Up in the Clouds | Page 9

Probably
Monsieur Charles was the first man in the world, on whom the sun thus
rose and set twice in the same day!
In such regions, at that romantic period of night, the aeronaut, as might
have been expected, saw strange unearthly sights. Rising vapours
concealed the lower world from view, and the moon shed her pale rays
on accumulated masses of clouds, casting various hues over their
fantastic and changing forms. No wonder that one thus surrounded by
objects of awful grandeur and sublimity, left, as it were, more
completely alone with God than any of his fellow-mortals, found it
impossible to refrain from giving vent to his emotion in tears.
Monsieur Charles did not remain long at this elevation. As the cold was
excessive, and night advancing, he deemed it prudent to descend;
opened the safety-valve, out of which the gas rushed like a misty
vapour with a whistling noise, and, after the lapse of a little more than
half an hour, alighted in safety near the wood of Tour du Lay, having
travelled about nine miles.
After this, balloon ascents became frequent. We cannot here give a
particular account of each, even if it were desirable to do so, but, before

passing to the consideration of the more recent voyages, we shall run
over a few facts and incidents that occurred during the early period of
aerial navigation.
The first lady who went up in a balloon was a Madame Thible. She
ascended from Lyons on 28th June 1784 with a Monsieur Fleurant in a
fire-balloon. This lady of Lyons mounted to the extraordinary elevation
of 13,500 feet--at least so it was estimated. The flagstaff, a pole of
fourteen pounds weight, was thrown out and took seven minutes to
reach the ground. The thermometer dropped to minus 43 degrees
Fahrenheit, and the voyagers felt a ringing sensation in their ears.
The first long voyage accomplished was about the same period, by a
balloon constructed by Monsieur Robert, which was filled with
hydrogen. It was 56 feet in height, and 36 in diameter. The Duke de
Chartres ascended in it along with Robert and two others to a
considerable height, and in five hours performed a voyage of 135 miles.
This machine was furnished with a helm and four oars, for men still
laboured under the erroneous belief that it was possible to direct the
course of a balloon.
One of the most interesting balloon voyages of the last century was that
of Monsieur Testu. He ascended from Paris on the 18th June 1786 in a
balloon of glazed tiffany, 29 feet in diameter, which was constructed by
himself. It was filled with hydrogen, and had wings as well as oars!
When the aeronaut deemed it advisable to descend, he attempted to do
so by using the wings. These had little or no power, but the gradual
waste of gas lowered him until he alighted safely in a corn field in the
plain of Montmorency. Here he began to collect stones without quitting
the car; but while thus engaged, was seized by the proprietor of the
field with a troop of peasants, who demanded indemnification for the
damage alleged to have been done by him. Poor Testu assured them
that his wings being broken, he was at their mercy, whereupon the
stupid and ill-natured boors seized the stay of the balloon, which
floated some height above the ground, and dragged him in triumph
towards their village. Their triumph, however, was short-lived. Finding
that the loss of his wings and some other articles had lightened him

considerably, he quietly cut the cord and bade the clowns an abrupt
farewell!
Testu then rose to the clouds, where he experienced the violence and
witnessed the grandeur of a thunderstorm, the terrible nature of which
was greatly increased when night closed in, while lightning flashed on
all sides, thunder reverberated in the sky, and sleet fell copiously
around him. On this voyage he saw some hunters in a field, and
descended to observe them! He remained out all night, saw the sun set
and rise, and finally alighted near the village of Campremi, about
sixty-three miles from Paris.
CHAPTER FOUR.
THE FIRST AERIAL VOYAGES MADE IN GREAT
BRITAIN--SUCCEEDING ASCENTS.
The credit of the first aerial voyage made in Great Britain has usually
been given to Vincenzo Lunardi, an Italian. There is ground for
believing, however, that the first balloon voyage was performed by a
Scotchman, as the following extract from Chamber's Book of Days will
show:--
"It is generally supposed that Lunardi was the first person who
ascended by means of a balloon in Great Britain, but he certainly was
not. A very poor man, named James Tytler, who then lived in
Edinburgh, supporting himself and family in the humblest style of
garret or