THE SKETCHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2915, 26 January 1910, Page 78

THE SKETCHER.

HALLEY'S COMET. (By Alexander W. Boberts, D.Sc, in Chambers's.) One has stocd by tlie harbour-heads of •a very busy port and watched for the incoming mail from some remote land. It was two months ago, perhaps, since it sailed from out those very harbour-beads ; and voyaging on and on over an apparently limitless sea, it at length (readied! its destination. Then it returned again, as homing swallows do ; and now, full of certainty and expectation, a group of men gather to watch for the first dark streak on the far-distant horizon that will ted] of its approach. A» one watches and waits one is impressed by the marvellous assurance and skill that has guided the iron hull, the insensate iron hull, oyer desolate waters, to its desired haven, with an accuracy of direction and a certainty as to time rarely in error. It is with similar feelings that one watches and. waits for the return of Halley's comet this year. Seventy-five yeans ago it sped out on its great journey, on its distant, far-stretch-ing circuit round the sun, on its vast round of nearly 10,000 million miles. Every 75 or 76 years this remarkable body completes this stupendous orbit, an orbit ishaped for all the world like a straight banana or a torpedo. One end of this ' oval track lies beyond the outermost planet, three thousand million miles, away; the other lies within the earth's circle, at a distance of only 60 million miles from the sun, Ybus during the greater part of its elongated orbit, during at least 73 years out of the 76, it is invisible to even the most powerful telescopes. During this invisible stage it is describing that portion of its journey remote from the earth, ■ away out on the confines of: the solar system. When, however, it is passing over that part of its path which lies nearest to the sun, it api proaehes the earth sufficiently near to become visible in our skies. We will better understand the peculiar movements of Hallev's comet if we coneider the cycle just being completed, or. I to take our first figure, the out and home [ vova-ge now so nearly ended that astronomers are all agog to catch its first appearance as it sweeps round between sun and earth. Its last appearance in our skies was in 1835 and 1836, when Sir John Herschel observed it at the Cape. In 1835 it was a fairly conspicuous object in the sky, especially in the southern sky, • though itwas not so striking as previous appearances led astronomers to expect. Its maximum brightness was reached in October of 1835. After October it began rapidly to decrease in brightness, becoming invisible even to the most powerful telescopes after May, 1836. But although it vanished from the sight of men, heading out into the vast ooean of space from which it came, its onward path was known with as great accuracy as sailors know the way of a ship over the trackless deep. And thus every lap of its stupendous orbit, ten thousand million miles in circuit, as we have noticed, has been mapped out with the utmost care and with the most certain assurance. Unseen for 73 years, it is yet as surely seen by those who *make this branch of astronomy their care • as if it shone nightly and brightly in our midnight sky. _ % The invisible bonds of tew have it m their inexorable hold, and from out the confining bondage of that unbreakable leash it can never, never pass. It is not a question if it may : it must. The law of gravitation sets down for it, in the unchartered spaces of night, a definite path, and- along that road 1 it must travel, ever circling round its sovran lord the sun in certain definite orbits. We have said that Halley's comet was last seen in May, but a few months' before through its perihelion, or nearest approach to the sun, and was moving swiftly, yet with an ever-decreasing speed, away from its central ruling force. In the early days of 1837 its enormous velocity—a million miles a day—had carried it out as far as the orbit of Jupiter, and by the close of 1838 it was crossing under Saturn's I track. j Outwards, ever outwards, is its way! By 1844 it has reached the orbit of i Uranus, and 15 years later it-is out in | the chill spaces where Neptune, the outermost of the planets, swings through its solar round of 165 years. And than, as if (repentant of its headlong flight away from the sun, it begins to turn sunwards in its course. We have likened the flight of Halley's cornet to the out and home voyage of a great mail steamer. To use again this figure, after 1860 the comet swung slowly and steadily round, in its orbit, just as a, liner wears round at sea and heads again for its home port. In 1872 the return journey of Halley s comet began. By 1884 it was again over the confines of 'Neptune's orbit. _ When this present century dawned it had reached Uranus's path. Two years ago, ! with a velocity every day, every moment, growing greater, it swept within the line of Saturn's march. At the commencement of this year, 1909, Jupiter's orbit was crossed. In June it was five hundred mdlion miles distant from lis, but speeding onwards towards us at the rate of over a million miles a day. In August or September it would be near enough to our - earth to be picked up by some of the giant telescopes that are in the possession of not a few of our observatories. I And thus no small emulation is being I witnessed between those observatories, en--1 dowed with powerful instruments, as to which of them will be the first to pick up the returning voyager from far-distant shores. Indeed, the search has already begun, chiefly by means -of photography, it being thought that this auxiliary to science may make visible objects fainter . than the eye can see.

