about aerial navigation, until he was possessed with the idea that he
must build an air-ship for himself.

He set his face toward France, the land of aerial navigation and the
country where light motors had been most highly developed for
automobiles. The same year, 1897, when he was twenty-four years old, he,
with M. Machuron, made his first ascent in a spherical balloon, the only
kind in existence at that time. He has described that first ascension
with an enthusiasm that proclaims him a devotee of the science for all
time.

His first ascension was full of incident: a storm was encountered; the
clouds spread themselves between them and the map-like earth, so that
nothing could be seen except the white, billowy masses of vapour shining
in the sun; some difficulty was experienced in getting down, for the air
currents were blowing upward and carried the balloon with them; the
tree-tops finally caught them, but they escaped by throwing out ballast,
and finally landed in an open place, and watched the dying balloon as it
convulsively gasped out its last breath of escaping gas.

After a few trips with an experienced aeronaut, Santos-Dumont determined
to go alone into the regions above the clouds. This was the first of a
series of ascensions in his own balloon. It was made of very light silk,
which he could pack in a valise and carry easily back to Paris from his
landing point. In all kinds of weather this determined sky navigator
went aloft; in wind, rain, and sunshine he studied the atmospheric
conditions, air currents, and the action of his balloon.

The young Brazilian ascended thirty times in spherical balloons before
he attempted any work on an elongated shape. He realised that many