"Are we rising again?" "No. On the contrary." "Are we descending1?" "Worse than that, captain! we are falling!" "For Heaven's sake heave out the ballast!" "There! the last sack is empty!" "Does the balloon rise?" "No!" "I hear a noise like the dashing of waves. The sea is below the car! It cannot be more than 500 feet from us!" "Overboard with every weight! . . . everything!"
Such were the loud and startling words which resounded2 through the air, above the vast watery3 desert of the Pacific, about four o'clock in the evening of the 23rd of March, 1865.
Few can possibly have forgotten the terrible storm from the northeast, in the middle of the equinox of that year. The tempest raged without intermission from the 18th to the 26th of March. Its ravages4 were terrible in America, Europe, and Asia, covering a distance of eighteen hundred miles, and extending obliquely5 to the equator from the thirty-fifth north parallel to the fortieth south parallel. Towns were overthrown6, forests uprooted7, coasts devastated8 by the mountains of water which were precipitated9 on them, vessels10 cast on the shore, which the published accounts numbered by hundreds, whole districts leveled by waterspouts which destroyed everything they passed over, several thousand people crushed on land or drowned at sea; such were the traces of its fury, left by this devastating12 tempest. It surpassed in disasters those which so frightfully ravaged14 Havana and Guadalupe, one on the 25th of October, 1810, the other on the 26th of July, 1825.
But while so many catastrophes16 were taking place on land and at sea, a drama not less exciting was being enacted17 in the agitated18 air.
In fact, a balloon, as a ball might be carried on the summit of a waterspout, had been taken into the circling movement of a column of air and had traversed space at the rate of ninety miles an hour, turning round and round as if seized by some aerial maelstrom19.
Beneath the lower point of the balloon swung a car, containing five passengers, scarcely visible in the midst of the thick vapor20 mingled21 with spray which hung over the surface of the ocean.
Whence, it may be asked, had come that plaything of the tempest? From what part of the world did it rise? It surely could not have started during the storm. But the storm had raged five days already, and the first symptoms were manifested on the 18th. It cannot be doubted that the balloon came from a great distance, for it could not have traveled less than two thousand miles in twenty-four hours.
At any rate the passengers, destitute22 of all marks for their guidance, could not have possessed23 the means of reckoning the route traversed since their departure. It was a remarkable24 fact that, although in the very midst of the furious tempest, they did not suffer from it. They were thrown about and whirled round and round without feeling the rotation25 in the slightest degree, or being sensible that they were removed from a horizontal position.
Their eyes could not pierce through the thick mist which had gathered beneath the car. Dark vapor was all around them. Such was the density26 of the atmosphere that they could not be certain whether it was day or night. No reflection of light, no sound from inhabited land, no roaring of the ocean could have reached them, through the obscurity, while suspended in those elevated zones. Their rapid descent alone had informed them of the dangers which they ran from the waves. However, the balloon, lightened of heavy articles, such as ammunition27, arms, and provisions, had risen into the higher layers of the atmosphere, to a height of 4,500 feet. The voyagers, after having discovered that the sea extended beneath them, and thinking the dangers above less dreadful than those below, did not hesitate to throw overboard even their most useful articles, while they endeavored to lose no more of that fluid, the life of their enterprise, which sustained them above the abyss.
The night passed in the midst of alarms which would have been death to less energetic souls. Again the day appeared and with it the tempest began to moderate. From the beginning of that day, the 24th of March, it showed symptoms of abating28. At dawn, some of the lighter29 clouds had risen into the more lofty regions of the air. In a few hours the wind had changed from a hurricane to a fresh breeze, that is to say, the rate of the transit30 of the atmospheric31 layers was diminished by half. It was still what sailors call "a close-reefed topsail breeze," but the commotion32 in the elements had none the less considerably33 diminished.
Towards eleven o'clock, the lower region of the air was sensibly clearer. The atmosphere threw off that chilly34 dampness which is felt after the passage of a great meteor. The storm did not seem to have gone farther to the west. It appeared to have exhausted35 itself. Could it have passed away in electric sheets, as is sometimes the case with regard to the typhoons of the Indian Ocean?
