hill-tops he saw the sun again, and presently saw it set again.
There is no doubt that the balloon would have risen several
thousand feet higher, but the professor thought it would burst,
and he opened the valve, eventually making a safe descent about 7
miles from his starting-place.

England lagged behind her French neighbour's in balloon
aeronautics--much as she has recently done in aviation--for a
considerable time, and,it was not till August of the following
year (1784) that the first balloon ascent was made in Great
Britain, by Mr. J. M. Tytler. This took place at Edinburgh in
a fire balloon. Previous to this an Italian, named Lunardi, had
in November, 1783, dispatched from the Artillery Ground, in
London, a small balloon made of oil-silk, 10 feet in diameter and
weighing 11 pounds. This small craft was sent aloft at one
o'clock, and came down, about two and a half hours later, in
Sussex, about 48 miles from its starting-place.

In 1784 the largest balloon on record was sent up from Lyons.
This immense craft was more than 100 feet in diameter, and stood
about 130 feet high. It was inflated with hot air over a straw
fire, and seven passengers were carried, including Joseph
Montgolfier and Pilatre de Rozier.

But to return to de Rozier, whom we left earlier in the chapter,
after his memorable ascent near Paris. This daring Frenchman
decided to cross the Channel, and to prevent the gas cooling, and
the balloon falling into the sea, he hit on the idea of
suspending a small fire balloon under the neck of another balloon
inflated with hydrogen gas. In the light of our modern knowledge