It is more than probable that during the northern winter months only the larger telescopes will reveal the returning voyager, far-travelled for two generations of men ; but in March of the present year it- should be visible to moderate telescopes, if not indistinctly seen as a faint, hazy star by the baked eye. It will -each its nearest approach to the sun the first week in May, and during that month and June it ought to be an object of conspicuous brightness in southern skies. Unfortunately the long summer nights of northern lands will interfere sadly with observations in Europe and America. It is thus possible that the brightest phase of the comet will not be seen by northern, observers, unless they travel southwards as Sir John Herschel did in 1834, for after June the comet will again set out on its outward voyage, and pass practically through the same cycle as it did in the years 1835-1910. In 1911 it will disappear into the night of far distances, not to emerge again till the year 1986, when the most of there who . read this article will have ceased caring about comets. There are few more interesting chaptei'B in the fine story of astronomical research and discovery than that which tells the talo of the tracing back through the long centuries of the successive appearances of this remarkable comet. Already, chiefly through the assiduous labours of a group of Oriental and classical scholars, we can trace its movements sunward and outward, sunward and outward, for nigh three thousand years. This is surely notability enough and nobility enough to make it a subject of interest to net a few. It is the greatest among comets not only because of the spaciousness of its movements but because of its historical associations. Some of its appearances are of unique interest. On the Bayeux tapestry there is a famous picture of the comet which appeared in 1065, and which Duke William of Normandy regarded as a sign from heaven that he was to conquer England. Indeed, it gave him no small heartening, and thus this "strange star with a tail" may indirectly be eaid to have influenced the destinies of England. At any rate it spread dismay and gloom over Saxon England. The comet depicted on the Bayeux tapestry, and which William regarded as a herald of victory, was none other than Halley's comet. Again in 14-56 w r e have its return connected with an important historical event. In that year John Hunyady was defending Belgrade against the oncoming Turks. As the comet appeared in the sky the two armies were so frightened that they ceased fighting. Unfortunately Constantinople had already fallen, or the history of Eastern Europe might have been changed. There are not a few appearances of "fearful stars" recorded in Roman story, some of which can with certainty be stated to be simply the return of Halley's comet. Especially is this the case with the comet which appeared in the year 11 B.C. Indeed, so regular is the appearance about every seventy-six years of a comet that one wonders how the philosophers and thinkers of ancient times did not trace a connection between them all, as they certainly did in the case of eclipses. Very possibly the fear which such strange visitors caused in the minds of most, learned or unlearned, may have led the wise men of past days to leave .comets severely alone. William the Conqueror was a thousand years before his day when he announced that a comet such as was then shilling in the sky "was only seen when a kingdom wanted a king." As a rule, they, were held to presage famine, wars, disasters, and especially heralded the death of kings : When- beggars die there are no comets seen, The liaavens themselves blaze forth, the death of princes. It is to Edmund Halley, the contemporary anl personal friend of Newton, that we are indebted for lifting comets from the region of superstition into the calmer area of pure science. At the instigation of Newton, who hated numerical calculations, he undertook a thorough investigation into their movements, and into the laws which controlled them. • He especially inquired into the movements of the great comet of 1682, a comet which he himself had very .laboriously observed. After a most profound investigation, he came to the conclusion that it was circling round the earth in an orbit that took seventy-six years to fulfil. His next step was to ascertain if there were any previous appearances of this comet. On (searching records he found that a bright comet had been observed in the year 1607, and another in 1531, and yet another in 1456 —the Belgrade comet already referred to. A mind so penetrating -as Halley's soon discerned the great importance of this discovery. With a steadfast assurance of the certitude of his conclusions, he predicted that it would again appear in 1758, adding quaintly: "Wherefore, if it should return according to our prediction, impartial posterity will not refuse to acknowledge that this was first discovered by an Englishman." It was seen for the first time on 25th December, 1758, by a German amateur astronomer, long after Halley was laid to rest, and an " impartial posterity" all over the world has acknowledged the greatness of his discovery by forever associating his name with that of the comet his genius has made so important. This prediction by Halley broke down forever the popular fear of comets, although no doubt even to-day the strangeness and suddenness of their appearance startles and awes all beholders. Men never grow accustomed to Nature in her singular moods; thus eclipses, though predicted -centuries beforehand, never fail to inspire men with fear and dread. It was the appearance in 1682 of this remarkable comet that led Halley to his notable prediction that the same comet would appear again in the year 1758. It

' returned at the predicted time. We have already spoken of the next return, that of 1835. Thus the forthcoming appearance in 1910 will be the third since Halley determined its path through space, the eleventh since that which ushered in the Norman conquest, and the twenty-fifth sine} the remarkable appearance in 11 B.C. One is tempted to dwell for a moment on a consideration of the vast changes in history this rare visitor has witnessed. For a few months it looks down on our earth, then sweeps away again into the remote spaces of our isystenu Each successive return it shines down on a changed world. During the time it has been completing its year whole nations have been swept away, new lands dircovered, society transformed. Since ::.-■■ last appearance in 1855 the "Victorian has dawned, culminated, and set. A new Africa, a new Germany, a new _An:er'ca, a new Japan, have arisen in the world's day. The conditions of travel, of commerce, of government, have all been greatly changed. Mountains and stars always seem to speak to one of the eternal fiux of events, of the unrest that ever broods over the habitations of men. But to revert to the more immediate circumstances of Halley's comet, there are one or two very interesting questions connected with its return, as indeed with the return of all comets. One of these questions is the constitution of such bodies. What is a comet? The usually accepted view as that it is a cloud of meteors at a very high temperature and giving forth electrical or chemical exhalations, which appear as the tail. Thre the nucleus, or brightest part of a. comet, would be the more densely aggregated portions of the cloud, a.nd the tail, matter in a very finely divided state ; just as in this southern land one sees in dust-storms the powdered sand rise in fan-shaped forms high into the air, and remain there often for days. While the nucleus ohines with its own light, the tail shines partiv fav borrowed light. There is, also, in the peculiar diaphanous glow emitted by the tail, evidence of a similar quality of light that we find in electrical discharges in a high vacuum. And here vr& come to the crux of the whole problem of comets. Why should the tail always be blown away from the sun. At a first understanding of the matter it would seem a very reasonable condition of things that as the comet tears along its path the tail should swing out after it, just as a trail of smoke follows in the wake of an ocean steamer. But the tail sometimes follows, and sometimes precedes the comet. When it is making straight for the Bun, the tail sweeps out behind; when it is heading away from the sun, the tail goes in front of it, as if some violent storm were blowing the tail along the comet's path. It is evident that" the disturbing force lies, therefore, in the sun, for the tailis always, it matters not in what position the comet is, pointed directly away from the sun. Two explanations are offered. One is that the waves of light from the sun, bombarding the almost infinitesimal dust which forms the tail, drives *t along in. the direction-' in which they, the light waves, are travelling. There are grave mathematical objections to this theory. The other view, and the sounder, is that besides waves of light, electrical rays are also propagated outwards from the sun, and these acting on the finely-divided matter of the comet produce a tail. It is hoped that the very receait developments in cemetary astronomy may enable students of this speoM branch of science to arrive at some certainty on the matter when Halley's comet does appear. Another important, question, still uncertain, is whether comets grow less bright each successive return. It is evident that if they are composed of myriads of small meteoric bodies, they will tend to shed off some of the outlying swarm, and thus in the long lapse of ages the largest comet would become attenuated, while all along its path would lie the debris- of its ruined greatness. Further, the expulsiva force which seems to be constantly at work in the ethereal fabric of a comet must sooner or later work its death. In, proof of this it is held that at each recurring period Halley's jomet is becoming a less conspicuous object in the sky. The forthcoming appearance will give us the fourth return since careful observation and accurate drawings have been made of the comet, and so within a year astronomers should be able to make some deck - tion on this important question—a auction which is intimately related with the evolution of the whole solar system. A fact in support of the theory that comets are simply an aggregation, a shoal of meteors, is that on three or four occasions when a comet passed near the earth there wiare brilliant meteoric showers. Indeed, there are those who hold that comets and meteors are "sib" to one another, that the latter are simply the remnants of some comet that in the course of ages has become disintegrated and its denser portion, or nucleus, scattered all along its path. A third problem is connected with the variable movement, resulting in a variable period, of this and other comets. Thus there are seventy-six wars between the 1682 return and the 1753 return, seveniv+Teni£iars J rtlw « th * 1?58 return and tne 1835 return, seventv-five years between the 1835 return and the 1910 forthcoming appearance! Why should the comet sometimes take 75 years to go round its orbit, and at other times seventy-seven and even 78 years? We begin our exp T a. tion of this apparent anomaly by saying that if there were no other bodies in" the universe but s, central sun, and Halley's comet circling round it, then each returning cycle would be like all those that had gone before, the same in period, rate, size, and every other element of motion. Each orbit, also, would he of the same shape and size as all it* fellows, so thati

