four o’clock in the morning
of April
Arose early , and , to my great joy , at length beheld what there could be no hesitation in supposing the northern Pole itself . It was there , beyond a doubt , and immediately beneath my feet ; but , alas ! I had now ascended to so vast a distance , that nothing could with accuracy be discerned . Indeed , to judge from the progression of the numbers indicating my various altitudes , respectively , at different periods , between six A.M. on the second of April , and twenty minutes before nine A.M. of the same day -LRB- at which time the barometer ran down -RRB- , it might be fairly inferred that the balloon had now , at four o'clock in the morning of April the seventh , reached a height of not less , certainly , than 7,254 miles above the surface of the sea . This elevation may appear immense , but the estimate upon which it is calculated gave a result in all probability far inferior to the truth . At all events I undoubtedly beheld the whole of the earth 's major diameter ; the entire northern hemisphere lay beneath me like a chart orthographically projected : and the great circle of the equator itself formed the boundary line of my horizon . Your Excellencies may , however , readily imagine that the confined regions hitherto unexplored within the limits of the Arctic circle , although situated directly beneath me , and therefore seen without any appearance of being foreshortened , were still , in themselves , comparatively too diminutive , and at too great a distance from the point of sight , to admit of any very accurate examination .