fire, whose ascending caloric was to expand the balloon, and raise
it into the air.

The fuel out of which this fire was to be made had been already
collected near the spot. It was not wood, nor faggots of any kind; for
although these might have served after a fashion, Karl was acquainted
with a better material. He remembered that the Montgolfiers, and other
early aerostats--previous to the introduction of the inflammable gas--
had used chopped straw and wool, and regarded these materials to be the
best substances for inflating their balloons. Karl had adopted their
idea; and had provided chopped grass as a substitute for the chopped
straw, and in lieu of sheep's wool he had procured a quantity of the
_poshm_ of the ibex, and other animals, that had been killed--the rich
shawl-wool of Cashmere!

The car, which has already been described as a sort of deep hamper, was
not over three feet in diameter. It was evidently not equal to the
holding of three persons--to say nothing of a large dog--for it is
hardly necessary to say that Fritz was not going to be left behind. The
faithful creature had too long followed the fortunes of our adventurers
to be abandoned by them now.

But there was not the slightest danger of that. The dimensions of the
car were large enough for what the "vehicle" was intended to carry,
which was only _one_.

Karl believed that there would be little chance of the balloon having
sufficient power to take up all three of them, their united weight being
over four hundred pounds. He would be but too contented if one should
be carried aloft; and if that one should succeed in effecting a landing
on the summit of the cliff, it was of no importance what afterwards
became of the aerial ship. Having completed that one voyage, it might
make another on its own account--either south to Calcutta or eastward to
Hong Kong, if it liked China better.

Of course, if any one of them should succeed in surmounting the cliff,
it would be an easy matter to get over the mountain; and as they had
passed native villages on their way upward, these could be reached in a
day or two, and a party of men, with a proper rope-ladder, brought to
the rescue of the others.

Even had there been no prospect of assistance from any one outside, it
would not matter very much. If only one of them could get to the top of
the cliffs, they could construct a rope-ladder of themselves--by which
the other two would be able to make the a