If, on the other hand, any
      circumstances should cause undue levity, and consequent ascent,
      this levity is immediately counteracted by the additional weight
      of rope upraised from the earth. Thus, the balloon can neither
      ascend or descend, except within very narrow limits, and its
      resources, either in gas or ballast, remain comparatively
      unimpaired. When passing over an expanse of water, it becomes
      necessary to employ small kegs of copper or wood, filled with
      liquid ballast of a lighter nature than water. These float, and
      serve all the purposes of a mere rope on land. Another most
      important office of the guide-rope, is to point out the
      _direction_ of the balloon. The rope _drags_, either on land or
      sea, while the balloon is free; the latter, consequently, is
      always in advance, when any progress whatever is made: a
      comparison, therefore, by means of the compass, of the relative
      positions of the two objects, will always indicate the _course_. In the same way, the angle formed by the rope with the vertical
      axis of the machine, indicates the _velocity_. When there is _no_
      angle—in other words, when the rope hangs perpendicularly, the
      whole apparatus is stationary; but the larger the angle, that is
      to say, the farther the balloon precedes the end of the rope, the
      greater the velocity; and the converse. “As the original design was to cross the British Channel, and
      alight as near Paris as possible, the voyagers had taken the
      precaution to prepare themselves with passports directed to all
      parts of the Continent, specifying the nature of the expedition,
      as in the case of the Nassau voyage, and entitling the
      adventurers to exemption from the usual formalities of office:
      unexpected events, however, rendered these passports superfluous. “The inflation was commenced very quietly at daybreak, on
      Saturday morning, the 6th instant, in the Court-Yard of Weal-Vor
      House, Mr. Osborne’s seat, about a mile from Penstruthal, in
      North Wales; and at 7 minutes past 11, every thing being ready
      for departure, the balloon was set free, rising gently but
      steadily, in a direction nearly South; no use being made, for the
      first half hour, of either the screw or the rudder. We proceed
      now with the journal, as transcribed by Mr. Forsyth from the
      joint MSS. of Mr. Monck Mason, and Mr. Ainsworth. The body of the
      journal, as given, is in the hand-writing of Mr. Mason, and a P.
      S. is appended, each day, by Mr. Ainsworth, who has in
      preparation, and will shortly give the public a more minute, and
      no doubt, a thrillingly interesting account of the voyage. “THE JOURNAL. “_Saturday, April the 6th_.—Every preparation likely to embarrass
      us, having been made over night, we commenced the inflation this
      morning at daybreak; but owing to a thick fog, which encumbered
      the folds of the silk and rendered it unmanageable, we did not
      get through before nearly eleven o’clock. Cut loose, then, in
      high spirits, and rose gently but steadily, with a light breeze
      at North, which bore us in the direction of the British Channel. Found the ascending force greater than we had expected; and as we
      arose higher and so got clear of the cliffs, and more in the
      sun’s rays, our ascent became very rapid. I did not wish,
      however, to lose gas at so early a period of the adventure, and
      so concluded to ascend for the present. We soon ran out our
      guide-rope; but even when we had raised it clear of the earth, we
      still went up very rapidly. The balloon was unusually steady, and
      looked beautifully. In about ten minutes after starting, the
      barometer indicated an altitude of 15,000 feet. The weather was
      remarkably fine, and the view of the subjacent country—a most
      romantic one when seen from any point,—was now especially
      sublime. The numerous deep gorges presented the appearance of
      lakes, on account of the dense vapors with which they were
      filled, and the pinnacles and crags to the South East, piled in
      inextricable confusion, resembling nothing so much as the giant
      cities of eastern fable. We were rapidly approaching the
      mountains in the South; but our elevation was more than
      sufficient to enable us to pass them in safety. In a few minutes
      we soared over them in fine style; and Mr. Ainsworth, with the
      seamen, was surprised at their apparent want of altitude when
      viewed from the car, the tendency of great elevation in a balloon
      being to reduce inequalities of the surface below, to nearly a
      dead level. At half-past eleven still proceeding nearly South, we
      obtained our first view of the Bristol Channel; and, in fifteen
      minutes afterward, the line of breakers on the coast appeared
      immediately beneath us, and we were fairly out at sea. We now
      resolved to let off enough gas to bring our guide-rope, with the
      buoys affixed, into the water. This was immediately done, and we
      commenced a gradual descent. In about twenty minutes our first
      buoy dipped, and at the touch of the second soon afterwards, we
      remained stationary as to elevation. We were all now anxious to
      test the efficiency of the rudder and screw, and we put them both
      into requisition forthwith, for the purpose of altering our
      direction more to the eastward, and in a line for Paris. By means
      of the rudder we instantly effected the necessary change of
      direction, and our course was brought nearly at right angles to
      that of the wind; when we set in motion the spring of the screw,
      and were rejoiced to find it propel us readily as desired. Upon
      this we gave nine hearty cheers, and dropped in the sea a bottle,
      enclosing a slip of parchment with a brief account of the
      principle of the invention. Hardly, however, had we done with our
      rejoicings, when an unforeseen accident occurred which
      discouraged us in no little degree. The steel rod connecting the
      spring with the propeller was suddenly jerked out of place, at
      the car end, (by a swaying of the car through some movement of
      one of the two seamen we had taken up,) and in an instant hung
      dangling out of reach, from the pivot of the axis of the screw. While we were endeavoring to regain it, our attention being
      completely absorbed, we became involved in a strong current of
      wind from the East, which bore us, with rapidly increasing force,
      towards the Atlantic.