28 National Geographic Magazine. 
of the work, rather an amusing incident occurred. As the com- 
munity was full of all sorts and conditions of men, Koreans, 
Chinamen and Russian exiles, the last not political but criminal 
offenders ; it was thought wise to have a sentry stationed at the 
observatory to guard against any possible harm to the instru- 
ments. So the Governor of the town was asked to furnish a 
soldier for that purpose, which request was readily granted, and 
one night the sentry was posted with orders to let no one touch 
the observatory. ‘These orders he construed literally, and when 
the observers appeared to commence their night’s work, he kept 
them off at the point of the bayonet. His only language being 
Russian with which the observers were not familiar, it was impos- 
sible to explain the true state of affairs, and it was only after 
hunting up an interpreter and communicating with his command- 
ing officer that an entry was finally effected. A good deal of bad 
weather was experienced at this place, but at the end of six 
weeks enough observations had been made for the required pur- 
pose, and the party was fortunate enough to secure passage to 
Nagasaki, in a small steamer that had brought a load of coal out 
from Germany. 
In the expedition to the Asiatic coast one of the most interesting 
experiences was the trip to Manila in the Philippine Islands. This 
is quite a large town when intact, but a great portion of it is usu- 
ally in the condition of being shaken down by an earthquake or 
blown over by a typhoon. The inhabitants are full of energy, 
however, and find time between downfalls to build up again. The 
cable from Hong Kong lands at a point about one hundred .and 
twenty miles from Manila, and the writer was directed to proceed 
thither, with a chronometer and chronograph for the purpose of 
transmitting time signals. The first part of the journey was 
made in a small coasting steamer uncommonly dirty, and occu- 
pied about thirty-six hours. At the end of that time the village 
of Sual in the Gulf of Lingayen was reached. This was distant 
from the cable station about thirty miles, and the remainder of 
the journey was made in a native boat, with mat sails, and bam- 
boo outriggers, part of the time through channels between nume- 
rous small islands and for some distance in the open sea. The 
progress was slow, but it was a pleasant way of traveling, except 
for the sleeping accommodations which were primitive ; consist- 
ing of a palm leaf mat thrown over a platform made of split 
bamboo, in which all the knots had been carefully preserved. 
