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II. On the Longitudeof Valparaiso

and CGlltao,
in a Letter
fronsBaron ALEXANDER
VONHUMBOLDT.
Sans Souci,nearPotsdam,Sept.6, 1839.

SIR,-I havelong delayed to express the homageof my lively

gratitudefor yourkindnessin enablingme so soon to profit by
the importantobservationswhich enrich the Second Part of
Volume IX. of the London GeographicalJournal. A journey
with the King of Prussiainto Bohemiahas delayedthe renewel
expressionof my high esteem, and of the alwaysincreasingin
terest causedby readinga journalso rich in originalmaterialand
so carefullyedited.
The tooflatteringmannerin whichthe Presidentof theSociety,
Mr. W. Hamilton, has in his excellent addressmentionetlmy
triflingand antediluvian
astronomical
laboursin tropicalAmerica
llas imposeduponme the task of examiningagain, and by comparisonvith new and good observations,the position of some
points to whichCaptainFitz Roy, in his admirablework (Appendixto the Voyayes
of thelSeagle),has attachedespecial interest. Among the pointswhichI have determinedon the coast
of the Pacific Ocean,Callao,the port of Lima, is perhaps the
most iinportalltof all. It is as much so as Cumana,Porto Rico,
and Havanah,are in the West Indies. In the luminousand
rigorous statementwhich Captain Fitz Roy has given of the
whole of his chronometric
determinations,
in lvhich,in the entire
circuitof the glol)e,only 33 secondsof time are to be accounted
for, tv be divile(l over a greatnumberof separatemeridiandistances, Captain CFits
Roy says, "(::allao,Sydney,and the Cape
of Good Hope (Xp. p. 345), are three remote points which
mightbe selected (for comparison),rather than others, because
generallysupposeelto be well determined;if the Beagle'sposition of Callaobe proxedincorrect,then must Humbol(lt's(calculatedby O1tmanns)be also illcorrect."
It will proloablybe agreeablcto you, sir, to be acquaintedwith
tlle resultsof somenew researcheson this point. My longitude
of Callao rests,as you know, on the passageof Mercuryof the
9th November, 1802. Tl-le interior contact,the surer of the
two,gave5h. 18m.18s.;themeanof the tsvocontactsSh. 18m.16s.,
reckoningalwaysfromthe meridianof Paris. :NI.Oltmannshas
comparedmy observationwithothersmadeat Greenwich,Paris,
Sielgerg,Lilienthal,Berlin, C'ette,and Copenhagen(Humboldt,
lVec.d'Obs.Astr.,tol. ii. p. 421-427). A long series of lunar
distances talven in tlle w-oyageof Captain Duperrey gives
5h. 18m. 16 3s.; Lartigue finds, by distancesand chronometric
measurementsfrom Quilca, ah. 181n.0 7s. (Givry, Conn. des
Tems, 18'27,p. 258) i arld Captain Fitz Roy decides 1lpon

andCallao.503
ontheLony.of Valparaiso
BarOnHUMBOLDT
5h. 18m.16s.(App.,p. 349), restingupon the longitudeof Valparaiso. Now, in the expeditionof the Beagle,4h. 56m. 7s. is
a(lopte(las the longitudeof Valparaiso,and for the eliCerenceof
longitudesbetweenValparaisoan(l Callao, Oh.22m. 9s. Now,
5h. 18m. 16s. is preciselythe longitude which the two contacts
gaveme, anzl2 secondsof time less thanthat by the exteriorcontact of the passageof Mercuryin 1802.
The passageof Mercuryoverthe disk of the sun in 1832 having been observedby M. Scholtzat Lima,an(lat I3reslawby M.
Boguslawski,I requeste(lM. Galle, assistantastronomerat the
at Berlin, to calculatethe passage.
Royal Observatory
3\/I.Galle found,for the longitudeof Lima,
11.m. s.
5 17 41 4 by the interiorcontact,
5 17 48 o by the exteriorcontact,
mean, Sh. 171n.45s. Now, I foundLimato the east of Callao
(Rec.d'Obs.Astr.,tomeii. p. 428), by chlonometer,-1S02, Nov.
,, Dec.
,,
,,
,,
,,

