The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1874-10-09
PerilOus BaIlOOning.

The recent balloon voyage of M. Durouf
and his wife proves to have been one ofthe
most perilous recorded in the history of ae-
rial navigation. The daring aeronauts left
Calais Oh Monday evening, the 31st of Au-
gust, and were not heard ofuntil the Fri.
day following, when they were landed at
Grimsby, on the east coast of England, from
fishing smack The dangers which befel
them in the meantime are thus described
by M. Durouf himself
"Not knowing the distance I was from
the nearest land, and fearful of being driv-
en- by another current to the northward,
resolved to try to lower myself to a YES
sci. perceived many of all sizes below
me, being then mile high. man9uvred
so as to get down, and towards 8 o'clock
succeeded.
~ noticed that the smallest of the YES
sells, fishing smack, manGuvred and tried
to cross my path. The sea was very
rough indeed. Without any fear, opened
the valve and descended until the ropes
were trailing in the water, and in an in
slant we were past the vessel. The crew OF
| the smack, however, launched their small
boat. and two men rowed it towards us. II
| was then o'clock, and seeing the good
will of the fishermen to come to help us,
re-. sl&ed to stop the speed of the balloon
by springing TIT? valve until the car filled
with water and this would give A.o.o ~
sistance to the progress of the balloon.
However, when I turHed ayound | could
not see the vessel. From time to time
tremendous waves broke upon the balloon,
covering us with water, but still the bal
loon resisted, and my fear then was that the
balloon might burst, in which case we
should assuredly have been lost. At 7
o'clock we again sighted the smack on the
horizon, and saw that she was pursuing u.s.
and by degrees we noticed that she came
closer to us. The cold was very severe,
and our limbs were becoming benumbed !;
our strength was failing us, and the hope
of being oycrtaken by the smack was the
only thing that gave strength to our arms
to hold on. My wife's limbs were bcnumb-
ed, and at each jerk Of the balloon she be-
came weaker and weaker. The smack con-
tinued to approach W, and was now with
in $50 yards. Ipointed it out to my wife,
and that renewed her courage. What was
more trying was being obliged to hold her
in my arms. The smack was then very
near us, and raised myself on the ropes
and saluted our sailors. They saw us and
launched their boat, being about 200 yards
ahead of US.
The small boat was manned by the mas
ter Civilian Oxley) and the mate. They
came nearer to the car and took hold of
the rope. At this time their boat was
nearly sinking on account Of the strong
jerks of the balloon, but they did not lose
courage, and, taking hold of my wife, who
was like corpse, dragged her as best they
could into their boat l saw the danger
they were in, and l began to cut the ropes
that were following the balloon. had cut
the greater part of them when l was dash
ed against the boat, and let myself fall into
it. l, like my wife, lay helpless at the bot
tom of the boat. The men let go the
ropes of the car, and the balloon rushed off
with a mighty speed towards Norway.
The boat returned to the smack and we
were put on board aud taken into the cab
in, where good fire did not fail to bring
US round"