if we took the 1835-1910 orbit and placed it over the 1682-1758 orbit they would exactly correspond. -But the sun and the comet are not alone in space. There are other bodies in the sky. There is the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and all the other planets, and these are constantly tugging at the comet, now pulling it this way, now that, so that no two orbits are alike in shape, and no two periods are of the same duration. Sometimes because of hindrances on the way it takes 78 years to return; at other times it is pushed along incontinently and its round is 75 year*. Soon after it left the neighbourhood of the sun in 1835, Jupiter's great bulk swung across its path. The giant planet threw its grapnel-lines into its tenuous substance, dragging it back on its course, and thus making it return sooner by a year than it would have done had not Jupiter loomed up out of the stellar abysses. All this is carefully allowed for by ooonputers. Tliey know the exact pull that every planet exerts, and they allow for it. Now it is said that there are still nndiscovered planets far outside the orbit of Neptune. If this lv- *<•> they will show their presence by perturbing and changing the orbits of such comets as return to earth again at recurring periods. No heavenly body can conceal its It influences every other orb that draws near to it, with results which can be measured and interpreted. Enough has been said to indicate the interest that attaches to the coming appearance of Halley's comet. There are the many historical associations connected with it. There is, also, the possible beauty of the phenomenon; but as to this one must venture a word of caution, for it is just possible that the comet may be hastening now swiftly to its doom. Once disintegration begins to take place in bodies of this nature the end is near. Then there are the neany interesting problems connected with comets which make the forthcoming appearance of Halley's comet a matter of extreme importance to scientific men. ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE IN WEST AFRICA. Even they "who only England know" know, or have read, sometnxng of Babu English, that florid product oi our Indian Empire. It has been imitated—chiefly by Mr Anstey—mastsaered—chieiiy by its every otiier imitator—but never improved upon. Less known is the curious jargon consecrated to the use and abuse of the übiquitous and heathen Ciiinee, the pigeon English of the further East, said to be so termed because it started life in business transactions, the Chinese word for business being as like "pigeon" as anything Chinese can be like anything English. —An Inter-tribal Language.— But far les# Known—to the man in the fcUeet —tis itfae entirety diiierent pigeon Ir.glish of West Africa —that weirdly- # .aeeived lingaa franca whioh will take man from t-iie Gambia to the Congo, >i. excepting the. colonies oi France and ennany. Its origin is wrapt in mystery. must, of course, have been introduced perceptibly, almost accidentally, by the i-iiest British mercnants, for every few .jes from end to end of the coast the ;Live dialect, if not the entire language, ranges, and the "general post" per■.ftuaily being played by the Europeans, uiie to the deadly climate and necessarily .requent furlough, renders the acquisition of a native language impossible except in very rare cases, and now that the white man has introduced the trade that entails travel, pigeon English is often the only medium through which natives of even neighbouring tribes can communicate with one another. What would, or could, be done without it it is hard to imagine. It has its rules, its vocabulary, even its syntax —ail, ol course, unwritten. Here and there it bears traces of Portuguese and other European words and phrases, but it- is idle to examine it too closely. The only way to treat it is as what it is—a freak both of Nature and philology. Were one positive, for instance, that a friend would have come to call during a few hours' inevitable absence, one. would on returning say -to one's boy, "Some white man done come look me!" "Ko, sah." would be the unexpected answer. " "What! no white man come look me for sure?" one would repeat, incredulously. "Yes, sah," would be the answer. In English it would, of course, be "No. sir" ; but, after all, the affirmative is the more logical, "Yes, no man did come." At the back of the black boy's mind two negatives make an affirmative, though if one were to tell him *o in so many words, he would undoubtedly "fear too much that his master be crissfor head"—i.e.. he very afraid that his master was cracked. —Some Inversions.— To a tyro the most puzzling thing about ' ■•]s language is the fact that many ordinary English words are used with aite extraordinary —e.g., "too ::ch" means "very" ("he be sick too ica"), while "pass plenty" is the equi.l'ant for the English "too much," .iter pass plenty for this glass"—i.e., ■•■'there is too much ■'water in this glass." Hither similar vagaries are best illus*rated by examples: "I lend them to Charles" means, for -some unreasonable -::;?son, "I borrowed it (or them) from diaries" ; while "I trust 'em to Charles" caas "I lent it (or them) to Charles." .gain-, "find" means "search," "look ■foi"; to find is "catch," to see is "look." '■'his is a trick of phraseology which has naddlening results for the uninitiated. Imagine after a long search for some "ksing article—and a prolonged search -.■z:\ts exertion, and unrewarded exertion -. the Coast m. ns persniration, desperaion, exaaperaticr:—imagine hearing one's >r>v say at last, "I find them thing, sah." "Good, pass it here," might be the uu-

