Up in the Clouds: Balloon Voyages Part 4

"An English company a month ago (our neighbours are marvellous in not losing time), appreciating the bustle which the sight of a balloon always excites in every inhabited place, and judging rightly that papers would never be better received and more greedily read than those thrown overboard by us, despatched a messenger to propose to me to accept commercial prospectuses. We shall never have too much money for the construction of our first aeromotive. I have accepted and made a contract."

Besides many miscellaneous articles, such as grapnels, fowling-pieces, speaking-trumpets, etcetera, that were to be carried up in this cot, there were provisions of all sorts, instruments for scientific observations, games, means of defence in case of descent among an inhospitable people, and two cages of carrier-pigeons sent from Liege.

The car and all it contained was secured by twenty cables traversing on and beneath its walls, interlaced with the fabric and fastened to a large hoop just below the neck, to which hoop was also attached the ropes of the net-work, by which the balloon itself was enveloped. There were two axles and four wheels connected with the car, by means of which it could, when necessary, be drawn along an ordinary road. Canes, disposed to act as springs, were placed underneath and round the middle of it to protect it from concussions, besides which internal buoys and an immense girdle in compartments of inflated india-rubber, rendered it incapable of submersion in water.

Such was the giant balloon in which Monsieur Nadar and his friends made two ascents; of the first of which (4th October 1863) Galignani writes thus:--

"The departure of this Leviathan of the airy regions attracted immense crowds to the Champ de Mars yesterday afternoon. Considering that the avenues encircling that vast s.p.a.ce were filled to suffocation, so that we found it extremely difficult to force our way to the open ground reserved for tickets, and that all the housetops were occupied by spectators, we think the number of persons present may fairly be stated at 80,000. Ample precautions had been taken to prevent disasters,--a strong police force, supported by a company of infantry and some cavalry, being present to maintain order. The balloon, which is 90 yards in circ.u.mference, and has consumed upwards of 20,000 yards of silk in its manufacture, was held down, while filling, by about 100 men, and the weight of at least 200 sandbags. The car was of wicker-work, comprising an inner surface of about 54 square feet divided into three compartments or small rooms, surmounted by an open terrace, to which the balloon was braced. Outside grapnels, wheels, and fowling-pieces, four of each, besides two speaking-trumpets, were lashed to the sides of the car. (The wheels were intended to be put to the car after alighting, in order to convey it back with horses.) The preliminary operations took considerable time, putting the patience of the spectators to a severe trial, a circ.u.mstance which perhaps prevented them from cheering when the words `_Lachez tout_!' were given, and the immense machine rose slowly and majestically into the air. We were rather surprised at the silence of the public, considering the very remarkable and interesting feat in aeronautics thus successfully performed. There were fifteen persons in the car, or rather cabin:--Monsieur Nadar, captain; Messieurs Marcel, Louis and Jules G.o.dard, lieutenants; the Prince de Sayn-Wittgenstein, Count de Saint Martin, Monsieur Tournachon (Nadar's brother), Messieurs Eugene Delessert, Thirion, Piallat, Robert Mitch.e.l.l, Gabriel Morris, Paul de Saint Victor, de Villemessant, and one lady, the Princess de la Tour d'Auvergne. The Princess was taking her usual drive to the Bois de Boulogne, when, observing an unusual movement in the neighbourhood of the Invalides, and having inquired the cause; she ordered her coach man to drive to the Champ de Mars. Having seen the balloon, she expressed a wish to make the ascent, and although Nadar had to the last moment refused to take any lady, and even his own wife, he could not resist the entreaty of the Princess. On starting, Monsieur Nadar climbed up the net-work and took off his hat to the spectators.

The balloon took a north-easterly direction, and was visible for some time. At the moment of going to press, a communication has reached us, signed by the captain, Monsieur Nadar, and all those who had taken places in the balloon, stating that on alighting yesterday evening at nine o'clock at Ibarcy, near Meaux (Seine-et-Marne), three severe shocks were experienced, which had the effect of completely capsizing the balloon, and inflicting on its occupants several rather severe contusions.

