He then found himself inclined to taste the _Brandy and Water_, ready mixed by his Order, and to eat a Biscuit: but on putting the Liquor to his Lips; thought it _too_ strong, so drank none, nor eat any Thing. 110. The _three_ Sail, and the +Channel disappeared+. [Sidenote: River _red_.] The River put on a deep _red_ Colour, like the Dee. Its Meanders seemed to _encrease_; as its Width _diminished_ to a _broad_ Line. Its Water was _lost_ to the Sight. Corn and Cattle were no longer distinguishable. The House at Aston was yet a beautiful tho’ minute Object: the Balloon moving several Times round it; as if loth to quit _that_ and the River. The Cascade was become a _white_ Line: and the _fine_ Bridge below, a _yellow Straw_ crossing the broad _red_ Streak. Of the _four_ Vessels in the Wever, _not_ an _Atom_ visible. The Shouting entirely ceased. [Sidenote: Rocks Woods and Meads reduced to a _coloured Plain_ of the _mellowest_ Tints.] 111. The _blue_ scattered Houses, wide public Road called Sutton-Causeway over Frodsham Marsh, the Meadows Fields and Woods, the _lofty_ Hills, Helsbye Crag and Halton-Tower, were _reduced_ to _one common_ Level; and diminished to the Size and Semblance of a _coloured_ Map, but it was the _superb_ and _finished Colouring_ of +Nature+. [Sidenote: Balloon higher than at the _first_ Ascent.] 112. Ceasing to look _down_ on the smooth +Lawns+ _below_, which were _now_ of the richest and _fullest_ Patterns, seen as throu’ the _small_ or inverted End of a common Perspective-Glass, and _spun_, as it were, to a _fine Thread_; Pleasure and Delight, tho’ of another Kind, fill’d the Imagination of the Beholder: who, raising his Eyes on a Level with himself, so as to look _straight before_ him; found that the Balloon had _already_, and almost beyond his own Belief, soared to so amazing a Height in the Atmosphere, as to raise him _far_ above the +Rim+ of the immense Bowl or Crater; and that it was still _stealing_ with _Rapidity_ upwards. [Sidenote: Contemplation of the Prospect.] 113. During the Contemplation of this magnificent Prospect, a _perfect_ Calm took Place, and _soothing Silence_ reigned. And thus; for _a while_ detached, _far_ detached from Earth, and _all_ terrestrial Thoughts; wrapt in the _mild Azure_ of the _etherial_ Regions; suspended in the Center of a vast and almost endless Concave; come, as a _mere_ +Visitor+, from _another_ Planet; surrounded with the stupendous Works of _Nature_, yet _above_ them;—the +glorious Sun+ except, which enlivened +all+, and shone with pure celestial Lustre;—a peaceful +Serenity+ of _Mind_ succeeded; an +enviable+ EUROIA.[36] An Idea of which it is not in the Power of Language to convey, or to describe. CHAPTER XX. [Sidenote: Breathed freely. Thermometer 60.]