The balloon, which had gradually been dropping out of favour, had now
been virtually laid aside, and, to all appearance, might have continued
so, when, as if by chance concurrence of events, there arrived both the
hour and the man to restore it to the world, and to invest it with a new
practicability and importance. The coronation of George the Fourth
was at hand, and this became a befitting occasion for the rare genius
mentioned at the end of the last chapter, and now in his thirty-sixth
year, to put in practice a new method of balloon management and
inflation, the entire credit of which must be accorded to him alone.
From its very introduction and inception the gas balloon, an expensive
and fragile structure in itself, had proved at all times exceedingly
costly in actual use. Indeed, we find that at the date at which we have
now arrived the estimate for filling a balloon of 70,000 cubic feet--no
extraordinary capacity--with hydrogen gas was about L250. When, then,
to this great outlay was added the difficulty and delay of producing
a sufficient supply by what was at best a clumsy process, as also the
positive failure and consequent disappointment which not infrequently
ensued, it is easy to understand how through many years balloon ascents,
no longer a novelty, had begun to be regarded with distrust, and the
profession of a balloonist was doomed to become unremunerative. A
simpler and cheaper mode of inflation was not only a desideratum, but an
absolute necessity. The full truth of this may be gathered from the fact
that we find there were not seldom instances where two or three days of
continuous and anxious labour were expended in generating and passing
hydrogen into a balloon, through the fabric of which the subtle gas
would escape almost as fast as it was produced.
It was at this juncture, then, that Charles Green conceived the happy
idea of substituting for hydrogen gas the ordinary household gas, which
at this time was to be found ready to hand and in sufficient quantity in
all towns of any consequence; and by the day of the coronation all was
in readiness for a public exhibition of this method of inflation, which
was carried out with complete success, though not altogether without
unrehearsed and amusing incident, as must be told.
The day, July 18, was one of summer heat, and Green at the conclusion
of his preparations, fatigued with anxious labour and oppressed by the
crowding of the populace, took refuge within the car of his balloon,
which was by that time already inflated, and only awaiting the gun
signal that was to announce the moment for its departure. To allow of
his gaining the refreshment of somewhat purer air he begged his
friends who were holding the car of his balloon in restraint to keep it
suspended at a few feet from the earth, while he rested himself within,
and, this being done, it would appear that he fell into a doze, from
which he did not awake till he found that the balloon, which had slipped
from his friends' hold, was already high above the crowd and requiring
his prompt attention. This was, however, by no means an untoward
accident, and Green's triumph was complete. By this one venture alone
the success of the new method was entirely assured. The cost of the
inflation had been reduced ten-fold, the labour and uncertainty a
hundred-fold, and, over and above all, the confidence of the public was
restored. It is little wonder, then, that in the years that now follow
we find the balloon returning to all the favour it had enjoyed in its
palmiest days. But Green proved himself something more than a practical
balloonist of the first rank. He brought to the aid of his profession
ideas which were matured by due thought and scientifically sound. It is
true he still clung for a while to the antiquated notion that mechanical
means could, with advantage, be used to cause a balloon to ascend or
descend, or to alter its direction in a tranquil atmosphere. But he
saw clearly that the true method of navigating a balloon should be by a
study of upper currents, and this he was able to put to practical proof
on a memorable occasion, and in a striking manner, as we shall presently
relate.
He learned the lesson early in his career while acquiring facts and
experience, unassisted, in a number of solitary voyages made from
different parts of the country. Among these he is careful to record an
occasion when, making a day-light ascent from Boston, Lincolnshire,
he maintained a lofty course, which promised to take him direct to
Grantham; but, presently descending to a lower level, and his balloon
diverging at an angle of some 45 degrees, he now headed for Newark. This
experience he stored away.
