Mexico weekly ledger., 1886-06-17
A PERILOUs TRIP.
Travelling $50 Miles In Thirteen Hours
in a Balloon.
From tbs Richmond eva, Dispatch.

.coA 49, AHO
voyage you ever made" was
OF Prof. King, the zero
aut.
swell, let me see. The most per-
GUS voyage, l think, was Owe the
laine and Canada wilderness from
lew Hampshire down to the Gulf of
It. Lawrence. We assembled from
and rose into the clouds.
l slight rain was falling. Our course
vas northwest, and soon We found
ourselves over n of the White
Mountains, and we had to throw our
ballast to keep from striking it.
After passing over Mount Jefferson
and Mount Adams, Of the White
we plunged into the will
derness, or at least passed over it.
About nightfall, as we were passing
Lake Umbagog, we saw a light on
one of the shores and hallooed. We
seemed to attract attention, but no
response was made. A canoe was
put down in the water, and we could
see it lodging around in the water as
if they were locking for something.
They thought the cry probably came
from somebody out on the water.
We soon left the light behind, and,
nearing the mountain shortly after
ward, we dropped behind it in shelter
and rested for about half an hour.
While we were discussing (by the by,
/ had Luther L.. Holden, of the Bos-
ton Journal, with me, who had been
on some twenty-five voyages before)
what course it would be best to pur-
sue. being in the wilderness and
poorly provided with provisions, we
finally decided to start the balloon
afioat and see if we could cross the
wilderness to some inhabited region
in Canada. Our balloon was only OF
10000 feet capacity and not calcu-
lated, except under such a stress Of
circumstances, to remain afioat sc
long as we would require to cross
the wilderness. We had still, how
ever, a bag and q half of ballast left
which we were economically using
just here there was q natural law t.
be discovered, which was of itsel,
sufficient to carry us through without
the use of ballast. 1t appears tina
at night when a balloon reaches thu
ordinary cloud heights it becomes
poised, and neither rises o fall
without any expenditure of sand o,
ballast, and so will float for hours
provided the balloon is free from
leakage. Well, we ioated on in tn
clouds, which were occasionally owe
our heads, and once or twice durin:
the night we saw the moon through
the riffs, and frequently they woul'
break from beneath US, so that W
would look into ar inky abyss below
The only sounds that came to on
ears we're the occasional cries of
loon and the sound Of falling waters
From our isolated position we coul
constantly hear the latter.
"As hour after hour dragged ted
iously away we sat in the a W
could see each other and kept up
conversation, but we could not te
what time it was except by passin
our fingers over the hands of on
watches. You know it would hay
been dangerous to strike a mattel
Pretty soon a new feature anon
the sounds of the waters struck OF
ears. We wondered what caused th
peculiar noise, and finally conclude
it was the breakers. After passin
over them, all sounds ceased, and "
then knew we were on the brin
deep. As it did not seem to b
policy to pursue the course we wei
in, we brought the balloon dow
slightly and slowly some twenty {
thirty miles from where we had hear
the surf, and deposited our dra;
rope upon the water. This rope
an appendage to the balloon abo'
$50 feet long, and acts as balla
when it rests upon the water. "
kept constant watch, and in Il
course OF en- hour we saw in front
us o black line, which was apparen
ly in q few feet Of US, and we pr
pared to grasp it, but it proved =.
Illusion, and as we watched the o
ject it gradually widened, and SOC
after our drag-rope was Gang
among the tree tops. We then four
that we had run ashore over a fores
presuming it at the time to be
island, but as il turned out the b.
loon had met with a counter cure
of air on the water, which carried
back to the main land. We aga
rested behind a hill, where we lay
the break Of day, when we thr'
out the balance of our ballast a
ross again.
After awhile we discerned n ros
and succeeded in landing within
mile and q half of it. We made
the nearest place-Sayebec-whi
is about $50 miles below Quebec, a
learned that the water we had &C
out on was the Gulf Of st. Lswren
IL we had continued across it
would have reached the coast of
brsdor, $50 miles further on. A.
was, we travelled $50 miles in thirt,
hours. I have been balleoning
many years."