Latest / Audiobooks & Scary Stories / The Balloon-Hoax by Edgar Allan Poe

Transcript

The Balloon-Hoax by Edgar Allan Poe · Audiobooks & Scary Stories

0:00
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy this reading, which comes from a
0:02
Speaker 1: work in the public domain. The balloon hoax Edgar Allan
0:07
Speaker 1: Poe astounding news by Express via Norfolk, The Atlantic crossed
0:14
Speaker 1: in three days, signal triumph of mister Monk Mason's flying
0:18
Speaker 1: machine arrival at Sullivan's Island near Charlestown, s ce of
0:23
Speaker 1: mister Mason, mister Robert Holland, mister Henson, mister Harrison Ainsworth,
0:27
Speaker 1: and four others in the steering balloon Victoria, after a
0:31
Speaker 1: passage of seventy five hours from land to land. Full
0:35
Speaker 1: particulars of the voyage the subjoint should desprey with the
0:39
Speaker 1: preceding heading in magnificent capitals, while interspersed with notes of admiration,
0:44
Speaker 1: was originally published as matter of fact in the New
0:47
Speaker 1: York Sun, a daily newspaper, and therein fully subserved the
0:52
Speaker 1: purpose of creating indigestible element for the quidnunks during the
0:55
Speaker 1: few hours intervening between a couple of the Charleston mails.
0:59
Speaker 1: The blush for the sole paper which had the news
1:02
Speaker 1: was something beyond even the prodigious and in fact, if
1:06
Speaker 1: as some assert that Victoria did not absolutely accomplish the
1:10
Speaker 1: voyage recorded, it will be difficult to assign a reason
1:13
Speaker 1: why she should not have accomplished it. The great problem
1:16
Speaker 1: is at length solved. The air, as well as the
1:20
Speaker 1: earth in the ocean has been subdued by science and
1:23
Speaker 1: will become a common and convenient highway for mankind. The
1:27
Speaker 1: Atlantic has been actually crossed in a balloon, and this
1:31
Speaker 1: too without difficulty, without any great apparent danger, with thorough
1:35
Speaker 1: control of the machine, and in the inconceivably brief period
1:38
Speaker 1: of seventy five hours from shore to shore, by the
1:42
Speaker 1: energy of an agent at Charleston, South Carolina. We are
1:46
Speaker 1: enabled to be the first to furnish the public with
1:48
Speaker 1: a detailed account of this most extraordinary voyage, which was
1:52
Speaker 1: performed between Saturday, the sixth Instant at eleven a m.
1:56
Speaker 1: And two p m. On Tuesday the ninth Instant by
2:00
Speaker 1: Sir Everard Bringhurst, mister Osborne, a nephew of Lord Bentinx,
2:05
Speaker 1: mister Monk Mason, and mister Robert Holland, the well known aeronauts,
2:08
Speaker 1: mister Harrison Ainsworth, author of Jack Sheppard and c. And
2:13
Speaker 1: mister Henson, the projector of the late unsuccessful flying machine
2:17
Speaker 1: with two seamen from Woolwich in all eight persons. The
2:21
Speaker 1: particulars furnished below may be relied on as authentic and
2:24
Speaker 1: accurate in every respect, as with a slight exception. They
2:28
Speaker 1: are copied verbatim from the joint diaries of mister Monk
2:31
Speaker 1: Mason and mister Harrison Ainsworth, to whose politeness our agent
2:34
Speaker 1: is also indebted for much verbal information respecting the balloon itself,
2:38
Speaker 1: its construction, and other matters of interest. The only alteration
2:44
Speaker 1: in the m s received has been made for the
2:46
Speaker 1: purpose of throwing the hurried account of our agent, mister Forsyth,
2:50
Speaker 1: into a connected and intelligible form the balloon. Two very
2:55
Speaker 1: decided failures of late, those of mister Henson and Sir
2:58
Speaker 1: George Cayley, had much weakened the public interest in the
3:02
Speaker 1: subject of aerial navigation. Mister Henson's scheme, which at first
3:06
Speaker 1: was considered very feasible even by men of science, was
3:10
Speaker 1: founded upon the principle of an inclined plane started from
3:13
Speaker 1: an eminence by an extrinsic force, applied and continued by
3:16
Speaker 1: the revolution of impinging veins in form and number resembling
3:20
Speaker 1: the veins of a windmill. But in all the experiments
3:24
Speaker 1: made with models at the Adelaide Gallery, it was found
3:26
Speaker 1: that the operation of these fans not only did not
3:29
Speaker 1: propel the machine, but actually impeded its flight. The only
3:33
Speaker 1: propelling force it ever exhibited was the mere impetus acquired
3:36
Speaker 1: from the descent of the inclined plane, and this impetus
3:39
Speaker 1: carried the machine farther when the veins were at rest
3:42
Speaker 1: than when they were in motion, a fact which sufficiently
3:44
Speaker 1: demonstrates their inutility. And in the absence of the propelling
3:48
Speaker 1: which was also the sustaining power, the whole fabric would
3:52
Speaker 1: necessarily descend. This consideration led Sir George Cayley to think
3:57
Speaker 1: only of adapting a propeller to some machine having of
4:00
Speaker 1: itself an independent power of support, in a word, to
4:03
Speaker 1: a balloon. The idea, however, being novel or original with
4:07
Speaker 1: Sir George only so far as regards the mode of
4:10
Speaker 1: its application. To practice. He exhibited a model of his
4:14
Speaker 1: invention at the Polytechnic Institution. The propelling principle or power
4:19
Speaker 1: was here also applied to interrupted surfaces or veins put
4:24
Speaker 1: in revolution. These veins were four in number, but were
4:28
Speaker 1: found entirely ineffectual in moving the balloon or in aiding
4:31
Speaker 1: its ascending power. The whole project was thus a complete failure.
