CHAPTER XIII.
[Sidenote: 2d Balloon-Iris.]
Section 73. At 33 Minutes after II, the Balloon-Shadow was _again_ the Center of a brilliant _Iris_, painted at some Distance round it on Clouds below.
[Sidenote: Bottle filled with _light_ Air.]
74. One of the Pint-Bottles for light Air was prepared (as in Article 14, of Section 12;) and dropped from the Car.
The _Water_ it contained was poured down, to observe the Effects of _Air_ and _Light_ on the Drops.
The Air did _not_ at that Height oppose a Resistance sufficient to break the Stream into _small_ Drops. Nor did they seem to coalesce: remaining, while they continued in Sight, of the same Size; some very large, others less so; and at the same _relative_ Distance, as when they first left the Bottle.
The Colours seemed _stronger_ than usual.
It may be _here_ observed that none of the Bottles were returned; tho’ found, and a Reward promised.
The Country People, as soon as they saw a Bottle; imagining it must contain some Liquor, immediately contrived to open it: by which Procedure, the Intention of the Experiment was frustrated.
The Bottles, which are _dangerous_ Companions even without Liquor, shoud, notwithstanding, be left in the Car: at least till the Time of _landing_ the Balloon.
[Sidenote: Burton and Flint seen at the _first_ rising.]
75. While the Balloon was _first_ rising; a gentle Motion of the lower Current of Air carried it immediately towards the Sea. (Section 46.)
At which Time, the Aironaut by a _Glance_ discovered the Mouth of the River Dee, four and five Miles wide, _yawning before him_: the Prospect extending to the Sea, as far as the _Smoke_ from the Lead-Works near a Place called Flint on the Welch Coast; and to Burton-Head on the Wirral Side; distant ten Miles from Chester.
He has since been informed; that the Balloon seemed to +rest+, for a few Minutes, in the Air: and then _return slowly_ over Chester.
[Sidenote: Balloon in a _quiescent_ Bed of Air.]
It is therefore more than probable, that as the Balloon continued to ascend; it was _becalmed_ in a _quiescent Stratum_ or Bed of the Atmosphere, which existed for a certain Depth or Thickness, between the lower and upper Current: and that the Direction of the Balloon was changed; the Instant it arrived within the Influence of the _upper_ Current.
[Sidenote: Of _rowing_ the Balloon to any Point of the Compass.]
Consequently, with a proper Apparatus to ascend and descend _at Will_, without Loss of Gass or Ballast; the Balloon woud have remained suspended _invariably_ at the same Height, and _vertically_ over the same Spot of Earth: or, with propulsive Machinery; might, on the same Level, have been _rowed_ to any Point of the Compass.
[Sidenote: The Balloon, influenced on its Approach towards _Water_.]
76. In passing _only_ +across+ Trafford Meadows, three Miles from Chester; the Balloon lost its usual progressive Motion over the Country: for more than a Quarter of an Hour, following the Course of the River Goway to the West North-West, and towards the Sea, as at Chester: turning gently backwards and forwards round its own Axis, near the Villages of Great and Little Barrow: and making Curves over the Meadows, whose Breadth at those Places was about a Mile.
[Sidenote: Its Progress marked.]
The Balloon then returned into its former Direction: inclining, _again_, towards a Brook and Meadow near Alvanley: passed Eastward a little to the left of Manley (_white_) Mill: crossed the Forest of Delamere, and Crag of Helsbye, (about twice the Height of Shooter’s Hill, near London;) whose lofty Summit was _apparently_ reduced to a common Level with the Valley made by the River Wever, and with the adjacent Sea Marsh. Nor coud it have been distinguished by a Stranger, as an _Eminence_.
[Sidenote: Hills and Vallies on a Level.]
Indeed, the Wood near Kingsley, which grows on a sloping Ground, skirting the Hill, and _from_ the Sun, put on a _dusky_ Hue; and the Tops of the Trees a _darker Green_: this Difference of _Colour_, conveyed the _faint Resemblance_ of a rising +Slope+. A _real_ Knowledge of the Country probably contributed to aid the Imagination in this Distinction.
Note: the Print representing a View of the Balloon over _Helsbye Crag_, refers to a Scene in the above Chapter.