at of many birds.

In April, 1843--but on what exact date I do not know, an experimental
voyage was made from the Hill of Dumbuck, near Glasgow, by Professor
Geolls. He successfully negotiated the descent of the inclined plane,
and rapidly rose in the air, until he reached an altitude of nearly 3
miles. Feeling giddy, he determined to descend to a mile and a half
above the earth. "This I easily effected by depressing the tail of the
machine, which, up to this moment, I had kept at an angle with the
horizon of 9.75 degrees, to that of 45. My course I had not varied since
leaving the hill; it was, per compass, south-west, and by west,
half-west, passing over Ayrshire, and in a direct line from Dumbuck to
Ailsa Craig, whither, indeed, I was tending, with the view of landing,
the latter being admirably suited for launching the machine in a similar
way to that adopted at Dumbuck, on my return home again.

"Daylight had now broken, and the scene was most gorgeous. I passed many
ships; and, in particular, one steamer, but whose paltry speed, in
comparison with mine, was nothing. Alas! however, this was not destined
to last; for, just as I had shot ahead of the steamer, something went
wrong with the machinery, and the fanners stopped. This did not at all
alarm me; for, as described by Mr. Henson, these fanners are only
necessary for propulsion, and not at all requisite for maintaining the
machine in the air. Unfortunately, however, I perfectly forgot, in the
hurry of the moment, to remove the weights from the safety valve, and the
effects from this were disastrous in the extreme. The great accumulation
of steam that took place was too much for the pipes; and, consequently,
bang went three of them, at the same instant. The machine, at this exact
moment, feeling its equilibrium altered, surged considerably, and the
remaining pipes necessarily followed the example of the others:
fizz--bizz--whizz, away they went, one after the other, like pop guns.
Unfortunately, one of these pipes, in flying off, struck a bamboo
stretcher, and shattered it so, that the machine, losing bearance on one
side, toppled over and became perfectly unmanageable; she, in fact,
whirled over and over in a way that may be imagined, but which it is
altogether impossible to describe.

"I, of course, was now descending with fearful rapidity, and nothing was
left me to contemplate but death and destruction. I can only compare my
sensations at this mo