the dark body of the moon having appeared to move away gradually, and leave more and more of the projection visible.

About 10° south of the principal prominence, and at a distance of one minute of arc from the moon's dark limb, I saw a luminous triangular spot of the same colour as the great flame, yet perfectly detached from the limb, it was evidently of the same nature as the large prominence, and must have existed in the upper regions of the solar atmosphere. The edges were of a bright rose pink, the centre paler. With the exception of a gradual receding of this spot from the moon's limb as she moved across the sun, I could distinguish no change. Its form, appearance, and position, relative to the large projection, continued exactly the same as long as I could discern either. On the dark limb of the moon, on the side near the horizon, there appeared an uninterrupted succession of rose-coloured inequalities, which seemed to be in a state of fluctuation, though not to such an extent as materially to change their number and positions. The tops were of a full rose red, but their bases presented a bright violet tint, which appeared to spread along the limb of the moon. Near the western extremity of this long range of "red flames," there was an isolated one of about forty seconds' altitude, and another of similar magnitude, at an angle of 145 degrees from the north towards the east. I was too closely occupied in watching the larger prominence, to pay much attention to the smaller ones during the short time allowed me, and I am consequently unable to state from observation whether they underwent the same gradual variations of apparent magnitude. The moon's surface was decidedly reddish-purple soon after the beginning of the total eclipse; but half a minute later, it seemed to have lost the reddish tinge, and assumed a dull purple colour. The position of the approaching reappearance of the sun was indicated by the visibility of a bright glow, like twilight, on that part of the limb of the moon where the continuous range of rose-coloured projections had presented itself, and a few seconds afterwards the beads were again noticed, not so numerous as before, but larger and more brilliant; five seconds more and this beautiful appearance vanished, the sun re-appearing as an extremely narrow but rapidly widening crescent. About ten minutes subsequently clouds began to form near the sun, and he was soon hidden from this cause, so that no opportunity was afforded of watching the declining phases of the eclipse.

Such are the principal telescopic phenomena which I was fortunate enough to witness, but I doubt if any language can convey an adequate impression of the grand, nay awful phenomena on the earth and in the heavens, during the continuance of the total eclipse. The entire landscape was overspread with an unnatural gloom; persons near me assumed an unearthly cadaverous aspect-the sea, in the distance, appeared of a lurid red-the whole of the southern heavens were of a sombre purple or purplish grey, the only indication of the sun's place being the ring of light, which we are accustomed to term the corona. North of the zenith the sky was of the most intense violet, and appeared very near, and, to crown the whole, the north-west and northeast heavens were occupied by broad bands of light of a yellowish crimson, or Claude-Lorraine red, which, gradually sinking into the unnatural purple of the sky at greater altitudes, produced an effect that will never be effaced from my recollection, though I feel that I can convey no just idea of its awful grandeur. I envy those observers who were not compelled, in their character of astronomers, to withdraw their eyes from the contemplation of these astounding phenomena on the earth, and in the atmosphere to view the less imposing, though doubtless, not less remarkable appearances which the telescope exhibited round the sun. A few seconds, however, were sufficient to fix the general aspect of nature in my mind, beyond the chance of forgetting it as long as my life lasts.

I saw no stars or planets myself, but on my journey home was frequently assured of their having been distinctly seen, even at Copenhagen, where the eclipse was not total. It was so gloomy in this city, that persons had difficulty in recognizing each other in the streets. One remarkable proof of the accuracy of astronomical calculations relative to the eclipse came to my knowledge. According to the best theories of the sun and moon, the eclipse should have been total at Helsingborg, on the Swedish side of the Sound, but partial only on the opposite coast, at Elsinore; and the captain of a steam-boat, passing at the time between these places, and about half a mile from Helsingborg, describes the curious effect produced by the country being dark in Sweden, the gloom increasing the further the eye was directed from the coast; while in Denmark the sun was evidently shining during the continuance of the total eclipse in Sweden. The southern limit of the shadow must therefore have passed over the Sound rather nearer to the Swedish than to the Danish coast-precisely as predicted.

I am, &c.,

Mr. Bishop's Observatory, Regent's Park, August 6th.

J. R. HIND.

Seizure of THE LEVENSIDE MERCHANT VESSEL BY MILITARY PASSENGERS.

The following extraordinary narrative is from the Advocate (a St. Helena paper), of the 5th of June. It could have been wished that the proceedings of the magistrates had been reported exactly, instead of being thrown into the narrative form. The case, however, is obviously one that calls for further inquiry.

"In our columns of this week will be found an account of the recent occurrences on board the barque Levenside-perhaps the most extraordinary which it has ever fallen to the lot of a public journal to report. We forbear at present expressing any opinion on the subject, as it now remains to be settled by the proper legal authorities; yet there are circumstances connected with this case upon which we feel called to comment.

