98 THE INDIAN ECLIPSE, 1898. 



To my eye the corona appeared of a silvery white, or better, 

 a French grey with a lustre as of polished silver. 



The general appearance of the corona strongly resembled that 

 of 1886 as I remember it, and, judging from prints and photo- 

 graphs, those of 1868 and 1896; but it seemed to me much 

 brighter and larger than that of 1886, though in shape it was 

 very like it. 



The eclipse was a very light one. The darkness was not to 

 be compared to that of 1886 or even 1896. The general 

 skylight was very considerable. I saw no other star than 

 Venus. 



After the eclipse was over, the gradual return of colour to 

 the landscape was very striking. During the eclipse, except 

 for a sunset yellow or amber light in the sky near the horizon, 

 the whole looked like a landscape viewed through a purple- 

 tinted glass. 



It may not be out of place to add here a description of the 

 eclipse which, though not contributed by a member of the Asso- 

 ciation, has a very deep and melancholy interest to several of 

 the members. It was the first written account of the eclipse 

 that was published in England, as distinguished from accounts 

 telegraphed. It was written by a boy of seventeen, the son of 

 one member and nephew of several others, who went out in 

 the company of a member to visit India and to see the eclipse. 

 The eclipse was seen at sea from the Orient steamship Orotava ; 

 and the following account was written by the boy to his father : 

 almost the last thing w r hich he wrote, for he was taken ill a few 

 days later, and died at Constantinople on his way home. 



MR. CHARLES F. L. MAUNDER'S ACCOUNT. 



THE eventful 22nd January dawned beautifully : except for a 

 few fleecy clouds the sky was perfectly clear. The ship had 

 been slowing down considerably during the last twenty-four 

 hours, and to ensure being on the central line of totality had 

 gone some way out of its ordinary course ; in fact, it seemed 

 almost at our disposal, a private yacht could not have suited 

 us better. 



The general excitement was considerably heightened when. 

 on sitting down to breakfast, we found on each plate a bit of 

 smoked glass ; and to ensure our getting a good view all the 

 awnings were taken down, so we had nothing to complain of, 

 not even the weather. The sun was shining serenely as ever, 

 and the sea was calm as we could have wished. 



