He says,
in the narrative which he has left, that he descended by means of the
one oar which was left to him, the other having fallen over; but, as he
states that, in order to rise again, he threw over the remainder of his
ballast, it is natural to believe that the descent of the balloon was
caused by the loss of gas, because, if he descended by the use of the
oar, he must have re-ascended when he stopped using it. He landed in the
parish of Standon, where he was assisted by the peasants.

He assures us again that he came down the second time by means of the
oar. He says:--"I took my oar to descend, and in from fifteen to twenty
minutes I arrived at the earth after much fatigue, my strength being
nearly exhausted. My chief desire was to escape a shock on reaching
the earth, and fortune favoured me." The fear of a concussion seems to
indicate that he descended more because of the weight of the balloon
than by the action of the oar.

It appears that the only scientific instrument he had was a thermometer
which fell to 29 degrees. The drops of water which had attached
themselves to the balloon were frozen.

The second aerial journey in England was undertaken by Blanchard and
Sheldon. The latter, a professor of anatomy in the Royal Academy, is
the first Englishman who ever went up in a balloon. This ascent was made
from Chelsea on the 16th October, 1784.

The same balloon which Blanchard had used in France served him on this
occasion, with the difference that the hoop which went round the
middle of it, and the parasol above the car, were dispensed with. At the
extremity of his car he had fitted a sort of ventilator, which he was
able to move about by means of a winch. This ventilator, together with
the wings and the helm, were to serve especially the purpose of steering
at will, which he had often said was quite practicable as soon as a
certain elevation had been reached.

The two aeronauts ascended, having with them a number of scientific and
musical instruments, some refreshments, ballast, &c. Twice the ascent
failed, and eventually Sheldon got out, and Blanchard went up again
alone.

Blanchard says that, on this second ascent, he was carried first
north-east, then east-south-east of Sunbury in Middlesex. He rose so
high that he had great difficulty in breathing, the pigeon he had with
him escaped, but could hardly maintain itself in the rarefied air of
such an elevated region, and finding no place to rest, came ba