\begin{table}%[!]%t3
\caption{Colour and extinction characteristics for the LMC lines of sight. 
                The $B$ and $V$ photometric data were combined with intrinsic colours for LMC supergiants 
	        \citep{1988ApJ...335..703F} %\citep{1984ApJ...279..578F} %\citep{1975AetAS...19..259I}
		to obtain the total \Ebv\ for the line of sight towards the LMC targets.
		To derive the reddening within the LMC (\Ebv$_{\rm, LMC}$) the combined foreground 
		contribution of both the Milky Way (MW) and intermediate velocity clouds (VC) were subtracted.
		All values are in magnitudes.
		\citet{1984ApJ...279..578F} derive \Ebv$_{\rm, total} = 0.34$ mag, and \Ebv$_{\rm, LMC} = 0.27$~mag 
		for \mbox{\object{Sk~--69 243}}, consistent with the value derived below.
		\citet{1990AJ.....99..273S} derive \Ebv$_{\rm, total} = 0.39$ and 0.41~mag for \object{Sk --69 223} and 
		\object{Sk~--69 243}, respectively. 	
\label{tb:Ebv}}
%\vspace*{-1.5mm}
%\centerline
 {
\begin{tabular}{llrrrrrr} \hline\hline
                   	&       &\object{Sk~--69 223}& \object{Sk~--69 243}&\object{Sk~--67 2}&\object{Sk~--68 135}&\object{Sk~--67 5}&\object{Sk~--70 120}\\\hline
 Sp type (UV)		&	& WC4+OB	& WN4.5+OB	& B2~Ia	& ON9.7~Ia    	& O9.7~Ib     & B1~Ia          \\ 
 Sp type (optical)$^a$	&	& B1~Ia	& O3~If	& B1.5~Ia	& B0~Ia    	& B0~Ia       & B1.5~Ia          \\ 
$B-V$   ($\pm$0.01)	& 	&  0.11		& 0.13  	& 0.048		& 0.00 		& --0.12	       & --0.06           \\
($B-V$)$_0$$^a$ ($\pm$0.02)& 	& --0.16		& --0.27		& --0.16		& --0.22		& --0.22	       & --0.16           \\    
\hline
\multicolumn{3}{l}{Reddening:}  		&		&		&             	&              &	         \\ 
\Ebv$_{\rm, total}$ (E02)& 	& 0.42   	& 0.30 		& 0.35		& 0.27 		&  --	       &  0.06           \\
 \Ebv$_{\rm, total}$$^b$ ($\pm$0.03)& 	& 0.27   	& 0.40 		& 0.21		& 0.22 		& 0.10 	       &  0.10           \\
 \Ebv$_{\rm, FG}$$^c$	($\pm$0.02)&	& 0.07		& 0.14		& 0.11		& 0.09		& 0.04	       &  0.09	         \\
 \Ebv$_{\rm, LMC}$$^c$	($\pm$0.03)&	& 0.20		& 0.26		& 0.10		& 0.13		& 0.06	       &  0.01           \\
 \Ebv$_{\rm, LMC}$$^d$  ($\pm$0.03)&  	& 0.19		& 0.32		& 0.13 		& 0.14 		& 0.02 	       &  0.02           \\
\hline
 Adopted		&	&		&		&		&             	&              &	         \\ 
\Ebv$_{\rm, LMC}$ 	&	& 0.20	 	& 0.29		& 0.12		& 0.14		& 0.04	       &  0.02           \\
$\sigma$\Ebv		&	& 0.06		& 0.04		& 0.04		& 0.02         	& 0.03         &   --	         \\ 
\hline
\end{tabular}
}
\par
\smallskip
$^a$ Spectral types from Table~1. 
	   ($B-V$)$_0$ adopted from \citet{1988ApJ...335..703F} for LMC supergiants of corresponding optical spectral type. 
	   Intrinsic colour for WR/WN/WC stars from \citet{1990AJ.....99..273S}: ($B-V$)$_0  = -0.27  \pm 0.05$.
$^b$ \Ebv$_{\rm, total}$~=~($B-V$)$_{\rm observed} -  (B-V)_0$. 
$^c$~\Ebv$_{\rm, LMC}$~=~\Ebv$_{\rm, total}$ $-$ \Ebv$_{\rm, FG}$.  
	    The foreground reddening \Ebv$_{\rm, FG}$ (=MW~+~VC reddening) towards the LMC lines of sight was estimated by applying the relation
	    $N$(\ion{Na}{i})~=~$1.7 \times 10^{14}$ \Ebv$^{1.8}$ \citep{1974ApJ...191..395H}, 
	    to the observed \ion{Na}{i} column densities.
$^d$ \Ebv$_{\rm, LMC}$~=~\Ebv$_{\rm, total}$ $-$ \Ebv$_{\rm, FG}$, with 
	   \Ebv$_{\rm, FG}$~=~\Ebv$_{\rm, MW}$~+~\Ebv$_{\rm, VC} \approx 0.08$~mag.
	   \Ebv$_{\rm, MW} \sim 0.07$~mag, estimated from the Galactic extinction map by {\citet{2003AetA...409..205D}},
	   \Ebv$_{\rm, VC} \sim 0.01$~mag, derived via $N$(\ion{Na}{i}).
	   The foreground reddening map based on \ion{H}{i} by Staveley-Smith gives a similar value of \Ebv$_{\rm, FG} = 0.08$~mag.
\end{table}