Truly she must have been an unusual person for she combined rugged character and physique with the charming and delicate exterior demanded of femininity in that period. In the descriptions of her numerous flights, one is impressed with her showmanship, her good sense, and her originality. She had pluck, too, for she often stayed aloft all night in her fragile craft and made descents when morning gave her light.
Of course, the duties of a chief of air service were entirely different from those we impute to that office today. Then, whatever balloon the chief happened to have constituted the air force. There was no thought of aerial transportation as such. An ascent was a daring commercial spectacle or a social event. Madame Blanchard appeared at affairs where she was bidden by royal command and also carried on some exploits of her own when not needed at the palace fêtes.
With Napoleon’s banishment, Madame Blanchard took up royal aeronauting for Louis XVIII. Her office under both rulers lasted until her tragic death in 1819.
On this occasion, Madame Blanchard planned one of the most spectacular ascents of her career. Except in the very earliest experiments hydrogen had been used to inflate the envelopes of all sized balloons. Despite knowledge that this gas was extremely inflammable, it had been the custom more and more frequently to make night ascents with a display of fireworks lighted on the ground just be-
