The stormy weather did not permit us to have at our command all the
arrangements which we had contemplated the previous evening; to do so
would have detained us too long upon the earth. After the balloon and the
car were in equilibrium, we threw over 19 lbs. of ballast, and we rose in
the midst of silence, arising from the emotion and surprise felt on all sides.
"Nothing will ever equal that moment of joyous excitement which
filled my whole being when I felt myself flying away from the earth. It
was not mere pleasure; it was perfect bliss. Escaped from the frightful
torments of persecution and of calumny, I felt that I was answering all in
rising above all.
"To this sentiment succeeded one more lively still--the admiration of
the majestic spectacle that spread itself out before us. On whatever side we
looked, all was glorious; a cloudless sky above, a most delicious view
around. 'Oh, my friend,' said I to M. Robert, 'how great is our good fortune!
I care not what may be the condition of the earth; it is the sky that is for
me now. What serenity! what a ravishing scene! Would that I could bring
here the last of our detractors, and say to the wretch, Behold what you
would have lost had you arrested the progress of science.' "Whilst we were
rising with a progressively increasing speed, we waved our bannerets in
token of our cheerfulness, and in order to give confidence to those below
who took an interest in our fate. M. Robert made an inventory of our
stores; our friends had stocked our commissariat as for a long voyage--
champagne and other wines, garments of fur and other articles of clothing.
"'Good,' I said; 'throw that out of the window.' He took a blanket and
launched it into the air, through which it floated down slowly, and fell
upon the dome of l'Assomption.
"When the barometer had fallen 26 inches, we ceased to ascend. We
were up at an elevation of 1,800 feet. This was the height to which I had
promised myself to ascend; and, in fact, from this moment to the time
when we disappeared from the eyes of our friends, we always kept a
horizontal course, the barometer registering 26 inches to 26 inches 8 lines.
"We required to throw over ballast in proportion as the almost
insensible escape of the hydrogen gas caused us to descend, in order to
remain as nearly as possible at the same elevation. If circumstances had |
