420 



NA rURE 



[Septkmbkr 3, 1896 



of the year they are generally occupied in fishing, and 

 they sometimes briny up very fine selections of fish 

 to our camp, which are generally bought by the 

 steward for the ship's mess. The peat also on the island 

 had been cut and stacked, so that this also formed at an 

 earlier period of the year part of their daily work. 



We are quite out of the world here, and till yesterday 

 had no information as to what the other parties were 

 doing at Vadso. We knew that the remaining ships of 

 the Training Squadron had arrived on Wednesday, and 

 the booming of salutes from time to time informed us 

 that other men-of-war had arrived. W'e could get no 

 information concernmg the astronomical parties, and no 

 -observer could be spared to make inquiries. 



Hut late on Tuesday, when we had finished sketching 

 drill, and were experiencing our only fog, a syren and the 

 quick reply of the ship's bell told us that some vessel was 

 approaching. Shortly afterwards we made out one of 

 the small steamboats which ply from Vadso to the fjords 

 on the south side ; she subsequently came alongside. 

 We saw that Dr. Common and Sir R. Ball were on board. 



I 1 :itLgr.iting Spectroscopic Co 



and I hailed them from the poop. Captain King Hall 1 

 hospitably invited them on board, but tbe invitation was 1 

 •declined owing to the weather conditions, which were not 

 improving, and the lateness of the hour. They had still I 

 to run twelve miles to reach \'ads6. 



Captain King Hall invited Dr. Common, SirR. Ball,and 1 

 Mr. Downing to come over from Vadso yesterday to lunch 

 and see our camp. Dr. Common was too busy in setting up i 

 and adjusting his instruments, but Sir Robert Ball and 

 a small party paid the ship a visit. We had previously j 

 arranged that the final dress rehearsals should take place 

 in the afternoon, so our visitors were just in time to see the 

 ■drill gone through. All timekeepers, chronometer, stop- 

 watches, and deck-watches were ready. Each man was 

 at his appointed post : the sketchers stood to the west of 

 the camp on the higher ground ; the disc observers 

 were blindfolded and in their places, while each of the 

 other instruments was attended by its full staff. These 

 rehearsals must appear very curious to those unacquainted 

 with eclipse work, and certainly our visitors saw the very 

 perfection of drill. The routine gone through was exactly 



NO. 1 40 1, VOL. 54] 



the same as if the eclipse was taking place, with the 

 exception that no plates were actually exposed. After 

 these general rehearsals the observers at each special 

 instrument were put through their facings. Our visitors 

 seemed to be rather astonished at the great amount of 

 work that will be done if the weather only proves favour- 

 able to-morrow. 



We gathered from Sir R. Ball that all the arrange- 

 ments at Vadsi) were nearly complete, and that Dr. Cope- 

 land's 40-foot tube was already in position. 



The time arrangements have to be somewhat compli- 

 cated, for the reason that it is desirable to begin the 

 exposures with the prismatic cameras ten seconds before 

 totality. We have then, if possible, to make a correction 

 should the Nautical Almanac times be slightly out. The 

 Admiralty authorities were good enough to put on board 

 at Portsmouth a first-rate chronometer for our special 

 use, and Lieut. Martin and Sub- Lieut. Beal have been 

 unremitting in their endeavours, by taking sights and 

 noting rates, to give us G.M.T. within a small fraction of 

 I a second. 



Before totality we 

 have two chances of 

 checking the Nautical 

 .lliiuinac times ; by ob- 

 serving the first contact 

 spectroscopically, and, 

 failing this and more 

 doubtfully, by observing 

 the crescent when it 

 covers an arc of 180° ; 

 this, it has been calcu- 

 lated, should occur 7m. 

 10s. Ijefore totality. It 

 has been arranged that 

 after the first contact 

 the true G.M.T. will be 

 called out from time to 

 time as required, and 

 also each minute before 

 totality, corrected, if 

 necessary, in the way I 

 liave already stated. In 

 this way the special 

 timekeepers of the pris- 

 matic cameras will be 

 able to begin their work 

 at the right moment 

 before the general signal 

 for totality, "Go," is 

 given. 



I am sorry to say that 

 the eclipse-clock has 

 broken down : the ship's armourer has vastly improved its 

 going, but it has received some damage, so that I cannot 

 rely on it. It is not good for a clock to be used only once 

 in five years or so ! So we fall back on stop-watches ; 

 and here 1 must state my obligations to Mr. Tripplin 

 for the loan of a fine chronograph, which makes our 

 stock complete, and enables us to feel certain that at one 

 station or another the exact duration of totality will be 

 caught. 



My intention is before totality, in case we miss the first 

 contact, to set one of the stop-watches going when the 

 crescent covers as near as may be 180^ of arc ; this 

 will give us time to correct the Nautical Almanac if 

 necessary. Another will be handed to our two excellent 

 timekeepers to replace the eclipse clock. 



Two things have been strongly impressed upon 

 me in my eclipse experience. The first is always to 

 arrange the work so that everybody can have 30 seconds 

 in which to observe the phenomena of the eclipse with 

 the naked eye ; the second, to take out no case which 

 weighs more than 50 or 60 lb. 



