70 HISTORY OP AEROSTATION. 



Imvvcvrr, the thermometer indicated a great variation of tempera- 

 ture : lu.s fiiiner* were benumbed with cold, and he felt a \iolent 

 pain in his right ear and jaw, which he ascrihed to the expansion of 

 tlie air in these organs as well as to the external cold. The beauty 

 of the prospect which he now enjoyed, however, made amends tor 

 these inconveniencies. At his departure the sun was set on the 

 valleys; but the height to which M. Charles was got into the at- 

 mo^phere rendered him again visible, though only for a short time. 

 He saw, for a few seconds, vapours rising from (he valle\s and ri 

 vers. The clouds seemed to ascend from the earth, and collect 

 one upon the other, still preserving their usual form ; only their 

 colour was grey and monotonous, for want of sufficient light in the 

 atmo-phere. By the light of the moon, he perceived that the ma- 

 chine uas turning round with him in the air; and he observed that 

 there were contrary currents which brought him back ayain. He 

 observed also, with surprise, the effects of the wind, and that the 

 streamers of his banners pointed upwards ; which, he says, could 

 not be the effect either of his ascent or descent, as he was moving 

 horizontally at the time. At last, recollecting his promise of re- 

 turning to hi> friends in half an hour, he pulled the valve, and ac. 

 celerated his descent. When within 200 feet of the earth, he threw 

 out two or three pounds of ballast, which rendered the balloon 

 again stationary ; but, in a little, time afterwards, he gently alighted 

 in a field about three miles distance from the place whence he set 

 out ; though, by making allowance for all the turnings and windings 

 of the voyage, he supposes that he had gone through nine miles at 

 least. By the calculations made, it appears that he rose at this time 

 not less than 10,500 feet ; a height somewhat greater than that of 

 Mount /Etna. 



The subsequent aerial voyages differ so little from that just now 

 related, that any particular description of them seems to be super, 

 fluous. It had occurred to M. Charles, however, in his last flight, 

 that there might be a possibility of directing the machine in the at. 

 mosphere; and this was afterwards attempted by M. Jean-Pierre 

 Blanchard. In one of the aerostatic excursion* of the latter, he 

 irixi - an account of the sensations he felt during his voyage, and 

 which were somewhat different from those of M. Charles; having 

 in one part ot it found the atmosphere very warm, in another very 

 cold ; and having once found himself very hungry, and at another, 

 time almost overcome by a propensity to sleep. The height to 