-•;'.ry reply. "I find 'em, sab. but I no catch 'em," and if the boy be wise he will then slither out of reach "one time." the expressive synonym for "immedi-

ately.” After this it is not surprising that “learn” and “teach” are—as, indeed, sometimes in real English—interchangeable. — 1 ‘Whazzamatta.” “Why do you do that?” is “What's the matter,” more onomatopoeically spelt “whazzamatta —you do them thing?” “How do you' know that?” is “Which way' you savez them thing ?” The word “know” is practically non-existent; from “sabe,” “savvy,” “eaves” you may take your choice di the spelling of its substitute. Its pronunciation is much like that of its source —the French “savez”—except that between the wings of the “v,” so to speak, seems to be sandwiched the sound of a “b.” “Dash” —of Portuguese origin—is the invariable word for “gift” or “give”—e.g., “Which man dash you them thing?” “Flog” is almost always used for "any kind of blow, even the actior of patting a dog, and metaphorically for reprimand. “He vex too much, he flog me for mouth,” only means “He was very annoyed, he scolded me well.” “Hot” is the generic word for pain of all sorts. “My head him hot me too much” is “I have a headache.” “Chop,” as in the F.ast, means food of every sort and description, and is not confined to the exiguous and leathery “mutton” chops which grow on the local goat. —“He Live for Die.”— “Live” (alternatively “lib”) is a word that occurs in almost every tentencs. Frequently it merely replaces the verb to be—“He lib for house” (He is at home), “Chop Jive” (Dinner is ready), or it has more delicate senses, occasionally much like the French - “II vient de fa-ire” (He has just done so and so)—-e.g., “He live for die” means “He has died recently,” “He live for go” means “He has just gone,” or else “He is just about to go,” according to the context. “Proper” (often pronounced “ploper”) indicates fulfilment in nearly every sense. “He live for die jbroper” (He is as dead as mutton), “He done flog him proper” implies that there were no half measures about the operation. “Better” means “quite well.” It is a little unnerving at first, in answer to kind inquiries about a sick man, to be told by a voice with tears in it, “He never better, sah.” Were he better, the reply would' be, “Him sick finish small small”; were he quite well, “Him sick done finish proper.” Inability is expressed by, “no fit”—e.g., “I no fit do them thing,” sometimes strengthened into “I no can lit” ; acquiescence by “gree” (agree). “No gnee” embraces everything from a mere slight difference of opinion to a violent physical resistance. Habit is expressed by “use to” —“He use to come here,” which often sounds irritatingly like the imperfect tense. It is notoriously impossible for a foreigner to distinguish between our *%hall” and “will.” “1 will be drowned >and nobody shall save me” is the stock example thereof. The Coast native disposes of the difficulty by using “can.” “Ah! Taiwo,” cries one trousered youth to hie friend struggling with a bicycle—and it is the especial delight of trousered youths to call each other “Mr” in public—“Ah! Mr Taiwo, you can fall off!” _ “No oh !” —and with fascinating inconsistency the interjection “Oh” sever begins, but frequenty finishes, a sentence. _ The pronunciation of pigeon English is compara- i tivelv easy when one has grasped the fact j that a native takes no care of the sounds 1 and lets the sense take care of itself. The ; combination of “st” is. however, too much ■ for many black lips,, so the “s” is dropped, and “string”—e.g., becomes “faring,” “strong” “trong,” and so forth. —Men of Culture? — But it is a mistake to imagine that all natives of "West Africa speak this sort of English. Some few are really well-edu-cated men. Some —less few—think they go a step further by affecting a literary and classical culture. To them, though they ai'e blissfully ignorant of the fact, their little knowledge is apt to be a j dangerous thing. They have never j eclipsed the lady novelist’s “proud old \ Roman boast, ‘civem Rom,anus sum, but they have done their best to do so. “In loco uxore,” “Nil dictum,” “Facily princips,” “ Nemo me impunit lacesse, “Cum bono grano salis, Requies ; paoet”—at the end of an obituary notice j —“Ex officium,” are all genuine examples ; of West Coast erudition. So is (a some- i what subtler sin) “Tempora mubantur et ! nos mutamur in eis”; while “Andro- ■ mache” to rhyme with smash, and Cal- I hope” with soap, are a little startling to | white ears. There are honourable exceptions, of course, but, as a rule, the , nukka native, clad (as one of his cultured, Eurone-clothed brethren once said in a fine frenzy of scorn) “in na lut alitas, is a far more pleasant—and a happier—person that the cultured, Europe-clotheo : brother aforesaid, whose head is often swollen with a little undigested “educa- : tion.”—T. D. Maxwell, in T.E. s Weekly. CHINESE WAIL DOOMED » Relic of 20 centuries, extending hack ; for its origin into the traditions and superstitions that have kept China from progressing to its rightful place among the nations, the Chinese Wall is said tobe doomed. This marvellous barrier extends more than 1700 miles oyer the mountain and valley. It iis said that under the rule of the now Regent, Ernies Chun, u progres?ivcncss will be earned to a point e hare n-te only will the old order of government- see its downfall, bub all that physically recalls the past will also be destroyed. Tradition is the yoke that binds China. It is the obstacle .hat has kept the country of marvellous resources back. Prince Oh tin knows tins, and it is said that in his desire to effect reform lie will not content himself with merely -establishing now methods in his systems of government, but will _ actually wipe out the nhysical relics which keep the face of China turned to the nasb •rather than to the future. Of all these survivals the Chinese Wall is the most famous and the most wonderful. In cataloguing the wonders of the world it has never been possible to make a classifica-

