The stormy weather did not permit us to have at our command all thearrangements which we had contemplated the previous evening; to do sowould have detained us too long upon the earth. After the balloon and thecar were in equilibrium, we threw over 19 lbs. of ballast, and we rose inthe midst of silence, arising from the emotion and surprise felt on all sides."Nothing will ever equal that moment of joyous excitement whichfilled my whole being when I felt myself flying away from the earth. Itwas not mere pleasure; it was perfect bliss. Escaped from the frightfultorments of persecution and of calumny, I felt that I was answering all inrising above all."To this sentiment succeeded one more lively still--the admiration ofthe majestic spectacle that spread itself out before us. On whatever side welooked, all was glorious; a cloudless sky above, a most delicious viewaround. '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 forme now. What serenity! what a ravishing scene! Would that I could bringhere the last of our detractors, and say to the wretch, Behold what youwould have lost had you arrested the progress of science.' "Whilst we wererising with a progressively increasing speed, we waved our bannerets intoken of our cheerfulness, and in order to give confidence to those belowwho took an interest in our fate. M. Robert made an inventory of ourstores; 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 andlaunched it into the air, through which it floated down slowly, and fellupon the dome of l'Assomption."When the barometer had fallen 26 inches, we ceased to ascend. Wewere up at an elevation of 1,800 feet. This was the height to which I hadpromised myself to ascend; and, in fact, from this moment to the timewhen we disappeared from the eyes of our friends, we always kept ahorizontal course, the barometer registering 26 inches to 26 inches 8 lines."We required to throw over ballast in proportion as the almostinsensible escape of the hydrogen gas caused us to descend, in order toremain as nearly as possible at the same elevation. If circumstances had