balloon, and saturated the cordage forming the net-work, had now ceased; or, to speak more correctly, the balloon had passed above the region in which the rain prevailed. The cordage and the balloon becoming dry, and thus relieved of a certain weight of liquid, was affected as though a quantity of ballast had been thrown out, and it darted upwards with increased velocity.

It was within one minute of eleven when the observers, finding the barometer cease the upward motion, and finding that the machine oscillated round a position of equilibrium by noticing the bearing of the sun, they found the epoch favourable for another series of observations. The barometer there indicated that the balloon had attained the enormous height of 19,700 feet. The moisture which had invested the thermometer had frozen upon it, and obstructed for the moment observations with it. It was while M. Barral was occupied in wiping the icicles from it, that, turning his eye upwards, he beheld what would have been sufficient to have made the stoutest heart quail with fear.

To explain the catastrophe which at this moment, and at nearly 20,000 feet above the surface of the earth, and about a mile above the highest strata of the clouds, menaced the voyagers, we must recur to what we have already stated in reference to the balloon and the net-work. As it was intended to ascend to an unusual altitude, it was of course known that, in consequence of the highly rarefied state of the atmosphere, and its very much diminished pressure, the gas contained in the balloon would have a great tendency to distend, and consequently space must be allowed for the play of this effect. The balloon, therefore, at starting, was not nearly filled with gas, and yet, as we have explained, it very nearly filled the net-work which enclosed it. Is it not strange that some among the scientific men present did not foresee that, when it would ascend into a highly rarefied atmosphere, it would necessarily distend itself to such a magnitude that the netting would be utterly insufficient to contain it? Such effect, so strangely unforeseen, now disclosed itself, practically realized, to the astonished and terrified eyes of M. Barral.

The balloon, in fact, had so swelled, as not only completely to fill the netting which covered it, but to force its way in a frightful manner through the hoop under it, from which the car and the voyagers were suspended.

In short, the inflated silk, protruding downwards through

the hoop, now nearly touched the heads of the voyagers. In this emergency the remedy was sufficiently obvious.

The valve must be opened and the balloon breathed, so as to relieve it from the over-inflation. Now, it is well known that the valve in this machine is placed in a sort of sleeve, of a length more or less considerable, connected with the lower part of the balloon, through which sleeve the string of the valve passes. M. Barral, on looking for this sleeve, found that it had disappeared. Further search showed that the balloon, being awkwardly and improperly placed in the enclosing net-work, the valve sleeve, instead of hanging clear of the hoop, had been gathered up in the net-work above the hoop! so that to reach it, it would have been necessary to have forced a passage between the inflated silk and the hoop. Now, here it must be observed, that such an incident could never have happened to the most commonly practised balloon exhibitor, whose first measure before leaving the ground would be to secure access to, and the play of the valve. This, however, was in the present case fatally overlooked. It was, in fine, now quite apparent that either of two effects must speedily ensue-viz., either the car and the voyagers would be buried in the inflated silk which was descending upon them, and thus they would be suffocated, or that the force of distention must burst the balloon. If a rupture were to take place in that part immediately over the car, then the voyagers would be suffocated by an atmosphere of hydrogen; if it should take place at a superior part, then the balloon, rapidly discharged of its gas, would be precipitated to the earth, and the destruction of its occupants rendered inevitable.

Under these circumstances, the voyagers did not lose their presence of mind, but calmly considered their situation, and promptly decided upon the course to be adopted. M. Barral climbed up the side of the car and the net-work suspending it, and forced his way through the hoop, so as to catch hold of the valve-sleeve. In this operation, however, he was obliged to exercise a force which produced a rent in a part of the silk below the hoop, and immediately over the In a moment the hydrogen gas issued with terrible force from the balloon, and the voyagers found themselves involved in an atmosphere of it.

car.

Respiration became impossible, and they were nearly suffoA glance at the barometer, however, shewed them

cated.

that they were falling to the ground with a most fearful rapidity.

During a few moments they experienced all the anguish attending asphyxia. From this situation, however, they were relieved more speedily than they could then have imagined possible; but the cause which relieved them soon became evident, and inspired them with fresh terrors. M. Barral, from the indications of the barometer, knew that they were being precipitated to the surface of the earth with a velocity so prodigious, that the passage of the balloon through the atmosphere dispelled the mass of hydrogen with which they had been surrounded. It was nevertheless evident that the small rent which had been produced in the lower part of the balloon, by the abortive attempt to obtain access to the valve, could not have been the cause of a fall so rapid.

M. Barral accordingly proceeded to examine the external surface of the balloon, as far as it was visible from the car, and, to his astonishment and terror, he discovered that a rupture had taken place, and that a rent was made about five feet in length along the equator of the machine, through which, of course, the gas was now escaping in immense quantities. Here was the cause of the frightful precipitation of the descent, and a source of imminent danger in the fall.

