ghts; a reverence for
the works of nature, an admiration indescribable. The solemn
grandeur--the very stillness that surrounded me--seemed to make a
sound of praise.

"This was a scene such that I never beheld one before or after
exactly like it. Two perfect layers of clouds, one not a mile above
the earth; the other, about a mile higher; and, between the two, a
clear atmosphere, in the midst of which the balloon stood quietly in
space. It was, indeed, a strange sight--a meteorological fact, which
we cannot possibly see or make ourselves acquainted with, without
soaring above the surface of the earth." (History and Practice of
Aeronautics, p. 209).

This is graphic. Perhaps in relation to the conformity of the upper
surface of the inferior layer of clouds, to the irregularities of the
earth's surface, he was misled during the enthusiasm of the moment. He is
certainly mistaken as to the possibility of observing these double layers
from the earth; I have seen them in hundreds of instances. But in relation
to the _quiescence_ of the clouds for an hour, and _the entire absence of
ascending currents_, he could not be mistaken.

And now, in the absence of all direct proof to sustain the hypothesis,
that the heating of the land produces ascending currents, and thereby the
winds, and especially the monsoons, and in view of all the adverse
evidence, I put it to Lieutenant Maury, and every sincere searcher after
meteorological truth, whether the theory should not be abandoned.

CHAPTER VII.

The counter-trade of the northern hemisphere ranges at different heights
in different latitudes, in the same latitude at different seasons, and
also upon different days of the same season; and, like the line of
perpetual snow, has its greatest elevation in the tropics, descending
gradually to the surface of the ocean at the poles. At the northern limit
of the N. E. trades, it does not, ordinarily, approach the earth
sufficiently near for decided reciprocal action. Hence, at that point,
storms do not often originate; the winds are lighter and more variable,
and calms are more frequent than at any point, except at the meeting and
elevation of the trades, or in the polar regions. Doubtless this state of
things is increased by the feebler action of north polar magnetism, and
the irregular action of the longitudinal magnetic currents, evinced by the
irregular, and often, feeble ac