Part 1 (1/2)

Canadian Eclipse Party 1869.

by Commander E. D. Ashe.

Before giving an account of my proceedings in reference to the eclipse, I think it only right, in justice to our party, to state that the arrangements were made very hastily, as it was not until the last moment that would admit of my reaching the station allotted to me by the American astronomers, viz., Jefferson City, that I was informed that $400 had been appropriated for the purpose of taking my telescope to Iowa.

The party consisted of Mr. Douglas, Mr. Falconer, and myself.

As we had only three days to get ready, there was much to be done, dismounting the telescope and making cases for the several parts, and carefully packing photographic materials. Instead of the stone support for telescope (eight inches aperture and 9 feet focus) I had one made of wood, but as the centre of gravity was raised so high by using wood, I had to take great care in the formation of the base; however, the stability was excellent. Our arrangements were all complete by the 26th of July, and we started that evening by the Montreal boat.

For the benefit of those who may undertake an expedition of a similar kind, it may be well to mention a few incidents that occurred during our journey, which, although trifling in themselves, may prove useful to future eclipse parties. I may mention that two of the cases, containing parts of the telescope, were directed ”Eclipse Expidition,”

with three i's in Expedition. This was pointed out to me at Montreal, but the mistake is excusable, for evidently the more eyes we have in an astronomical expedition the better. With regard to original spelling, I will relate the following anecdote, which would have suited ”Artemus Ward.”

The boatswain of a man-of-war has to keep a rough expense book of the different stores that he uses, and this is checked by the master, who on one occasion sent for Mr. Parks, and when lie came, he said: ”Oh, Mr. Parks, you have expended too much rope for those 'jib guys;'

it will surely be found fault with; you had better reduce the quant.i.ty;” and on handing him the book, he said: ”By the bye, b-l-o-x is not the way to spell blocks.” The boatswain took the book very sulkily; and after he had taken two steps towards the door, he turned round, and said ”Well, sir, if b-l-o-x don't spell blocks, what do it spell?”

We started on our journey by the evening train. When we arrived at Port Huron our first difficulty occurred; the Custom-House officers would not pa.s.s our baggage, although we pointed out the great importance of our party, and also, that the moon would not wait an instant for us. They did not see it; so our baggage was locked up for the night.

We took rooms at a small inn, and then Mr. Douglas and I went by rail to Huron, to see the head of the Customs. After going up two flights of stairs, we were shewn into a room which two gentlemen occupied.

The chief was smoking, with the chair resting on its two hind legs and his resting on the table. We told our story, and shewed him a certificate from the American Consul at Quebec. He looked very hard at me, took the cigar out of his mouth, wrote a pa.s.s which he handed to me, and then resumed his cigar and former position. We began to thank him, but as he hid himself in smoke, we retreated down stairs.

I never was more struck with the kindness of our American cousins than I was during this trip. On all occasions, they did all in their power to promote our convenience. In the morning we had time to see Mr. Muir, the director of the railway, who kindly gave us a free pa.s.sage over his line, a kindness that was shewn to us by all the directors of the different lines that we travelled on. I may remark that the cases with the heavier parts of the telescope were broken, and I much feared that the instruments would be seriously damaged.

Mr. Muir very kindly had outside cases put on, and I carried the most valuable part (the object gla.s.s) in my hand. After we left Chicago, and before going to bed, we left word to be called before crossing the Mississippi. It is not fair to judge of scenery from a view taken through the window of a railway car, but I must say that I was disappointed,--shallow, sluggish, and muddy; but then I ought to remember that I live on the banks of one of the finest and most beautiful rivers in the world.

In the morning we were on the prairie, which is not so flat as I had expected to see it, but it is a beautiful undulating country, and if there were trees upon it nothing more could be desired. It was explained to me by a gentleman who was travelling with us, the reason why trees do not grow on this beautiful land. It appears that on the eastern bank of all rivers and streams only do trees grow; now without entering into the cause of the prairies catching fire, I will only say that in September, when the long gra.s.s is quite dry, they do catch fire, and then burn until it is stopped by a river, and as it always burns to windward, and as the wind generally blows in one direction, we have a solution why the trees only grow on one side of a river; and once the primeval forest is removed, it never has a chance of growing again, as the young trees are sure to be burnt, and the beautiful black soil of the prairie is enriched by the deposit of burnt gra.s.s.

At one station where we stopped to water our engine, I saw two children of the soil; they have good reason to complain at their lot. The buffalo and antelope driven away, and if they are hungry they are told to go and dig; dig, how can they dig? let us reverse the picture. Suppose that our cities and towns were by the Indians turned into a prairie, and when we were hungry they told us to go away and catch a buffalo, a pretty hand I should make of catching a buffalo. The sooner the poor fellows are shot down or killed by small-pox, the sooner they will go to their happy hunting grounds.

As the Norway rat kills all other rats that it meets, so the savage must disappear, and the Northern races of Europe will exterminate them.

There is one exception, the African negro, and no matter what you do to him he thrives under the treatment; whether free or in slavery he multiplies and is happy. Strange that rum which kills the Indian, only makes him fat.

But the king of savages--the New Zealander--has the fairest island, in the most favored clime, taken from him, and civilization forced upon him.

There is no getting away from this civilization now. But I am thankful to say that I was at San Francis...o...b..fore it arrived there.

When out shooting I saw the fresh foot-prints of a grizzly bear, and did not know how far the gentleman might have been from me at that moment. Now, I should like to know how far you would have to travel, and how much you would have to spend, before you could experience the same delightful sensation.

