TALBOT695

Paris,

April 29^th 1816.

My Dear Mamma,

Yesterday tout le monde ¹ repaired to the Champ de Mars, ² to see Mademoiselle Garnerin ³ ascent in her balloon. It was quite plain, & unornamented, which however rendered it more visible at a distance. She ascended waving her flag at half past four, & in about ten minutes cut the cords which fasten the parachute to the balloon. She fell gently thro’ the sky for a quarter of an hour, being at one time near eclipsing the Sun, & landed in safety near the Bois de Boulogne. The Balloon being left to itself in mid-air, rolled thro’ the sky, continually ascending, till it met with an opposite current of air, which brought it back again exactly over our heads at an immense height. I laid <sic> down on the Grass, & saw it in the Zenith. It then went East, appearing like a racket ball, then a pin’s head, & lastly as a twinkling star, in the midst of a clear blue sky, when, as the Sun shone full upon it, I think it must have been at the distance of ten miles.

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I remain
Your affectionate Son,

W H I F T. ⁴