A FALL FROM THE CLOUDS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue IX, 29 August 1896, Page 257

A FALL FROM THE CLOUDS.

When I accepted an invitation to be the artist of M. Wilfrid de Fonvielle’s party in the William Tell (says M. Muanda, the French sculptor), I little thought I was being invited to fall over 6,000 feet. But neither did M. de Fonvielle. It was to me only an unexpected opportunity to make a balloon ascension under the most favourable auspices and in the very balloon that carried Gambetta out of Paris during the siege in 1871. To him it was commonplace.

Besides Captain de Fonvielle and his assistant aeronaut, M. Chavautier, there was a M. Bernard, inventor of a new device for measuring the speed of ascent and descent, and myself. Our purpose was to take certain scientific observations and conduct some experiments in electric conditions at various altitudes. The ascent was made on a beautiful May forenoon at La Villette. M. de Fonvielle had formally invited the special Embassador of Annam, with his suite, who were at that time at the French capital on a diplomatic mission. They attended in their bright national costumes and contributed a picturesque effect to the occasion. When all was ready the loud, stern voice of Captain de Fonvielle cried, * All on board !’ Then I jumped into the willow basket, trying to forget in that moment all my connections on earth. As everything was in order the captain’s voice was again heard with the word 1 Lachez ’ or ‘ Let it go,’ and the balloon was free. The monster balloon sailed majestically up. The silence around us grew absolute. The place we left and our friends became ever smaller, and the sweep of our vision enlarged proportionately. Shortly, in death-like silence, we reached the lower ends of the clouds at the height of 4,500 feet above the delta formed by the conjunction of the Rivers Seine and Marne. These floating masses of imposing grandeur were separated and independent, but moving in the same direction, sometimes separating more or less and sometimes closing up and uniting themselves as immense chips of a vast block. This formation impressed me because we are accustomed to see the clouds from below, and in consequence we only see the end behind which is hiding the whole length of the cloud. To explain more clearly, the cloud is like a long stick, the length of which, when pointed at us, we cannot see. As we were ascending between those gigantic chimneys of vapour and approaching their tops, it was interesting to observe how the vapour became thicker,

Soon we reached the general level on which they were swimming. This was at the height of 9,000 feet, or as high again as when we entered their lower ends, which would show that the vapoury stalactites were 4,500 feet long. The sky was of a deep blue, the air was pure and sharp, and the sun burned more than usual. Enormous dark openings, like tremendous abysses below, were often seen on this vast field, produced by the disintegration of the clouds or masses of them in their course of floating Almost immediately I felt in my ears a kind of persistent little pain, and I incidentally remarked it to M. de Fonvielle. He said that he could not venture to go higher without risk, as that was a sign of extreme rarefication of the atmosphere, and with that view he opened the valve and we commenced our descent. While in the fog on the descent I happened to notice that the screw of M. Bernard’s device was rotating so

fast that I thought it was out of order. I called the attention of the inventor and Captain de Fonvielle to it. The captain ordered us at once to throw out ballast, and we emptied several sandbags, but the flying sand w’ent up and fell again upon us and inside of our willow basket. We threw out some cigarette papers, and up they went like lightning. I thought that we were lost, and as I was looking below and observing the hils and the other objects growing rapidly larger I had a queer, sickly feeling. I felt I was going to certain death, and was surprised at my own calmness. Fonvielle was equal to the emergency, and with perfect coolness ordered all the ballast we had thrown out, bags, instruments and all, and us to at once climb up and suspend ourselves from the hoop of the balloon. We managed to keep h inging from our hoop till after Captain de Fonvielle threw the anchor, which, fortunately, did not take long to catch. Thecountry people who had seen us fall came to our assistance.

The rope was pulled by them until the balloon was drawn down so that we could jump out, but in the strong wind the balloon wasplunging like an imprisoned bull, anil the process of landing was not at all comfortable. At last we succeeded in getting upon the solid earth, and I am sure that I was not the lust to leave the basket. We were all sound, except for a few bruises, and we held a consultation on the probable cause of our fall. It appeared that we had neglected the rope which goes through the balloon for the purpose of opening the valve, and that it had become entangled with the other ropes of the basket. Thankful to have escaped we took the train back to Paris, leaving M. Chavautier in charge of the balloon.