This voyage must be considered as marking an epoch in aerial navigation. The dirigible balloon was accomplished. A decided step forward in the conquest of the air had been made, although from a practical standpoint this step was confessedly a short one. For while _No. 6_ could be propelled in any direction under ordinary conditions, carrying a single passenger, it was on the whole more of a toy ship than a practical sailing-craft. Nevertheless, its performance was a decided victory for the balloon over the flying-machine. No flying-machine of whatever type had ever even approached the performance of _Santos-Dumont No. 6_, which had carried a man on a voyage in the air, traveling with the wind, against it, and with the wind on either quarter at every possible angle at various times during the journey. And yet there were few scientists, indeed, if any, who considered that the problem of aerial navigation was solved; and to a large number Santos-Dumont's performance seemed little more than an extension of Giffard's idea, made possible by improved machinery not available half a century ago. To them it was the triumph of the energy, skill, and courage of an individual, not the triumph of a principle--which, after all, is the absolute essential. [Illustration] [Illustration: ENGLISH (LOWER FIGURE) AND AMERICAN DIRIGIBLE WAR BALLOONS AND A WRIGHT AEROPLANE. The above figures are introduced on one page for the purpose of comparison and contrast. The American balloon is the Baldwin airship. The essential clumsiness of a lighter-than-air craft, as contrasted with the relative gracefulness and manageableness of the aeroplane, is strikingly suggested by this illustration.] Since the successful performance of Santos-Dumont in rounding the Eiffel Tower many other dirigible balloons have been constructed, not only in America and in Europe by various inventors, but by the Brazilian aeronaut himself. The most remarkable of these is the _Zeppelin II_, the fifth creation of the indomitable Count Zeppelin. In principle and general lines of construction this balloon closely resembles the one described a few pages back. Its best performance, however, is more remarkable. Starting from Lake Constance on the night of May 29th, 1909, and sailing almost directly northward regardless of air currents, the balloon reached Bitterfield, a few miles beyond Leipzig, four hundred and sixty-five miles from the starting-point, the following evening. Turning back at this point, without alighting, it had almost completed its return trip, when on coming to the ground for a supply of fuel it was injured by collision with the branches of a tree. The injury sustained, while delaying and marring the voyage, did not prevent the balloon from completing its eight-hundred-and-fifty mile voyage, and establishing a new record for dirigibles.