them. Indeed, had the car and contents been three times heavier than
they were, I should not have been at all uneasy. I now raised up the
hoop again within the covering of gum-elastic, and propped it at
nearly its former height by means of three light poles prepared for
the occasion. This was done, of course, to keep the bag distended at
the top, and to preserve the lower part of the net-work in its proper
situation. All that now remained was to fasten up the mouth of the
enclosure; and this was readily accomplished by gathering the folds
of the material together, and twisting them up very tightly on the
inside by means of a kind of stationary tourniquet.
"In the sides of the covering thus adjusted round the car, had been
inserted three circular panes of thick but clear glass, through which
I could see without difficulty around me in every horizontal
direction. In that portion of the cloth forming the bottom, was
likewise, a fourth window, of the same kind, and corresponding with a
small aperture in the floor of the car itself. This enabled me to see
perpendicularly down, but having found it impossible to place any
similar contrivance overhead, on account of the peculiar manner of
closing up the opening there, and the consequent wrinkles in the
cloth, I could expect to see no objects situated directly in my
zenith. This, of course, was a matter of little consequence; for had
I even been able to place a window at top, the balloon itself would
have prevented my making any use of it.
"About a foot below one of the side windows was a circular opening,
eight inches in diameter, and fitted with a brass rim adapted in its
inner edge to the windings of a screw. In this rim was screwed the
large tube of the condenser, the body of the machine being, of
course, within the chamber of gum-elastic. Through this tube a
quantity of the rare atmosphere circumjacent being drawn by means of
a vacuum created in the body of the machine, was thence discharged,
in a state of condensation, to mingle with the thin air already in
the chamber. This operation being repeated several times, at length
filled the chamber with atmosphere proper for all the purposes of
respiration. But in so confined a space it would, in a short time,
necessarily become foul, and unfit for use from frequent contact with
the lungs. It was then ejected by a small valve at the bottom of the
car -- the dense air readily sinking into the thinner atmosphere
below. To avoid the inconvenience of making a total vacuum at any
moment within the chamber, this purification was never accomplished
all at once, but in a gradual manner -- the valve being opened only
for a few seconds, then closed again, until one or two strokes from
the pump of the condenser had supplied the place of the atmosphere
ejected. For the sake of experiment I had put the cat and kittens in
a small basket, and suspended it outside the car to a button at the
bottom, close by the valve, through which I could feed them at any
moment when necessary. I did this at some little risk, and before
closing the mouth of the chamber, by reaching under the car with one
of the poles before mentioned to which a hook had been attached.
"By the time I had fully completed these arrangements and filled the
chamber as explained, it wanted only ten minutes of nine o'clock.
During the whole period of my being thus employed, I endured the most
terrible distress from difficulty of respiration, and bitterly did I
repent the negligence or rather fool-hardiness, of which I had been
guilty, of putting off to the last moment a matter of so much
importance. But having at length accomplished it, I soon began to
reap the benefit of my invention. Once again I breathed with perfect
freedom and ease -- and indeed why should I not? I was also agreeably
surprised to find myself, in a great measure, relieved from the
violent pains which had hitherto tormented me. A slight headache,
accompanied with a sensation of fulness or distention about the
wrists, the ankles, and the throat, was nearly all of which I had now
to complain. Thus it seemed evident that a greater part of the
uneasiness attending the removal of atmospheric pressure had actually
worn off, as I had expected, and that much of the pain endured for
the last two hours should have been attributed altogether to the
effects of a deficient respiration.
"At twenty minutes before nine o'clock -- that is to say, a short
time prior to my closing up the mouth of the chamber, the mercury
attained its limit, or ran down, in the barometer, which, as I
mentioned before, was one of an extended construction. It then
indicated an altitude on my part of 132,000 feet, or five-and-twenty
miles, and I consequently surveyed at that time an extent of the
earth's area amounting to no less than the three
hundred-and-twentieth part of its entire superficies. At nine o'clock
I had again lost sight of land to the eastward, but not before I
became aware that the balloon was drifting rapidly to the N. N. W.
The convexity of the ocean beneath me was very evident indeed,
although my view was often interrupted by the masses of cloud which
floated to and fro. I observed now that even the lightest vapors
never rose to more than ten miles above the level of the sea.
