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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
78
The
balloon
rose
to
the
height
of
about
twenty
feet,
then
followed
a
horizontal
line,
and
descended.
But
the
gallery
had
no
sooner
touched
the
earth
than
Lunardy
threw
over
the
sand
that
served
as
ballast,
and
mounted
triumphantly,
amid
the
applause
of
a
considerable
multitude
of
spectators.
After
a
time
he
descended
upon
a
common,
where
he
left
the
cat
nearly
dead
with
cold,
ascended,
and
continued
his
voyage.
He
says,
in
the
narrative
which
he
has
left,
that
he
descended
by
means
of
the
one
oar
which
was
left
to
him,
the
other
having
fallen
over;
but,
as
he
states
that,
in
order
to
rise
again,
he
threw
over
the
remainder
of
his
ballast,
it
is
natural
to
believe
that
the
descent
of
the
balloon
was
caused
by
the
loss
of
gas,
because,
if
he
descended
by
the
use
of
the
oar,
he
must
have
re-ascended
when
he
stopped
using
it.
He
landed
in
the
parish
of
Standon,
where
he
was
assisted
by
the
peasants.
He
assures
us
again
that
he
came
down
the
second
time
by
means
of
the
oar.
He
says:--“I
took
my
oar
to
descend,
and
in
from
fifteen
to
twenty
minutes
I
arrived
at
the
earth
after
much
fatigue,
my
strength
being
nearly
exhausted.
My
chief
desire
was
to
escape
a
shock
on
reaching
the
earth,
and
fortune
favoured
me.”
The
fear
of
a
concussion
seems
to
indicate
that
he
descended
more
because
of
the
weight
of
the
balloon
than
by
the
action
of
the
oar.
It
appears
that
the
only
scientific
instrument
he
had
was
a
thermometer
which
fell
to
29
degrees.
The
drops
of
water
which
had
attached
themselves
to
the
balloon
were
frozen.
The
second
aerial
journey
in
England
was
undertaken
by
Blanchard
and
Sheldon.
The
latter,
a
professor
of
anatomy
in
the
Royal
Academy,
is
the
first
Englishman
who
ever
went
up
in
a
balloon.
This
ascent
was
made
from
Chelsea
on
the
16th
October,
1784.
The
same
balloon
which
Blanchard
had
used
in
France
served
him
on
this
occasion,
with
the
difference
that
the
hoop
which
went
round
the
middle
of
it,
and
the
parasol
above
the
car,
were
dispensed
with.
At
the
extremity
of
his
car
he
had
fitted
a
sort
of
ventilator,
which
he
was
able
to
move
about
by
means
of
a
winch.
This
ventilator,
together
with
the
wings
and
the
helm,
were
to
serve
especially
the
purpose
of
steering
at
will,
which
he
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