Mr. Walter Powell, M.P. for Malmesbury, has, we fear, long
ago paid the penalty of his too great faith in the safety of balloons. Ascending, on Saturday last, with Captain Templer end Mr. Agg-Gardner, from Bath, the balloon drifted rapidly to- wards the Channel, and when within half a mile of the sea, near Bridport, they attempted a descent. The balloon came down rather too rapidly, and the car struck the ground with such force that Captain Templer and Mr. Agg-Gardner were thrown out, the former being bruised, and the latter having his leg broken. Mr. Powell remained in the car, and the balloon immediately shot up again with great velocity, and went off in the direction of the sea, and no one as yet knows what became of it. Some- thing was seen to fall into the sea soon after, which many believed to be the balloon. Again, some French fishermen stated that they had seen a large balloon floating down the Channel; and various persons in Alderney asserted that they had seen a large balloon floating eastward in the air. However, nothing certain is as yet known of its fate, and it is almost im- possible that Mr. Powell, even if still in the balloon, should be alive. It is said that there was no supply of water or food, and the extreme cold would render food and cordials absolutely essential to life. If Mr. Powell remained in the balloon, it can only be his corpse which is floating about with it now.
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