tion that omitt-sd the Chinese Wall. It w£i'S 200 years old when Christ came to earth, but even then it was not the work of a young nation, lor China has a history that can be traced bads for 6000 years. Modern artillery would speedily reduce the last vestige of the ancient barrier, but it was not built to withstand this kind of attack, and in the days when it reared its head over the landscape it was an impassable stronghold. The visitor who gazes at this stupendous construction is made to feel very modest as to the skill of the modern engineer. Experts of all nations have named it as the most astounding piece of work ever performed by man. Even over the Pyramids and the Sphinx it is given the credit. In imagination the spectator is moved back 20 centuries to the times that ShiKoangti, the greatest of Chinese heroes, reigned. China then led the world in wealth amd culture. The nation had a great literature, and the rich rewards of conquest constantly inspired the Mongols, wild tribes who lived in the country now called Mongolia, to make forays. They had invaded the country on the northern part, and were encroaching farther towards Pekinc and the provinces of the 60nth. It was in this crisis that Shi-Hoangti performed the feats of valour that made his name for ever famous in Chinese song and poem. Assembling a mighty army, he threw himself on the Mongolian hordes, fought them, defeated them, and sent flying back from Chinese territory. But it was not enough to have downed* the enemy. The Mongols always came back. They had a pertinacity that made them the most dajigerous of foes. Therefore it became necessary to construct a barrier that would unfailingly perform its duty. Everything had to bo done by hand, 'for the s-reat engineering devices* that to-day accomplish the work of 500 men had not then "been invented. But, fortunately, labour was' plentiful in this most thickly populated country in the world, and .swiftly the great wall moved into its place, rrrirn and powerful and able to withstand any assault the Mongols might make. Its battlemented walls are 50ft high, and at evrey few hundred feet they bristle with towers where in days of yore Chinese warriors stood ever ready to repel the invad«r. The wall is 25ft wide, and is built for the greater part of its way with mortared" brick and stone. When the Ming dynasty had come Into power it duplicated for a considerable extent ShiHoaxiP'ti's wall, and thus for a large part of the distance there is a double barrier. Some historians have said that the great wall accounted for the sloth into which China fell. The huge barrier gave the people a eense of security and made them feel that no nation could overwhelm them. Centuries passed in this foolish delusion, and when the war with Japan came China discovered that she had been sleeping for centuries. Since the humiliation ol that defeat by the Mikado a determination has grown up _ among the younger element of the nation to earn a place" among the great nations of the world.

CELESTIAL SMU6GI ERS. In all countries the evasion of fiscal obligations is considered no wrong, and “passing the Customs” is generally regarded as a tax upon personal rights; ■so much is this the case that those who render unto Cfesar that w'hich is Cassar’s generally do so to escape a worse evil, and seldom from any moral conviction as to what is right and what is wrong. In this one respect, at least 1 East and West may be said to have met, for in no country in the world has the art of smuggling reached a higher standard than in China, and in no part of China have smugglers become so daring or so ingenious as in the famous Canton Delta, whose innumerable and intricate waterways spread their welcome arms .to shield wrongdoers and embarrass pursuit. John Chinaman is a bom gambler, and as often as not stakes his acuteness against lawful authority merely for the love of play. He reckons " that if he “gets through” some four times out of five his account will show a balance on the right side, and he will thus have a small profit, combined with the excitement of the game. That this is the spirit of many is a proved fac-t, as the same men have been caught red-handed again and again, and the mere fact of their persisting indicates that there is both money to be made and recreation to be found in the practice. The heavy duty on opium and the comparative ease with which it can be secreted naturally places it hi the front rank of desirable contraband, and many a ball of the seductive drug has found its way into Canton from that acknowledged base and happy hunting-ground of criminals, the British freeport of Hong-kong, without his Imperial Majesty Kuang Hsu being a cent, the richer. Many are the methods adopted and the precautions taken by there nimble evaders of the law. Floats and sinks, the outcome of the most fertile imagination and the most careful study, are the most frequent means used, and' at a given signal from the shore the whole consignment as dropped overboard. from one of the palatial river steamers running between Canton and Hong-kong, to be eventually picked up at a convenient time by receivers on land. On one occasion a handsome oat with kittens was noticed on board one of these steamers, and after a time it was remarked that the latter did not appear to grow any larger. An inquisitive Custom House in Canton found upon examination that thev were all dummies filled with opium, and it was recalled that this lucrative imposition had been going on for weeks. Again, the Canton Customs night patrol going the rounds of the crowded harbour took shelter one night from a violent summer squall under the huge na-ddle-sponsons of a well-known river steamer. “ le that you” inquired a voice from above in Chinese. “Yes,” replied the Customs officer, with ouick perception. “Then, catch,” auswiered the mysterious inWlncutor. passing down