M. Barral promptly decided on the course to be taken. It was resolved to check the descent by the discharge of the ballast, and every other article of weight. But this process, to be effectual, required to be conducted with considerable coolness and skill. They were some thousand feet above the clouds. If the ballast were dismissed too soon, the balloon must again acquire a perilous velocity before it could reach the earth. If, on the other hand, its descent were not moderated in time, its fall might become so precipitate as to become ungovernable. Nine or ten sand-bags being therefore reserved for the last and critical moment, all the rest of the ballast was discharged. The fall being still frightfully rapid, the voyagers cast out, as they descended through the cloud already mentioned, every article of weight which they had, among which were the blankets and woollen clothing which they had brought to cover themselves in the upper regions of the atmosphere, their shoes, several bottles of wine-all, in fine, save and except the philosophical instruments. These they regarded as the soldier does his flag, not to be surrendered save with his life. M. Bixio, when about to throw

over a trifling apparatus called an aspirator, composed of copper, and filled with water, was forbidden by M. Barral, and obeyed the injunction.

They soon emerged from the lower stratum of the cloud, through which they had fallen in less than two minutes, having taken fifteen minutes to ascend through it. The earth was now in sight, and they were dropping upon it like a stone. Every weighty article had been dismissed except the nine sand-bags, which had been designedly reserved to break the shock on arriving at the surface. They observed that they were directly over some vine-grounds near Lagny, in the department of the Seine and Marne, and could distinctly see a number of labourers engaged in their ordinary toil, who regarded with unmeasured astonishment the enormous object about to drop upon them. It was only when they arrived at a few hundred feet from the surface that the nine bags of sand were dropped by M. Barral, and by this manœuvre the lives of the voyagers were probably saved. The balloon reached the ground, and the car struck among the vines. Happily the wind was gentle; though gentle, it was sufficient, acting upon the enormous surface of the balloon, to drag the car along the ground as if it were drawn by fiery and ungovernable horses. Now arrived a moment of difficulty and danger, which also had been foreseen and provided for by M. Barral. If either of the voyagers had singly leaped from the car, the balloon, lightened of so much weight, would dart up again into the air. Neither voyager would consent, then, to purchase his own safety at the risk of the other. M. Barral, therefore, threw his body half down from the car, laying hold of the vine-stakes as he was dragged along, and directing M. Bixio to hold fast to his feet. In this way the two voyagers, by their united bodies, formed a sort of anchor, the arms of Monsieur Barral playing the part of the fluke, and the body of M. Bixio that of the cable. In this way M. Barral was dragged over a portion of the vineyard rapidly, without any other injury than a scratch or contusion on the face produced by one of the vine-stakes. The labourers just referred to meanwhile collected and pursued the balloon, and finally succeeded in securing it and liberating the voyagers, whom they afterwards thanked for the bottles of excellent wine which, wonderful to relate, had not been broken from the fall, although, as has been stated, they had been discharged above the clouds. The astonish

ment and perplexity of the rustics can be imagined on seeing these bottles drop into the vineyard.

This fact also shows how perpendicularly the balloon must have dropped, since the bottles, dismissed from such a height, fell in the same field where, in a minute afterwards, the balloon also dropped.

The entire descent from the altitude of twenty thousand feet was effected in seven minutes, being at the average rate of fifty feet per second.

VISIT OF TAHYAR PASHA TO DR. LAYARD'S ENCAMPMENT.

The Pasha was accompanied, for his better security, by a large body of regular and irregular troops, and three guns. His Diwan Effendesi, seal-bearer, and all the dignitaries of the household, were also with him. I entertained this large company for two days. The Pasha's tents were pitched on an island in the river, near my shed. He visited the ruins, and expressed no less wonder at the sculptures than the Arabs; nor were his conjectures as to their origin and the nature of the subjects represented, much more rational than those of the sons of the desert. The gigantic human-headed lions2 terrified as well as amazed his Osmanli followers. "La Illahi il Allah (there is no God but God)," was echoed from all sides. "These are the idols of the Infidels," said one more knowing than the rest. "I saw many such when I was in Italia with Reshid Pasha, the ambassador. Wallah, they have them in all the churches, and the Papas (priests) kneel and burn candles before them." "No, my lamb," exclaimed a more aged and experienced Turk; "I have seen the images of the Infidels in the churches of Beyoglu ; they are dressed in many colours; and although some of them have wings, none have a dog's body and a tail; these are the works of the Jin, whom the holy Solomon, peace be upon him! reduced to obedience, and imprisoned under his seal." "I have seen something like them in your apothecaries' and barbers' shops," said I, alluding to the well-known figure, half woman and half lion, which is met with so frequently in the bazaars of Constantinople. "Istafer Allah

1 Dr. Layard's enterprising explorations among the ruins of the Assyrian empire are exciting the eager attention and expectations of scholars, from the light which it is hoped they will shed on Oriental literature and Biblical antiquities.

2 Dug from the Ninevite ruins.