But at the same time, it was also evident that the balloon was again slowly descending with a regular movement. It appeared as if it were, little by little, collapsing36, and that its case was lengthening37 and extending, passing from a spherical38 to an oval form. Towards midday the balloon was hovering39 above the sea at a height of only 2,000 feet. It contained 50,000 cubic feet of gas, and, thanks to its capacity, it could maintain itself a long time in the air, although it should reach a great altitude or might be thrown into a horizontal position.
Perceiving their danger, the passengers cast away the last articles which still weighed down the car, the few provisions they had kept, everything, even to their pocket-knives, and one of them, having hoisted40 himself on to the circles which united the cords of the net, tried to secure more firmly the lower point of the balloon.
It was, however, evident to the voyagers that the gas was failing, and that the balloon could no longer be sustained in the higher regions. They must infallibly perish!
There was not a continent, nor even an island, visible beneath them. The watery expanse did not present a single speck41 of land, not a solid surface upon which their anchor could hold.
It was the open sea, whose waves were still dashing with tremendous violence! It was the ocean, without any visible limits, even for those whose gaze, from their commanding position, extended over a radius42 of forty miles. The vast liquid plain, lashed43 without mercy by the storm, appeared as if covered with herds44 of furious chargers, whose white and disheveled crests45 were streaming in the wind. No land was in sight, not a solitary46 ship could be seen. It was necessary at any cost to arrest their downward course, and to prevent the balloon from being engulfed47 in the waves. The voyagers directed all their energies to this urgent work. But, notwithstanding their efforts, the balloon still fell, and at the same time shifted with the greatest rapidity, following the direction of the wind, that is to say, from the northeast to the southwest.
Frightful13 indeed was the situation of these unfortunate men. They were evidently no longer masters of the machine. All their attempts were useless. The case of the balloon collapsed48 more and more. The gas escaped without any possibility of retaining it. Their descent was visibly accelerated, and soon after midday the car hung within 600 feet of the ocean.
It was impossible to prevent the escape of gas, which rushed through a large rent in the silk. By lightening the car of all the articles which it contained, the passengers had been able to prolong their suspension in the air for a few hours. But the inevitable49 catastrophe15 could only be retarded51, and if land did not appear before night, voyagers, car, and balloon must to a certainty vanish beneath the waves.
They now resorted to the only remaining expedient52. They were truly dauntless men, who knew how to look death in the face. Not a single murmur53 escaped from their lips. They were determined54 to struggle to the last minute, to do anything to retard50 their fall. The car was only a sort of willow55 basket, unable to float, and there was not the slightest possibility of maintaining it on the surface of the sea.
Two more hours passed and the balloon was scarcely 400 feet above the water.
At that moment a loud voice, the voice of a man whose heart was inaccessible56 to fear, was heard. To this voice responded others not less determined. "Is everything thrown out?" "No, here are still 2,000 dollars in gold." A heavy bag immediately plunged57 into the sea. "Does the balloon rise?" "A little, but it will not be long before it falls again." "What still remains58 to be thrown out?" "Nothing." "Yes! the car!" "Let us catch hold of the net, and into the sea with the car."
This was, in fact, the last and only mode of lightening the balloon. The ropes which held the car were cut, and the balloon, after its fall, mounted 2,000 feet. The five voyagers had hoisted themselves into the net, and clung to the meshes59, gazing at the abyss.
The delicate sensibility of balloons is well known. It is sufficient to throw out the lightest article to produce a difference in its vertical60 position. The apparatus61 in the air is like a balance of mathematical precision. It can be thus easily understood that when it is lightened of any considerable weight its movement will be impetuous and sudden. So it happened on this occasion. But after being suspended for an instant aloft, the balloon began to redescend, the gas escaping by the rent which it was impossible to repair.
The men had done all that men could do. No human efforts could save them now.
They must trust to the mercy of Him who rules the elements.
At four o'clock the balloon was only 500 feet above the surface of the water.
A loud barking was heard. A dog accompanied the voyagers, and was held pressed close to his master in the meshes of the net.
"Top has seen something," cried one of the men. Then immediately a loud voice shouted,--
"Land! land!" The balloon, which the wind still drove towards the southwest, had since daybreak gone a considerable distance, which might be reckoned by hundreds of miles, and a tolerably high land had, in fact, appeared in that direction. But this land was still thirty miles off. It would not take less than an hour to get to it, and then there was the chance of falling to leeward62.
