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but twenty-two Peruvian leagues from Olmos, the road pass- 
ing along a valley which offers resources throughout the 
whole distance. But Gilliss had been informed by the com- 
mander of the steamer that the surf at Lambayeque was 
heavy, and that the risk of landing there with instruments 
might produce detention. He was not the man to hesitate 
under such circumstances, and chose the desert, with its pri- 
vations and hardships, but its increased chances of success. 
The event confirmed the propriety of the choice ; for when 
Dr. Moesta, who came up from Chile for the same purpose, 
and endeavored to land at Lambayeque, the surf precluded 
all possibility of landing until the fifth. In spite of his best 
efforts, he could only reach a village five leagues south of 
Olmos before the 7th, the morning of the eclipse, and the 
morning was cloudy there. In December, Gilliss again 
reached New York, having availed himself of an opportu- 
nity of accompanying Dr. Moesta on his return to Chile, and 
thus revisiting for a few days the friends whom he had left in 
Santiago six years before. 
Meanwhile, as the various reductions and publications of 
the Parallax Expedition went on, Gilliss was not idle in 
other directions. As the time for the total eclipse of 1860 
approached, he suggested the noted expedition for its obser- 
vation which was despatched to Labrador under our col- 
leagues, Messrs. Alexander and Barnard, by Mr. Bache 
for the Coast-Survey, and that sent by Mr. Winlock of the 
Nautical Almanac to the Hudson’s Bay territory, under Pro- 
fessors Ferrel and Newcomb. He himself took charge of 
a third, to Washington Territory, also under the auspices 
of the Coast-Survey. He observed the eclipse with great 
success, assisted by his eldest son, now a captain in the 
army, but then in the Coast-Survey service, and Mr. A. T. 
Mosman, also of the Coast-Survey. The point originally 