"At half past nine I tried the experiment of throwing out a handful
of feathers through the valve. They did not float as I had expected;
but dropped down perpendicularly, like a bullet, en masse, and with
the greatest velocity -- being out of sight in a very few seconds. I
did not at first know what to make of this extraordinary phenomenon;
not being able to believe that my rate of ascent had, of a sudden,
met with so prodigious an acceleration. But it soon occurred to me
that the atmosphere was now far too rare to sustain even the
feathers; that they actually fell, as they appeared to do, with great
rapidity; and that I had been surprised by the united velocities of
their descent and my own elevation.
"By ten o'clock I found that I had very little to occupy my immediate
attention. Affairs went swimmingly, and I believed the balloon to be
going upward witb a speed increasing momently although I had no
longer any means of ascertaining the progression of the increase. I
suffered no pain or uneasiness of any kind, and enjoyed better
spirits than I had at any period since my departure from Rotterdam,
busying myself now in examining the state of my various apparatus,
and now in regenerating the atmosphere within the chamber. This
latter point I determined to attend to at regular intervals of forty
minutes, more on account of the preservation of my health, than from
so frequent a renovation being absolutely necessary. In the meanwhile
I could not help making anticipations. Fancy revelled in the wild and
dreamy regions of the moon. Imagination, feeling herself for once
unshackled, roamed at will among the ever-changing wonders of a
shadowy and unstable land. Now there were boary and time-honored
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br /> forests, and craggy precipices, and waterfalls tumbling with a loud
noise into abysses without a bottom. Then I came suddenly into still
noonday solitudes, where no wind of heaven ever intruded, and where
vast meadows of poppies, and slender, lily-looking flowers spread
themselves out a weary distance, all silent and motionless forever.
Then again I journeyed far down away into another country where it
was all one dim and vague lake, with a boundary line of clouds. And
out of this melancholy water arose a forest of tall eastern trees,
like a wilderness of dreams. And I have in mind that the shadows of
the trees which fell upon the lake remained not on the surface where
they fell, but sunk slowly and steadily down, and commingled with the
waves, while from the trunks of the trees other shadows were
continually coming out, and taking the place of their brothers thus
entombed. "This then," I said thoughtfully, "is the very reason why
the waters of this lake grow blacker with age, and more melancholy as
the hours run on." But fancies such as these were not the sole
possessors of my brain. Horrors of a nature most stern and most
appalling would too frequently obtrude themselves upon my mind, and
shake the innermost depths of my soul with the bare supposition of
their possibility. Yet I would not suffer my thoughts for any length
of time to dwell upon these latter speculations, rightly judging the
real and palpable dangers of the voyage sufficient for my undivided
attention.
"At five o'clock, p.m., being engaged in regenerating the atmosphere
within the chamber, I took that opportunity of observing the cat and
kittens through the valve. The cat herself appeared to suffer again
very much, and I had no hesitation in attributing her uneasiness
chiefly to a difficulty in breathing; but my experiment with the
kittens had resulted very strangely. I had expected, of course, to
see them betray a sense of pain, although in a less degree than their
mother, and this would have been sufficient to confirm my opinion
concerning the habitual endurance of atmospheric pressure. But I was
not prepared to find them, upon close examination, evidently enjoying
a high degree of health, breathing with the greatest ease and perfect
regularity, and evincing not the slightest sign of any uneasiness
whatever. I could only account for all this by extending my theory,
and supposing that the highly rarefied atmosphere around might
perhaps not be, as I had taken for granted, chemically insufficient
for the purposes of life, and that a person born in such a medium
might, possibly, be unaware of any inconvenience attending its
inhalation, while, upon removal to the denser strata near the earth,
he might endure tortures of a similar nature to those I had so lately
experienced. It has since been to me a matter of deep regret that an
awkward accident, at this time, occasioned me the loss of my little
family of cats, and deprived me of the insight into this matter which
a continued experiment might have afforded. In passing my hand
through the valve, with a cup of water for the old puss, the sleeves
of my shirt became entangled in the loop which sustained the basket,
and thus, in a moment, loosened it from the bottom. Had the whole
actually vanished into air, it could not have shot from my sight in a
more abrupt and instantaneous manner. Positively, there could not
have intervened the tenth part of a second between the disengagement
of the basket and its absolute and total disappearance with all that
it contained. My good wishes followed it to the earth, but of course,
I had no hope that either cat or kittens would ever live to tell the
tale of their misfortune.