"Interesting details of the ascent of the Nadar balloon, said to have been narrated by Prince Wittgenstein, are given by the _France_. The most extraordinary is, that at half-past eight, when the balloon attained the height of 1500 metres, the aeronauts saw the sun, which had set for the earth below upwards of two hours before. The effect of the light upon the balloon is described as something marvellous, and as having thrown the travellers into a sort of ecstasy. Although they met with no rain, their clothes were all dripping wet from the mist which they pa.s.sed through. The descent was more perilous than at first reported. The car dragged on its side for nearly a mile, and the pa.s.sengers took refuge in the ropes, to which they clung. Several were considerably bruised--though, as before stated, no one sustained any very serious injury. Everybody behaved well. Nadar, visibly uneasy about his fair charge, the young Princess de la Tour d'Auvergne, was told by her to attend to his duty as captain. `Every one at his post,'

said she; `I will keep to mine.' Notwithstanding all the shaking which the car underwent, the 37 bottles of wine provided for the journey were all found unbroken, and they were most joyously broached when the party got on _terra firma_. The rifles, the crockery, as well as a cake and 13 ices, presented to Nadar by Siraudin, of the Rue de la Paix, were all uninjured. When the descent was effected, the lights and the speaking-trumpets soon attracted a number of peasants, who brought carts and helped the party to the village of Barcy, where most of them pa.s.sed the night; but Monsieur Nadar and the Prince de Wittgenstein, with two or three others, came to Paris by the first train from Meaux.

"It is said that the descent was resolved upon in consequence of the advice of the brothers G.o.dard, and contrary to the wish of Monsieur Nadar, who, as captain, had made every one of his companions sign an agreement to act upon his orders, even though the vote should be unanimously against him. He, however, yielded his opinion, in deference to that of these experienced aeronauts. A truly extraordinary statement is, that they fancied the wind was blowing them to the sea, and certain destruction, whereas they were going due east, with no sea at all before them nearer than the Caspian.

"There was great disappointment in the receipts at the Champ de Mars, which are said to have realised only 27,000 francs, whereas 150,000 had been calculated upon. The papers say that the public broke down the barriers and got in for nothing, instead of paying their franc. It is quite certain that at the moment of the ascent there could not have been less than 50,000 people on the Champ de Mars, and on the terraces and heights around there must have been four times that number."

Monsieur Nadar, on his return to Paris, wrote as follows:--

"Here, as briefly as possible, is the account which you asked me to send. Yesterday evening at nine o'clock, the `Giant' was compelled to descend near the Barcy Marsh, two leagues from Meaux, after three violent shocks, the last of which completely turned everything in the car topsy-turvy, and it descended on its side. The rupture of our valve-pipe rope while travelling by night, forced us to throw out our anchors. One of the p.r.o.ngs of the first anchor having broken, the princ.i.p.al anchor fortunately took hold of the ground. We were able to let out the gas, notwithstanding the violence of the wind, and the car was set up at half-past one in the morning. Some slight contusions and a concussion of the knee of one of the pa.s.sengers--that is our receipt in full. It is not too dear.

"A. Nadar."

This bold and zealous aeronaut unfortunately paid dearer for his succeeding ascent as shall be seen in the next chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

SECOND ASCENT OF NADAR'S "GIANT" BALLOON.

Before describing the second ascent, which was decidedly the more adventurous, we shall give the rules laid down for his party by Monsieur Nadar, which were remarkably stringent, and somewhat amusing:--

"1. Every traveller on board the `Geant' must, before mounting, take knowledge of the present rules, and engage himself upon his honour to respect them, and to make them respected, both in the letter and in the spirit. He accepts and will obey this obligation until the descent.

"2. From the departure to the return there shall be only one command, that of the captain. That command shall be absolute.

"3. As legal penalty cannot be enforced, the captain, having the responsibility of the lives of the pa.s.sengers, decides alone, and without appeal, in all circ.u.mstances, the means of a.s.suring the execution of his orders with the aid of all under him. The captain can, in certain cases, take the advice of the crew, but his own authority is decisive.

"4. Every pa.s.senger declares, at the time of ascending, that he carries with him no inflammable materials.

