A I R 
countered ftrong blafts of wind, with thunder and light¬ 
ning, which brought him rapidly towards the furface of 
the water. Here the balloon made a circuit, but, falling- 
lower, the water entered his car, and he loft his notes of 
'observation. All his endeavours to throw out ballaft were 
of no avail; the force of the wind plunged him into the 
ocean ; and with much difficulty lie put on his cork jac¬ 
ket. The propriety of his idea was now very manifeft in 
the conftruction of his boat: as by the admiffion of the 
Water into the lower part of it, and tire fufpenfion of his 
bladders, which were arranged at the top, the water, ad¬ 
ded to his own weight, became proper ballaft; and the 
balloon maintaining its poife, it became a powerful fail, 
by means of which, and a fnatch-block to his car, he went 
before the wind as regularly as a failing veffel. In this 
fituation he found himfelf inclined to eat, and he took a 
little fowl. At the diftance of a league he difcovered fome 
velfels crowding after him ; but, as his progrefs outftrip- 
ed all their endeavours, he lengthened the fpace of the 
allcon from the car, which gave a check to the rapidity 
of his failing, and lie was at length overtaken and faved 
by the Dunleary barge, which took him on-board, and 
fleered to Dunleary, towing the balloon alter them. 
A fimilar accident happened to Major Money, who af¬ 
cended at Norwich, on the aad of July, at twenty minutes 
pad four in the afternoon ; when meeting with an impro¬ 
per current, and not being' able to let himfelf down, on 
account of the fmallnefs of the valve, he was driven out 
to fea, where, after blowing about for near two hours, he 
dropped into the water. Here the ftruggles were aftonifh- 
ing which he made to keep the balloon up, which was 
torn, and hung only like an umbrella over his head. A 
fhip was once within a mile, but, he adds, whether from 
want of humanity, or by miftaking the balloon for a fea- 
monfter, they ftieered off, and left him to his fate: but a 
boat chafed him for two hours, till juft dark, and then 
bore away. He now gave up all hopes, and began to wifli 
that providence had given him the fate of Pilatre de Ro- 
zier, (which fee under Aerostation,) rather than fuch 
a lingering death. Exerting himfelf however to preferve 
life as long as poflible, by keeping the balloon floating 
over his head, to keep himfelf out of the water, into 
which neverthelefs he funk gradually inch by inch, as it 
loft its power, till he was at length breaft-deep in water, 
when he was providentially taken up by a revenue cutter, 
at half part eleven at night, but lb weak that he was ob¬ 
liged to be lifted out of the car into the (hip. 
About the latter end of Atiguft, the longeft aerial voy¬ 
age hitherto made, was performed by Mr. Blanchard, 
who afcended at Lille, accompanied by the Chevalier de 
1 ’Epinard, and travelled 300 miles in their balloon be¬ 
fore it defcended. On this occafion, as on fome former 
ones, Mr. Blanchard made trial of a parachute, like a 
large umbrella, invented to break the fall in cafe of an ac¬ 
cident happening to the balloon : with this machine lie 
dropped a dog from the -car after his afcenfion, which 
defcended gently and unhurt. 
October the 5th, Mr. Lunardi made the fir ft aerial 
voyage in Scotland. He afcended at Edinburgh, and af¬ 
ter various turnings, landed near Cupar, in Fife, having 
defcribed a track of forty miles over the lea, and ten over 
the land, in an hopr and a half. He faid the mercury in 
the barometer funk as low as 18-3 inches at his greateft 
elevation. 
November the 19th, the celebrated Blanchard afcended 
at Ghent to a great height, and after many dangers de¬ 
lcended at Delft without his car, which he cut away to 
lighten the machine when he was defcending too rapidly, 
and Hung himfelf by the cords to the balloon, which ferv- 
ed him then in the nature of a parachute. On his firft 
afcent, when lie was almoft out of fight, he let down a 
dog, by means of a parachute, which came eafily to the 
ground. | 
November the 25th, Mr, Lunardi afcended ,at Glaf- 
gow, and in two hours he defcribed a track of 12,5 miles. 
