New-York tribune., 1905-06-11
CAPTURED By S4VAGES.
Thrilling Experience of an 44eronaat
scith South african NatiUes.

have been In the business" said T. s. Baio"ii''
the famous airship man." in "The St houi'
,-,ons-nenocrat~ but undoubtedly the most
remarkable of all was that mao lh S0
Africa about twelve years ago. On tIis oo0a =
] made an ascent from the centre OF d 0i'
community, with wealth. refinement anu hi.'1
err nrorress evidenced on every side' ana a
few hours later was the captive oi
ssyages in the heart of wilderness coihp
.,vslx, rar,ote from all signs of white mahhliu-
..Tmnesiatelv following my second SUCCESSFUL
r,,-onean tour on which 1 made ascelisioiiS Ia
every large city on the continent VIC"
raped BY. q firm of enterprising pro1io'e'
a series of balloon ascensions anu p
iunons in South Africa, which at thAI 'ine w
booroing along on the crest OF ""fe oA ~
nrecedented prosperity, and the hna1i0-
turns from such amusement Veh'ute o 80
-..o-,,ised to be large. Ny first stop was al Cape
az Durham and the third Jo-
,,.,nesburg. In the first two towns my as0e"
-. ars parachute Jumps passed on "l'iou'
-,+btr, extraordinary occurring, put from INC
.s,nins of nv attempts johannesburg VIC"
-,.rsts ,Ie Jonah to me. On the oaS VI -'
advertised performance my balloon was %
=, ,,4ured either by accident OF oesisii' -.
o,,16 learn which, a few hours peiole ~
-. >o- tbe ascension. that was oonseo :"
o. Z, until the next day In oroer 10 et'e -
-, :. wise to go UP in the balloon OWING ~
+o1,ora hle weather conditions, ana lie 81
o-5 failure caused much sarcasuo pun
1--,.,t as TO the possibility Of my ever goAls
= a.. T CANA out with announcement 'iAe
sa,,orv;n- morning that ascension Wouiu 10
-osda st 8 o'clock in the afternoon OF Inal u@'
,,nder any circumstances. 1t Is never Oh -
t,rsIv wise thing to do. making such ~
nouncement as that. but my profeSsi"NaA - -
- .-o,,sed. and 1 determined TO go up even
tbough the possibility Of being dasheo 20 'H0
r-rornd by high winds was clearly aPp@1 1e'
"a heavy rain prevailed during lne NV ms
but about 1 o'clock this ceased 'housN -,
,,,osnberio conditions seemed TO presase ahotheF
-. As tba time drew near for the ascension
a., o,,.,ool, was most discouraging for sue
,ass4,,l trim. but I had meant every WORD OF my
announeement and resolved to go up A.
8 o'clock q heavy storm was unooupLeuIS. S..n5 .al
,,tnant but as the hands OF une CloCh po4tteS
- fha hour swung into the baShel anu petVA @
81 immense throng the ropes were cut anu
.l7o+ IN into the air. I went up IKE d foCAot
Cor about 500 feet where the balloon was causnI s
- - St-ooe MINER current and began TO san
,,orfbusrd at a rate of probably twenty LiAoo
an hour To make the descent IN ABOUT Ten Vi
6fteen minutes had been my INTENTION ouI pe
60 I was fully aware Of il the swift darkness
of a South African storm had spread over tLie
earth and In the grasp OF a preeZe o4"I-lie Joe
along about fifty miles an hour was poliIG'
yhither knew not, and in the absolute dark
ness which prevailed unable to attempt land
ing I could not tell what was underneath Lie,
forest or plain and it was better TO ride the
storm than take the chances OF being oaSheo
TO death In q thick forest
Could NOT TELL WHERE HE WAS.
For several hours the storm RACED, Just now
long do not know, for my watch had lnaqFeI-
tently been left behind. Night BLENDED with e tne
darkness Of the storm. SO that when the VINO
began to abate was in just as bad a posluo1
as before In what direction l had gone aia
not know. / knew. that L had been carrleu
,lortbward before the storm proper had come
up. but whether that course had been main
tanned by the wind. had no means Whatever
of knowing / might have been swerVed and
blown out over the ocean toward Madagascar;
1 might have been carried several hundred miles
south toward Cape Town; any of these things
We're possible, though I clung to the belief that
my direction had been northerly 1 estimated
the height of the balloon at about 800 feet
when the heavy winds subsided, and as soon
the conditions were more favorable. began
a cautious descent, not with the intention Of
making landing, but to get down sufficiently
far to ascertain definitely If / really were still
over land. After going down probably 1000
feet I checked the descent and able to
mark a moist coolness in the atmosphere but
whether this meant sea or forest couldn't tell.
1t was nerve racbing situation: riding along
at q rate OF about fifteen twenty miles an
hour in darkness so opaque that I seemed to
be in the centre of a black lined room without
the slightest knowledge of my wherea bouts or
the direction in which was going. If 1 were
over land, as long as 1t was level 1 was all
right but II l encountered any sudden eleva-
lions the chances were I'd be dashed to pieces
against the rocks and my fate never known
II were rlOlng out over the little
Quented South Seas my end was surely sealed
10 make matters worse, ,my supply of ballast
was limited. and to cast any considerable uuan-
uty OF II out IN order to rise to a reasonably
SAFE height would have been foolish for I might
have more pressing need of II later when the
6aoyancy OF the gas began to suffer somewhat
The early hours Of that night were such as
never care to experience again
,A3ong ABOUT midnight, as 1 estimated the time
ne clouds which had covered the sky heean tn
break up little, and at last a few male stars
twlndeo taintly in the gaps. 1t was now only
question OF a short time at the most before I
Woo4o al any rate know tri1e about my irnIne-
olate surroundings. In due course the moon
peered out OF its cloud envelope and leaning
over the side Of my basket, was able to descrI,
The tumbled masses of g. thick forest hreatbeS
q sigh OF relief, for there was a chance ar Ieaet
for landing later, and perhaps a safe return
Within couple of hours the moonlight was
strong. and had fine view OF the land or
Father, forest, beneath me- Swiftly l sped over
~ enxlously scanning the prospect for a land
1ns pace Mhere this forest situated l
could not tell. but at the first opportunity 7
resolved to make descent. The opportunity
WASN'T long coming. The forest became more
sparse. and as comparatively open tract of
land revealed itself to me 1 eased off on the
valve little. let out my anchor >rope and in a
4eH minutes was nrnly anchored on a ledge
OF rocks over small stream 1 climbed over
Inc eoge OF the basket and began TO descend the
bsut rope. / hadn't gone far when a sudden
shout was borne TO my ears and looking in fha
6irecton from whence IT came was surprised 70
80 q large nre burning in the forest not
ly u.any nunored feet away, fire whose glare I
ought TO have noticed even though the aaTnos
Here concealed by the overhanging foliage For
moment clung to the rope undecideS what
~ ~Sss the pest course for me TO pursue That
Snss 9erc savases who had kindled that fire 7
teit certain, for perfect babel of sounds came
70 nle from Its direction If I fell into the
nahos OF warlke tribe. what my fate would
6e ~as scarcely a matter for much speculation.
TO continue on down and take chances or IL r.
tng friendly to the whites or to climb bacl, ont
the rope ana attempt q descent elsewhere was
g problem Tor a moment, and then came the de-
elslon TO risk the descent then and there
81 might be just badly off at the pIace of the
aS 6a-a 7