The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-10-16


CROSSING THE ALPS IN A BALLOON FROM Man
sEILLEs TO TURIN.-M. Arban, French alsro
naut, assembled in his balloon from the Chatea,
des FleuS (the VauXhall of Marseilles) at halfpas
six in the evening of the I'd ult, and alighted a
the village of Pion-Forte. near Turin, the follow
ing morning, at halfpast two, having accomplished
the distance, about 400 miles, in eight hours The
particulars of this voyage are related bv M Arban.
himself In one OF the Marseilles papers, as follows:
assembled from the Chateau des Fleurs on
Sunday evening, the I'd inst, at halfpast six. At
eight was over the wood of Esteret, where as
certalned that L was at heighth of 1000 metFes
Inc temperature Of the air was cold, but dry; nv
eenugrade thermometer marked four degrees below
zero Inc Wind was southwest, and sent me over
NICE FOR nearly two hours / was surrounded bV
very dense clouds; my cloak no longer suf1iced to
keep me warm; suffered much from cold feet. l.
nevertheless, determined TO proceed and traverse
Ine AIps, from which knew was not far distant
MY provision of ballast was enough to raise ma
ABOVE the highest peaks. The cold gradually in
creased, the wind became steady, and the moon
lighted me like the sun (coRme le SoIeiI en- pIein
jour. was at the foot of the Alps; the SHOWS,
cascades, rivers, all were sparkling; the raVines
and rocks produced masses of darkness, which
served as shadows to the gigantic picture. The
wind now interrupted the regularity of nv course
was occasionally obliged to ascend, in order to
pass over the peaks. | reached the summit of the
Alps at eleven O'Clock, and as the horizon became
clear, and my couFHe regular, l began to think Of
suPplng. was now at an elevation of 1900 me-
tres 1t was indispensably necessary for me to pur
sue my journey, and reach Piedmont. Chaos only
was under me, and to aEght in these regions was
impossible. After supper, threw my empty bottle
into the snow beneath, where, possibly, some ad-
VenturOus traveller will one day find it, and be lad
to conclude that another before him had explored
the same desert regions. At halfpast one in the
morning was over Mount Misso which knew
having explored it in my first journey to Piedmont
There the Durance and the Pc take their source.
recommended the position, and discovered the mag
innocent plains OF the mountain. Before this GER
talnty, singular optical dslusion, occasioned by
the shining of the moon upon the snow, was like
to make me think myself over the open sea. But
as the southwest wind had not ceased to blow, /
was convinced by this fact, as we'll as by others /
had noticed, that could not be over the sea. The
stars confirmed the accuracy of my compass, and
the appearance of Mount Blanc satisfied me that
must be approaching Turin. Mount Blanc to my
left, on level with the top of which was, being
far above the clouds, resembled an immense block
OF crystal sparkling with a thousand fires. At a
quarter to three, Mount VisO which was behind
me, proved to me that was in the neighbOFhOOd
OF Turin. / determined TO alght, which / did
without any difficulty, having ballast enough to 10
much further. / alighted near a large farTn.vard
where l was surrounded by several watch.dogs,
from whose caresses was protected by nv cloak
Their barking awakened the peasants who Waera
more surprised than frightened at seeing me. They
admitted me to their house informed me that il
was haltpast two, and that was in the village Of
flon Forte, near Stubini, six kilometres from Tu-
rln passed the remainder of the night in the
farm house, and in the morning the peasants &C.
cOmpanied me to the Mayor, who delivered me a
certificate, attesting my arrival, etc, After pack
ing up my balloon and car, / set out for Turin,
where arrived at nine in the morning ! imme-
diately sat down TO write to the director of the
Chateau deS Fleus in order to relieve the anxiety
of my wife, friends, and the Msrseilles public who
might be interested about me. l then repaired to
NJ. Bots lie Comte, the French ambassador. who |
gave me passport. At eleven, the same morn
ing, l attended the church of la Madre di Die.
where service was performed in honor of Charles
Albert's death. The ceremony was followed by
review OF the national guard. Ia the evening, I
went 70 the theatre d'Angsnnes, where Si9ier
played Louis III. l could hardly believe thaf the
evening before was at the Chateau des Feurs' Al
AaHsiusS, 100 leagues off,"