Paris,
April 29th 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.
<illustration>
I remain
Your affectionate Son,
W H I F T. <4>
Notes:
1. Everybody.
2. Before the French Revolution, the Champs de Mars was a parade ground of the King.
3. Elisabeth Garnerin, became the first professional woman parachutist, making 39 parachute descents from 1815 to 1836.
4. The addition of ‘I’ in WHFT’s signature was possibly an attempt to indicate his connection with the Ilchesters.