72 Star anfr TOeatbet (Bosstp 



course, settled the question, but for twenty-four hours 

 I was wildly excited by the idea that I had seen the 

 outburst of a new first-magnitude star. Incidentally, 

 I may mention here, as an instance of the opportunities 

 given by these latitudes for observation, that on one 

 occasion I saw every single planet, from Mercury to 

 Neptune, between sunset and sunrise. Venus, when 

 well situated, can always be seen before sunset if you 

 know where to look, and I once picked her out at two 

 o'clock in the afternoon with the naked eye. 



" We read a great deal of the marvellous clearness 

 of the tropical night. But perhaps this feature has 

 been made too much of. It is perfectly true that there 

 are nights which appear ever so much clearer than 

 those you get at home, but, in Fiji at any rate, they are 

 very rare. We had one of these nights a week or so 

 ago, on which one could hardly have wished anything 

 better from dark to dawn, but in my two and a half 

 years' residence I have never seen another. The usual 

 night is more or less cloudy. Half an hour brilliant 

 perhaps, and the rest nowhere. Often, however, we 

 hardly catch a glimpse of the stars from week-end to 

 week-end. I watched Halley's Comet every morning 

 for nearly a month. Its tail here was, at the best, a 

 truly magnificent object, stretching for ninety degrees 

 and more from the horizon, but I cannot be certain 

 that I ever saw the whole of it at any one time ; some 

 portion was always veiled by passing clouds or mist. 

 The moon is exceptionally brilliant ; one can easily 

 read by its light when full and the night is clear. 



