In January, 1843, the triangulation commenced at a headland north of St. Helena Bay, latitude about 32° S., and continued nearly parallel to the coast line, and about thirty miles from it until it reached Kamiesberg a little south of Lat. 30°. Here the arc was expected to terminate. The difficulties encountered this season were of a formidable kind, and the care required in the transport of Bradley’s zenith sector and a large theodolite, occasioned much tedious anxiety for their preservation. The party, too, was formed of different materials; the infantry soldiers had quitted, and the shipwrecked crew of the ‘Abercrombie Robinson’ had been engaged in their stead. Most of these sailors were rough, ill-behaved fellows, and, therefore, the chief responsibility of the preparations and the conveyances devolved upon the sappers. In addition to this, the country passed over north of the Oliphant river was a straggling desert, and the points used were at high altitudes—one of which exceeded 7,000 feet.[[454]]
In its progress northward, the party crossed the Oliphant or Elephant river on the 15th June, 1843, and the day being Sunday, encamped on its north bank to spend the sabbath. Six days after the expedition arrived at the foot of the Kamiesberg, where fell heavy rain for three days and two nights; and when the march was recommenced, the ground was so saturated, that the whole train had to be dug out of the mud repeatedly every day. In three days only eighteen miles were accomplished and that with great exertion. The oxen were now so knocked up that the farmers refused to go any further, and a fresh supply was procured at a missionary establishment twelve miles distant. When nearing that institution, the provisions were very low, and the difficulties of the expedition in this respect were greatly augmented by a heavy fall of snow. For the whole day the party were without food, nor could they make a fire to warm themselves.[[455]] They laboured, however, with excellent spirit, and succeeded that night in bringing three of the waggons to the missionary station; but the other two, sticking fast in the deep ruts, were not brought up till the next day. The men were badly shod, and suffered greatly. About a week after, the instruments were fixed and the observations commenced, which continued until October 1843, when the party returned to Cape Town,[[456]] and afterwards marched up the country to join their company.
The objects used for reflecting or observing were heliostats about 7 inches in diameter, and were chiefly attended to by the sappers, who were sometimes detached on this duty for several months at a time with a couple of natives under them to assist. On account of the heat, the observations were discontinued at 11 A.M., and not renewed until 3 P.M. Notwithstanding this intermission, the signal duties were oppressive. All supplies were got from a distance, which fully occupied the two natives in procuring them. The sappers were also intrusted with large sums of public money to pay all demands as the work progressed. On the Kamiesberg mountain they helped in the observatory in working the great sector to determine the position of some stars. Two stone-cutters of the number were detached from the Kamiesberg to Zwartland and Groenekloof to cut and build a pillar of stone at each end of the line, to mark the termini of the newly-measured base; and all, as the general service of the expedition permitted, erected at every fixed point a strong pile twenty feet high, secured to a base of twenty feet, to indicate the sites of the several trigonometrical stations.
Sergeant Hemming, before the close of the duty, was sent by the colonial astronomer on a reconnoitring excursion to discover a track from the neighbourhood of St. Helena Bay along the mountain range to the eastward, to Cape L’Agulhas on the coast. He was out fourteen days exploring the country, but from its inaccessible nature returned not only disappointed and exhausted, but unsuccessful.[[457]] In March, 1844, his connection with the astronomical department ceased.[[458]]
The detachment at the Falkland Islands continued throughout the year to labour in the establishment of the new settlement at Port William, which was situated on the south side of Jackson’s Harbour, and sloped from the shore to a ridge of rocks about a quarter of a mile inland. Notwithstanding the stormy character of the seasons, the detachment constructed three good jetties, made roads and pathways, and formed several ditches to drain the land and mark the different boundaries. They also erected and finished with interior fitments, the Governor’s house, and besides building a temporary barracks for the party with workshops and other convenient premises attached, small commodious cottages were run up for persons in official employment. Of the services and intelligence of sergeant Hearnden the Governor wrote in terms of unqualified praise. Both as a soldier and private individual, the influence of his example was felt in the colony, and he is stated to have been in an eminent degree faithful and successful in the discharge of his duty. Most of the men were also well spoken of for their excellent behaviour and zeal; and amid the innumerable inconveniences of their situation and services, they maintained their military character and discipline unimpaired. This was the more commendable as the temptation to drunkenness—the prevailing vice in the colony—was, from the absence of the common recreations so usual in England, and the inclemency of the weather, almost irresistible.
On the 16th February, forty-four rank and file embarked for Bermuda under the command of Lieutenant C. R. Binney, R.E., to fill up the vacancies occasioned by the epidemic in the previous year, and landed from the ‘Prince George’ transport on the 8th April. Corporal David Harris, the chief military diver, under Major-General Pasley at Spithead, was in subordinate charge of the party.
