AN ÆRIAL VOYAGE.

Southland Times, Issue 695, 12 July 1867, Page 3

AN ÆRIAL VOYAGE.

Mr. Hodsman, the aeronaut^ whose ; serial Voyage has proved one of the most daring and successful on record; gives the , following highly interesting account of' his journey, in. the Times :— . . ■■'. ...,.• " I beg to give you the particulars of' my perilous serial voyage from Dublin: to "Westmoreland. The balloon -ascended at 4.40 p.m. on Tuesday* and took a northerly direction to Clontarf,' wher^; it was my intention to 'descend, but from : the velocity at which "it was tr.av.el]jng, I saw it would be foolish.: to. make the. attempt. In half a minute 'l was over the muddy: strand between -iGlontaTf and Howth, where I made another attempt to land, and before the balloon had descended 100 feet it was driven between Howth and lreland ? s Eye It . now became evident, to me that landing in Ireland-was out of the question, and that, all arrangements must be made for being driven either to Wales or Lancashire. .The first thing that struck me was. to drop the grapnel to, the full extent, 120 feet. This ; acted as a guide to the .distance the balloon might be kept above the surface, of the water, it being now dark, and by placing one hand on the rope, the effect of the grapnel striking the water was: distinctly felt. "With an open bag "of ballast on my knee, every time the grapnel . struck the water, a couple of handfuls of sand were thrown out, and to the adoption of this plan alone I owe my own preservation and ' success.; The. ballast taken .out -was about twenty-five stone. Por - three hours this plan was carried outj and then there came on the most blinding , and merciless rain I ever saw or felt. T could not see fifteen, feet before me, and the noise of the rain on the balloon and the water was such as to entirely unnerve me. My hands became benumbed, and I was drenched to the skin. I now began to feel the danger of my position more acutely ; however, I determined I would not give up until all the ballast and movables were, gone. The rain was making the balloon heavier every moment, and the ballast was thrown out more freely until about ten o'clock, 'when the fatigue overcame me, pn4 I fe.U Jn,tQ # ?#£«£ &? ft : &W Jafr

ments. By this time the balloon had descended "within "six feet of the water, and instantly I threw out 28 lbs of -ballast. The effect of this was that the baloon rose to an altitude of a" mile, and got clear of the . rain clouds ; and then the moon shone out brilliantly. In this position it remained for about a quarter of an hour. The effect of the moon shining on the clouds beneath was such as would have been. welcome to the eye of an artist. The shadow of the balloon was distinctly to be seen, travelling over the rough, and uneven clouds, giving the idea of a ' balloon, race. Everything now became calm; no longer the hum of the ocean or- the rain. All was still; but whether the sea still raged beneath was to- me unknown. As the baloon descended, it was evident' a change had come over' the scene. The rain had ceased, and tie appearance of everything was of the darkest hue. Whether it was an understratum of dark clouds I could not tell, but suddenly a glimmer of. light was seen for a moment. Then, with anxious eye cast downwards to perceive any object, at last small squares with darker margins were clearly visible. These proved to be fields and hedges, and they appeared to vanish as quickly as objects pass when viewed from a mail train. A town, which afterwards I learned to be Appleby, was at last seen, and the sound of musical instruments was heard. I then called out in attempt to ascertain , where I was, but the reply was unintelligible. The people below, however had seen the balloon. About two miles further the grapnel caught in a large oak tree and held fast. This proved to be Daglawood, Dufton, near Appleby, Westmoreland. I then called out lustily, and I heard sounds of persons singing and playing music. These proved to be four youug men whom I had heard at Appleby, where they had been to a: ball. They were natives of Dufton, ajad as they advanced nearer their native village my voice was heard. One of them, more bold than the rest, was sent forward to see if it was really a ' bogle,' as they had heard of such a thing before ; however, their fears were soon dispelled when their questions were answered satisfactorily. They at once set to work to pull the balloon out of the wood and convey it to a field where it could be folded up. It was- then 3 o'clock a.m. Those young ■ musicians played on to the village, and many heads ..were thrust out of the windows to inquire the reason of such an unusual proceeding. When it became known that. ~a balloon had come from Dublin, hundreds came out as early as 5 o'clock to see the curious machine, and many were the inquiries to know how a man could come from Dublin in 1 sic a thing- as that.'. I- shall never forget : their kindness. .Many were the breakfasts prepared for -inej' and I was posi-: tively forced -to eat' two. All wished me long life and prosperity at parting, and hoped that if ever I came that way again I would give them a call."