mmense plain was beneath us; the villages appeared to us like
children's toys--rivers seemed like little rivulets--it was magical.
The sun shone splendidly over all. Towards eight o'clock we arrived
near a great lake; there I found out our bearings, and announced that we
were at the end of Holland, near the sea.

"We passed I know not how much time in contemplating the enchanting
scene around us; but at length we all felt the necessity of going
downwards to see where we were. Presently the balloon came so near to
the earth that we could readily distinguish the tall chimneys of a great
many flaming furnaces. `If we were to fall upon some of them,' said
Montgolfier anxiously. These furnaces told us very clearly that we were
in Belgium, and, besides, the Flemish songs that continually reached our
ears left no doubt upon the point. Godard, Nadar, all of us, called out
frequently to the people below, `Where are we?' but we got no other
answer than shouts of laughter. There were two bells in the car, and
Yon and myself rang them as hard as we could, while Nadar roared through
his speaking-trumpet. I had an opportunity of observing that the purity
of the air in no degree attenuates the quantity of false notes lodged in
the throats of certain individuals. Our aerial Charivari at length
provoked a corresponding one on earth, and we could hear dogs barking,
ducks quacking, men swearing, and women screaming. All this had a droll
effect; but time went on, the wind blew hard, it was dark night, and our
balloon drove on with prodigious rapidity, and we were not able to tell
exactly where we were. I could not see my compass, and we were not
allowed to light a lucifer match under any pretext whatsoever. From the
direction in which we had passed over Lille, we judged that we must be
going towards the sea; Louis Godard fancied that he could see
lighthouses. We descended again to within 150 yards of the earth.
Beneath us we saw a flat marshy country of sinister aspect, and
indicating plainly the neighbourhood of the coast. Every one listened
with all his ears, and many fancied they heard the murmurs of the sea.
The further we went on the more desert the country became: there was no
light whatever, and it became more and more difficult to guess where we
were going. `I am entirely out of my reckoning,' exclaimed Louis
Godard, `and my opinion is that the only thing we have to do is to
descend at once.' `What! here in the marshe