968 Summary and Conclusions 



speed; the basket was swinging violently and describing great oscilla- 

 tions. I dragged myself on my knees and pulled both Sivel and Croce 

 by the arm. "Sivel! Croce!", I cried, "wake up!" 



My two companions were crouched in the basket, their heads 

 hidden under their travelling rugs. I assembled my strength and tried 

 to raise them. Sivel's face was black, his eyes dull, his mouth open 

 and full of blood. Croce's eyes were half shut and his mouth bloody. 



To tell in detail what happened then is impossible. I felt a ter- 

 rible wind rushing upward. We were still at an altitude of 6000 

 meters. There were in the basket two bags of ballast which I threw 

 out. Soon the earth drew near, I wanted my knife to cut the rope 

 of the anchor: impossible to find it. I was frantic, I kept crying: 

 "Sivel! Siveir" 



Luckily, I succeeded in finding my knife and unfastening the 

 anchor at the right moment. The shock as we struck the ground was 

 extremely violent. The balloon seemed to be flattened and I thought 

 that it was going to remain where it was, but the wind was strong 

 and carried it away. The anchor did* not hold and the basket slid flat 

 over the fields; the bodies of my unhappy friends were jostled this 

 way and that, and at every moment I thought that they would fall 

 out. However I got hold of the valve cord, and the balloon soon 

 emptied, then ripped against a tree. It was four o'clock. 



As I set foot on the ground, I was seized by a feverish excitement, 

 and fainted, growing livid. I thought I was going to join my friends 

 in the other world. 



However I recovered little by little. I went to my unhappy com- 

 panions, who were already cold and rigid. I had their bodies shel- 

 tered in a neighboring barn. Sobs choked me! 



The descent of the Zenith took place in the plains near Ciron 

 (Indre), 250 kilometers from Paris in a direct line. . . . 



After having reviewed the story of the ascension of the Zenith, 

 I come to two important points which have keenly occupied the at- 

 tention of scientists and the public. 



What is the maximum altitude reached by the Zenith? 



What is the cause of the death of Croce-Spinelli and Sivel? 



The first question is settled today by the opening of the baro- 

 metric tubes (as evidence) contrived by M. Janssen, and used before 

 by Sivel and Croce-Spinelli in their ascent to 7300 meters (March 

 22, 1874). 



One tube had broken, others had met with accidents or worked 

 badly, but there were two which had functioned properly, and which 

 furnished us with results that checked. They tend to show that the 

 lowest pressure was 264 to 262 millimeters, which sets the maximum 

 height at 8540 to 8601 meters (correction made for pressure at the 

 ground level). 



As at the moment of my unconsciousness, at 8000 meters, the 

 needle of the barometer was passing rapidly over the pressure num- 

 ber of 28 (8002 meters) and indicating thus an ascent of great speed, I 

 am convinced that we reached this altitude of 8600 meters in the 

 first ascent. After the first descent, Croce-Spinelli and very certainly 

 Sivel were still alive; they were struck by death when the balloon 



