185. He was _alone_ when he alighted: but, in a _few_ Minutes, found himself surrounded by the Country-People, who had waded _above Ancle-deep_, and came running from all Parts, to see the +wonder+, and contribute their _Assistance_. [Sidenote: Landed at 53 Minutes past III. Thermometer 59.] 186. He _landed_ exactly, at 7 Minutes before IV: Thermometer 59: but +where+ he coud _not_ tell. The first Question was “Pray where am I?” And the Answer;—in _Lancashire_. On asking the nearest Distance to a Turnpike-Road; the People said he was within _two Fields_ of one, and offered to conduct him thither. He accepted their Offer, and shared _his Liquor_ among them. CHAPTER XXXIII. Section 187. The Balloon alighted _near_ the _Middle_ of a +moss+; called +rixton-moss+, a Place he had never before heard of. [Sidenote: Rixton-Moss, its Magnitude.] It was a large Tract of unenclosed +wet+ Land, above four Miles long and above two broad, intersected by Ditches or Water Courses, which divide the Moss into Fields of a _moderate_ Size. The whole is surrounded by _tall_ Forest Trees. This was the _lesser_ of the two dusky Plains, which appeared about the Size of a Handkerchief, and which he wished to decipher, but in vain. 188. Rixton-Moss is situated five Miles North North East of Warrington, and a little to the left of the Turnpike Road leading from thence to Manchester, and 25 from Chester. [Sidenote: Chat-Moss in Lancashire.] 189. He has since been informed that the other Plain, about the Size of a moderate _Carpet_, was no _less_ a Place than +chat moss+, a vast _Tract_ of barren _wet_ Land, _many_ Miles in Extent. [Sidenote: The _Rivulet_ seen when _above_, was the River Mersey near Warrington.] 190. Curiosity tempted him to make particular Enquiry concerning the Rivulet over which he hung, _admiring_ the Beauty of its serpentine Meanders; and, from a Description given of his Manouvres over _Lymm_, situated to the East of Warrington, and from a peculiar Curve, appearing in the Form of a _true Lover’s Knot_, when over the Gunpowder Water-Mills, he was convinced the _Rivulet_ coud have been no _other_ than the broad Branch of the River +Mersey+. [Sidenote: The Excursion performed in two Hours and a Quarter.] 191. The +aërial excursion+ was performed in two Hours, and a Quarter, within two Minutes. The Distance of the Balloon-Course, if traced along the Ground, 30 Miles. Section 130. [Sidenote: Balloon, unknown to the Aironaut, going at the Rate of 30 Miles an Hour.] 192. In comparing the Dates at Bellair and Rixton-Moss; it is certain that the Balloon, excluding the Force of _Ascent_, must have moved _forwards_, during some Part of the Re-ascent, at least at the Rate of 30 Miles an Hour: tho’ the Aironaut, for the most Part, imagined he was gliding throu’ a serene Atmosphere. Probably the progressive Motion was encreased, from the Time the unusual Sound was heard, in Section 162.