cracks from the top, and observing some holes burning in its sides, the
Marquis became so alarmed that he compelled his companion to desist, and
with wet sponges stopped the conflagration, which had actually begun.

When the fire diminished, however, the balloon began to descend much
quicker than was safe or agreeable, and the marquis himself began to
throw fresh straw on the fire to enable them to clear the roofs of
Paris. This they did very dexterously, considering that they were so
unaccustomed to such navigation, throwing on just as much fuel as was
sufficient for the purpose, and keeping clear of steeples and chimneys
until they alighted in safety beyond the Boulevards. Their voyage
lasted about half-an-hour, and they described a track of six miles
around Paris, having ascended to a height of 3000 feet.

Thus was the first balloon voyage successfully accomplished by the
French; and the Montgolfiers, besides enjoying the triumph which their
persevering efforts deserved, were awarded the annual prize--six hundred
livres--of the Academy of Sciences. The elder brother was invited to
Court, decorated with the badge of Saint Michael, and received a patent
of nobility; while the younger received a pension and a sum of forty
thousand livres wherewith to prosecute his experiments with balloons.

The great success of the Montgolfier balloons naturally threw the
efforts of Monsieur Charles and the brothers Robert into the shade.
Nevertheless those gentlemen had got hold of a better principle than
their rivals; and, knowing this, they resolved to convince the sceptical
by constructing another balloon. They wisely began by obtaining
subscriptions to enable them to carry out their designs, and finally
succeeded in making a globe formed of tiffany, covered with elastic
varnish, which was twenty-eight feet in diameter. This they filled with
hydrogen gas. Some idea of their difficulties and expenses may be
gathered from the fact that the mere filling of the balloon required an
apparatus which cost about 400 pounds sterling, one-half of which was
expended on the production of the gas alone.

The ascent of this balloon deserves to be regarded with special
interest, because, besides being the first _hydrogen_ balloon which
carried up human beings, it was the first in which scientific
observations were made and recorded. Monsieur Charles was a lecturer on
natural philosophy, and, like our own great aeronaut, Mr Glaisher, doe