Nevertheless,
      about noon, a slight but remarkable agitation became apparent in
      the assembly: the clattering of ten thousand tongues succeeded;
      and, in an instant afterward, ten thousand faces were upturned
      toward the heavens, ten thousand pipes descended simultaneously
      from the corners of ten thousand mouths, and a shout, which could
      be compared to nothing but the roaring of Niagara, resounded
      long, loudly, and furiously, through all the environs of
      Rotterdam. The origin of this hubbub soon became sufficiently evident. From
      behind the huge bulk of one of those sharply-defined masses of
      cloud already mentioned, was seen slowly to emerge into an open
      area of blue space, a queer, heterogeneous, but apparently solid
      substance, so oddly shaped, so whimsically put together, as not
      to be in any manner comprehended, and never to be sufficiently
      admired, by the host of sturdy burghers who stood open-mouthed
      below. What could it be? In the name of all the vrows and devils
      in Rotterdam, what could it possibly portend? No one knew, no one
      could imagine; no one—not even the burgomaster Mynheer Superbus
      Von Underduk—had the slightest clew by which to unravel the
      mystery; so, as nothing more reasonable could be done, every one
      to a man replaced his pipe carefully in the corner of his mouth,
      and cocking up his right eye towards the phenomenon, puffed,
      paused, waddled about, and grunted significantly—then waddled
      back, grunted, paused, and finally—puffed again. In the meantime, however, lower and still lower toward the goodly
      city, came the object of so much curiosity, and the cause of so
      much smoke. In a very few minutes it arrived near enough to be
      accurately discerned. It appeared to be—yes! it was undoubtedly a
      species of balloon; but surely no such balloon had ever been seen
      in Rotterdam before. For who, let me ask, ever heard of a balloon
      manufactured entirely of dirty newspapers? No man in Holland
      certainly; yet here, under the very noses of the people, or
      rather at some distance above their noses was the identical thing
      in question, and composed, I have it on the best authority, of
      the precise material which no one had ever before known to be
      used for a similar purpose. It was an egregious insult to the
      good sense of the burghers of Rotterdam. As to the shape of the
      phenomenon, it was even still more reprehensible. Being little or
      nothing better than a huge foolscap turned upside down. And this
      similitude was regarded as by no means lessened when, upon nearer
      inspection, there was perceived a large tassel depending from its
      apex, and, around the upper rim or base of the cone, a circle of
      little instruments, resembling sheep-bells, which kept up a
      continual tinkling to the tune of Betty Martin. But still worse. Suspended by blue ribbons to the end of this fantastic machine,
      there hung, by way of car, an enormous drab beaver hat, with a
      brim superlatively broad, and a hemispherical crown with a black
      band and a silver buckle. It is, however, somewhat remarkable
      that many citizens of Rotterdam swore to having seen the same hat
      repeatedly before; and indeed the whole assembly seemed to regard
      it with eyes of familiarity; while the vrow Grettel Pfaall, upon
      sight of it, uttered an exclamation of joyful surprise, and
      declared it to be the identical hat of her good man himself. Now
      this was a circumstance the more to be observed, as Pfaall, with
      three companions, had actually disappeared from Rotterdam about
      five years before, in a very sudden and unaccountable manner, and
      up to the date of this narrative all attempts had failed of
      obtaining any intelligence concerning them whatsoever. To be
      sure, some bones which were thought to be human, mixed up with a
      quantity of odd-looking rubbish, had been lately discovered in a
      retired situation to the east of Rotterdam, and some people went
      so far as to imagine that in this spot a foul murder had been
      committed, and that the sufferers were in all probability Hans
      Pfaall and his associates. But to return. The balloon (for such no doubt it was) had now descended to
      within a hundred feet of the earth, allowing the crowd below a
      sufficiently distinct view of the person of its occupant. This
      was in truth a very droll little somebody. He could not have been
      more than two feet in height; but this altitude, little as it
      was, would have been sufficient to destroy his equilibrium, and
      tilt him over the edge of his tiny car, but for the intervention
      of a circular rim reaching as high as the breast, and rigged on
      to the cords of the balloon. The body of the little man was more
      than proportionately broad, giving to his entire figure a
      rotundity highly absurd. His feet, of course, could not be seen
      at all, although a horny substance of suspicious nature was
      occasionally protruded through a rent in the bottom of the car,
      or to speak more properly, in the top of the hat. His hands were
      enormously large. His hair was extremely gray, and collected into
      a queue behind. His nose was prodigiously long, crooked, and
      inflammatory; his eyes full, brilliant, and acute; his chin and
      cheeks, although wrinkled with age, were broad, puffy, and
      double; but of ears of any kind or character there was not a
      semblance to be discovered upon any portion of his head. This odd
      little gentleman was dressed in a loose surtout of sky-blue
      satin, with tight breeches to match, fastened with silver buckles
      at the knees. His vest was of some bright yellow material; a
      white taffety cap was set jauntily on one side of his head; and,
      to complete his equipment, a blood-red silk handkerchief
      enveloped his throat, and fell down, in a dainty manner, upon his
      bosom, in a fantastic bow-knot of super-eminent dimensions. Having descended, as I said before, to about one hundred feet
      from the surface of the earth, the little old gentleman was
      suddenly seized with a fit of trepidation, and appeared
      disinclined to make any nearer approach to terra firma. Throwing
      out, therefore, a quantity of sand from a canvas bag, which, he
      lifted with great difficulty, he became stationary in an instant. He then proceeded, in a hurried and agitated manner, to extract
      from a side-pocket in his surtout a large morocco pocket-book. This he poised suspiciously in his hand, then eyed it with an air
      of extreme surprise, and was evidently astonished at its weight.