A Voyage in a Balloon | Page 9

at midnight,
accompanied by Andreoli and Grossetti. The balloon ascended slowly;
it had been rent by the wind, and the gas escaped. The three intrepid
voyagers could observe the state of the barometer only by the aid of a
dark lantern. Zambecarri had not eaten daring twenty-four hours;
Grossetti was also fasting.
"'My friends,' said Zambecarri, 'I am benumbed with the cold; I am
exhausted; I must die;' and he fell senseless in the gallery.

"It was the same with Grossetti. Andreoli alone remained awake. After
long efforts he succeeded in arousing Zambecarri from his stupor.
"'What is there new? Where are we going? In which direction is the
wind? What time is it?'
"' It is two o'clock!'
"' Where is the compass?'
"'It has fallen out.'
"' Great God! the lamp is extinguished!'
"' It could not burn longer in this rarefied air!' said Zambecarri.
"The moon had not risen; the atmosphere was plunged in horrible
darkness.
"' I am cold, I am cold, Andreoli! What shall we do?'
"The unfortunate men slowly descended through a layer of white
clouds.
"'Hush!' said Andreoli; 'do you hear--'
"' What?' replied Zambecarri.
"'A singular noise!'
"'You are mistaken!'
"'No!--Do you see those midnight travellers, listening to that
incomprehensible sound? Have they struck against a rower? Are they
about to be precipitated on the roofs? Do you hear it? It is like the
sound of the ocean!'
"'Impossible!'
"' It is the roaring of the waves!'
"' That is true!--Light! light!'
"After five fruitless attempts, Andreoli obtained it. It was three o'clock.
The sound of the waves was heard with violence; they almost touched
the surface of the sea.
"' We are lost!' exclaimed Zambecarri, seizing a bag of ballast.
"' Help!' cried Andreoli.
"The car touched the water, and the waves covered them breast high.
To the sea with instruments, garments, money! The aeronauts stripped
entirely. The lightened balloon rose with frightful rapidity. Zambecarri
was seized with violent vomiting. Grossetti bled freely. The unhappy
men could not speak; their respiration was short. They were seized with
cold, and in a moment covered with a coat of ice. The moon appeared
to them red as blood. After having traversed these high regions during

half an hour, the machine again fell into the sea. It was four o'clock in
the morning: the bodies of the wretched aeronauts were half in the
water, and the balloon, acting as a sail, dragged them about during
several hours. At daybreak, they found themselves opposite Pesaro,
five miles from the shore; they were about to land, when a sudden flaw
of wind drove them back to the open sea. They were lost! The
affrighted barks fled at their approach. Fortunately, a more intelligent
navigator hailed them, took them on board; and they landed at Ferrara.
That was frightful! Zambecarri was a brave man. Scarcely recovered
from his sufferings, he recommenced his ascensions. In one of them, he
struck against a tree; his lamp, filled with spirits of wine, was spilled
over his clothes, and they caught fire; he was covered with flame his
machine was beginning to kindle, when he descended, half burned. The
21st September, 1812, he made another ascension at Bologna; his
balloon caught in a tree; his lamp set fire to it. Zambecarri fell, and was
killed! And in presence of these high facts, shall we still hesitate? No!
The higher we go the more glorious will be our death"
The balloon, entirely unballasted, we were borne to incredible heights.
The aerostat vibrated in the atmosphere; the slightest sound re-echoed
through the celestial vaults; the globe, the only object which struck my
sight in immensity, seemed about to be annihilated, and above us the
heights of heaven lost themselves in the profound darkness!
I saw the unknown rise before me.
"This is the hour!" said he to me. "We must die! We are rejected by
men! They despise its! let us crush them!"
"Mercy!" exclaimed I.
"Let us cut the cords! let this car be abandoned in space! The attractive
force will change its direction, and we shall land in the sun!"
Despair gave me strength! I precipitated myself upon the madman, and
a frightful struggle took place! But I was thrown down! and while he
held me beneath his knee, he cut the cords of the car!
"One!" said he.
"Mercy! O, God!"
"Two! three!"
One cord more, and the car was sustained only on one side. I made a
superhuman effort, rose, and violently repulsed this insensate.
"Four!" said he.

The car was overset. I instinctively clung to the cords which held it,
and climbed up the outside.
The unknown had disappeared in space!
In a twinkling the balloon ascended to an immeasurable height! A
horrible crash was heard. The dilated gas had burst