4:36
Speaker 1: It was at this juncture that mister Monk Mason, whose
4:39
Speaker 1: voyage from Dover to Weilberg in the balloon Nassaw occasioned
4:43
Speaker 1: so much excitement in eighteen thirty seven, concede the idea
4:47
Speaker 1: of employing the principle of the Archimedean screw for the
4:50
Speaker 1: purpose of propulsion through the air, rightly attributing the failure
4:53
Speaker 1: of mister Henson's scheme and of Sir George Cayley's to
4:57
Speaker 1: the interruption of surface in the independent veins. He made
5:01
Speaker 1: the first public experiment at Willis's Rooms, but afterward removed
5:04
Speaker 1: his model to the Adelaide Gallery. Like Sir George Cayley's balloon,
5:09
Speaker 1: his own was an ellipsoid. Its length was thirteen feet
5:13
Speaker 1: six inches height six feet eight inches. It contained about
5:18
Speaker 1: three hundred twenty cubic feet of gas, which, if pure hydrogen,
5:22
Speaker 1: would support twenty one pounds upon its first inflation before
5:26
Speaker 1: the gas has time to deteriorate or escape the weight
5:29
Speaker 1: of the whole machine and apparatus was seventeen pounds, leaving
5:33
Speaker 1: about four pounds to spare beneath the center of the
5:36
Speaker 1: balloon was a frame of light wood about nine feet
5:40
Speaker 1: long and rigged on to the balloon itself with a
5:42
Speaker 1: network in the customary manner. From this framework was suspended
5:46
Speaker 1: a wicker basket or car. The screw consists of an
5:50
Speaker 1: axis of hollow brass tube eighteen inches in length, through
5:54
Speaker 1: which upon a semi spiral inclined at fifteen degrees pass
5:57
Speaker 1: a series of steel wire radii two feet long and
6:01
Speaker 1: thus projecting a foot on either side. These radii are
6:05
Speaker 1: connected at the outer extremities by two bands of flattened wire,
6:08
Speaker 1: the hole in this manner forming the framework of the screw,
6:11
Speaker 1: which is completed by a covering of oiled silk cut
6:14
Speaker 1: into gores and tightened so as to present a tolerably
6:17
Speaker 1: uniform surface at each end of its axis. This screw
6:21
Speaker 1: is supported by pillars of hollow brass tube descending from
6:24
Speaker 1: the hoop. In the lower ends of these tubes are
6:27
Speaker 1: holes in which the pivots of the axis revolve from
6:30
Speaker 1: the end of the axis, which is next the car
6:33
Speaker 1: precedes a shaft of steel connecting the screw with the
6:36
Speaker 1: pinion of a piece of spring machinery fixed in the
6:38
Speaker 1: car by the operation of this spring, the screw is
6:42
Speaker 1: made to revolve with great rapidity, communicating a progressive motion
6:46
Speaker 1: to the whole. By means of the rudder, the machine
6:49
Speaker 1: was readily turned in any direction. The spring was of
6:53
Speaker 1: great power compared with its dimensions, being capable of raising
6:57
Speaker 1: forty five pounds upon a barrel of four inches diameter
7:00
Speaker 1: after the first turn, and gradually increasing as it was
7:03
Speaker 1: wound up. It weighed altogether eight pounds six ounces. The
7:09
Speaker 1: rudder was a light frame of cane covered with silk,
7:12
Speaker 1: shaped somewhat like a battle door, and was about three
7:14
Speaker 1: feet long and at the widest one foot Its weight
7:19
Speaker 1: was about two ounces. It could be turned flat and
7:22
Speaker 1: directed upwards or downwards, as well as to the right
7:25
Speaker 1: or left, and thus enabled the aeronaut to transfer the
7:28
Speaker 1: resistance of the air which in an inclined position it
7:31
Speaker 1: must generate in its passage, to any side upon which
7:34
Speaker 1: he might desire to act, thus determining the balloon in
7:37
Speaker 1: the opposite direction. This model, which through want of time
7:41
Speaker 1: we have necessarily described in an imperfect manner, was put
7:45
Speaker 1: in action at the Adelaide Gallery, where it accomplished a
7:48
Speaker 1: velocity of five miles per hour. Although strange to say,
7:52
Speaker 1: it excited very little interest in comparison with the previous
7:55
Speaker 1: complex machine of mister Henson. So resolute is the world
7:59
Speaker 1: to despise any anything which carries with it an air
8:01
Speaker 1: of simplicity. To accomplish the great desideratum of aerial navigation,
8:06
Speaker 1: it was very generally supposed that some exceedingly complicated application
8:10
Speaker 1: must be made of some unusually profound principle in dynamics.
