Evening Star Newspaper, June 3, 1923, Page 77

Part 5—8 Pages ' MAGAZINE SECTION - The Sunfly Star, WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 3, i ~ Striking Scenes Presented Among Races in the Land of Mists BY WILLIAM ASHLEY ANDERSON. Thes article, complete In Itself, Is the fourtn &nd last by Mr. Anderson on experlences in East Africa. He Is back near Now York now recovering from an operatlén made necessary by the hard- ships and biood polsoning of this trip. HEN we struck a bearing then across my watch and located ourselves by an angle drawn from the dim shoulder of Essimingor In the west and the white crest of Kilima Njaro boating in the heat haze 120 miles to the northeast we focussed our at- tantion on the map. “It's Wrong,” sald the commissioner At last, stubbornly. “We should have found water an hour ago. Pointing to the tiny blue pencil marks that indicate water holes, *‘Sometimes dry’” he quoted scornfully. Then with a hoarse burst of spleen: “Every Dblasted one has been dry for ninety- elght years!” N Cortainly the only evidence of Water had been sun-scorched rock and baked mud cut and scattered by the spoor of innumerable wild crea- tures. The water bottles and chaguls were empty. We had covered nearly fifty miles along a dusty, pebble-strewn trail fringing the arid Massal steppe and were footsore and dangerously dry. Before us was the prospect of another broad, waterless stretch and the possibility of our little column breaking up. & I lifted my eyes anxfously to the resting column of askaris squatting by the trall, rifles across thelr knees, or sitting upright, gazing curlously at the commissioner and myself; while the weary porters, stretching to the rear for almost half a mile, lolled fn their stained blankets, impassive as cattle in the dust. 0Old Sergt. Kombo, leaning on his rifle, gazed fiercely across the hot, straw-colored hills of the rolling steppe, while my orderly, A Bin Sudl, looked with dreamy eves at the waiting line of askarls with the humorous cynicism of one who has often faced death. The commissioner rose uncomfort- ably and put the whistle to his crack- ed lips. The askaris fell in stify; the porters took up their fifty-pound loads with fow grunts; the men of the baggage and rear guards cursed listlessly, calling out, “Funga! Fun- ga! Ke-lowse up!"—and the long sin- gle line shufMed forward in a low cloud of dust. * ¥ ¥ % LI, by my side, suddenly touched my arm and pointed with his chin to the westward. “Kongoni, effendi!” Floating in the haze a series of impalpable spots moved along the base of a distant kopje. This was sufficient to indlcate water, and a half hour later we came to Msuakini and found a pool among some sere sedges. It was slimy and It stunk, resembling nothing more than a slough in a pig sty, for an endless varlety of wild creatures had wallow- ed in it. Our unspoken relief and the eraving of our withered corpus- cies overwhelmed the most remote repugnance. Pickets were posted; fires lighted; a kongoni I had shot was cut up and distributed, and the camp settled com- fortably for the night. With daylight we marched to the place where a scattered collection of huts had taken the name of Maku- kanla—"at the shops.” Here we met B . the assistant political officer, who had come down to see us from his red, castlelike boma stuck up on the roof of the escarpment. He Rad a handful of askaris and a Boer ex- sergeant to control them, and with| thege retainers he ruled a district of over 20,000 square miles. Striding in front of a weather- beaten, angular horse, the assistant political officer came along the trail. His shorts disclosed a pair of long, tan, sinewy legs; his sleeveless tunic hung from him in patched folds; a peak had been sewed to his khaki-| covered tarbush, and this was pulled | down over his eves. Behind him, in| a red blanket, stalked his gunbearer, | an outlawed Wattaturu chief, an ex-| ceptionally tall and handsome man with the features and dignity of an Abyssinian, while at his heels trotted a grinning Massal child carrying a shotgun and clad in a cast-off double- breasted walstcoat which hung to his Kknees. ‘With this picturesque escort we en- tered the hamlet. I bought cattle from the head men, who duly tried to cheat me, but my askaris were Mussulmans and in- variably disclosed the trick. Ensued considerable matata when I sum- moned the akidas and they endeav- ored to placate me with the subtle reasoning of soothing gifts, includ- ing everything from honey beer to| wives from among the famed beau- tles of Mbugwe. Having seen fair specimens of the beauties, T held my own in face of these offers. My moods, however, were frequently soft- ened by reports that came In of lion, Thino and elephant spoored and slght- ed upon the slopes of the escarpment and leopards making themselves nul- | sances in the villages. Once T went on a lion hunt