9
14
17
27

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

28 6
31 2
27 8
27 Gz

28 7
whence it results that, by the transitof AIercuryin 1832, the
longitudeof Callao is, accordingto M. Galle, Sh. 181n.13 7s.,
whilethe passageof 1802 gives 5h. 18m. 18s., and CaptainFitz
Roy decidesupon5h. 18m. 16s. The acctlracyof the eleterminationof the longitudeof Callaoseemsthus, for the last30 years,
withinsufficientlynarrowlimits.
to havebeen circllmscribed
ouglltto claimattentionin
observations
As absoluteastronomical
observations,allowme to
preferenceto relativeand chronometric
elvell for a momenton the pOSitiOll of Valparaiso. The occultation of the star,644 of the Scorpion,was observe(lon the 28th of
October,1821, with much accuracy,by CaptainBasil Hall. Mr.
Foster, an observerand calculatorgenerallvvery exact, accidentallyma(le a mistake ill the calculationof tllis occultation,
wllich gives, not 4h. 55m. lbs., as Mr. Foster thought, but
4h. 56m. 16 6s., for the fortof San Antonio at Vallearaiso. M.
far
Lehrbuch
Oltmanns, accor(ling to Bode (2Istronomisc72e
18g9, p. 197), in a memoiralreadywrittenin September, 1826,
pointed out the mistake in the calculationby the comparison
of the elements. Now, the occultation of Antares* gives
4h. 561n.42s.: we have,therefore,by the mean of two occulta* Tllis occultatioll of Antares is also an obsertrationof Captain Basil Hall. The
observationis good, but the calculation made of it at first was wrong, as is proved

504

A. VONHUMBOLDT
onathe

Baron

tions4h. 56m. 29s. = 74?7' 15/t; but, as lunardistancesand the

satellitesgive 74? and 73? 59', M. Oltmanns,in a MS. meinoir
which he communicatedto me shortly before his death, assumes as longitudeof Fort San Antonioat Valparaiso,74?2' =
4h. 56m. 8s., which only differsa second in time fromthe result
obtainedin the memorableexpeditionun(lerCaptainsKing an(l
Fitz Roy.
Captain Beechey has published(Naut.Mag., April, 1838)
an importantresult obtained by the moon's passage over tbe
meridian.Fourteen(lays'observations,
comparedwithCambridge,
Paris, Edinburgh,andthe Cape of Good Hope, (liSeronly27 secondsin time, andthe wholeof thesetransitsgives4h. 551n.59 1s.:
120 lunardistancesgive CaptainBeechey4h. 5Sm. 53 4s.; mean
h. 551n.56 6Ps.,only 12 secondsof time less than the wholeof
the occultations,satellites,and lunardistanceshad given to my
friend and colleague,Oltmanns. If we take the mean of the
first-classol)selvationsonly, for Callao of the two passages of
Mercuryover the sun's disk, for Valpalaiso of the two occultations calculatedby M. Oltmantls,and of the lunar transitsof
CaptainBeechey,we haveh. m. s.
Callao . . . a 18 15 8
Valparaiso . . 4 56 1254*
D;Serenceof longitudeO 22 S-4
whichagreesverywell withthe fourchronometric
trialsof
O

1t

Malespina . . 5 26 28
CaptainB. Hall . 5 31 47
Lartigue. . . 5 30 43
FitzRoy . F . 5 32 15
0 2c) 14
Perhapsit wouldbe prudentto excluele
theresultl)yMalespina
as differingthe most.
by the comparisollof the elements of calculation given by Bode, As!}2 Jahrb.fur,
1828, p. 182. The reslllt is not 71? 30/ 5@5/t, but 71? 51t 25/t west of (3reenwich.
* To remind us how useful it is to stlbmit old observationxto rigorous calculations, I will cite the eclipse of the sun of the 11th of Alarch, 17()9, observedby
Feuillee. This eclipse gave Triesnecker4h. 56m, 29 4s. * Mechain, 4h. 56m. 33s.
Oltmanns, 4h. 56m. 41s. (Paris). r acknowledge that the longitvldewhich results
from the transitxby Captain Beeche!, generally so nrorthyof coIlfidence,appeared
to me to give a longitude rather too mtlch to the east; for we have now definitively
for Valparaisosh. m. s.
4 56 41 i'euillEe and Oltmanns.
4 56 7 FitzRoy.
4 56 29 Occultation of E3asilHall.
4 55 56 Beechey.

Oltmanns
preferred
4h.56m.8s.

Lorzgitude
of ValparaisoastdCallao.

505

As astronomicaltables are graduallycorrected,it becoluesnecessaryto reviseformercalculations.

I foundCumanaby aneclipse of the sun 41l.2Sm.5 ls.
By chronometers4 26 4
By thesatellites 4 26 6
at 26

0 4

(Rec.d'Obs.Xstw.,tomei. p. 863.

