ent on the occasion. It was on the 21st of October, 1783, at
one o'clock p.m., that Roziers and Irelands took their leave of the
earth for the first time. The following is Arlandes' narrative of the
expedition, given in the form of a letter, addressed by the marquis to
Faujas de Saint Fond:--"You wish, my dear Faujas, and I consent most
willingly to your desires, that, owing to the number of questions
continually addressed to me, and for other reasons, I should gratify
public curiosity and fix public opinion upon the subject of our aerial
voyage.

"I wish to describe as well as I can the first journey which men have
attempted through an element which, prior to the discovery of MM.
Montgolfier, seemed so little fitted to support them.

"We went up on the 21st of October, 1783, at near two o'clock, M.
Roziers on the west side of the balloon, I on the east. The wind was
nearly north-west. The machine, say the public, rose with majesty; but
really the position of the balloon altered so that M. Roziers was in the
advance of our position, I in the rear.

"I was surprised at the silence and the absence of movement which
our departure caused among the spectators, and believed them to be
astonished and perhaps awed at the strange spectacle; they might well
have reassured themselves I was still gazing, when M. Roziers cried to
me--

"'You are doing nothing, and the balloon is scarcely rising a fathom.'

"'Pardon me,' I answered, as I placed a bundle of straw upon the fire
and slightly stirred it. Then I turned quickly, but already we had
passed out of sight of La Muette. Astonished, I cast a glance towards
the river. I perceived the confluence of the Oise. And naming the
principal bends of the river by the places nearest them, I cried,
'Passy, St. Germain, St. Denis, Sevres!'

"'If you look at the river in that fashion you will be likely to bathe
in it soon,' cried Roziers. 'Some fire, my dear friend, some fire!'

"We travelled on; but instead of crossing the river, as our direction
seemed to indicate, we bore towards the Invalides, then returned upon
the principal bed of the river, and travelled to above the barrier of La
Conference, thus dodging about the river, but not crossing it.

"'That river is very difficult to cross,' I remarked to my companion.

"'So it seems,' he answered; 'but you are doing nothing I suppose it is
because you are braver than I, and don't fear a tumble.'

"I stirred the fire, I seized a trus