8:14
Speaker 1: So well satisfied, however, was mister Mason of the ultimate
8:18
Speaker 1: success of his invention that he determined to construct, immediately,
8:22
Speaker 1: if possible, a balloon of sufficient capacity to test the
8:25
Speaker 1: question by a voyage of some extent, the original design
8:28
Speaker 1: being to cross the British Channel, as before in the
8:31
Speaker 1: Nassau balloon. To carry out his views, he solicited and
8:35
Speaker 1: obtained the patronage of Sir Everard Bringhurst and mister Osborne,
8:39
Speaker 1: two gentlemen well known for scientific acquirement, and especially for
8:43
Speaker 1: the interest they have exhibited in the progress of air station.
8:47
Speaker 1: The project, at the desire of mister Osborne, was kept
8:50
Speaker 1: a profound secret from the public, the only persons entrusted
8:53
Speaker 1: with the design being those actually engaged in the construction
8:56
Speaker 1: of the machine. Which was built under the superintendence of
8:59
Speaker 1: mister Mason, mister Holland, Sir Everard Bringhurst and mister Osborne
9:05
Speaker 1: at the seat of the latter gentleman near Penstruthel in Wales.
9:09
Speaker 1: Mister Henson, accompanied by his friend mister Ainsworth, was admitted
9:13
Speaker 1: to a private view of the balloon on Saturday last
9:17
Speaker 1: when the two gentlemen made final arrangements to be included
9:19
Speaker 1: in the adventure. We are not informed for what reason
9:23
Speaker 1: the two seamen were also included in the party, but
9:26
Speaker 1: in the course of a day or two we shall
9:28
Speaker 1: put our readers in possession of the minutest particulars respecting
9:31
Speaker 1: this extraordinary voyage. The balloon is composed of silk varnished
9:36
Speaker 1: with the liquid gum kouchuk. It is of vast dimensions,
9:40
Speaker 1: containing more than forty thousand cubic feet of gas. But
9:43
Speaker 1: as coal gas was employed in place of the more
9:45
Speaker 1: expensive and inconvenient hydrogen, the supporting power of the machine,
9:49
Speaker 1: when fully inflated and immediately after inflation, is not more
9:53
Speaker 1: than about two thousand, five hundred pounds. The coal gas
9:57
Speaker 1: is not only much less costly, but is easily procured
10:00
Speaker 1: and managed for its introduction into common use for purposes
10:04
Speaker 1: of aerostation. We are indebted to mister Charles Green up
10:09
Speaker 1: to his discovery the process of inflation was not only
10:12
Speaker 1: exceedingly expensive but uncertain. Two and even three days have
10:18
Speaker 1: frequently been wasted in futile attempts to procure a sufficiency
10:21
Speaker 1: of hydrogen to fill a balloon from which it had
10:23
Speaker 1: great tendency to escape, owing to its extreme subtlety and
10:27
Speaker 1: its affinity for the surrounding atmosphere. In a balloon sufficiently
10:31
Speaker 1: perfect to retain its contents of coal gas unaltered in
10:34
Speaker 1: quantity or amount for six months, an equal quantity of
10:38
Speaker 1: hydrogen could not be maintained in equal purity for six weeks.
10:42
Speaker 1: The supporting power being estimated at two thousand, five hundred pounds,
10:46
Speaker 1: and the united weights of the party amounting only to
10:49
Speaker 1: about twelve hundred, there was left a surplus of thirteen hundred,
10:52
Speaker 1: of which again twelve hundred was exhausted by ballast arranged
10:56
Speaker 1: in bags of different sizes with their respective weights marked
10:59
Speaker 1: upon them by cordage, barometers, telescopes, barrels containing provision for
11:05
Speaker 1: a fortnight, water casks, cloaks, carpet bags, and various other
11:09
Speaker 1: indispensable matters, including a coffee warmer contrived for warming coffee
11:14
Speaker 1: by means of slack lime, so as to dispense altogether
11:17
Speaker 1: with fire, if it should be judged prudent to do so.
11:21
Speaker 1: All these articles, with the exception of the ballast and
11:24
Speaker 1: a few trifles, were suspended from the hoop overhead. The
11:28
Speaker 1: car is much smaller and lighter in proportion than the
11:31
Speaker 1: one appended to the model. It is formed of a
11:34
Speaker 1: light wicker, and is wonderfully strong, for so frail looking
11:38
Speaker 1: a machine. Its rim is about four feet deep. The
11:42
Speaker 1: rudder is also very much larger in proportion than that
11:46
Speaker 1: of the model, and the screw is considerably smaller. The
11:50
Speaker 1: balloon is furnished besides with a grapnel and a guide rope,
11:53
Speaker 1: which latter is of the most indispensable importance. A few
11:57
Speaker 1: words in explanation will hear be necessary for such of
12:01
Speaker 1: our readers as are not conversant with the details of aerostation.