An hour! Might not the balloon before that be emptied of all the fluid it yet retained?
Such was the terrible question! The voyagers could distinctly see that solid spot which they must reach at any cost. They were ignorant of what it was, whether an island or a continent, for they did not know to what part of the world the hurricane had driven them. But they must reach this land, whether inhabited or desolate63, whether hospitable64 or not.
It was evident that the balloon could no longer support itself! Several times already had the crests of the enormous billows licked the bottom of the net, making it still heavier, and the balloon only half rose, like a bird with a wounded wing. Half an hour later the land was not more than a mile off, but the balloon, exhausted, flabby, hanging in great folds, had gas in its upper part alone. The voyagers, clinging to the net, were still too heavy for it, and soon, half plunged into the sea, they were beaten by the furious waves. The balloon-case bulged65 out again, and the wind, taking it, drove it along like a vessel11. Might it not possibly thus reach the land?
But, when only two fathoms66 off, terrible cries resounded from four pairs of lungs at once. The balloon, which had appeared as if it would never again rise, suddenly made an unexpected bound, after having been struck by a tremendous sea. As if it had been at that instant relieved of a new part of its weight, it mounted to a height of 1,500 feet, and here it met a current of wind, which instead of taking it directly to the coast, carried it in a nearly parallel direction.
At last, two minutes later, it reproached obliquely, and finally fell on a sandy beach, out of the reach of the waves.
The voyagers, aiding each other, managed to disengage themselves from the meshes of the net. The balloon, relieved of their weight, was taken by the wind, and like a wounded bird which revives for an instant, disappeared into space.
But the car had contained five passengers, with a dog, and the balloon only left four on the shore.
