REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, 1937-38 xxxi 



gardens. The work of the Geodetic Branch includes, among other 

 activities, precise levelling for the determination of heights, tidal pre- 

 dictions and the publication of tide tables for ports between Suez and 

 Singapore, the magnetic survey, astronomical observations for the 

 determination of latitude, longitude, and time, seismographical and 

 meteorological observations, and topographical survey and map reproduc- 

 tions. Most of the party found time to drive up to Mussoorie (6,500 feet), 

 from which the view of Himalayan snow-mountains is restricted, but that 

 over the foothills and the plains to the south is of impressive extent. 



The party left Dehra Dun late on December 26, and reached Benares 

 in the afternoon of December 27. Sir Arthur Eddington, F.R.S., visited 

 Allahabad, and presided over a colloquium on astrophysics. On arrival 

 at Benares the party was conveyed to Sarnath, where, about five centuries 

 before Christ, Buddha first preached after his enlightenment, and where 

 Asoka set up the great Dhamekh stupa in the third century B.C., and a 

 column of which broken remains are seen on the ground, while the 

 richly sculptured capital is in the adjacent museum. On December 28 

 the party viewed from boats the famous river-frontage of Benares with 

 its temples, ghats, and steps. Afterwards members were entertained 

 in the Benares Hindu University, and attended its twentieth Convocation, 

 at which, among others, the following delegates received honorary 

 degrees : Sir James Jeans, F.R.S., Sir Arthur Eddington, F.R.S., 

 Dr. F. W. Aston, F.R.S., Prof. E. C. C. Baly, C.B.E., F.R.S., Prof. 

 V. H. Blackman, F.R.S., Prof. C. G. Jung, and Prof. F. A. E. Crew. Sir 

 James Jeans addressed the Convocation, and lectures or short addresses 

 to students were subsequently given by Dr. F. W. Aston, F.R.S., Prof. 

 E. C. C. Baly, C.B.E., F.R.S., Prof. Ernest Barker, Prof. V. H. 

 Blackman, F.R.S., Prof. F. A. E. Crew, Sir Arthur Eddington, F.R.S., 

 and Prof. C. G. Jung. 



From Benares, which was quitted on the night of December 28, the 

 special train proceeded to Calcutta, which was reached in the afternoon 

 of December 29. It crossed the great Chinsurah bridge over the Hooghly 

 above the city, in order to enter Sealdah station, where it remained for 

 little more than an hour, and then proceeded through the night to 

 Siliguri, taking the great majority of the members for a visit to Darjeeling. 



It will be apparent from the preceding narrative that much of the 

 railway-travelling was done at night, but sufficient took place in daylight 

 to afford, together with the long road-journeys in Hyderabad and shorter 

 drives elsewhere, at least a cursory view of the main geographical regions 

 of central and northern India which were traversed. After the departure 

 from Bornbay in the late afternoon, there remained just sufficient light 

 to reveal the transition from the flat lowland of the Konkan country to 

 the flat-topped hills of the Western Ghats with their isolated pinnacles 

 and bold escarpments of basaltic lavas, deeply eroded. The plateau of 

 peninsular India, wherever it was traversed, whether in Hyderabad or 

 during the tour after the Congress, farther south, was seen in dry condi- 

 tions ; occasionally even a semi-desert type of vegetation was apparent. 

 If the scenery of the plateau left a general sense of monotony, it was at 

 any rate possible to distinguish some of its different physical character- 

 istics. The vast tracts of red laterite soil gave a peculiar impression of 



