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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
91
when
all
at
once
a
sudden
explosion
was
heard,
the
silk
of
the
balloon
quivered,
the
car
received
a
violent
shock,
and
seemed
to
be
shot
suddenly
into
the
gloomy
abyss.
A
second
explosion
and
a
third
succeeded,
accompanied
each
time
by
this
fearful
shock
to
the
car.
The
travellers
soon
found
out
that,
owing
to
the
great
altitude,
the
gas
had
expanded,
and
the
rope
which
surrounded
it,
saturated
with
water,
and
frozen
with
the
intense
cold,
had
yielded
to
the
pressure,
in
jerks
which
caused
the
report
and
the
shock.
“From
time
to
time,”
continues
Mason,
“vast
masses
of
clouds
covered
the
lower
regions
of
the
atmosphere,
and
spread
a
thick,
whitish
veil
over
the
earth,
intercepting
our
view,
and
leaving
us
for
some
time
uncertain
if
this
was
not
a
continuation
of
the
same
plains
covered
with
snow
which
we
had
already
noticed.
From
these
masses
of
vapour,
there
seemed
more
than
once
during
the
night
to
come
a
sound
as
of
a
great
fall
of
water,
or
the
contending
waves
of
the
sea;
and
it
required
all
the
force
of
our
reason,
joined
to
our
knowledge--such
as
it
was--of
the
direction
of
our
route,
to
repress
the
idea
that
we
were
approaching
the
sea,
and
that,
driven
by
the
wind,
we
had,
been
carried
along
the
coasts
of
the
North
Sea
or
the
Baltic.
As
the
day
advanced
these
apprehensions
disappeared.
In
place
of
the
unbroken
surface
of
the
sea,
we
gradually
made
out
the
varied
features
of
a
cultivated
country,
in
the
midst
of
which
flowed
a
majestic
river,
which
lost
itself,
at
both
extremities,
in
the
mist
that
still
lay
on
the
horizon.”
This
river
was
the
Rhine,
and
as
the
neighbourhood
seemed
suitable
for
a
descent,
and
as
the
travellers
did
not
wish
to
be
carried
too
far
into
the
heart
of
Europe,
they
allowed
a
portion
of
the
gas
to
escape,
came
gradually
down,
and
dropped
their
anchor.
It
was
then
half-past
seven
in
the
morning.
It
was
only
then
that
the
inhabitants,
who
had
hitherto
held
themselves
aloof,
watching
the
movements
of
the
strangers
from
under
the
brushwood,
began
to
assemble
from
all
sides.
A
few
words
in
German
spoken
from
the
balloon
dissipated
their
fears,
and,
recovering
from
their
mistrust,
they
hastened
immediately
to
lend
assistance
to
the
aeronauts
The
latter
were
now
informed
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