Page:Wonderful Balloon Ascents, 1870.djvu/73

Rh unfolding, gradually swelled to its full size, and then, drawing after it the cage, in which a sheep and some pigeons were enclosed, rose majestically into the air. Without interruption, it ascended to a vast height, where, inclining toward the north, it seemed to remain stationary for a few seconds, showing all the beauty of its form, and then, as though possessed of life, it descended gently upon the wood of Vaucresson, 10,200 feet from the point of its departure. Its highest elevation, as estimated by the astronomers Le Gentil and M. Jeaurat, was about 1,700 feet.