A I R 219 
It is further remarkable that, being overcome with drow- 
finefs, he fays he flept for about twenty minutes in the 
bottom of the car, during his voyage. 
To obviate the danger of a fall, arifing from any acci¬ 
dent happening to the balloon, fome experiments have 
been made with a parachute, by Mr. Blanchard, whofe 
endeavours and perfeverance have continued longer than 
in any other perfon: we have accounts of two voyages 
performed by him ; which, being very curious, we 
fhall relate in Mr. Blanchard’s own words, taken from 
his letter, dated Leipfick, October the 9th, 1787, to the 
editors of the Paris Journal. “ I did not mention,” fays 
he, “ in your interefting paper, my afcenfion at Straf- 
burg on the 26th of lalt Auguft: the weather was fo hor¬ 
rible that I mounted only for the fake of contenting the 
aftonilhing crowd of ftrangers aflembled there from all 
parts of the country. Every body feemed fatisfied at the 
attempt, but I aifiure you, gentlemen, that 1 was far 
from'being pleafedwith fo common an experiment. The 
only remarkable thing that occurred at that time, was the 
following circumftance : At the height of about 2000 
yards, or a mile and half a quarter, I let down a dog tied 
to the parachute, who, inftead of defcending gently, was 
forcibly carried, by a whirlwind, above the clouds. I 
Jpet him foon after, bending his courfe direftly down¬ 
wards, and, as on recollefling his'mafter he began to 
bark a little, I was going to take hold of the parachute, 
when another whirlwind lifted him again to a great height. 
I loft him for the fpace of fix minutes, and perceived him 
afterwards, with my telefcope, as if fleeping in the cradle 
or balket belonging to the machine. Continually agitated, 
and impetuoufly tolled through every point of thecompafs, 
by the violence of the different currents of air, I deter¬ 
mined to end my voyage on the other fide of the Rhine, 
after having palled vertically over Zell. I defcended at a 
fmall village with an intention to be aflifted a little, and: 
about thirty men foon came within reach of the balloon 
very a-propos, and fixed me to the ground. The wind 
was fo violent that anchors or ropes would have been of 
no fervice. I had however added to the large aeroftatic 
globe a fmaller one, of fixtv pounds afcenfional force, 
which would have contributed to fix me, when once I let 
it loofe; but, notwithftanding this precaution, the men’s 
affiftance was very neceffary to me. The parachute was 
ftill wavering in the air, and did not come down till twelve 
minutes after.” 
“ I performed my twenty-feventh afcenfion at Leipfick, 
the 29th of September, in the midft of an incredible num¬ 
ber of fpeftators, forming one of the mod brilliant affem- 
blies I ever beheld. The Iky was as clear and ferene as 
poflible, and the air fo calm that many of my friends, and 
multitudes of others, could follow m,e on horfeback, and 
even on foot. I was fometimes fo near them that they 
thought they could reach me, but 1 could foon find the 
means of riling; and once, when they had actually taken 
hold of the cords, to fee me float with the firings in their 
hands, I fuddenly cut them, and mounted again in the air. 
All thefe amufing evolutions were in fight of the town and 
its environs. At length I yielded to the earned: folicita- 
tions of the company, and entered the town triumphantly 
in my car, followed by a concourfe of people tranfported 
with joy, and amidft the acclamations of thoufands. The 
next day I emptied the inflammable air into another globe, 
with which I intended to try fome experiments; and I let 
it oft' with a cradle, in which a dog was fixed. The bal¬ 
loon, having reached a confiderable height, made an ex¬ 
plosion in its under part, as I had imagined it would, hav¬ 
ing previoufly difpofed it in a proper manner for that pur¬ 
pose; by which means the little animal fell gently to* the' 
ground.” 
“ Having repeated this experiment, at the town’s re- 
queft, I prepared the globe in fuch a manner as to caufie 
an explofion in its upper part, and added a parachute with 
two fmall dogs-fixed to it. They went fo high, that, not- 
withltapding the ferenity of the iky, the balloon was loft 
in.. 