A month later we find him making a night voyage from Vauxhall Gardens,
destined to be the scene of many memorable ascents in the near future;
and on this occasion he gave proof of his capability as a close and
intelligent observer. It was a July night, near 11 p.m., moonless and
cloudy, yet the earth was visible, and under these circumstances
his simple narrative becomes of scientific value. He accurately
distinguished the reflective properties of the face of the diversified
country he traversed. Over Battersea and Wandsworth--this was in
1826--there were white sheets spread over the land, which proved to be
corn crops ready for the sickle. Where crops were not the ground was
darker, with, here and there, objects absolutely black--in other words,
trees and houses. Then he mentions the river in a memorandum, which
reads strangely to the aeronaut who has made the same night voyage in
these latter days. The stream was crossed in places with rows of lamps
apparently resting on the water. These were the lighted bridges;
but, here and there, were dark planks, and these too were bridges--at
Battersea and Putney--but without a light upon them!
In these and many other simple, but graphic, narratives Green draws
his own pictures of Nature in her quieter moods. But he was not without
early experience of her horse play, a highly instructive record of which
should not be omitted here, and which, as coming from so careful and
conscientious an observer, is best gathered from his own words. The
ascent was from Newbury, and it can have been no mean feat to fill,
under ordinary circumstances, a balloon carrying two passengers and a
considerable weight of ballast at the small gas-holder which served the
town eighty-five years ago. But the circumstances were not ordinary, for
the wind was extremely squally; a tremendous hail and thunderstorm blew
up, and a hurricane swept the balloon with such force that two tons
weight of iron and a hundred men scarce sufficed to hold it in check.
Green on this occasion had indeed a companion, whose usefulness however
at a pinch may be doubted when we learn that he was both deaf and dumb.
The rest of the narrative runs thus: "Between 4 and 5 p.m. the clouds
dispersed, but the wind continued to rage with unabated fury the whole
of the evening. At 6 p.m. I stepped into the car with Mr. Simmons and
gave the word 'Away!' The moment the machine was disencumbered of its
weights it was torn by the violence of the wind from the assistants,
bounded off with the velocity of lightning in a southeasterly direction,
and in a very short space of time attained an elevation of two miles. At
this altitude we perceived two immense bodies of clouds operated on by
contrary currents of air until at length they became united, and at that
moment my ears were assailed by the most awful and longest continued
peal of thunder I have ever heard. These clouds were a full mile beneath
us, but perceiving other strata floating at the same elevation at which
we were sailing, which from their appearance I judged to be highly
charged with electricity, I considered it prudent to discharge twenty
pounds of ballast, and we rose half a mile above our former elevation,
where I considered we were perfectly safe and beyond their influence.
I observed, amongst other phenomena, that at every discharge of thunder
all the detached pillars of clouds within the distance of a mile around
became attracted and appeared to concentrate their force towards the
first body of clouds alluded to, leaving the atmosphere clear and calm
beneath and around us.
"With very trifling variations we continued the same course until 7.15
p.m., when we descended to within 500 feet of the earth; but, perceiving
from the disturbed surface of the rivers and lakes that a strong wind
existed near the earth, we again ascended and continued our course till
7.30 p.m., when a final descent was safely effected in a meadow field in
the parish of Crawley in Surrey, situated between Guildford and Horsham,
and fifty-eight miles from Newbury. This stormy voyage was performed in
one hour and a half."
It was after Green had followed his profession for fifteen years that he
was called upon to undertake the management of an aerial venture, which,
all things considered, has never been surpassed in genuine enterprise
and daring. The conception of the project was due to Mr. Robert Hollond,
and it took shape in this way. This gentleman, fresh from Cambridge,
possessed of all the ardour of early manhood, as also of adequate means,
had begun to devote himself with the true zeal of the enthusiast to
the pursuit of ballooning, finding due opportunity for this in his
friendship with Mr. Green, who enjoyed the management of the fine
balloon made for ascents at the then popular Vauxhall Gardens. In the
autumn of 1836 the proprietors of this balloon, contemplating making an
exhibition of an ascent from Paris, and requiring their somewhat fragile
property to be conveyed to that city, Mr. Hollond boldly came forward
and offered to transfer it thither, and, as nearly as this might be
possible, by passage through the sky. The proposal was accepted, and Mr.
Holland, in conjunction with Green, set about the needful preparations.
