462 
AEROSTATION. 
the wind at south-west, and in thirty-five minutes had sight of the 
mountains in Wales : he continued in the same direction till three 
o’clock, when, being nearly over the Isle of Man, the wind blowing 
fresh, he found himself rapidly approaching the Welsh coast, and 
at four o’clock had a distinct view of the Skerry light-house, with 
the prospect of consummating his ardent hopes of a speedy arrival in 
Liverpool. The wind now shifting, he was driven off, and lost sight 
of land ; when, after hovering about a long time, he discovered five 
vessels beating down the channel ; and in hopes of their assistance, he 
determined to descend with all possible expedition, and precipitated 
himself into the sea. In this most critical situation he had the morti- 
fication to find that the vessels took no notice of him. Obliged there- 
fore to reascend, he now threw out a quantity of ballast, and quickly 
regained his lofty situation, to look for more friendly aid. It was a 
length of time before he had the satisfaction of discovering any, but 
he now observed a vessel, which gave him to understand, by signals, 
that she intended to assist him. Two others also, at this time, ap- 
peared in sight, and one of jthem, tacking about, hoisted the Manx 
colours. Night coming on, he was determined to avail himself of 
their proffered kindness, and accordingly once more descended to the 
sea. Here the wind, acting upon the balloon as it lay on the water, 
drove the car with so much velocity, that the vessel could not overtake 
it, and notwithstanding he used his utmost efl'orts, and finally tied his 
clothes to the grappling iron, and sunk them, to keep him steady, still 
the balloon was carried away so fast, that he was under the necessity 
of expelling his gas, upon which the car actually sunk, and he had 
now nothing but the netting to cling to. His perilous situation, and 
the fear of getting entangled, deterred the men from coming near him, 
until, in danger of being drowned, Mr. Sadler begged that they would 
run their bowsprit through the balloon, and expel the remaining gas. 
Having done this, and thrown out a line which he wound round his 
arm, he was dragged a considerable way, but fortunately at length 
got on board, nearly exhausted. 
We shall close this narrative of aerial voyages with that of another 
Englishman, Mr. Green, who ascended from the Green Park in ho- 
nour of his majesty’s coronation. The following is Mr. Green’s own 
account of his voyage. 
“ The balloon with which I ascended was thirty-one feet in dia- 
meter, as near the size as possible of the one in which Lunardi first 
made an ascent in England. It was inflated with about one thou- 
sand two hundred cubic feet of carbonated hydrogen gas, supplied 
from the main pipes of the original chartered gas company, and I am 
much indebted to the gentlemen of the committee for their kind assist- 
ance during the operation of filling. I had no doubt of being able to 
ascend with gas, for since the period when I first conceived the idea 
that common gas would answer the purpose of aerostation, I made 
frequent experiments, all of which completely succeeded ; nor was my 
ardour damped when I knew that, even within an hour of my ascen- 
sion, persons of great experience in aerostation expressed their opinion 
that I should not be able to ascend. 
“ About five minutes before one o’clock, the ropes were divided. 
