1868.] 



Total Eclipse of the Sun. 



87 



unable to mark the protuberances in my note-book without the aid of a 

 lantern, which the sailors lit when the eclipse became total. 



Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 



Rcse 



Those who were looking out for stars counted nine visible to the naked 

 eye. 



One planet (Venus?) was very brilliant. Its altitude at l h 31 m s was 

 30° 32' (Carey's Government Sextant, no error), and its distance from the 

 nearest limb of the moon was 37° 28'. The altitude of the lower limb of 

 the moon at l h 32 m s was 66° 30'. 



On board the ■ Rifleman ' the fowls and pigeons went to roost, but the 

 cattle showed no signs of uneasiness ; they were lying down at the time. 



Whatever interest the foregoing observations may have for men of 

 science, I am happy to be able to report that Capt. Reed has added to his 

 public services by seizing this opportunity for determining the exact lon- 

 gitude of Barram Point. 



Navigators have long been anxious to fix the precise longitude of some 

 point along the coast of Borneo, and the event of yesterday has probably 

 accomplished this. When Capt. Reed's calculations have been finally re- 

 duced, he will, no doubt, communicate them to the head of his depart- 

 ment ; and in the meantime he has kindly undertaken to place in a cover, 

 directed to your Lordship, the true time as worked out from the observa- 

 tions, so that the times given in this despatch may be corrected before the 

 despatch is used. 



The time given in this despatch was taken from one of Parkinson and 

 Frodsham's Government pocket chronometers, No. 1887. 



As I believe we were the nearest group of observers to the Equator, and 

 as the other conditions were unusually favourable for our work, I venture 

 to hope that even the inadequate and very unscientific account I have 