These, as will appear, were on an extraordinary scale, and no blame is
to be imputed on that account, as a little consideration will show. For
the venture proposed was not to be that of merely crossing the Channel,
which, as we have seen, had been successfully effected no less than
fifty years before. The voyage in contemplation was to be from London;
it was, moreover, to be pursued through a long, moonless winter's
night, and under conditions of which no living aeronaut had had actual
experience.
Calculation, based on a sufficient knowledge of fast upper currents,
told that their course, ere finished, might be one of almost indefinite
length, and it is not too much to say that no one, with the knowledge
of that day, could predict within a thousand miles where the dawn of
the next day might find them. The equipment, therefore, was commensurate
with the possible task before them. To begin with, they limited their
number to three in all--Mr. Hollond, as chief and keeper of the log; Mr.
Green, as aeronaut; and an enthusiastic colleague, Mr. Monck Mason,
as the chronicler of the party. Next, they provided themselves with
passports to all parts of the Continent; and then came the fitting out
and victualling of the aerial craft itself, calculated to carry some
90,000 cubic feet of gas, and a counterpoise of a ton of ballast, which
took the form partly of actual provisions in large quantity, partly of
gear and apparatus, and for the rest of sand and also lime, of which
more anon. Across the middle of the car was fixed a bench to serve as
table, and also as a stage for the winding in and out of an enormous
trail rope a thousand feet long, designed by Mr. Green to meet the
special emergencies of the voyage. At the bottom of the car was spread
a large cushion to serve the purposes of rest. When all was in readiness
unfitness of weather baulked the travellers for some days, but Monday,
the 7th of November, was judged a favourable day, so that the inflation
was rapidly proceeded with, and at 1.30 p.m. the "Monstre Balloon,"
as it was entitled in the "Ingoldsby Legends," left the earth on her
eventful and ever memorable voyage. The weather was fine and promising,
and, rising with a moderate breeze from the N.W., they began to traverse
the northern parts of Kent, while light, drifting upper clouds gave
indication of other possible currents. Mr. Hollond was precise in the
determination of times and of all readings and we learn that at exactly
2.48 p.m. they were crossing the Medway, six miles west of Rochester,
while at 4.5 p.m. the lofty towers of Canterbury were well in view,
two miles to the east, and here a little function was well carried
out. Green had twice ascended from this city under patronage of the
authorities, and the idea occurred to the party that it would be a
graceful compliment to drop a message to the Mayor as they passed. A
suitable note, therefore, quickly written, was dismissed in a parachute,
and it may be mentioned that this, as also a similar missive addressed
later to the Mayor of Dover, were duly received and acknowledged.
At a quarter past four they sighted the sea, and here, the air beginning
to grow chill, the balloon dropped earthward, and for some miles they
skimmed the ground, disturbing the partridges, scattering the rooks, and
keeping up a running conversation the while with labourers and passers
below. In this there was exercise of perfectly proper aerial seamanship,
such as moreover presently led to an exhibition of true science. To save
ballast is, with a balloon, to prolong life, and this may often best be
done by flying low, which doubtless was Green's present intention. But
soon his trained eye saw that the ground current which now carried them
was leading them astray. They were trending to the northward, and so far
out of their course that they would soon make the North Foreland, and
so be carried out over the North Sea far from their desired direction.
Thereupon Green attempted to put in practice his theory, already spoken
of, of steering by upper currents, and the event proved his judgment
peculiarly correct. "Nothing," wrote Mr. Monck Mason, "could exceed
the beauty of the manoeuvre, to which the balloon at once responded,
regaining her due course, and, in a matter of a few minutes only,
bearing the voyagers almost vertically over the castle of Dover in the
exact line for crossing the straits between that town and Calais."
So far all was well, and success had been extraordinary; but from this
moment they became faced with new conditions, and with the grave trouble
of uncertainty. Light was failing, the sea was before them, and--what
else thenceforth? 4.48 p.m. was recorded as the moment when the first
line of breaking waves was seen directly below them, and then the
English coast line began rapidly to fade out from their view. But,
ahead, the obscurity was yet more intense, for clouds, banked up like
a solid wall, crowned along its frowning heights, with "parapets and
turrets and batteries and bastions," and, plunging into this opposing
barrier, they were quickly buried in blackness, losing at the same time
over the sea all sound from earth soever. So for a short hour's space,
when the sound of waves once again broke in upon them, and immediately
afterwards emerging from the dense cloud (a sea-fog merely) they found
themselves immediately over the brilliantly lighted town of Calais.
