A balloon made by Montgolfier was used. It was 75 feet high, 45 feet wide, and spheroidal in form—heated air being the motive2 power. The bold aeronauts, on this occasion, were the naturalist3 Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes, a major of infantry4. From the gardens of the Château of Muetta they ascended5 on the 21st November 1783.
In the car there was a quantity of ballast, and a provision of straw to feed the fire. The balloon mounted at first with a majestic6 steady motion, gazed at in breathless wonder by thousands of spectators, who assembled not only in the neighbourhood of the Château, but clustered on every point of vantage in Paris.
When the daring voyagers reached a considerable height, they took off their hats and waved them to their friends below, and the multitude—realising, perhaps, that that which in former ages had been deemed the dream of visionaries, was at last an accomplished7 fact—responded with enthusiastic acclamations until the balloon passed upwards8 through the clouds and was lost to view.
It would seem that these first aeronauts were of different temperaments9; for, after they had reached a height of nearly 3000 feet, and the earth was no longer distinguishable, the Marquis began to think that he had seen enough of the upper regions, would fain have descended10, and murmured against his companion, who still kept feeding the fire. Apparently12 his alarm was justifiable13, for Rozier continued recklessly to heap on fuel, until he almost set the balloon on fire. On hearing some 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 conflagration14, which had actually begun.
When the fire diminished, however, the balloon began to descend11 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 dexterously15, 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 persevering16 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 prosecute17 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 subscriptions18 to enable them to carry out their designs, and finally succeeded in making a globe formed of tiffany, covered with elastic19 varnish20, 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 mere21 filling of the balloon required an apparatus22 which cost about 400 pounds sterling23, one-half of which was expended24 on the production of the gas alone.
The ascent25 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, does not seem to have been content to produce merely a spectacle, but went up to the realms of ether with an intelligent and scientific eye; for we read of him recording26 the indications of the thermometer and barometer27 at different heights and under various conditions.
There were many accidents and delays in the construction of this balloon; but at last, on the 1st December 1783, it was taken to the Tuileries and there filled with gas. The process was slow, as the gas had to be generated in large quantities by means of diluted28 sulphuric acid and iron filings put into wooden casks disposed round a large cistern29, from which it was conveyed through water in long leaden pipes. To keep the impatient populace quiet, therefore, during the tedious operation, Montgolfier sent up one of his fire-balloons.
At last, when it was sufficiently30 filled, Messieurs Charles and Robert stepped into the car, which was ballasted with sandbags, and the ropes were let go. It went up with slow and solemn motion, at the rate of about five miles an hour. “The car,” writes a reporter of the day in language more inflated31 than the balloon itself, “ascending amidst profound silence and admiration32, allowed, in its soft and measured ascent, the bystanders to follow with their eyes and hearts two interesting men, who, like demigods, soared to the abode33 of the immortals34, to receive the reward of intellectual progress, and carry the imperishable name of Montgolfier. After the globe had reached the height of 2000 feet, it was no longer possible to distinguish the aerial navigators; but the coloured pennants35 which they waved in the air testified their safety and their tranquil36 feelings. All fears were now dissipated; enthusiasm succeeded to astonishment37; and every demonstration38 was given of joy and applause.”
The period of flight was an hour and three-quarters, which, for those early days of the art, was a pretty long voyage. By throwing over ballast the voyagers ascended, and by letting off gas they descended at pleasure; and they observed that during an hour, while they were exposed to the sun’s rays, the gas was heated up to the temperature of fifty-five degrees of Fahrenheit39’s scale, which had the effect of sensibly increasing the buoyancy of the balloon. They descended safely on the meadow of Nesle, about twenty-five miles from Paris.
But, not content with what he had accomplished, Monsieur Charles made a sudden resolve to have another flight alone. The shades of night were falling, and the sun had already set, when the enthusiastic aeronaut re-entered the car, and, casting off the grapnels, began his solitary40 night voyage. He was well rewarded. The balloon shot up with such celerity as to reach the height of about two miles in ten minutes, and the sun rose again to him in full orb41! From his lofty station he watched it until it set again below the distant horizon. Probably Monsieur Charles was the first man in the world on whom the sun thus rose and set twice in the same day!