12:05
Speaker 1: As soon as the balloon quits the earth, it is
12:07
Speaker 1: subjected to the influence of many circumstances tending to create
12:11
Speaker 1: a difference in its weight, augmenting or diminishing its ascending power.
12:16
Speaker 1: For example, there may be a deposition of dew upon
12:18
Speaker 1: the silk to the extent even of several hundred pounds.
12:22
Speaker 1: Ballast has then to be thrown out, or the machine
12:25
Speaker 1: may descend, this ballast being discarded, and a clear sunshine
12:30
Speaker 1: evaporating the dew and at the same time expanding the
12:33
Speaker 1: gas in the silk, the whole will again rapidly ascend
12:37
Speaker 1: to check this ascent. The only recourse is, or rather was,
12:41
Speaker 1: until mister Greene's invention of the guide rope, the permission
12:44
Speaker 1: of the escape of gas from the valve. But in
12:46
Speaker 1: the loss of gas is a proportionate general loss of
12:49
Speaker 1: ascending power, so that in a comparatively brief period the
12:54
Speaker 1: best constructed balloon must necessarily exhaust all its resources and
12:58
Speaker 1: come to the earth. This was the great obstacle to
13:02
Speaker 1: voyages of length. The guide rope remedies the difficulty in
13:06
Speaker 1: the simplest manner conceivable. It is merely a very long
13:10
Speaker 1: rope which is suffered to trail from the car, and
13:12
Speaker 1: the effect of which is to prevent the balloon from
13:15
Speaker 1: changing its level in any material degree. If, for example,
13:19
Speaker 1: there should be a deposition of moisture upon the silk,
13:22
Speaker 1: and the machine begins to descend. In consequence, there will
13:25
Speaker 1: be no necessity for discharging ballast to remedy the increase
13:28
Speaker 1: of weight, for it is remedied or counteracted in an
13:31
Speaker 1: exactly just proportion by the deposit on the ground of
13:35
Speaker 1: just so much of the end of the rope, as
13:37
Speaker 1: is necessary. If, on the other hand, any circumstances should
13:42
Speaker 1: cause undue levity and consequent ascent, this levity is immediately
13:46
Speaker 1: counteracted by the additional weight of rope upraised from the earth.
13:50
Speaker 1: Thus the balloon can neither ascend or descend except within
13:54
Speaker 1: very narrow limits, and its resources, either in gas or ballast,
13:58
Speaker 1: remain comparatively unimpaired. When passing over an expanse of water,
14:03
Speaker 1: it becomes necessary to employ small kegs of copper or
14:06
Speaker 1: wood filled with liquid ballast of a lighter nature than water.
14:10
Speaker 1: These float and serve all the purposes of a mere rope.
14:13
Speaker 1: On land, another most important office of the guide rope
14:18
Speaker 1: is to point out the direction of the balloon. The
14:21
Speaker 1: rope drags either on land or sea while the balloon
14:24
Speaker 1: is free. The latter consequently is always in advance when
14:28
Speaker 1: any progress whatever is made. A comparison therefore by means
14:32
Speaker 1: of the compass of the relative positions of the two
14:35
Speaker 1: objects will always indicate the course. In the same way,
14:40
Speaker 1: the angle formed by the rope with the vertical axis
14:42
Speaker 1: of the machine indicates the velocity. When there is no angle,
14:47
Speaker 1: In other words, when the rope hangs perpendicularly, the whole
14:50
Speaker 1: apparatus is stationary. But the larger the angle, that is
14:54
Speaker 1: to say, the farther the balloon precedes the end of
14:56
Speaker 1: the rope, the greater the velocity and the As the
15:01
Speaker 1: original design was to cross the British Channel and alight
15:04
Speaker 1: as near Paris as possible, the voyagers had taken the
15:07
Speaker 1: precaution to prepare themselves with passports directed to all parts
15:11
Speaker 1: of the continent, specifying the nature of the expedition, as
15:14
Speaker 1: in the case of the Nassau Voyage, and entitling the
15:18
Speaker 1: adventures to exemption from the usual formalities of office. Unexpected events, however,
15:23
Speaker 1: rendered these passports superfluous. The inflation was commenced very quietly
15:28
Speaker 1: at daybreak on Saturday morning the sixth Instant in the
15:32
Speaker 1: court yard of wil war House, mister Osborne's seat, about
15:35
Speaker 1: a mile from Penstreuthel in North Wales, and at seven
15:39
Speaker 1: minutes past eleven, every thing being ready for departure, the
15:42
Speaker 1: balloon was set free, rising gently but steadily in a
15:46
Speaker 1: direction nearly south, no use being made for the first
15:50
Speaker 1: half hour of either the screw or the rudder. We
15:54
Speaker 1: proceed now with the Journal as transcribed by mister Forsyth
15:57
Speaker 1: from the joint misses of mister Monkmason and mister Ainsworth.
