AEROSTATION 



returned, and rested on. one side of the 

 boat. Mr. Blanchard, perceiving the sea 

 before him, descended near Rumsey, 

 about 75 miles from London, having- tra- 

 velled at the rate of nearly 20 miles an 

 hour. 



On the 12th of October, Mr. Sadler, of 

 Oxford, made a voyage of 14 miles from 

 that place in 17 minutes, with an inflam- 

 mable air balloon of his own contrivance 

 and construction. The fate ofM. P. de- 

 Rozier, the first aerial navigator, and of 

 his companion, M. Remain, has been much 

 lamented. They ascended at Boulogne, 

 on the 15th of June, with an intention of 

 crossing the channel to England. Their 

 machine consisted of a spherical balloon, 

 37 feet in diameter, filled with inflam- 

 mable air, and under this balloon was sus- 

 pended a small Montgolfier, or fire bal- 

 loon, ten feet in diameter. This Mont- 

 golfier was designed for rarefying the 

 atmospheric air, and thus diminishing the 

 specific gravity of the whole apparatus. 

 For the first twenty minutes they seemed 

 to pursue their proper course ; but the 

 balloon seemed much inflated, and the 

 aeronauts appeared anxious to descend. 

 Soon, however, when they were at the 

 height of about three quarters of a mile, 

 the whole apparatus was in flames, and 

 the unfortunate adventurers fell to the 

 ground and were killed on the spot. 



On the 19th of July, Mr. Crosbie as- 

 cended at Dublin, with a view of crossing 

 the channel to England. To a wicker 

 basket of a circular form, which he had 

 substituted for the boat, he had affixed 

 a number of bladders for the purpose of 

 rendering his gallery buoyant, in case of 

 a disaster at sea. The height to which 

 he ascended at one time was such, that 

 by the intense cold his ink was frozen, 

 and the mercury sunk into the ball of the 

 thermometer. He himself was sick, and 

 he felt a strong impression on the tympa- 

 num of his ears. At his utmost eleva- 

 tion he thought himself stationary ; but 

 on discharging some gas, he descended to 

 a very rough current of air blowing to the 

 north. He then entered a dense cloud, 

 and experienced strong blasts of winds, 

 with thunder and lightning, which 

 brought him with rapidity towards the 

 surface of the water. The water soon 

 entered his car : the force of the wind 

 plunged him into the ocean, and it was 

 with difficulty that he put on his cork 

 jacket. The bladders which he had pre- 

 pared were now found of great use. The 

 water, added to his own weight, served 

 as ballast ; and the balloon, maintaining; its 



poise, answered the purpose of a sail, by 

 means of which, and a snatch-block to 

 his car, he moved before the wind as re- 

 gularly as a sailing-boat. He was at. 

 length overtaken by some vessels that 

 were crowding sail after him, and con- 

 veyed to Dunleary with the balloon. On 

 the 22d of July, Major Money, who as- 

 cended at Norwich, was driven out to 

 sea, and after being blown about for about 

 two hours, he dropped into the water. Af- 

 ter much exertion for preserving his life, 

 and when he was almost despairing 1 of re- 

 lief, he was taken up by a revenue cutter, 

 in a state of extreme weakness ; having 

 been struggling to keep himself above 

 water for about seven hours. 



The longest voyage, that had been hi- 

 therto made, was performed by Mr. 

 Blanchard, towards the end of A'ugust. 

 He ascended at Lisle, accompanied by 

 the Chevalier de L'Epinard, and traversed 

 a distance of 300 miles before he descend, 

 ed. On this, as well as on other occa- 

 sions, Mr. Blanchard made trial of a pa- 

 rachute, in the form of a large umbrella, 

 which he contrived for breaking his fall, 

 in case of any accident. With this ma- 

 chine he let down a dog, which came to 

 the ground gently, and unhurt. On the 

 8th of September, Mr. Baldwin ascended 

 from the city of Chester, and performed 

 an aerial voyage of 25 miles in two hours 

 and a quarter. His greatest elevation was 

 about a mile and a half, and he supposes 

 that the velocity of his motion was some- 

 times at the rate of 20 miles an hour. He 

 has published a circumstantial account of 

 his voyage, described the appearances of 

 the clouds as he passed through them, 

 and annexed a variety of observations re- 

 lating to aerostation. 



It would be tedious to recount the 

 aerial expeditions that were performed in 

 various parts of our own country, as well 

 as on the continent, in the whole course 

 of the year 1785 : more especially as they 

 have afforded us no experiment or disco- 

 very of any peculiar importance. The 

 most persevering aerial navigator has 

 been Mr. Blanchard In August, 1788, 

 he ascended at Brunswick for the thirty- 

 second time. Within two years;from the 

 first discovery of this art of navigating the 

 atmosphere, more than forty different 

 persons performed the experiment with- 

 out any material injury ; and it may be 

 justly questioned, says Mr. Cavallo, whe- 

 ther the first forty persons who trusted 

 themselves to the sea in boats escaped so 

 safely. The catastrophe that befel Rozier, 

 and the unpleasant circumstances that 



