8 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
repeated the signals to Flagstaff Hill. Mr. Pownal Pellow Potter, 
who had been “the sailing master of the ship “ Terror,” of Sir 
James Ross’ expedition, was appointed astronomical observer 
in May, 1853; he resigned, however, about a couple of months 
later before the time sional was fairly in operation. Shortly 
after I was appointed to undertake the formation of a small 
observatory at Gellibrand’s Point, Williamstown, and carry on 
the necessary observations. There were no astronomical instru- 
ments available except sextants and chronometers, and with 
these the observations were commenced, and the time signals 
given in August, 1863, until a few months later, when a small 
transit instrument and an astronomical clock were purchased 
from an enterprising clockmaker newly arrived in Melbourne ; 
these were at once permanently mounted on solid stone piers, 
and used for the time observations with much more accurate 
and satisfactory results. There was a somewhat tragic incident 
in connection with the preparation of these piers; the blocks of 
stone were hewn from quarries very near the Observatory House 
worked by convicts of the worst class; among them was a very 
good stonemason who was set to cut these stones to the requisite 
shape and dimensions. One day the prisoners were seen to be 
tampering with their leg irons, in which this class of criminals 
worked in those days, and it was at once known they were about 
to mutiny, and try to escape; the guards were notified, and I 
was advised to get under cover; I was at the moment measuring 
the stones and giving instructions to the mason at my side, 
when the guards commenced firing on the mutineers, who were 
rushing from the quarries, and had already felled several of the 
guards ; my mason fell beside me with an arm shattered by a 
glancing rifle bullet. I then quickly took the advice that was 
given, and ran for cover, for bullets were flying in all directions, 
and one took away the collar of my coat just as I reached the 
flagstaff house, where I thought it best to remain till the shoot- 
ing was over. Another mason had to be employed to finish the 
first transit pier of our first observatory. 
This was the beginning of what is now the Melbourne Observa- 
tory ; commencing its work i in 1853 in a small way at Williams- 
town, it was enlarged and supplied with better and larger instru- 
ments in 1855, and again in 1857, when it had to “meet new 
demands upon it for the geodetic survey commenced in that 
year ; and in 1863 was removed to its present site in Melbourne, 
since which it has progressed from year to year, and now is tho- 
roughly fitted to co-operate in the most: important international 
astronomical undertakings. 
In 1856 I was requested to commence and superintend the 
geodetic and trigonometrical survey of Victoria in connection 
with my duties as superintendent of the Observatory, for the 
method of survey decided upon made it, to a very large extent, 