16:01
Speaker 1: The body of the journal as given is in the
16:04
Speaker 1: handwriting of mister Mason, and a p. S. Is appended
16:09
Speaker 1: each day by mister Ainsworth, who has in preparation and
16:12
Speaker 1: will shortly give the public a more minute and no
16:15
Speaker 1: doubt a thrillingly interesting account of the voyage. The Journal Saturday,
16:21
Speaker 1: April the sixth dot. Every preparation likely to embarrass us
16:26
Speaker 1: having been made over night, we commenced the inflation this
16:29
Speaker 1: morning at daybreak, but owing to a thick fog which
16:32
Speaker 1: encumbered the folds of the silk and rendered it unmanageable,
16:35
Speaker 1: we did not get through before nearly eleven o'clock. Cut loose,
16:40
Speaker 1: then in high spirits, and rose gently but steadily, with
16:43
Speaker 1: a light breeze at north which bore us in the
16:46
Speaker 1: direction of the British Channel. Found the ascending force greater
16:50
Speaker 1: than we had expected, and as we arose higher and
16:52
Speaker 1: so got clear of the cliffs and more in the
16:55
Speaker 1: sun's rays, our ascent became very rapid. I did not wish, however,
17:00
Speaker 1: to lose gas at so early a period of the adventure,
17:03
Speaker 1: and so concluded to ascend for the present. We soon
17:07
Speaker 1: ran out our guide rope, but even when we had
17:09
Speaker 1: raised it clear of the earth, we still went up
17:12
Speaker 1: very rapidly. The balloon was unusually steady and looked beautifully.
17:17
Speaker 1: In about ten minutes after starting, the barometer indicated an
17:21
Speaker 1: altitude of fifteen thousand feet. The weather was remarkably fine,
17:26
Speaker 1: and the view of the subjacent country, a most romantic
17:29
Speaker 1: one when seen from any point, was now especially sublime.
17:33
Speaker 1: The numerous deep gorges presented the appearance of lakes on
17:36
Speaker 1: account of the dense vapors with which they were filled,
17:39
Speaker 1: and the pinnacles and crags to the southeast piled in
17:42
Speaker 1: inextricable confusion, resembling nothing so much as the giant cities
17:46
Speaker 1: of eastern Fable. We were rapidly approaching the mountains in
17:50
Speaker 1: the south, but our elevation was more than sufficient to
17:53
Speaker 1: enable us to pass them in safety. In a few
17:56
Speaker 1: minutes we soared over them in fine style, and mister Ainsworth,
18:00
Speaker 1: with the seamen, was surprised at their apparent want of
18:02
Speaker 1: altitude when viewed from the car, the tendency of great
18:05
Speaker 1: elevation in a balloon being to reduce inequalities of the
18:08
Speaker 1: surface below to nearly a dead level. At half past eleven,
18:13
Speaker 1: still proceeding nearly south, we obtained our first view of
18:16
Speaker 1: the Bristol Channel, and in fifteen minutes afterward the line
18:20
Speaker 1: of breakers on the coast appeared immediately beneath us, and
18:23
Speaker 1: we were fairly out at sea. We now resolved to
18:26
Speaker 1: let off enough gas to bring our guide rope with
18:29
Speaker 1: the buoys affixed, into the water. This was immediately done,
18:33
Speaker 1: and we commenced a gradual descent. In about twenty minutes,
18:37
Speaker 1: our first buoy dipped, and at the touch of the
18:39
Speaker 1: second soon afterwards we remained stationary as to elevation. We
18:44
Speaker 1: were all now anxious to test the efficiency of the
18:47
Speaker 1: rudder and screw, and we put them both into requisition
18:50
Speaker 1: forthwith for the purpose of altering our direction more to
18:53
Speaker 1: the eastward and in a line for Paris, by means
18:57
Speaker 1: of the rudder we instantly affected the necessary change of direction,
19:00
Speaker 1: and our course was brought nearly at right angles to
19:02
Speaker 1: that of the wind. When we set in motion the
19:05
Speaker 1: spring of the screw, and were rejoiced to find it
19:07
Speaker 1: propel us readily as desired. Upon this we gave nine
19:11
Speaker 1: hearty cheers and dropped in a sea of bottle, enclosing
19:14
Speaker 1: a slip of parchment with a brief account of the
19:16
Speaker 1: principle of the invention. Hardly, however, had we done with
19:21
Speaker 1: our rejoicings, when an unforeseen accident occurred which discouraged us
19:25
Speaker 1: in no little degree. The steel rod connecting the spring
19:28
Speaker 1: with the propeller was suddenly jerked out of place at
19:31
Speaker 1: the car end by a swaying of the car through
19:33
Speaker 1: some movement of one of the two seamen we had
19:35
Speaker 1: taken up, and in an instant hung dangling out of
19:38
Speaker 1: reach from the pivot of the axis of the screw.
