On the Solar Eclipse of 9th September, 1885. 877 



sun — already partially obscured — rose from behind the north- 

 eastern hills, until 8.30 a.m., by "which time the moon had 

 completely passed over the solar face, the view was continuous 

 and uninterrupted. More perfect circumstances for making 

 valuable observations cannot well be imagined ; and a sight 

 grander and more unique than the whole eclipse it is impossible 

 to conceive. Even as the wind falls when the shades of evening 

 close around, the very light breeze which had been blowing in 

 the early morning gradually died away, and darkness increased. 

 Birds ceased their twittering, all — at all events, except some 

 paraquets, which were evidently much startled, and broke into 

 the most noisy chattering as the sun disappeared, and flew 

 away, it may be supposed, to their usual night haunts. Every- 

 thing else became hushed ; even the human voice had, or seemed 

 to have, an unnatural sound. All nature seemed to bow its 

 head, and stand in mute silence as the awful spectacle passed, 

 and until the God of Day should again emerge from his tem- 

 porary seclusion. The general appearance of things at the 

 moment of totality, which was certainly not a period of com- 

 plete darkness — for a soft and ' dim, religious light ' was always 

 present — was such as the observer can surely never forget. It 

 was decidedly uncanny. The human face looked ghastly. The 

 colours on mountain and field, on sea and sky, were weird, 

 unearthly, and indescribable, such as one had never seen before. 

 They had gradually deepened in hue as the eclipse proceeded, 

 and just before totality the sky around the sun was of a dirty 

 yellow, and quivering beams, of the colour of electric light, shot 

 out from above and below the moon, giving it somewhat the 

 appearance of a St. Andrew's cross with a circular centre. 



" Generally speaking, during the sun's complete obscuration, 

 the sky was of a mauve colour, except round about the luminary 

 itself, where the intense brilliance of the silvery protuberances 

 or the golden glory of the coronal rays diffused tints of dirty red 

 and grey. The sea became black, the mountains across the bay 

 iron-grey, while the sky above the latter assumed shades of 

 dirty, ghastly yellow. A few patches of fleecy clouds hanging 

 low over the sea took on the appearance of black cumulus 

 heaps, and afterwards, on the emergence of the sun, donned 

 garbs of varied colours. The lunar orb, during totality, stood 

 out boldly, and round its limbs was a fine fringe of intense 

 light, which glistened like diamonds ; upon its surface a slight 

 reflected light was clearly seen. After the eventful period of a 

 minute and a few seconds had passed, there appeared, at the 

 point of the moon's disc opposite to that which first obscured 

 the sun — at the point, that is, where arose, as we shall after- 

 wards see, the longest streamers of the corona and the highest 

 prominences, — a growing effulgence of light, which rapidly inten- 

 sified as we watched. The prominence seemed to swell and 



