The eclipse expedition to Spain, shortly referred to above, was most interesting, not merely from the importance of the results obtained (and some of the parties were very fortunate in the weather) but from the character of the expedition.  It was a wonderful combination of the astronomers of Europe, who were all received on board the ‘Himalaya,’ and were conveyed together to the coast of Spain.  The polyglot of languages was most remarkable, but the utmost harmony and enthusiasm prevailed from first to last, and this had much to do with the general success of the expedition.  Those who landed at Bilbao were received in the kindest and most hospitable manner by Mr C.B.  Vignoles, the engineer-in-chief of the Bilbao and Tudela Railway, which was then under construction.  This gentleman made arrangements for the conveyance of parties to points in the interior of the country which were judged suitable for the observation of the eclipse, and placed all the resources of his staff at the disposal of the expedition in the most liberal manner.  The universal opinion was that very great difficulty would have been experienced without the active and generous assistance of Mr Vignoles.  It is needless to say that the vote of thanks to Mr Vignoles, proposed by the Astronomer Royal during the return voyage, was passed by acclamation and with a very sincere feeling of gratitude:  it was to the effect that ’without the great and liberal aid of Mr C.B.  Vignoles, and the disinterested love of science evinced by him on this occasion, the success of the “Himalaya” eclipse expedition could not have been ensured.’  There is a graphic and interesting account of the reception of the party at Bilbao given in the ‘Life of C.B.  Vignoles, F.R.S., Soldier and Civil Engineer,’ by O.J.  Vignoles, M.A.

Of private history:  “On May 26th my venerable friend Arthur Biddell died.  He had been in many respects more than a father to me:  I cannot express how much I owed to him, especially in my youth.—­From June 12th to 15th I visited the Whitby Lighthouses with my son Hubert.—­From July 6th to 28th I was in Spain, on the ‘Himalaya’ expedition, to observe the total eclipse:  I was accompanied by my wife, my eldest son, and my eldest daughter.—­From Oct. 5th to 18th I went with my son Hubert to Aberdeen to see the Girdleness Lighthouse, making lateral trips to Cumberland in going and returning.—­On Dec. 21st I went to Playford.”

1861

“In the Report to the Visitors there is great complaint of want of room.  ’With increase of computations, we want more room for computers; with our greatly increased business of Chronometers and Time-Distribution, we are in want of a nearly separate series of rooms for the Time-Department:  we want rooms for book-stores; and we require rooms for the photographic operations and the computations of the Magnetic Department.’—­The Report gives a curious history of Dr Bradley’s Observations, which in 1776 had been transferred to