EXTRAORDINARY BALLOON ASCENT. 581 
to leave his saddle, and ascend by means of the rope-ladder 
to the platform containing the ballast, in order to throw some 
of it away, so as to rise higher. This done, he descended, 
and again mounted the horse. There was no net-work or 
anything to protect him or the animal. The balloon went in 
the direction of Fontainbleau, and M. Poitevin intended to 
remain in the air about an hour. 
The following details are from the aeronaut’s own account 
of his ascent:—“ I had much difficulty in moderating the too 
great ascensional power, which, in a few minutes, carried me 
to too great a height for the horse. There was a copious flow 
of blood from his mouth. I passed through several counter- 
currents, which produced an almost constant rotatory move¬ 
ment. I found the cold almost insupportable. When clear 
of the clouds, I saw some splendid rainbows, and other phe¬ 
nomena of the solar rays. About seven o’clock I made pre¬ 
parations for descending, and in three-quarters of an hour 
after, my grapples were on the ground, but they did not take 
hold. I proceeded in this way for more than a league, when 
I arrived at the wood of Villemain, near the forest of La 
Lachelle, commune of Grisi, canton of Brie-Comte-Robert, 
(Seine-et-Marne.) During this time my horse was close to 
the fields, and bit off the tops of the corn as he passed over 
it ; and when passing over the high trees he cropped off their 
leaves. At length, I was fortunate enough to put an end to 
this dangerous state of things. Seeing myself near the edge 
of a dry pond, I vigorously laid hold of a branch of a tree 
which grew near it, and for an instant checked the course of 
the balloon, and assistance being at hand, forty men laid hold 
of the ropes and it was safely secured. The balloon was 
emptied, and the only thing to be regretted is some slight 
injury to it, from coming in contact with the trees.” 
M. Poitevin was heartily welcomed by the people; at 
Grisi he was hospitably received; and at 11 o’clock he left 
for Paris.— Illustrated London News. 
The Balloon Ascents at Cremorne. 
On Tuesday, at the Westminster Police Court, Mr. Arnold 
was engaged from between one and two until long after the 
usual hour of retiring in the evening, in investigating the com¬ 
plaints against M. and Madame Poitevin, and Mr. Simpson, 
the proprietor of Cremorne Gardens, exhibited against them 
by Mr. Thomas, the secretary to the Royal Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 
There were in all five summonses, three of which charged 
