Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-10-13

/ La MOuntain,S BaIIoau Voyage FOuF
Days with ont Food - One Hundred Miles
AN ESsur - Lost in the WiacruesS.
The public has already been informed by dis
patches published il the papers, of the safe arrival
at Ottawa, C. W, on the 81 inst, Of Professor La
N0rNrAN and Mr.. HADDocz, who ascended in the
balloon Atlantic, from Watertown New York, on the
22d of september, and for whose safety much fear
was felt. We have now received the Troy (N. W
Times which contains long and full account of the
disastrous voyage of the Atlantic and the wander
ngs and suferings in the wilderness Of the Balloon
| lists La M0CNrAN and HADDoCK. The account writ
ten by La MOUNTAIN is very interesting, and we ex-
tract from il details Of absorbing interest The bal
loonsts were up in the air from four to five hours,
when finding themselves over dense wilderness
and the darkness of the night around them they con
clu,led to descend. la MOUNTAIN says:
We made six different attempts to land at intervals
of ten or fifteen minutes part, the object being 10
| ascertain whether we had passed the woods yet.
| On the third descent, we came down upon the bO-
| som of little lake, shut in amid the almost mpen-
atrobc extent of trees around The car even touch
ed the water and we had life-preservers ready
for emergencies but the discharge OF small guam
tty of ballast changed the of the balloon and
! il guickiy rose again. On the fourth attempt. we
came down beside very high tree, and caught hold
Cf branches Tor q i1OnlPIl 10 look aFDuIpit tQl
there were woods still far as the eye could reach
! in the dark and right before frOwning noun
tln raised its beoJlng heat until IL seemed lost in
the clouds So upwe went again, J0urncyng for
/ few moments very near to the tree tops. On the
- Ytlt atteInDt we came down very the top Of
| a taIl tree of which Mr.. Haddock caught hold.
reached ont nv hand and felt OF it. II was spruce
: very messenger % evil tidings No spruce grew
! in the Npw York wilderness, that ! knew, and the
hardy tree WAS native of colder climates. We
fr,,,, IL ~. .-.4..s lp e,..
wclq. above the great wilderness. This knew was
| almost uaboundad-ts only knowa limit being the
! Arctic circle. Therefore, if there We were. the
! sonncr We STAYED where we were the better WITH
this simple logic we very soon came 70 the coacu-
Sion-tlIc iucEjrst one we had reached 50 far dr-
,iro IT,. ryi.,-to lodge where we were until morn
ing. and aiiaT day broke We shoald be able 70 see
what WAS what Sn we made fast by the coneentric
| hoop to the top of the sprqcs, ard we composed
ourselves a. well possible, for night df 'lest
-crav;ng dowa III the bottom Ot the car and gong
Ia sleep.
Nbont t!.rap O'Clock We we're awakened by the
! nattcriny Of the rain, which falling heavily
| upon the and on tbs balloon above us. " {
very soon had Il realizing srlse Of our eltuaIioa
! which was very far from agreeable Alter Inc
water had thoroughly saturated the net, It eoncen-
trated upon the neck which served as sort OF gut
ter through which the water poured ina continuous
stream upon u.s. Us we lay curled IN the bottom OF
the has quite as fast il would have done ha1
| II been thrown on us from buckets. NOtwithsand-
inn the noble Atlantic still swayed proudly above
the tree trops without losing bit OF gas or sink
| ing foot from its position,
DAYLIGHT came-noue TOO soon to satisfy the two
| somewhat anxious individuals who were awaiting
! its first gIimmers The rain had ceased leaving us
thoroughly soaked in our porch but the clouds above
| droopcd very the earth. We had on board
| about fifteen pounds of ballast which we threw
ont as well as blanket, one ovePcoat an anchor
rome tEYo or three porter bottles and other small
| articles. This necessary to give us an escen-
| sivc power. because about one hundred pounds
! weight had been added to the balloon during the
nioht bv the deposit of rain in little reservoirs upon
| it. and the soaking of the net When we arose, we
ascendeI at once so to pass through the stratum
of,clouds which had thinned out during the vain
| that it was probably not more than thousand feet
! in thickness Once more the earth was outof sight
| and the sunshine was upon us. We found ourselves
| rong still dine north. As tie suns rays fell upon
! fhe balloon the drying off of the water, and the
| eynsRsion of gas. increased the ascensive poweI
very much and shot UP rapidly, TO tue helght OF
a mile before it was possible for me TO cheek inc
upward tendency. ] knew the sooner we reached
terra frnla the better Drawing the valve therefore
! we came down below the clouds.
