Sessional_Paper_1884-1885 — Page 127

Report for 1884 from the Government Astronomer.

Presented to the Legislative Council by Command of

His Excellency the Governor.

123

No. 11.

HONGKONG OBSERVATORY,

1st January, 1885.

SIR,--For the information of His Excellency the Governor I have the honour to forward my annual report for 1884.

2. The necessity for an Observatory in Hongkong was recognised years ago. In 1879 the Royal Society suggested its establishment, and in 1881 a report was drawn up by Colonel Palmer, r.E., but his suggestions were not carried out, as the scheme submitted by him was considered to be too extensive for a beginning.

3. In May 1882 the Surveyor General submitted a report with reference to the Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Astronomer Royal, to whom a copy of this report was forwarded, was of opinion, that the smaller and simpler scheme therein suggested, would suffice for present requirements, and that the most pressing needs of the Colony were a time-ball and a meteorological service. The Surveyor General's report received then His Lordship's approval, and early in 1883 I was appointed Director of the Observatory.-Meantime the Kew Com- mittee, the Meteorological Council, the Meteorological Reporter to the Government of India and other authorities had opportunities of giving expression to their views on the subject.

4. I spent the following spring in inspecting the apparatus, that had been previously ordered or that I was instructed to order, and arranging details with the makers, as well as in studying the methods of observation adopted at the Royal Observatory, and the verification of meteorological and magnetic instruments at Kew.

5. The meteorological and magnetic instruments were ready before my departure from England. The Crown Agents for the Colonies arranged to have them carried without transhipment to Hongkong, and I started in June as passenger on the same steamer, accompanied by Mr. F. G. FIGG, who in the mean time had been appointed to be my first assistant.-The horological apparatus and the time-ball were not ready till long after my arrival in the Colony.

6. On my arrival here, I found the foundations of the Observatory already laid. In fact some progress had been made with the brickwork. The Surveyor General had selected the site some years ago, and it proved to be by far the best spot in the Colony for making scientific observations. The neighbourhood of the City of Victoria would not be suitable, as the mountains shut off from view a great portion of the southern sky, extending up to 25° of altitude, and for the same reason it is not possible to determine the true velocity and direction of the wind near the city. It is also likely, that the ferruginous rocks would deviate the plumb line, not to mention the magnetic needles.

7. I spent the following months partly in arranging details connected with the building and the foundations for the instruments, partly on a tour to the Treaty Ports of China, undertaken by order of His Excellency the Governor, to arrange to have meteorological observations made and regularly forwarded to the Observatory. The Inspector General of the Imperial Maritime Customs of China, who has contributed so much to forward the cause of science in that country, subsequently ordered a copy of all meteorological observations henceforth made in the harbours and lighthouses along the coast to be forwarded to me, and instruments of approved pattern are now being distributed among the stations. It is certain, that not only the meteorology of China will benefit by Sir ROBERT HARt's enlightened action, but the meteorology of the northern hemisphere will be forwarded, when reliable observations are made on a uniform plan in that extensive country.

8. The Observatory is built on the peninsula of Kaulung facing the harbour. It stands on the top of Mount Elgin, a small hill built up of decomposed granite, rising abruptly on all sides from the surrounding level ground and culminating in two prominences distant about 400 feet from each other. The top of the eastern prominence is flat, and forms, roughly speaking, a circle of about 200 feet diameter. Here the main building is situated. The magnetic hut is erected on the western prominence, the top of which was levelled and forms a rectangle 36 feet by 30 feet.