APDL Eductation Resources/APDL Eductation Resources.iso/text/authors/poe/ballon/BALLON

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                       The Balloon Hoax

Astounding News by Express, via Norfolk! -- The Atlantic Crossed in
Three Days!  Signal Triumph of Mr Monck Mason's Flying Machine! --
Arrival at Sullivan's Island, near Charleston, S.C., of Mr Mason, Mr
Robert Holland, Mr Henson, Mr Harrison Ainsworth, and four others, in
the Steering Balloon, Victoria, after a passage of Seventy-five hours
from Land to Land!  Full Particulars of the Voyage!

The subjoined jeu d'esprit with the preceding heading in magnificent
capitals, well interspersed with notes of admiration, was originally
published, as matter of fact, in the New York Sun, a daily newspaper,
and therein fully subserved the purpose of creating indigestible aliment
for the quidnuncs during the few hours intervening between a couple of
the Charleston mails.  The rush for the 'sole paper which had the news',
was something beyond even the prodigious; and, in fact, if (as some
assert) the <i Victoria did not absolutely accomplish the voyage
recorded, it will be difficult to assign a reason why she should not
have accomplished it.

The great problem is at length solved!  The air, as well as the earth
and the ocean, has been subdued by science, and will become a common and
convenient highway for mankind.  The Atlantic has been actually crossed
in a Balloon! and this too without difficulty--without any great
apparent danger--with thorough control of the machine--and in the
inconceivably brief period of seventy-five hours from shore to shore!
By the energy of an agent at Charleston, S.C., we are enabled to be the
first to furnish the public with a detailed account of this most
extraordinary voyage, which was performed between Saturday, the 6th
instant, at 11 A.M., and 2 P.M., on Tuesday, the 9th instant, by Sir
Everard Bringhurst; Mr Osborne, a nephew of Lord Bentinck's; Mr Monck
Mason and Mr Robert Holland, the well-known aeronauts; Mr Harrison
Ainsworth, author of Jack Shepherd, etc.; and Mr Henson, the projector
of the late unsuccessful flying machine--with two seamen from
Woolwich--in all, eight persons.  The particulars furnished below may be
relied on as authentic and accurate in every respect, as, with a slight
exception, they are copied verbatim from the joint diaries of Mr Monck
Mason and Mr Harrison Ainsworth, to whose politeness our agent is
indebted for much verbal information respecting the balloon itself, its
construction, and other matters of interest.  The only alteration in the
MS received, has been made for the purpose of throwing the hurried
account of our agent, Mr Forsyth, into a connected and intelligible
form.



                      'THE BALLOON

'Two very decided failures, of late,--those of Mr Henson and Sir George
Cayley,--had much weakened the public interest in the subject of aerial
navigation.  Mr Henson's scheme (which at first was considered very
feasible even by men of science) was founded upon the principle of an
inclined plane, started from an eminence by an extrinsic force applied
and continued by the revolution of impinging vanes in form and number
resembling the vanes of a windmill.  But, in all the experiments made
with models at the Adelaide Gallery, it was found that the operation of
these fans not only did not propel the machine, but actually impeded its
flight.  The only propelling force it ever exhibited, was the mere <i
impetus acquired from the descent of the inclined plane; and this
impetus carried the machine further when the vanes were at rest, than
when they were in motion--a fact which sufficiently demonstrates their
inutility; and in the absence of the propelling, which was also the
sustaining, power, the whole fabric would necessarily descend.  This
consideration led Sir George Cayley to think only of adapting a
propeller to some machine having of itself an independent power of
support--in a word, to a balloon; the idea however, being novel, or
original, with Sir George, only so far as regards the mode of its
application to practice.  He exhibited a model of his invention at the
Polytechnic Institution.  The propelling principle, or power, was here,
also, applied to interrupted surfaces, or vanes, put in revolution.
These vanes were four in number, but were found entirely ineffectual in
moving the balloon, or in aiding its ascending power.  The whole project
was thus a complete failure.

'It was at this juncture that Mr Monck Mason (whose voyage from Dover to
Weilburg in the balloon, Nassau, occasioned so much excitement in 1837)
conceived the idea of employing the principle of the Archimedean screw
for the purpose of propulsion through the air--rightly attributing the
failure of Mr Henson's scheme, and of Sir George Cayley's to the
interruption of surface in the independent vanes.  He made the first
public experiment at Willis's Rooms, but afterward removed his model to
the Adelaide Gallery.

