The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-10 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

[REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

Arrival of the Emperor and Empress of
Russia, at Potsdam,
BERLIN, JUNE 10.

The Emperor and Empress of Russia arrived
yesterday evening at Potsdam. They were received
at the railway station by the King of Prussia.
Their Majesties were welcomed at the Castle of
Potsdani by the members of the Royal family, and
the Grand Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg.
A grand review was held this morning in the
Tempelhof field.
This evening a dinner will be given in the Oran-
gery House to the Imperial guests.
Their Alajesties will leave for Darmstadt tomor-
row morning at nine o'clock.

AMERICA.

SOUTHAMPTON, JUNE 10.

" The North German Lloyd steamship Hansa,
Captain von Santen, sailing this morning with the
German, French, and Euglish mailes, takes out 143
saloon passengers and a full cargo of general mer-
chandise, including a large quantity of French silks
and jewellery from Havre, value 182,000 francs.
The Hansa was advertised to sail on Wednesday,
but was detained in the Weser by fog.

TRIP TRIAL OF THE NEW BALLOON.

The first ascent of Mr. Coxwell's new balloon,
and the five hundred and seventh ascent of Mr.
Coxwell himself, took place yesterday evening at
the Crystal Palace. Of making big balloons there
is no end. The Nassau was a wonder in its day, but
the Nassau had to hide its diminished head before
the Mammoth, and now the Mammoth itself must
yield the pride of place to the Britannia. Exclud-
ing M. Nadar's machine, which was intended to go
to China, but which broke down on tho German
frontier, Mr. Cox well's new venture is the largest
on record ; and certainly no ship of the air was ever
built more quickly. Her " lines," so to speak, were
only laid down on the day when G iribaldi entered
London, so that no time has been lost in getting
tier ready. She is a comely craft, and does credit to
her builder's skill ; capable of holding 100,000 cubic
feet of gas, she will probably enable our aeronauts
to reach a still higher elevation than that which
was attained in Mr. Glaisher's memorable ascent
from Wolverhampton; aid so far as her trial
trip enables us to judge, she may safely be classed
A 1 for any number of years in an aerial Lloyd's
Register, and be pronounced airworthy and in good
condition. A peculiarity in her construction is the
introduction of some india-rubber cloth, whose
powers of expansion will, no doubt, be tested in her
high ascent. The little cruise of yesterday was
merely a trial trip ; but, viewed in this light, it left
nothing to be desired. The passengers enjoyed it
thoroughly; it was full of icterest and variety ; and
the "skipper" never showed to better advantage.
For the last three days the Britannia has been exhi-
bited in the Crystal Palace; yesterday she was taken
out into the grounds and inflated. The day was
somewhat overcast and cloudy, and a couple of pilot
balloons, which were sent up a few minutes before
starting, showed that rather a brisk south-westerly
breeze was blowing. At five minutes before seven-
a little earlier than the time appointed—the
Britannia rose swiftly into the air, amidst the
cheers of the crowd. She carried a pleasant com-
pany of eight, all told, the majority of whom
had frequently ventured the risks and enjoyed
the pleasures of aerial navigation. In two minutes
and a half she was half a mile from the
ground, and then, rising more slowly, reached the
mile in about eight minutes. The travellers looked
out on one of the loveliest landscapes in England;
and elthought the pleasant blossoming-time was
over, and the purple and golden glory of lilac and
laburnam had faded away, there was plenty of
colour in the dark green woods, on the broad heath,
and away over the Thames, which at times glittered
brightly iu the evening sunshine. The sky was so
broken that, even when the balloon had passed above
the bulk of the cumuli, the earth was still in view
through rifts and open spaces; and strange indeed
was the contrast between the houses aad field; all
dwindled down until they seemed but toy-models of
the famili r reality, and the grand and solemn
waste of level cloud. A vast white table-land seemed
to stretch away for miles ; as the breeze dropped,
there was scarcely a change upon the surface of
this grand expanse, and in the distance—but sharp
and distinct in that clear air—stood up cloud-
castles, upon whore almost immovable battlements
the sunlight quivered and played. At times
we heard the b qking of a dog; now and then, dim
and faint rose the strains of a band ; and there were
shouts from cricketers at play or from rustics in the
fields. London itself was hidden in the haze,
through which, when it lifted, momentary glimpses
could be caught of St. Paul's; but as the balloon
moved towards Greenwich, the wide Kentish land
scape was singularly clear. Past the Observatory,
