The Express.
London, England, 1858-03-16 00:00:00

TO MI IDITOI OF THI EIFZEIIII.

OUNDLE, MONDAY.
SlR,—The following account of the annular eclipse
seen by myself and party in the neighbourhood of
Oundle may, I imagine, be of some interest to your
readers and the public generally, to whom any par-
ticular, respecting this eagerly looked for pheno-
menon will in all probability be acceptable.
The garden of a farmhouse, situate about a mile
north of Oundle, proved ultim►tely the best position
from which to take observations, being situated as
nearly as possible in the central line. Meteorolo-
gical observations were commenced at 9 o'clock, in
a brickfield adjoining. At that time the sky was
clear, and powder was fired in four seconds.
Towards 10 o'clock the sky became overcast, with
cirro.etratus clouds, and the sun invisible, and pow-
der was not fired within a minute any time after-
wards. On one occasion it was fired after an interval
of seven minutes.

For astronomical observations two telescopes were
furnished of 30 inches focal length, one by DoHand,
the other by Simms, with all the necessary appara-
tus. As the time of the eclipse drew near, the pro-
bability of their employment became matter of con-
siderable doubt. At 11 o'clock the sky was quite
overcast, and a tolerably stiff breeze was blowing.
At 11h. 35m. the sky was lighter, but the son not
visible; and at I Ih. 41m., at the commencement of the
eclipse, the sky was still overcast, even to the hori-
zon, but with occasional tantalising breaks, and
masses of scud were rapidly travelling from the north-
west.

Our position was favourable for observation, and
commanded a wide expanse of open country. At
11h. 47w. the sky was more overcast than before.
At this time farm labour was roceeding ; out of
doors the birds were singing joyously; even jays
and rooks were now observed on the ground in several
adjoining fields. At 11h. 42m. the clouds became
lighter, and our expectations were considerably
raised. At 11h. 59w. the sky became uniformly over-
cast, without a break ; and the wind swept drearily
over the open country between the trees; the bounda-
ries of the hedges in places were distinguishable by the
line of snow, which still lay to the depth of a foot in
places where it had drifted. At 12h. Bm. the eclipse
was visible for an instant. Again, at 12h. 12m., the
moon's limb exhibited no irregularity, immediately
after it was obscured again. At 12h. 15w. a
chequered, feeble sunlight was diffused over the
landscape, exhibiting no peculiarity in regard to the
eclipse. At 12h. 15w. 30s. the clouds became lighter
on the right hand of the sun, and the progress of the
eclipse for some little time was clearly to be ob-
served ; the cusps were perfectly sharp, and the line
unbroken, and fast approaching the group of spots
upon the sun. At 12h. 23m. 2s. it touched a spot.
At 126. 24m. 60s. the cusps were sharp, and the
limb clear, as seen with the dark glass for a
second, fast approaching a second group of spots ;
dark scud was passing rapidly from the north-west;
at 12h. 28m. the sky was again overcast, and drops
of rain fell, rapid scud passing. At 12h. 32m. there
was still no perceptible change in the appearance of
nature generally. It was an ordinary dull day. The
birds continued their singing. At 12h. 34m. we
caught a momentary glimpse of the sun. The moon's
limb was perfectly regular. Much scud was passing,
the sky was generally overcast, and the appearance
of the weather such as betokens rain, large masses
of cumulus in the neighbourhood of the sun were
illuminated at the summit, and in the gloom looked
picturesque and massive At 12h. 39m. both cusps
were very sharp as seen without a glass. The moon's
limb was even. At this time the gloom to the
north began to deepen considerably, while the
sun was more clearly visible than at shy time before,
and appeared like a crescent of pure silvery bright-
ness. At 12h. 43w., as seen with dark glass, the
lower cusp was sharp and well defined, the upper
was irregular; the moon was black, the gloom was
general and deeper than it had been before, and ex-
tended above to the boric .n. The clouds in the
neighbourhood of the sun were still lightly illumi-
nated. At 12.45 the wind was rising, slight rain
fell, and the gloom continued to increase. At 12h.
48m. the sun was shining over Fotheringay, though
it was cloudy at our place of observation. At 12h.
46m. the lower part of the moon was approaching a
small spot. At 12h. 47m. the spot was bi-sected ; the
moon's limb was now irregular, the gloom deepened,
and birds were heard, some singing, and oi hers chi rping
and calling as though disturbed. At 126. 60m. the
lark ceased to rise, and was silent. At 12h. 63w. we
might have imagined that • severe storm was im-
pending, and birds were seen flying homewards.
The wind continued to rise in gusts and squalls, the
sky was overcast, but the sun still illuminated a
circle round itself. At 12h. 665. the sun was again
visible, but the moon's limb was irregular and
better defined on the sun at the lower than at the
upper edge. At 12h. 58m. the upper apparent edge
of the sun was broken, showing one of Thuly's beads.
It was but • momentary glimpse. After a minute,
as seen through another momentary glimpse, 60 deg.
or 70 deg. of the sun's limbs was seen thus
broken, and showing a succession of Baily's
beads. The gloom et this time was very great.
Birds were wildly flying here and there, as In
great agitation, but some continued singing without
interruption. Between Ih. lm. and lb. 2m. the
greatest gloom was experienced, but at no time was
rt difficult to read at the ordinary distance, and
throughout there existed no necessity to suspend any
employment. The sky was too generally overcast,
and the day too raw and ungetual, to detect any of
the more delicate effects of light and shadow. With
the exception of the greatest gloom, which occurred
for a minute or two about one o'clock, the surround-
ing aspect of the country was only in accordance
with the general character of the day, as shortly
after one o'clock the sky became uniformly overcast,
and a fine rain fell, continuing till the end of the
eclipse, precluding all chance of further observa-
tions. The sudden increase of light after the great
gloom was rapid and remarkable.