88 



PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION A. 



visable to 

 attempt to sell 

 these instru- 

 ments in the 

 Colony with- 

 out further 

 instructions 

 from Home. 

 Let a Despatch 

 be prepared 

 enclosing a 

 copy of this 

 communica- 

 tion with 

 reference to 

 Lord Grey's 

 Despatch, No. 

 68, of the llth 

 April last. 



E. D. T, 

 4th Nov, 



Dft. of 

 Despatch, 

 23rd Nov, 

 48/12623 



Commanding 

 Koy. Engineer 

 10th Nov, 1848. 



Forwarded 

 to H. M, 



Secretary of 



State by 



Despatch 



No. 250, of 



23 Nov., 1848. 



take the proper steps for selling to the best advantage the 

 Instruments, &c , belonging to the Parramatta Observatory, I 

 have the honor to submit for the consideration and further 

 orders of His Excellency the following observations : — 



After the most careful enquiry I am led to believe that it 

 would not be expedient to sell on the spot the large 

 instruments of the Observatory. I have consulted Captain 

 King on the subject, and he agrees with me in opinion that 

 there would be no competition for the purchase of these large 

 instruments should they be offered for sale in the Colony. 



The following are the instruments which it is considered 

 could not be disposed of on the spot, and Captain King and 

 myself think it would be expedient to cause them to be 

 returned to England : — 



1st. The 42-inch meridian circle, by Jones ; the vernier not 

 graduated, and the instrument in other respects requiring to 

 be put into the hands of a skilful instrument maker to render 

 it serv^iceable. The late Mr. Dunlop never used it. 



The 30- inch transit belonging to this circle Captain King 

 thinks would be quite sufficient for the purposes of a time 

 ball. 



The 5-feet transit being unnecessarily large for this purpose, 

 he thinks it would be advisable to return it to England, and 

 keep the SOinch instrument in the Colony. 



2ud. The mural circle by Troughton. 



3rd. The 16-inch repeating circle by Reichenbach. 



oth. The zenith sector, in two cases, which appear to have 

 never been unpacked. 



I have the honor to be. Sir, 



Your most obedient humble servant, 

 J. A. GORDON, 



Lt.-Col. Com. Roy. Eng. 

 The Honorable 



The Colonial Secretary, &c , &c. 



[APPENDIX N ] 



l^Copy of a Letter from Captain Phillip P. King. E.N., to the Honorable 

 the Colonial Secretary.] 



PoKT Stephens, 



December 21st, 1848. 



Sir, — It is some years since the question of the boundary between the 

 provinces of South Australia and Australia Felix, or Port Phillip, was 

 mooted and when, as you will doubtless remember, Mr. Assistant Surveyor 

 Tyers was dii'ected by His late Excellency Sir George Gipps to ascertain 

 the exact position of the boundary line, that officer accordingly made a 

 very detailed and, as it appeared to me, a very careful triangulation of the 

 country between Melbourne and the Glenelg river, by which by astronomical 

 observation, and by chronometric measurement he fixed the eastern point 

 of the entrance of the "Glenelg" in longitude 141° 1' 23", or 1' 23" 

 within the province of Port Phillip. 



Mr. Tyers' calculations were examined by Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., 

 who, it appears, re-calculated the trigonometrical and chronometric 

 measurements, and found the longitude to be 16". 2 to the eastward of Mr. 

 Tyers. They were, however, questioned by that eminent geographer, Mr. 

 Arrowsmith, who, in a map published under the authority of the South 

 Australian Company, had placed the mouth of the Glenelg some eight or 

 nine miles within the province of South Australia. 