with the sultani, who ‘was armed only with spears and shield. Beyond this I had little time for shooting. But one day a villager came to me with an accountof a leopard which visited the huts each night. All treated the tale with contempt, but the shenzi cutdid himself, until at last, having ncthing else to do, I decided to visit tae hamlet myself. It was about seven miles away and the path cut through a vast papyrus swamp threaded with deep, smooth- running streams of delicious water. The sun was declining and the escarp- ment swelling out with shadows. R N the waning light this swamp is I very beautiful. Birds of rare plumage soar above it or float on its surface; while some, like daubs of color upon a blue canvas, dart among the reeds. Clucking, gurgling, whist- ling or, like the golden-crested crane, tering melancholy cries, they fill the ut #ir with strange musié. float in the open spaces, and an aro- . ' 3y matic perfume faintly pervades the fresh atmosphere. It is the heart of Africa, and a parliament of birds assembles here— the scarlet “lightning bird” from the south, the black fbis and the-gray from the sedges of the Nile, homely old storks from the chimney-pots of Alsace-Lorraine, the angelic egret, grufily quacking flocks of ducks and geese, dainty little water birds so light they seem to run upon the water, and ‘ waltzing swallows that come from who knows where. Surprised waterbucks, whistling with alarm, leap behind screens of papyrus; efe- phants at night plinge and wallow in the lush sedges; and to complete the picture, the Wambugwe, In single file, with gourds on their backs filled with curdled milk or milk and blood, spears over their shoulders, and bits of dirty colored cloth or stained hide flung loosely about them, shuffie si- lently along the trails. But as the shadows fall and the clatter of bird lite dies away the swamp begins to hum. Before we reached the other side we were assailed by clouds of raven- ous mosquitoes. Here darkness was |a friend, for with the fading of day- light, the stinging tsetse had retired. Eventually we came to a small clearing with a few huts and a fire burning In the square. Some one was monotonously strumming a stringed gourd, a baby was whining, and the men of l&e village, squatted | on three-legged s@bols, were solemnly taking snuff and laughing over idle jokes. X s The headman dropped the gourd jaud tumbled his stool over. “Peace!” he cried. “Peace! ters!” A place was made by the fire. A gourd of cold water was produced; and when All told the headman I had not eaten, wild honey and banana wine were brought, which All shared when I had had my fill. of my errand, however, several of the youths by the fire laughed, and the headman stared with disma; “Bwana,” he exclaimed desperately “l sent no runner. There is no leopard. We have not seen or heard a cat since last new moon.” - Mas- the next few minutes swiftly divulged that Chaussi, son of the headman, had journeyed to my banda hoping to procure a rifle. Re- turning, when he realized aimple scheme was epoiled, fled in a panic to the forest. he but the youths were secretly amused at the beating that awaited Chaussi At first 1 also was angry, but as 1 sat gazing into the fire, occasionally lifting my gaze to the ring of dark faces, with white eyes gleaming In the reflected light of the red and yel- low flames, the deep shadows press- ing close on all sides, the wall the escarpment bending above like huge thunder clouds, and the stars peering and twinkling through the lace-work of the forest, I allowed ryselt to sink soothingly beneath deep waves of primitive emotions. 1 lighted my pipe and told Mzee, the headman, to continue with his music. The old man picked up his gourd again, scowled fiercely for silence and commenced to pick at the strings. The notes took on a quicker rhythm The deep gouard seemed a living— the voice of a satyr; it hummed; it gasped; it choked with laughter; and my savage friends, first thrusting for- ward the children, rapidly vielded to the intoxication of the music. I be- came ,the center of one of those strange ngomas that lay bare the very soul of the savage. The scene, softened by the shadows, vet grotesquely illumined by the flame; the wild music hopelessly beat- mg against the biack vastness that smothered us; my own aloof presence —amazed and amused me with its {’strange symbolism. 1 thought of dowager chaperons, of languld beauties and lissom youths; of syncopations stimulated by half dollars; of draperies and bot- tled perfumes; of transient beauty and moneyed worth; of social talents and those who struggle for the smile of the favored. 