"I found that the observatory boasts of two good instruments: a meridian
circle, which must be good, from its appearance, and a Newtonian
telescope, differently mounted from any I had seen; cased in a
composition tube which is painted bright blue--rather a striking object.
The iron mounting seemed to me good. It was of the German kind, but
modified. It seemed to me that it could be used for observations far
from the meridian. The iron part was hollow, so that the clock was
inside, as was the azimuth circle, and thus space was saved.
"They have a wind and rain self-register, and a self-registering
barometer, marking on a cylinder turned by a clock, the paper revolving
once an hour.
"When I was at Dungeon Ghyll, a little ravine among the English lakes,
down which trickles an exceedingly small stream of water, but which is,
nevertheless, very picturesque,--as I followed the old man who shows it
for a sixpence, he asked if we had come a long way. 'From America,' I
replied. 'We have many Americans here,' said he; 'it is much easier to
understand their language than that of other foreigners; they speak very
good English, better than the French or Germans.'
"I felt myself a little annoyed and a good deal amused. I supposed that
I spoke the language that Addison wrote, and here was a Westmoreland
guide, speaking a dialect which I translated into English before I could
understand it, complimenting me upon my ability to speak my own tongue.
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