It was a pleasant September afternoon in the year 1784. When all was in readiness, Lunardi, no less eager and excited than the masses who had gathered to witness his exploit, climbed into the car. The cords were loosed and in a few moments the balloon, in its gala dress, was soaring far in the sky. Lunardi enjoyed his flight immensely. After traveling along without a mishap for a considerable time, he decided to come down, but once he had touched the earth he was seized by the desire to soar again. Putting out some of his ballast he allowed the balloon to arise once more into the sky. Finally in the late afternoon he came to earth for the second time, landing in a field and greatly terrifying the simple country folk who were at work there. He was cold and hungry after his long journey in the rarefied upper air, but happy at the remarkable triumph he had achieved. Henceforth ballooning would not be regarded with derision and unbelief in England. The English nation was as wild with joy as the French had been at the early balloon ascents. Lunardi was lionized and became the favorite of the hour; his presence was demanded everywhere and he was royally entertained by the foremost people of the realm. The British Isles became, from this time on, the scene of many a thrilling adventure with the balloon. It was only a few years later that Charles Green, the most famous of all the early English aeronauts, began his voyages in the _Great Nassau_, the balloon whose name is even to-day a tradition. In it he started out, one fall day in the year 1836, carrying provisions for a long voyage, but with no idea where the winds would carry him. The great balloon passed out over the British Channel and in again over the coast of France. Day faded into twilight and twilight into the blackness of night, but still it continued steadily on its way. Through the darkness Green and the friends who accompanied him in the large car of the balloon peered anxiously over the side, trying to guess where they were being blown. Finally after an all night ride, the dawn began to break, and in the morning the great balloon was brought to earth on German territory. Green had accomplished the longest balloon trip of his day. In the years that followed he made many voyages, but none that won for him more renown than this one.