1 distinctly heard a fat, half-naked matron urge her simpering daughter forward, exclaiming under her breath: “Do not be a little idiot! See how Mud, the daughter of Hot Work, is carrying on! Go dance!” And I broke up the ngoma in a burst of laughter. The next afternoon a long, lean runner came down from the escarp- ment with dispatches. I set out an hour later with Rob' ble, my Scotch sergeant, leaving my boy and Ali behind, sick with fever. The going was slow dt first, because my foot had become infected by the Lite of some venomous insect. Looking upward at' the dark wall of the escarpment, I felt the delight- ful sensation. of climbing into the pages of an old romance. Above, in the clouds, Was the dim abode of a “She,” a land of “People of the Mists." When we reached the edge of the escarpment a cold wind struck us; so, ‘Water liles, wrapping ourselves in our blankets, lurge and small and of many hues|we made nests in the long grass and| took our chances with the dark until When I spoke [ it was | that his | had All was furiously sarcastic, and the | | headman was apologetic and anxious; | of | Travelers Find Variety in Lions, Charging Rhinos, Leopards and Other Wild Life Along the Way—Anxiety Produced by a Dry Safari—Baboons Helpful When Water Seems Lacking. Parliament of Birds in the Heart of Africa—Music and the Soul of the Savage—A Vanishing Tribe. the pale sun unfolded to us the Land of Mists. * Ok K X TT is a vast citadel to which the sur- vivors of harried races fled in ones and twos when the lean Hamites swept down from the north. The natives are strange in théir manners, their languages and thelr physical characteristics. A complete naked- ness, almost general in men and wom- en, seems to be the only common trait, “ONCE AT DAWN ON THE PLAINS OF SIBITI, I SHOT ONE OF THE HUGE, BLACK-MANED LIONS FOR WHICH THE PLACE IS FAMOUS, WHILE TWO OTHERS ROSE FROM THE DUST NEAR- BY AND RAN AWAY LIKE FRIGHTENED DOGS.” for some live in huts, and eat meal and meat and milk and honey, while others dwell in the forests like wild creatures, sleeping in nests or crev- ices in the rocks where night finds them, and living impartially on lo- custs, small game and white ants. Some are comely and others almost typlcal of neolithic times. The men came bounding down the trail with long, epringy strides, pant- ing in peculiar shrill whistles; while the children trotted along behind the goats and cattle, prodding them with spears. The women, with all sorts of loads on their heads, from crates of fowls to gourds of curdled milk, shuffled along with hide petticoats flapping about their knees, and—if they affected the style of the Massai —heavy concentric rings of brass and copper rattling about their neeks. wrists and ankles. ‘With varying de- grees of shyness or boldness, these all gaye me greeting in different tongues. “Jambo “Shoba! * of the Swahili of the Massai, spitting on experience aeons beyond her black, grinning companions swift glance, smiled, said “Ita-lala” | (so T knew she was of an anclent | RALLRARLA while her eyes, lustrous and intelli- |tered and whistled and chirped us a | counterea natives for supplies. gent, seemed to indicate a spirit and |greeting. Springing lightly into the alr, the She gave me a |little warrior emitted a long, shrill whistle, leered at me and smirked a merry smirk. “FIVE TIMES OUR LINES WERE RUSHED BY RH NOS* their palms and holding them for- ward. “Ita-lala!” of the Wambulu. Among a flock of wrirfkled wenches who came upon me suddenly, I no- ticed one remarkably pretty woman. She must have been of the same stock as the A. P. O.'s presumed Wattaturu chief, for she had the fineness of feature of an Abyssinian. She was exceptionally tall, stralght-limbed, and high-breasted; of a light browh complexion; and with a countenance as comely as any I've seen in Africa. She carried her chin high, and her glance was level, though not defiant, race), and in a moment had passed, while I gazed after her, perplexed, noting the comely figure, the blue bead necklace, the soft kidskin petti= coat prettily worked fn blue and! white gl beads and .cowrles. | Suadeny a Tittle. withered old man | came skipping and sidling along the trail, jabbering breathlessly. His sole | possessions and ornaments were two long spears, a scarred old buffalo- hide shield, and & snuff-box of rhino horn which swung on a dirty plece of string. about. his mneck, covering his chest with yellow powder. ~He chat- “My wives, bwana! wives!” 