Year: 1868

In Bombay, Calcutta, and many
other parts of the country, the eclipse
of August Is appears to have been seen
very unsatisfactorily, owing to the
sky being clouded; but at BeejapOre,
where the German astronomers and
the Governor of Bombay were, the
circumstances were more favorable.


A correspondent of the Times, of
India, who observed the eclipse on
the bank of the Bhima, between Takli
and Chincupur, says: 1.-The weather,
or rather the sky, was unfavorable for
observing the solar effects. The NOR
ming was gray, and after daylight for
while it promised well, but the air
was pretty well saturated with mois-
ture, and by seven o'clock it was evil
dent that much depended on the tenn
perature of the breeze, a very slight
fall being sufficient to cOndense sutfi-
.eient vapor TO cover the sky with
cloud. For about an hour and ten
minutes from the first contact on the
upper limb, very near the veTteX, the
lunar disc gradually descended, and
from about the middle of this time,
the light diminished regularly and
very perceptibly until toward the ap-
proaeh of totality, when it had de-
creased to dull twilight-deep and
still as on the burst of heavy thun-
der storm, except from the low muir
muir OF a steady breeze, which found
little on which to produce any sound
on the bare ground. The clouds had
been rapidly multiplying and becom-
ing more dense, but hitherto, either
- an1nv.aI rrln
es, we had been able to trace the
progress of the eclipse, with only a
few short interruptions. Two or three
minutes before the total obscuratiOn,
the thermometer, which had as yet
indicated the same temperature,
began to fall rapidly; the wind became
perceptibly colder, and the clouds
thickened and darkened, and quite
obscured the sun. 1t was a moment
of intense interest; crows flew low,
and kites fluttered as if distressed to
find darkness upon them before they
could reach their accustomed percheS ;
at Solapur the poultry went to rOOst ;
and some cattle not far from us SEEM
ed to be proceeding home of their own
accord. The only instance of perfect
stoicism 1 heard of, was that of man
plowing quite near to where / was,
and whom l heard turning his
bullocks in the midst of the darkness
of totality, when l could just make
out what it was between Inc and the
northern hOrizen, where there was
light. Our attention was directed to
the southwest, where a far deeper
darkness than that around us appear
II 7 u ~ lannrarl fn
it seemed to form almost at once over
a large segment of sky the remainder
of light around US seemed to diminish
by pulses, as this great curtain of
darkness rose and spread out, espec-
tally to the south, with a velocity and
majesty that l can not describe. 1
could only watch its tremendous
sweep rs it burst along toward us,
darkening earth and heaven, until we
felt ourselves under the great vail that
swiftly reached our eastern horizon,
and left the light only in low arch
of Z deg. or deg. in hight on the
north, and which had a slow but per-
ceptible motion from east to west.
Between US and that light, we could
Just discern the cattle passing home
at a distance of twenty yards; and
with the face of a watch turned
toward it we could read the time on a
white dial, but not on a gold one. AT
distance of about three-quarters OF
mile to the south, we could see a
light very distinctly in the village OF
LGhinchpur. 1 did not observe any
pHculiar coloring in the clouds OF
along the horizon, nor did the faces OF
those near me assume the cadayerous
aspect said to have been so strongly
marked in other eclipses. The dark
ness of tOtality has also been often
affirmed to give rise to strong feelings
of horror. Subjective feelings, are
very different from the objective
phenomena which give rise to them


and vary with the mind in which
they are produced, as well as with
the outward circumstances that cause
them. To me the rapidity of the
motion of the tremendous pail, anC
the suddenness and completeness o.


the final pulse of darkness, were in.
expressibly grand and never to bt
| forgotten; and it so absorbed the
senses that the wind seemed to cease


and only after few seconds of dark


ness, l heard the distant cries from


the village below. The darkness con


tinued about three minutes-thOugl


they seemed very short ones-and the


thermometer went down to 76 deg.


while the dew fell very rapidly, anC


was driven by the wind like a thiI


drizzIe of rain, and l felt it gettinI


very chilly. At length the low arcl


of light to the north began TO enlarg


round by the west, and the grea


curtain to be withdrawn with tn,


same majestic sweep with which i


had been cast over US, and soon it


edge was seen passing over the zenitl


and vanishing in lessening arch t


the southwest. And, as the light hat


disappeared, so for a few seconds j
lanneared to return. not by repula