Chap. 1 4.] Aerial Voyage acrcfs the Channel. 511 



of the danger of the man, and the novelty and gran- 

 deur of the whole appearance, are more than words 

 can exprefs. A delicate woman was fo overcome 

 with the fpectacle, that me died upon the fpot as the 

 balloon afcended j feveral ftinted; and the filent ad- 

 miration of the anxious multitude was beyond any 

 thing I had ever beheld. 



The moft daring of all aerial voyages, however, was 

 that performed on the yth of January, 1785, by M. 

 Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries, acrois the Straits of Dover 

 to France. At about one o'clock, the ballocn was 

 launched near the high .cliff in that vicinity j the ballidt 

 was all thrown out except three bags of ten pounds 

 each; there being but little -wind their progrefs v/ss 

 very flow ; they defcribed the profpecl; which they had 

 of the fouthern coaft of England as extremely delight- 

 ful ; and they were able to count thirty-feven villages. 

 Perceiving the machine to defcend, they threw out at 

 feveral times all their ballaft, books, &c. and at about 

 twenty -five minutes paft two, they had a moft en- 

 chanting profped of the French coaft. We threw 

 away,' fays Dr. Jefferies, c our only bottle, which, in 

 its defcent, caft out a fteam like fmoke, with a ruming 

 noife, and when it ftruck the water, we heard and fek 

 the fhock very perceptibly on our car and on the bal- 

 loon.' At length they paffed over the high lands 

 between Cape Blanc and Calais, when the machine 

 rofe to a greater height than it had reached during 

 the whole voyage. They defcended in fafety among 

 fome trees in the foreft of Guiennes. In confequence 

 of this voyage, the king of France prefented M. 

 Blanchard with a purfe of 12,000 livres, and granted 

 him a penfion of 1,200 livres a year. 



The art of navigating through the air made fo rapid 

 9. progrefs, that within two years from its firft difco- 



verjr 