'Like Sir George Cayley's balloon, his own was an ellipsoid.  Its length
was thirteen feet six inches--height, six feet eight inches.  It
contained about three hundred and twenty cubic feet of gas, which, if
pure hydrogen, would support twenty-one pounds upon its first inflation,
before the gas has time to deteriorate or escape.  The weight of the
whole machine and apparatus was seventeen pounds--leaving about four
pounds to spare.  Beneath the centre of the balloon, was a frame of
light wood, about nine feet long, and rigged on to the balloon itself
with a network in the customary manner.  From this framework was
suspended a wicker basket or car.

'The screw consists of an axis of hollow brass tube, eighteen inches in
length, through which, upon a semispiral inclined at fifteen degrees,
pass a series of steel-wire radii, two feet long, and thus projecting a
foot on either side.  These radii are connected at the outer extremities
by two bands of flattened wire-- the whole in this manner forming the
framework of the screw, which is completed by a covering of oiled silk
cut into gores, and tightened so as to present a tolerably uniform
surface.  At each end of its axis this screw is supported by pillars of
hollow brass tube descending from the hoop.  In the lower ends of these
tubes are holes in which the pivots of the axis revolve.  From the end
of the axis which is next the car, proceeds a shaft of steel, connecting
the screw with the pinion of a piece of spring machinery fixed in the
car.  By the operation of this spring, the screw is made to revolve with
great rapidity, communicating a progressive motion to the whole.  By
means of the rudder, the machine was readily turned in any direction.
The spring was of great power, compared with its dimensions, being
capable of raising forty-five pounds upon a barrel of four inches
diameter after the first turn, and gradually increasing as it was wound
up.  It weighed, altogether, eight pounds six ounces.  The rudder was a
light frame of cane covered with silk, shaped somewhat like a
battledore, and was about three feet long, and at the widest, one foot.
Its weight was about two ounces.  It could be turned <i flat, and
directed upward or downward, as well as to the right or left; and thus
enabled the aeronaut to transfer the resistance of the air which in an
inclined position it must generate in its passage, to any side upon
which he might desire to act; thus determining the balloon in the
opposite direction.

'This model (which, through want of time, we have necessarily described
in an imperfect manner) was put in action at the Adelaide Gallery, where
it accomplished a velocity of five miles per hour; although, strange to
say, it excited very little interest in comparison with the previous
complex machine of Mr Henson--so resolute is the world to despise
anything which carries with it an air of simplicity.  To accomplish the
great desideratum of aerial navigation, it was very generally supposed
that some exceedingly complicated application must be made of some
unusually profound principle in dynamics.

'So well satisfied, however, was Mr Mason of the ultimate success of his
invention, that he determined to construct immediately, if possible, a
balloon of sufficient capacity to test the question by a voyage of some
extent--the original design being to cross the British Channel, as
before, in the Nassau balloon.  To carry out his views he solicited and
obtained the patronage of Sir Everard Bringhurst and Mr Osborne, two
gentlemen well known for scientific acquirement, and especially for the
interest they have exhibited in the progress of aerostation.  The
project at the desire of Mr Osborne, was kept a profound secret from the
public-- the only persons entrusted with the design being those actually
engaged in the construction of the machine, which was built (under the
superintendence of Mr Mason, Mr Holland, Sir Everard Bringhurst, and Mr
Osborne) at the seat of the latter gentleman near Penstruthal, in Wales.
Mr Henson, accompanied by his friend Mr Ainsworth, was admitted to a
private view of the balloon, on Saturday last--when the two gentlemen
made final arrangements to be included in the adventure.  We are not
informed for what reason the two seamen were also included in the
party-- but, in the course of a day or two, we shall put our readers in
possession of the minutest particulars respecting this extraordinary
voyage.

'The balloon is composed of silk, varnished with the liquid gum
caoutchouc.  It is of vast dimensions, containing more than 40,000 cubic
feet of gas; but as coal-gas was employed in place of the more expensive
and inconvenient hydrogen, the supporting power of the machine, when
fully inflated, and immediately after inflation, is not more than about
2500 pounds.  The coal-gas is not only much less costly, but is easily
procured and managed.

