werea bout 250 feet in the air, they waved their hats to the aftonished multitude; but they foon after rofe too high to be diftinguifhed, and are thought to have foared to an elevation of about 3000 feet. The hif tory of this navigation (as we collect, not from this book, but from private information which we have reafon to think authentic) is, in fact, the history of the alarms of the marquis D'Arlandes. When he found himfelf fo high that he could no longer diftinguish the objects upon earth, he thought both his ambition and his curiofity fufficiently gratified, and defired his companion to ceafe laying ftraw upon the fire, that they might defcend. M. P. de Rozier, however, deaf to thefe remonftrances, continued his operations, and the marquis continued murmuring. At length, being at the highest elevation above mentioned, the latter perceived fome holes burnt in the fides of the balloon, and likewife heard fome cracks near the top of the machine, which feemmenace inftant deftruction. He then became outrageous; quickly clapped wet fponges to the burn ing holes; and vowed that, if his companion would now defcend, he would take upon himfelf the whole blame of having thus fhortened their navigation. M. P. de Rozier at length liftened to his urgent folicitations; but on approaching the earth they found that they were defcending inmediately over the Seine; and fearing left they might be carried away by the current of air that generally attends ftreams of water, The marquis was glad to affift in throwing fresh straw upon the fire; and thus they rofe again to a confiderable height. On their next approach to the earth, the marquis feeing the danger they were in of being pitted on the weather-cock

ed to

of the Invalids, haftily threw a fresh bundle of ftraw upon the fire, and even fpread it, in order to raise a greater blaze.-This carried them over a great part of Paris, where they took care to clear all the steeples, &c. and paffing the Boulevard, they landed fafely in a field near Bicêtre, without having experienced the least real inconveniency. The distance they went was between 4 and 5000 toifes. They were in the air about 25 minutes. The collective weight of the whole apparatus, including that of the two travellers, was between 16 and 1700lb. and when they landed, they had two-thirds of their combuftibles ftill left in store.

"VIII. The book we are here reviewing, was, no doubt, printed, and perhaps published, before the exhibition of a fecond aerial navigation (which may more properly be termed a voyage), fince the author makes no mention of it. As we wifh to lay before our readers a complete fummary of all that has been hitherto done in this extraordinary bufinefs, we fhall here collect, from affidavits, and other authentic accounts, the most striking circumftances of this bold enterprize.

"The globe prepared for this expedition, was made like that of the Chainp de Mars (No. II.) of gores of filk, alternately red and white, and glazed with fome fort of gum. It was fpherical, and meafured 26 feet in diameter. It was filled with inflammable air, the making of which alone coft 5000 livres. The expence of the whole apparatus amounted to no lefs than 10,000 livres. A net was fpread over the upper hemifphere, which fupported a hoop that furrounded the middle; to this hoop was fufpended, by means of feveral cords, a boat, that fwung at a fmall diftance below the bottom of the globe, and which was

fo

fo finely ornamented, as to deferve, in this refpect, the name they gave it at Paris of a triumphant car. In order to prevent the bursting of the globe in a rarefied medium, an opening had been left with a valve to it, which gave vent to the interior air, but fuffered none of the exterior to enter. A long filken pipe or gut proceeded from this aperture, the farther end of which one of the navigators held in his hand, and thereby obtained a confiderable command over the inflammable air. The car was ballafted with fand-bags. By thefe means they hoped, and in fact they fucceeded, to guide them felves in point of elevation; for, by letting fome of the air efcape, they naturally defcended, and on difcharging fome of their ballast they were fure to ascend.

"The firft of December last was fixed upon for this pompous difplay. Two hundred thousand people affembled in and near the garden of the Thuilleries. The apparatus ftood on a scaffolding raised for the purpose, in the middle of a piece of water, to prevent its being approached by the multitude. Upon this it refted, merely by the weight of the ballaft in the car. The friends of the navigators had ftored it with plenty of provifion and clothing; befide which, proper inftruments were alfo embarked. A small balloon, which had been prepared for the purpofe, was offered to M. Montgolfier, who, at the request of M. Charles, cut the string by which it was held, and by this allegory tacitly received the tributary homage due to him and his brother as the authors of the invention.

