¥ 



underlaken at PeterslnrgJu 197 



the foe I could not see distant objects, such as Lake La- 

 doga, Cronstadt, &c. I here threw out the paper way- 

 wiser I had made; bv means of which I observed, not onlv 

 here, but during the rest of the voyage, that it showed 

 much quicker than the barometer, the dn-cction and also 

 the sinking and risiac of the balloon; or as soon as he 

 balloon fell, the way-wiser, as it was much lighter than the 

 balloon, and found' more resistance m falhng, iiew up anU 

 rose almost up to it, so that it was necessary to pull it 

 down when the balloon rose : it was below suspended from 

 the thread in a diagonal direction, and loUowed us in such a 

 manner, that a person habituated to such observations could 

 easily determine with a compass, from the position of the 

 way-wiser, the true direction of the balloon. As we found 

 ourselves, with a north-east wind, over the islands at the 

 mouth of the Neva, Mr. Robertson was afraid, in conse- 

 quence of the changed direction of the small balloon which 

 was let off from the Garden of the Cadets, that the wind 

 niicrht drive us out to sea; for it is well known that in the 

 atiuo.-phere there are several currents of air which have a 

 contrary course, and which in all probability produced the 

 before-mentioned cruciform turning of the balloon. Not 

 bcin<r accustomed to this cruciform movement, 1 was not 

 ablc,°bv the wav-wiscr, to determine the real direction of 

 the balloon, and on this account Mr. Robertson sufleicd to 

 escape a considerable quantity of gas ; on which we again 

 fell till the barometer stood at 29 inches, about jO minutes 



past seven. . tr i r 



At this hcifrht the heaviness m my ears went ott, ana l 

 experienced in them no more heaviness. Haying continued 

 our vovac-c along the coast a good way behind Katermenhot, 

 we bet^an a-iain, on my earnest request, to ^scend. About 

 tJ5 minutc.rpast eight the barometer stood at <2G inches, and 

 the heat was equal to H^V degrees. Here T filled the tourth 

 flask with air. About 31 minutes past eight we tound our- 

 selves over the water, at a height where the barometer stood 

 at 25 inches, and the heat l-.ad decreased to 13 degrees. 

 At this heitiht wc could see the circles prodii-'ed lu^ic 

 water by the fall of some bottles which I threw down, i he 

 north-east wind still appeared to be favourable to us, and 

 about 45 minuies past eight wc found ourselves entirely 

 over the terra (irnia. Here we could see at one view the 

 Newski islands at the mouth of the Yamehanoika, and the 

 whole of that rivL-r. As we were now at a distance from 

 the sea, and Mr. Robertson saw no further danger, he be- 

 iran to throw out his ballast, of which htile remained, in 

 N 3 order 



