Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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The crescent of Venus, and the constellation of
the Ship, so splendid from the disposition of its immense nebulae,
were lost in the rays of the rising sun.
I had a complete
observation of the progress and the close of the eclipse. I
determined the distance of the horns, or the differences of
altitude and azimuth, by the passage over the threads of the
quadrant. The eclipse terminated at 2 hours 14 minutes 23.4 seconds
mean time, at Cumana.
During a few days which preceded and followed the eclipse of the
sun, very remarkable atmospherical phenomena were observable. It
was what is called in those countries the season of winter; that
is, of clouds and small electrical showers. From the 10th of
October to the 3rd of November, at nightfall, a reddish vapour
arose in the horizon, and covered, in a few minutes, with a veil
more or less thick, the azure vault of the sky. Saussure's
hygrometer, far from indicating greater humidity, often went back
from 90 to 83 degrees. The heat of the day was from 28 to 32
degrees, which for this part of the torrid zone is very
considerable. Sometimes, in the midst of the night, the vapours
disappeared in an instant; and at the moment when I had arranged my
instruments, clouds of brilliant whiteness collected at the zenith,
and extended towards the horizon. On the 18th of October these
clouds were so remarkably transparent, that they did not hide stars
even of the fourth magnitude.
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