1870.] 



Great Melbourne Telescope. 



217 



The * Empress of the Seas' sailed from Liverpool on the 1 7 tli or 18th 

 of July; I followed by the August Overland Mail. 



On my arrival in Melbourne I found that, beyond the selection of a site 

 in the Observatory grounds, nothing had yet been done towards the erection 

 of piers or building ; this was principally owing to the fact that Mr. Ellery 

 and the Board of Visitors had not considered the information which they 

 possessed sufficiently definite to warrant their placing the matter in the 

 hands of the Works Department ; it had therefore been thought advisable 

 to await my arrival. 



Some necessary modifications having been made in the drawings, the 

 construction of the piers was soon proceeded with, and satisfactorily ter- 

 minated at the beginning of this year. 



In the mean time the ' Empress of the Seas/ with her precious cargo, 

 had arrived, after a very long voyage, which for some time was the cause 

 of much uneasiness ; parts of the instrument were unpacked and tempo- 

 rarily housed : the whole appeared in fair order ; there was certainly no 

 material damage done to anything. 



Arrangements being in progress for the erection of a suitable building, it 

 was thought advisable to delay mounting the telescope until part of the 

 building w T as constructed ; little therefore was done for some time beyond 

 setting up, as accurately as possible, the plummer-blocks which contain 

 the polar axis bearings. 



The building was commenced early in the year, and when it was 

 thought that sufficient progress had been made, the crane which had been 

 used in the erection of the piers was removed to a more convenient posi- 

 tion, and the various heavy parts of the instrument lifted on to the floor of 

 the telescope-room, over the walls or through a gap left for that purpose, 

 and, for convenience in after operations, in the north wall and north end of 

 the west wall. 



The mounting was then proceeded with, and satisfactorily accomplished 

 in little more than a week, as regards the main parts, without much 

 difficulty. 



Attempts were made on one or two occasions to use the instrument for 

 adjustment and observation, but it was found that the dust (a dreadful 

 enemy in the summer) and the grit caused by the building accumulated 

 to such an extent as to lead to fear of considerable damage to the bear- 

 ings and more delicate parts of the machinery ; it was therefore deemed 

 prudent to cover up the telescope as well as possible with tarpaulins, and 

 leave it in that state for some time. 



The building is rectangular, 80 feet long meridionally by 25 wide, with 

 walls 11 feet high. Of the meridional length the telescope-room occupies 

 the north 40 feet; the next 12 feet are appropriated to the polishing-ma- 

 chine, crane, and engine; the remaining 28 feet are divided into two rooms, 

 one of which is at present used as an office, the other, 25 by 14, is intended 



r 2 



