THE EXPEDITION AT BUXAR. 33 



several photographs of animated scenes on board ship were 

 -cured. 



The ^^th-inch telescopic camera designed and manipulated 

 by my son was, next to the animatograph, the largest piece of 

 apparatus belonging to our equipment, and remained buried 

 deep in the hold during the voyage. Mr. Hebert, however, was 

 p<> essed of a fine 4 Cooke refractor, which, being more 

 portable, he was able to erect on several occasions. The cameras, 

 large and small, owned by Mr. Smith, Mr. Oakes, Mr. Hebert, 

 and my daughter did excellent service on very many occasions 

 before the eclipse, for which event they were primarily intended. 

 From an early date Miss Dixon commenced careful practice 

 with her special instrument an opera-glass fitted with a 

 slitless spectroscope, lent to her by Miss E. I. Page, a piece of 

 brown paper, covering a porthole and having a narrow opening, 

 yielding an excellent object for preliminary trials. 



To the very able care of Mr. Moore was entrusted the respon- 

 sible task of organising and training a sketching party to draw 

 the corona as seen with the naked eye, and under his direction 

 most regular and praiseworthy work was carried out. Almost 

 every evening he and his indefatigable band assembled in a 

 lower saloon with chalk and paper ; when a drawing of the 

 corona was fastened at the proper elevation and exposed to view 

 for ninety-six seconds only, during which time each operator 

 made a drawing of the quadrant allotted to him, the whole sketch 

 being then put together and compared with the original. These 

 practices were a source of much interest, and by their means 

 considerable proficiency in rapidly grasping the outlines and 

 correctly committing them to paper was attained. 



As more southerly skies were reached, the heavens, now 

 unfamiliar to most of our party, afforded us ever fresh delight. 

 Night after night new stars and constellations began to reveal 

 themselves ; and while eagerly identifying objects we had 

 hitherto known only by name, we were equally interested by 

 the unwonted aspect assumed by our old friends of the northern 

 skies. Orion stretching prone across the heavens, the Great 

 Bear with his tail now dipping in the water, were sights as 

 novel to us as Canopus or the False Cross. The true Southern 

 Cross, of course, was not visible till after midnight ; but few of 

 us will forget our delight at seeing for the first time that famous 

 constellation of the southern heavens. Nor was it long before 

 the Zodiacal Light began to claim general attention. Each 

 evening during the latter part of our voyage the cone of ethereal 

 light appeared to stretch itself farther and more clearly across 

 the sky ; and to watch for its first appearance, as also for the 

 shadow of the earth rising from the placid sea, was an unfailing 

 pleasure. The lunar eclipse of January 7th occurred during 

 our second night in the Red Sea. Anything approaching careful 



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