116 FRAGMENTS OF SCIKNCE. 



M. Janssen, who had rendered his name celebrated by 

 his observations of the eclipse in India in 1868, when he 

 showed the solar flames to be eruptions of incandescent 

 hydrogen, was already encamped in the open country about 

 eight miles from Oran. On December 2 he had quitted 

 Paris in a balloon, with a strong young sailor as his assist- 

 ant, had descended near the mouth of the Loire, seen M. 

 Gambetta, and received from him encouragement and aid. 

 On the day of our arrival his encampment was visited by Mr. 

 Huggins, and the kind and courteous engineer of the port 

 drove me subsequently, in his own phaeton, to the place. 

 It bore the best repute as regards freedom from haze and 

 fog, and commanded an open outlook; but it was inconven- 

 ient for us on account of its distance from the ship. The 

 place next in repute was the railway station, between two 

 and three miles distant from the mole. It was inspected, 

 but, being enclosed, was abandoned for an eminence in an 

 adjacent garden, the property of Mr. Hinshelwood, a 

 Scotchman who had settled some years previously as an es- 

 parto merchant in Oran.* He, in the most liberal man- 

 ner, placed his grounds at the disposition of the party. 

 Here the tents were pitched, on the Saturday, by Captain 

 Salmond and his intelligent corps of sappers, the instru- 

 ments being erected on the Monday under cover of the 

 tents. 



Close to the railway station runs a new loopholed wall of 

 defense, through which the highway passes into the open 

 country. Standing on the highway, and looking south- 

 ward, about twenty yards to the right is a small bastionet, 

 intended to carry a gun or two. Its roof I thought would 

 form an admirable basis for my telescope, while the view 

 of the surrounding country was unimpeded in all direc- 

 tions. The authorities kindly allowed me the use of this 

 bastionet. Two men, one a blue-jacket named Elliot, and 

 the other a marine named Hill, were placed at my dis- 

 posal by Lieutenant Walton; and, thus aided, on Monday 

 morning I mounted my telescope. The instrument was 

 new to me, and some hours of discipline were spent in 

 mastering all the details of its manipulation. 



Mr. Huggins joined me, and we visited together the Arab 

 quarter of Oran. The flat-roofed houses appeared very 



* Esparto is a kind of grass now much used in the manufacture of 

 of paper. 



