hat after the third discharge
of the rapid firing battery the range was found, when all was at once
over with the balloon; for, not only was it hit with every discharge,
but it was presently set on fire and annihilated.

But, in any case, the antique mode of keeping a balloon moored at any
spot as a post of observation must be abandoned in modern warfare. Major
Baden-Powell, speaking from personal experience in South Africa, has
shown how dangerous, or else how useless, such a form of reconnaissance
has become. "I remember," he says, "at the battle of Magersfontein my
company was lying down in extended order towards the left of our line.
We were perfectly safe from musketry fire, as we lay, perhaps, two miles
from the Boer trenches, which were being shelled by some of our guns
close by. The enemy's artillery was practically silent. Presently, on
looking round, I descried our balloon away out behind us about two miles
off. Then she steadily rose and made several trips to a good height, but
what could be seen from that distance? When a large number of our troops
were ranged up within 800 yards of the trenches, and many more at all
points behind them, what useful information could be obtained by means
of the balloon four miles off?"

The same eminent authority insists on the necessity of an observing war
balloon making short ascents. The balloon, in his opinion, should be
allowed to ascend rapidly to its full height, and with as little delay
as possible be hauled down again. Under these conditions it may then
be well worth testing whether the primitive form of balloon, the
Montgolfier, might not be the most valuable. Instead of being made, as
the war balloon is now, of fragile material, and filled with costly
gas difficult to procure, and which has to be conveyed in heavy and
cumbersome cylinders, a hot air balloon could be rapidly carried by hand
anywhere where a few men could push their way. It is of strong material,
readily mended if torn, and could be inflated for short ascents, if not
by mere brush wood, then by a portable blast furnace and petroleum.

But there is a further use for balloons in warfare not yet exploited.
The Siege of Paris showed the utility of free balloons, and occasions
arise when their use might be still further extended. The writer pointed
out that it might have been very possible for an aeronaut of experience,
by choosing the right weather and the right position along the British
lines, to hav