1838.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 579 



h -Hail. 



/—Lightning. 



ra— Misty hazy atmosphere. 



o— Overcast ; the whole sky being covered with an impervious cloud. 



p — Passing temporary showers. 



q — Squally. 



r — Rain, continued rain. 



s — Snow. 



t— Thunder. 



«— Ugly threatening appearance of the weather. 



w — Visibility of distant objects, whether the sky be cloudy or not. 



w — Wet dew. 



A dot under any letter, indicates an extraordinary degree. 



By the combination. of these letters, all the ordinary phenomena of the weather 

 maybe recorded with facility and brevity. Examples : bcm, blue sky, with detached 

 opening clouds, and a hazy atmosphere ; gv, gloomy dark weather, but distant objects 

 remarkably visible ; q.pdlt, very hard squalls, with passing showers of drizzle, and 

 accompanied by lightning with very heavy thunder. 



F. B. 



The Secretary explained that he had in June last, in communication with Lord 

 Auckland as Patron of the Society, addressed a circular to members and to public 

 authorities on the coasts of India, Ceylon, Mauritius, Java, &c, to which returns 

 were now daily arriving. The following report-progress contained all the informa- 

 tion he was yet able to offer. 



" Lieut. Siddons, Engineers, immediately undercook to make the observations at 

 Chittagong for July and October, (both of which were printed in the Journal.) 

 Those for January, which he had intended also to take in the Tek Naaf, he discon- 

 tinued on finding that Mr. Elson the Harbour Master had been directed to do the 

 same thing by the Marine Board, and that officer possessed naturally the means of 

 doing it more effectually than himself. 



He reported that " there are no individuals resident on the coast between Chitta- 

 gong and Akydb, capable of taking observations now that the custom house choki 

 has been done away with at Coxe's bazar, near Raima." 



From Ramri and Akydb, no return has been yet received, but Lieut. Phayre and 

 Lieut. Martin of the Engineers, will if opportunity is afforded, collect the requisite 

 information at these important points. 



From Maulmain (as stated at the last meeting), Mr. Commissioner Blundell 

 has returned observations of the tides near Amherst Town taken by Captain Corbin 

 from the 8th to the 15th of November, 1837, and a second series from the 26th of 

 December to the 1st February, 1838. Also a register kept by Captain McLeod, 

 off the wharf at Mergui, from the 3rd October to the 2nd November, 1837, and from 

 the 15th January to the 1st February : and a second series taken on King's Island in 

 a more open situation from the 31st December to the 1st February. 



All of the latter are forwarded both as observed and as corrected for time ; for 

 the principal difficulty consists in the providing native observers with the means of 

 taking the time correctly. Captain McLeod devoted one watch to the object, 

 noting its errors from time to time by his own regulated timepiece. 



Mr. W. T. Lewis of Malacca, wrote : ' I shall have much pleasure in attending 

 to your wishes regarding the observations of the tides, but as I should like to do 

 it properly I must have a little more time to attend to it ; my living in the country 

 is not convenient for it but I propose to arrange matters so as to have it done 

 correctly." 



From Singapore, Capt. Scott wrote me his views in considerable detail. One year's 

 observations at this port were published in the Society's Researches : they are alluded 

 to in Professor Whewell's note, as very valuable. 



Capt. Scott had also forwarded on my letter to Batavia, whence I received a polite 

 reply from the Secretary to the Literary Society, who stated that the circular would 

 be translated into Dutch, and printed for circulation to competent observers all 

 round the coast of Java. Meantime he forwarded a series of observations made in 

 Batavia roads during the years 1835 and 1836. 



Pursuing now the coast of India proper, Mr. C. B. Greenlaw, Secretary of the 

 Marine Board has placed in my hands a very complete series of daily observations 

 for 1834 kept at Balasore and at its seaward point Bulramghurry by the late master 

 attendant Mr. Alfred Bond. 



In July, 1837, the Marine Board directed Mr. Smith in charge of the light-house 

 at False Point to keep a register of the tides ; which has now been placed at my dis- 