19:41
Speaker 1: While we were endeavoring to regain it, our attention being
19:44
Speaker 1: completely absorbed, we became involved in a strong current of
19:48
Speaker 1: wind from the east, which bore us with rapidly increasing
19:51
Speaker 1: force towards the Atlantic. We soon found ourselves driving out
19:56
Speaker 1: to see at the rate of nought less certainly than
19:58
Speaker 1: fifty or sixty mon miles an hour, so that we
20:01
Speaker 1: came up with Cape Clear at some forty miles to
20:04
Speaker 1: our north, before we had secured the rod and had
20:07
Speaker 1: time to think what we were about. It was now
20:10
Speaker 1: that mister Ainsworth made an extraordinary, but to my fancy,
20:13
Speaker 1: a by no means unreasonable or chimerical, proposition, in which
20:17
Speaker 1: he was instantly seconded by mister Holland, viz. That we
20:20
Speaker 1: should take advantage of the strong gale which bore us on, and,
20:23
Speaker 1: in place of beating back to Paris, make an attempt
20:26
Speaker 1: to reach the coast of North America. After slight reflection,
20:30
Speaker 1: I gave a willing assent to this bold proposition, which,
20:33
Speaker 1: strange to say, met with objection from the two seamen only.
20:37
Speaker 1: As the stronger party, however, we overruled their fears and
20:41
Speaker 1: kept resolutely upon our course. We steered due west, but
20:45
Speaker 1: as the trailing of the buoys materially impeded our progress,
20:49
Speaker 1: and we had the balloon abundantly at command, either for
20:51
Speaker 1: assent or descent, we first threw out fifty pounds of ballast,
20:55
Speaker 1: and then wound up by means of a windlass, so
20:58
Speaker 1: much of the rope as brought it quite clear of
21:00
Speaker 1: the sea. We perceived the effect of this maneuver immediately
21:04
Speaker 1: in a vastly increased rate of progress, and as the
21:07
Speaker 1: gale freshened, we flew with a velocity nearly inconceivable, the
21:11
Speaker 1: guide rope flying out behind the car like a streamer
21:14
Speaker 1: from a vessel. It is needless to say that a
21:17
Speaker 1: very short time sufficed us to lose sight of the coast.
21:21
Speaker 1: We passed over innumerable vessels of all kinds, a few
21:24
Speaker 1: of which were endeavoring to beat up, but the most
21:27
Speaker 1: of them lying to We occasioned the greatest excitement on board, all,
21:31
Speaker 1: an excitement greatly relished by ourselves, and especially by our
21:35
Speaker 1: two men, who, now under the influence of a dram
21:38
Speaker 1: of Geneva, seemed resolved to give all scruple or fear
21:42
Speaker 1: to the wind. Many of the vessels fired signal guns,
21:46
Speaker 1: and in all we were saluted with loud cheers, which
21:49
Speaker 1: we heard with surprising distinctness, and the waving of caps
21:52
Speaker 1: and handkerchiefs. We kept on in this manner throughout the day,
21:56
Speaker 1: with no material incident, and as the shades of night
21:59
Speaker 1: club around us, we made a rough estimate of the
22:02
Speaker 1: distance traversed, it could not have been less than five
22:06
Speaker 1: hundred miles, and was probably much more. The propeller was
22:10
Speaker 1: kept in constant operation, and no doubt aided our progress materially.
22:15
Speaker 1: As the sun went down, the gale freshened into an
22:18
Speaker 1: absolute hurricane, and the ocean beneath was clearly visible on
22:22
Speaker 1: account of its phosphorescence. The wind was from the east
22:26
Speaker 1: all night and gave us the brightest omen of success.
22:30
Speaker 1: We suffered no little from cold, and the dampness of
22:32
Speaker 1: the atmosphere was most unpleasant, but the ample space in
22:36
Speaker 1: the car enabled us to lie down, and by means
22:38
Speaker 1: of cloaks and a few blankets, we did sufficiently well.
22:42
Speaker 1: P s by mister Ainsworth. The last nine hours have
22:47
Speaker 1: been unquestionably the most exciting of my life. I can
22:51
Speaker 1: conceive nothing more sublimating than the strange, peril and novelty
22:55
Speaker 1: of an adventure such as this. May God grant that
22:58
Speaker 1: we succeed. I ask not success from mere safety to
23:02
Speaker 1: my insignificant person, but for the sake of human knowledge,
23:05
Speaker 1: anne for the vastness of the triumph. And yet the
23:09
Speaker 1: feet is only so evidently feasible that the sole wonder
23:12
Speaker 1: is why men have scrupled to attempt it before One
23:15
Speaker 1: single gale such as now befriends us. Let such a
23:19
Speaker 1: tempest whirl forward a balloon for four or five days.
