AEROSTATION'.

10

Blanchard and Dr, Jeffries across the straits of Dover. This tookplace on the 7th of January 178a, being a dear frosty morning,the wind scarcely perceptible at N. N. W. They departed inthe old balloon of 27 feet diameter, being furnished with a boat andseve-al necessaries. At one o’clock the intrepid Blanchard desiredthe boat to be pushed off; but the weight being too great for tliepower of the balloon, thev were obliged to throw out all the bal-except some bags, ten pounds each, alter which they rose

clock

last

gently, making very little way. At, a quarter after onethe barometer was fallen frpm 29.7 to 27.3, and the weather prov-ed tine and warm. Dr. Jeffries describes with rapture the pros-pect which at this time was before their eyes. The country tothe back of Dover, interspersed with towns and villages, of whichthey could count 37, made a beautiful appearance. On the otherside the breakers, on the Goodwin Sands, appeared formidable.Their view was extended and diversified. The balloon theyfound at 50 minutes past one o’clock was descending, on whichthey threw' out three bags and a half of ballast; this proving inef-fectual, the remaining ballast, and after that a parcel of bookswere thrown out; this made the balloon rise, when they wereabout halfway. At a quarter past two o’clock the rising of themercury in the barometer shewed that they were descending ; inconsequence of which the remaining books were thrown into thesea. At 25 minutes after two, they were at about three-fourths ofthe way, and an enchanting view of the French coast appeared be-fore their eyes; but the lower part of the balloon was collapsed,©wing to the loss or condensation of the gas, and the machine wasdescending, which obliged them to throw over provisions for eat-ing, the oars or wings of tlie boat, and other articles. “ We threwaway,” said Dr. Jeffries, ‘ 1 our only bottle, which, in its descent,cast out a steam like smoke, with a rushing noise; and when itstruck tlie water, we heard and felt the shock very perceptibly ononr car and balloon.” But the balloon still approaching the sea,they began to strip and cast away their clothes. They eve® in-tended to fasten themselves to the cords and cut the boat away,as their last resource; but at this critical point, they bad the satis-faction to observe that they were rising; their distance from theFrench shore, which they were approaching very fast, was aboutfour miles. Fear was now vanishing apace; the French landshewed itself every moment more heautiful, more distinct, andmore extended ; Calais, and above 20 other towns and villages,were dearly distinguished. Exactly at three o’clock they passed•ver tlie high grounds about midway between Cape Blanc anilCalais; and it is remarkable that the balloon at this time rose

very fast, and made a magnificent arch; probably owing to the*u„ 1-1 > ■ ■ - - • ...

opening the valve tor the escape of thegas, they soon reached the ground in safety. Perhaps the descentnoticed in this experiment, was occasioned by the moisture ofthe sea; for an evaporation being produced about the balloon itsinternal heat would be lessened, but the effect would cease whenthey arrived at a drier atmosphere. It would he endless and un-necessary to relate all tlie different aerial voyages that have beenperformed in this and other countries ; but we must not omit theingenious Mr. Baldwin’s excursion from Chester. This gentle-man in September, 1785,ascended in Mr. Lunardi’ shalloon; and af-ter traversing the air in a variety of directions, he first alighted inthe neighbourhood of Frodsham ; then reascending and pursuinghis excursion, he finally landed at Rixtonmoss, 25 miles fromChester. Mr. Baldwin, who published the observations lie madeduring the voyage, mentions the following curious particulars.

1 he sensation of ascending he compares to a strongfrom the bottom of the car upwards against the soles ofAt the distance of what appeared to him seven miles from theearth, though by the barometer scarcely a mile and a half, he had3 gram! and most enchanting view of the citv of Che=iov ■>«-! '•* -adjacent places below. 4

the city very diminutive, and entirely blue. , « appeal-

pressurehis feet.