and affording the travellers a peep at Mr. Glaisher's
house on Blackheath went the Britannia. The Hos
pital seemed strangely small ; and the Dreadnought
little more than dchild's plaything. It was now
half-past seven, and there was a somewhat angry
look about the clouds, which to Mr. Cox well ap
peered to indicate wind ; so he determined to dip
down to terra-firma and see whether the descent
was likely to be easy. The balloon bed travelled
over the Kidbrook fields and was now following
the line of the Dover-road, past Woolwich-common,
the new barracks and the Severndroog Castle, cu
Shootet'e-hil This steady pt. gressioa on a line
nearly parallel with that of the 'Thanes was no
doubt one of the reasons which induced Mr. Cox-
well, who has a wholesome objection to Sea Reach,
to descend. Leaving the strange solitude and more
than Sabbath stillness of the sky, the balloon rapidly
descended, the captain showing all his old skill in
manceavring. The grapnel caught in a tree in
West Wood, tore a branch or two away, then held;
in a minute a crowd collected, the balloon touched
the ground almost imperceptibly, and a hundred
willing hands were eager to hold her down. Three
minutes before we had been alone in the air; and it
was almost grotesque to see, after that sudden fall,
how red-shirted navvies and blue-coated gunners
pressed in around the car. For a thew, Mr. Coxwell
indubitably blocked up that old ant; respectable
Queen's highway, the Dover-road; bat no one
was particularly inconvenienced, and the only
signs of dissatisfaction—they were very sligist—
were given by a lively pony. A brief council of
war was held; on the one hand, a re-ascent might
very possibly mean a night in the Essex marshes;
on the other, sanguine observers urged that the
wind had fallen, and that the sunset was about
" due." The skipper inclined his ear to the "party
of action," and it was determined to pay another
visit to cloud-land. And a very awkward visit
might that same have been. The crowd had be
hayed well hitherto; but when the word was given
to let go, a fellow, who had probably been drink-
ing, clung obstinately to a rope, and could not be
induced to relax his hold. On the left of the
road were a few houses; the balloon rose with
a leap, dragging the stupid lout into the air;
and Mr Coxwell, trying to check the ascent
in order that the man's life might be
saved, could scarcely see for a moment that
the car was driving right on to a chimney. For.
tunately the fellow let go in time; instantly ballast
was thrown out, and the balloon, darting upwards,
just cleared the chimney about a couple of yards.
It was sharp work, steadily done, but in thirty
seconds more there would have been an awkward
smash. And now, swiftly rising, the balloon passcd
again into the upper air. A mile, a mile and a
half, two miles, were successively attained, and the
cold soon gave warning that the ascent was rapid.
The change from simmer heat to a temperature of
41 deg., only nine degrees above freezing-point, was
scarcely agreeable; but the thermometer might
have fallen those nine degrees more without much
disturbing the intense enjoyment of that glorious
scene. Brighter and more various combinations
of colour have often been witnessed, but no aerial
voyager ever gazed upon a grander wilder-
ness of cloud. Like an Arctic desert, the white
cumuli lay spread out for miles—save when, here
and there, their sombre monotony of snowy surface
was broken by aerial streams of blue; and far to
the westward, each bar of burnished red glaring
angrily, the great sun sank slowly down. Men
talked but little; the sight was not to be idly criti-
cised ; and it would have seemed almost a profanity
to babble adjectives of admir.tion as we travelled
through this wondrous wilderness, under the great
dome of pure and perfect azure. It was only when
weagain neared the earth that people cared to spook,
and then, indeed, en American traveller, who had
seen all Iceland, and a Cambridge man, who had
but lately journeyed amidst African deserts, were
ready enough to admit that they had never wit-
nessed a solitude so magnificent. Still following
the river line, the baliooa went slowly on ; coon
after half-past eight it crossed the Thames
to the Essex shore, and by this time the light
grew dim and the shadows darkened. A faint
halloo came now and then from the sailors on the
river—the red lustre of the sunset died away, and
there was a sombre loneliness about the long broad
waste of marsh land, where the mists were already
gathering low and thick. The grapnel was lowered,
it took the ground at once, and the balloon slowly
descended in the Eighteen-acre Marsh near Rain-
ham. And assuredly a more peculiar greeting than
the travellers met with could scarcely be conceived ;
for, frisking their tails, and capering with a mar.
vellous agility, cows of many colours of many kinds
executed a kind of comic vaccine war dance round
the Britannia. They smelt the grapnel, and gale it