The 1961 opposition was unusual in two ways. First, the South Temperate Belt between white ovals FA and BC had faded to near invisibility. Second, the southern part of the Equatorial Zone (EZ) had darkened, so that a dark belt (resembling the normal Equatorial Band, but with a southern edge that was unusually far south) extended from zenographic latitudes +1 to –6°. Spots moving along the centre or northern edge of this ‘Equatorial Zone south Band’ (EZsB) showed near-zero System I drifts, typical of the central and northern EZ, but the prominent humps located upon the south edge of a sector that extended to higher southern latitude were moving in the slower South Equatorial Current. Much of the northern EZ was shaded, and the brighter parts appeared a dusky yellow or orange. There were numerous very broad shadings that united the NEB to the EZsB, and their edges coincided with the usual festoons upon the NEB S. edge. The Great Red Spot had darkened considerably since 1960, especially at its edges, and was intensely coloured. Its centre exhibited a slightly irregular oscillation in longitude, with a period of several months, superimposed upon a slight positive drift. The N. Temperate Belt remained faint. Mutual eclipses and occultations of the Galilean satellites were observed and timed.