Part 11

The difficulty of finding the balloon then presented itself to our minds, and we looked like the veriest impostors when we were rather sharply interrogated as to where the property was situated.

As the only hope of finding it was by catching the disagreeable odour of the gas, I volunteered myself to go forth like a hound and endeavour to find it by the assistance of the nasal organ.

I was wandering almost in despair when I caught the aroma, or whatever else one may style it, and cried out lustily, “Here it is.” The searching party came up in a trot, and when once the Baron ascertained the truthfulness of our statements, he shook hands warmly and escorted us to the Hall, where we were treated with every kindness, and had beds provided, and a carriage in the morning, until we came to a place where extra post was to be met with.

Several other ascents were made in Berlin before I left, but being anxious to visit Prague I made the best of my way thither while the summer was yet in its prime, and after exhibiting the “Sylph” first of all partially filled with atmospheric air I then arranged an ascent, and having in that town a good friend in the person of Herr Leonhart, a gentleman very fond of aërostation who had ascended with me before, all went swimmingly, and my first appearance before a Bohemian assemblage was made on the 13th of July, when we ascended and travelled forty miles in two hours.

Two or three other ascents took place in Prague before I left, but on reaching Vienna I was taken ill, and before I recovered it became too late to avail myself of the Emperor’s hint to visit the Prater.

My next movements were directed to Leipsig, where I intended to do business during the great October fair.

My reputation, such as it was, preceded me, for I found the newspapers already welcoming my arrival, and speaking of my numerous ascents in Germany in a liberal and encouraging tone.

The gas-works’ yard was again the only available place to get the balloon filled in quickly.

Leipsig, after the business fair, wears a very animated appearance. About 80,000 strangers visited the town at this time, and everything good and legitimate in the way of art and science is sure to meet with its reward.

The date of my first experiment at the gas-works was September 28th. Dr. v. Keller, an inhabitant of the town, and a scientific man, was my first patron; he wrote an excellent account of what he saw and felt, in one of the local newspapers, and this had the effect of causing others to ascend in the several journeys I made afterwards.

On the second occasion, Dr. William Hamm joined me, and subsequently Herr Andra, Herr Flinsch, and Herr Gerber, were passengers.

Before I left, an amusing novelty came off at the Great Hall, in the shape of a balloon concert.

The “Sylph” was about two-thirds inflated with a wind machine in the centre of the Hall, and a regular band, headed by myself, entered through the neck valve, one by one, and then played a number of tunes to the delight of a large company.

This was my last undertaking in the year 1851, after which, in order to comply with the earnest wishes of my wife, whose health was delicate, and who craved for Old England, I bade adieu to Germany, and resolved to pursue ballooning in the country of my birth, notwithstanding the discouraging taunts of a few of my relations.

1852.

The votaries of ballooning, like the followers of any other pursuit, have their mutual jealousies. The renowned Mr. C. Green was, at the above date, gradually relinquishing aëronautic duties. Age was steadily creeping upon the veteran, and ambition was prompting one or two others to prove themselves competitors and scientific successors. Lieutenant Gale had lost his life after ascending from Bordeaux, and his patron, Mr. Goulston, had determined to follow aërostation enthusiastically. This latter gentleman was not what the public would style a mere professional balloonist, but an aspirant, who was well to do in the world as a floor-cloth manufacturer. On returning from the continent, I gave Mr. Goulston a friendly call, as we had more than once been up together, and much enjoyed a chat about our favourite study. I then learnt that it was his intention to make ascents from Cremorne Gardens, as well as other places, and that the probability being that I should go abroad again, he imagined that we should not oppose each other.

I distinctly remember objecting to this idea as to my own movements, stating as a reason that I had myself some tempting offers to ascend in and about the Metropolis. I promised, moreover, if he was determined to take the West, that I would try my fortune in the East of London.

Mr. Goulston was the proprietor of the balloon “La Normandie,” and he had just built a new one of smaller capacity, which was about to make its maiden ascent in the forthcoming Whitsun holidays, from Belle Vue Gardens, Manchester.

Strange to say, the very first attempt proved fatal. Mr. Goulston, who ascended in a strong wind was dashed against some stone walls, and lost his life.

He had, it appeared, a very imperfect grapnel for stopping the balloon, but whether he attempted to get out of the car, or not, could hardly be ascertained, although he was known to have determined upon some scheme by which he thought it possible to let the balloon go to the mercy of the wind, whilst endeavouring to save himself by springing from the car.

This untoward beginning was the means of bringing the ill-fated balloon into my notice very shortly after this sad event.