"Immediately on the Levenside's arrival in this port, an information was laid by Capt. Vesey, of the Royal Artillery-in command of the detachment of troops on board-against Capt. Campbell, the master-then confined by Capt. Vesey's orders in the hold of that vessel. A warrant for his apprehension was at once granted by the magistrates, and a policeman sent off to see it enforced. The evidence afterwards adduced in the investigation clearly proves, that had Capt. Campbell been disposed to commit murder, he had every opportunity of so doing, but that he confined himself, and, as he alleges, for the support of his authority, to presenting the pistol at Capt. Vesey's breast, and warning him that, if he attempted to interfere with him, or with his sailors in carrying out his orders, he would shoot him through the heart. Upon this threat, apparently the result of much previous bickering on the voyage-upon the fact acknowledged by the captain, that he did so present the pistol, and upon his alleged efforts to use it during the struggle which ensued the magistrates have committed Capt. Campbell for an assault and attempt to murder.

"An information is then laid by the captain of the vessel against Capts. Vesey and Neill, passengers, and against the soldiers acting under Capt. Vesey's orders, to the effect that they had seized him, confined him chained

in the hold, and assumed the command of the vessel, thereby committing an act of piracy, for which he requested that a warrant might be issued against them. This Capt. Campbell does as soon as the isolated and peculiar position in which he was placed admitted; but the magistrates, receiving his information, strangely enough refuse to give his serious charge a hearing, although upon what grounds it has not pleased them to enlighten either him or the public. Capt. Campbell, we understand, intends appealing to a higher court, where the decision of the magistrates will be submitted to due test. Meantime we cannot refrain from remarking strongly on the unusual spectacle of the colonial secretary taking his seat as one of the magistrates, and an active and influential part throughout this trial against the accused. In this peculiar case, involving serious and important principles, and in which government officers are concerned, the presence of one civil servant as magistrate in a bench of two was quite sufficient. The addition of a second in the colonial secretary was quite uncalled for, is well calculated to destroy confidence in the court, a rightful cause of public jealousy, and a bad precedent for the future.

"The inhabitants of this small island, at a ruinous distance from the higher courts of appeal in the mother country, have long had reason to be proud of their Supreme Court, and thankful to the respected judge, who has earned for that court the entire confidence and a high estimation of all. With such an exemplar before them, they naturally expect that the inferior courts of the island should be also worthy of a high reputation—a reputation incompatible with the appearance even of any unfair exertion or preponderance of government influence in them.

"Extraordinory Seizure of the Barque Levenside by Military Passengers. "On Thursday, the 29th of May, the barque Levenside, arrived in the bay under peculiar and altogether unprecedented circumstances; she had been, in fact, forcibly seized during the voyage by Capt. Vesey, a passenger in charge of a small detachment of the Royal Artillery destined for this place. The captain of the vessel was a prisoner in the hold-in chains; with a sentinel over him to prevent communication with the crew.

"From what we have been able to learn from the evidence in the police court, the history of this strange and startling affair appears to be as follows: "That on the 15th of May, in the evening, while the Levenside was on the high seas, Capt. D. Campbell, the master, ordered the booby-hatch to be closed. This was done, and immediately afterwards Capt. Vesey summoned the troops under his charge to take off the hatch in defiance of the master's order, which was immediately carried into effect. This intemperate opposition to the master's legitimate authority no doubt, in some measure, gave rise to subsequent events.

"On the 17th, two days after this occurrence, a squabble appears to have taken place between one of the soldiers and the ship's carpenter. Capt. Vesey insisted that the carpenter should be punished; but upon investigating the case, Capt. Campbell, the master of the vessel, could not see very clearly that his man was more to blame than the soldier, and we believe did not in any way punish the man. This led to some sharp words between the officers, and it is asserted that Capt. Vesey said he had a superior force on board, and should not hesitate to use it when he thought requisite. This language appears not only to have excited Capt. Campbell, but also to have alarmed him as to the safety of his ship-seeing that his orders had already once been forcibly interfered with by the troops under Capt. Vesey's command; and as the authority of a captain is paramount on board his own vessel, it would appear that he was not willing to allow a passenger to usurp his authority, and interfere with him and his crew in working

the vessel. At ten minutes past eight o'clock of the same evening the 17th, Capt. Campbell came on deck to relieve Cooper, his second mate, then on duty; for as the captain, three weeks previously had disrated the first mate for some negligence or misconduct, he himself did the first mate's duty.

"It being dark, and past eight o'clock at night, the captain ordered the booby-hatch to be put on; but no sooner was the order given than Capt. Vesey, in charge of the troops, said it should not be done; Capt. Campbell then pulled out a pistol, and told Capt. Vesey that if he attempted to interfere with him, and prevent any of the crew obeying his orders, he would shoot him through the heart. Upon this qualified threat being uttered, Capt. Vesey immediately called his men to fall in round the hatchway, and ordered the bombardier to go below for arms. This order was instantly obeyed, and as soon as Capt. Campbell saw the arms being handed up the hatchway, he went forward, seized hold of one of the muskets, and commanded the soldier to give it up, saying, ' Put that down, it does not belong to you-it belongs to the ship.' The soldier refused, whereupon a struggle took place for the gun, when some one called out 'seize him,' on which several soldiers seized the captain, threw him against a boat, wrenched the pistol out of his hand, as well as the musket he attempted to take from the soldier.

