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magnetical and meteorological observatory, principally com- 

 posed of Euglish and German magnetical Instruments — 

 amongst others the recently constructed, phofcographically 

 recording magnetograph — and of selfrecording meteoro- 

 logical iustrumeuts constructed in Holland after the prin- 

 ciple of those then used at the Utrecht Observatory. 



At the commeneement of 1862 I arrived in India full of 

 hopes, but it soon became clear to me that their realization 

 would meet with considerable difficulties. The expenses for 

 the erection of an observatory had been estimated in Hol- 

 land much too low. Solid building , required for an obser- 

 vatory, is very expensive in this country, and the staff of 

 an observatory has to be paid much higher here than in 

 Europe. The consequence was, that the plan for an obser- 

 vatory which I submitted to Government in the year of my 

 arrival at Batavia, was rejected, and that in the first years 

 of my staying in this country I could not succeed in ob- 

 taining the necessary funds for an observatory, The question 

 then arose whether it would be necessary to erect at Bata- 

 via an observatory adapted for hourly observations, whether 

 an observatory of the second order, where observations were 

 only made three times a day, would not be sufficiënt. I could 

 not agree to this, because such an observatory would have 

 no value at all in promoting our kuowledge of terrestrial 

 magnefcism, whilst its value for meteorology would be only 

 a very limited one. 



At last; ho wever, I was fortunate enough to see my 

 views accepted by Government, and at the end of 1873, 

 nearly twelve years after my arrival in India, the necessary 

 funds were granted for building the Batavia Observatory, 

 for which I had presented my first plan to Government 

 shortly after my arrival. 



In the meanwhile I had done my best to accomplish, as 

 well as circumstances allowed, the object for which I had 

 been sent to India. As soon as it became clear to me that 

 it would be extremely difficult to obtain the necessary funds 



