i:nxf. xxiii.l TflE COMET OF 1B58. 



319 



Wc started on the mornmj? of October 9 th, but haii 

 not got a hundred yards from land, when a strong beati 

 wind sprung up, against which we could not row, so we 

 crept along shore to below the town, and waited till the 

 turn of the tide should enable us to cross over to tlie coast 

 of Tidore. About three in the afternoon we got off, and 

 found that our boat sailed well, and would keep pretty 

 close to the wind. We got on a good way before the wind 

 fell and we had to take to onr oars again. We landed 

 on a nice sandy beach to cook our suppers, just as the 

 sun set behind the rugged volcanic hills, to the south of 

 the great eone of Tidore, and soon after beheld the planet 

 Venus shining in the twilight with tbe brilliancy of a new 

 moon, and casting a very distinct shadow. We left again 

 a little before seven, and as we got out from tbe shadow of 

 the mountain I observed a bright light over one part of the 

 ridge^ and soon after, what seemed a fire of remarkable 

 whiteness on the very summit of the hill. I called the 

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

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

 shore, the light rose clear up above the ridge of tbe hill, 

 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 tbe tail rose at an angle of about HO" or 35" with 

 tbe horizon, curving sHghtly 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 tad 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 tnargin, from the nucleus to very near the 

 exti-emity, was clearly and almost sharply defined, while 

 the lower side gradually shaded off" into obscurity. 

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

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

 star," the Malay idiom for a comet), " So it is," said tbey j 

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

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

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



