Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
128
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
111
“The
savant
Robertson,”
says
Arago,
“performed
at
Hamburg
on
the
18th
of
July,
1803,
with
his
countryman,
Lhoest,
the
first
aeronautic
voyage
from
which
science
has
been
able
to
draw
useful
deductions.
The
two
aeronauts
remained
suspended
in
the
air
during
five
hours,
and
came
down
near
Hanover,
twenty-five
leagues
from
the
spot
from
which
they
set
off.”
The
first
time
that
Robertson
appears
in
the
annals
of
aerostation
is
in
1802,
on
the
occasion
of
the
sale
of
the
balloon
used
at
the
battle
of
Fleurus,
of
which
mention
will
be
made
in
the
chapter
on
military
aerostation.
But
three
years
previously
he
had
been
instructed
to
make
a
balloon
of
an
original
form,
which
should
ascend
in
honour
of
the
Turkish
ambassador
at
the
garden
of
Tivoli.
The
fete
was
completely
successful.
Turks,
Chinese,
Persians,
and
Bedouins
will
always
be
welcome,
as
on
this
occasion,
at
Paris,
appearing
as
they
do
only
at
rare
intervals,
and
for
a
short
time.
The
fete
took
place
on
the
2nd
of
July.
Robertson
presented
himself
at
the
house
of
Esseid-Ali,
to
obtain
his
autograph.
The
Turkish
ambassador
willingly
granted
the
request,
and
wrote
his
name
in
letters,
each
of
which
was
two
inches
in
height,
on
a
sheet
of
paper.
He
then
offered
the
aeronaut
coffee
and
comfits,
and
promised
to
be
present
to
witness
the
balloon
ascent.
His
name
was
painted
in
large
characters
on
a
balloon
fifteen
feet
in
diameter,
and
on
the
form
of
which
was
the
figure
of
a
crescent.
The
experiment
delighted
the
ambassador,
and
was
well
received
by
the
public.
Jacques
Garnerin,
when
he
came
to
make
his
debut
as
an
aeronaut,
made
an
attempt
with
the
parachute,
the
following
August,
at
the
garden
of
the
Hotel
de
Biron.
The
ambassador
was
asked
to
honour
the
fete,
but
he
declined,
saying
that
he
had
“made
up
his
mind
that
man
was
not
intended
for
flying--Mahomet
had
not
so
willed
it.”
Of
one
of
Robertson’s
more
interesting
ascents
he
himself
has
left
us
the
following
sketch:--
“I
rose
in
the
balloon
at
nine
a.m.,
accompanied
by
my
fellow-student
and
countryman,
M.
Lhoest.
We
had
140
lbs.
of
ballast.
The
barometer
marked
twenty-eight
inches;
the
thermometer
sixteen
degrees
Reaumur.
In
spite
of
some
slight
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
