pied myself with the preparations. My
balloon, of gigantic proportions, was of silk, coated with gutta percha,
a substance not liable to injury from acids or gas, and of absolute
impermeability. Some trifling rents were mended: the inevitable results
of perilous descents.

The day of our ascension was that of the great fair of September, which
attracts all the world to Frankfort. The apparatus for filling was
composed of six hogsheads arranged around a large vat, hermetically
sealed. The hydrogen gas, evolved by the contact of water with iron and
sulphuric acid, passed from the first reservoirs to the second, and
thence into the immense globe, which was thus gradually inflated. These
preparations occupied all the morning, and about 11 o'clock, the balloon
was three-quarters full; sufficiently so;--for as we rise, the
atmospheric layers diminish in density, and the gas, confined within the
aerostat, acquiring more elasticity, might otherwise burst its envelope.
My calculations had furnished me with the exact measurement of gas
required to carry my companions and myself to a considerable height.

We were to ascend at noon. It was truly a magnificent spectacle, that of
the impatient crowd who thronged around the reserved enclosure,
inundated the entire square and adjoining streets, and covered the
neighbouring houses from the basements to the slated roofs. The high
winds of past days had lulled, and an overpowering heat was radiating
from an unclouded sky; not a breath animated the atmosphere. In such
weather, one might descend in the very spot he had left.

I carried three hundred pounds of ballast, in bags; the car, perfectly
round, four feet in diameter, and three feet in height, was conveniently
attached; the cord which sustained it was symmetrically extended from
the upper hemisphere of the aerostat; the compass was in its place, the
barometer suspended to the iron hoop which surrounded the supporting
cord, at a distance of eight feet above the car; the anchor carefully
prepared;--all was in readiness for our departure.

Among the persons who crowded around the enclosure, I remarked a young
man with pale face and agitated features. I was struck with his
appearance. He had been an assiduous spectator of my ascensions in
several cities of Germany. His uneasy air and his extraordinary
pre-occupation never left him; he eagerly contemplated the curious
machine, which rested motionless at a few feet from the ground, and