250 Biographical Sketch of the late Astronomer Caldecott. 
cure to the observatory where they were employed with zeal 
and judgment, a rank second to none in the world.* 
The Observatory was erected on a hill of laterite abound- 
ing in granite, 2 miles from the sea, and 130 feet above high- 
water mark: it was 70 feet in length, and 30 in breadth, 
with three revolving domes. The instruments with which 
it was at first, provided consisted of an 18-inch altitude and 
azimuth, a 30-inch transit, a fine equatorial, a reflecting 
circle, a 46-inch telescope, and three chronometers, all first- 
rate of their kind, and all the private property of Mr Calde- 
cott. The instruments ultimately provided by His Highness 
consisted of a 5-feet transit, a transit clock, two 5-feet mural 
circles, an astronomical clock, an altitude and azimuth, two 
powerful telescopes, one of them a reflector, with microme- 
ters, with a complete set of magnetic and meteorological in- 
struments. These were all of the first-rate description which 
skill or money could secure: they were received in safety, 
and put in their places without delay. In 1840, the Obser- 
vatory received an additional supply of magnetic and meteo- 
rological instruments, similar to those prescribed by the 
Royal Society and British Association for the sixty different 
observatories up and down the world. The task of arran- 
ging and setting to work single-handed so large an esta- 
blishment, was no easy one; and the admirable manner 
in which Mr Caldecott accomplished it in incredibly short 
space of time gave sufficient proof of his enthusiasm as 
well as his ability. The tasks accomplished which pos- 
sessed paramount claims on his attention, we find Mr Calde- 
cott in 1837 engaged with the late distinguished Madras 
astronomer, Mr Taylor, ina magnetic survey of Southern 
India. Mr Taylor had, as far back as 1831, projected, at 
the suggestion of Professor Kupffer, a series of observations 
* Madras Literary Transactions, vol. vi., page 56. Description of the Tre- 
vandrum Observatory, by John Caldecott, Esq. The reader must remember 
that though instruments of the largest size may be essential for making great 
discoveries in astronomy, it is excellence of workmanship more than magnitude, 
and zeal in the astronomer more than any quality in his instruments, that en- 
sures value to the work. 