"At 40 minutes after one Meffrs. Charles and Robert afcended the car. They threw out 19lb. of ballaft, and inftantly rofe, with an accelerated velocity, to the height of

about 300' toifes. No acclamation no found was heard, for the multi tude ftood filent with fear and a aazement. The navigators, however, gave fignals of their fecurity, by frequently waving two pennants; and M. Charles apprifed his frends below that they were eafy and hap py, by a note he threw down a mong the crowd. After continuing a fhort time ftationary, they per ceived themselves moving nearly bo rizontally, in the direction of N. N. W. Finding that fome of the inflammable air evaporated, they difcharged fome ballaft, and foon after obferving that the heat of the fun dilated the inflammable air, they fuffered fome of it to ascape; and thus they kept pretty nearly in the fame level.-In this manner they floated twice across the Seine; and ovef many towns and villages, the furprize of whofe inhabitants can more eafily be conceived than defcribed. About 56 minutes after their departure, they found themfelves out of fight of Paris; they then defcended fo low as to fkim along the furface of the ground, and converfed with feveral labourers in the fields; feeing a hill before them they caft fome of their fuperfluous clothing out of the car, and thus cleared the eminence. They now made a comfortable meal. Finding themfelves near the Ifle D'Adam, where the [prince of Conti has a palace, they again approached the ground, enquired after the prince, and were told that he was at Paris. At forty-five minutes after three they found themfelves over Nefle, a small town about nine leagues (twentyfeven English miles) from Paris. And there, after fliding a little way along the furface of the ground, they alighted gently, and without the leaft fhock or concution, in a field.

" Of

"Of a great number of those who had galloped after the balloon from the Thuilleries, only the dukes de Chartres and Fitz James, and Mr. Farrer, an English gentleman, who had relays pofted in the direction of the wind, arrived a few minutes after the landing. The others either lamed or killed their horfes, or grew tired of the purfuit. After the warmest congratulations, an affidavit was drawn up, and figned by all the parties prefent.

"Mr. Charles now declared his intention to reafcend alone; but to this the Duke de Chartres confented, only on condition that he would return in half an hour. M. Robert alighted, and by the diminution of his weight, the machine acquired a power of afcenfion' equal to about Joolb.

"Mr. Charles made a fignal to a number of peafants who leaned against the edge of the car to keep it down, to withdraw on a fudden, which being done, he rushed into the air with great velocity. In ten minutes he thought himself at the elevation of about 1500 toifes. The globe, being now in fo rarefied a medium, welled confiderably, but fome of the inflammable air being let out, it rofe ftill higher. The barometer which before his departure ftood at 28 inches 4 lines, had now fallen to 18 inches 10 lines. The thermometer from above o, or the freezing point of Reaumur's fcale, had funk to 5° below o. A difference of about 28° of Fahrenheit's fcale. From thefe data the elevation of the globe was estimated at 1524 toifes. The fcene that here prefented itself, muft no doubt have been awful and fublime beyond defcription. M. Charles had feen the fun fetting before he left the land, but it foon rose to him again, and not long after he faw it fet a fecond 1783.

re

time. The vapours rifing from the ground collected clouds under his feet, covered the earth, and concealed it from his fight: the moon fhone, and its pale light fpread various hues over the fantastic forms of these accumulated maffes. No wonder that the first mortal eye who ever, in fuch circumftances, beheld fo majestic a fcene could not frain from hedding tears of joy and admiration. But recollecting now his promife to the duke de Chartres, he refolved to defcend ;-he fuffered fome of the inflammable air to efcape, and he was moreover affifted by the coolnefs of the evening which condenfed that air. The globe was about half emptied when it fettled gently in a fallow, about three miles from the place from whence it had afcended the fecond time. This fecond flight lafted about 35 minutes. All the inconvenience he had experienced in that elevated region, was a dry, fharp cold, with a pain in one of his ears, and a part of his face; which he afcribed to the dilatation of internal air. We must here obferve, that the fmall balloon let off by M. Montgolfier was found at Vincennes, in a direction oppofite to that taken by the great balloon. A circumftance which proves the different directions of wind at ditferent elevations, whence no fmall advantages may probably be deriv ed, fhould aerial navigation ever be reduced to practice.

