little--in the centre of this immense space, in solitude, without a
single object to interrupt the view for 200 miles or more all round,
abstracted from the earth, upheld by an invisible medium, our mouths so
dry that we cannot eat, a white sea below us, so far below, we see few,
if any, irregularities. I watch the instruments; but, forcibly
impelled, again look round from the centre of this vacuity, whose
boundary-line is 1500 miles, commanding nearly 130,000 square miles,
till I catch Mr Coxwell's eye turned towards me, when I again direct
mine to the instruments; and when I find no further changes are
proceeding, I wave my hand and say, `Pull.'
"A deep resonant sound is heard overhead; a second pull is followed by a
second report, that rings as with shrill accompaniment down the very
sides of the balloon. It is the working of the valve, which causes a
loud booming noise, as from a sounding-board, as the springs force the
shutters back.
"But this sound in that solitary region, amid silence so profound that
no silence on earth is equal to it,--a drum-like sound meeting the ear
from above, from whence we do not usually hear sounds--strikes one
forcibly. It is, however, one sound only; there is no reverberation, no
reflection; and this is characteristic of all sounds in the balloon,--
one clear sound continuing during its vibrations, then gone in a moment.
No sound ever reaches the ear a second time. But though the sound from
the closing of the valve in those silent regions is striking, it is also
cheering,--it is reassuring; it proves all to be right, that the balloon
is sound, that the colder regions have not frozen tight the outlet for
gas, and that we are so far safe. We have descended a mile, and our
feelings improve with the increase of air and warmth. But silence
reigns supreme, and Mr Coxwell, I observe, turns his back upon me,
scanning intently the cloudscape, speculating as to when and where we
shall break through and catch sight of the earth. We have been now two
hours without seeing _terra firma_. How striking and impressive is it
to realise a position such as this; and yet as men of action, whose
province it is to subordinate mere feelings, we refrain from indulging
in sentiment. I say refrain, for presently Mr Coxwell breaks out, no
longer able to contain himself: `Here, Mr Glaisher, you must welcome
another balloon. It is the counterpart of our own.' This spectral
balloon is charming to look upon, and presents itself under a variety of
imposing aspects, which are magnified or diminished by the relative
distance of our balloon from the clouds, and by its position in relation
to the sun, which produces the shadow. At mid-day it is deep down,
almost underneath; but it is more grandly defined towards evening, when
the golden and ruby tints of the declining sun impart a gorgeous
colouring to cloudland. You may then see the spectre balloon magnified
upon the distant cloud-tops, with three beautiful circles of rainbow
tints. Language fails utterly to describe these illuminated
photographs, which spring up with matchless truthfulness and choice
decoration.
"Just before we enter the clouds, Mr Coxwell, having made all
preparations for the descent, strictly enjoins me to be ready to put up
the instruments, lest, when we lose the powerful rays of the sun, and
absorb the moisture of the lower clouds, we should approach the earth
with too great rapidity.
"We now near the confines of the clouds, and dip swiftly into the
thickest of them; we experience a decided chill, and hear the rustling
of the collapsing balloon, which is now but one-third full, but cannot
see it, so dense is the mass of vapour. One, two, three, or more
minutes pass, and we are still in the cloud. How thick it must be,
considering the rapidity of the descent! Presently we pass below, and
the earth is visible. There is a high road intersecting green pastures;
a piece of water looking like polished steel presents itself; a
farmhouse, with stacks and cattle, is directly under us. We see the
sea-coast, but at a distance. An open country lies before us. A shout
comes up, and announces that we are seen, and all goes well, save the
rapidity of our descent, which has been caused by that dark frowning
cloud which shut us out from the sun's rays, and bedewed us with
moisture. Mr Coxwell, however, is counteracting it by means of the
ballast, and streams out one bag, which appears to fly up instead of
falling down; now another is cast forth, but still it goes up, up. A
third reduces the wayward balloon within the bounds of moderation, and
Mr Coxwell exultingly exclaims that `he has it now under perfect
command, with sand enough, and to spare.'
"Delighted to find the balloon is thus checked, as it is favourable to
good readings of the several instruments at this elevation, I work as
quickly as I can, noticing also the landscape below; rich mounds of
green foliage, fields of various shades of green, like a tessellated
pavement in motion; with roads, rivers, rivulets, and the undulatory
nature of the ground varying the scene every instant. Should our
passage be over a town, it is like a model in motion; and all is seen
with a distinctness superior to that from the earth; the line of sight
is through a purer and less dense medium; everything seems clearer,
though smaller; even at the height of four miles above Birmingham we
distinguished the New Street Station and the streets.