'For its introduction into common use for purposes of aerostation, we
are indebted to Mr Charles Green.  Up to his discovery, the process of
inflation was not only exceedingly expensive, but uncertain.  Two and
even three days have frequently been wasted in futile attempts to
procure a sufficiency of hydrogen to fill a balloon, from which it had
great tendency to escape, owing to its extreme subtlety, and its
affinity for the surrounding atmosphere.  In a balloon sufficiently
perfect to retain its contents of coal-gas unaltered, in quality or
amount for six months, an equal quantity of hydrogen could not be
maintained in equal purity for six weeks.

'The supporting power being estimated at 2500 pounds, and the united
weights of the party amounting only to about 1200, there was left a
surplus of 1300, of which again 1200 was exhausted by ballast, arranged
in bags of different sizes, with their respective weights marked upon
them--by cordage, barometers, telescopes, barrels containing provision
for a fortnight, watercasks, cloaks, carpet-bags, and various other
indispensable matters, including a coffee-warmer, contrived for warming
coffee by means of slack-lime, so as to dispense altogether with fire,
if it should be judged prudent to do so.  All these articles, with the
exception of the ballast, and a few trifles, were suspended from the
hoop overhead.  The car is much smaller and lighter, in proportion, than
the one appended to the model.  It is formed of a light wicker, and is
wonderfully strong, for so frail-looking a machine.  Its rim is about
four feet deep.  The rudder is also very much larger, in  proportion,
than that of the model; and the screw is considerably smaller.  The
balloon is furnished besides with a grapnel, and a guide-rope; which
latter is of the most indispensable importance.  A few words, in
explanation, will here be necessary for such of our readers as are not
conversant with the details of aerostation.

'As soon as the balloon quits the earth, it is subjected to the
influence of many circumstances tending to create a difference in its
weight; augmenting or diminishing its ascending power.  For example,
there may be a deposition of dew upon the silk, to the extent, even of
several hundred pounds; ballast has then to be thrown out, or the
machine may descend.  This ballast being discarded, and a clear sunshine
evaporating the dew, and at the same time expanding the gas in the silk,
the whole will again rapidly ascend.  To check this ascent, the only
resource is (or rather was, until Mr Green's invention of the
guide-rope) the permission of the escape of gas from the valve; but, in
the loss of gas, is a proportionate general loss of ascending power; so
that, in a comparatively brief period, the best-constructed balloon must
necessarily exhaust all its resources, and come to the earth.  This was
the great obstacle to voyages of length.

'The guide-rope remedies the difficulty in the simplest matter
conceivable.  It is merely a very long rope which is suffered to trail
from the car, and the effect of which is to prevent the balloon from
changing its level in any material degree.  If, for example, there
should be a deposition of moisture upon the silk, and the machine begins
to descend in consequence, there will be no necessity for discharging
ballast to remedy the increase in weight, for it is remedied, or
counteracted, in an exactly just proportion, by the deposit on the
ground of just so much of the end of the rope as is necessary.  If, on
the other hand, any circumstances should cause undue levity, and
consequent ascent, this levity is immediately counteracted by the
additional weight of rope upraised from the earth.  Thus, the balloon
can neither ascend nor descend, except within very narrow limits, and
its resources, either in gas or ballast, remain comparatively
unimpaired.  When passing over an expanse of water, it becomes necessary
to employ kegs of copper or wood, filled with liquid ballast of a
lighter nature than water.  These float, and serve all the purposes of a
mere rope on land.  Another most important office of the guide-rope, is
to point out the direction of the balloon.  The rope drags, either on
land or sea, while the balloon is free; the latter, consequently, is
always in advance, when any progress whatever is made: a comparison,
therefore, by means of the compass, of the relative positions of the two
objects, will always indicate the course.  In the same way, the angle
formed by the rope with the verticle axis of the machine, indicates the
velocity.  When there is <i no angle--in other words, when the rope
hangs perpendicularly, the whole apparatus is stationary; but the larger
the angle, that is to say, the farther the balloon precedes the end of
the rope, the greater the velocity; and the converse.

'As the original design was to cross the British Channel, and alight as
near Paris as possible, the voyagers had taken the precaution to prepare
themselves with passports directed to all parts of the Continent,
specifying the nature of the expedition, as in the case of the Nassau
voyage, and entitling the adventurers to exemption from the usual
formalities of office; unexpected events, however, rendered these
passports superfluous.