On the 7th of November, 1799, I ha(l a good observation

of the Imm. II. Satellite,with a veryclearsky. This observation,
publishe(lly BaronvonZach duringmyjourneyon the Orinoco,
gives, by the tablesof Delambre,4h. C51n.32s.; a corresponding
observationat Marseillesmalies Cumanain 4h. 26m. 2]s. This
observationof the I1. Satellitehasjust beencalculatedwiththe escellenttablesof Damoiseau,by M. Wolfers,a veryexactandpractisedcalculator.It gives4h. 26m.S 9s., which,as a single
tion,onlydiffers4 secondsfronlthe generalmean. At this moment
thereare so few personswhooccupythemselvespersevering]y,
and
with the accuracythat the presentstateof scienceadmitsof, with
astronomicalgeography, especially for points situatel out of
Europe,that you will oblige us much if fromtime to time you
woul(ltransmitto me observations
for occultations,eclipsesof the
sun, anflof moon-culminating
stars,as I have the mearlsherc of
submittingthem to a rigorouscalculation.
The volumeof Mr. CharlesDarwirlis an admirablesupplementto the voyage of the Beaeyle:it is one of the most remarkable worksthat,in the courseof a longlife, I havehadthe pleasure
to see pululishe(l. WIr.Darwin unites to sagacityfor (letailetl
olesers-ations
enlargeelviews in generalphysics, I shoulelrather
say in naturalphilosophy, viewswhichembraceat oncegeology,
the geographicaldistributionof plants,an(lthe influenceof tesnperatureon the organictypes of the primitiveworld.
It is also fortunatethat this great espe(litionto the southern
regionsof Americashoul(l have induce(l5-OU1' able geographer,
Mr. .JohnArrowsmith,to compilehis lJeautifulmap of the whole
of the continentof SouthAmerica.
I oSerup the most arelentwishesfor thesuccessof themagnetic
expeditionunderCaptainJames Ross, anclfor the establishment
of the stationswhich w-eowe to the munificenceof the British
government:if it is true that the letter I ad(lresse(lto IS. R. H.
the Duke of Sussexan(l to the Royal Societyhas contribute(lto
these undertakirlgsso useful to science, I should congratulate
myself on havinghadthe courageto )lea(l so cxcellenta cause.
I hope that CaptainRoss has on boarclthe necessaryapparatus
oleserva-

clndCtlao.
on the Lony.of Malparaiso
506 Baron HUMBOLUT
fi)r observing maonetic dip at sea, as M. Adolph Erman* and
myself have done. As a stratuln of water of immense thickness
covers the surface of the globe, these observatiollsf being less
affectedby local perturbations,are of great importance even when
they may be made with less precision.
We shall also learn if the showers of shooting-stars from the
lOthto the lQth of August, and from the lEth to the 1.3thof November, are visilulefar towards the South Pole.
During the last six or eight months T have been daWyoccupied
with dle (lirections of the chains of mountains in Central Asia
de Geoand with a new e{litionof the two volumes of Fraymens
Asiatiques,which I publishe(l after my
loyieet de Cttimatotogte
return from Siberia. There still remains much doult as to the
position and namesof the lakes which in the plateau of Pamer are
the sources of the Oxus; I know nothing more of the discow-ery
of the Sini-gul and '; Lake Victoria" of Lieutenant Wooul exce)t
the few lines contained in the; Bomlay Gazettel and t.he ' Asiatic
Joulnal' for Novetnber, 1838.
Has the Geographical Society nothing more precise ors the
topography of Pamer, than some astronomical observations of
Lieutenant Wood, companion of the courageous Sir Alesander
Burnes ? This lake, at 15,600 feet abow-ethe sea, is of the more
importance to me, as, thanks to the kindness of M. Stanislas
Julienn professor of Chirlese literature at the College de France
at Paris, I shall publish a very curious notice on the plateau of
Pamer, extractedfrom the unpublished travels of Hiouenthsong.,
a Buddhist travellerof the 7th century.

HUMBOLDT.
ALEXANDER

R.N.
To CaytainWashingt01t,
P.S.-Mr. Scholllbllrgk continues to explore with the same
ardour. I hope that he will reach the Cerro Duida, the forest o?
and the mission of Es1neralda, where I was almost
Berthf)lletia,
eRexJollrell)y mosquitoes. May this excellent young man, my
countryman,always enjoy the kindness of your illustrious society !
A.str.Nach., 1839,
* M. Erman has {lescrabedhis apparatus ill Sch2fmacher's
p. 364.