CHAP, xxiii.] THE COMET OF 1858. 25 



attention of my men to it, and they too thought it merely 

 a fire ; but a few minutes afterwards, as we got farther off 

 shore, the light rose clear up above the ridge of the laill, 

 and some faint clouds clearing away from it, discovered 

 the magnificent comet which was at the same time 

 astonishing all Europe. The nucleus presented to the 

 naked eye a distinct disc of brilliant white light, from 

 which tlie tail rose at an angle of about 30° or 35° with 

 the horizon, curving slightly downwards, and terminating 

 in a broad brush of faint light, the curvature of which 

 diminished till it was nearly straight at the end. The 

 portion of the tail next the comet appeared three or four 

 times as bright as the most luminous portion of the 

 milky way, and what struck me as a singular feature was 

 that its upper margin, from ithe nucleus to very near the 

 extremity, was clearly and almost sharply defined, while 

 the lower side gradually shaded off into obscurity. 

 Directly it rose above the ridge of the hill, T said to my 

 men, " See, it's not a fire, it's a bintang ber-ekor " (" tailed- 

 star," the Malay idiom ffor a comet). " So it is," said they ; 

 and all declared that 'they had often heard tell of such, 

 but had never seen one till now. 1 had no telescope 

 with me, nor any instrument at hand, but I estimated the 

 length of the tail at about 20°, and the width, towards the 

 extremity, about 4° or 5°. 



The whole of the next day we were obliged to stop near 



