156 Appendix. 



would be subject to severe inunflatioris. Tndeod a flood f 

 Canada did destroy a large part of the town in lG-i;3. T 

 lii)e of the barranca is intersected by ravines similar in ( 

 to thii 

 outlin 



select a fitting place for the observatory, where the grounds could 

 be unbroken by these gullies, and care will be needM to ]>rcv 

 the descent to a lower le\el of mncdi of the soil which lias 1) 

 given us. 



The wind is very rarely from the eat^t, nnd I urn infomi'il t 

 it has never been known to be due west ; ;> circumstance douiitl 

 attributable in great part to the bariicr prc'-cntcd hy the miijii 



snow being not infrequent, 'although ice drH'^ not forni. Kvcii i 

 while roses, cactuses, cassias and White lilic- are in full bloom, 

 young peaclies of half their full si/c, and tlic grapes well form 

 — the mornings are uucomfortaldy cliilly, and no one tl:iiik? 

 wearing other clothes than woolen', ^'et' before the sun is an b 



never commit such an indiscretion. The astronomer, whose 

 pos\ire is by night, tiiuls bim^idf for ()nc(> at a vantage in tlu' ^ 



.'}:;?;;;;:;":;;.■; 



or iuuuediately after a rain, neither acti\e t'VerciM' nor evpoMiivf 



We are sutFering no small eniliai-i-a-srii<-nt iVom the noiKivn\:u 

 of our books and instrunn'nts iVoni ( ierniany. TIh- >[eridi:in ^jir- 

 cle, clocks, chronometer, j)hot.. met < r etc., \\*i re all on hoard ^hip 

 at Hamburg, when the war was dedan-l, and up to the h^t aU- 

 vices, although the blocka<U' of the Kllje had been raisod, ii'> ^'-' 

 sel for the Kiver La Plata had ventured to leave port. N^':«'>| 

 another month pass without tlu'ir arrival it wonld be a serious 

 drawback to us. Meantime there is i.lentv of ^vork to bo doiu' '" 

 superintending the buihlimr, u„d makim'- thV nunu'rous prelimma'-} 

 calculations for places of' standard stsfrs, tables of reduction, ou. 

 Should the meridian-circle be lon<r delayed, the time might bcj^^j^^ 

 employed in making such a UrancTmetrv for the southern sky as 

 absence of a photometer will allow,--on the same plan as Arg^ -"^ 



.,r cordial ^^^% 



