82 



NATURE 



[A/ay 25, 1882 



up I saw that it was being made by a small lizard, apparently 

 in a state of great terror at a snake which was uncoiling it-elf 

 from the rafters close to it. I cannot say what the species of 

 the lizard "as, but it was one of those -u abundant oil the walls 

 of Indian hou-es ; it was one of two that appeared every evening, 

 when the lamp was brought out into the verandah, and feasted 

 on the moths attracted by the light. C. MicniE Smith 



20, Duke Street, Edinburgh, May 5 



THE ECLIPSE EXPEDITION 

 '"THE Daily News of Tuesday publishes the following 

 *■ communication from its special correspondent with 

 the English Eclipse Expedition :— 



On the Nile, between Siout and Sokag, May 6 



The astronomers have now nearly reached their des- 

 tination if all goes well, but it is by no means certain that 

 ever) thing will, for the Nile has never been known to 

 be so low, and we have already been aground many times. 

 To-morrow morning will see them and their instruments 

 landed after their last water journey. The arrangements 

 made by the Egyptian Government and by His Highness 

 the Khedive himself, who takes the liveliest personal 

 interest in the work, have been simply perfect. Every- 

 thing seems to have been foreseen, every possible cause 

 of delay obviated, and everything that could conduce in 

 any way either to the comfort of the observers or the suc- 

 cess of the observations provided. One officer of the 

 Egyptian Government or another has been in constant 

 attendance upon the expedition since they landed at Suez, 

 and any indication of a desire that a certain course of 

 action should be taken has been at once attended to. 

 There is no shutting one's eyes to the fact, that there are 

 many men occupying high positions in this wonderful 

 country, through which we are now journeying, who take 

 the keenest interest in scientific progress, and who are 

 more than anxious, that Egypt should take her place 

 among the more highly civilised nations, among whom 

 science is cultivated to a greater or less extent ; and there 

 can be little doubt, that the efforts now being made to 

 educate the people will in time bear more fruit of this 

 soil. It is epiite apropos to this train of thought to men- 

 tion, that the fact that the admirably equipped observatory 

 of Cairo will count for very little among the proposed 

 observations is keenly felt. It must not, however, be 

 imagined that because the metropolitan observatory 

 counts for so little, Egypt possesses no astronomers. 1 

 mentioned in a former letter that it was hoped that Ismatt 

 Effendi, a member of the Khedive's household, might be 

 attached to the expedition. When the expedition reached 

 Suez and the Kaisar-i-Hind steamed into the harbour, it 

 was easy to see that something unusual was going on 

 there. The Khedive had not only sent Ismatt Effendi to 

 receive the expedition, but had sent orders to the Governor 

 of Suez to welcome it in his name. Nor was this all. A 

 special train had been provided for the instruments and 

 observers, and every precaution taken for safe handling 

 and safe custody of the former. In the morning the 

 Governor of Suez speeded the parting guests, who were 

 accompanied by M. Ismatt, and this gentleman soon 

 showed how much he bad profited by the long training 

 he has received in the observatories of Paris and Wash- 

 ington, and it was soon acknowledged that in him the 

 on not only found a most useful and agreeable 

 co npanion, but a collaborator of the highest value. 



On arrival at Cairo the party found General Stone, 

 ch'ef of the staff, accompanied by Moktah Bey, on the 

 platform to welcome them. Of the former, it ma) be 

 said that his influence for good on the higher education in 

 Egypt and on the officers who have served under him is 

 freely acknowledged. He has lost noneof the eml 

 love of truth for irs own sake, and of science fur the sake 

 of the world, which characterises so many of th( 

 his countrymen j and n. any of his remarks touching his 



conception of the duty incumbent on the Government of 

 Egypt, in ai ling a work of international aim, strongly re- 

 minded me of General Sheridan's thoughts and words 

 when he received at Washington one of the English 

 observers of the eclipse of 1878. Moktah Bey, who has 

 been detailed to accompany the expedition, is an officer 

 who has greatly distinguished himself by his travels in 

 the Soudan. He is not only an admirable administrator, 

 but a capital linguist, while his love jf work in the Soudan 

 and in Upper Egypt in triangulation, determining latitudes 

 and longitudes, and establishing, or endeavouring to esta- 

 blish, meteorological observatories, nileometers, and the 

 like, render him also a valuable scientific ally. 



General Stone, on the arrival of the instruments at 

 Cairo, cut a Gordian knot by at once ordering the car 

 containing them to be ferried across the Nile. There is 

 no railway bridge over the Nile at Cairo, so that con- 

 siderable time was saved and risk avoided by this measure. 

 In fact it may be said that not only were the cases con- 

 taining the instruments untouched from Suez to Siout, 

 but that they were actually sealed up all this time. There 

 was not much time to give to the strange sights and old 

 memories of Cairo ; even the Pyramids have remained 

 unvisited so far, for after resting one night and spending 

 part of the next day in official visits, the party was off again 

 yesterday and travelled during the night down to Siout, 

 the most southerly railway station in Egypt, and about 

 70 miles north of the point where the eclipse line crosses 

 the Nile. At Siout, whither extra camels and porters 

 had been summoned by telegraph, the sight at sunrise 

 this morning was strange beyond all description, or at all 

 events beyond the descriptive powers of your present 

 correspondent. The telescopes to be used on the present 

 occasion are of very great weight, and although they have 

 been divided into as many separate pieces as possible, 

 some of the cases are still very heavy, taxing the powers 

 both of men and camels to the utmost. The camels, 

 which were made to kneel down so soon as the cases had 

 been got out of the railway car, groaned as they rose with 

 such an unaccustomed weight; and giant Arabs, good- 

 natured sons of Hercules, did the rest at the boat side. 

 But here again a special arrangement was necessary. The 

 Nile is so low and the steamer was already so crowded that 

 the instruments were placed in a special boat taken in 

 tow by the steamer. Events have shown that this 

 precaution was by no means an improper one, for during 

 the last hour and a half we have been firmly aground, 

 and it does not seem as if all the shouting of the motley 

 crew, or any manoeuvring of the engine is going to get us 

 off again. While these attempts, which seem born of 

 confusion, are wearing themselves out, it will be as well 

 in say a word about the final arrangements, so far as 

 they are known to us, before we actually arrive at the 

 station. 



There are three expeditions in Egypt for observing the 

 eclipse — a French, an English, and an Italian one. As 

 there is so little choice of station, his Highness the 

 Khedive has sent forward a steamer to Sohag, the point 

 tit which the eclipse track crosses the Nile, and has invited 

 the various expeditions to use this as a point d'appui and 

 floating hotel wherever their actual place of observation 

 may be. Prof. Tacchini forms part of the Italian party, 

 and MM. Thollon and Trcpied of the French one. The 

 latter have gone on ahead, and it is thought that their in- 

 struments are already up and adjusted, while the Italian 

 party follows us on Monday. It is believed that the work 

 of both of these parties will be chiefly spectroscopic. As 

 the exposure of Cart Abncv's plates forms an important 

 part of the English 1 lans, it is intended to take special 

 precaution for securing the photographic rooms and tent 

 from dirt. With the same object 111 view covers have been 

 1 re-pared for thetele I, closely fit them and ran 



be kept, it is fondly hoped, sand-tight. ' This brings me 

 to say a word about the khamscen. The season this year 



