TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, APRIL 16, 1893. 
567 
Photograph No. 7 would thus be taken 9 seconds after the beginning of totality, and 
No. 21, 11 seconds before the end. The appearances on the Plates, however, seem to 
indicate that these intervals should be more nearly equal, and it would probably be 
no great error to suppose that totality commenced at 2 hours 23 minutes 48 seconds, 
and ended at 2 hours 28 minutes 0 seconds, by the deck-watch. The delay in 
commencing the photographs at the beginning of totality was occasioned by an error 
in the signal agreed upon for the whole party, so that Photographs Nos. 22, 23, 
and 24, some of which should have been taken before the end of totality, according 
to the table drawn up, were not taken until the sun had re-appeared. Fortunately, 
these three Plates are perhaps not very much less valuable than if they had been 
exposed at the times arranged. 
TIL The Brazilian Station (Mr. Shackleton’s Report). 
Locality . 
The station selected in Brazil as being nearest the central line and point of longest 
duration, was a small village on the coast called Para Curu ; it is situated about 
50 miles North of the important town of Ceara (Fortaleza), and as read off from the 
Admiralty Chart is in latitude 3 3 24' S. and longitude 39° 1' W., the latter corre¬ 
sponding to a difference of 2 hours 36 minutes 4 seconds W. of Greenwich. 
The expedition left Southampton on February 23rd, 1893, by the R.M.S. Tamar, 
and arrived at Pernambuco on March 11th ; here everything was more or less in 
disorder on account of the insurrection at Bio de Janeiro, and after nearly a week’s 
delay with Custom House officialism, a start was made by a small coasting steamer, 
the s.s. San Francisco, which arrived at Ceara in six days. The instruments were 
again disembarked and lay in a store for about a week, until a steamer was ready to 
proceed northwards ; this was the S.S. Oriente, the owners of which kindly consented 
for her to put into the bay at Parazinho and land the eclipse party. Arriving here 
on March 30th, the baggage was got on shore by means of surf rafts or catamarans, 
but no help was forthcoming from the natives until two days later, as they were 
celebrating Easter festival. During this forced idleness the time was spent in 
procuring a suitable site at Para Curu, some 1^ miles away, and at length a clearing 
on an eminence was obtained which had a good sea horizon to the north, the observing 
station being south of the line. To this place the baggage was removed on April 3rd 
by the aid of bullock wagons, and just a week before the day of the eclipse, huts had 
been built and the instruments adjusted. The weather continued very fine until 
within three days previous to the eclipse, during which rehearsals were gone through 
to get accustomed to the work, and also to find out the minimum time which could 
be allowed with safety to move the dark slides from one plate to another, and also to 
effect a complete change of slides; this was found to be 2 and 8 seconds respectively 