Seeing this, the travellers attempted to signal by igniting and lowering
a Bengal Light, which was directly followed by the beating of drums from
below.
It adds a touch of reality, as well as cheerfulness, to the narrative
to read that at this period of their long journey the travellers apply
themselves to a fair, square meal, the first for twelve hours, despite
the day's excitement and toil. We have an entry among the stores of the
balloon of wine bottles and spirit flasks, but there is no mention of
these being requisitioned at this period. The demand seems rather to
have been for coffee--coffee hot; and this by a novel device was soon
prepared. It goes without saying that a fire or flame of any kind,
except with special precautions, is inadmissable in a balloon; but a
cooking heat, sufficient for the present purpose, was supplied from the
store of lime, a portion of which, being placed in a suitably contrived
vessel and slaked quickly, procured the desired beverage.
This meal now indulged in seems to have been heartily and happily
enjoyed; and from this point, for a while, the narrative becomes that of
enthusiastic and delighted travellers. In the gloom below, for leagues
around, they regarded the scattered fires of a watchful population, with
here and there the lights of larger towns, and the contemplation begot
romantic reveries. "Were they not amid the vast solitudes of the skies,
in the dead of night, unknown and unnoticed, secretly and silently
reviewing kingdoms, exploring territories, and surveying cities all
clothed in the dark mantle of mystery?" Presently they identified the
blazing city of Liege, with the lurid lights of extensive outlying iron
works, and this was the last visible sign they caught of earth that
night; save, at least, when occasional glimpses of lightning momentarily
and dimly outlined the world in the abyss below.
Ere long, they met with their first discomfort, which they seem to
have regarded as a most serious one, namely, the accidental dropping
overboard of their cherished coffee-boiling apparatus. With its loss
their store of lime became useless, save as ballast, and for this it
was forthwith utilised until nothing remained but the empty lime barrel
itself, which, being regarded as an objectionable encumbrance, it was
desirable to get rid of, were it not for the risk involved in rudely
dropping it to earth. But the difficulty was met. They possessed a
suitable small parachute, and, attached to this, the barrel was allowed
to float earthward.
As hours advanced, the blackness of night increased, and their
impressions appear somewhat strange to anyone familiar with ordinary
night travel in the sky. Mr. Monck Mason compares their progress through
the darkness to "cleaving their way through an interminable mass of
black marble." Then, presently, an unaccountable object puzzles and
absorbs the attention of all the party for a long period. They were
gazing open-mouthed at a long narrow avenue of feeble light, which,
though apparently belonging to earth, was too long and regular for a
river, and too broad for a canal or road, and it was only after many
futile imaginings that they discovered they were simply looking at a
stay rope of the balloon hanging far out over the side.
Somewhat later still, there was a more serious claim upon the
imagination. It was half-past three in the morning, and the balloon,
which, to escape from too low an altitude, had been liberally lightened,
had now at high speed mounted to a vast height. And then, amid the black
darkness and dead silence of that appalling region, suddenly overhead
came the sound of an explosion, followed by the violent rustling of the
silk, while the car jerked violently, as though suddenly detached from
its hold. This was the idea, leading to the belief that the balloon had
suddenly exploded, and that they were falling headlong to earth.
Their suspense, however, cannot have been long, and the incident was
intelligible enough, being due to the sudden yielding of stiffened net
and silk under rapid expansion caused by their speedy and lofty ascent.
The chief incidents of the night were now over, until the dawn arrived
and began to reveal a strange land, with large tracts of snow, giving
place, as the light strengthened, to vast forests. To their minds these
suggested the plains of Poland, if not the steppes of Russia, and,
fearing that the country further forward might prove more inhospitable,
they decided to come to earth as speedily as possible. This, in spite
of difficult landing, they effected about the hour that the waking
population were moving abroad, and then, and not till then, they learned
the land of their haven--the heart of the German forests. Five hundred
miles had been covered in eighteen hours from start to finish!