The missing person had evidently been swept off by the sea, which had just struck the net, and it was owing to this circumstance that the lightened balloon rose the last time, and then soon after reached the land. Scarcely had the four castaways set foot on firm ground, than they all, thinking of the absent one, simultaneously67 exclaimed, "Perhaps he will try to swim to land! Let us save him! let us save him!"
“我们又在上升了吗？”“不，正相反！我们在下降！”“比那还要糟，史密斯先生！我们正在往下掉！”“天哪！快把压仓物扔出去吧！”“瞧！这最后的一袋都空了！”“气球上升了吗？”“没有！”“我好象听到波浪冲击的声音！”“吊篮下面就是海！”“离我们至多不过五百英尺了！”“把所有占分量的东西都扔下去！……所有的东西！”
这就是1865年3月23日下午四点钟从辽阔的太平洋上空传来的喊声。
那年春分前后，那场从东北方吹来的骇人暴风是令人难忘的。从3月18日到26日，大风暴片刻不停地怒吼着。它从北纬35度斜穿赤道，直到南纬40度，掠过了一千八百英里的地带，给美洲、欧洲和亚洲造成了严重的灾害。城市被吹毁；树木被连根拨起；排山倒海似的巨浪冲毁了堤岸，仅仅根据已经发表的数字，一直抛上陆地的船就有几百只；有些龙卷风经过的地方，整个都变成了平地；好几千人在陆上和海里丧了命；这就是当时疯狂肆虐的暴风过去以后所留下的罪证。1810年10月25日哈瓦那和1825年7月26日瓜德罗普的灾情固然可怕，但是也比不上这一次。
就在这陆地和海洋上惨遭浩劫的时候，激荡的高空中也演出了同样惊心动魄的悲剧。
一只轻气球，象被龙卷风带到水柱顶上的皮球一样，卷进了一股气流的旋涡中，它以每小时九十英里的速度掠过太空，仿佛被什么空中旋涡抓住了似的，不停地转着。
气球的下边系着一只吊篮，里面坐着五个人，由于浓雾和水汽弥漫在整个的洋面上，人们很难看得清楚。
也许有人会问，这个气球——暴风的玩具是从哪儿来的？它是从地球的哪个角落升起的？当然，它是不会在刮暴风的时候起飞的。但是，暴风已经刮了五天，并且在18日那天就已经有了要起风暴的征兆。毫无疑问，这个气球是从极远的地方飞来的，因为大风一昼夜至少要把它带走两千英里。
这些迷失方向的乘客，横竖也没法计算他们起航以来经历了多少路程。奇怪的是，他们虽然在这怒吼的暴风中飘荡，却还是平安无事。他们被风抛来抛去，吹得团团乱转，却丝毫不觉得自己在滚动，也不觉得怎样颠簸。
他们的目光没法透过吊篮下面的浓雾。阴云环抱着他们。他们分辨不清是白天还是黑夜。当时他们悬浮在高空中，周围一片昏暗，既看不见地上的反光，也听不到地上的人声，连海洋的澎湃声也传不到他们的耳朵里。只有当急骤下降的时候，他们才意识到会有惨遭灭顶的危险。他们扔下了弹药、枪枝和粮食一些重负以后，便又升到四千五百英尺高度的空中。飞行的人们一发觉下面是汪洋大海，就觉得上面的危险总比下面小些，因此毫不犹豫地连他们最有用的东西都扔掉了，同时他们尽量想法不让气球漏掉一点氢气，只有这种氢气，才是他们的命根子，才能把他们悬在海洋上。
黑夜在惊险恐怖中过去了（如果是胆小的人，恐怕早已吓死了）。白昼又来临了。随着白昼的来临，暴风也逐渐和缓下来。从3月24日那一天清晨起，暴风有了减弱的征象。黎明时分，一片片的轻云向更高处升去。几小时的工夫，飓风已经变成了“强风”，这就是说：大气流动的速度已经减弱了一半。这时虽然还是水手们所说的“紧帆风”，然而风势毕竟减弱不少了。
将近十一点钟的时候，下层的空气显得比较明朗了。大气已经发出象雷雨过后常有的那种湿润的气息。暴风似乎不再向西刮了。风力已经显得有气无力了。它会不会象印度洋上的台风那样，往往说停就停，一下子就烟消云散呢？
可是，就在这时候，气球显然又在慢慢地下降了。看来它正在逐渐瘪下去，气囊愈伸愈长，从球形变成了椭圆形。到了中午，气球离海面只有两千英尺了。气囊能容纳五万立方英尺气体，正因为它有这么大容量，所以它才能在空中——或是向上升得很高，或是保持平行方向移动——停留很长时间。
乘客们感觉到自己有危险，把仅存的一些能够使吊篮下坠的物品：少量存粮，每一件东西，甚至衣袋里的小刀都扔掉了。这时，有一个人爬到套住网索的圆环上，打算把气球的下部系得更牢一些。