"At this point there is considerable discrepancy in the evidence. Capt. Vesey and Capt. Neill, aide-de-camp to Sir James Emerson Tennant, the expected governor, swear that the pistol was taken from the master by Capt. Vesey himself, while others as positively swear that it was seized by a soldier and handed to Capt. Vesey.

"Then comes the most extraordinary part of the affair. No sooner was Capt. Campbell seized than Capt. Vesey ordered his hands to be lashed behind his back, and it appears, at the instigation of Capt. Neill, he was hurried into the hold, and secured to a stanchion-and kept for sixteen hours in that position without either water or anything else being given him, as far as we can gather from the evidence. The next morning he was unlashed from the stanchion, and had strong chains fastened to his wrists by padlocks; in this position he was kept in the hold for twelve days and nights, with an armed sentinel keeping watch over him. He was not allowed to communicate with the crew during this time, nor was he released from this extraordinary captivity, even on the arrival of the vessel in the Roads, till the police went on board and caused him to be unchained.

"Even when the police went on board, the soldier refused to give him up without the authority of Capt. Vesey, although they were furnished with a proper warrant from the magistrates.

"Immediately Capt. Campbell was seized and forced into the hold, Capt. Vesey commanded one of the soldiers to turn every one belonging to the crew out of the cabin, and take possession of it, which was done. Two soldiers seized the steward, hurried him along the deck, and bundled him as he says, by compulsion,' down the hatchway, from which he appears soon after to have escaped.

"They then commenced ransacking the captain's cabin-seized his fowling-piece, opened his chest, and took a pistol from it, which they ultimately sealed up in the case belonging to them. Capt. Vesey and Capt. Neill now ordered the disrated mate to work the ship for them, and ordered the second mate Cooper to turn to, who said he would do so for sake of the ship, provided Capt. Vesey and Neill distinctly understood that by so doing he was not disobeying Capt. Campbell's order, whom he considered as his master. The crew at first were not disposed to work the ship under these circumstances, till Cooper very properly called them aft and explained the

conditions on whieh he would resume duty-to which they also agreed, and turned to work. Capt. Vesey not only seized the ship's books and papers, but turned out the steward, and appointed one of his soldiers to fill that responsible office, and also reinstated the first mate, thus making liberal use of the patronage appropriated to himself by such extraordinary means. When Capt. Campbell required a change of linen, his chest was sent to him in the hold, and on opening it he found that his log book and private journal were both missing, to say nothing of his writing desk and the ship's papers, which Capt. Vesey seized when he took possession of the vessel.

"The captain's hands were always unchained at meal times, and carefully put on again afterwards, as Capt. Neill says, with great kindness and consideration.

"When the vessel arrived in the bay, Captain Vesey went on board her He saw the Majesty's steam ship Hecla, to ask the commander's advice. first Lieutenant, who immediately told him that the best thing he could do would be to reinstate the captain, restore all the papers, and put matters to rights as soon as he could; for, according to his opinion, he had committed what was tantamount to piracy on the high seas. However, instead of doing this, Captain Vesey kept the master chained below till he went on shore, and obtained a warrant against him on the charge of assault and attempted murder.

Captain Vesey's alleged reason for not allowing the booby-hatch to be closed is, that the weather was hot, and that it would endanger the health of the men-about thirteen in number. This hatch is furnished with a slide, or scuttle, for the purpose of ventilation, which can be kept open when the hatch itself is down; consequently no great harm would happen to the men when below, even with the hatch closed, for it was always in their power to keep the slide open, which is one of considerable size.

"Two of the artillerymen, it appears, were sick; and as there was no surgeon on board, Captain Campbell, the master, supplied them with medicine from his own chest. Whether the master of the vessel or the artillery captain is the best judge of the necessity of putting on the hatch at night we cannot say ; but it is pretty clear that Captain Vesey thought himself the best judge of this matter, and therefore deposed the captain, put him in chains in the hold, clapped an armed sentinel over him, reinstated the disrated mate, seized the ship's papers as well as arms, appointed a military steward, and wound up the whole affair by charging the captain with an attempt to murder; thus preventing himself and friends from being charged with piracy, and sundry other matters dexterously performed on the high seas. While, as a fitting climax to the whole business, his trusty steward landed from the ship beastly drunk, and was forthwith marched to the guardhouse, a place not by any means so well stocked with the good things of life as the lazaretto of the Levenside.

"After four days' investigation, Captain Campbell was committed for trial on the charge of assault with intent to murder. Information was then laid by Captain Campbell against Captain Vesey and the others of his passengers, for piracy, and illegal seizure of the ship; which information was taken and signed by the magistrates."

[This case has to be investigated at home. We would not prejudge it, but the above account looks very much like a partial view of the question.]