ascending
current which disturbed their horizontal repose or progression. The double
layer is not uncommon--condensation taking place at the connection of the
upper and lower portions of the trades, with the surrounding atmosphere;
or in the trade, and by _induction in the surface atmosphere_ at the same
time. Such instances are frequently visible, and if his ascensions had
been undertaken at other times in stormy weather he would have seen more
of them.

"Before I passed the limits of the borough, a parachute, containing
an animal, was dropped, which descended fast and steady, and, just as
it reached the earth, my aerial ship entered a dense black body of
clouds. Ten minutes were consumed in penetrating this dismal ocean of
rainy vapor, occasionally meeting with great chasms, ravines, and
defiles, of different shades of light and darkness. When I emerged
from this ocean of clouds, a new and wonderfully magnificent scene
greeted my eyes. A faint sunshine shed its warmth and luster over the
surface of this vast cloud sea. The balloon rose more rapidly after
it got above it. Viewing it from an elevation above the surface, I
discovered it to present the same shape of the earth beneath,
developing mountains and valleys, corresponding to those on the
earth's surface. The profile of the cloud-surface was more depressed
than that on the earth, and, in the distance of the cloud-valley a
magnificent sight presented itself. Pyramids and castles, rocks and
reefs, icebergs and ships, towers and domes--every thing belonging to
the grand and magnificent could be seen in this distant harbor; the
half-obscured sun shedding his mellow light upon it, gave it a rich
and dazzling luster. They were really "castles in the air," formed of
the clouds. Casting my eyes upward, I was astonished in beholding
another cloud-stratum, far above the lower one; it was what is
commonly termed a "mackerel sky," the sun faintly shining through it.
The balloon seemed to be stationary; the clouds above and below
appeared to be quiescent; the air castles, in the distance, stood to
their places; silence reigned supreme; it was solemnly sublime.
Solitary and alone in a mansion of the skies, my very soul swelled
with emotion; I had no companion to pour out my feelings to. Great
God, what a scene of grandeur! Such were my thou