ADVENTUROUS ARRIVAL

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 67, 16 September 1922, Page 7

ADVENTUROUS ARRIVAL

DIFFICULTY IN LANDING, STORES.

The last ,oi the geat iot the solar eclipse expedition ha* been successfully landed and transported to the camp, says the special representative of. the Melbourne "Age" at Wallal. The landing was rendered very difficult hy the surf, which was heavy, and-bumped the whale boat badly, as it came to shore. ■ The natives had to plunge into the water and carry the packages shoulder high ta the shore. Evsri then a numbar of , caseg were swept away by the surf, and were badly soaked. The natives worked hard all through,- and the iubras were as good as tho men in carrying the material out of reach of the 3eas. At Brat it was a little difficult to get the natives todo the work, but a policeman,. Constable Dewar, who came down with the expedition from Broome, soon had them hard at it by threatening to put some, of them in chains. '

On the beach, the material was loaded on light .wagons, drawn by twenty donkeys. Although the donkeys pulled well they always, had a haTd joo to clear the sand ridge that forms the level white beach. The black drivers, however, always managed to make their teams ne-, gotiate' the ridge. The gear was then dumped on the flat behind the sand ridge, where it was picked up by a large five-ton wagon, hauled by a team of 33 donkeys. This team had only one severe obstacle to surmount, and that; was, a steep pinch Up a second sand ridge about a quarter of a mile from the sea.

The echooner has not been beached as was expected, but,she lies 'at anchor' some distance from the shore. One day she buiriped so badly at low tide that it was feared that she might seriously damage her back, so at high tide on Thursday night, the schooner put out to eea to a distance of;five miles. The tides here, as, at a\\ places along this part of the Australian coast, have a very large range—about twenty feet, and it was expected from this that the schooner could be easily beached, and the unloading done straight into the donkey wagons. We were unfortunate enough to have to land her© at .neap tides when the range of the tides was much smaller than twenty feet, hence the transhipping with its arduous labours. Dr. Campbell, the leader of the expedition, feels gratified that «vwyihiiig was landed under such difficult conditions without the loss of a single packagol > ' THE CAMP*..' The camp which is one mile'and » quarter from the sea, is situated on a, level piece of land covered with tufte of spinifex grjuss. It is surrounded, on three ; sides bsy low trees/ and: scrub, and has a clear aspect to tho sea on the,western side. It is among these trees that \ the various scientists are placing their, instruments. The stye was selected by Dr. ; Campbell before! the remainder of the party,landed, as being the most suitable locality 4 for observation purposeß, Tho scrub provides sattie protection for the instruments, and will assist in keeping them at a more even temperature. Also the oamp is only 200 ; yards w-eet of the Government well/which provides an. abundant water supply. , The camp consists of a dozen 12 x i 4 tente laid out m two lines, with two marquees as mess tent«. All arrangements ror food, camping, transport, etc., are under the care of Commander Quick. Stone^for the concrete was obtained from the limestone ridges that outcrop in the neighbourhood. The link party is busy with the found- ;■ aiions -of two Einstein cameras;, the 40----foot caronograph,. and several specto- : graphs. The Official cinematographens, - Messrs. Cremar and Shaarp, have been very busy during the whole trip, and will have some v,ery good pictures of all phases of the -undertaking. DUST A SERIOUS EVIL. - The oamp site is. composed [of a fine white doßfc, and" various ineana have been suggested of combating this dust, which is likely ..to. be, a serious evil from a scientific point of view. It is intended, to a»k tfte drovers not to take amy body <fi, cattle neat the camp for some days before tfee eclipse, so as to give th« atmosphere a chaoce of clearing. The predicted, pests—inosqurfcoes, sandflies, and, ,suake&—ore at present non-existent, but flies are prosem) in great nuni'bere. The Western Australian party ' from Perth Observatory is not combining with, the otiher parties at this site, but is setting up instruments at the sheep station, about three miles south of Wallal telegraph station. The total number at the main camp, including scientists and the naval party, is twenty-eight. Ar'raiiigements' are being made with Constable Dewar to keep the natives ,»w.ay from the camp at the time of the eclipse, as Dr. Campbell i« afraid that bhe at-tention-of the observers may be diverted by the noises which native people always make during a total solar eclipse. The Natives who helped with the transport are all civilised, and would not been seen in the presence of strangers unless fully dressed. In consequence they were rushing into the 1 sea fully clothed, and afterwards i%an about in their wet clothes. They are all employees of Wallal sheep station, which, comprises 500,000 acres, extending 50 miles to the south, and 20 miles to the north of our camp. The only reward thftt the natives would accept for their services was a twist of tobacco—money is of no use to them. Further back from the sea the natives are not so civilised, and the bushmen do not bother nbout clothes to any great extent. It has been arranged that the bushmen natives shall civs a big con'oboteo fiejtt week for the uenefit of the pjuiy. U will be, held around the

camp fire, and the.cinema men will try to record' it for their pictures by bunting flares. ; .

Th« natives say that the scientists ihaVe oom« to "put up a net on' the end of a pole tp catch the sun and clean the. a«h« off him." Their opinion i« that th« «uh is better left alone. ' ■

The Central Weather Bureau, in Victoria* has issued, a booklet dialing with the total eclipse !of the sun, which will (occur on the 21st inst., and which will be scientifically observed from W«etern Australia. The. publication contains much useful information for I the public regarding the importance and interest of the eclipse. A considerable section of the book is devoted to notes by Mir. C. J. Merfield, of Melbourne Observatory,' who gives detailed instructions to amateur observers, for telescopic, ■photographic, and visual observations. It is stated that.the determination at ip whether the Newtonian law of gravitation is sufficient or whether Einstein's theory of relativity nrast be substituted wife depend on the measurement of minute displacements of the star images on photographic plates. The greatest displacement to T>e expected if Einstein is correct will: be 1000 th. part of. an' inch between the images. The corona will be photographed with a standard 40^ feet camera, which will b e j erected on s tower. The whole booklet is filled with interesting astronomical; information.. A warning is given tio the ptiblic regarding the proper protection of the eyesight while viewing the eclipse