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172
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
32
The
appointed
day
was
the
5th
of
June,
1783
and
the
nobility
of
the
vicinity
were
invited
to
be
present
at
the
experiment.
Faujas
de
Saint
Fond,
author
of
“La
Description
des
Experiences
de
la
Machine
Aerostatique,”
published
the
same
year,
gives
the
following
account
of
it:--
“What,”
says
Saint
Fond,
“was
the
general
astonishment
when
the
inventors
of
the
machine
announced
that
immediately
it
should
be
full
of
gas,
which
they
had
the
means
of
producing
at
will
by
the
most
simple
process,
it
would
raise
itself
to
the
clouds.
It
must
be
granted
that,
in
spite
of
the
confidence
in
the
ingenuity
and
experience
of
the
Montgolfiers,
this
feat
seemed
so
incredible
to
those
who
came
to
witness
it,
that
the
persons
who
knew
most
about
it--who
were,
at
the
same
time,
the
most
favourably
predisposed
in
its
favour--doubted
of
its
success.
“At
last
the
brothers
Montgolfier
commenced
their
work.
They
first
of
all
began
to
make
the
smoke
necessary
for
their
experiment.
The
machine--which
at
first
seemed
only
a
covering
of
cloth,
lined
with
paper,
a
sort
of
sack
thirty-five
feet
high--became
inflated,
and
grew
large
even
under
the
eyes
of
the
spectator,
took
consistence,
assumed
a
beautiful
form,
stretched
itself
on
all
sides,
and
struggled
to
escape.
Meanwhile,
strong
arms
were
holding
it
down
until
the
signal
was
given,
when
it
loosened
itself,
and
with
a
rush
rose
to
the
height
of
1,000
fathoms
in
less
than
ten
minutes.”
It
then
described
a
horizontal
line
of
7,200
feet,
and
as
it
had
lost
a
considerable
amount
of
gas,
it
began
to
descend
quietly.
It
reached
the
ground
in
safety;
and
this
first
attempt,
crowned
with
such
decisive
success,
secured
for
ever
to
the
brothers
Montgolfier
the
glory
of
one
of
the
most
astonishing
discoveries.
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