1899 - 1900 .] Mr Heath on the Total Solar Eclipse. 
241 
sea-shore, and would have afforded ample room for our camp also, 
but as the soil was sandy, Dr Copeland considered it unsuitable for 
the heavier instruments we had to erect. We therefore fixed on 
a slight eminence overlooking the town, where we found a suitable 
field from which a crop of barley had recently been cut and was 
then being thrashed by the primitive process of treading out by 
mules and donkeys dragging stone-cogged rollers over a thrashing 
floor. The farmer-tenant of the field willingly placed it at our 
disposal, and we were fortunate enough to get possession also 
of an old disused and half tumbled-down stable in which we 
stored our instrument cases when they were sent ashore the morn- 
ing after our arrival. The old stable also afforded us most grateful 
shelter from the hot sun in the middle of the day, and we even 
attempted to use it for a dark, room for developing photographs at 
night. Owing, however, to the scarcity of water and the abundance 
of dust, as well as to the short time at our disposal after the eclipse 
for re-packing the instruments and sending them once more on 
board the Theseus , it was found impossible to develop any of the 
eclipse plates. The room, however, was found useful for developing 
a few less important photographs taken for focussing purposes. 
It is known in Santa Pola as “la casa del pleito,” or the house of 
the lawsuit, on account of certain chancery proceedings, in which 
it has been for some years and is still involved. Our camp proved 
to be well suited for its temporary purpose. It commanded a 
good view of the western sky, and we found a rock foundation not 
far from the surface ; it was only a short distance from the hotel 
we lived at, a matter of no small importance, as the adjustment of 
the instruments involved a good deal of night work ; it was also 
in an elevated healthy situation, though at the same time well 
sheltered from winds likely to disturb the instruments. 
On the 18th the instruments were landed, and the real work 
of laying out the ground, determining the meridian line, building 
the cement piers for the instruments to stand on, was commenced. 
This and the mounting of the instruments occupied us for several 
days, and by Friday, the 25th, everything may be said to have 
been ready, with the exception of the final adjustments. The week 
referred to, the 18th to the 25th, was thus a period of continuous 
work for every member of the expedition, broken, however, by 
VOL. XXIII. Q 