In such regions, at that romantic period of night, the aeronaut, as might have been expected, saw strange unearthly sights. Rising vapours concealed42 the lower world from view, and the moon shed her pale rays on accumulated masses of clouds, casting various hues43 over their fantastic and changing forms. No wonder that one thus surrounded by objects of awful grandeur44 and sublimity45, left, as it were, more completely alone with God than any of his fellow-mortals, found it impossible to refrain from giving vent1 to his emotion in tears.
Monsieur Charles did not remain long at this elevation46. As the cold was excessive, and night advancing, he deemed it prudent47 to descend; opened the safety-valve, out of which the gas rushed like a misty48 vapour with a whistling noise, and, after the lapse49 of a little more than half an hour, alighted in safety near the wood of Tour du Lay, having travelled about nine miles.
After this, balloon ascents50 became frequent. We cannot here give a particular account of each, even if it were desirable to do so, but, before passing to the consideration of the more recent voyages, we shall run over a few facts and incidents that occurred during the early period of aerial navigation.
The first lady who went up in a balloon was a Madame Thiblé. She ascended from Lyons on 28th June 1784 with a Monsieur Fleurant in a fire-balloon. This lady of Lyons mounted to the extraordinary elevation of 13,500 feet—at least so it was estimated. The flagstaff, a pole of fourteen pounds weight, was thrown out and took seven minutes to reach the ground. The thermometer dropped to minus 43 degrees Fahrenheit, and the voyagers felt a ringing sensation in their ears.
The first long voyage accomplished was about the same period, by a balloon constructed by Monsieur Robert, which was filled with hydrogen. It was 56 feet in height, and 36 in diameter. The Duke de Chartres ascended in it along with Robert and two others to a considerable height, and in five hours performed a voyage of 135 miles. This machine was furnished with a helm and four oars51, for men still laboured under the erroneous belief that it was possible to direct the course of a balloon.
One of the most interesting balloon voyages of the last century was that of Monsieur Testu. He ascended from Paris on the 18th June 1786 in a balloon of glazed52 tiffany, 29 feet in diameter, which was constructed by himself. It was filled with hydrogen, and had wings as well as oars! When the aeronaut deemed it advisable to descend, he attempted to do so by using the wings. These had little or no power, but the gradual waste of gas lowered him until he alighted safely in a corn field in the plain of Montmorency. Here he began to collect stones without quitting the car; but while thus engaged, was seized by the proprietor53 of the field with a troop of peasants, who demanded indemnification for the damage alleged54 to have been done by him. Poor Testu assured them that his wings being broken, he was at their mercy, whereupon the stupid and ill-natured boors55 seized the stay of the balloon, which floated some height above the ground, and dragged him in triumph towards their village. Their triumph, however, was short-lived. Finding that the loss of his wings and some other articles had lightened him considerably56, he quietly cut the cord and bade the clowns an abrupt57 farewell!
Testu then rose to the clouds, where he experienced the violence and witnessed the grandeur of a thunderstorm, the terrible nature of which was greatly increased when night closed in, while lightning flashed on all sides, thunder reverberated58 in the sky, and sleet59 fell copiously60 around him. On this voyage he saw some hunters in a field, and descended to observe them! He remained out all night, saw the sun set and rise, and finally alighted near the village of Campremi, about sixty-three miles from Paris.
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1
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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7
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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temperaments
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| 性格( temperament的名词复数 )； （人或动物的）气质； 易冲动； （性情）暴躁 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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dexterously
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| adv.巧妙地，敏捷地 | |
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16
persevering
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| a.坚忍不拔的 | |
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prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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subscriptions
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| n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助 | |
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19
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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varnish
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| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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24
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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barometer
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| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
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diluted
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| 无力的，冲淡的 | |
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cistern
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| n.贮水池 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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inflated
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| adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨 | |
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32
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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immortals
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| 不朽的人物( immortal的名词复数 )； 永生不朽者 | |
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pennants
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| n.校旗( pennant的名词复数 )；锦标旗；长三角旗；信号旗 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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38
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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39
Fahrenheit
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| n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的) | |
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40
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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41
orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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42
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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43
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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44
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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45
sublimity
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| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
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46
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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47
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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48
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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49
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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50
ascents
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| n.上升( ascent的名词复数 )；（身份、地位等的）提高；上坡路；攀登 | |
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51
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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52
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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53
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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54
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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55
boors
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| n.农民( boor的名词复数 )；乡下佬；没礼貌的人；粗野的人 | |
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56
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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57
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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58
reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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59
sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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