132 
' CAPTAIN W. DE W. ABNEY ON THE TOTAL ECLIPSE 
The following Report was written from U.S.S. “ Hartford/’ at sea. 
April 20th, at 7 o’clock in the morning, we came in sight of Caroline Island. 
A boat was sent off under Lieutenant Qualteough, and on his return we learnt 
that there were two empty frame-houses belonging to Messrs. Holder Bros., of 
Leadenhall Street, to whom the island is leased, and seven native inhabitants. 
The disembarkation commenced that afternoon, and was concluded next day ; but, as 
at nightfall a large part of the goods were still on the shore, the Hartford ” lay-by 
all night, and landed strong parties at daylight, to carry the boxes up to the site 
chosen by Professor Holden for the observatory, while W. M. Peacock, the cooper, 
put in the foundations for our three piers. 
The landing was very difficult, as the boats had to be run in through a narrow 
opening in the reef; then the boxes had to be carried through fifty yards or so of 
water, varying from two to three feet deep ; then over fifty yards of sharp irregular 
coral rock, that cut the men’s shoes to pieces; and then along a soft sandy beach, 
up hill, for more than a quarter of a mde. Our best and most hearty thanks are due 
to Captain C. C. Carpenter, who superintended the disembarkation; to Lieutenant- 
Commander E. White, the executive officer, who saw personally to the lading of the 
boats ; to Lieutenant-Commander J. W. Miller, who received the goods on shore ; 
to Lieutenant Qualteough, the Cadets, and Warrant Officers, who looked after the 
working parties on shore. 
The “ Eclaireur” came in on the evening of the 22nd, just as the “ Hartford” was 
leaving, with the French expedition, consisting of Messrs. Janssen, Trouvelot, 
Palisa, and Tacchini. 
The landing party left with us consisted of— 
Lieutenant Edward F. Qualteough. j 
William S. Dixon, Esq., M,D. [ 
Cadet, W. B. Fletcher. I 
Cadet, J. G. Doyle. > 
Seaman-Gunner, H. E. Yewell, 
Carpenter, Peter Murphy. j 
Carpenter’s Mate, Charles Emms. | 
Seaman, James Harold. 
O. Seaman, John Mackinnon. 
O. Seaman, C. H. Perkins. 
O. Seaman, J. Smith (Cook). 
Steward, P. Burns. 
Servant, T. Brooks. 
Servant, Mortimer Spence. 
By Saturday, tlie 28th of April, the siderostat, equatorial, and photoheliograph were 
erected and adjusted in position. The arrangement of the nest of spectroscopes for 
use with the siderostat was taken in hand, and the spectroscopes were attached to the 
equatorial. 
We had a great deal of trouble with the photoheliograph, as the tube did not fit the 
cradle; the clock went badly, and the square box could not be perfectly adjusted for 
parallelism. 
