June 8, 191 1] 



NATURE 



497 



cleared by the local authorities. Great signs of activity 

 were being shown, for the Union Steamship Atua was due 

 to arrive in the afternoon with the officers' wives and 

 three members of my party, namely, Messrs. Brooks, 

 Raymond, and \\'inklemann. Owing to the living 

 accommodjition on shore not being quite ready, Captain 

 Colomb kindly permitted the latter three to remain on the 

 ship that night. The Atua brought also a portion of the 

 Australian party, namely, Messrs. Moors, Merfield, Hollo- 

 way, Paradice, and Burne, the site of whose camp had 

 been settled near the Catholic Mission Church at Neiafu. 



Since we arrived it has been very hot. On shore it is 

 comparatively cool up to about 7 a.m. The temperature, 

 however, quickly rises after, and between two and four 

 o'clock in the afternoon it is extremely hot, the thermo- 

 meter being at a maximum about 3.30 p.m. The two 

 self-recording instruments which I set up in the camp tell 

 us the temperature and the humidity of the shade air. 

 The daily curves of these are the reverse of each other, 

 the temperature rising when the humidity is falling. This 

 is vpry fortunate, for the humidity is always high and the 

 sh.id",- t. mperature at a daily maximum of about 86°. 

 Ihr >( li-recording barograph I still keep in my cabin on 



. 2.— The shore party's lents on the east side of the hill on which is situated the observatory 

 station. The marks from left to right when looking at the photograph indicate : — i. Brother 

 McKeon. 2. Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer. 3. Mr. Kayniond. 4. Mr. Krooks. s. Lieut. Clover. 

 6. Mr. K. K. .McClean. 



board, and this is daily marking out the two small diurnal 

 oscillations with a long secular wave extending over many 

 days. 



Wednesday, April 5, was occupied mainly in bringing all 

 the instrumental gear from the ship to the instrument 

 tents ashore. A most effective method was adopted to 

 obviate the difficulty of the rise and fall of the tide : a 

 landing stage jutting out several yards was improvised, and 

 the boats came alongside and discharged their cargo. 

 Block and tackle and a stout tree at the top of the 2(i-f<H>t 

 sharp rise at the shore, coupled with the strengili 

 several hale and hearty bluejackets, quickly settled 

 question of hauling the cases up the inclined spars. If the 

 cases were not too heavy, two men with one case slung 

 over a spar carried it to the camp, whilst if it were 

 rather heavy the limber from the gun (which had been 

 previously landed) and a team of bluejackets made short 

 work of it all. Working from 8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., 

 and from 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m., both Father Cortie's 

 cases and mine were all transferred from the ship to the 

 instrument tents. In this way eclipsing is made very 

 easy. 



Up to this time no coid.cnui irees had been cut down, 

 as it was desired to pres<ivi ;i> lu.iny as possible, for ph' '1 

 tree brings in an annual inconn- of four shillings a ' 

 and takes six years to grow to a b'^aring condition. Ih 

 ever, four trees had to come down as a first approxinia- 



NO. 2 171, VOL. 86] 



tion, and these were felled the same afternoon ; it has- 

 only been found necessary at the time of writing to cut 

 down five altogether. On Wednesday a record, so far as 

 I am aware, has been broken in eclipse expeditions with 

 a man-of-war, for the guards' camp ashore and the ship 

 have been connected by telephone, most of the cable being 

 under water ; on previous occasions a signal station and 

 flag waving was the procedure adopted. Until to-day, 

 Messrs. Brooks, Raymond, and Winklemann of my party 

 have been sleeping ashore, as the three tents were fully 

 prepared. To-day two more tents were completed, so 

 Mr. McClean and Mr. Anderson joined them, and 1 still 

 remained on board at night. The row of seven tents and 

 the large mess tent dotted among the cocoanut trees, and 

 situated on the trade-wind side of the hill, forms a very 

 pretty picture and a cool spot when one has been on the 

 eclipse site for some time. Flies and mosquitoes are there, 

 however, in abundance, and spiders, large and small, 

 galore. 



The dark-room lies in a cool shady corner near the 

 living camp. This position was chosen as all water has 

 to come from the ship, and most of it daily goes to the 

 living quarters, so labour is saved. To-day the positions 

 of all the large instruments were care- 

 fully pegged out, and parties were sent 

 to skinnish for sand and 'deal coral for 

 the pillars, which will be erected 

 immediately. Mr. Brooks has been busy 

 with his theodolite, laying out the north 

 and south lines for the siderostats and 

 the correct azimuths for the coelostats. 

 To-day a crow's-nest has been erected 

 on a tall cocoanut tree overlooking the 

 ground, so that our hard-working photo- 

 grapher, Mr. Winklemann, and his two 

 assistants can secure a good view of the 

 whole eclipse camp as it progresses 

 daily. 



After ronsultation with my party, I 

 have decided to sleep on board at night, 

 so as to be a link between the ship and 

 the shore party. This I consider to be 

 advisable, as we require so much 

 material and help each day. To-night 

 three sharks were swimming about the 

 ship, and many lines with hooks and 

 pork were over the sides to tempt these 

 hated brutes. Although almost daily 

 sharks are present, no catch has been 

 successful yet. According to the state- 

 ments made by the Europeans here, the 

 Tong.iu-. I Mil call the sharks by uttering 

 nativr wiM (U. W"e have not seen this 

 put int. I practice, but there is yet 

 tiiTie. 

 Daily we have quite a lot of small fracto-cumuli clouds 

 moving slowly across us, but the weather is thoroughly 

 hot and tropical. Those living here inform us that we 

 are having rather abnormally fine weather, as was the 

 case in Australia. The weather, therefore, seems to be 

 abnormal in this jwrtion of the southern hemisphere, and 

 we are hoping that the fates will be kind to us when we 

 come to eclipse day. 



Every day the camp shows great signs of progress. 



I 'Veiling, making concreti> pillars, covering small luils 



ih willerden canvas, ;in(l similar operations beini ' < 



►Ljress. On April 7 >«vri.il p.irties who could be I; 1 



from the cclips<^ camp went off collecting for the 



" 'ologies " specimens of coral, flowers, butterflies, 



fossils, shells, &c. This specimen collecting is taken up 



very keenly, and I hope to have a good selection to bring 



back. The navigating ofllccr is leaving the ship next 



week with a diving staff for Nukuaktfa to help salvage 



the ss. Bouvcric, which has piled up on a coral reef. 



The captain was asked whether the Encounter could 



assist, but in reply to his message to the .Admiralty for 



instructions he was informed that he could only render 



assistance if it did not affect the eclipse parties. At our 



"■■"sent site we are now entirely dejiendent on the ship, 



I inost especially for water, so Captain Colomb has 



id.d that Lieut. Hurst, the navigator, should go by 



in.iil steamer and do what he can with divers and 



