Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/245

 The following is the statement of his different calculations:

Such was the detail of the 4,000 pounds that Doctor Ferguson proposed to raise. He only carried 200 pounds of ballast, "merely for a contingency," said he, for, thanks to his arrangements, he did not anticipate to be obliged to use it.

the 10th of February the preparations were near completion; the balloons, enclosed one within the other, were entirely finished; they had been subjected to a tremendous pressure, and this "proving" raised high opinions as to their powers of endurance, and bore witness to the care brought to bear upon their construction.

Joe was beside himself with joy; he was perpetually moving between Greek Street and the workshop of the Messrs. Mitchell—always busy, but always in good spirits; volunteering information on all sides, delighted above all things to accompany his master. I am of opinion that, to show the balloon, to explain the doctor's ideas, even to let him be seen at a window or during his walk through the streets, gained this worthy lad many a half-crown. He did not intend this altogether, but he certainly had the right to profit a little by the admiration and curiosity of his contemporaries.

On the 16th February the Resolute cast anchor at Greenwich. She was a screw steamer of 800 tons, a fast sailer, and had been commissioned to revictual the expedition to