"Thus far the experiments hitherto made. The book before us contains much more curious matter, into which the length of this article will not allow us to enter. It receives a very scientific appearance from a letter to M. de St. Fond, from M. de Meunier, containing ingenious calculations of the height at which the globe of the Champ de Mars may have afcended, on the

L

courfe

courfe it took, on the expanfive force of the inflammable air in dif. ferent ftrata of the common air, and hence of the different denfities of thele ftrata. There are all curious, and elaborate; but the author ac knowleges himself, that they are founded on only two obfervations of the courfe of the balloon, which he owns are too few to give fufficient elements for accurate deductions. "An anonymous letter to M. de St. Fond, containing a project for fteering balloons in every direction, and conjectures on the ufes to which they may hereafter be applied, has, we own, given us at least as much entertainment as we remember to have formerly received from the perufal of the Arabian Fairy Tales. Not that what he fays appears to us altogether repugnant to the laws of nature, but that we found our imagination warmed by the gigantic idea of our penetrating fome day into the wildest and most inhofpitable regions of Africa, Arabia, and America, of our croffing chains of mountains hitherto impervious, and afcending their loftiest fummits, of our reaching either of the two poles; and, in fhort, of our extending our dominion over the creation beyond any thing of which we have now conception. We must own that

the ufes of magnetifm and electricity have turned out much greater than the world had in any degree conceived, when thofe phenomena were first difcovered, and that those inftances give fome countenance to the fanguine expectations formed by the admirers of this invention.

"Wefcarcely think it neceffary to apologize for the length of this ar ticle. The fubject is no doubt too interefting to be paffed over flightly: and we have the rather been parti cular at this first outlet, fince the principles of this invention being now known to our readers, we fhall, probably, be more brief in what we may hereafter have to say on the progrefs of the discovery.

"This article was just finished when we learnt that M. Bourbou lon, a manufacturer at Javel, near Paris, had propofed to furnish in flammable air, for the purpofe of filling balloons, at the moderate price of three fols fix deniers (not quite 2d per cubic foot.) He is to prepare it from vitriolic acid and iron. We beg leave to fuggeft whether if zinc be used instead of iron, the price which the white vitriol would fetch after the operation, would not enable the manufacturer to furnish the inflammable air at a ftill more moderate rate!"

"THE

common

fewers were executed at a great expence. It was propofed that they fhould be of fufficient dimenfions to admit a waggon loaded with hay. When thefe common fewers came to be obstructed, or out of repair, under the republic, the cenfors contracted to pay a thousand talents, or about 193,000l. for clearing and repairing them. They were again in difrepair at the acceffion of Auguftus Cæfar, and the reinftating them is mentioned among the great works of Agrippa. He is faid to have turned the courfe of feven rivers into thefe fubterraneous paffages, to have made them navigable, and to have actually paffed in barges under the streets and buildings of Rome. These works are ftill fuppofed to remain; but, as they exceed the power and refources of the prefent city to keep them in repair, they are quite concealed, except at one or two places. They were, in the midst of the Roman greatnefs, and still are, reckoned among the wonders of the world; and yet they are faid to have been works of the elder Tarquin, a prince whofe territory did not extend, in any direction, above fixteen miles; and, on this fuppofition, they must have been made to accommodate a city that was calculated chiefly for the

reception of cattle, herdsmen, and banditti. Rude nations fometimes execute works of great magnificence, as fortreffes and temples, for the purposes of war and fuperftition; but feldom palaces, and ftill more feldom works of mere convenience and cleanlinefs, in which, for the most part, they are long defective. It is not unreasonable, therefore, to question the authority of tradition in refpect to this fingular monument of antiquity, which fo greatly exceeds what the best accommodated city of modern Europe could undertake for its own conveniency. And as those works are ftill entire, and may continue fo for thoufands of years, it may be fuffpected that they were even prior to the fettlement of Romulus, and may have been the remains of a more ancient city, on the ruins of which the followers of Romulus fettled, as the Arabs now hut or encamp on the ruins of Palmyra and Balbeck. Livy owns, that the common fewers were not accommodated to the plan of Rome, as it was laid out in his time: they were carried in directions across the streets, and paffed under buildings of the greateft antiquity. This derangement indeed he imputes to the hafty rebuilding of the city after its deftruction by the Gauls; but haste,