1 have no doubt he pald as much as three goats for the comely ome. * ok % K FILM of unreality seems to hang over the next trek. Robble and I had between us only one full day' rations, and no change of clothin while the askaris, owing to the lack of supplies at Mbulu, were not very much better off. ‘We travelled swiftly with an ab- solute minimum of luggage, relying on the forests and the-rarely en- o 2 These are my | a night a hyena pulling at my blan- | unhealing veldt sores. SRAARRRRG ¥ the crest of a kopje in the center of a plain encircled by rugged hills. * ¥ x X AL H was in charge of this lonely but powerful post, a most hospitable and kindly man, who had| hunted in the Canadlan Rockies and traveled the shores of Tanganylka twenty years ago. There also was Maj. B . from Kondoa-Irangl, a nelghboring post about 150 miles away. I was grimy and very sloppy, but the majors and I, lolling in long chairs, with hands crossed comfort- ably on our stomachs, had a very | retreshing discussion on Tudor archi- tecture and Interior decorations, on | O. Henry and Stephen Leacock before 1 moved off the same day, 1impingly leading my askaris over the hills and away Into a still more rugged wilderness. This wilderness was virtually | waterless and stretched away to the | aistricts bordering the soutbern tip of Vietoria Nyanza. It was rich game country, but trackless and with- out water at this season, though at other times great floods suddenly sweep over broad expanses of it. We were obliged to dig for hours in dry, sandy courses to obtain drink: while for food I shot kongonl, wildebeest, eland and antelope without stopping the column or prolonging a single hait. Once at dawn on the plain of the Sibiti I shot one of the huge, black- maned lions for which the place is | famous, while two others rose from Fol- lowing the very edge of the eaves of | Africa, each day brought experiences comparable with nothing in the lives of the outer world. After passing a night of bitter cold on the helghts where the Jalda river rises, and being pursued the follow- ing day for many hours by the war- riors of Tungobesch, who took us for enemies, we entered a very strange wilderness. In this new wilderness every pace seems to mark off a hundred years until you find yourself striding through a neolithic world of tumbled rocks and gnarled scrub, of ungainly monsters and naked men with prog- nathous-like Jjaws, clicking Itke monkeys among themselves, and nding blunt-headed arrows after unwieldy, large-beaked birds. The aborigines of this district are the Watindige—a tiny tribe that is rapidly vanishing, an expiring race. Since the beginning of time no other tribe has assimilated them, none seems to have won their confidence. Naked, with & childlike blending of shyness and passionate boldness, trembling in the shadows and mists of the forest, drifting through the | glades, every quiver in the grass to them the voice of a demon, every soughing in the trees above the breath of gods, their narrow intellect ; glves to their lives a very small com- pass. Again, though a child of nature, the native very curiously maintains the strictest customs in re- gard to morals. An unfalthful wife 1s beaten to death, or such was the custom until recently, and this in spite of the fact that her purchase price was only flve or ten arrows with a few beads thrown In, and the added fact that neighboring tribes are almost as amoral as animals. * % k¥ ACH night the leaping camp fires, lighting up groups of askaris and porters stewing messes in their sufu- rias and grilling bits of game, seemed to be swaying and struggling to hold a point beleaguered by the dark. The terror of the jungle lies in its black mystery and loneliness. ! At whatever hour the red moon rolled out of the gloomy east 1 in- variably awoke without further warn- ing and drew myself reluctantly from the blankets, for this was the signal that the time to march had come. During this safari two straggling porters were devoured by lions; five times our lines were rushed by rhinos and once menaced by a herd of buffa- loes. One messenger, bearing impor- tant dispatches, was attacked by a leopard. We found puff adders under our bedding and in the packs, and of kets awakened me. Besides, there were the ever-dangerous and annoy-| ing anopheles mosquitoes, tsetse files | and wood ticks and “chiggers.” from which the least we could expect were! In detail these, things are ignored, but the subcon- scious knowledge of them keeps the| nerves taut. No one dares to straggle at night. At the most unexpected moment a snorting whistle, apparently within | four feet of the middle of each man's| back, biings the column to a breath-| less halt. A sibilant mdrmur passes| down the line: “Fary, faru, master?” We stand tensely, blinded by the dark, wonderings where the blow will| fall; and the next moment the shadows on our flanks seem to heave and the great bulk of a rhino is flung among us. At the first charge the line dis- solves before the beast. If he blun- ders away, every one breathes more eastly, and the march is resumed. 