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to the eastward involved in thick shadow, which continued to advance
with great rapidity, until, at five minutes before seven, the whole
surface in view was enveloped in the darkness of night. It was not,
however, until long after this time that the rays of the setting sun
ceased to illumine the balloon; and this circumstance, although of
course fully anticipated, did not fail to give me an infinite deal
of pleasure. It was evident that, in the morning, I should behold the
rising luminary many hours at least before the citizens of Rotterdam, in
spite of their situation so much farther to the eastward, and thus, day
after day, in proportion to the height ascended, would I enjoy the light
of the sun for a longer and a longer period. I now determined to keep a
journal of my passage, reckoning the days from one to twenty-four
hours continuously, without taking into consideration the intervals of
darkness.
"At ten o'clock, feeling sleepy, I determined to lie down for the rest
of the night; but here a difficulty presented itself, which, obvious as
it may appear, had escaped my attention up to the very moment of which
I am now speaking. If I went to sleep as I proposed, how could the
atmosphere in the chamber be regenerated in the interim? To breathe
it for more than an hour, at the farthest, would be a matter of
impossibility, or, if even this term could be extended to an hour and a
quarter, the most ruinous consequences might ensue. The consideration
of this dilemma gave me no little disquietude; and it will hardly be
believed, that, after the dangers I had undergone, I should look
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