HALLEY'S COMET 8i 



wet weather, when the rain poured down during the 

 day and at night the heavens were clear. One of these 

 times fortunately occurred in May, when Halley's Comet 

 was approaching the Earth. On May 9th the comet, 

 looking like a muffled star, was seen in the East and its 

 tail, a broad beam of brilliant light, extended upwards 

 through about thirty degrees. Below the comet and 

 a little to the South of it Venus shone like a little moon, 

 appearing far bigger than any planet I have ever seen. 

 The comet grew enormously and in the early morning 

 of May 14th, the last time that we saw it completely 

 before it had passed the Earth, the tail blazed across 

 the heavens like an immense search-light beam to the 

 zenith and beyond. On May 26th it appeared again 

 in the evening, reduced in size to about forty-five 

 degrees, and several nights we watched it growing always 

 smaller, until it vanished from our sight. Superlative 

 expressions will not describe Halley's Comet as we 

 saw it in New Guinea ; it was a wonderful appearance 

 and one never to be forgotten. Our coolies and the 

 Javanese declared that it portended much sickness 

 and death. Though we tried to question them about 

 it, we never learnt how it impressed the minds of the 

 natives. 