"5. Every pa.s.senger accepts, by his simple presence on board, his entire part and perfect co-operation in all manoeuvres, and submits himself to all the necessities of the service; above all, to the command of the captain. On landing, he must not quit the balloon without permission duly acquired.

"6. Silence must be absolutely observed when ordered by the captain.

"7. Victuals and liquors carried up by the travellers must be deposited in the common canteen, of which the captain alone has the key, and who regulates the distribution thereof. Pa.s.sengers have no claim to victuals and liquors, except when on board.

"8. The duration of the journey is not limited. The captain alone decides the limitation; the same judgment decides, without appeal, the putting down of one or more travellers in the course of the voyage.

"9. All gambling is expressly prohibited.

"10. It is absolutely forbidden to any traveller to throw overboard ballast, or any packet whatever.

"11. No pa.s.senger can carry up with him luggage exceeding thirty pounds in weight, and occupying more s.p.a.ce than a travelling-bag.

"12. Except in very rare cases, of which the captain alone shall be judge, it is absolutely forbidden to smoke on board, or on land within the vicinity of the balloon."

The second ascent took place on the 18th of October, when Monsieur Nadar, nothing daunted by his former experience, again went up in his "Giant" from the Champ de Mars. On this occasion preliminaries were managed with greater success than on the former, and the event was regarded with much more general interest. Soldiers kept the ground; the Emperor himself was present, and conversed with the bold aeronaut on the subject of his balloon; George the First of Greece was there also, and the crowd which a.s.sembled to witness the ascent surpa.s.sed all expectation.

There were two peculiar features in this second ascent. It had been doubted whether the balloon, which was said to be capable of raising four-and-a-half tons, could carry more than thirteen men. In order to set this question at rest, a short preliminary flight was made with a rope attached to restrain the "Giant." About thirty soldiers were then put into the car, who mounted to the extent of the rope, and were pulled down again. The other feature was that a balloon of more ordinary dimensions was let fly along with the "Giant," to give, by contrast, a better idea of its size. The balloon used for this purpose was the "G.o.dillot," which had been used by the Emperor in the Italian campaign for reconnoitring the enemy.

After the usual delays which are inseparable from such displays, Monsieur Nadar, with eight friends, stepped into the car, the rope was let go, and the "Giant" rose slowly towards the clouds, grew "small by degrees and beautifully less," until it finally disappeared about night-fall--being wafted along by a gentle south-easterly breeze.

Nothing more was heard of the aeronauts for the next two days, and their friends were becoming naturally very anxious about them, when at last a telegram came from Bremen, dated the 21st, which ran as follows:--

"Nadar's balloon descended near Eystrup in Hanover. There were nine persons in it, of whom three were seriously, and two slightly injured."

Other telegrams quickly followed stating that Monsieur Nadar had both legs dislocated; Monsieur Saint Felix had sustained severe fractures and contusions; and that Madame Nadar had also been severely injured.

It was stated that the voyagers would probably all have perished if Jules G.o.dard (a celebrated aeronaut, who, with his brother Louis, accompanied Nadar), had not, at the risk of his life, climbed up the net-work, and cut a hole in the silk with a hatchet, so as to allow the gas to escape. By so doing, he stopped the furious course of the balloon, which was making truly gigantic bounds of from forty to fifty yards over the ground, with a violence that would soon have knocked the car to pieces!

A full and graphic, but inflated and sentimental account of the voyage-- which was one of real and thrilling interest--is given by one of the voyagers, Monsieur Eugene Arnould, a reporter of the French newspaper _La Nation_. Had Monsieur Arnould confined himself to a simple statement of facts, he would have greatly increased the interest and power of his description. However, we must take him as we find him, and as his account is the most complete--and correct in the main, although exaggerated in detail--we present it to the reader.

"At nine o'clock at night [the same night on which they started] we were at Erquelines; we pa.s.sed over Malines, and towards midnight we were in Holland. We rose up very high, but it was necessary to come down to see where we were. Ignorant of that, our position was a critical one.

