the only one I ever heard of.

In this ascent, on passing out of the clouds there was an increase of 9°, and then there was no interruption in the decrease of tempera- ture till the height of 15,000 feet was reached, when a warm current of air was entered, which continued to 24,000 feet, after which the regular decrease of temperature continued to the highest point reached. On descending, the same current was again met with, between 22,000 and 23,000 feet. A similar interruption, but to a greater amount, was experienced till the balloon had descended to about the same heisrhi in which it was reached on ascending ; after

58

TRAVELS IN THE AIR.

this no further break occurred in the regular increase of temperature, the sky being clear till the descent was completed. From the general agreement of the results as observed by Regnault's hygrometer, and those of the dew-point as found by the dry and wet bulb thermo- meters, there can be no doubt that the temperature of the dew- point, at heights exceeding 30,000 feet, must have been as low as minus 50' below the zero of Fahrenheit's scale, or 82 below the freezing-point of water, implying that the air was very dry.

THE PIGEONS

THE DEPAKTIKE.

CHAPTER TV

ASCENTS FROM THE CRYSTAL I'AL.U'I

April 18, 1863.

In this ascent the balloon was partially filled during the evening of April 17, with the view of starting early the following morning. The atmosphere was at this time thick and misty; the wind on the earth was N.E., hut pilot balloons on attaining a moderate elevation fell into a north current. The wind was moving at an estimated velocity of forty miles an hour, and the ascent was delayed hour after hour, in the hope that the upper current would change to N.E. At lh., when the shy was nearly covered with clouds, and there were occasionally gleams of sunshine, the ascent was decided upon, although it was evident it could not be one of long duration, unless the wind changed its direction, or we resolved to cross the Channel. Whilst discussing this, the rope, our only connecting link with the earth, broke, and at lh. 17m. we started very unceremoniously, the balloon taking a great lurch ; I was thrown among my instruments, and unfortunately both Daniell's and Regnaalt's hygrometers were broken. Within three minutes we were more than 3,000 feet high. At 4,000 feet, cumulus clouds were on our level, and a thick mist rested everywhere on the earth. At lh. 26m. we were 7,000 feet

60 TRA VELS IN THE AIR.

high, in a thick mist which almost amounted to a fog. The tem- perature of the air continued at 32° nearly, whilst that of the dew- point increased several degrees. On passing out of the cloud these two temperatures very suddenly separated, the latter decreasing rapidly ; the sky was of a deep blue, without a cloud on its surface. At lh. 30m. we were 10,000 feet high ; directly under us was a sea of clouds. The towers of the Crystal Palace were visible, and by them we found we were moving south.

The temperature before starting was 61° ; it decreased to 32° on reaching the cloud, and continued at this value whilst in it ; then suddenly fell to 23^° on leaving the cloud, and was either less or the same at every successive reading till we reached the height of 20,000 feet, where the lowest temperature was noticed. In passing above four miles the temperature increased to 14j°, and then declined to 12^° at the highest point, viz. 24,000 feet, at one hour and thirteen minutes after starting. When we were just four miles high, on descending, we began to reflect that possibly we might have been moving more quickly than we expected, and it was necessary to descend till we could see the earth below. The valve was opened rather freely at 2h. 34m., and we fell a mile in three minutes. We descended quickly, but less rapidly, through the next mile, and reached the clouds at 12,000 feet from the earth, at 2h. 42m. On breaking through them at 2h. 44m., still 10,000 feet from the earth, 1 was busy with my instruments, when I heard Mr. Coxwell exclaim, " What's that ? " He had caught sight of Beechy Head. / looked over the car, and the sea seemed to be under its. Mr. Coxwell again ex- claimed, " There's not a moment to spare ; we must save the land at all risks. Leave the instruments.!' Mr. Coxwell almost hung to the valve-line, and told me to do the same, and not to mind its cutting my hand. It was a bold decision, opening the valve in this way, and it was boldly carried out.

When a mile high, the earth seemed to be coming up to us. There were two rents in the balloon, cut by the valve-liue; these we could not heed. Up, up, the earth appeared to come, the fields momentarily enlarging ; and we struck the earth at 2h. 48m. at Newhaven, very near the sea — of course with a great crash, but the balloon by the very free use of the valve-line had been crippled and never rose again, or even dragged us from the spot on which we fell. Nearly all the instruments were broken, and to my great regret three very delicate and beautiful thermometers, specially sent to me by M. A. dAbbadie for these observations, were all broken. I Mas fortunate, however, in seizing and pocketing the aneroid barometer which had been up with

ASCENTS FROM THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 61

me in every high ascent. It was this instrument that Mr. Coxwell read when we were seven miles high, and I at the time in a state ot insensibility.

The diagram shows the path of the balloon. From this, it will be seen that the ascent was gradual from 16,000 feet to the highest point, and there was sufficient time for the instruments to attain the true temperature. We were above four miles for half an hour, not passing above 24,000 feet. On passing below four miles it would seem that the drop to three miles was nearly a straight line, and the next mile, though occupying a little more time, was passed quickly. The position of the clouds was fortunately very high, as is shown on the diagram, as well as the very rapid descent of two miles in four minutes. The whole time of descending the four miles and a quarter was about a quarter of an hour only. The diagram will speak to the eye more forcibly than language, showing as it does our close proximity to the sea, and the narrow escape from such a dangerous immersion.

July 11, 1863.

The ascent from the Crystal Palace, duly 11, was intended to have been one of extreme height, and the promise of success in this respect was held out until near the time of starting, as pilot balloons had passed nearly due east, and indicated that our course would have been towards Devonshire ; but so doubtful is the course a balloon will take, that no certainty can be felt till the balloon has actually left. However, on this occasion pilot balloons, though at first moving towards the east, soon met with a north wind and went south.

Under these circumstances, the attempt to ascend five miles was abandoned, and we resolved to ascertain, as far as possible, the thick- ness of the stratum influenced by the east wind, and if possible to profit by the knowledge and have as long a journey as we could.

At the time of leaving, 4h. 55m. p.m., the sky was nearly covered with cirrus and cirrostratus clouds, and the wind was blowing due east.

In about four minutes, and when at the height of 2,400 feet, the balloon suddenly changed from moving towards the west, to moving due south. At eight minutes past five we were over Croydon, at the height of 4,600 feet, in mist, but could see the Green Man Hotel, Blackheath ; we then descended, passing downward through a thick atmosphere, till at 5h. 32m. we were 2,200 feet high over Epsom Downs, and again within the influence of the east wind. We then turned to ascend, and at oh. 52m. were 3,000 feet above Rergate, and we here

62 TEA VELS IN THE AIR.

could see Shooter's Hill and the Crystal Palace, by the two towers of which we found we were again within the influence of a north wind.

We then continued to ascend, with the