I 



Astro7iomical Society. 523 



the object he had immediately in view, which was to identify the 

 spot on which LacaQle's Observatory had stood. 



Lacaille states, that he resided in the house of a person of the 

 name of Bestbier, on whose premises the Observatory was built. 

 Accordingly, Mr. Maclear undertook to trace the residences and 

 property of ail persons of the name of Bestbier ; and he ascertained, 

 on searching the records of the Transfer Office, that only one per- 

 son of that name held property in Cape Town in the year 1751, and 

 he answered to the description given by Lacaille. By tracing down 

 the successive transfers of this property to the present time, Mr. 

 Maclear was led to the house in Strand Street, now occupied by 

 Mrs. De Witt ; the house referred to by Captain Everest. This 

 lady permitted him to inspect her title-deeds and diagram, and they 

 were found to agree exactly with the records in the Transfer Office. 

 The position and form of the premises also corresponded with several 

 remarks made bj' Lacaille in desci^ibing his operations. 



Having thus obtained undeniable proof of the identity of Best- 

 bier's house with that now occupied by Mrs. De Witt, the search 

 for the position of the Observatory M^as brought within narrow 

 limits, for Lacaille states that it was in the court -of the house where 

 he lived. The author accordingly proceeded to take measures for 

 connecting the house with the Royal Observatory by triangulation, 

 resolving to spare no pains in the execution of this part of his ope- 

 rations, inasmuch as he entertained a hope that he should thereby 

 be able to ascertain whether Lacaillc's plumb-line had been affected 

 by the attraction of Table Mountain. 



In the meantime, Mr. Maclear had communicated his views and 

 proceedings to Captain Beaufort, and Mr. Airy, the Astronomer 

 Royal, the latter of whom immediately wrote to the Secretary of the 

 Admiralty, requesting their Lordships' permission to send out Brad- 

 ley's zenith- sector, in order that Mr. Maclear might be enabled to 

 verify at once the amphtude of Lacaille's arc. This was precisely 

 what he himself had wished to accomplish, provided he could iden- 

 tify the northern station. 



The northern station, at Klyp-Fonteyn, cannot be so readily 

 traced as that in Cape-Town. On visiting the jdace, accompanied 

 by Lieut. Williams of the Royal Engineers, Mr. Maclear found 

 that a close investigation into the history of the jiroprietors, in con- 

 nexion with the buildings and ruins, would be necessary ; for, on 

 looking at the old foundation described by Cajjtain Everest, as the 

 platform of the granary in which Lacaille had observed, and com- 

 paring its dimensions with Lacaille's statement, and its position and 

 distance from the old house, so unlike the usual arrangements of 

 the Dutch farmers, he perceived strong reasons for doubting its 

 identity with the granary of Lacaille. 



The jjlatform alluded to by Cajjtain Everest consists of a founda- 

 tion-wall G3 feet long, by 24 in breadth ; a considerable portion 

 of it, on the west side, is two feet above the ground, and it is 

 situated at the distance of 030 feet from the old iiouse. But La- 

 caille states that the place in which himself, Mr. Bestbier, and his 



