The Hawaiian gazette., 1868-07-29

One 6all day in aatauan. Just amer neoa,
= balloon rose in the air AZ the foot Of
elects Hills, 90 the western edge of the
great central plata Of England. Il was
inflated with the hghtest Of gases which
chemical skin could produce. II roso With
Amazing veloeity. A mile up, and il en-
tered stralncs Of clouds more than
thousand feet thick. Emerging from this.
the saa Shone brightly upon the alrship;
the sky overhead Was Of the deepest and
pcres, blue; and below lay eloGd-land-an
Unreasonable expanSs Of cloud, whose sur
face looked Is Sold As that Of the earth,
now wholly lost 10 yiew. lofy mountains.
and deep. dark rsvines appeared below.
: The peaks and sides Of these eloud-mount-
aims next the sun gIittered Ike snow, but
cast shadows Is black IS If they were solid
rock.
Up russ the balloon with tremendous
velocity, -Four miles above the earth, A
pxeoa was let loose il dropped down
/ through the air as though il bad been a
T . Stoue. The air was too thin 10 enable
[ it 10 fiy. 1t was Is If bark. laden 20 the
deck. were 10 pass from the heavy waters
I Of the open sea ieto an inland unSline
hke-the bark would sink at once in the
thinner water. Up up, still higher,
The spectrum. when exposed TO the sun,
showed marveloGsly clear. Lines appeared
which are invisible in the denSer atmoS-
phere on the sarths surface. but Is the
car swung ro1nd in its grating upward
fight, the moment the direct rays Of the
sun passed Cd. the prism was no spectrum
at all. The air Was So pure, 50 free from
the comparatively solid aqueous matter
that there was no reflected light Ii was
( too thin to retain or reflect any portion Of
the rays which fell upon it.
And what 4 profound silence, The
heights Of the sky were Is still as the
deepest depths Of the ocean. where. as was
found during the search for the lost At
hntic cable, the fine mud lies as unSurred
[ frpu year to year Is the dust which impsr-
/ eepubly gathers on the furniture in de-
serted house. No sound. no hfe-ouly
the bright sunshine falling through a sky
which it could not warm. Up five miles
above the earth-highsr than the Inacessi-
bic summit Of ChimbOrazo or Dewansiri.
Despite the sunshine, everything treezes.
The air grows too thin to supper life even
for few inmates.
Two meu are in that adventurous bal-
loon-the one steering the air-ship. the
other watching the scientific Instruments
and recording them with rapldity born
Of long practice Suddenly, rs the latter
looks at his instruments. his sight grows
dim; be takes 4 lens to help his sight, and
can only mark from the falling barometer
that they are still rising rapidly. A flask
Of brandy lies within a foot Of him; he
tries 10 reach it, but his arms refuse TO
obey his will He tries to call to his COM
raie. who has gone into the ung abOve-a
whisper in that deep stiffness Would suf-
fee. but no sound comes from his lipS-hs
Is VoicsleSs. His head droOps on his
shoulder; with an effort he raises lit
falls on the other shoulder Once more,
with reSolute effort he raises tit falls
backward For 8 moment be sees the
figure Of his eomrade in the ring above,
then sensation fails hiul-he lies hack IN
conscious
Some minutes pass, the balloon still
risiug upward Seven miles above the
earthI The stsersman comes down into
Shs ear, and sees bis eomrsde in 4 sw0On,
and feels his own senses falling him He
saw at once that life or death hung upon
few moments. The balloon was still rising
rapidly; 1t must be made 10 descend at
once, or they ars both dead men He
seized, or tired TO seize, valve, IN order
to Ups1 IT. and let out i portion Of the IN
iatiug gas HIS hands are purple with the
intense eold-they are paralyzsd, they
viii not respond 10 his will
II was = fearful moment In another
minute, II their upward fight. he would
be as senselsss as his eomrade- But he
was bold, selfpOsseSssd man, trained IN
4 hundred balloon asesnts. and ready for
any emergency. He seized the valve with
his teeth 1t opened little, once, twice,
thrice Then the sw0Oued uarksman
heard Z y1iee calling him, Come, take an
ObssrvstlOu-try He heard as in 3
dream. bat could neither see nor move.
Again be heard IN irmer and more COM
handing tones, Take IN observation
now, then, do try He returned to con-
seriousness, and saw the steersman stand
ing before him He looked at his instru-
meuts; they must have been nearly eight
niles Up bat nov the barumeteF vas rising
rapidly = the balloon was descending
Brandy vas used The eruHaHts revived
They had been higher above the earth
than mortal nan or any living thing had
ever bes1 before But now they we're
safe
Such are the Perils that science demands
Of her v0taries- and which they encounter
brzvsly and eheerfuIly- Such was the
memorable balloon ascension Of COxEslI
and Cashier feal Wolverhampt0n, on the
6Jh q SepteGber. l551-