The Portion Of The Tail
Next The Comet Appeared Three Or Four Tunes As Bright As The Most
Luminous Portion
Of the milky way, and what struck me as a
singular feature was that its upper margin, from the nucleus
To
very near the extremity, was clearly and almost sharply defined,
while the lower side gradually shaded off into obscurity.
Directly it rose above the ridge of the hill, I said to my men,
"See, it's not a fire, it's a bintang ber-ekor" ("tailed-star,"
the Malay idiom for a comet). "So it is," said they; and all
declared that they had often heard tell of such, but had never
seen one till now. I had no telescope with me, nor any instrument
at hand, but I estimated the length of the tail at about 20°, and
the width, towards the extremity, about 4° or 5°.
The whole of the next day we were obliged to stop near the
village of Tidore, owing to a strong wind right in our teeth. The
country was all cultivated, and I in vain searched for any
insects worth capturing. One of my men went out to shoot, but
returned home without a single bird. At sunset, the wind having
dropped, we quitted Tidore, and reached the next island, March,
where we stayed till morning. The comet was again visible, but
not nearly so brilliant, being partly obscured by clouds; and
dimmed by the light of the new moon. We then rowed across to the
island of Motir, which is so surrounded with coral-reefs that it
is dangerous to approach.
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