This difficulty of direct vision had troubled me more or less for
      the last forty-eight hours; but my present enormous elevation
      brought closer together, as it were, the floating bodies of
      vapor, and the inconvenience became, of course, more and more
      palpable in proportion to my ascent. Nevertheless, I could easily
      perceive that the balloon now hovered above the range of great
      lakes in the continent of North America, and was holding a
      course, due south, which would bring me to the tropics. This
      circumstance did not fail to give me the most heartful
      satisfaction, and I hailed it as a happy omen of ultimate
      success. Indeed, the direction I had hitherto taken, had filled
      me with uneasiness; for it was evident that, had I continued it
      much longer, there would have been no possibility of my arriving
      at the moon at all, whose orbit is inclined to the ecliptic at
      only the small angle of 5° 8′ 48″. “April 9th. To-day the earth’s diameter was greatly diminished,
      and the color of the surface assumed hourly a deeper tint of
      yellow. The balloon kept steadily on her course to the southward,
      and arrived, at nine P.M., over the northern edge of the Mexican
      Gulf. “April 10th. I was suddenly aroused from slumber, about five
      o’clock this morning, by a loud, crackling, and terrific sound,
      for which I could in no manner account. It was of very brief
      duration, but, while it lasted resembled nothing in the world of
      which I had any previous experience. It is needless to say that I
      became excessively alarmed, having, in the first instance,
      attributed the noise to the bursting of the balloon. I examined
      all my apparatus, however, with great attention, and could
      discover nothing out of order. Spent a great part of the day in
      meditating upon an occurrence so extraordinary, but could find no
      means whatever of accounting for it. Went to bed dissatisfied,
      and in a state of great anxiety and agitation. “April 11th. Found a startling diminution in the apparent
      diameter of the earth, and a considerable increase, now
      observable for the first time, in that of the moon itself, which
      wanted only a few days of being full. It now required long and
      excessive labor to condense within the chamber sufficient
      atmospheric air for the sustenance of life. “April 12th. A singular alteration took place in regard to the
      direction of the balloon, and although fully anticipated,
      afforded me the most unequivocal delight. Having reached, in its
      former course, about the twentieth parallel of southern latitude,
      it turned off suddenly, at an acute angle, to the eastward, and
      thus proceeded throughout the day, keeping nearly, if not
      altogether, in the exact plane of the lunar ellipse. What was
      worthy of remark, a very perceptible vacillation in the car was a
      consequence of this change of route—a vacillation which
      prevailed, in a more or less degree, for a period of many hours. “April 13th. Was again very much alarmed by a repetition of the
      loud, crackling noise which terrified me on the tenth. Thought
      long upon the subject, but was unable to form any satisfactory
      conclusion. Great decrease in the earth’s apparent diameter,
      which now subtended from the balloon an angle of very little more
      than twenty-five degrees. The moon could not be seen at all,
      being nearly in my zenith. I still continued in the plane of the
      ellipse, but made little progress to the eastward. “April 14th. Extremely rapid decrease in the diameter of the
      earth. To-day I became strongly impressed with the idea, that the
      balloon was now actually running up the line of apsides to the
      point of perigee—in other words, holding the direct course which
      would bring it immediately to the moon in that part of its orbit
      the nearest to the earth. The moon itself was directly overhead,
      and consequently hidden from my view. Great and long-continued
      labor necessary for the condensation of the atmosphere. “April 15th. Not even the outlines of continents and seas could
      now be traced upon the earth with anything approaching
      distinctness. About twelve o’clock I became aware, for the third
      time, of that appalling sound which had so astonished me before. It now, however, continued for some moments, and gathered
      intensity as it continued. At length, while, stupefied and
      terror-stricken, I stood in expectation of I knew not what
      hideous destruction, the car vibrated with excessive violence,
      and a gigantic and flaming mass of some material which I could
      not distinguish, came with a voice of a thousand thunders,
      roaring and booming by the balloon. When my fears and
      astonishment had in some degree subsided, I had little difficulty
      in supposing it to be some mighty volcanic fragment ejected from
      that world to which I was so rapidly approaching, and, in all
      probability, one of that singular class of substances
      occasionally picked up on the earth, and termed meteoric stones
      for want of a better appellation. “April 16th. To-day, looking upward as well as I could, through
      each of the side windows alternately, I beheld, to my great
      delight, a very small portion of the moon’s disk protruding, as
      it were, on all sides beyond the huge circumference of the
      balloon. My agitation was extreme; for I had now little doubt of
      soon reaching the end of my perilous voyage. Indeed, the labor
      now required by the condenser had increased to a most oppressive
      degree, and allowed me scarcely any respite from exertion. Sleep
      was a matter nearly out of the question. I became quite ill, and
      my frame trembled with exhaustion. It was impossible that human
      nature could endure this state of intense suffering much longer. During the now brief interval of darkness a meteoric stone again
      passed in my vicinity, and the frequency of these phenomena began
      to occasion me much apprehension. “April 17th. This morning proved an epoch in my voyage. It will
      be remembered that, on the thirteenth, the earth subtended an
      angular breadth of twenty-five degrees. On the fourteenth this
      had greatly diminished; on the fifteenth a still more remarkable
      decrease was observable; and, on retiring on the night of the
      sixteenth, I had noticed an angle of no more than about seven
      degrees and fifteen minutes.