Mr. Goulston had engaged to use it at Cremorne Gardens; intimations of an intended ascent had been published in the newspapers, and I was immediately applied to for an ascent with my own balloon in the place of Mr. Goulston who was killed.

Mr. Simpson, the lessee, then informed me that Mrs. Goulston had applied to him to purchase the balloons, but he would be glad to have my judgement as to the value and construction of the smaller balloon, in which the aëronaut had lost his life.

On examination, I found it to be of good make and material, and when I was asked if I would ascend in it, I unhesitatingly replied: “Certainly, provided I use my own grapnel and ropes.”

After I had made a few trips with it, the accident could no longer be attributed to imperfections in the aërial machine, and it was purchased by Mr. Simpson, and named the “Prince of Wales.” It thus happened, most unexpectedly on my part, that the West-end gardens, as well as those in the East, were at my command.

Having overcome the objection, which owing to family scruples I had formerly felt, to appear professionally in England, I made up my mind, that having once done so, I would go ahead, and make as many ascents as possible during the season of 1852.

Although it was the year after the Exhibition, and there was not much to be done, as my good advisers supposed, yet I resolved to show that it was possible to make more ascents in one year, than had been made by several aëronauts, during the past three or four seasons.

I made arrangements, therefore, to ascend from the New Globe Gardens, Mile End Road, not far from the site of the People’s Palace, also from the Eagle Establishment, City Road, and from the new grounds, which had just been started at North Woolwich, under the name of the Pavilion Gardens.

What with Cremorne and the above named localities, I ascended three or four times in a week, and at the termination of 1852, added thirty-six voyages to my former ascents, which dated in rapid succession from my first as an amateur in the year 1844.

There was one peculiarity about the ballooning at North Woolwich, which caused a fund of amusement on the Thames and the garden esplanade; this consisted in crossing over from the gas-works at Woolwich, the car being fastened in a ferry boat with a steam-tug ahead, which towed the balloon across the river to the Pavilion Gardens.

On one occasion I was engaged somewhere else, when the directors particularly wanted an ascent. I recommended an aëronaut with whom I had long been acquainted, and the way he acknowledged my kindness was by finding fault with the manner I moved my balloon, offering at the same time to show the real and scientific style of doing it properly. But this aëronaut lost his balloon in the attempt, it bounded away out of control, burst in the air, and came down a wreck.

My concluding ascents in 1852 took place at Glasgow. Mr. Maxwell, my _compagnon de voyage_ on the second ascension on October 14th 1852, confirms the account descriptive of our own feelings, and which is a very fair representation of other people’s when they go up in a balloon. A few extracts will be useful, as they apply generally to the subject.

“Before taking a seat in the car for the first time, imagination is busy picturing the scenes and sensations which belong to an aërial voyage. However great one’s courage may be, there are always little fears as to personal safety, and it is owing to this feeling before starting, that the first great impression is made on the mind, when the traveller finds, on rising, that the transition is not accompanied by any of those disagreeable emotions which most persons are apt to connect with that mode of travelling. As the balloon leaves the ground, two-fold astonishment seizes the mind, first--as to the vastness and splendour of the view, secondly--that the effect produced in looking down is not what would be supposed, judging from lofty surveys on the tops of high buildings, in fact, fear is lost in admiration, and there is a joyous consciousness of safety, which favours calm observation.

“The earth presented to our view an immense concave surface, that part immediately beneath being the deepest, this variegated picture may be compared to a map. A certain degree of confusion, however, attends one’s early efforts to recognise particular localities, and here it was that the aëronaut surprised me by the facility with which he pointed out the leading features of Glasgow, although they were new to him.

“First he directed attention to the Clyde, pointing out the different ship-building yards, and mentioning the names of the proprietors. Anon he took me round the squares, along the streets, up to the railway station, and off to the distant country. I was bold enough to inquire how it was Mr. C---- was enabled to trace Glasgow and its surroundings with such accuracy, having made only one ascent previously. ‘I will tell you,’ he replied, ‘I always make it my business before ascending, to acquire every possible information as to a strange locality, much is to be obtained from local maps, &c., but more from personal observations as to public buildings, thoroughfares, roads, and other conspicuous objects, which once seen, familiarise themselves again in the bird’s-eye view, and thereby lead to detection.’

“So model-like and regular was the face of the city, that it was difficult to reconcile the belief that there, beneath, lay the thrifty, solid-built, populous port of Glasgow.

