Page:Wonderful Balloon Ascents, 1870.djvu/77

Rh causes death, nor even damage, to its passengers; that, on the contrary, the latter, by making new gas, give it the power of detaching itself from the trees; and that it can resume its course after such an event. The intrepid Roziers gave in this ascent a further proof of the facility he had in descending and ascending at will. When the machine had risen to the height of 200 feet it began to descend lightly, and just before it came to the earth the aeronaut very cleverly and quickly threw on more fuel and produced more smoke, at which the balloon, to the astonishment of every one, suddenly soared away again to its former elevation. Third Ascent: The balloon rose again with Roziers, accompanied this time by another aeronaut, Gerond de Villette; and as the cords had been lengthened, the adventurers were carried up to the height of 324 feet. At this elevation the balloon rested in perfect equilibrium for nine minutes. It was the first time that human beings had ever been carried to an equal elevation, and the spectators were astonished to find that they could remain there without danger and without alarm. The balloon had a superb effect at this elevation; it looked down upon the whole town, and was seen from all the suburbs. Its size seemed hardly diminished in the least, though the men themselves were barely visible. By the aid of glasses, Roziers could be seen calmly and industriously making new gas. When the balloon descended the two men declared that they had not experienced the slightest inconvenience from the elevation. They received the universal applause which their zeal and courage so well deserved. The Marquis d'Arlandes, a major of infantry, afterwards went up with Roziers, and this latter experiment was as successful as the former."

Some days after these experiments the conductors of the