1f he charges again, again the line dis- solves—and again and again! But If the occasion warrants, little spurts of flame stab the dark, and the snap of| | the rifles’ awakens strange echoes. The antics of this blind, blunder- ing, furlous fool are merely incidents and often amusing. It's no grave matter to watch naked porters fiying like squirrels into thorn trees and afterward very slowly and very care- fully plucking themselves off again. We marched *under the walls of Mkalama one day when dawn wa breaking and found the great white- washed boma rearing Its walls on ne bt R | ary | drop behind. the dust nearby and ran away like trightened dogs. All sorts of game lived In the bush and along the fringes of the plain, and wild fowls in places were as numerous as chickens |in a run. One day, at the end of a waterless | march, he halted blvouac in a We and made a hopelessly course. finding the slightest evidence of moisture. Our tongues were large and mouths had little saliva in them. Sitting dejectedly outside the camp, 1 watched a troop of baboons with ris- ing interest. Though droll, they are dangerous if you arouse thelr il will. So I did not laugh to offend the lum- bering elders, for I find they also are bound by laws, ventions and live up to them. The old men are rough and surly, cynical with their ‘women folk and annoyed at the chattering of the children. The women are patlent, but sly, dragging their whimpering “‘totoes” about or clouting the more lusty or mischlevous youngsters. The youths are forever planning intrigues under | the baleful gleam of the old men's reddening eves and suffering their furious onslaughts 1f discovered However, 1 followed the troop and they brought me to a grove of palm bearing large, .fibrous nuts filled with a substance llike rich vanilla custard, for which we were almost as grateful as though each were a gourd of water. . Eventually we entered the Muanza district, where the huts become high and conical and are capped with ostrich eggs. Stockades encircle them and the meal is stored in vast rock caverns. My men were very tired and my foot now in a dangerous condition. The poison had apparently gone into my leg, 5o that the pain had spread from knee to groin, while the foot itself, due to crude giraffe hide san- dals T had cut with rough, parchment- liks thongs, was blistered, raw and filthy. Two of the askaris also had bad feet. A great water blister from heel to toe covered the foot of one, while the other, afflicted in the same manner, had cut the swelling skin with a sheath knife, so that the bot- tom of the foot was completely raw. Neither of these askaris said a word to me about his feet and would not At the same time 1 could not let down on the pace. Finally, turning our backs on Mbulu, we set out on the return trek to Sanja, over a hundred and eighty miles away. Dawn found us on the edge of the escarpment once more. * ok % % 0 we turned our faces away from the Land of Mists and commenced the 3.000-foot plunge down to the flat. drab plain. dug for hours without| have their con-| | ! Noon halt was at a wallow whers | brackish er oozed from the edge [of a salt-incrusted lake; but nighte fall found us well in the forest. | No enchanted wood of Grimm's had half the charm of this stretch of un= explored bush, marked only by game trafls. Its silence seemed a sort of suspended animation which might be aroused any moment into weird and devastating action. What terrifia forms lurked within the forest ree cesses we could not tell, yet on every | hand there multiplied evidence of terrible, restless lives. Huge wale lows; pud marks lfke small wells fair-sized trees torn up by the roots; pathways as broad as country lanes: ckulls and horns emphasizing the shadows—a riot of wanton life and unmourned death, bound by no laws but the lust to conquer and the fierce determination to live. And yet we saw little. The forest seemed to hold its breath as we passed through. Once the forest about us suddenly came to life. For fully twenty min- utes the shadows danced with the light of gray and yellow bodies flash« ing by; the trees seemed to shake with the soft rumble of galloping hoofs; and strange whistlings and harkings startled our ears. As sud- the sounds ceased: wo on th. the uncomfortable on that a thousand res glared at us from behind the trees. But there was drink Each day we found a water holet a ly pond, fragrant, clear and ed by the presence of graceful birds and beautiful antelope; another, a round hole in the adows, covered with green scum through which two wicked little hell-divers sw lessly. (“But then, be careful, you drink of one, you will shrink and become ugly as a toad; but if you only taste the other . ") We drank impartially Akida bin Juma and Dongolay could not possibly have 2dded to the homeliness of their fea- tures, and I certainly saw no improve- ment. Besides, the kilongoz!, a bee- hunter whom I had picked up for & guide, tasted all the waters, and he assured me he had got nothing worse than varicose veins. Still, I suspect that kilongozi He was himself a forest imp. and spent forty-odd years stealing honey from the little folk and running away from the big folk of the forest. That forest terrified him, strangely enough; and later, on his return journey, he made a detour of seven days