49^ 



NATURE 



[June 8, 191 1 



77/E BRITISH SOLAR KCl.irSK 

 EXPEDITION.' 

 Aboard JLM.S. " Encounter." 



April 13, 1911. 

 lyf Y last letter was concludi-d when the 'l"onj»a Islandii 

 came in sight, for 1 knew that as soon as we 

 dropped anchor my time would be fully occupied. We 

 have now been here ten days, so there is much eclipse 

 matti'r to report. The approach to our destined spot, 

 namely, Neiafu, was beautiful in the exitreme. The 

 numerous islands of various sizes which form this large 

 group opened out one by one. Some amounted only to 

 roc-ks sticking up out of the water, whilst others extended 

 over sevciil :uv>-, and were densely covered with trees, 

 the useful iiMomut palms towering above them. Every 

 island was so luxuriant with this thick verdure that I 

 began to think we should have to utilise some of the 

 ground at the Neiafu village itself. 



Hunga on our port side and Nua Papu on the starboard 

 were the first two large islands we passed, and then we 

 took a more easterly course and catie to the large island 

 of V'avau, with the conspicuous hill called Moungalafa 

 ahead. We entered a narrow channel 

 separating the island of Pangai Molu 

 from Vavau. Passing up this channel, 

 it looked as if further progress would 

 be impossible. Right ahead were two 

 pyramid-shaped landmarks at the foot 

 of Kilikili, a hill 220 feet high, and 

 here was the gate to the chief town 

 Neiafu ; the channel became still more 

 narrow, until it looked as if the good 

 ship Encounter would be too large to 

 swing round to go through the small 

 entrance. In fact, it was a case of 

 turning a sharp corner to keep in the 

 middle of the fairway. The manoeuvre 

 was splendidly made, and we slipped 

 into this nearly land-locked harbour ; 

 looking back, one began to wonder how 

 it had been accomplished, so invisible 

 was the entrance. 



Well, here we were at Neiafu at last. 

 Our anchor was dropped at 3.40 p.m. 

 on .■\pril 2, and before us lay a 

 picturesque-looking island town, with 

 numerous flags flying over the houses. 



It was not long before the health 

 officer. Dr. Anderson, pushed off from 

 the shore, for he had heard the gun 

 which is always fired as soon as a ship 

 is seen coming into the harbour. He 

 was pulled out to the ship by a 

 crew of finely built Tongaus. It was 

 noticf^able that all, even the doctor, 

 wii,' covered with hundreds of flies, and 



till-.' liiuiuding mosquitoes) I later found to be 'Ih iiii>-; 

 populous inhabitants ashore. 



Dr. .Anderson told us that "measles" had 1 

 ing through Vavau, and that there were still a lew 

 cases, one of them being a European who was in hospital. 

 This news suggested that it would be policy to find 

 a site for our eclipse camp somewhere out of the town. 

 Dr. .Anderson kindlj' placed the ground about his house at 

 my disposal for a site for the instruments, but when I 

 inspected it later in the afternoon I found that it was not 

 large enough, and unsuitable for so large a party. In 

 fact, when I was ashore I could see no site that was at 

 once a favourable spot. Mr. Worthington and Mr. 

 Cruickshank. who had preceded us from England to 

 observe the eclipse, had already been on the island some 

 three weeks, and we visited their living tents and eclipse 

 site, which were in the heart of the village. 



Before reaching Vavau I had carefully studied the chart 

 of the region, and came to the conclusion that it was well 

 worth while visiting the spot, marked as an Admiralty 

 coaling station, about a mile from Neiafu. Here I thought 

 we should be free from all the disadvantages of a native 

 town. Tlio s.ame evening I dined alone with the captain, 

 and we di •• rmined that this site should be inspected. 

 ^ Continued from p. 463. 



.Vcordingly. next morning, .\pril 3, v '■'. 



McCle.'in, Fathers Cortie and Pigot, and : 

 the sttamboat and landed up the b"' ■ .■ m. 



coaling ground called Lmuna. We f <>f the 



giound was fairly level, high up, and ; d, and 



that by cutting down only abtHJt s\\ cocuanut trers and 

 doing a small amount of scrub clearing we should have 

 a first-rate observing station. It did not seem difficult 

 either to find a place where our instruments could be 

 landed, so while ('aptain Colomb returned to the ship 

 to meet the (jovernor, .Mr. McCIean, Father Pigot, and 

 I remained and explored the vashore for possible land- 

 ing places. In most places there was a steep coral front, 

 but at Bai bai we found an admirable spot, and very 

 close to the site. Fortunately, the captain returned to 

 the ground with the Governor while we were stiU 

 making investigations. The Governor, who is a native, 

 and communicated with us by means of a native 

 int<'rpreter, told us that the ground was .Admiralty 

 property, and that the native who used it as a garden 

 was only a kind of caretaker. This made things easy, for 

 we were then entitled to cut down the necessary trees and 

 make any clearing that was required. Most suitabl»» and 



Fig. I.— The position taken up by H.M.S. Kncounter close to the Eclipse Station. 

 graph was taken Irom the Hill Muikilekila, iSo feet high. 



The photo- 



NO. 2 1 71, VOL. 86] 



picturesque places for the guards' camp, the livini: 

 >r the shore astronomical party, and other s|x>ts for u\\ 

 iptain's wife and the officers' wives, who were coming 

 trom Australia, could be seen at a glance. In fact, the sit- 

 could not really have been a better one, and the soil on 

 which the instruments were to be placed was suffi-'-^"' 

 rigid and dried very hard. The result of this ins. 

 was so eminently satisfactory to the captain, 1 

 Cortie, and myself that the first-named decided to move 

 the ship right up the harbour and lay her off the observa- 

 tory site. 



The same afternoon anchor was weighed, and 

 we steamed slowly up this beautiful inland sea, dropping 

 it again at the mooring mark, which had been placed in 

 position by the navigating officer, Lieut. Hurst, as a 

 result of his survey in the morning. A shore party, 

 including officers, then went off to the site to get a general 

 idea of the nature of the selected spot. 



Tuesday, April 4, was a very busy day. Clearing the 

 ground was at once taken in hand, and a path was cut 

 straight down to the spot selected for landing the cases. 

 Numerous natives came on the scene to clear away the 

 yams, a kind of bread fruit, which were growing on the 

 site. A party from the ship set to work to erect the 

 living tents. The site for Captain and Mrs. Colomb's 

 quarters, selected by the Governor, had been previously 



