St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-10-25


sight for the most part until half past /
o'clock. A> we assembled tIIrnu"h the
lower stratum of clouds and through the
space above it. we noted 10y the com
pass that we were taking Il northeast
coruSr. but ~ We hcrnnr ruvrlnped III
the murky mass of the >crrud stratum.
which WAS about Il Thousand feet thick
and begun 1t an altitude of about a
mile. we were wholly 1T Il loss to de
tcrminc the iii cction in which we were
/ travelling. From below and again from
above. these clouds appeared dark.
though while we Ncir within their
folds they had Il dim. Nhiti~iI appral
ancr. strain our eyes ~ We would We
cnild not pIcrc" tine misty cutain. Int.
/ thermometer. which had shown Il tcIm-
pclaturc of 6- degrees upon the ground.
had gradually fallen to Il degrees inst
below the second stratum of clouds.
and 10 II degrees amid the clnud>
. AMONG TIE WHITE No; NTAI\ rEAk>.
We had been sailing through the
clouds at Il varying height ui nun, Il
mile and Il quarter Ia u mile and and :,
half and two miles. entirely unconscious
of our couIN,. or the Vciocity with which
We We're travelling for even the com
pass cojIld only Indicate the different
/ points While We seemed to he HuN iH1
not at all when We emerged from the
clouds and found ourselves in close
/ proximity tn Il bare mountain peak.
We were not mnrrt han1hrc or four hun
drrd feet above il. and - We continued
to descend slowly We soon found one ur
two nri"hb"rim% peaks towering above
an NJ A /, i t..l
chl>m. ia the rcrr>>t.> of which We could
hear the gentle music at the cascade.
The bleak mountain tops. "Vcr>prcad
10y Il black. inkl pail. lowered up in
awful grandeur. II Wa> only quarter
past ) o'clock. but the dense aud murLl
clouds threw an almost midnight black
ness over the scene. y few hand~tull
of sand were thrrwn out the first that
had been expended and the balloon
turned and rose again above the peaks.
Our progress at this time MAS very rap
id. ami we had passed over several of
the submits III Il hrIctrr space of time
than it takes 10 rrcnId the fact. he
strange and unfamiliar appearance of
tine several peaks when Viewed from
above. coupled With the fact that both
our course and speed had been wholly
hidden from IT,. mi>lcd u> a. 1" our
true position. Although We had left
Plymouth only - minutes before. ~"
were already sailing over Mounts CLAY.
jefferson and Adams. 10 miles distant
from III mouth in an all line. While
in the clouds We had sailed over prmi-
geWa>>tt mountain. just west ut Mount
/ Carrigan. " illcN MuuntaiII. and thence
across the " hitc Mountain notch not
far above the Wiley house. and um
over Mounts Webster. .Iack>nn. elm
ton. Pleasant. franklin. Clay. jefferson
/ and .A,lams. Mounts Monroe. Wash
ingtnn aud Madison were left It little
distance To- the east. and with those
three exceptions We had PASSED over
every peak "t the White Mountain
range proper. Although | had been
upon the summit at "NcI'N peak east "f
the. W hitc Mountain l,ntrh save Mounts =
/ Webster and Madison. ! failed tn rec
/ ngui/, any of those Wr >aN. until sui
/ >cVucnt dcN clupnicIt> showed uuI
couI>, to have been ~ above. u cir-
cum>tImcc we'll cIiuuyh accounted fui
in the changed and unfamiliar appear
alIcc "t every thing when seen above.
Mount Washington WIS yelled lit clnud~
a> We descended from Il much higher I'll
titudc bat Il snort distance unrth,;c>t ni
it. and sailed ON over Clay. jefferson
and Adams. and from the latter We
looked ACROSS the great gulf lust in time
Ia see its cone dimll appearing among
the mi>t> which were Tor the moment
partially di>prllcd. Nome of the. huild-
in">. however. were 10 Ice di>criiIcd.
and il WAS net until We mad crossed ia,
valley of the Nudr"~c"ggiu and ..p
pl"arhrd Lake m"d%"@. fli t"%"nd
that the real truth "t "lu position
dINn"d upon H..
-r\I;rII\.. iI-.. nyI-I,.
we '''''' '''''''"'''" u, '''' ''''I'' 200
We Nr'' "Pl'"''"i',| Nv '" i"I''''
~ >'''' ,''''' '''' "''' w
il''' !" '''''t> ''">>,' ''i' >"ii'N Z" '"'
-N""'">'"@@Ia. ana mon "h'" w." "r''
i,u,u, nt- lake. I,,n;,,l did v, rc.Iil,
the t'"r state "i the case. II "a~ airA
minutes l">l - "ti"'h Nh'l We hP
pr"arh'd Lax" niha%"%. and the dcn>'
.'lnu"> hl'i"f !, :" "lih 'il"' hah "i'I-
cHIt\ III reading the barometer dn'
Thermometers. In t.trt "Hr last rcad-
img> were taken at >lN minutes past I
ocl"ck. Lake | mhag"% WAS readily
recognized on account of shape. and We
began I" realize thai Ne were hPpl"d"I-
lng the great Imh"k"n wilderness q"
northern Maine. with II" prospect "
- meeting with Il single human hahtn
tI"n short "t the line OF settlements "l
the southeastern shore "l the @nli "i -
Lawrence. Nv" or three hundred mile
below 'luther. on possibly the Stag
. Cling MadaWa>ka settlements. along lh'
) horder> of Maine and northern New
BrunSW lrk. i'll the event of the hHll0rl