"We have been descending slowly for a little time, when I am challenged
to signify when I can close my observations, as yonder, about two miles
distant, is a fine park, where Mr Coxwell's eye seems to wander with
something like a desire to enter it. I approve of the spot, as it is in
every way suitable for a descent. The under-current, which is
oftentimes stronger than the upper, is wafting us merrily in that
direction. We are now only a few hundred feet above the surface. `Put
up your instruments,' cries Mr Coxwell, `and we will keep on this level
until you are ready.'
"A little more sand is let out, and I pack up the instruments quickly in
their wadded cases. `Are you all right?' inquires the aeronaut. `All
right,' I respond; `look out then, and hold fast by the ropes, as the
grapnel will stop us in that large meadow, with the hedgerow in front.'
"There, sure enough, we land. The cattle stand at bay affrighted, their
tails are horizontal, and they run wildly away. But a group of friends
from among the gentry and villagers draws up near the balloon, and
although some few question whether we belong to this planet, or whether
we are just imported from another, yet any doubt upon this point is soon
set at rest, and we are greeted with a hearty welcome from all when we
tell our story, how we travelled the realms of space, not from motives
of curiosity, but for the advancement of science, its applicability to
useful purposes, and the good of mankind."
In commenting on the several ascents thus combined in one description,
Mr Glaisher gives us various pieces of information which are highly
interesting. The clouds, he says, on which the sun was shining
brightly, each moment opened up to view deep ravines, and shining masses
appeared like mountain ranges, some rising perpendicularly from rolling
seas or plains, with summits of dazzling brightness, some pyramidal,
others undulatory, with deep shadows between.
While passing over London on one occasion at night, at the height of
about one mile, he heard the hum of the great city, and saw its lights.
The river looked dull, but the bridges that spanned it, and the many
miles of straight, intersecting, and winding streets were distinctly
visible.
In referring to sound, he tells us that, on different occasions, at a
height of 11,800 feet above the earth, a band was heard playing. At
between four and five thousand feet a railway whistle and the shouting
of people were heard, and at 10,070 feet the report of a gun. A dog was
also heard barking at a height of two miles. At a height of 19,000 feet
the hands and lips were observed, during one ascent, to be of a dark
bluish colour. At four miles the palpitations of the heart were
audible, and the breathing was affected. Considerable difficulty was
experienced in respiration at higher elevations. From his various
observations he found that the effect of high elevation is different
upon the same individuals at different times, and believed that, up to
heights less than three miles--to which persons of ordinary
self-possession might ascend--delicate and accurate scientific
observations might be made with ease, but at heights approaching to four
miles, such observations could not be made so well, because of the
personal distress of the observer, and on approaching to five miles
above the earth it required the exercise of a strong will to take any
observations at all.
The most wonderful and alarming of the experiences of Mr Glaisher
appear to have occurred to him and his companion, Mr Coxwell, during an
ascent made from Wolverhampton on the 5th September, when they reached
the enormous elevation of between six and seven miles.
They felt no particular inconvenience until after passing above the
fifth mile. When at a height of 26,000 feet, Mr Glaisher could not see
the column of mercury in the tube; then the fine divisions on the scale
of the instrument became invisible. Shortly afterwards he laid his arm
on the table, and on attempting again to use it found that the limb was
powerless. He tried to move the other arm, and found that it also was
paralysed. He then tried to shake himself, and succeeded in shaking his
body, but experienced the curious sensation of having no legs! While in
this condition he attempted to look at the barometer, and, while doing
so, his head fell on his left shoulder. Struggling to get out of this
lethargic state, he found that he could still shake his body, although
he could not move either arms or legs. He got his head upright for an
instant, but it dropped again on his shoulder, and he fell backwards,
his back resting against the side of the car, and his head on its edge.
In this position his eyes were directed to Mr Coxwell, who did not at
first observe the state of his companion, in consequence of his having
had to ascend into the ring of the balloon to disentangle the
valve-line, which had become twisted. Hitherto Mr Glaisher had
retained the power of moving the muscles of his back and neck, but
suddenly this was lost to him. He saw Mr Coxwell dimly in the ring,
and attempted to speak to him, but could not do so. A moment later
intense black darkness surrounded him--the optic nerve had lost its
power! He was still conscious, however, and with his brain as active as
at other times. He fancied he had been seized with asphyxia, and that
death would quickly ensue unless they descended without delay. Suddenly
the power of thought ceased, and he became unconscious. All these
extraordinary and alarming sensations, he calculated, must have taken
place within five or six minutes.
