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128
Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
66
to
remark
some
faces,
in
which
there
was
a
mixed
expression
of
apprehension
and
joy.
In
continuing
our
upward
progress,
I
perceived
that
an
upper
current
of
air
made
the
Montgolfiere
bend,
but
on
increasing
the
heat,
we
rose
above
the
current.
The
size
of
objects
on
the
earth
now
began
perceptibly
to
diminish,
which
gave
us
an
idea
of
the
distance
at
which
we
were
from
them.
It
was
then
that
we
became
visible
to
Paris
and
its
suburbs,
and
so
great
was
our
elevation
that
many
in
the
capital
thought
we
were
directly
over
their
heads.
“When
we
had
arrived
among
the
clouds,
the
earth
disappeared
from
our
view.
Now
a
thick
mist
would
envelop
us,
then
a
clear
space
showed
us
where
we
were,
and
again
we
rose
through
a
mass
of
snow,
portions
of
which
stuck
to
our
gallery.
Curious
to
know
how
high
we
could
ascend,
we
resolved
to
increase
our
fire
and
raise
the
heat
to
the
highest
degree,
by
raising
our
grating,
and
holding
up
our
fagots
suspended
on
the
ends
of
our
forks.
“Having
gained
these
snowy
elevations,
and
not
being
able
to
mount
higher,
we
wandered
about
for
some
time
in
regions
which
we
felt
were
now
visited
by
man
for
the
first
time.
Isolated
and
separated
entirely
from
nature,
we
perceived
beneath
us
only
enormous
masses
of
snow,
which,
reflecting
the
sunshine,
filled
the
firmament
with
a
glorious
light.
We
remained
eight
minutes
at
this
elevation,
11,732
feet
above
the
earth.
This
situation,
however
agreeable
it
might
have
been
to
the
painter
or
the
poet,
promised
little
to
the
man
of
science
in
the
way
of
acquiring
knowledge;
and
so
we
determined,
eighteen
minutes
after
our
departure,
to
return
through
the
clouds
to
the
earth.
We
had
hardly
left
this
snowy
abyss,
when
the
most
pleasant
scene
succeeded
the
most
dreary
one.
The
broad
plains
appeared
before
our
view
in
all
their
magnificence.
No
snow,
no
clouds
were
now
to
be
seen,
except
around
the
horizon,
where
a
few
clouds
seemed
to
rest
on
the
earth.
We
passed
in
a
minute
from
winter
to
spring.
We
saw
the
immeasurable
earth
covered
with
towns
and
villages,
which
at
that
distance
appeared
only
so
many
isolated
mansions
surrounded
with
gardens.
The
rivers
which
wound
about
in
all
directions
seemed
no
more
than
rills
for
the
adornment
of
these
mansions;
the
largest
forests
looked
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