half a. dozen balls of opium, the share of which meant much prize-money for the lucky gig’s crew. Tne smuggler was, of coimse, waiting for a confederate whom the Customs officer unwittingly forestalled. On another occasion the Inspector-General of Customs, Sir Robert Hart himself, was visiting Canton, and in the evening at dinner was obliged to apologise to his hosiers. “You must excuse my costume,” he said, “for the Customs have seized my boxes.” It was indeed true, as one of his Chinese servants, never suspecting that the Inspector-General's personal effects would be disturbed, formed a syndicate with some enterprising friends, and halffilled one of the trunks in his charge with contraband. Salt, that daily necessity of life, being a Government monopoly in. China, is subject to official regulations which add to its cost and lessen its quality. The duty indirectly paid on this article may be styled the income tax of China, since all must use this everywhere indispensable commodity. Salt, therefore, naturally comes within the scope of the contrabandist, and smuggled salt, by reason of its cheapness, commands a ready sale. It differs from opium, however, inasmuch as its bulk renders concealment difficult and landing it at its destination risky. The majority of salt-smugglers are, therefore, the Chinese crews of the carrying vessels, working in. conjunction with accomplices ashore. It is as often as not concealed amongst the bunker coal, and kept there until a favourable opportunity for landing presents 'teelf. At one of the river ports,’some years back, the crime, of salt-running assumed such startling dimensions that extraordinary precautions to put -a stop to it were introduced, which proved efficacious for a time. Later, however, it was noticed that sampans, or small boats, manned by these unhappy outcasts, lepers, were becoming more numerous, and it was soon discovered that they were engaged to land the salt, as it was perhaps not unreasonably assumed that Customs officers, however zealous, would at least respect the inviolability of these fatal craft, and it was not until the aid of the local magistrate was invoked that these adjunctive smugglers were forbidden the port. THE FfGHTING AEROPLANE. (By J. Owen, in the Westminster Gazette.) . - Last August, when the Government announced that, it had appointed an Advisory Committee for Aeronautics composed in major part of purely scientific men, I had occasion to criticise strongly not only the composition of that committee but the policy which the Government had resolved to adopt as the outcome of its recommendations. It will be recalled that practically the whole of the surplus funds from the £78,000 voted by Parliament was destined to be spent on dirigible balloons, provision only being made for the purchase of two aeroplanes, costing approximately £IOOO apiece. The War Minister, Mr Haldane, on the advice of the committee, stated emphatically that the flying machine was possessed of so many inherent defects as to render it valueless for military purposes at present. It could not rise- high enough to be a safe instrument for reconnoitring service, it lacked stability, it was difficult to raise off the ground, and still more difficult to bring to earth again, and the control needed to be greatly improved. These are the main objections which led the War Minister to make the Gtovernment appropriation what I then, and still, consider to be a top-heavy one in favour of the gas-bag, based as H- was on an entire misconception of facts ■* the relative merits of the two tvpes of craft. I urged then, as I have urged since, that the money was being spent in the wrong direction ; that to encourage the development of the dirigible balloon was—what even the Aero Club has since come to recognise—a forlorn hope. That was before the Bhehns meeting when the possibilities of the flying machine were more or less conjectural. Since the Rhcims and other meetings we can speak with more definite knowledge, for every one of the objections enumerated have in a greater or lesser degree been disproved in actual •practice. The greatest of these perhaps from a military point of view is the question of height. The altitude record at the time the Advisory ’'Committee was appointed was about 400 ft, and held by Mr Wilbur Wright. Kobe of the French aviators were anxious to soar to anything like such lofty heights, and because of this it was said the flying machine was incapable of it, whereas the real reason was that they saw no necessity for taking undue risks until they had gained complete confidence in the reliable working of their engines and in the general control of the machines. The heights to which flying machines have attained is now a matter of history. Anything from 1000 to 1500 ft has become a common occurrence, whilst one or two machines are claimed to have travelled much higher.

The question may be asked how high ■will it be necessary for a flying machine to travel in order to render it indispensr able as an offensive weapon of war. In the opinion of General Brun, the French War Minister, a machine at 1500 ft would offer practically no target at all at speeds of from 40 to 50 miles an hour. But the fiyine machine of immediate future will he capable of much higher speeds than 50 miles an hour, and will consequently increase the difficulties of land marksmen at conroaratively low altitudes. But, even supposing that the aeroplane could not be made to travel higher than at present, this weisrhlv objection, to its ■weakness may be regarded as finally disposed of. Tfce next point is the control, which leaves little to be desired when the machine is in the hand? of an pilot-, as tbcee who witnessed Latham's darine. drive in a sale at Blackpool, and his even more perilous performance un<*-er like conditions in France, at an altitut-Ie of 1500 ft. can testifv. The difficulty of takine-off a-nd alicrhtuur has always be.m

