160 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CHAP. 



and other apparatus were placed in them, and the blue- 

 jackets rowed us safely into the harbour of Catania, a 

 distance of some ten or twelve miles. It was certainly 

 a well-ordered shipwreck, for no one even wet their 

 shoes. 



We stayed some little time at Catania, an old 

 monastery, from which the monks had only recently 

 been expelled, having been placed at our disposal for 

 our scientific preparations. It was arranged that I 

 should take charge of an expedition on Etna. The 

 party consisted of Bowen, Darwin, Seabroke, and 

 myself, and we were accompanied by the late Professor 

 Silvestri, of the University of Catania, whose acquaint- 

 ance with the district was of great service to us. After 

 some labour we reached the Casa del Bosco, at a 

 height of about 5,000 feet, and therefore about half- 

 way up the mountain. The site was an admirable one 

 for our purpose. There we spent the night, having 

 unpacked all our apparatus. The morning broke 

 bright and clear, and we congratulated ourselves on 

 being in a perfectly transparent atmosphere, whilst 

 mist obscured the vision of those who remained below. 

 All our preparations were made (see illustration) and 

 we were in high spirits, expecting that we should have 

 a splendid view of the eclipse, when, much to our 

 chagrin, shortly before the first contact clouds were 

 seen on the horizon. These gradually shut out the 

 landscape, snow began to fall, and in a few minutes 

 we were in the midst of a heavy snowstorm, and the 

 sun was completely hidden. During totality we were 

 of course left in gloom, so that we did not obtain a 

 glimpse of the corona. Still more provokingly, the 

 last contact had scarcely occurred before the clouds 

 blew over, and we were again in brilliant sunshine. I 

 had brought some champagne to celebrate our victory, 