"At six o'clock, I perceived a great portion of the earth's visible
area to the eastward involved in thick shadow, which continued to
advance with great rapidity, until, at five minutes before seven, the
whole surface in view was enveloped in the darkness of night. It was
not, however, until long after this time that the rays of the setting
sun ceased to illumine the balloon; and this circumstance, although
of course fully anticipated, did not fail to give me an infinite deal
of pleasure. It was evident that, in the morning, I should behold the
rising luminary many hours at least before the citizens of Rotterdam,
in spite of their situation so much farther to the eastward, and
thus, day after day, in proportion to the height ascended, would I
enjoy the light of the sun for a longer and a longer period. I now
determined to keep a journal of my passage, reckoning the days from
one to twenty-four hours continuously, without taking into
consideration the intervals of darkness.
"At ten o'clock, feeling sleepy, I determined to lie down for the
rest of the night; but here a difficulty presented itself, which,
obvious as it may appear, had escaped my attention up to the very
moment of which I am now speaking. If I went to sleep as I proposed,
how could the atmosphere in the chamber be regenerated in the
interim? To breathe it for more than an hour, at the farthest, would
be a matter of impossibility, or, if even this term could be extended
to an hour and a quarter, the most ruinous consequences might ensue.
The consideration of this dilemma gave me no little disquietude; and
it will hardly be believed, that, after the dangers I had undergone,
I should look upon this business in so serious a light, as to give up
all hope of accomplishing my ultimate design, and finally make up my
mind to the necessity of a descent. But this hesitation was only
momentary. I reflected that man is the veriest slave of custom, and
that many points in the routine of his existence are deemed
essentially important, which are only so at all by his having
rendered them habitual. It was very certain that I could not do
without sleep; but I might easily bring myself to feel no
inconvenience from being awakened at intervals of an hour during the
whole period of my repose. It would require but five minutes at most
to regenerate the atmosphere in the fullest manner, and the only real
difficulty was to contrive a method of arousing myself at the proper
moment for so doing. But this was a question which, I am willing to
confess, occasioned me no little trouble in its solution. To be sure,
I had heard of the student who, to prevent his falling asleep over
his books, held in one hand a ball of copper, the din of whose
descent into a basin of the same metal on the floor beside his chair,
served effectually to startle him up, if, at any moment, he should be
overcome with drowsiness. My own case, however, was very different
indeed, and left me no room for any similar idea; for I did not wish
to keep awake, but to be aroused from slumber at regular intervals of
time. I at length hit upon the following expedient, which, simple as
it may seem, was hailed by me, at the moment of discovery, as an
invention fully equal to that of the telescope, the steam-engine, or
the art of printing itself.
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"It is necessary to premise, that the balloon, at the elevation now
attained, continued its course upward with an even and undeviating
ascent, and the car consequently followed with a steadiness so
perfect that it would have been impossible to detect in it the
slightest vacillation whatever. This circumstance favored me greatly
in the project I now determined to adopt. My supply of water had been
put on board in kegs containing five gallons each, and ranged very
securely around the interior of the car. I unfastened one of these,
and taking two ropes tied them tightly across the rim of the
wicker-work from one side to the other; placing them about a foot
apart and parallel so as to form a kind of shelf, upon which I placed
the keg, and steadied it in a horizontal position. About eight inches
immediately below these ropes, and four feet from the bottom of the
car I fastened another shelf -- but made of thin plank, being the
only similar piece of wood I had. Upon this latter shelf, and exactly
beneath one of the rims of the keg, a small earthern pitcher was
deposited. I now bored a hole in the end of the keg over the pitcher,
and fitted in a plug of soft wood, cut in a tapering or conical
shape. This plug I pushed in or pulled out, as might happen, until,
after a few experiments, it arrived at that exact degree of
tightness, at which the water, oozing from the hole, and falling into
the pitcher below, would fill the latter to the brim in the period of
sixty minutes. This, of course, was a matter briefly and easily
ascertained, by noticing the proportion of the pitcher filled in any
given time. Having arranged all this, the rest of the plan is
obvious. My bed was so contrived upon the floor of the car, as to
bring my head, in lying down, immediately below the mouth of the
pitcher. It was evident, that, at the expiration of an hour, the
pitcher, getting full, would be forced to run over, and to run over
at the mouth, which was somewhat lower than the rim. It was also
evident, that the water thus falling from a height of more than four
feet, could not do otherwise than fall upon my face, and that the
sure consequences would be, to waken me up instantaneously, even from
Poe, Edgar Allen - The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe Page 8