'The inflation was commenced very quietly at daybreak, on Saturday
morning, the 6th instant, in the courtyard of Wheal-Vor House, Mr
Osborne's seat, about a mile from Penstruthal, in North Wales; and at
seven minutes past eleven, everything being ready for departure, the
balloon was set free, rising gently but steadily, in a direction nearly
south; no use being made, for the first half hour, of either the screw
or the rudder.  We proceed now with the journal, as transcribed by Mr
Forsyth from the joint MSS of Mr Monck Mason and Mr Ainsworth.  The body
of the journal, as given, is in the handwriting of Mr Mason, and a PS is
appended, each day, by Mr Ainsworth, who has in preparation, and will
shortly give the public a more minute and, no doubt, a thrillingly
interesting account of the voyage.


                      'THE JOURNAL

'Saturday, April the 6th.--Every preparation likely to embarrass us
having been made overnight, we commenced the inflation this morning at
daybreak; but owing to a thick fog, which encumbered the folds of the
silk and rendered it unmanageable, we did not get through before nearly
eleven o'clock.  Cut loose, then, in high spirits, and rose gently but
steadily, with a light breeze at north, which bore us in the direction
of the British Channel.  Found the ascending force greater than we had
expected; and as we arose higher and so got clear of the cliffs, and
more in the sun's rays, our ascent became very rapid.  I did not wish,
however, to lose gas at so early a period of the adventure, and so
concluded to ascend for the present.  We soon ran out our guide-rope;
but even when we had raised it clear of the earth, we still went up very
rapidly.  The balloon was unusually steady, and looked beautifully.  In
about ten minutes after starting, the barometer indicated an altitude of
15,000 feet.  The weather was remarkably fine, and the view of the
subjacent country- -a most romantic one when seen from any point--was
now especially sublime.  The numerous deep gorges presented the
appearance of lakes, on account of the dense vapours with which they
were filled, and the pinnacles and crags to the south-west, piled in
extricable confusion resembling nothing so much as the giant cities of
Eastern fable.  We were rapidly approaching the mountains in the south,
but our elevation was more than sufficient to enable us to pass them in
safety.  In a few minutes we soared over them in fine style; and Mr
Ainsworth, with the seamen, was surprised at their apparent want of
altitude when viewed from the car, the tendency of great elevation in a
balloon being to reduce inequalities of the surface below, to nearly a
dead level.  At half-past eleven still proceeding nearly south, we
obtained our first view of the British Channel; and, in fifteen minutes
afterwards, the line of breakers on the coast appeared immediately
beneath us, and we were fairly out at sea.  We now resolved to let off
enough gas to bring our guide-rope, with the buoys affixed, into the
water.  This was immediately done, and we commenced a gradual descent.
In about twenty minutes our first buoy dipped, and at the touch of the
second soon afterward, we remained stationary as to elevation.  We were
all now anxious to test the efficiency of the rudder and screw, and we
put them both into requisition forthwith, for the purpose of altering
our direction more to the eastward, and in a line for Paris.  By means
of the rudder we instantly effected the necessary change of direction,
and our course was brought nearly at right angles to  that of the wind;
then we set in motion the spring of the screw, and were rejoiced to find
it propel as readily as desired.  Upon this we gave nine hearty cheers,
and dropped in the sea a bottle, inclosing a slip of parchment with a
brief account of the principle of the invention.  Hardly, however, had
we done with our rejoicings, when an unforeseen accident occurred which
discouraged us in no little degree.  The steel rod connecting the spring
with the propeller was suddenly jerked out of place, at the car end (by
a swaying of the car through some movement of one of the two seamen we
had taken up), and in an instant hung dangling out of reach, from the
pivot of the axis of the screw.  While we were endeavouring to regain
it, our attention being completely absorbed, we became involved in a
strong current of wind from the east, which bore us, with rapidly
increasing force, toward the Atlantic.  We soon found ourselves driving
out to sea at the rate of not less, certainly, than fifty or sixty miles
an hour, so that we came up with Cape Clear, at some forty miles to our
north, before we had secured the rod, and had time to think what we were
about.  It was now that Mr Ainsworth made an extraordinary but, to my
fancy, a by no means unreasonable or chimerical proposition, in which he
was instantly seconded by Mr Holland--viz.: that we should take
advantage of the strong gale which bore us on, and in place of beating
back to Paris, make an attempt to reach the coast of North America.
After slight reflection I gave a willing assent to this bold
proposition, which (strange to say) met with objection from the two
seamen only.  As the stronger party, however, we overruled their fears,
and kept resolutely upon our course.  We steered due west; but as the
trailing of the buoys materially impeded our progress, and we had the
balloon abundantly at command, either for ascent or descent, we first
threw out fifty pounds of ballast, and then wound up (by means of the
windlass) so much of the rope as brought it quite clear of the sea.  We
perceived the effect of this manoeuvre immediately, in a vastly
increased rate of progress; and, as the gale freshened, we flew with a
velocity nearly inconceivable; the guide-rope flying out behind the car,
like a streamer from a vessel.  It is needless to say that a very short
time sufficed us to lose sight of the coast.  We passed over innumerable
vessels of all kinds, a few of which were endeavouring to beat up, but
the most of them lying to.  We occasioned the greatest excitement on
board all--an excitement greatly relished by ourselves, and especially
by our two men, who, now under the influence of a dram of Geneva, seemed
resolved to give all scruple, or fear, to the wind.  Many of the vessels
fired signal guns; and in all we were saluted with loud cheers (which we
heard with surprising distinctness) and the waving of caps and
handkerchiefs.  We kept on in this manner throughout the day with no
material incident, and, as the shades of night closed around us, we made
a rough estimate of the distance traversed.  It could not have been less
than five hundred miles, and was probably much more.  The propeller was
kept in constant operation, and, no doubt, aided our progress
materially.  As the sun went down, the gale freshened into an absolute
hurricane, and the ocean beneath was clearly visible on account of its
phosphorescence.  The wind was from the east all night, and gave us the
brightest omen of success.  We suffered no little from cold, and the
dampness of the atmosphere was most unpleasant; but the ample space in
the car enabled us to lie down, and by means of cloaks and a few
blankets we did sufficiently well.

