talked of, and Rozier, who had the honour of the first flight,
announced his intention of being first to cross. But Blanchard,
who had an idea for a 'flying car,' anticipated him, and made a
start from Dover on January 7th, 1785, taking with him an
American doctor named Jeffries. Blanchard fitted out his craft
for the journey very thoroughly, taking provisions, oars, and
even wings, for propulsion in case of need. He took so much, in
fact, that as soon as the balloon lifted clear of the ground the
whole of the ballast had to be jettisoned, lest the balloon
should drop into the sea. Half-way across the Channel the
sinking of the balloon warned Blanchard that he had to part with
more than ballast to accomplish the journey, and all the
equipment went, together with certain books and papers that were
on board the car. The balloon looked perilously like
collapsing, and both Blanchard and Jeffries began to undress in
order further to lighten their craft--Jeffries even proposed a
heroic dive to save the situation, but suddenly the balloon rose
sufficiently to clear the French coast, and the two voyagers
landed at a point near Calais in the Forest of Gaines, where a
marble column was subsequently erected to commemorate the great
feat.

Rozier, although not first across, determined to be second, and
for that purpose he constructed a balloon which was to owe its
buoyancy to a combination of the hydrogen and hot air
principles. There was a spherical hydrogen balloon above, and
beneath it a cylindrical container which could be filled with
hot air, thus compensating for the leakage of gas from the
hydrogen portion of the balloon--regulating the heat of his
fire, he thought, would give him perfect control in the matter of