CHAPTER XXXIII.

Section 187. The Balloon alighted _near_ the _Middle_ of a +moss+; called +rixton-moss+, a Place he had never before heard of.

[Sidenote: Rixton-Moss, its Magnitude.]

It was a large Tract of unenclosed +wet+ Land, above four Miles long and above two broad, intersected by Ditches or Water Courses, which divide the Moss into Fields of a _moderate_ Size. The whole is surrounded by _tall_ Forest Trees.

This was the _lesser_ of the two dusky Plains, which appeared about the Size of a Handkerchief, and which he wished to decipher, but in vain.

188. Rixton-Moss is situated five Miles North North East of Warrington, and a little to the left of the Turnpike Road leading from thence to Manchester, and 25 from Chester.

[Sidenote: Chat-Moss in Lancashire.]

189. He has since been informed that the other Plain, about the Size of a moderate _Carpet_, was no _less_ a Place than +chat moss+, a vast _Tract_ of barren _wet_ Land, _many_ Miles in Extent.

[Sidenote: The _Rivulet_ seen when _above_, was the River Mersey near Warrington.]

190. Curiosity tempted him to make particular Enquiry concerning the Rivulet over which he hung, _admiring_ the Beauty of its serpentine Meanders; and, from a Description given of his Manouvres over _Lymm_, situated to the East of Warrington, and from a peculiar Curve, appearing in the Form of a _true Lover’s Knot_, when over the Gunpowder Water-Mills, he was convinced the _Rivulet_ coud have been no _other_ than the broad Branch of the River +Mersey+.

[Sidenote: The Excursion performed in two Hours and a Quarter.]

191. The +aërial excursion+ was performed in two Hours, and a Quarter, within two Minutes.

The Distance of the Balloon-Course, if traced along the Ground, 30 Miles. Section 130.

[Sidenote: Balloon, unknown to the Aironaut, going at the Rate of 30 Miles an Hour.]

192. In comparing the Dates at Bellair and Rixton-Moss; it is certain that the Balloon, excluding the Force of _Ascent_, must have moved _forwards_, during some Part of the Re-ascent, at least at the Rate of 30 Miles an Hour: tho’ the Aironaut, for the most Part, imagined he was gliding throu’ a serene Atmosphere.

Probably the progressive Motion was encreased, from the Time the unusual Sound was heard, in Section 162.

Note: The Print, representing a +chromatic+ View above the _Level_ of the Clouds, of the Country from _Chester_ to _Rixton-Moss_, is to front the _left_ Page, at the End of this Chapter.

END OF THE RE-ASCENT.