'PS [by Mr Ainsworth.]  The last nine hours have been unquestionably the
most exciting of my life.  I can conceive nothing more sublimating than
the strange peril and novelty of an adventure such as this.  May God
grant that we succeed!  I ask not success for mere safety to my
insignificant person, but for the sake of human knowledge and--for the
vastness of the triumph.  And yet the feat is only so evidently feasible
that the sole wonder is why men have scrupled to attempt it before.  One
single gale such as now befriends us--let such a tempest whirl forward a
balloon for four or five days (these gales often last longer) and the
voyager will be easily borne, in that period, from coast to coast.  In
view of such a gale the broad Atlantic becomes a mere lake.  I am more
struck, just now, with the supreme silence which reigns in the sea
beneath us, notwithstanding its agitation, than with any other
phenomenon presenting itself.  The waters give up no voice to the
heavens.  The immense flaming ocean writhes and is tortured
uncomplainingly.  The mountainous surges suggest the idea of innumerable
dumb gigantic fiends struggling in impotent agony.  In a night such as
is this to me, a man lives--lives a whole century of ordinary life--nor
would I forego this rapturous delight for that of a whole century of
ordinary existence.

'Sunday, the 7th.  [Mr Mason's MS.]  This morning the gale, by ten, had
subsided to an eight or nine-knot breeze (for a vessel at sea), and
bears us, perhaps, thirty miles per hour, or more.  It has veered,
however, very considerably to the north; and now, at sundown, we are
holding our course due west, principally by the screw and rudder, which
answer their purposes to admiration.  I regard the project as thoroughly
successful, and the easy navigation of the air in any direction (not
exactly in the teeth of a gale) as no longer problematical.  We could
not have made head against the strong wind of yesterday; but, by
ascending, we might have got out of its influence, if requisite.
Against a pretty stiff breeze, I feel convinced, we can make our way
with the propeller.  At noon, to-day, ascended to an elevation of nearly
25,000 feet, by discharging ballast.  Did this to search for a more
direct current, but found none so favourable as the one we are now in.
We have an abundance of gas to take us across this small pond, even
should the voyage last three weeks.  I have not the slightest fear for
the result.  The difficulty has been strangely exaggerated and
misapprehended.  I can choose my current, and should I find <i all
currents against me, I can make very tolerable headway with the
propeller.  We have no incidents worth recording.  The night promises
fair.