f more or less exaggerated. In a- dead calm 1 some machines are obliged to run a full . third or half a mile before they leave the : ground, hot, assisted by a slight bead i wind, the operation can be accomplished j by some makes—notably the Bleriot and Antoinette.-—in anything from ISO to j 2CCft. I have myself timed Le Blon and S Delagrange on several occasions at Doncaster to rise off the ground and attain a height of 60ft in less than 10 seconds, whilst the ease with which they alighted —often at the very doors of their sheds—was patent to everyone. All or nearly all, this has been stated before; but as the whole aspect of mechanical flight has changed during the past few months it may not be inappropriate to mention it again, as out Government is still pledged to the dirigible, while the interest of the nation which set the fashion in them has for some time been distinctly on the wane. Indeed, it could not be otherwise after the remarkable lessons of Eh elms; the longdistance flights of Far man and Paulhan, made since; the high flighting cf Latham, Rougier, Wilbur Wright, Paulhan ; and; Count Lambert’s epoch-making journey, from Juvisy to Paris—driving; as be did over a large portion •of the capital itself. If the flying machine will do all that it has at the very inception of the art, what will it not be capable of doing a few years hence? It is, therefore, not now so much a question as to whether France intends to limit herself in the use of dirigibles, but whether she has condemned the principle of the gas-bag entirely. Following on the loss of the Eepublique, it was stated that the chiefs of the French army severely criticised the practicability of the dirigible, and decided to concentrate all their efforts on the flying machine. This view is now apparently confirmed by the publication in the Temps of important experiments which had beer, carried out by the French Government; with an aeroplane equipped with v machine-gun, which flew at a height w-eu over 1000ft.' There has never been anj, mistake as to the role the flying machinewas destined to pla-v. but this is thm first serious attempt that has been made to turn it into an offensive weapon of warfare ; and in this connection we may look forward to. interesting developments, as it is intended to erect in all the principal French garrison towns hangars furnished with all necessary repair material. From this, and the fact that each army corpt is to have attached to it a special battalior of aviators, one may judge tha( military aviation in France is quickly becoming a reality. A new military school of aviation is also to be founded near Nice, and applications for instruction from all ranks are so numerous, as to render the selection of the most suitable candidates not an altogether easy matter. General Brun is himself fully alive to the possibility of the aeroplane as an explo-sive-dropper and an aerial destroyer, and considers it a practical proposition because of the number of machines a commander would have at his disposal. Quite apart, however, from the experiments carried out with the machine-gun-fitted aeroplane, which seems to have been undertaken with the sole object of making a comparison between its performances and those of the dirigible which took part in the recent grand'manoeuvres, it is significant to note that France has at the moment only one airship—the Colonel Bernard—available for service, and although! several dirigibles are on the stocks, they are either, being built for other nations or prospectively for England, which seems to bear out the contention that the fate of this class of vessel is sealed as far as France is concerned. The Government is waiting to see how far the two most promising of the new types will coniplj with the conditions laid down m the competition opened in the ear 1 - ~ this year between French w' 1 * As a. matter of policy, France must at least make out that she maintains fa.itk in the gas-bag, but she is not showing any undue anxiety either in the matter of reconstruction of the old vessels or the acquisition of any one of those at present under construction for other countries. As far as England is concerned, it is to be hoped that Parliament will see to it when the appropriation for aeronautics comes to be made next year that tho money shall at least be equallj divided between the rival systems and if there is going to be any unequal distribution/ it should be if favour the aeroplane. SHANGANI DAY. December 4 was the sixteenth anniversary of one of the most tragic chapters in ’Rhodesian history—the annihilation to a man bv a horde oi Matabeks of Major Allan Wilson and his gallant band of 36 men at a point near , the Shamgam River, about 109 miles north of Bulawayo. When it became necessary to punish tne turbulent Matabele for their repeatedraids upon the Mashonas, Dr L. S. Jameson, then Administrator of Mashonaland, organised two columns under the respective commands of Majo. P. W. Forbes and Lieutenant-colonel (now Sir) Hamilton Goold-Adams, now Governor of the Orange River Colony. Several engagements, the final one resulting in the complete rout of the blacks ; occurred on the march; and when the forces arrived at Bulawayo they found the royal kraal in flames "and Lobengula and his impis n flight towards the Zambesi. Dr Jameson sent Major Forbes in pursuit of the royal fugitive. Encamping at the Shangam River on December 3, the pursuing party ascertained that the King, who crossed the river the day previously, was ill, and travelling by easy stages m an ox-waggon. Thereupon Major Forbes ordered Major" Allan Wilson, with 36 men, to follow the royal spoor and bring LobeniTula back, and specially instructed him to return oefore nightfall so as to avoid possible ambush in the dark. Wilson disregarded these instructions, and after going some miles encamped for the night, resuming his journey at day break. It was not long before the fu;gitive was j overtaken, and Wilson demanded an un--1 conditional surrender. But unexpected!*

the royal bodyguard showed fight, and in a few minutes the little band of whites was surrounded by hundreds of natives, armed with spears or knobkerries, who sprung up as if bv magic. Standing shoulder to Bhoulder, Wilson and his men sold thear lives dearly. Every bullet found its

billet, and when the ammunition was spent they used the butt-ends of their rifles and even their fists. But they were overpowered by sheer weight of overwhelming ! numbers. Not a member of the party ] escaped. Lobengula's death some weeks later

