Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 69.djvu/228

212 observers to join forces with them ; they had chosen an excellent site on a ridge to the south of Sawah Loento, but it was at a considerable distance from the living quarters, and it seemed to me that in that tropical climate we could not afford to spend much of our forces in walking to and fro, for the somewhat extensive programme of obser- vations would require much preparation. Under the guidance of Mr. van Lessen, the Chief Engineer at the mines, an excellent site was found on high ground above the mines to the N.W. of Sawah Loento ; and Mr. van Lessen was good enough to put at my disposal a house close to it, which had recently been built for the use of officers of the mines, but which had not yet been occupied. The house was close to four others in which mine-viewers were living, and, moreover, other houses were being built in their neighbourhood. Hence the con- veniences were in every respect very great, for the conditions implied that food supplies would be easily got, water was laid on, and build- ing materials were ready to hand. The house was built on a terrace which had been levelled on the hillside, and I decided to set up the huts and instruments within a few feet of the verandah.

I am very much indebted to Mr. van Lessen for his kind assistance in numberless ways. Not only did he make me free to use the resources of the mines and the coolies employed there, for the purpose of setting up the huts and building piers for the instruments, but he and Mrs. van Lessen helped us in setting up house in rather unusual circumstances, by lending us furniture and in enlisting a similar kind- ness from the resident ; ' Comptrolleur," Mr. Sieburgh. It is a pleasure to recall the readiness and interest with which the officers of the mines, under Mr. van Lessen's direction, helped us in our needs.

2. Position of Station.

The station for the observations was at Ayer Karoe, at the N.W. end of the terrace, on which are built five houses for the overseers of the Oembilien mines. The site is a few hundred yards from the village Doerian, along the road leading from Sawah Loento to Talawi. The position, read off" the Survey Map (scale 1 : 20,000), is longitude 23' 30" E. of Padang, and latitude 39' 55" S. Major Muller gave the Padang meridian as 100 21' 55" E. of Greenwich.

The position of the station may accordingly be taken as

Longitude 100 45' 25" E. of Greenwich.

Latitude 39' 55" S.

Height above mean sea-level at Padang, 1260 feet.

The spot is about 37 miles from the central line and on the north side of it. The duration of totality predicted from the elements adopted by the 'Nautical Almanac' was 5 m 42 8, instead of 6 m 29 s on the central line.