'PS [By Mr Ainsworth.]  I have little to record, except the fact (to me
quite a surprising one), that, at an elevation equal to that of
Cotopaxi, I experienced neither intense cold, nor headache, nor
difficulty of breathing; neither, I find, did Mr Mason, nor Mr Holland,
nor Sir Everard.  Mr Osborne complained of constriction of the
chest--but this soon wore off.  We have flown at a great rate during the
day, and we must be more than half way across the Atlantic.  We have
passed over some twenty or thirty vessels of various kinds, and all seem
to be delightfully astonished.  Crossing the ocean in a balloon is not
so difficult a feat after all.  Omne ignotum pro magnifico.  Mem.: at
25,000 feet elevation the sky appears nearly black, and the stars are
distinctly visible; while the sea does not seem convex (as one  might
suppose) but absolutely and most unequivocally <i concave.<1

'Monday, the 8th.  [Mr Mason's MS.]  This morning we had again some
little trouble with the rod of the propeller, which must be entirely
remodelled, for fear of serious accident--I mean the steel rod, not the
vanes.  The latter could not be improved.  The wind has been blowing
steadily and strongly from the north-east all day; and so far fortune
seems bent upon favouring us.  Just before day, we were all somewhat
alarmed at some odd noises and concussions in the balloon, accompanied
with the apparent rapid subsidence of the whole machine.  These
phenomena were occasioned by the expansion of the gas, through increase
of heat in the atmosphere, and the consequent disruption of the minute
particles of ice with which the network had become encrusted during the
night.  Threw down several bottles to the vessels below.  See one of
them picked up by a large ship--seemingly one of the New York line
packets.  Endeavoured to make out her name, but could not be sure of it.
Mr Osborne's telescope made it out something like <i Atalanta.  It is
now twelve at night, and we are still going nearly west, at a rapid
pace.  The sea is peculiarly phosphorescent.

'PS [By Mr Ainsworth.]  It is now two A.M., and nearly calm, as well as
I can judge--but it is very difficult to determine this point, since we
move with the air so completely.  I have not slept since quitting
Wheal-Vor, but can stand it no longer, and must take a nap.  We cannot
be far from the American coast.

'Tuesday, the 9th.  [Mr Ainsworth's MS.]  One P.M.  <i We are in full


<1 NOTE--Mr Ainsworth has not attempted to account for this phenomenon,
which, however, is quite susceptible of explanation.  A line dropped
from an elevation of 25,000 feet, perpendicularly to the surface of the
earth (or sea), would form the perpendicular of a right-angled triangle,
of which the base would extend from the right angle to the horizon, and
the hypothenuse from the horizon to the balloon.  But the 25,000 feet of
altitude is little or nothing, in comparison with the extent of the
prospect.  In other words, the base and hypothenuse of the supposed
triangle would be so long, when compared with the perpendicular, that
the two former may be regarded as nearly parallel.  In this manner the
horizon of the aeronaut would appear to be on a level with the car.
But, as the point immediately beneath him seems, and is, at a great
distance below him, it seems, of course, also, at a great distance below
the horizon.  Hence the impression of concavity; and this impression
must remain, until the elevation shall bear so great a proportion to the
extent of prospect, that the apparent parallelism of the base and
hypothenuse disappears--when the earth's real convexity must become
apparent.

view of the low coast of South Carolina.  The great problem is
accomplished.  We have crossed the Atlantic--fairly and easily crossed
it in a balloon!  God be praised!  Who shall say that anything is
impossible hereafter?'


                            *

The Journal here ceases.  Some particulars of the descent were
communicated, however, by Mr Ainsworth to Mr Forsyth.  It was nearly
dead calm when the voyagers first came in view of the coast, which was
immediately recognized by both the seamen, and by Mr Osborne.  The
latter gentleman having acquaintances at Fort Moultrie, it was
immediately resolved to descend in its vicinity.  The balloon was
brought over the beach (the tide being out and the sand hard, smooth,
and admirably adapted for a descent) and the grapnel let go, which took
firm hold at once.  The inhabitants of the island, and of the fort,
thronged out, of course, to see the balloon; but it was with the
greatest difficulty that any one could be made to credit the actual
voyage--the crossing of the Atlantic.  The grapnel caught at two P.M.
precisely; and thus the whole voyage was completed in seventy-five
hours; or rather less, counting from shore to shore.  No serious
accident occurred.  No real danger was at any time apprehended.  The
balloon was exhausted and secured without trouble; and when the MS from
which this narrative is compiled was despatched from Charleston, the
party were still at Fort Moultrie.  Their further intentions were not
ascertained; but we can safely promise our readers some additional
information either on Monday or in the course of the next day, at
furthest.

This is unquestionably the most stupendous, the most interesting, and
the most important undertaking ever accomplished or even attempted by
man.  What magnificent events may ensue, it would be useless now to
think of determining.