544 



NATURE 



\Oct. 6, 1887 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK 1887 OCTOBER 9-15. 



/TIJ*OR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 ^ *■ Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 

 is here employed. ) 



At Greenwich on October 9 

 Sun rises, 6h. 15m. ; souths, iih. 47m. 2o*os. ; sets, I7h. 19m. ; 



decl. on meridian, 6° 15' S. : Sidereal Time at Sunset, 



i8h. 31m. 

 Moon (at Last Quarter October 10, 5h.) rises, 2ih. 6m.* ; souths, 



5h. 6m. ; sets, I3h. 9m. ; decl. on meridian, 19° 54' N. 



Planet. 



Mercury 

 Venus ... 

 Mars . . . 

 Jupiter... 

 Saturn... 



Rises, 

 h. m. 



8 10 



4 9 



I 32 



8 27 



23 31* 



Souths, 

 h. m. 



12 58 



10 5 

 8 48 



13 19 

 7 20 



Sets. Decl. on meridian. 



17 46 

 16 I 

 16 4 



18 II 



IS 9 



14 30 S. 



I 34 S. 



13 49 N. 



13 52 S. 



19 16 N. 



Oct, 



* Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening. 

 Occultations of Stars by the Moon (visible at Greenwich) 



Corresponding 

 Star. Mag. Disap. Reap. 



Mag. 



• 4i 

 . 6i 



• li 



• 5 



angles from ver- 

 tex to right for 

 inverted image. 



h. m. h. m. 



3 48 ... 4 16 ... 343 299 

 5 57 near approach 323 — 



4 44 ... 5 50 ... 34 22s 



5 15 near approach 305 — 



13 

 14 



J4 



14 



Venus stationary. 



Saturn in conjunction with and l" 20' north 



of the Moon. 

 Mars in conjunction with and 0° 19' north 



of the Moon. 

 Mercury in conjunction with and 2° 58' south 



of Jupiter. 

 Venus in conjunction with and 7° 52' south 



of the Moon. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



M. Serrano's recent expedition, and the second expedi- 

 tion which was organized by the Chilian Government in order 

 to determine the watershed between the east and west coast of 

 South America, have settled the most interesting fact that the 

 high chain of the Andes in these regions does not form the 

 watershed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but that it 

 lies somewhat further east of it, on a plain about 500 metres 

 high. The rivers which rise here and flow towards the Pacific 

 have their source in small lakes, and pass through the Cordil- 

 leras in narrow gorges very difficult to penetrate. The land 



from the eastern slope to the watershed which forms, according 

 to Chilian reckoning, the boundary between Chili and the 

 Argentine Republic, is pampa, and well adapted for cattle- 

 breeding. 



Consul Plumacher, of Maracaibo, in his last report says 

 that the peninsula of Goajira, which forms the extreme north- 

 western part of Venezuela, is chiefly remarkable for its entire 

 abandonment into the hands of the Indians of the same name, 

 who have succeeded up to the present day in preserving their 

 absolute independence, recognizing no authority except that of 

 their own chiefs. They are divided into different clans, or tribes, 

 all, however, being of the same race, with similar language and 

 customs, and the different divisions now existing are develop- 

 ments of individual families of the same general stock. The 

 Venezuelan Government has contented itself with placing a 

 military post on the frontier for the protection of the whites who, 

 attracted by the fine grazing country, have established cattle- 

 farms and small settlements in the neighbourhood. In spite of 

 this precaution, the Indians at times combine in numbers of 

 several hundreds, and make a raid into the civilized territory, re- 

 treating to their own domain with the plunder. The Indians 

 know but little of agriculture, but engage largely in the breeding 

 of cattle. Maize and vegetables are cultivated on a small scale, 

 and cotton, which grows wild in some localities, gives excep- 

 tional returns when any attention is paid to its culture. The 

 customs of the Goajiras are singular and interes'ing, and it is 

 noticeable that their laws and usages have remained the same 

 from time immemorial. One of their most striking customs is 

 a complicated system of what is called by them " payment of 

 tears and blood," and this is the principal cause of conflict 

 between the clans. Among all savages revenge is a sacred 

 duty, and as, according to Goajira ethics, an entire tribe is 

 supposed to be responsible in the aggregate and individually 

 for the acts of one of its own members, a trifling affair in the 

 beginning may produce grave consequences ultimately. This is 

 one of the reasons why it is dangerous for white men to enter 

 the Goajira territory, as the Indians make no distinction of 

 nationality, but consider all who are not of themselves as be- 

 longing to one great family, all the members of which are 

 responsible for a real or fancied outrage committed by an indi- 

 vidual, and any of whom are to be considered to a certain 

 extent as a hostage for the conduct of the rest. By the pay- 

 ment of the compensation of tears and blood, any injury inflicted 

 may be condoned, it being noticed that it is not the aggrieved 

 individual who demands this payment, but his relatives, espe- 

 cially those on his mother's side, who are supposed to be of closer 

 relationship than the family of his father. If an Indian accident- 

 ally wounds himself, breaks a limb, or meets with any similar 

 accident^ his mother's family immediately demand of him the 

 " payment of blood," on the theory that, as his blood is also their 

 own, he has no right to shed it without compensation. The 

 relatives of the father also claim the payment of their tears, 

 which is of less value. Even the friends who may have wit- 

 nessed the accident are entitled to compensation for the grief 

 into which they are plunged at seeing their companion suffer. 

 To such an extreme is this system carried out, that should a 

 child die in the absence of one of its parents, the one can 

 demand from the other payment for the tears supposed to be 

 shed over the occurrence. 



Much attention has been attracted in Australia by the results 

 achieved by Mr. Theodore Bevan in his recent exploring ex- 

 pedition in New Guinea (see Nature, August 11, p. 351). 

 From a letter addressed to the Times by Mr. Thomas Bevan 

 (September 27) we learn that the New South Wales Govern- 

 ment have placed at Mr. Theodore Sevan's disposal a suitable 

 steam-launch for further investigation, while the Queensland 

 Government have allowed him the sei^vices of a thoroughly com- 

 petent surveyor, and have offered the use of the steamship 

 Albatross to tow the launch over to New Guinea waters. An 

 influential committee has been formed at Sydney for the purpose 

 of promoting Mr. Bevan's work. It was expected that the 

 new Expedition would start in the course of September. Mr. 

 Bevan will carry on his investigations between 200 and 300 

 miles to the north-west of Port Moresby, and at a still greater 

 distance from the site of the explorations now being made on 

 the Owen Stanley Range by the Victorian branch of the Royal 

 Geographical Society. 



Another advance has been made by Australia towards the 

 fitting out of an Antarctic Expedition. The Agent-General for 



