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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
72
Terrified
by
such
an
unwonted
sight,
the
labourers
in
the
fields
abandoned
their
work.
We
were
not
more
than
600
feet
from
the
earth.
We
threw
on
the
two
bundles
of
straw,
but
still
gradually
descended.
The
grating
was
then
detached,
and
I
had
no
difficulty
in
leaping
to
the
ground.
But
now
a
most
surprising
and
unlooked-for
event
happened.
M.
Louchet
had
not
been
able
to
descend
at
the
same
moment
as
myself,
and
the
balloon,
now
free
from
my
weight,
immediately
re-ascended
with
the
speed
of
a
bird,
bearing
away
my
companion.
I
followed
him
with
my
eyes,
and
it
was
to
my
agreeable
surprise
that
I
heard
him
crying
to
me,
‘All
is
well;
fear
not!’
though
it
was
not
without
a
species
of
jealousy
that
I
saw
him
mounting
up
to
the
height
of
1,400
or
1,500
feet.
The
balloon,
after
having
run
a
distance
of
3,600
feet
in
a
horizontal
direction,
began
gently
to
descend
at
four
minutes
past
nine,
at
the
village
of
Inieres,
after
having
travelled
42,000
feet
from
the
point
of
departure.
When
it
had
touched
the
ground
it
bumped
up
again
two
or
three
feet.
M.
Louchet
jumped
out,
and
seized
one
of
the
ropes,
but
had
much
difficulty
in
holding
the
balloon
in
hand.
He
cried
to
the
frightened
peasants
to
come
and
help
him.
But
they
seemed
to
regard
him
as
a
dangerous
magician,
or
as
a
monster,
and
they
feared
to
touch
the
ropes
lest
they
might
be
swallowed
up
by
the
balloon.
Soon
afterwards
I
came
to
the
rescue.
The
balloon
was
in
as
thorough
repair
as
when
we
began
our
journey.
We
then
pressed
out
the
hot
air,
folded
up
the
envelope,
placed
it
upon
a
small
cart
drawn
by
two
oxen,
and
drove
off
with
it.”
Chapter
IV.
Serio-Comic
Aspect
of
the
Subject--The
Public
Duped--The
Abbes
Miolan
and
Janninet
at
the
Luxembourg--Caricatures--
The
“Minerva”
of
Robertson,
and
its
Voyage
Round
the
World.
The
discovery
like
that
of
balloons
could
not
be
made
public
in
France
without
being
travestied,
and
without
offering
some
comic
side
for
the
amusement
of
the
wits
of
the
day.
Under
some
old
coloured
prints,
designed
with
the
intention
of
satirising
such
unfortunate
aeronauts
as
had
collected
their
money
from
the
spectators,
but
had
failed
in
inflating
their
balloons,
is
written,
“The
Infallible
Means
of
Raising
Balloons”--the
infallible
means
consisting
of
ropes
and
pulleys.
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