“A view from on high is certainly a great leveller of human distinction--the contrast of a splendid residence with a humble dwelling is not very great when viewed from the range of the clouds, nor do lofty spires, hallowed walls, or public monuments, command, however much they deserve, that respect which they are accustomed to receive below. Everything is reduced to the smallest possible dimensions, preserving, notwithstanding, distinctness of form and outline.”

We descended at the village of Cryston; Robert Kaye, Esq., of Mill Brae, was present, rendering material assistance, and invited us to take refreshment at his house.

In a third trip from Glasgow, in which Mr. Maxwell again accompanied me, Duncan McIntyre was initiated into the enjoyments of ballooning; a few extracts of his own version of the scene will sufficiently bring it within view.

“After having witnessed the ascents made by Mr. H. Coxwell on the 9th and 13th of October, I had no hesitation in making arrangements for a trip with him on the 18th instant.

“Almost immediately on leaving, the aëronaut commenced a most entertaining lecture on aërostation, and described graphically, the beautiful scene which gradually opened out to our view.

“The tortuous winding of the Clutha, appeared like a small rivulet, dotted here and there with Liliputian steamers. Dumbarton with its ship-building yards and ancient Castle-Greenock, in the distance, with its forest of shipping, were all seen to great advantage, although on the same dwarfish scale. On ascending still higher, the country, to my inexperienced eye, assumed a somewhat concave appearance, reminding me of the plains of South America, and for miles there was not apparently an eminence of a foot high; but this deceitful appearance was fully explained by our enterprising captain, who pointed out many places and informed us of their height.

“Near to Garscube bridge, Mr. Maxwell left the car, as we wished to go much higher than we had been, and this time the captain took a variety of observations with his instruments, by which he told me of the degrees of cold, and our height in feet, a few of which I put down in my pocket book; for instance, just before we entered a cloud, though I had not observed it overhead, I was requested to button up my coat, as the thermometer had fallen fourteen degrees, and we were three-quarters of a mile high, and in another minute we should enter a cloud, and there it would be ten degrees colder still. I remember he said we were then more than a mile high.

“Our descent was made in a masterly style about half a mile west of Milngaire. It is worthy of remark that this is the same field in which Mr. Sadler, twenty-nine years ago, made his descent, and still more remarkable, it was the same man who caught the rope of Mr. Sadler’s balloon, who performed a similar service for us.”

After the three ascents already recorded, I made one more in conclusion, and it is no vain exaggeration to assert, that my first season in London, besides my numerous ascents previously as an amateur, did actually comprise a greater number of trips than any three balloonists had made, even in the preceding exhibition year.

1853.

During the summer months I maintained the interest in aërostatics by numerous voyages, and although they did not exceed twenty-two in number, still they furnished fresh experiences, and enabled me to take up more than fifty passengers.

One of the most remarkable was an ascent from the New Globe Pleasure Grounds, Mile End Road. The date fixed for the fête was October 16th, but it was a wet and windy morning, which caused postponement notices to be got out, but no sooner were they delivered into the hands of the bill-sticker and his assistants, than a gleam of sunshine shot forth, and the drift of the clouds betokened a favourable break, while a low, but steady, barometer, together with a slight shift in the wind, induced all parties interested to suspend movements until a consultation had been held, as to what was to be the order of the day. The workmen were at their posts ready to proceed, the foreman of the gas-works was awaiting the word to turn on. My own assistant stood by the balloon, anxious to unfold at a moment’s notice.

In the Board Room were myself, the gas-engineer, and the proprietor of the gardens in earnest discussion, as to whether or not it was too late to fill the balloon. Extra pressure was promised, and a little pressure of another sort was put on me, so that the decision was to proceed.

Biscuits and a hasty glass of sherry were served, when out we all sallied into the grounds, which were now steaming from the rarefaction caused by the sun, which had burst forth with an unmistakable intention of shining uninterruptedly until sunset.

I having raised my hand to go on, the “Sylph” was brought forth, the tube was connected with all available speed, and in less than an hour we presented a bold aspect; it quickly buzzed abroad that the balloon was filling, and that, despite rain and wind, the ascent would be made. The bills, of course, were not posted.

