of the same sort occurred at the most stormy of all the
southern stations, that at Kerguelen Island. The British expeditions
had, in the beginning, selected a station on this island known as
Christmas Harbor. We learned that a firm of New London, Conn.,
had a whaling station on the island. It was therefore applied to to
know what the weather chances were at various points in the island.
Information was obtained from their men, and it was thus found that
Molloy Point, bad though the weather there was, afforded better
chances than Christmas Harbor; so it was chosen. But this was not
all; the British parties, either in consequence of the information
we had acquired, or through what was learned from the voyage of the
Challenger, established their principal station near ours. But it
happened that the day at Christmas Harbor was excellent, while
the observations were greatly interfered with by passing clouds at
Molloy Point.

After the return of the parties sent out by the various nations,
it did not take long for the astronomers to find that the result was
disappointing, so far, at least, as the determination of the sun's
distance was concerned. It became quite clear that this important
element could be better measured by determining the velocity of
light and the time which it took to reach us from the sun than it
could by any transit of Venus. It was therefore a question whether
parties should be sent out to observe the transit of 1882. On this
subject the astronomers of the country at large were consulted.
As might have been expected, there was a large majority in favor
of the proposition. The negative voices were only two in number,
those of Pickering and myself. I took the ground that we should
make ample provisions for observing it at various stations in
our own country, where it would now be visible, but that, in view
of the certain failure to get a valuable result for the distance
of the sun by this method, it was not worth while for us to send
parties to distant parts of the world. I supposed the committee on
appropriations might make careful inquiry into the subject before
making the appropriation, but a representation of the case was all
they asked for, and $10,000 was voted for improving the instruments
and $75,000 for sending out parties.

Expeditions being thus decided upon, I volunteered to take charge of
that to the Cape of Good Hope. The scientific personnel of my party
comprised an officer of