the earth, and steered, as far as this might be
practicable, by means of a trail rope. The balloon, which had a capacity
of nearly 162,000 cubic feet, was made in Paris, and was provided with a
rudder sail and an arrangement whereby the hang of the trail rope could
be readily shifted to different positions on the ring. Further, to
obviate unnecessary diffusion and loss of gas at the mouth, the balloon
was fitted with a lower valve, which would only open at a moderate
pressure, namely, that of four inches of water.

All preparations were completed by the summer of 1896, and on June 7th
the party embarked at Gothenburg with all necessaries on board, arriving
at Spitzbergen on June 21st. Andree, who was to be accompanied on his
aerial voyage by two companions, M. Nils Strindberg and Dr. Ekholm,
spent some time in selecting a spot that would seem suitable for their
momentous start, and this was finally found on Dane's Island, where
their cargo was accordingly landed.

The first operation was the erection of a wooden shed, the materials for
which they had brought with them, as a protection from the wind. It was
a work which entailed some loss of time, after which the gas apparatus
had to be got into order, so that, in spite of all efforts, it was the
27th of July before the balloon was inflated and in readiness.

A member of an advance party of an eclipse expedition arriving in
Spitzbergen at this period, and paying a visit to Andree for the purpose
of taking him letters, wrote:--"We watched him deal out the letters
to his men. They are all volunteers and include seven sea captains, a
lawyer, and other people some forty in all. Andree chaffed each man
to whom he gave a letter, and all were as merry as crickets over the
business.... We spent our time in watching preparations. The vaseline
(for soaking the guide ropes) caught fire to-day, but, luckily no rope
was in the pot."

But the wind as yet was contrary, and day after day passed without any
shift to a favourable quarter, until the captain of the ship which had
conveyed them was compelled to bring matters to an issue by saying that
they must return home without delay if he was to avoid getting frozen
in for the winter. The balloon had now remained inflated for twenty-one
days, and Dr. Ekholm, calculating that the leakage of gas amounted to
nearly 1 per cent. per day, became distrustful of the capability of such
a vessel to cope with such a voyage as had been aimed at.