While still powerless he heard the words "temperature" and
"observation," and knew that Mr Coxwell was in the car endeavouring to
arouse him. Presently he heard him speak more emphatically, but could
neither see, reply, nor move. Then he heard him say, "Do try now, do,"
after which vision slightly returned, and in a short time he saw clearly
again, rose from his seat, looked round, and said to Mr Coxwell, "I
have been insensible." His friend replied, "You have, and I too, very
nearly." Mr Coxwell had lost the use of his hands, which were black;
Mr Glaisher, therefore, poured brandy over them. His companion then
told him that, on descending from the ring, he thought he had laid
himself back to rest, but noticing that his legs projected, and his arms
hung down by his side, it struck him there was something wrong, and he
attempted to go to his assistance, but felt insensibility coming over
himself. He tried to open the valve, so that they might descend, but,
having lost the use of his hands, could not. In this critical moment he
seized the cord with his teeth, dipped his head two or three times, and
thus succeeded in opening the valve, and descending from those dangerous
regions of attenuated atmosphere!
At first they went down at the tremendous rate of twenty miles an hour,
but after descending three miles in nine minutes, the balloon's progress
was checked, and they finally alighted safely in a grass field, where
their appearance so terrified the country folk that it required a good
deal of coaxing in plain English to convince them that the aeronauts
were not inhabitants of another world!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1. _Exeter Hall Lectures--Scientific Experiments in Balloons_, by
James Glaisher, Esquire, F.R.S.--Published by James Nisbet and Company,
London.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
ACCOUNT OF NADAR'S BALLOON, "LE GEANT." FIRST ASCENT.
As the "Giant" is the largest balloon that has yet been made, and as its
experiences on the occasions of its first and second ascents were not
only peculiar but terrible, we shall give an account of it in detail--
commencing with its construction, and ending with the thrilling
termination of its brief but wild career.
Monsieur Nadar, a photographer of Paris, was the enthusiastic and
persevering aeronaut who called it into being, and encountered the
perils of its ascents, from which he did not emerge scatheless, as we
shall see.
Besides being an experimental voyager in cloudland, Monsieur Nadar
started a newspaper named _L'Aeronaute_, in which he gives an account of
the "Giant," and his reasons for constructing it.
These latter were peculiar. He is emphatic in asserting that the huge
balloon was never intended by him to be an "end," but a mere
stepping-stone to an end--which end was the construction of an
_aeromotive_--a machine which was to be driven by means of a screw, and
which he intended should supersede balloons altogether, so that his own
"Giant" was meant to be the last of its race!
In reference to this, Monsieur Nadar tells us that he was deeply
impressed with the belief that the screw would ultimately become our
aerial motor, but that, being ignorant of what it was likely the
experiments of this first aeromotive would cost, he had resolved,
instead of begging for funds to enable him to accomplish his great end,
to procure funds for himself in the following manner:--
"I shall," says he, "make a balloon--the _last balloon_--in proportions
extraordinarily gigantic, twenty times larger than the largest, which
shall realise that which has never been but a dream in the American
journals, which shall attract, in France, England, and America, the
crowd always ready to run to witness the most insignificant ascent. In
order to add further to the interest of the spectacle--which, I declare
beforehand, without fear of being belied, shall be the most beautiful
spectacle which it has ever been given to man to contemplate,--I shall
dispose under this monster balloon a small balloon (_balloneau_),
destined to receive and preserve the excess of gas produced by dilation,
instead of losing this excess, as has hitherto been the case, which will
permit my balloon to undertake veritable long voyages, instead of
remaining in the air two or three hours only, like our predecessors. I
do not wish to ask anything of any one, nor of the State, to aid me,
even in this question of general, and also of such immense, interest. I
shall endeavour to furnish myself the two hundred thousand francs
necessary for the construction of my balloon. The said balloon
finished, by public ascents and successive exhibitions at Paris, London,
Brussels, Vienna, Baden, Berlin, New York, and everywhere, I know that I
shall collect ten times the funds necessary for the construction of our
first aeromotive."