When six o’clock struck, and several watches were examined, numerous were the shakes of the heads as to the state of the balloon; it was not more than half full, and as it rolled and flopped about in the high wind, everyone saw that it was not in a fit state to ascend, and less still, to offer a compact resistance to the freshening gusts. Another half hour’s flow turned the tide in its favour, and produced the required ascending power, but there was nothing to spare, and when I let go the last connecting cord, a violent puff of wind caught the balloon sideways, driving it rather down than up, and although two bags of sand were discharged, it still dashed along at a frightful pace, when every beholder saw that a stack of chimnies and the car must inevitably clash; and so they did--but I had thrown myself into position just previous to the moment of contact, and, although the bricks and mortar were hurled downwards, the “Sylph” shot clear away and mounted gaily to an immense elevation, so that by the time I was over the Houses of Parliament, the wind being east, I found my barometer had fallen five inches, and that temperature had decreased just nineteen degrees, by which I knew that I should continue an upward movement for at least another six thousand feet, owing to the space left for expansion, unless I confined the balloon to the same level by the use of the valve. As I had no object in going very high, I attempted with the cord a slight check, but neither the customary pull nor an extra tug would open the valve. It then struck me that in the hurry of making a beginning my assistant had allowed a fold to form itself in the silk, which prevented the valve-shutters from opening, on looking up through the neck internally, I observed that this was the case, so I determined to allow the balloon to rise and come down without any interference on my part, but in so doing I had to go nearly as far as Basingstoke, before a downward inclination took place.

Soon after the first dip, I noticed a splendid meteor, which was below the level of the car, and apparently about six hundred feet distant--it was blue and yellow, moving rapidly in a north-easterly direction and became extinguished without noise or sparks.

It is just possible that the apparent closeness of this meteor was illusory, and that the real distance was very many miles; its size was half that of the moon, and I could not but feel that if such another visitor were to cross my path, the end of the “Sylph” and its master would be at hand.

The range of temperature was 35°, it being 54° at starting, and 19° at the greatest elevation, viz, two and a half miles.

The car touched the earth soon after 8 o’clock, but it was dark, and no signs of habitation were at hand; I shouted lustily to see if any labourers were within hail, but no one appeared to hear me, or see the balloon. Being quite out of my latitude and longitude, I was naturally curious to ascertain my whereabouts.

I resolved upon a last effort, and having charged my lungs fully I cried out “Air balloon,” some half-dozen times, but getting no encouragement by a response I made up my mind to settle down in the car, and do the best I could to procure rest.

But there were matters requiring immediate attention and of greater importance than sleep, the first was the reduction of the “Sylph” in point of bulk; now it is not exactly an easy matter to get all the gas out of a balloon single-handed; when the valve drops to the ground the gas will not escape unless it is pressed out by men holding down the network, and, as I had no such assistance, I got thus far and no farther; the wind, however, had abated, so that my silken companion presented very much the appearance of a whale.

I drew some part of the loose folds over the car, and then remembered the kind attention of Mr. Gardner, the lessee of the Gardens, who always made up for me something to comfort the inner man before I ascended. This time there was a beef sandwich with a liberal supply of mustard and pepper, but it was not too hot, nor was the pocket pistol, containing brown brandy and water, at all dangerous, for it was rather needed, the cold weather aloft having chilled one somewhat; whilst good Mr. Gardner’s basket, and its truly acceptable contents, produced a glow of gratitude which prompted me, the moment I had unscrewed the flask, to drink to his long life and happiness. I did so twice, and after having taxed the reserve sandwich I felt myself a fresher and more thoughtful man.

The next question was, whether it would be well to turn in where I was for the night, or strike out by the nearest road for assistance.

There would be no harm, I thought, in taking a short reconnoitre as far as the boundaries of the field I was in possession of; it being dark, I could only by close inspection ascertain how the ground lay.

At the further extremity I came upon a gate and a bye lane; now if I pursued this, wouldn’t it lead to a farm house? And if I placed a stone, or, as I did, a chalk and flint opposite the gate in the centre of the lane, shouldn’t I be able to see it on my return?

The argument was conclusive, I struck out in a sanguine spirit, and after a quarter of an hour’s cautious walking came to a farm with a light in one window; bravo! there was a yard wall surrounding the premises, but the stile was visible, and I mounted step after step, determined to knock or ring them up.

But gracious goodness! what dark object was that springing at my throat with a fierce growl?

A bounding, unchained, Newfoundland dog had never entered my dreams.

I confess to being both surprised and alarmed, and to having beat, or attempted to do so, one of the most expeditious retreats on record. If recollection serves me correctly I fairly bolted, but whether I stopped before the flint stone tripped me up or not I cannot say.

Halting at the outside of the gate, and seizing the big flint in my right hand, I breathed more freely, and was not displeased when I ascertained that I had no followers.

Having satisfied myself that the balloon was more quiet than the hound, discretion preached an out-door discourse as to being the better part of valour, and I assented by making up my mind to experimentalise with sleep. A ballast bag or two were now filled with hedge-row gatherings to be used as pillows.