23:22
Speaker 1: These gales often last longer, and the voyager will be
23:25
Speaker 1: easily borne in that period from coast to coast. In
23:29
Speaker 1: view of such a gale, the broad Atlantic becomes a
23:31
Speaker 1: mere lake. I am more struck just now with the
23:35
Speaker 1: supreme silence which reigns in the sea beneath us, notwithstanding
23:39
Speaker 1: its agitation, than with any other phenomenon presenting itself. The
23:44
Speaker 1: waters give up no voice to the heavens. The immense,
23:47
Speaker 1: flaming ocean writhes and is tortured uncomplainingly. The mountainous surges
23:52
Speaker 1: suggest the idea of innumerable dumb, gigantic fiend struggling in
23:56
Speaker 1: impotent agony in a night such as Is this to
23:59
Speaker 1: me a man lives, lives a whole century of ordinary life.
24:03
Speaker 1: Nor would I forego this rapturous delight for that of
24:06
Speaker 1: a whole century of ordinary existence. Sunday the seventh mister
24:11
Speaker 1: Mason's ms. This morning, the gale by ten had subsided
24:17
Speaker 1: to an eight or nine not breeze for a vessel
24:20
Speaker 1: at sea, and bears us perhaps thirty miles per hour
24:24
Speaker 1: or more. It has veered, however, very considerably to the north,
24:29
Speaker 1: and now at sundown we are holding our course due west,
24:33
Speaker 1: principally by the screw and rudder, which answer their purposes
24:36
Speaker 1: to admiration. I regard the project as thoroughly successful, and
24:41
Speaker 1: the easy navigation of the air in any direction, not
24:44
Speaker 1: exactly in the teeth of a gale, as no longer problematical.
24:48
Speaker 1: We could not have made head against the strong wind
24:50
Speaker 1: of yesterday, but by ascending we might have got out
24:53
Speaker 1: of its influence. If requisite against a pretty stiff breeze.
24:58
Speaker 1: I feel convinced we can make our way with the
25:01
Speaker 1: propeller at noon to day ascended to an elevation of
25:05
Speaker 1: nearly twenty five thousand feet by discharging ballast. Did this
25:10
Speaker 1: to search for a more direct current, but found none
25:12
Speaker 1: so favorable as the one we are now in. We
25:16
Speaker 1: have an abundance of gas to take us across this
25:18
Speaker 1: small pond, even should the voyage last three weeks. I
25:22
Speaker 1: have not the slightest fear for the result. The difficulty
25:26
Speaker 1: has been strangely exaggerated and misapprehended I can choose my current,
25:31
Speaker 1: and should I find all currents against me, I can
25:34
Speaker 1: make very tolerable headway with the propeller. We have had
25:37
Speaker 1: no incidents worth recording. The night promise is fair p
25:42
Speaker 1: s by mister Ainsworth. I have little to record except
25:47
Speaker 1: the fact, to me quite a surprising one, that, at
25:50
Speaker 1: an elevation equal to that of cotopaxy, I experienced neither
25:54
Speaker 1: very intense cold, nor headache, nor difficulty of breathing. Neither
25:58
Speaker 1: I find. Did mister Mason, nor mister Holland, nor Sir Everard.
26:04
Speaker 1: Mister Osborne complained of constriction of the chest, but this
26:08
Speaker 1: soon wore off. We have flown at a great rate
26:11
Speaker 1: during the day, and we must be more than half
26:13
Speaker 1: way across the Atlantic. We have passed over some twenty
26:17
Speaker 1: or thirty vessels of various kinds, and all seem to
26:20
Speaker 1: be delightfully astonished. Crossing the ocean in a balloon is
26:25
Speaker 1: not so difficult to feed after all. Omni ignotum pro
26:29
Speaker 1: magnifico me em. At twenty five thousand feet elevation, the
26:33
Speaker 1: sky appears nearly black and the stars are distinctly visible,
26:37
Speaker 1: while the sea does not seem convex as one might suppose,
26:41
Speaker 1: but absolutely and most unequivocally concave asterisk. One Monday, the
26:45
Speaker 1: eighth mister Mason's MS. This morning, we had again some
26:50
Speaker 1: little trouble with the rod of the propeller, which must
26:52
Speaker 1: be entirely remodeled for fear of serious accident. I mean
26:56
Speaker 1: the steel rod, not the veins. The latter could not
27:00
Speaker 1: be improved. The wind has been blowing steadily and strongly
27:04
Speaker 1: from the northeast all day, and so far fortune seems
27:07
Speaker 1: bent upon favoring us. Just before day we were all
27:11
Speaker 1: somewhat alarmed at some odd noises and concussions in the balloon,
27:14
Speaker 1: accompanied with the apparent rapid subsidence of the whole machine.