Below, as far as we could see, were marshes, and in the distance we could hear the roar of the sea. We threw out ballast, and, mounting again, soon lost sight of the earth. What a night! n.o.body slept, as you may suppose, for the idea of falling into the sea had nothing pleasant about it, and it was necessary to keep a look-out in order to effect, if necessary, a descent. My compa.s.s showed that we were going towards the east--that is to say, towards Germany. In the morning, after a frugal breakfast made in the clouds, we re-descended. An immense plain was beneath us; the villages appeared to us like children's toys--rivers seemed like little rivulets--it was magical.

The sun shone splendidly over all. Towards eight o'clock we arrived near a great lake; there I found out our bearings, and announced that we were at the end of Holland, near the sea.

"We pa.s.sed I know not how much time in contemplating the enchanting scene around us; but at length we all felt the necessity of going downwards to see where we were. Presently the balloon came so near to the earth that we could readily distinguish the tall chimneys of a great many flaming furnaces. `If we were to fall upon some of them,' said Montgolfier anxiously. These furnaces told us very clearly that we were in Belgium, and, besides, the Flemish songs that continually reached our ears left no doubt upon the point. G.o.dard, Nadar, all of us, called out frequently to the people below, `Where are we?' but we got no other answer than shouts of laughter. There were two bells in the car, and Yon and myself rang them as hard as we could, while Nadar roared through his speaking-trumpet. I had an opportunity of observing that the purity of the air in no degree attenuates the quant.i.ty of false notes lodged in the throats of certain individuals. Our aerial Charivari at length provoked a corresponding one on earth, and we could hear dogs barking, ducks quacking, men swearing, and women screaming. All this had a droll effect; but time went on, the wind blew hard, it was dark night, and our balloon drove on with prodigious rapidity, and we were not able to tell exactly where we were. I could not see my compa.s.s, and we were not allowed to light a lucifer match under any pretext whatsoever. From the direction in which we had pa.s.sed over Lille, we judged that we must be going towards the sea; Louis G.o.dard fancied that he could see lighthouses. We descended again to within 150 yards of the earth.

Beneath us we saw a flat marshy country of sinister aspect, and indicating plainly the neighbourhood of the coast. Every one listened with all his ears, and many fancied they heard the murmurs of the sea.

The further we went on the more desert the country became: there was no light whatever, and it became more and more difficult to guess where we were going. `I am entirely out of my reckoning,' exclaimed Louis G.o.dard, `and my opinion is that the only thing we have to do is to descend at once.' `What! here in the marshes!' remonstrated all of us; `and suppose we are driven into the sea?' The balloon went driving on still. `We cannot descend here,' said Jules G.o.dard; `we are over water.' Two or three of us looked over the edge of the car, and affirmed that we were not over water, but trees. `It is water,' Jules G.o.dard persisted. Every one now looked out attentively; and, as the balloon descended a little, we saw plainly that there was no water, but without being able to say positively whether there were trees or not.

At the moment when Jules G.o.dard thought he saw water, Nadar exclaimed, `I see a railway.' It turned out that what Nadar took for a railway was a ca.n.a.l running towards the Scheldt, which we had pa.s.sed over a few minutes before. Hurrah for balloons! They are the things to travel in; rivers, mountains, custom-houses,--all are pa.s.sed without let or hindrance. But every medal has its reverse; and, if we were delighted at having safely got over the Scheldt, we by no means relished the prospect of going on to the Zuyder Zee. `Shall we go down?' asked Louis G.o.dard. There was a moment's pause. We consulted together. Suddenly I uttered a cry of joy; the position of the needle of my compa.s.s indicated that the balloon had made a half turn to the right, and was now going due east. The aspect of the stars confirmed this a.s.sertion. Forward!

was now the cry. We threw out a little ballast, mounted higher, and started with renewed vigour with our backs turned to the depreciated Zuyder Zee. It was now three in the morning, and none of us had slept.

Just as we began to try to sleep a little, my diabolical compa.s.s showed that the balloon was turning back again. `Where are you going to take us to?' cried out Yon to the immense ma.s.s of canvas which was oscillating above our heads. Louis G.o.dard again proposed to descend; but we said, `No! forward! forward!' Two hours sped away without our being able to tell where we were. At five o'clock day broke, and broad daylight came on with marvellous rapidity. It is true that we were at a height of 980 metres. Novel-writers and others have so much abused descriptions of sunrise, on mountains and on the ocean, that I shall say little about this one, although it is not a common thing to see the horizon on fire below the clouds. The finest Venetian paintings could alone give an idea of the luxuriant tones of the heaven that we saw.

