2 THE INDIAN ECLIPSE, I 



a similar plan was worth trying in the case of India. After 

 a multiplicity of negociations this plan had to be given up, and 

 arrangements were made for the conveyance of observers by the 

 P. and 0. mail steamers. The secretary of the Committee was 

 most courteously received by the manager and by the secretary 

 of the P. and 0. Company, and every concession in their power 

 to give was readily made. In particular, the eclipse parties 

 have to thank them for their arrangements with regard to 

 the transport of their instruments, of which every possible care 

 was taken, and for the way in which every effort was made to 

 meet their convenience. The Committee would like to take 

 this opportunity of expressing their indebtedness to them. 



The next matter to be arranged for was the observing station 

 in India. Here two or three difficulties had to be met. First, 

 the line of totality passed through no large town until it 

 reached the banks of the Granges, and it would be therefore 

 necessary to set up and provision a camp. For this Masur, 

 a small village on the Southern Mahratta Eailway, was chosen, 

 firstly because the totality was longer there than at any other 

 accessible station except that of Viziadrug, already occupied by 

 Sir Norman Lockyer ; and next because no other party had 

 announced their intention of going there. The directors of 

 the South Mahratta Kailway, on learning our decision, most 

 generously offered free passes over their lines for all members of 

 our party, and free transport for our astronomical instruments. 



The difficulty felt in the selection of an astronomical site 

 in a country altogether unknown to us was overcome by the 

 great generosity of two members of the Association Miss 

 Harriet and Miss Eliza Wigram. They presented the Com- 

 mittee with 125, a gift which enabled the Committee to meet 

 the expenses of a pioneer, who should go out in advance of the 

 other observers and select the precise place for their camp, and 

 complete all other arrangements necessary on the spot. His 

 experience of India suggested Mr. C. Thwaites as most suitable 

 for this important duty, which he very kindly undertook to 

 fulfil. In the meantime, camping arrangements were being 

 most kindly negociated for us by Mr. Henry Cousens, Superin- 

 tendent of the Archaeological Survey of India, and up to within 

 a fortnight of the time fixed for the starting of Mr. Thwaites 

 it was supposed that everything was satisfactorily settled. Un- 

 fortunately the spread of plague in the Satara district, in which 

 Masur is situated, had been so severe that we were strongly 

 urged by the Bombay Government, through the medium of the 

 India Office, to abandon our idea of going to Masur. We there- 

 fore telegraphed to Mr. Cousens to cancel the contract which he 

 was about to make for pur station in the Satara district. 



This disappointment, occurring at the last moment, made it 

 clear to us that we must abandon the idea of forming but a 



