The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1842-04-19
TERMS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME.
MISCELLANEOUS.
From Blackwood's Magazine.
BALLOON ADVENTURE.

Mr.. Holland, gentleman oil SciehiiIlc ndo'
its, projected the enterprise which has Striking
" signalzcd the RrosiaIion of our day. On
Monday, Nov. 7, 1910, at hall past one m the
afternoon, the balloon rose from Fauxhall Gar
dens, (London) with a moderate breeze from
the south east. the weather was singularlY
fine. Al five minutes past four, they saw The
sea. After passing Canterbury. The course al
tered towards the north, which would carry
them into the German OCEAN. The point was
now 10 change the course in the direction of
Paris. Ballast was now thrown out. the bal
loon rose in an upper current, recovered her
direction 10 the south east, and crossed the
Straits of Dover in exactly an hour, about
5000 feet above the level Of The sea.
1t was fifty minutes past five, consequently
the balloon rapidly plunged into the night.
The aspect Of the world. now became curious
in the extreme. The whole plane Of The
earth's surface. for leagues around, so far and
farther than the eve could distinctly embrace,
seemed absolutely teeming with the scattered
fires of the population, and exhibited a starry
spectacle below. that almost rivalled the lnsire
of the armament. Necessarily. during the early
portion of the night, before the inhabitants had
retired 10 rest, large sources of light. exhibit
ing The presence OF some more exclusive com
munity, would appear just looming above the
horizon in the direction in which they were
advancing, bearing al first no faint resem-
bance of some vast conflag ration. BY degrees
they grew higher, this confused mass of illum-
ination would appear TO increase in int-nsty.
extending over large portion of the view,
ard assuming more distinct appearance, un-
I'll at length. as the balloon passed directly over
the spot, it suddenly resolved itself into streets
and squares. exhibiting the perfect model of
town, but diminished into curious mInuteness
bv the height from which il was seen. In
this manner the Rrunauts rapidly traversed
large space Of the continent, embracing vast
succession of towns and villages solely distin-
guished by their mighty illumination One
Of those views singulary capilvated their at
teniion. They approached district which
seemed actually to blaze with innumerable
fires, studding the whole horizon. AS they
swept along, they saw the central city ~ the
midst of this circle OF flame, with every line of
ats streets marked out by its particular range
of illumination. The theatres and other pub
lie buildings, the squares and all the more
prominent features Of the city, were Indicated
by the larger accumulation of light. They
could even hear the busy murmur of the pop
ula.ion-the whole forming an earthly picture
OF the most striking contrast to the darkness,
the serenity and the silence of The region a
bove in which they were moving. TINS was
the civ ofLiege, whose surrounding IRON ioun-
de les formed the horizon of flame. This wns
the last spectacle of the kind which met their
ewes: Thenceforth it was all midnight; every
sound was hushed, every light died, aud all
was solemn and awful obscuritv. Withdrawn
from the earth. which was buried in the pro-
foundest Stiffness, they looked TO the heavens.
There was no moon. The hue of the sky was
intensely black. but the Stars, redoubled in
their lustre, shone like sparks OF the whitest
silver. Occasionally flashes of lightning in
the north.
In siluaiion,which it was never in the pow
er of man - describe before, it is like new
source of ideas.
.Nothing,' says this clever descrber, could
exceed the density of night which prevailed
during this part of the voyage. MOI single
terrestrial object could any where be distin-
guishrd. An unfathomable nbyss Of darkness
seemed 10 encompass Us on every side. And
as We looked forward into IFS black obscurity,
in the direction in which we were proceeding,
we could scarcely resist The impression that
we were cleaving our way through an inter-
nlDdDie lndsS Vi OiuSk il1fDle. III WHICH we
were embedded, and Which, solid few inches
before us, seemed 10 soften as we approached,
in order 10 admit US farther within the pre-.
cincts of lis cold and dusky Enclosure. Even
the lights, which at times were lowered from
the car, instead of dispelling. seemed only TO
augment the intensity of the surrounding dark
ness. and as they descended deeper into its
frozen bosom, absolutely to meet their way
downwards.'
The cold was at the point of congelation
The oil. the water and the coffee were COM
pletely frozen. Yet the sufferings OF the @ro-
nauts were not severe. in consequence OF their
being entirely excluded from the action OF the
wind.
While they were thus rushing on with almost
whirlwind rapidty through the ocean OF dark
ness, yet almost unconscious Of motion, an In
cident occurred calculated to alarm them IN
most extraordinary degree. By the discharge
of ballast, the balloon had suddenly risen 10 an
elevation of about 10000 feet. 10 few mo-
ments after, they heard violent burst from the
ton of the balloon. followed by loud rushing
of silk, and all the signs of its having been
torn suddenly open. Immediately the car be-.
nan ~ toss az If severed from the ropes. and