Such dazzling magnificence led me to wonder that there is no revival of sun wors.h.i.+p, since men must necessarily have some material representation of the divinity. It is true that the sun is not made in man's image! We now had beneath us an immense plain, the same, probably, that we had pa.s.sed over in the night. There is nothing more pleasant at first sight, nor more monotonous in the long-run, than the sort of country which forms at least one-third of Holland. There are miniature woods the size of bouquets, fields admirably cultivated and divided into little patches like gardens, rivers with extraordinary windings, microscopic roads, coquettish-looking villages, so white and so clean that I think the Dutch housewives must scour the very roofs of their houses every morning. In the midst of every village there is a jewel of a church with a s.h.i.+ning steeple. While riding along at a height of 700 metres, we had beneath us a picture of Paul Potter's fifty leagues square. All at once the tableaux became animated. The people below had perceived the balloon. We heard cries expressive of astonishment, fright, and even of anger; but the feeling of fright seemed to predominate. We distinctly saw women in their chemises look hurriedly out of windows and then rush back again. We saw chubby boys looking at us, and blubbering as if they were mad. Some men, more determined than the rest, fired off guns at us. I saw several mammas pointing us out to stubborn babies, with an att.i.tude which seemed to say that our balloon was Old Bogy. Old women raised their hands against us, and at their signal many ran away, making the sign of the cross. It is evident that in some of these villages we were taken to be the devil in person. On this point it is _apropos_ to cite a letter communicated to me which has been addressed to the _Courrier de Hanovre_. I translate it textually:--

"`This morning, at about six o'clock, we saw pa.s.sing over our heads, at a prodigious height, an immense round form, to which was suspended some thing which looked like a square house of a red colour. Some people pretend to have seen animated beings in this strange machine, and to have heard issuing from it superhuman cries. What think you, Mr Editor? The whole country is in a state of alarm, and it will be long before our people recover their equanimity.'

"At seven a.m. we crossed over a lake near Yssel; the wind then again pushed us in a new direction, nearly at right angles with that which we were taking before. In less than a quarter of an hour the balloon got into Westphalia near Renheim; then we crossed the great river Ems, the towns of Rheine and Ibbenburen, and returned to Hanover a little above Osnabruck. We traversed, without deigning to take notice of them, a little chain of mountains, and by way, no doubt, of relaxation after so long a journey, went all round a lake which is called in German Dummersee. We then got into a great plain, through which runs a road.

At this time the balloon became almost motionless. The reason of this was, that the heat of the sun had caused the gas to expand. The thermometer was then at 145 degrees (about 59 degrees Fahrenheit [No!

editor]). Louis G.o.dard was very uneasy about this dilation. After two or three oscillations, our aerial courser decided upon going off rapidly in an eastern direction, with about two degrees variation towards the north. This course would have taken us to Hamburg and the Baltic; but we were all so completely absorbed by the splendour of the tableau before us that we took little note of the change. Our hippogriff pa.s.sed over Wagenfeld-Steyerberg, where there is a river which flows into the Weser. We came within sight of the great river and Nienburg, a considerable town on one of its banks. We saw a steamboat going down the river from the town. The view here was charming. A rustling of the silk of our balloon made us look upwards; the monster, under the influence of the sun, now very hot, was palpably swelling. As it would have been supremely ridiculous, after having made such a first-rate journey, to have treated the inhabitants of Nienburg with the spectacle of seeing us blown up--to say nothing of the consequences of such a catastrophe to our own limbs--we resolved to come down. The remaining bags of ballast were got in order, the ropes and the anchors prepared, and G.o.dard opened the safety-valve. `The monster is disgorging!'

exclaimed Thirion. And the balloon did vomit forth its gas with a tremendous noise, which may be compared to the snoring of some gigantic animal. While our companion made this observation, we were descending at the rate of two metres to the second. `To the ropes! to the ropes!-- hold on well!' cried the brothers G.o.dard, who seemed quite in their element, `take care of the shock!' Every one climbed up to the ropes which attach the car to the circular handles underneath the balloon.