in order to escape Its dangers Black, wiry and naked. he was a gibbering child cf the wild. A bit of blanket flung over his shoulder: a dirty red cap with a bedraggled feather in it; worn- out sandals: two long, shiny spears; a scanty string of blue beads, with a it tobacco pouch—these constituted his entire furniture and fortune. | he was merry as a child. old man, bold and tim forest creatuie. ” a and shuffled W one, enliv 0 reached came out upon the t which skirts the Massai Steppe and leads past Lol Kissale. The aska setting foot on this road, were jubi- iant; they laughed and chattered and made up rude songs about it. This seemed to annoy the. kilongozi in- tensely. He became shy and silent and exceesively nervous, muttering to himself and casting appealing glances backward 1 couldn't understand this at all until suddenly toward evening he | gave a low squeal, seized me by the urm and dragged me to one side of the trail. his beady eves fixed intently on something across the veldt—a wisp of smoke. “Master, the Massai!" In a flash I understood. For me the ribbon of dust winding away meant friends at the end. I could envision vast bellowing ships, scream- ing locomotives and electric lights that blink the stars out of counte- nance; but for the kolingozi, all was dark. For him every forward step meant an Invasion into the land of the Massai—y on the Hamite hordes. How little he knows! How much do 17 His sons, T suppose, will drive motor cars. Mine may fiing 2pears k% % N the third night after leaving the foot of the escarpment we the edge of the forest and from Ufiome (Copyright, 1923.) Sun, Stars and Planets As Magnets in Space the eclipse photographs, the two axes are practically the same. Since the sun is but one of the stars the universe, it is probable that some, If not all, of the stars are also ANY photographs of the eclipsed sun and its sur- roundings, particularly the intricately formed solar co- rona whose streamers extend millions of miles from the sun, have been ob- tained by eclipse expeditions to all corners of the earth in the past twen- ty years or so, and a detailed study of a series of such photographs Is now beginning to bear fruit Dr. W. W. Campbell, who headed the Crocker ecclipse expedition to Wallal, Australia, last year and ob- tained results that agree almost per- fectly with the prediction of the Ein- stein theory, announced in a lecture before the= National Academy of Sclences that a study of photographs of a number of past eclipses indicat- ed that the sun Isa huge magnet, with its magnet axis and its rotation axls | practically In coincidence. In all photographg of the solar co- rona there may be seen short, bushy streamers in the neighborhood of the north and south poles of the sun that separate to the east and west like the lines of force above the two poles of a magnet. Measurements of the posi- tion of the magnetic axis as indicated by the separation of these lines showed that It coinclded very closely with the position of the axis of rota- tion of the sun. Some years ago Dr. George E. Hale, direttor of the Mount Wilson observa- tory, found by the application of an- other method of research that the sun 1s surrounded by a magnetic field and behaves as a magnet, but his observa- tlons seemed to indlcate that the mag- netic axis was Inclined as much as six degrees to the rotation axis. Accord- ing to the evidence furnished by the separation of the lines of force on of magnets. Some believe that all ro- tating heavenly bodles are magnets end there are very few, if any, bodles in the heavens that are not in rota= tion. 1t is quite certain that the planets are magnets. Our own planet is, we know, a magnetized sphere, but its magnetic poles do not coincide even approximately, with its poles of ro= tation. Neither do they lie at the opposite extremities of a line pass= ing through the earth’s center. Studles of spectrograms, or photo= graphs of the spectrum of the corons, indicate, Dr. Campbell states, that the solar corona comsists of minute par- ticles of matter about equal in dlameter to a wave-length of light, which 1s, on the average, one-fifty thousandth of an inch. These paf« ticles are probably expelled from ths sun by radiation pressure, he says, in the same manner that particles are expelled from the heads of comets to form the tails when they come close to the sun. The beautiful, ethereal 1light of the corona, which is such a striking feature at total solar eclipse, Is due partly to the shining of the particles of the inner corona by light of incandescence and partly to the mreflection, diffraction and interfers ence of the sun's light, produced by the particles In the outer corona. The pecullar structural form of the corona, which varies with the sun- epot cycle, is due, probably, to the fect that the streamers follow the lines of force of this mighty magnet, the sun.