Like its predecessor, the second deputation went on from England to continental Europe, visiting the Netherlands, France and Germany. In Paris, where the 1878 "Exposition Universelle" was in progress, Kruger saw a hot air balloon for the first time and readily took part in an ascent to view the city from above. "High up in mid-air", he recalled, "I jestingly asked the aeronaut, as we had gone so far, to take me all the way home." The pilot asked who Kruger was and, on their descent, gave him a medal "to remind me of my journey through the air". The deputation composed a long reply to Hicks Beach, which was published as an open letter in the British press soon before they sailed for home on 24 October 1878. Unless the annexation were revoked, the letter stated, the Transvaal Boers would not co-operate regarding federation.