AIR AND WATER AS SERVANTS OF MAN 105 



being at the narrow end. A basket was attached to this balloon 

 for the purpose of carrying passengers. No one, however, was 

 bold enough to undertake the ascent, for it was not known at 

 that time whether the upper air was fit to breathe, or in fact if 

 there was any air up as high as the balloon might go. So the first 

 three passengers to make a balloon ascent were a sheep, a rooster, 

 and a duck. The ascent was eminently successful, the balloon 

 sailed off some distance into the country, and came down in the 

 field of a peasant. The peasant was thoroughly frightened by 

 this visitation out of the skies, but the animal passengers were 

 found to be none the worse for their experience. 



On October 15, 1783, the first balloon ascension was made 

 with a human being as passenger. The daring man to undertake 

 this was a Frenchman, Pilatre de Rozier. In this first ascent 

 it was deemed advisable to have the balloon attached to the 

 ground by ropes so that it might not sail too high. De Rozier 

 went up 100 feet, remaining in the air for some twenty-five 

 minutes, and when he came down was enthusiastic over the 

 delightful sensations of the ascent and the unobstructed view 

 of the surrounding country that he obtained. In November of 

 the same year this same man, together with the Marquis 

 d'Arlandes, made the first free balloon flight. It was then 

 looked upon as a foolhardy attempt. Their friends bade them 

 goodbye as if they were going to certain death. The balloon used 

 was again a hot-air balloon, and they ascended to a height of 

 about 500 feet, remaining in the air about five minutes. 



The difficulty with the hot-air balloon was that the air inside 

 the bag cooled off rapidly. This of course could be overcome by 

 carrying a basket below the balloon in which a fire could be built, 

 and De Rozier, accompanied by the Marquis, made several ascents 

 in a balloon of this type. The balloonists stood on the platform 

 below the balloon and fed fuel into the fire which kept the air 

 hot. They realized that this was risky since the balloon was 

 constructed of paper covered with cloth and varnished to prevent 

 the escape of hot air. They accordingly carried a bucket of 