27:18
Speaker 1: These phenomena were occasioned by the expansion of the gas
27:22
Speaker 1: through increase of heat in the atmosphere, and a consequent
27:25
Speaker 1: disruption of the minute particles of ice with which the
27:27
Speaker 1: network had become encrusted during the night. Threw down several
27:31
Speaker 1: bottles to the vessels below, saw one of them picked
27:35
Speaker 1: up by a large ship, seemingly one of the New
27:37
Speaker 1: York Line packets. Endeavored to make out her name, but
27:41
Speaker 1: could not be sure of it. Mister Osborne's telescope made
27:45
Speaker 1: it out something like Atlanta. It is now twelve at night,
27:49
Speaker 1: and we are still going nearly west at a rapid pace.
27:54
Speaker 1: The sea is peculiarly phosphorescent p s. By mister Ainsworth.
28:00
Speaker 1: It is now two a m. And nearly calm, as
28:04
Speaker 1: well as I can judge, But it is very difficult
28:06
Speaker 1: to determine this point, since we move with the air
28:09
Speaker 1: so completely. I have not slept since quitting. Weal vore,
28:13
Speaker 1: but can stand it no longer and must take a nap.
28:17
Speaker 1: We cannot be far from the American coast. Tuesday the
28:21
Speaker 1: ninth mister Ainsworth's m s. One p m. We are
28:26
Speaker 1: in full view of the low coast of South Carolina.
28:30
Speaker 1: The great problem is accomplished. We have crossed the Atlantic
28:34
Speaker 1: fairly and easily crossed it in a balloon. God be praised,
28:39
Speaker 1: who shall say that anything is impossible Hereafter the journal
28:44
Speaker 1: here ceases. Some particulars of the descent were communicated, however,
28:49
Speaker 1: by mister Ainsworth to mister Forsyth. It was nearly dead
28:53
Speaker 1: calm when the voyagers first came in view of the coast,
28:56
Speaker 1: which was immediately recognized by both the seamen and by
28:59
Speaker 1: mister Osborne, the latter gentleman, having acquaintances at Fort Moultrie,
29:04
Speaker 1: it was immediately resolved to descend in its vicinity. The
29:08
Speaker 1: balloon was brought over the beach, the tide being out
29:10
Speaker 1: and the sand hard, smooth and admirably adapted for a descent,
29:14
Speaker 1: and the grapnel let go, which took firm hold at once.
29:19
Speaker 1: The inhabitants of the island and of the fort thronged out,
29:22
Speaker 1: of course to see the balloon, But it was with
29:25
Speaker 1: the greatest difficulty that any one could be made to
29:27
Speaker 1: credit the actual voyage the crossing of the Atlantic. The
29:31
Speaker 1: grapnel caught at two p m precisely, and thus the
29:36
Speaker 1: whole voyage was completed in seventy five hours, or rather less,
29:40
Speaker 1: counting from shore to shore. No serious accident occurred, no
29:45
Speaker 1: real danger was at any time apprehended, The balloon was
29:49
Speaker 1: exhausted and secured without trouble. And when the ms from
29:53
Speaker 1: which this narrative is compiled was despatched from Charleston, the
29:57
Speaker 1: party were still at Fort Moultrie. Their farther intentions were
30:01
Speaker 1: not ascertained. But we can safely promise our readers some
30:04
Speaker 1: additional information either on Monday or in the course of
30:07
Speaker 1: the next day at farthest. This is unquestionably the most stupendous,
30:12
Speaker 1: the most interesting, and the most important undertaking ever accomplished
30:16
Speaker 1: or even attempted by man. What magnificent events may ensue,
30:21
Speaker 1: it would be useless now to think of determining asterisk
30:24
Speaker 1: one note dot. Mister Ainsworth has not attempted to account
30:29
Speaker 1: for this phenomenon, which, however, is quite susceptible of explanation.
30:34
Speaker 1: A line dropped from an elevation of twenty five thousand
30:37
Speaker 1: feet perpendicularly to the surface of the Earth or sea
30:41
Speaker 1: would form the perpendicular of a right angle triangle, of
30:44
Speaker 1: which the base would extend from the right angle to
30:46
Speaker 1: the horizon, and the hypogenous from the horizon to the balloon.
30:51
Speaker 1: But the twenty five thousand feet of altitude is little
30:54
Speaker 1: or nothing in comparison with the extent of the prospect.
30:58
Speaker 1: In other words, the base and hypotenus of the supposed
31:02
Speaker 1: triangle would be so long when compared with the perpendicular
31:05
Speaker 1: that the two former may be regarded as nearly parallel.
31:09
Speaker 1: In this manner, the horizon of the aeronaut would appear
31:11
Speaker 1: to be on a level with the car, But as
31:14
Speaker 1: the point immediately beneath him seems and is at a
31:18
Speaker 1: great distance below him, it seems, of course, also at
31:22
Speaker 1: a great distance below the horizon. Hence the impression of concavity,
31:27
Speaker 1: and this impression must remain until the elevation shall bear
31:30
Speaker 1: so great a proportion to the extent of prospect that
31:33
Speaker 1: the apparent parallelism of the base and hypotonus disappears. When
31:37
Speaker 1: the Earth's real convexity must become apparent.