Sir Robert Wilson, the Governor of Gibraltar, inspected the companies of the corps at the fortress in common with the other troops under his command, in May and October, and on each occasion made flattering allusion to their conduct and discipline. On the 13th May, after some general remarks of commendation, Sir Robert Wilson adds—“All the corps and battalions merited unqualified approbation, and the Governor bestows it with pride and pleasure. The royal sappers and miners, however, whose laborious daily duties occupy their whole time, except the afternoons of alternate Saturdays, deserve, without any invidious preference, particular commendation for preserving a soldier-like mien, and exercising as if they had been in the habit of daily practice.” And again, on the 13th October, he wrote:—“The practice of the royal artillery yesterday was highly satisfactory and impressive, and the royal sappers and miners, including the detachment which arrived only the night before, presented under arms an appearance and proficiency which corresponded with the character established by the capacity and assiduous labours that have distinguished this corps during its employment on the works of the fortifications since the Governor has had the honour to command.”
Early in May, Major-General Pasley resumed, for the sixth and last time, his operations at Spithead. Lieutenant H. W. Barlow, R.E., was the executive officer under whose charge were placed sergeant George Lindsay and thirteen rank and file of the corps, with an equal number of the East India Company’s sappers, and a strong force of seamen, riggers, &c. The removal of the ‘Royal George,’ notwithstanding that there still remained nineteen guns of that wreck at the bottom, was reported to be perfectly accomplished, and the roadstead quite safe for the anchorage of shipping. The Major-General, therefore, turned his attention to the recovery of the guns of the ‘Edgar’ man-of-war, which was blown up at Spithead in 1711. She had been armed with 70 guns, technically termed demi-cannons, sakers, and falconets. The first were 32 and 12-pounders; and the others respectively 9 and 6-pounders. The great mass of timber, embedded in mud, composing the centre of the hull of the wreck, was discovered by corporal Richard P. Jones on the 23rd May. The sweeps from the boat having been caught by an obstruction below, Jones descended by them till he found himself astride a 32-pounder iron gun, which was peeping through a port-hole on the lower deck. It happened at the time to be unusually clear at the bottom, and to his amazement there stood upright before him the midship portion of the vessel, with an altitude above the general level of the ground, of thirteen feet and a half. From the open ports, in two tiers, yawned the mouths of about twelve pieces of ordnance, grim and deformed with the incrustations of 133 years. This part of the ‘Edgar’ was not much shaken by the explosions, but when the fore and after magazines took fire, the head and stern of the vessel were blown away from the body and scattered to distances exceeding three hundred fathoms. So violent indeed had been one of the explosions, that the best bower anchor was not only broken in fragments, but its flukes and shank were separated from each other, nearly half-a-mile. The midships, sharing but little in the convulsion, went down like a colossal millstone, scarcely heeling on her bottom; and the armament of the decks remained as if ready for battle, without a carriage unjerked from its platform, or a gun from its carriage. All the woodwork, however, was so completely decayed by the ravages of worms, and the insidious action of the sea, that when the guns were slung, they were hauled through the decks, as if no obstruction interposed.[[459]]
Before the close of the season, the whole of this mass was got up, by the continual removal of pieces loosened by frequent small explosions. Almost the whole of the keel was likewise sent up, with innumerable fragments of timber, spars, &c., and many guns, eight of which had been recovered in one week. The first was found by corporal Jones. A great number of sinkers or large stones, by which the wreck buoys were moored, and a number of small anchors were also recovered. In the early part of August the operations were much retarded by some very violent gales, preventing the divers working from time to time; but as soon as the weather moderated, corporal Jones, with his usual zeal, taking down with him a large crate, sent up at one haul, besides a load of staves of casks, &c., ninety-one shot of various sizes. The guns of the ‘Edgar’ were much scattered at the bottom by the explosion of her magazines, and the unexpected distances to which they were thrown, rendered a more extended sphere of action necessary. This was effected by a simple arrangement of ropes as guides, upon which worked a transverse line just over the bed of the roadstead, that caught in its track any object rearing itself above the general level. In this way the entire area of the bottom, supposed to conceal any of the fugitive cannons, was traversed, Jones and Sticklen being the operators; and was attended with so much success, that nearly the whole of the guns and wreck were sent up and deposited in the dockyard before the 31st October, when the season closed. The party rejoined the corps at Woolwich on the 2nd November.[[460]]
In addition to Jones, the divers were John Girvan, Donald McFarlane, Philip Trevail, and William Frame, besides four of the East India Company and five others occasionally.[[461]]