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Annular Eclipse Maps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Richard Gray
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Extract

The purpose of these maps, like those of the total solar eclipses published earlier, is to enable a historian rapidly to identify an apparent reference in his sources to a solar eclipse, or to ascertain the moments at which eclipses might have been witnessed over specific areas in Africa. The originals have again been drawn to the scale of I: 10,000,000 by Mr A. K. Appleton, F.R.A.S., to calculations by Dr J. G. Porter, F.R.A.S., and represent precisely the same advance in accuracy compared with Oppolzer's charts. At the small scale at which these maps are here reproduced, however, it will generally be possible merely to arrive at approximate results; a more accurate assessment can be reached only by consulting copies of the originals, or, in some cases, by undertaking further calculations. Within these limits it is hoped that they will prove a useful indication of the possibilities of this type of evidence and will lead to the discovery of references that have not yet been published or reported.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 1968, pp. 147 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1968

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References

1 ‘Eclipse maps’, J.A.H., VI (1965), 251–62.Google Scholar

2 Velograph copies on stable-base film of the original five maps of total eclipses and of the master grid are obtainable, price £21 the set, and of the four annular eclipse maps at L14. Orders should be sent to the Editors of the Journal of African History.

3 Monsieur B. Kamian, Director of the École Normale Supérieure at Bamako, most kindly sent me a report of his observations during the annular eclipse of 1966. V. 20 which passed over Bamako. The sky had a light cloud covering and M. Kamian was able to observe the sun with the naked eye. He noticed that some animals showed signs of alarm:donkeys and sheep ceased to browse, and some hens began to return to the hen-house as at dusk; but most people merely thought that a storm was imminent and remained unaware of the eclipse. Outside the rainy season the phenomenon might of course have aroused much more alarm.

4 Baka, , 1680. III. 30;Google ScholarThularestad, , 1820. III. 14; Biharwe, 1520. iv. 17.Google Scholar

5 SirRichmond, Palmer, The Bornu, Sahara and Sudan (1936), 84–5.Google Scholar

6 Smith, H. F. C., ‘A further adventure in the chronology of Katsina’, Bulletin of News (Hist. Soc. Nigeria), vi (1961), 5–7.Google Scholar

7 SirGray, J. M., ‘The solar eclipse in Ankole in 1492’, Uganda j. xxvii (1963), 217–21;Google ScholarSykes, J., ‘The eclipse at Biharwe’, Uganda J. xxiii (1959),44–50.Google Scholar

8 Bruce, J., Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, II (1790), 793–4. The eclipse was on the 24th and not, as Bruce states, on the 14th.Google Scholar

9 Budge, E. A. Wallis, A History of the Ethiopians, II (1928), 408.Google Scholar

10 Houdas, O. (trans.), Tedzkiret en-Nisian (1899), 255. I am grateful to Dr H. J. Fisher for this reference and for clarifying Houdas's confusion with regard to the Christian date.Google Scholar

11 Torday, E., On the Trail of the Bushongo (1925), 141–2.Google ScholarTorday, E. and Joyce, T. A., Notes ethnographiques sur les peuples communétment appelés Bakuba, ainsi que les peuplades apparentées. Les Bushongo (Brussels), 1910, 34–6.Google Scholar

12 de Cadornega, A. O., Historia Geral das Guerras Angokinas, II (1940), 428.Google Scholar

13 SirGray, J. M., ‘Early history of Buganda’, Uganda J. II (1935), 268.Google Scholar See also Dr. J. G. Porter's calculation quoted in Gray, R., ‘Eclipse maps’, J.A.H., VI (1965), 257.Google Scholar

14 Personal communications from Dr N. Levtzion and Dr J. G. Porter.

15 I am most grateful to Mr C. M. N. White for this translation of the passage from a vernacular history of the Balovale Lunda by Thomas Chinyama, published in Lusaka 1945.

16 Livingstone, D., Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa (Minerva Library ed.), 256.Google Scholar

17 White, C. M. N., ‘The ethno-history of the upper Zambezi’, African Studies, XXI (1962), 15.Google Scholar

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20 Muhammad, b. Salih, Taqyid al Akhbar, composed in 1868. Dr D. M. Last sent me this reference, and points out that Muhammad b. Salih records the eclipse as taking place in mid-Ramadan, i.e. about mid-November.Google Scholar

21 Koelle, S. W., African Native Literature (1854), 207. The eclipse was total at Daya (1st. II° 38' N., long. 11° 41' E.) in the early afternoon. I am grateful to Mr Layers and Dr Victor Low for this reference.Google Scholar

22 Hunt, D. R., ‘An account of the Bapedi’, Bantu Studies, v (1931), 284.Google Scholar

23 Personal communication.

24 Lancaster, G., ‘Tentative chronology of the Ngoni; genealogy of their chiefs and notes’, J. Roy. Anthrop. Inst. xvii (1937), 78.Google Scholar

25 Childs, G. M., ‘The kingdom of Wambu (Huambo): a tentative chronology’, J.A.H. v (1964), 377. I am grateful to Mr D. H. Jones for this reference.Google Scholar

26 Mackintosh, C., Yeta III, 19. I am grateful to Mr G. Caplan for this reference.Google Scholar

27 Personal communication.

28 Kaganie, , op. cit. 75.Google Scholar