It is therefore more than probable, that as the Balloon continued to ascend; it was _becalmed_ in a _quiescent Stratum_ or Bed of the Atmosphere, which existed for a certain Depth or Thickness, between the lower and upper Current: and that the Direction of the Balloon was changed; the Instant it arrived within the Influence of the _upper_ Current. [Sidenote: Of _rowing_ the Balloon to any Point of the Compass.] Consequently, with a proper Apparatus to ascend and descend _at Will_, without Loss of Gass or Ballast; the Balloon woud have remained suspended _invariably_ at the same Height, and _vertically_ over the same Spot of Earth: or, with propulsive Machinery; might, on the same Level, have been _rowed_ to any Point of the Compass. [Sidenote: The Balloon, influenced on its Approach towards _Water_.] 76. In passing _only_ +across+ Trafford Meadows, three Miles from Chester; the Balloon lost its usual progressive Motion over the Country: for more than a Quarter of an Hour, following the Course of the River Goway to the West North-West, and towards the Sea, as at Chester: turning gently backwards and forwards round its own Axis, near the Villages of Great and Little Barrow: and making Curves over the Meadows, whose Breadth at those Places was about a Mile. [Sidenote: Its Progress marked.] The Balloon then returned into its former Direction: inclining, _again_, towards a Brook and Meadow near Alvanley: passed Eastward a little to the left of Manley (_white_) Mill: crossed the Forest of Delamere, and Crag of Helsbye, (about twice the Height of Shooter’s Hill, near London;) whose lofty Summit was _apparently_ reduced to a common Level with the Valley made by the River Wever, and with the adjacent Sea Marsh. Nor coud it have been distinguished by a Stranger, as an _Eminence_. [Sidenote: Hills and Vallies on a Level.] Indeed, the Wood near Kingsley, which grows on a sloping Ground, skirting the Hill, and _from_ the Sun, put on a _dusky_ Hue; and the Tops of the Trees a _darker Green_: this Difference of _Colour_, conveyed the _faint Resemblance_ of a rising +Slope+. A _real_ Knowledge of the Country probably contributed to aid the Imagination in this Distinction. Note: the Print representing a View of the Balloon over _Helsbye Crag_, refers to a Scene in the above Chapter. CHAPTER XIV. [Sidenote: 39 Minutes past II, Frodsham Town and Bridge seen.] Section 77. At 39 Minutes after II, Thermometer 60, Barometer 23¾, corresponding to the Height of a little more than a Mile,[22] _the Vapours dispersing_, discovered the Town of Frodsham, and Bridge over the Wever distant from the Town one Mile: the Balloon still continuing at a vast Height; having risen imperceptibly from the Time that the Ballast was thrown down.