Year: 1870

when suddenly left behind me all signs


of cultivation and started into what


seemed to me to be the beginning of q


district bearing character entirely diff


ferent from anything that had come M.


der my observation before. / knew


must be approaching the Atlantic, and


thought l could make it out in the dis


tance, and it now struck me that possi-


bly, / might have nothing better before


me than that which was now under me.
| had struck the swsmps in the vicinity


of the Santee river, and being overHowed


by the river, they presented for miles


the most uninviting prospect for land
ing / ever bebsld, and my relief can be


imagined when | passed again to the land.


| now allowed the balloon to settle
gradually, with the view of landing as
soon as an opportunity offered. ioated


along for some time, however, before a


clearing came in my way; wien this
came al laot in the shape ofa field walled
around by thick woods. The rate OF
speed at which / was travelling and the
uncertainty with which hight is measured


by the eye in the absence of daylight,


showed me the difficulty of landing under
such circumstances. The attempt was


made, however, but without success, just


touching the tree tops on the opposite
side of the lot had one bag Of ballast


left. It was Immediately thrown over
and kept the balloon out of the trees for


while, but it soon settled again and


brushed the tops of FIVE or six pines,


causing it TO rebound from fifty to an


hundred feet. This brought to view an
other field just ahead, on which were q


number of naked dead pinos. To have


the balloon impaled on one of these is


probably the most dangerous position in


which the eronaut could be placed,
and would much rather have taken


the chances among the green pines,


bu. my ballast was gone. quickly


let 60 my drag-rope, hoping to clear


them by letting the rope drag instead OF
carrying its dead weight in the basket,
but it was not enough, and iu another
moment the Hyperion " dashed broad
side against one of the tallest of these
fendish-looking skeletons, and was fas-
tened in its arms the sudden escape OF all
the gas must, OF course, follow, and what
then2 jumped on to the edge of the bas-
ket, seized the drag rope with my hands,
took turn around one leg, and the next
moment would have been safe upon the
ground; out the gas had escaped ia less
time than it took me to make my preps-
retions, and with crash the rotten limbs
gave way, and the whole mass fell to-
gether. The distance from the ground
must have been from fifty to sixty feet,
and how | escaped with whole bones
seems to me at this moment miracle.
The shock was terrible. | arose imme-
diately to my feet, staggered about like
a drunken man, and yet astonished that
i was able to do so much. soon re-
gained streDgth, however, sufficient to
enable me to reach house near by,
where found some very intelligent col
ored people, who did all that lay in
their power 70 render the assistance |
needed. l suffered much pain during
the night, and did net pretend TO
sleep but by Thursday afternoon had
90 far recovered as to be able to see to
the packing of the wreck of the balloon,
and at seven o'clock that evening
started in a wagon for Gourdin station,
on the Northeastern railroad, fifty miles
from Charleston and eighteen miles from
where l landed. The place of my
descent was in the extreme southeastern
portion of Clarendon county, South Caro-
lima, on the plantation of Mrs. George
B. Colby. Ga Friday morning | took
The cars for Charleston, sud left for Au-
gusta the same evening. The trip in the
balloon was made in about three bours
and a half, and the distance made not
less than one hundred and thirty miles.