CAPTAIN- L. DARWIN, DR. A. SCHUSTER, AND ]\IR. E. W. MAUNDER 
291 
as possible, the clock adjustment was carried on in the position which the equatoriais 
Vv’ere to have during totality. 
Owing to the unsettled state of the weather, the preparations for the eclipse were 
carried on under great difficulties, and the time at our disposal was found barely 
sufficient. We arrived at the observatory on a Tuesday, and the remainder of that 
week was taken up with the erection of the equatoriais and the preliminary adjust¬ 
ments of the various instruments. During the week preceding the eclipse much 
time was lost owing to the frequent interruption of the work by heavy tropical 
showers. Tuesday and Wednesday were wet and stormy and no direct Sun light was 
available, although much required, to get the instruments into working order. 
Thursday wa.s hue, and in the morning good progress was made ; but Friday was 
again wet, and was followed by a rainy night. Saturday, the day before the eclipse, 
was cloudy in the morning, and the Sun only appeared at intervals. Our experience 
has thus taught us that a fortnight’s time for preparation is hardly sufficient when 
two observers have to look after five different instruments, all requiring careful 
treatment. After the days had been spent in continuous work, the evenings were 
taken up with the preparation of photographic chemicals and occasional star 
observations. 
We were without intelligent help except during the two days when Mr. Lawrance 
came to Prickly Point. We had taken him out, jointly with Professor Thorpe, as 
private assistant, anticipating the great difficulties we should have to encounter. His 
time, however, was chiefly taken up at Hog Island, where Professor Thorpe was 
observing, but our thanks are due to him for the assistance he gave us during these 
two days. As for unskilled help, we engaged I'or the whole time one negro servant, 
but now consider we should have done better to have had two. 
The damp climate, with its steady temperature, varying day and night only between 
81° and 85°, proved very exhausting, and the work could not be carried on as well 
and as quickly as it might have been under more favourable circumstances. 
The richness of animal life proved a source of great annoyance. Mosquitos 
abounded in our residence. Wasps built their nests and spiders spun their webs with 
remarkable rapidity. The photographic room and even one of the equatorial stands 
had to be cleared of wasps’ nests, and a dense spider’s web was found an hour before 
totality stretched across the slit of one of the spectroscopes; the slit having been 
perfectly clear the night before. 
It is difficult to realise at home the special difficulties of temporary observatories, 
but we venture to suggest that more skilled assistance should be provided at future 
eclipses. Although at Prickly Point we were enabled to carry out our programme 
with hardly any mishaps, we feel obliged to point out the difficulties under which 
we worked and which might easily have, led to serious accidents. For example, five 
minutes before totality, Captain Darwin’s clock stopped altogether, although it is 
