Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies

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.