Ainsworth，wasadmittedtoaprivateviewoftheballoon，onSaturdaylast-whenthetwogentlemenmadefinalarrangementstobeincludedintheadventure。Wearenotinformedforwhatreasonthetwoseamenwerealsoincludedintheparty-but，inthecourseofadayortwo，weshallputourreadersinpossessionoftheminutestparticularsrespectingthisextraordinaryvoyage。
“Theballooniscomposedofsilk，varnishedwiththeliquidgumcaoutchouc。Itisofvastdimensions，containingmorethan40，000
cubicfeetofgas；butascoalgaswasemployedinplaceofthemoreexpensiveandinconvenienthydrogen，thesupportingpowerofthemachine，whenfullyinflated，andimmediatelyafterinflation，isnotmorethanabout2500pounds。Thecoalgasisnotonlymuchlesscostly，butiseasilyprocuredandmanaged。
“Foritsintroductionintocommonuseforpurposesofaerostation，weareindebtedtoMr。CharlesGreen。Uptohisdiscovery，theprocessofinflationwasnotonlyexceedinglyexpensive，butuncertain。Two，andeventhreedays，havefrequentlybeenwastedinfutileattemptstoprocureasufficiencyofhydrogentofillaballoon，fromwhichithadgreattendencytoescape，owingtoitsextremesubtlety，anditsaffinityforthesurroundingatmosphere。Inaballoonsufficientlyperfecttoretainitscontentsofcoal-gasunaltered，inquantityoramount，forsixmonths，anequalquantityofhydrogencouldnotbemaintainedinequalpurityforsixweeks。
“Thesupportingpowerbeingestimatedat2500pounds，andtheunitedweightsofthepartyamountingonlytoabout1200，therewasleftasurplusof1300，ofwhichagain1200wasexhaustedbyballast，arrangedinbagsofdifferentsizes，withtheirrespectiveweightsmarkeduponthem-bycordage，barometers，telescopes，barrelscontainingprovisionforafortnight，water-casks，cloaks，carpet-bags，andvariousotherindispensablematters，includingacoffee-warmer，contrivedforwarmingcoffeebymeansofslack-lime，soastodispensealtogetherwithfire，ifitshouldbejudgedprudenttodoso。Allthesearticles，withtheexceptionoftheballast，andafewtrifles，weresuspendedfromthehoopoverhead。