然而，乘客们心里都很明白，氢气已经不足了，气球不可能再维持在更高的空际。他们只有死路一条了。
他们底下没有大陆，甚至连一个小岛也没有。只是一片汪洋，没有一处可以让他们着陆、也没有任何地面可以让他们下锚。
辽阔的大海上，仍然翻腾着惊涛骇浪！这片汪洋大海，即使人们居高临下，视野扩大到半径四十英里，也同样是一眼望不到边。这流动的平原在暴风无情的鞭挞下激起汹涌的浪头，真好比万马奔腾，那一片白色鬃毛还在迎风飘拂哩！看不到一寸陆地，也看不到一叶孤帆！这时必须不借任何代价阻止气球再往下降，否则就有被波浪吞没的危险。乘客们在这紧急关头显然是尽了最大的努力。但是，尽管他们努力，气球还是继续下坠，同时顺着东北风以极大速度移动。
这些不幸的人们所处的境况的确是惊险万分！他们已经不是气球的主人了。他们的一切努力都没有用。气球的气囊愈来愈瘪。氢气不住地往外泄，没有任何办法可以堵塞。下降的速度显然愈过愈快，午后一点钟，吊篮离洋面已经不到六百英尺了。
氢气从气囊的一条裂缝在外冲，要阻止它往外冲是不可能的了。吊篮里的东西都扔掉了，重量轻了，因此，几个钟头以内，乘客们还可以在空中支持下去，不至于掉下来。但这仅仅是苟延残喘而已，如果在天黑以前还找不到陆地，那么乘客、吊篮和气球肯定地都要葬身海底了。
这时候，他们拿出了最后的一着。他们显然都是勇敢无畏、头脑冷静的人。他们没有一句怨言。他们尽量想办法延迟降落的时刻，他们决心要奋斗到最后一分钟。吊篮不过是个柳条编的篮子，不能在水上漂浮，万一落到海里，决没有任何可能不沉下去。
两点钟的时候，气球离水面仅仅四百英尺了。这时候，突然听到一声洪亮的声音，从这声音就知道这人一点也没想到恐惧。回答他的声音也同样显得坚强有力。“东西都扔了吗？”“不，还有一万金法郎。”一个沉重的钱袋立刻落到海里。“气球上升了吗？”“上升了一点儿，但是一会儿又会下降的。”“还有什么可扔的吗？”“没有了。”“有！……吊蓝！”“让我们抓住网索，把吊篮扔到海里去吧！”
这的确是最后的唯一可以减轻气球重量的方法了。系着吊篮的绳索割断了，吊篮掉了下去，于是，气球又上升了两千英尺。
这五位乘客爬上了气球网，紧紧攀住网眼，注视着下面的无底深渊。
大家知道气球对于重力的增减是最敏感的。即使扔下很轻的东西，也可以改变它的高度。这种在空气中浮动的工具象一架极度精确的天平。不难想象，它只要减轻一点点负担，马上就会急剧上升。这时的情形正是这样。但是，没一会儿工夫，气球又开始下降了，气体从裂缝中向外跑，这裂缝现在要补也没法补。
这些人尽了最大的努力。现在人力已经不能挽救他们，只好听天由命了。
在四点钟的时候，气球离海面只剩五百英尺了。
传来一声响亮的犬吠声。原来飞航员们还带着一只狗！它紧紧地靠着它的主人攀在网眼上。
“托普瞧见什么了？”一个人大声说。接着马上有人喊道：
“陆地！陆地！”
原来气球从天亮到现在，随着大风向西南飘行了足足有几百英里。现在前面出现了一片相当高的陆地。不过这片陆地还在三十英里以外。如果一直飘去的话，至少也要一个钟头才能到那里。
一个钟头！在这一个钟头里气球里仅存的一点气体会不会全跑光呢？
问题的严重性就在这里！飞航员已经清清楚楚地望见了陆地，他们必须不借任何代价到达那里。他们并不知道那是什么地方，是岛屿还是大陆，因为他们不知道飓风把他们吹到地球的哪一个角落来了。但是，他们只好到那块陆地去，不管那里有没有人，去得去不得。
气球在四点钟的时候，就已经支持不下去，现在它更贴近水面了！巨大的浪花好几次舔着网的下部，使它更加沉重，气球象一只翅膀受了伤的鸟，要飞又飞不高。半小时后，距陆地只有一英里了，但是气球已经耗尽了气力，褶绉不堪地悬在那里，只有上层还剩下一些气体。飞航员们紧紧地攀住气球网，可是还嫌太重，不久，他们有半个身子浸在海里了，汹涌的波浪冲击着他们。又过了一会，气球的气囊变成了一个口袋，风象吹着帆片似的使它往前飘过去。它也许能就这样到达陆地吧！
但是，当离岸只有两锚链远的时候，四个人同时惊叫起来。那只原以为决不能再飞的气球，在一个巨浪的打击下，竟突然出人意料地一下子升起来。一会儿工夫，它似乎又减轻了一部分重量，高升到一千五百英尺的上空，在那里它遇到一阵风，这阵风并没有把它吹上岸，反而吹得它沿着和陆地几乎平行的方向飞去了。
两分钟以后，它终于又斜转回来，最后降落在一个波涛冲击不到的沙滩上。飞航员们彼此协助从网眼里脱出身来。气球由于失去了人们的重量，又被风吹起来，象一只受伤的鸟，精神一恢复，便消失在空中了。
吊篮里原来有五个人和一只狗，可是现在随气球着陆的却只剩下四个人了。
失踪的那一个人一定是浪涛冲击气球网的时候被卷到海里去了，正因为这样，气球才减轻了重量，才会在着陆前不久突然一下子上升。这四个遇险的人脚一踏上了陆地，就发觉少了一个伙伴，马上同声喊道，“大概他会游上岸来的。我们要救他！我们要救他！”