Madame Nadar, whose _sang-froid_ was truly magnificent, grasped two large ropes with her delicate hands. Nadar did the like, but at the same time put his arms round his wife so as to protect her body. I was on one side towards the middle of the sort of hurdle which serves as a balcony. I was on my knees and clinging to two ropes. Montgolfier, Thirion, and Saint Felix were near me. The balloon descended so rapidly that it gave us the vertigo. The air, which we had left so calm above, became a violent wind as we neared the earth. `We are going to throw down the anchors,' said G.o.dard, `hold tight!' Ah! the car struck the earth with tremendous violence. I cannot imagine how it was that my arms were not broken. After the first terrible shock the balloon went up again, but the safety-valve was opened--it again fell--and we suffered a second shock, if not more violent, at least more painful to us than the first. Up we went again; the balloon dragged its anchors.

Several times we thought we should be thrown out. `The anchors are broken,' exclaimed G.o.dard. The balloon beat the ground with its head, like a kite when it falls down. It was horrible. On we went towards Nienburg, at the rate of ten leagues an hour. Three large trees were cut through by the car, as clean as if by a woodman's hatchet. One small anchor still remained to us. We threw it down, and it carried away the roof of a house. If the balloon had dragged us through the town we should, inevitably, have been cut to pieces. But fortunately it rose a little and then b.u.mped against the ground again with as much violence as before. Every one of these shocks wrenched our limbs; to complete our misfortunes the rope of the safety-valve got loose from us, and the safety-valve shutting up we lost all hope of the balloon emptying itself. It went on by bounds of twenty-five, thirty, and forty metres from the earth, and continued to fall upon its head. Everything that stood in the way of the car was dashed to pieces.

"Jules G.o.dard then tried, and accomplished, an act of sublime heroism.

He clambered up into the netting, the shocks of which were so terrible that three times he fell on my head. At length he reached the cord of the valve, opened it, and the gas having a way of escape the monster ceased to rise but it still shot along in a horizontal line with prodigious rapidity. There were we squatting down upon the frail osier car. `Take care!' we cried, when a tree was in the way. We turned from it, and the tree was broken; but the balloon was discharging its gas, and if the immense plain we were crossing had yet a few leagues, we were saved. But suddenly a forest appeared in the horizon; we must leap out at whatever risk, for the car would be dashed to pieces at the first collision with those trees. I got down into the car, and raising myself I know not how,--for I suffered from a wound in my knees, my trousers were torn,--I jumped, and made I know not how many revolutions, and fell upon my head. After a minute's dizziness I rose. The car was then far off. By the aid of a stick I dragged myself to the forest, and having gone a few steps I heard some groans. Saint Felix was stretched on the soil frightfully disfigured; his body was one wound; he had an arm broken, the chest torn, and an ankle dislocated. The car had disappeared. After crossing a river I heard a cry. Nadar was stretched on the ground with a dislocated thigh; his wife had fallen into the river. Another companion was shattered. We occupied ourselves with Saint Felix, and Nadar and his wife. In trying to a.s.sist the latter I was nearly drowned, for I fell into the water and sank. They picked me up again, and I found the bath had done me good. By the a.s.sistance of the inhabitants the salvage was got together. Vehicles were brought; they placed us upon straw. My knees bled; my loins and head seemed to be like mince-meat; but I did not lose my presence of mind an instant, and for a second I felt humiliated at looking from the truss of straw at those clouds which in the night I had had under my feet. It was in this way we reached Rethem, in Hanover.

"In seventeen hours we had made nearly 250 leagues. Our _course infernale_ had covered a s.p.a.ce of three leagues. Now that it is over I have some shudderings. It does not signify! we have made a good journey, and I marvel to see with what indifference we may regard the most frightful death, for, besides the prospect of being dashed about on our way, we had that of gaining the sea; and how long should we have lived then? I am glad to have seen this--happier yet at having to narrate it to you. These Germans who surround us are brave people, and we have been as well cared for as the resources of the little spot will allow.