ghtened, rose all at once, but with such rapidity and to
such a prodigious elevation, that we had difficulty in hearing each
other, even when shouting at the top of our voices. I was ill, and
vomited severely. Grassetti was bleeding at the nose; we were both
breathing short and hard, and felt oppression on the chest. As we were
thrown upon our backs at the moment when the balloon took such a sudden
start out of the water and bore us with such swiftness to those high
regions, the cold seized us suddenly, and we found ourselves covered all
at once with a coating of ice. I could not account for the reason why
the moon, which was in its last quarter, appeared on a parallel line
with us, and looked red as blood.

"After having traversed these regions for half an hour, at an
immeasurable elevation, the balloon slowly began to descend, and at
last we fell again into the sea, at about four in the morning I cannot
determine at what distance we were from land when we fell the second
time. The night was very dark, the sea rolling heavily, and we were in
no condition to make observations. But it must have been in the middle
of the Adriatic that we fell. Although we descended gently, the gallery
was sunk, and we were often entirely covered with water. The balloon
being now more than half empty, in consequence of the vicissitudes
through, which we had passed, gave a purchase to the wind, which pressed
against it as against a sail, so that by means of it we were dragged
and beaten about at the mercy of the storm and the waves. At daybreak
we looked out and found ourselves opposite Pesaro, four miles from the
shore. We were comforting ourselves with the prospect of a safe landing,
when a wind from the land drove us with violence away over the open sea.
It was now full day, but all we could see were the sea, the sky, and the
death that threatened us. Certainly some boats happened to come within
sight; but no sooner did they see the balloon floating and striping upon
the water than they made all sail to get away from it. No hope was then
left to us but the very small one of making the coasts of Dalmatia,
which were opposite, but at a great distance from us. Without the
slightest doubt we should have been drowned if heaven had not mercifully
directed towards us a navigator who, better informed than those we had
seen before, recognised our machine to be a balloon and quickly sent his
long-boat to our rescue. The sailors threw us a stout cab