seven o’clock
Had the balloon remained a very short while longer within the cloud -- that is to say -- had not the inconvenience of getting wet , determined me to discharge the ballast , inevitable ruin would have been the consequence . Such perils , although little considered , are perhaps the greatest which must be encountered in balloons . I had by this time , however , attained too great an elevation to be any longer uneasy on this head . `` I was now rising rapidly , and by seven o'clock the barometer indicated an altitude of no less than nine miles and a half . I began to find great difficulty in drawing my breath . My head , too , was excessively painful ; and , having felt for some time a moisture about my cheeks , I at length discovered it to be blood , which was oozing quite fast from the drums of my ears . My eyes , also , gave me great uneasiness .