This first aeromotive, however, has not yet made its appearance, whether
from want of funds or of practicability we do not know, but Monsieur
Nadar carried his designs triumphantly into effect with the "monster
balloon," which in course of time made its appearance, performed
flights, attracted the wonder and admiration, as well as a good deal of
the coin, of hundreds of thousands in France and England, even conveyed
royalty up into the clouds, broke the bones of its originator, and was
exhibited in the great transept (which it nearly filled) of the Crystal
Palace at Sydenham. While there, we had the good fortune to behold it
with our own eyes!
The construction of this balloon merits particular notice; but first, it
may be remarked that it is well worthy of being named a giant, seeing
that its height was only forty-five feet less than that of the towers of
Notre Dame Cathedral, namely 196 feet.
That Nadar had cut out for himself an arduous task will be readily
believed. Touching on this, he writes thus:--
"I have set myself to work immediately, and with difficulties, sleepless
nights, vexations which I have kept to myself alone to this hour, and
which some one of the days of this winter, the most urgent part of my
task being finished, I shall in part make in confidence to my readers.
I have succeeded in establishing my balloon, in founding at the same
time this journal--indispensable _moniteur_ to the aerial automotive--
and in laying the basis of that which shall be, perhaps, the greatest
financial operation of the age. Those who shall see and appreciate
these labours, will please to pardon me, I hope, for having wiped my
forehead with a little touch of pride, when at the end of a month--one
month!--I have said to myself, `it is done!'"
The "Giant" was composed of yellowish white silk, of which there were
used 22,000 yards at about 5 shillings 4 pence a yard, so that the cost
of the silk alone was 5,866 pounds. This was cut into 118 gores, which
were entirely hand-sewed with a double seam, and some idea of the
vastness of the work may be gathered from the fact that 200 women were
employed during a month in the sewing of the gores. For the sake of
greater strength the silk was doubled. In other words, there were _two_
balloons of the same size, one within the other.
Directly beneath, and attached to its lower orifice, there was a small
balloon called a _compensator_, the object of which was to receive and
retain for use the surplus gas. When a balloon rises to the higher
regions of the atmosphere, the gas within it expands, so that a large
quantity of it is allowed to rush out at the open mouth beneath, or at
the safety-valve above. Were this not the case, the balloon would
certainly burst. This loss of gas, however, is undesirable, because
when the balloon descends the gas contracts, and the loss is then felt
to be a great one. By collecting the over-flow of gas in the
_compensator_, this disadvantage is obviated.
The car, which was made chiefly of wicker-work, was actually a small
cottage of two storeys (a ground-floor and platform or upper deck), with
door and windows. Its height was about eight, and its length thirteen
feet. The ground-floor contained a cruciform passage and six divisions.
At one extremity was a captain's cabin with a bed in it, and underneath
a compartment for luggage. At the other was the passengers' cabin, with
three beds, one above the other. The four other divisions or rooms were
a provision store, a lavatory, a place for conducting photographic
operations, and a room for a small lithographic press, with which it was
intended to print an account of the voyage, to be scattered about the
localities over which they should pass!
In reference to this last, Monsieur Nadar writes:--
"An English company a month ago (our neighbours are marvellous in not
losing time), appreciating the bustle which the sight of a balloon
always excites in every inhabited place, and judging rightly that papers
would never be better received and more greedily read than those thrown
overboard by us, despatched a messenger to propose to me to accept
commercial prospectuses. We shall never have too much money for the
construction of our first aeromotive. I have accepted and made a
contract."
Besides many miscellaneous articles, such as grapnels, fowling-pieces,
speaking-trumpets, etcetera, that were to be carried up in this cot,
there were provisions of all sorts, instruments for scientific
observations, games, means of defence in case of descent among an
inhospitable people, and two cages of carrier-pigeons sent from Liege.
The car and all it contained was secured by twenty cables traversing on
and beneath its walls, interlaced with the fabric and fastened to a
large hoop just below the neck, to which hoop was also attached the
ropes of the net-work, by which the balloon itself was enveloped. There
were two axles and four wheels connected with the car, by means of which
it could, when necessary, be drawn along an ordinary road. Canes,
disposed to act as springs, were placed underneath and round the middle
of it to protect it from concussions, besides which internal buoys and
an immense girdle in compartments of inflated india-rubber, rendered it
incapable of submersion in water.
Such was the giant balloon in which Monsieur Nadar and his friends made
two ascents; of the first of which (4th October 1863) Galignani writes
thus:--