The river Dee appeared of a red colour;e, and entirely blue. The wholeeti a perfect plain, the highest building havibut all reduced to the same "

pent appeared like a coloured map. me perspective appearanceof things to him was very remarkable. The lowest bed of vapourthat first appeared as cloud was pure white, in detached fleeces,

increasing as they rose : they presently coalesced, and formed, asvon. i. — no, ’4.

test omitting Having no apparent lieight,le level, anil the whole terrestrial pros-ired map. The perspective appearance

he expresses it, a sea of cotton, tufting here and there by tlie aolion of the air in the undisturbed part of the clouds. i_he w holebecame an extended white floor of cloud, the upper surface beingsmooth and even. Above this white floor he observed, at greatand unequal distances, a vast assemblage of thunder clouds, eachparcel consisting of whole acres in the densest form 5 he comparestheir form and appearance to the smoke of pieces ot ordnance,which had consolidated as it were into masses of snow-, and pene-trated through the upper surface or white floor of common clouds,there remaining invisible and at rest. Some clouds had motionsin slow and various directions, forming an appearance truly stu-pendous and majestic. Mr. Baldwin endeavours to convey someidea of the scene by a sketch, for which see Plate III. Fig. 5. Itrepresents a circular view he had from the car of the balloon,himself being over the centre of the view, looking down on thewhite door of clouds and seeing the city of Chester through anopening, which discovered the landscape helow, limited by sur-rounding vapour to less than two miles in diameter. The breadthof the outer margin defines his apparent height in the balloon(viz. four miles) above the white floor of clouds. These regionsdid not feel colder, but rather warmer, than below, and tlie sun-felt hottest when the balloon was stationary. The discharge of acannon when the balloon was at a considerable height, was dis-tinctly heard ; and a second discharge when at the height of 3w»yards, so disturbed him, as to oblige him for safety to lay holdfirmly of the cords of the balloon. At a considerable height he.emptied a pint bottle full of water ; and as the air did not oppose ■-a resistance sufficient to break the stream into small drops, itmostly fell down in large ones. The balloon was much affectedby the water (a circumstance observed by ethers), and at onetime was going directly towards the sea. The mouth of the baloon, however, being opened, it descended into an under currentblowing from the sea, and at length landed at Beilair Farm inKinsley, 12 miles from Chester. To the above-mentioned aeros-tatic experiments, we shall only add the account of two latelyperformed in England by M. Garnerin,. a French aeronaut. Thefirst of these is remarkable for the very great velocity of its mo-tion ; the second for the exhibition of a inode of leaving the bal-loon, anil of descending with safety to the ground. On the 30thof June 1802, between four and five o’clock in the afternoon, thewind being strong, though not impetuous, M. Garnerin and ano-ther gentleman ascended with an inflammable air balloon fromRanelagh Gardens on the south-west of London , and in exactlythree quarters of an hour they descended near the sea, four milesfrom Colchester. The distance of tliat place from Ranelagh issixty miles; therefore they travelled at the astonishing rate of80 mites per hour. The singular experiment of descending fromthe balloon by means of a machine called a parachute, was per-formed by M. Garnerin on the 21st of September 1802. Heascended from St. George’s Parade, North Audley-street, anddescended safe into a field near the Small-pox Hospital at Pan-eras. The reader may easily form to himself an idea of this para-chute, by imagining a large umbrella of canvass of about 30 feetin diameter, but destitute of the ribs and handle. Several ropesof about 30 feet in length, which proceeded from the edge of theparachute, terminated in a common joining, from which shorterropes proceeded, to the extremities of which was fastened a cir-cular basket in which M. Garnerin placed himself. A singlerope proceeding from the balloon, passed through a hole in thecentre of the parachute, also through certain tin tubes, whichwere placed one after the other in the place of an handle or stickof an umbrella, and ivas lastly fastened to the basket; so thatwhen tiie balloon was in the air, by cutting the end of this ropenext to tlie basket, the parachute, with the basket, would be sepa-rated from the balloon, and, in falling downwards,'would be natu-rally opened by the resistance of the air. T he use of the tin tubeswas to let the rope slip off with greater certainty, and to preventits being entangled with any of tlie other ropes, as also to keepthe parachute at a distance ’from tlie basket. At six, the balloonbeing quite fullof gas, and tlie parachute, &c. being attached to it,M. Garnerin placed himself in the basket, and ascended majes-tically amidst the acclamations of innumerable spectators. Theweather was exceedingly clear and pleasant, the wind gentle anilabout west by south. In about eight minutes time, the balloonand parachute had ascended to an immense height, when M.D O Guruciux