paved the way for the establishment of white man's rule in Matabeleland and to the founding of Rhodesia. There is a disgraceful incident associated with the Shangani tragedy. When Lobengula learned that he was pursued he sent envoys, with 1000 sovereigns as a peaceoffering, to Major Forbes in the hope of securing terms.' On their way the King's messengers were intercepted by two scouts of the Bechuanalar.d Police, who took and concealed the money and kept the royal message secret. Whether the terrible disaster would have been averted had the envoys reached the camp of Major Forbes can only be a matter of conjecture. But on the discovery of their rascality the two scouts were tried, convicted, and sentenced to hard labour for 14 years. THE BOY SHAH AND HIS PARLIAMFNT. This is how they opened the Persian Parliament. lam not going to describe the glitter and the grandeur. I shall take you behind the scenes and show you the stage carpenter. In Parliament square 40,000 people are assembled. To see what? To see majesty come and go in a whirlwind of magnificence? To see princes and nobles sweep with quieter splendour in and out of the emblazoned gates? No; not to see at all: to feel. This crowd has looked on the pomp of monarehs and Ministers often enough, and cursed it. To-day all thoughts are for the hundred plaindressed, quiet-mannered deputies who, by their wisdom or their folly, shall lead the nation to 'greatness or bring it to ruin. To-day is a day of destiny. This is why men speak together in small groups, urging their hopes and whispering their fears ; never wasting a, glance on the far-flung bunting which flaunts rainbow colours in the sunlight. This, too, is why, the scratch force of ungainly policemen, shuffling about in half a dozen different sorts of ill-cut uniform, or in no uniform at all, can by gentle adjuration control a throng which outnumbers the constabulary a thousand to one. . —The Persian Army.— Here come the brass bands, banging and flaring the strains -of European music. They will learn hi time to balance their energies. Behind them march the guards of honour—regimental types of Persia's rabble soldiery, slouching like sandwichmen. Oh, I do not imock! To me this martial mimicry is not pitiful, it is inspiring. Had you stood, as I have, day by day for hours on end in the Square of Exercise, Teheran's great parade-ground, and watched European officers, fierce and stentorian, drilling squads of shambling recruits, your eyes would perhaps water, as have mine. For you would understand then wfyy those hawk-eyed, straightbacked warriors from the West are bellowing discipline into a stupid mob, and why the loose-jointed loafers*of the bazaar are taking an infinitude of pains to learn to form fours. You would realise that Persia •yearns for an army. -Also you would perceive, perhaps fearfully, what that yearning portends. I shall not predict that Persia, the trampled worm, is going to become the military Colossus of Asia. The Persian army, like the Persian Parliament, has a long way to go. I only say that the soul of a suffering nation is in the effort. Here come the deputies. Mild in manner and serious in deportment, these gentlemen enter as unostentatiously as if they had no part in, a pageant which is solely to honour them. Let no one be deceived by their humility. Their pride exceeds the pride of princes; it is the pride of power. But these men are not of one mettle. All' have intelligence, most have eloquence, some have intellect, a few have culture. How many have statesmanship ? And here come the Cabinet Ministers, in fine raiment. Behold the stiffly-starched Sipahdar, the Oliver Cromwell of modern Persia. I know what his enemies say of him; but I look at the Roman nose and the flashing eye. And there goes the Sardar Assad, a little man with a grey moustache, gentle, amiable, sympathetic, hiding fury, as Bakhtiaris do, for the day of wrath. I have conversed confidentially with both these heroes. I have taken their hands and looked into their eyes. They are, believe me, the Kitchener and the Roberts of the Persian revolutionary war. —The Coming of the Diplomats.— Next arrive the members of the Diplomatic Corps, displaying cocked hats with plumes and broad bosoms of gold lace. They have come to honour the Parliament—to wish it well. Do they mean it well? What, all of them? Mark how the crowd changes face, now smiling, now scowling, now looking down doggedly, now glancing up ferociously. Hark now the word flies round in changing tones: That's the British Minister; that's the Russian; that's the Germans; the French, the Belgian, the Italian, the American, the Turkish. Europe may know little, care little, what Persia thinks. Persia knows with searching exactness what Europe thinks. And Persia broods on what it knows. And now, amid a blaze of scarlet heraldry, comes the Shah, a little boy of 11, plump, -, chubby-faced, good-looking, and bright-eyed, accompanied by the Regent, a withered old man. The crowd cheers: not the deafening huzza of passionate loyalty, but the calm hand-clap-ping of reasoned encouragement. Son of a King Stork and grandson of a King Log, Shah Ahmed has no shred of inherited claim upon popular good will; but as an innocent child he, craves the forbearance and sympathy of his distrustful subjects. Meanwhile the journalistic cameras and the music-hall cinematographs, under telegraphic instructions from Europe, are flashing films and plates at the imperial procession, so that London, Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg may know pictorjally how a Persian Parliament is opened. Observe how the Shah comports himself inside the House. As hie Majesty enters,

the Regent, -walking closely behind him, direct* him to ascend the scarlet, staircase of the scarlet dais and to go to the golden throne. The little boy goes beyond the throne, as if not seeing it. The dull-eyed Regent cannot understand, and tries to pull his Majesty back. His Majesty understands full Avell and declines to be pulled bock; he has caught sight of the Diplomatic Corps, drawn up below him to his right, and. moving towards them he bows gravely. Obviously this is spontaneous. The aged Regent- points impatiently to the throne again. The Shah, unheeding, turns front, and seeing the deputies grouped below the dais, moves forward with another solemn bow. Once .more the uncomfortable Regent waves an imperious hand towards the throne. The Shah, swinging round, gets a glimpse of the Cabinet Ministers assembled below on bis left, and advancing in that direction makes a third bow. Then quietly he goes to the throne, but remains standing till the end, exhibiting neither nervousness nor restlessness.—The Reading of the iSpeech.— It is not the Regent who reads the Speech from the Throne. I asked why. "Because the Regent is too old to make his voice heard," was the reply. Does it strike you ? The Shah too young; the Regent too old! I look again at the strange pair—the fat little boy, with smooth round face and twinkling eyes, and the lean old man., with snow-white beard and bent back —the beginning and the end of human life. Who, the.i, reads the royal Speech? Who better can read it than the man who wrote it? The Sipahdar reads the Speech. Ascending the scarlet dais and bowing to the throne, the Sipahdar receives from the Regent a scroll of vellum, and then, facing front, squares, his shoulders to the effort. Suddenly he bethinks himself. He descends the scarlet staircase, one step, two stew, three steps—he counts them deliberatelv—and starts to read again. Oh, Sipahdar, that was well remembered. Three steps down— Royalty, Nobility, Commonalty! Here you are greater than there. Democracy has dawned ! Every man has his moment. This moment is the Sipahdar's. To-morrow, no! To-morrow the Parliament will begin its labours. The Sipahdar has been a wise, a strong, a benevolent dictator. But the Parliament must be wiser, stronger, better than he. If not, "away with that bauble"; and—Heaven help Persia!— Bernard Temple, in the Daily Mail.