And was she not a vessel launched into the aerial sea?
The "Go-Ahead" went up in a perfectly vertical line--a proof of the calmness of the atmosphere--and stopped at an altitude of eight hundred feet.
Then she began her horizontal maneuvering.

With her screws going she moved to the east at a speed of twelve yards a second.

That is the speed of the whale--not an inappropriate comparison, for the balloon was somewhat of the shape of the giant of the northern seas.
A salvo of cheers mounted towards the skillful aeronauts.

Then under the influence of her rudder, the "Go-Ahead" went through all the evolutions that her steersman could give her.

She turned in a small circle; she moved forwards and backwards in a way to convince the most refractory disbeliever in the guiding of balloons.