Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies

It is not natural that the human mind should stop upon the way to the solution of a problem, especially when it seems to be on the point of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion to its labours. The osier cage of Versailles very soon transformed itself into a car, bearing human passengers, and the age of the “Thousand and One Nights” was expected to come back again. It was resolved to continue experiments, with the direct object of finding out whether it was impossible or desperately dangerous for man to travel in balloons. Montgolfier returned from Versailles, and constructed a new machine in the gardens of the Faubourg St. Antoine. It was completed on the 10th of October Its form was oval, its height 70 feet, its diameter 46 feet and its capacity 60,000 cubic feet. The upper part, embroidered with fleurs-de-lis, was further ornamented with the twelve signs of the zodiac, worked in gold. The middle part bore the monogram of the king, alternating with figures of the sun, while the lower part was garnished with masks, garlands, and spread eagles. A circular gallery made of osiers and festooned with draperies and other ornaments, was attached by a set of cords to the bottom of the structure. The gallery was three feet wide, and was protected by a parapet over three feet in height.