THE BRITISH ECLIPSE EXPEDITION 591 



erection of the telescope and an observing house and for the 

 testing and adjustment of the telescope, the observers should 

 leave England about the end of January. 



The observers, Mr. H. Spencer Jones, Chief Assistant, and 

 Mr. P. J. Melotte, Junior Assistant (Higher Grade) of the Royal 

 Observatory, accompanied by Mrs. Spencer Jones, left Liver- 

 pool on January 28 by the Blue Funnel s.s. Mentor, arriving 

 at Singapore on February 26. The s.s. Islander, belonging 

 to the Christmas Island Phosphate Co., left Singapore on 

 March 9 and arrived off the Island on the 1 3th. Unfortunately, 

 there was a bad spell of weather then prevaihng and it was 

 not possible for the Islander to tie up and discharge her cargo 

 until March 23. 



The Island is a place of considerable interest. It is of 

 approximately the same size as the Isle of Wight, very lofty 

 — the highest point being about 1,100 feet above sea-level — 

 with steep clifts and densely covered with jungle. It is the 

 only tropical island of large size which was until the last few 

 years uninhabited. It forms the top of a lofty submarine 

 mountain, the sides of which are very steep. Some of the 

 greatest sea depths recorded occur between Christmas Island 

 and Java, and most of the earthquakes which occur in Java 

 have their origin under the sea between the two islands. A 

 seismograph, supplied by the Seismological Committee of the 

 British Association, was set up by the expedition and has 

 been left on the Island so that daily records may be obtained 

 which, studied in conjunction with those obtained in Batavia, 

 should provide some valuable information for the study of 

 these earthquakes. Earthquake tremors are from time to 

 time felt on the Island, one such occurring during our stay, 

 but unfortunately before the seismograph was recording. 



The Island seems to have been formed by a process of 

 successive volcanic upheaval, for traces of coral are to be found 

 on the more or less level shelves which alternate with steep 

 cliffs and indicate the stages of the upheaval. The Island 

 consists mainly of limestone which outcrops everywhere, the 

 depth of soil being in general very small. The phosphate rock 

 which makes the Island so valuable has been formed through 

 the interaction between the limestone and the guano in past 

 ages. It has been found on three of the promontories of the 

 Island. The central portion is a sort of saddle somewhat 

 lower than these points, and it is probable that the deposits 

 were formed at a time when only these points projected above 

 the sea-level. 



Although the Island had been visited several times before 

 it was finally occupied, it was not until the late Sir John Murray 

 discovered the presence of the extensive deposits of phosphate. 



