his captors that without his wings he would be powerless, he
suffered them to remove these weighty appendages, when also
dropping a heavy cloak, he suddenly cut the cord by which he was
being dragged, and, regaining freedom, soared away into the sky.
He was quickly high aloft, and heard thunder below him, soon
after which, the chill of evening beginning to bring him
earthward, he descried a hunt in full cry, and succeeded in
coming down near the huntsmen, some of whom galloped up to him,
and for their benefit he ascended again, passing this time into
dense cloud with thunder and lightning. He saw the sun go down
and the lightning gather round, yet with admirable courage he
lived the night out aloft till the storms were spent and the
midsummer sun rose once more. With daylight restored, his
journey ended at a spot over sixty miles from Paris.

We have, of course, recounted only a few of the more noteworthy
early ballooning ventures. In reality there had up to the
present time been scores of ascents made in different
localities and in all conditions of wind and weather, yet not a
life had been lost. We have now, however, to record a casualty
which cost the first and boldest aeronaut his life, and which
is all the more regrettable as being due to circumstances that
should never have occurred.

M. Pilatre de Rosier, accompanied by M. Romain, determined on
crossing the Channel from the French side; and, thinking to add
to their buoyancy and avoid the risk of falling in the sea, hit
on the extraordinary idea of using a fire balloon beneath
another filled with hydrogen gas! With this deadly compound
machine they actually ascended from Boulogne, and had not left