rays of light had passed through a quantity of jasmine trained on wires along the front of the verandah, to my astonishment all the spots of light showing on the densely-black shade were of a crescentic form, and made a most unique and wonderful pattern. Not one series of rays passing through the jasmine-bush but what took the exact crescentic form, all about the same size; and, more singular still, all the horns of the crescent-forms were directed in a similar manner. To the left of the observer, or eastward, the door of the room opening on the verandah was open, and similar shadows were shown on the far wall of the room, by the side of the fireplace.

The sun was low on the horizon. Unfortunately I neglected to note the exact stage of the eclipse—that is, whether the crescentic form of the visible portion of the sun pointed to the east or west, or if the eclipse was coming on or going off at the time. I am quite convinced that the shadow-crescents corresponded to the stage of the eclipse, and that at the opposite stage of the eclipse these crescentic shadows would all have faced in the opposite direction—that is, westward.

I have no theory to account for this occurrence, but simply record what was plainly visible. Doubting whether or no it were some delusion, I said to my companion, “What do you see on the wall?” when he turned and looked at the shadow, and then said, “All the light spots are crescents.” Afterwards, in his presence, I described this scene to Mr. and Mrs. H. K. Hodge and Miss M. E. Worthington, and drew a rough sketch, all of which was corroborated by Colonel White. So that, although these persons did not actually see the shadow, yet they can speak to the fact that Colonel White agreed with me as having himself seen this unusual sight.

When viewing a total eclipse of the sun, which seldom falls to the share of any one person to see more than once in a lifetime, there are so many points of interest and such a short time allowed for observation that one's attention is frittered away in trying to notice too many things at one and the same time. Above all, the observer should be clad as for an antarctic expedition, or he will soon find himself by the fireside and in no way eager for astronomical observation. I noticed ice about an inch thick on buckets of water, formed during the interval of the eclipse. If the time occupied by an eclipse were of longer duration all life would no doubt become extinct in localities under its immediate influence, owing to the intense cold prevailing.

The annexed diagram (Pl. III., fig. 1) will be sufficient to illustrate my description, but gives no conception of the beautiful pattern which was shown, and which, to the best of my ability, I have attempted to describe.