I have seen real Indians with real bows and arrows, in Vancouver's Island; and the place where I then saw them, now has become the head-quarters of the Pacific squadron; and the Indians, instead of flattening their heads, no doubt have put on the Grecian bend. Where is all this to stop?

It was pointed out to me that most of the telegraph-posts were struck by lightning; no wonder; for that king of natural forces, that for so many thousands of years has reigned supreme-splitting the granite rock, and s.h.i.+vering the mighty oak at his will--now to be brought into existence at the will of an apothecary boy, placed in two cups and locked up in a cupboard, and then made travel day and night, over hill and dale, and under the vast ocean, to carry messages at the bidding of man,--no wonder, I say, that he should try and knock the whole concern into a c.o.c.ked hat!

”Boonsboro! twenty minutes for dinner!!” Now, then, we shall have something in keeping with the prairie,--I suppose a deer roasted on a stake. Nothing of the sort. I went into a nice dining-room; saw a quant.i.ty of pretty girls, or rather young ladies, with short sleeves and low dresses. ”Soup, sir! chicken, sir! peas, sir!” The station at Rugby is nothing to it. After twenty minutes of capital feeding, we heard, ”all aboard! all aboard!” and as we left, the father of these young ladies was standing at the door, and obliged us by taking half-a-dollar, a great improvement on the English system, where, on asking the waiter for your bill, he asks: ”What 'ave you 'ad?” and begins to add accordingly. The next station was Jefferson, 1,398 miles from Quebec. Here the boxes were again thrown out, and the train left for San Francisco. The boxes were left at the station, and we drove up to the hotel, about half-a-mile from the station. As this was Sat.u.r.day, July 31st, we had exactly a week to select a site and to build an observatory-mount the telescope and take preliminary observations. The American parties were several weeks at their station before the day of the eclipse, and found it not too long to prepare.

Jefferson city is three years old, has about eight thousand inhabitants, and looks a thriving place. The next day, after church, Mr. Douglas and I rode across the prairie to a station situated about eight miles on the railway from Jefferson. As it was nearer to the central line of eclipse, we wanted to see if it would do for the site of our observatory.

I forgot to mention that the day before I left Quebec, in pulling off my boot I broke the tendon of the plantaris muscle, which made me quite lame. However, the six days' comparative rest made it much better, but still it was far from well.

”We started for our ride across the prairie about two o'clock, and reached the station in about an hour and a-half. We crossed several streams and some marshy ground, and started several prairie chickens.

After examining the place, and finding that it would be very inconvenient to get the material there, we thought that it would be better to remain at Jefferson, and we mounted to return. After we had left some time, and as I was suffering from my leg, and could not ride fast, I persuaded Mr. Douglas to ride on, and get back before sunset to keep an appointment with a carpenter, and not to mind me, as I could ride slowly back. He very reluctantly did so, and when I was left alone, I felt quite at home, steering my horse across the boundless prairie by the setting sun. Now, my horse had crossed many streams, and soft wet places in going out, so I took it for granted that he knew more about the prairie than I did, and would not allow me to get into difficulties, and consequently steered a straight course for that point of the compa.s.s in the direction of Jefferson. The sun had just touched the horizon. I was crossing some marshy ground with reeds up to my shoulders, when I saw my horse's nostrils distended, and his ears forward. I immediately put my helm down and brought him round, and just as I had done so, down he sank; I found myself up to my ankles in mud, and up to the calf of the leg in water; the horse was fixed immovable, no struggling, but snorting and dreadfully frightened. I have been in various situations of difficulty; but when I looked up and saw the tall reeds far above my head, and the sun setting, I must confess that I thought my case a serious one. I remembered the fate of a young French officer of the combined fleet that was at anchor at the entrance to the ”Dardanelles,”

who went on sh.o.r.e to shoot, and as he did not return that night, we landed in the morning to look for him, and not far from the s.h.i.+p, we found him in a bog up to his waist, his gun a few feet in front of him, and he quite dead. I knew that if a man once gets up to his waist, it would be impossible to extricate himself; however, when I dismounted I sank up to my knees, and although that was not the place to philosophize, still I did so, and I began to think what is the reason that a man in struggling works himself down, and I immediately discovered that on raising the heel I produced a vacuum, as the mud prevents either water or air getting underneath the foot, and so with 15 lbs. to the square inch, in addition to your weight you soon disappear. That being the case, I did not attempt to raise the foot, but moved it backwards and forwards in a horizontal position until I made the hole so big, that water got under the foot, when I could lift it up with the greatest ease. After extricating myself I tore down some reeds and made a platform round my horse, then I patted his neck, and spoke good-naturedly to him, and then went astern, and by means of his tail worked him backwards and forwards with a rolling kind of motion to let the water well round his feet, and lastly went ahead, pa.s.sed the bridle over his neck, and sat down with it in my hands right ahead. Now, then, old boy, ”up she rises,” the horse began to struggle, I kept the head-rope taut, and he was freeing himself bravely. If I let go the bridle too soon, he would go back; if I held on too long, he would be upon me, and not only kill me but bury me, so at the critical moment I let go, and rolled over and over amongst the reeds, and the horse floundered past me. When I got on my feet no horse was to be seen, but only the tops of the reeds moving as he was making his way out. I thought I had not improved my situation much, for with my leg I could not walk a mile, and, of course, the horse had shaped his course for the stable.