These two statements point to his having reached a considerable
altitude, which is intelligible enough. It is, however,
difficult to believe his further assertion that by the use of
his single oar he succeeded in working himself down to within a
few hundred feet of the earth. The descent of the balloon
must, in point of fact, have been due to a copious outrush of
gas at his former altitude. Had his oar really been effective
in working the balloon down it would not have needed the
discharge of ballast presently spoken of to cause it to
reascend. Anyhow, he found himself sufficiently near the earth
to land a passenger who was anxious to get out. His cat had not
been comfortable in the cold upper regions, and now at its
urgent appeal was deposited in a corn field, which was the point
of first contact with the earth. It was carefully received by a
country-woman, who promptly sold it to a gentleman on the other
side of the hedge, who had been pursuing the balloon.

The first ascent of a balloon in England was deserving of some
record, and an account alike circumstantial and picturesque is
forthcoming. The novel and astonishing sight was witnessed by
a Hertfordshire farmer, whose testimony, published by Lunardi
in the same year, runs as follows:--

This deponent on his oath sayeth that, being on Wednesday, the
15th day of September instant, between the hours of three and
four in the afternoon, in a certain field called Etna, in the
parish of North Mimms aforesaid, he perceived a large machine
sailing in the air, near the place where he was on horseback;
that the machine continuing to approach the earth, the part of
it in which this deponent perceived a gentleman standing came