Item 28 - Letter from John Herschel

4 pp

Feldhausen, near Wynberg - On the 6th [see JH to WW, 4th July 1835] JH sent WW a series of tide observations made in Simon's Bay under the superintendence of J. Deas Thomson: The observers seem to have been regular and JH thinks the data can be trusted. Further to the above letter and the results of his interpolations, he encloses the curves themselves. The Table Bay observations proved problematic and although both JH and [Thomas] Maclear tried to take readings they did not have the necessary time: 'I did a few tides myself but I soon found it no joke to ride into town 7 miles and out again and pass 4 hours a day on the jetty so I was forced to give in, as I found it impenetrable to get back in the evenings in time for my sweeps. Maclear observed also several tides, but his assistant Meadows being gone to England and Smyth not yet arrived he could not leave the observatory often so he set his labourer Bowler (who took transits - reduced observations - and other observatory work) to give his whole time and attention to the tides for the rest of the month'. JH gives a comparative table of the results from Simon's Bay and Table Bay which show that the tide arrives nearly at the same time in both places. In astronomy JH has nearly swept the whole of the southern hemisphere. News on domestic fighting and politics in South Africa.