44 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION 



New South Wales ; Mr. W. Ernest Cooke, Government Astronomer 

 at Perth, West Australia ; Dr. John M. Thome, Director of the 

 observatory at Cordoba ; Mr. Walter G. Davis, Director of the 

 Argentine Meteorological Service, and Sir David Gill, Astronomer 

 Royal at the Cape of Good Hope. We are greatly indebted to 

 these gentlemen for the painstaking and valuable information with 

 which they have favored us, for cordial offers of facilities, and for 

 documents of interest which they have forwarded. 



We have also devoted study to the meteorological and climato- 

 logical reports in regard to the countries crossed by parallels of 

 latitude suitable for the location of the observatory. In a preliminary 

 way it appears to us that the most promising localities are in New 

 South Wales, in the vicinity of Sydney ; in South Africa near 

 Bloemfontein, or on the Great Karoo plateau in Cape Colony, and 

 near San L,uis, in Argentina. San Luis appears to have a very clear 

 sky and a salubrious climate. It is only 16 hours by rail from 

 Buenos Aires. It is measurably free from the fearful ' ' hondas ' ' or 

 stifling hot waves which characterize the Andean plateaus further 

 west, and the skies are remarkably clear. 



The latitude of Bloemfontein is rather smaller than is desirable, 

 only 29 south, while — 30 would seem to be almost the northerly 

 limit admissible. Yet we have from Sir David Gill, who has in- 

 spected that locality in connection with the trigonometrical survey, 

 the most favorable accounts of the wonderful transparency and 

 steadiness of the atmosphere there, and of the remarkable number 

 of clear nights, which is estimated at 300 annually, or about three 

 times the number we experience upon the Atlantic seaboard. The 

 elevation is about 4,000 feet above sea level. The mean annual 

 temperature is, however, rather high. 



Our early reports in regard to Australia were favorable, and we 

 decided to procure a careful test of certain sites in the vicinity of 

 Sydney. In April of the present year Professor W. J. Hussey, of the 

 Lick Observatory, was appointed to make telescopic tests and other 

 examinations with reference to observatory sites. He was engaged 

 up to the end of July upon explorations in southern California, 

 looking for a site for the Solar Observatory. Soon after the com- 

 pletion of this work he sailed for Sydney, on August 6, under in- 

 structions to test certain sites in the neighborhood of Sydney in 

 relation to which we had formed favorable opinions, confirmed by 

 the personal testimony of Mr. Russell. Mr. Hussey is provided 

 with an excellent portable telescope of nine inch aperture, of which 



