444 



TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



perihelion, or had already pa/Ted it, and was receding to 

 its aphelion ; but by its increasing tail, already at a great 

 length, we may conjecture it was only then going down to 

 its conjunction, and was then near approaching to the fun'. 



From this we mould conclude that this comet mull have 

 been feen, however rapidly it did move, fome time before 

 the 6th of November, or two days before the feaft of St 

 Michael. But this depends on the circumftances of the 

 climate ; for though the tropical rains ceafe the firft of Sep- 

 tember, the cloudy weather continues all the month of Oc- 

 tober ; at the end of thefe fall the latter rains in gentle 

 ihowers, which allay the fevers in Dembea, and make the 

 country wholefome for the march of the army, and thefe 

 rains fall moftly in the night. From this it is probable 

 that the comet, having at firft little light and no tail, as yet 

 at a diftance from the fun, was not very apparent to the 

 naked eye, till by its increafed motion and heat it had acquis 

 red both tail and brightnefs, as it approached its perihelion. 



Now we find by our European accounts *, that, in the year 

 {689, there did appear a comet, the orbit of which was cal- 

 culated by M. Pingre. And this comet arrived at its perihe- 

 lion on the ift day of December 1689, fo was going down 

 much inflamed, and with a violent motion to the fun, the 

 6th of November, when it was obferved at Gondar, being but 

 25 days then from its perihelion. 



As thefe circumftances are more than fufncient to con- 

 tinue the identity of the comet, a phenomenon too rare to 



rifk 



Afironcm. de M. de La Lande, liy. 19. p. 366. 



