which all this produced in developing character. Many people, who had always been cold and formal before, came up and offered their hands with a cordiality and frankness, quite contrary to what had seemed their natural disposition, but which proved ever afterwards sincere and steady.
“Just as I was leaving the house to return on board, two young men came to enquire for their sister, a widow lady, of whom they had not heard for more than a year. It so happened that this very person was one of my passengers, and nothing would satisfy the brothers and their wives, and two or three more, but going on board the Conway instantly, though it wan near midnight. Accordingly I stowed the whole party in my boat, and carried them off, to the great joy and astonishment of the widow.
“As the Commander-in-chief was at the capital, I proceeded there on the 23d to make my report.” * * * * * *
“From the 5th of April to the 26th of May, we remained at Valparaiso; but our occupations, however interesting to ourselves, were not of a nature to be here detailed. The few leisure moments which our professional avocations left us, were employed in making surveys, in astronomical observations, principally on a comet which remained in sight from the 1st of April to the 8th of June, and in experiments with Captain Kater’s pendulum, the object of which was to determine the figure of the earth.
“The observations on the comet were successful, as they furnished data for the computation of its orbit: a task performed by Dr. Brinkley of Dublin. The results of his computations have been published, together with the original observations, in the Philosophical Transactions for 1822.
“The experiments with the pendulum were of a more delicate and complicated nature, and required much care and exclusive attention. But the circumstances under which we were placed deprived us of that degree of leisure and abstracted thought, which this difficult and extensive problem requires. In all its details, however, it carries along with it the liveliest interest; yet only those who have been similarly employed can have a correct idea of the cruel disappointment which a cloudy night, or any other interruption, produces in the midst of a series of observations. On such occasions, when all our hopes were gone, and our day’s labour wasted, for want of a few clear hours of star-light, we employed the unwished-for leisure in visiting our neighbours near the observatory, or in calling on the English residents, and other well-informed persons. In this manner we were enabled to form a tolerable estimate of the state of political feeling at Valparaiso, where the intercourse with strangers was the greatest; and by comparing it with that at Santiago, of which also, we had now seen a good deal, to draw conclusions on the grand question of the effect of the Revolution on public opinion throughout the country.” * * * * * *
On the 26th May, Captain Hall sailed from Valparaiso, and proceeded along the coast towards Lima. During the greater part of this voyage the land was in sight, and he had
