CHAPTERXIII.2d Balloon-Iris.Section 73.AT 33 Minutes after II, the Balloon-Shadow wasagainthe Center of a brilliantIris, painted at some Distance round it on Clouds below.74. One of the Pint-Bottles for light Air was prepared (as inArticle 14, of Section 12;)Bottle filled withlightAir.and dropped from the Car.TheWaterit contained was poureddown, to observe the Effects ofAirandLighton the Drops.The Air didnotat that Height oppose a Resistance sufficient to break the Stream intosmallDrops. Nor did they seem to coalesce: remaining, while they continued in Sight, of the same Size; some very large, others less so; and at the samerelativeDistance, as when they first left the Bottle.The Colours seemedstrongerthan usual.It may behereobserved that none of the Bottles were returned; tho’ found, and a Reward promised.The Country People, as soon as they saw a Bottle; imagining it must contain some Liquor, immediately contrived to open it: by which Procedure, the Intention of the Experiment was frustrated.The Bottles, which aredangerousCompanions even without Liquor,shoud, notwithstanding, be left in the Car: at least till the Time oflandingthe Balloon.Burton and Flint seen at thefirstrising.75. While the Balloon wasfirstrising; a gentle Motion of the lower Current of Air carried it immediately towards the Sea. (Section 46.)At which Time, the Aironaut by aGlancediscovered the Mouth of the River Dee, four and five Miles wide,yawning before him: the Prospect extending to the Sea, as far as theSmokefrom the Lead-Works near a Place called Flint on the Welch Coast; and to Burton-Head on the Wirral Side; distant ten Miles from Chester.He has since been informed; that the Balloon seemed torest, for a few Minutes, in the Air: and thenreturn slowlyover Chester.Balloon in aquiescentBed of Air.It is therefore more than probable, that as the Balloon continued to ascend; it wasbecalmedin aquiescent Stratumor Bed of the Atmosphere,which existed for a certain Depth or Thickness, between the lower and upper Current: and that the Direction of the Balloon was changed; the Instant it arrived within the Influence of theupperCurrent.Ofrowingthe Balloon to any Point of the Compass.Consequently, with a proper Apparatus to ascend and descendat Will, without Loss of Gass or Ballast; the Balloon woud have remained suspendedinvariablyat the same Height, andverticallyover the same Spot of Earth: or, with propulsive Machinery; might, on the same Level, have beenrowedto any Point of the Compass.The Balloon, influenced on its Approach towardsWater.76. In passingonlyacrossTrafford Meadows, three Miles from Chester; the Balloon lost its usual progressive Motion over the Country: for more than a Quarter of an Hour, following the Course of the River Goway to the West North-West, and towards the Sea, as at Chester: turning gently backwards and forwards round its ownAxis, near the Villages of Great and Little Barrow: and making Curves over the Meadows, whose Breadth at those Places was about a Mile.Its Progress marked.The Balloon then returned into its former Direction: inclining,again, towards a Brook and Meadow near Alvanley: passed Eastward a little to the left of Manley (white) Mill: crossed the Forest of Delamere, and Crag of Helsbye, (about twice the Height of Shooter’s Hill, near London;) whose lofty Summit wasapparentlyreduced to a common Level with the Valley made by the River Wever, and with the adjacent Sea Marsh. Nor coud it have been distinguished by a Stranger, as anEminence.Hills and Vallies on a Level.Indeed, the Wood near Kingsley, which grows on a sloping Ground, skirting the Hill, andfromthe Sun, put on aduskyHue; and the Tops of the Trees adarker Green: this Difference ofColour, conveyed thefaint Resemblanceof a risingSlope. ArealKnowledge of the Country probably contributed to aid the Imagination in this Distinction.Note: the Print representing a View of the Balloon overHelsbye Crag, refers to a Scene in the above Chapter.
CHAPTERXIII.
2d Balloon-Iris.
Section 73.AT 33 Minutes after II, the Balloon-Shadow wasagainthe Center of a brilliantIris, painted at some Distance round it on Clouds below.
74. One of the Pint-Bottles for light Air was prepared (as inArticle 14, of Section 12;)Bottle filled withlightAir.and dropped from the Car.
TheWaterit contained was poureddown, to observe the Effects ofAirandLighton the Drops.
The Air didnotat that Height oppose a Resistance sufficient to break the Stream intosmallDrops. Nor did they seem to coalesce: remaining, while they continued in Sight, of the same Size; some very large, others less so; and at the samerelativeDistance, as when they first left the Bottle.
The Colours seemedstrongerthan usual.
It may behereobserved that none of the Bottles were returned; tho’ found, and a Reward promised.
The Country People, as soon as they saw a Bottle; imagining it must contain some Liquor, immediately contrived to open it: by which Procedure, the Intention of the Experiment was frustrated.
The Bottles, which aredangerousCompanions even without Liquor,shoud, notwithstanding, be left in the Car: at least till the Time oflandingthe Balloon.
Burton and Flint seen at thefirstrising.
75. While the Balloon wasfirstrising; a gentle Motion of the lower Current of Air carried it immediately towards the Sea. (Section 46.)
At which Time, the Aironaut by aGlancediscovered the Mouth of the River Dee, four and five Miles wide,yawning before him: the Prospect extending to the Sea, as far as theSmokefrom the Lead-Works near a Place called Flint on the Welch Coast; and to Burton-Head on the Wirral Side; distant ten Miles from Chester.
He has since been informed; that the Balloon seemed torest, for a few Minutes, in the Air: and thenreturn slowlyover Chester.
Balloon in aquiescentBed of Air.
It is therefore more than probable, that as the Balloon continued to ascend; it wasbecalmedin aquiescent Stratumor Bed of the Atmosphere,which existed for a certain Depth or Thickness, between the lower and upper Current: and that the Direction of the Balloon was changed; the Instant it arrived within the Influence of theupperCurrent.
Ofrowingthe Balloon to any Point of the Compass.
Consequently, with a proper Apparatus to ascend and descendat Will, without Loss of Gass or Ballast; the Balloon woud have remained suspendedinvariablyat the same Height, andverticallyover the same Spot of Earth: or, with propulsive Machinery; might, on the same Level, have beenrowedto any Point of the Compass.
The Balloon, influenced on its Approach towardsWater.
76. In passingonlyacrossTrafford Meadows, three Miles from Chester; the Balloon lost its usual progressive Motion over the Country: for more than a Quarter of an Hour, following the Course of the River Goway to the West North-West, and towards the Sea, as at Chester: turning gently backwards and forwards round its ownAxis, near the Villages of Great and Little Barrow: and making Curves over the Meadows, whose Breadth at those Places was about a Mile.
Its Progress marked.
The Balloon then returned into its former Direction: inclining,again, towards a Brook and Meadow near Alvanley: passed Eastward a little to the left of Manley (white) Mill: crossed the Forest of Delamere, and Crag of Helsbye, (about twice the Height of Shooter’s Hill, near London;) whose lofty Summit wasapparentlyreduced to a common Level with the Valley made by the River Wever, and with the adjacent Sea Marsh. Nor coud it have been distinguished by a Stranger, as anEminence.
Hills and Vallies on a Level.
Indeed, the Wood near Kingsley, which grows on a sloping Ground, skirting the Hill, andfromthe Sun, put on aduskyHue; and the Tops of the Trees adarker Green: this Difference ofColour, conveyed thefaint Resemblanceof a risingSlope. ArealKnowledge of the Country probably contributed to aid the Imagination in this Distinction.
Note: the Print representing a View of the Balloon overHelsbye Crag, refers to a Scene in the above Chapter.