[LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS]
| PAGE | |
| Alberto Santos-Dumont | [Frontispiece] |
| Santos-Dumont Coffee Plantation—Railway | [11] |
| Santos-Dumont Coffee Plantation—The Works | [15] |
| Henriques Santos-Dumont | [25] |
| The "Brazil"—Smallest of Spherical Balloons | [43] |
| Motor of "No. 1" | [62] |
| The "Santos-Dumont No. 1"—First Start | [75] |
| "No. 4"—Free Diagonal Movement up | [83] |
| "No. 6"—Free Diagonal Movement down | [86] |
| "The Housetops look so Dangerous" | [94] |
| Over the Bois de Boulogne. "An Ocean of Greenery soft and safe" | [97] |
| The Question of Physical Danger | [101] |
| "No. 9" catches Fire over the Ile de Puteaux | [111] |
| Accident to "No. 2," May 11, 1899 (First Phase) | [115] |
| Accident to "No. 2," May 11, 1899 (Second Phase) | [119] |
| Accident to "No. 2," May 11, 1899 (Third Phase) | [123] |
| Accident to "No. 2," May 11, 1899 (Finale) | [127] |
| Start of "No. 3," November 13, 1899 | [131] |
| "No. 4" | [135] |
| Motor of "No. 4" | [139] |
| Visit of Professor Langley | [143] |
| "No. 4"—Flight before Professor Langley | [147] |
| "Santos-Dumont No. 5" | [152] |
| "No. 5" leaving Aëro Club Grounds, July 12, 1901 | [158] |
| "No. 5" returning from the Eiffel Tower | [161] |
| "No. 5"—Accident in the Park of M. Edmond de Rothschild | [165] |
| An Accident | [170] |
| Phase of an Accident | [175] |
| "No. 6"—First Trip | [181] |
| An Accident to "No. 6" | [187] |
| Scientific Commission of Aëro Club at the Winning of the Deutsch Prize | [191] |
| "No. 6" making for Eiffel Tower—Altitude 1000 feet | [195] |
| Round Eiffel Tower | [199] |
| Rounding Eiffel Tower | [203] |
| Returning to Aëro Club Grounds above Aqueduct | [207] |
| Medal awarded by the Brazilian Government | [211] |
| "No. 9"—Showing Captain leaving Basket for Motor | [215] |
| In the Bay of Monaco | [219] |
| From the Balloon House of La Condamine at Monaco, February 12, 1902 | [227] |
| Wind A. Wind B | [237] |
| "Santos-Dumont No. 7" | [249] |
| "My present Aids understand my present Airships"—Motor of "No. 6" | [261] |
| "Santos-Dumont No. 5"—Showing how Aëro Club Grounds were cut up | [267] |
| First of the World's Airship Stations (Neuilly St James) | [271] |
| "No. 7" | [275] |
| "No. 10"—without Passenger Keel | [279] |
| "Santos-Dumont No. 9" | [283] |
| "No. 9"—Showing relative Size | [287] |
| "No. 9"—Jumping my Wall | [291] |
| "No. 9"—Guide-roping on a Level with the Housetops | [295] |
| "No. 9"—M. Santos-Dumont lands at his own Door | [299] |
| "No. 9" over Bois de Boulogne | [305] |
| "No. 9" at Military Review, July 14, 1903 | [309] |
| "No. 9" seen from Captive Balloon, June 11, 1903 | [325] |
[MY AIRSHIPS]
[INTRODUCTORY FABLE]
THE REASONING OF CHILDREN
Two young Brazilian boys strolled in the shade, conversing. They were simple youths of the interior, knowing only the plenty of the primitive plantation where, undisturbed by labour-saving devices, Nature yielded man her fruits at the price of the sweat of his brow.
They were ignorant of machines to the extent that they had never seen a waggon or a wheelbarrow. Horses and oxen bore the burdens of plantation life on their backs, and placid Indian labourers wielded the spade and the hoe.
Yet they were thoughtful boys. At this moment they discussed things beyond all that they had seen or heard.
"Why not devise a better means of transport than the backs of horses and of oxen?" Luis argued. "Last summer I hitched horses to a barn door, loaded it with sacks of maize, and hauled in one load what ten horses could not have brought on their backs. True, it required seven horses to drag it, while five men had to sit around its edges and hold the load from falling off."