* Astronomy

Resuming the march next day, July 4th, they came to Kethira, eighteen mile on. Here to their disappointment they found that the commander of this cliff-top post, commanding the valley, was bent on resistance. They suggested that their new ally, Ibn Jad, might prove his worth by attacking it, after dark. Misliking the prospect, he argued that the full moon would mar the attempt. But Laurence had noticed in his diary that an eclipse was due, and so "cut hardly into this excuse; promising that to-night for awhile there should be no moon." The eclipse came, and while the superstitious Turkish soldiery were firing rifles and clanging pots "to rescue their threatened satellite," the Arabs climbed into the post and took the place by surprise. Seventy infantry and fifty mounted men were taken prisoner.
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