d the spectators. One could not resist a feeling of mingled fear
and admiration. Soon the aeronauts were lost to view, but the balloon
itself, displaying its very beautiful shape, mounted to the height of
3,000 feet, and still remained visible. The voyagers, satisfied with
their experience, and not wishing to make a longer course, agreed to
descend, but, perceiving that the wind was driving them upon the houses
of the Rue de Sevres, preserved their self-possession, renewed the hot
air, rose anew and continued their course till they had passed Paris.

"They then descended tranquilly in the country, beyond the new
boulevard, without having experienced the slightest inconvenience,
having still the greater part of their fuel untouched. They could, had
they desired, have cleared a distance three times as great as that which
they traversed. Their flight was nearly 30,000 feet, and the time it
occupied was from twenty to twenty-five minutes. This machine was 70
feet high, 46 feet in diameter, and had a capacity of 60,000 cubic
feet."

It is reported that Franklin, more illustrious in his humility than the
most brilliant among the lords of the court, when consulted respecting
the possible use of balloons, answered simply, "C'est l'enfant qui vient
de naitre?"

Chapter X. The Second Arial Voyage.

(1st December 1783.--Charles and Robert at the Tuileries.)

The first ascent of Roziers and Arlandes was a feat of hardihood almost
unique. The men's courage was, so to speak, their only guarantee. Thanks
to the balloon, however, they accomplished one of the most extraordinary
enterprises ever achieved by our race.

On the day after the experiment of the Champ de Mars (27th of August),
Professor Charles--who had already acquired celebrity at the Louvre, by
his scientific collection and by his rank as an official instructor--and
the Brothers Robert, mechanicians, were engaged in the construction of
a balloon, to be inflated with hydrogen gas, and destined to carry a car
and one or two passengers. For this ascent Charles may be said to have
created all at once the art of aerostation as now practiced, for he
brought it at one bound to such perfection that since his day scarcely
any advance has been made upon his arrangements. His simple yet complete
invention was that of the valve which gives escape to the hydrogen gas,
and thus renders the descent of the balloon gentle and gradual; the car
that carries the travellers; the balla