| And here what a view As far IS tho eye could
roach in every direction, unbppkeH sea OF tores
lmbs massive trees shooting their taPering boaie'
far mn towards the clouds. and relieved with very
| ftle foliage: the broad, cheerless and tOrbiddns
| nrosneet broken only by mountain at some DIS
| tance and one or two small sheets or water near by
I knew there were no such grOwths in the Untc'
States save in the northern district OF Maine. re
,nembercd that we struck the forest whom We hrs
landed in the night; that every time we descended
we had found trees beneath Us that We must haV'
been passing along with some rapidlty- that
therefore we were not only over the great C&nau;
wilderness but had jOprned Oye9 i perhaps for
hundred miles? told Mr.. Haddoek what bclIeF
cd and remarked 10 him. My friend, we arc oye
the Canada woods; have got done travelling VIII
this balloon, andf weget out Wlth our h'es we MAJ
call ourselves lucky fellows
Dscharging gas rapidly as possible. we cam
do,yn-thc balloon settling between two tall spruces
The globe caught in the limbs, but as u nnllapse'
with the discharge, our weight settled the car WIN
in eoht feet of the Garth, enabling Us to drop ou
| ,yitbout difficulty. 1t fortunate that our de
Int was made lust at this point the balloon bare
/ d. pro,yinQ bctwecn the trees. rise we might haY
| been impalcd. pr thrown ont from a very grea
| hight. by conclusion
I If,cy jumping ont knew that it was necesaar.
| tn abandon the balloon. We should have all VI
couId do to find our way ont Of that almost lmpene
trobr wild without incumbTanre, There was n
| altrrnatiyc-thc work of the Atlantic was done.
| Lnya known what il was 10 be shpwrecked 9t sea
| ,rd 10 behold vessel had learned to love as m.
| homo curulfrd i'm the foamng waters, but neYe
exTerlencad ANYTHING like the emotion that filed IH
beaqt a. / exclaimed. Good bye, old Atlantic W
shall Epyr; meet again. 1t seemed like partln
from an old friend in perfect health. with the fu
knowledge that he would never be seen again alyt
|
! nose the same effort to enable me 90 leave tn
Cherished companiOn-fOr 50 had learned 10 loo
at it-pf so many peris and 50 many pleasures, q
| il does fog father TO tear himself away from tn
ccfRn of bcIoYed'child. Perhaps it was foolish an
nonsensical; il it was, can only say, could no
help it. -.- 80, .
seek for civilization deliyeranoe, safety, home AM
friends We shaped our course south ct easl SUI
Messing that if we were in Canada that would erlh
MS south on the Ottawa or if in the New Tor
Wilderness neither OF Us believed possible
that we should leave il on direct line for water
town We soon found that we could only make
snail like and most laboFious progress
After laboring aboHt tIree-quarters OF a mile W
came upon creek, the general course of which wa
10 the nortwc st. but exceedingly tortuous. Here W
found rude wooden trap used for catching martens
little clearing, with indications OF fire lit som
time past and a half barrel, with the marks ' Mes
PorkLP. M.-SIontreaLr This apprised US that GU
ilizcd man had becnupon the spot before us and al:
removed whatever uncertainty we had as to beng
Canada.
4 brief debate decided us to follow up the streai
on its north side it being much easier TO walk IN u
crass and wuicr along the bank than TO crowd ou
i Nw NN.