Establishment of the corps—Organization of companies—Distribution—Establishment at Chatham—The Ordnance Survey—Its divisional districts—and military character—Qualifications of the observers—List of the non-commissioned officers employed as such—Greatest distances observed by them—Importance of the services of the non-commissioned officers, as proved by the reduction of the officers—Situations of trust filled by them—Strength of the companies—Average distribution in the United Kingdom—Division of labour—Great triangulation—Private James Weir—Secondary and minor triangulations—Other general survey duties—Perambulation of boundaries—Sergeant Robert Meade—Pay and allowances—Skilful and distinguished talents and usefulness of eleven non-commissioned officers; and of quartermaster William Young—Merits and services of the survey companies.

The establishment of the corps, excluding the nine staff officers attached to it, counts a total of 4,025 of all ranks. This number is divided into thirty-two companies, twenty-eight of which were raised for general service, and four for the duties of the national surveys. There is also one troop of drivers.

Each general service company is organized, with respect to trades, in numbers equivalent to the assumed wants of the service; and thus constituted, it is in a position, in proportion to its numerical efficiency, to undertake and accomplish any work within the scope of military purpose and requirement. The skill of the workmen and their ability as a body are rendered certain, by the enlistment of none but good or promising artificers, and the extreme care taken to form a company for duty.

Such, however, is not the rule in completing a survey company, for men of superior intelligence and acquirements only are drafted to them, irrespective of any classified organization of their establishment with respect to trades.

The distribution of the corps is as follows:—

Detachments from the above are at the following places:—

For Sandhurst a detachment is furnished for two periods in each year for the practical instruction of the cadets in field engineering, pontooning, and bridgemaking. A similar party is also provided for the instruction of the gentlemen cadets at Woolwich; but its services are simply confined to the construction of a few field-works, and the making of fascines and gabions.

It will be unnecessary to allude to the present employment of the sappers further than to notice, that at all engineering stations at which they are quartered, they are appointed to share in the execution of ordnance works.

At Chatham the sappers receive instruction in the field services of the royal engineer department. The course followed is very complete, omitting no detail with which a sapper should be acquainted, and embraces the teaching of a system of pontooning with every variety of means and appliance, also bridgemaking, photography, telegraphy, and the recently-introduced system of rifle science and judging distances. Now that permanent teachers are appointed to the establishment to afford tuition in the elementary principles of fortification, and in plan-drawing and surveying, there is every reason for anticipating that the corps will much improve in the theoretical as well as practical knowledge of its peculiar duties, and be better fitted—when thrown by accident away from their officers into circumstances of difficulty and danger—to apply the resources of their acquirements and experience to master the one and conquer the other.

The four survey companies are engaged in completing the secondary and minor triangulation of Great Britain; the detail survey and contouring of Scotland and the four northern counties of England, and the revision and contouring of the northern counties of Ireland. Occasionally they carry on special surveys for the Government; execute similar work for sanitary purposes for local boards of health, and make surveys of particular towns, parishes, and manorial estates—for municipal service or proprietary record and reference—at the expense of local corporations or of private noblemen and gentlemen. Small parties have at times been employed in making tidal observations for investigating the theory of the tides and for other scientific uses, and also in gleaning much subsidiary information, to be embodied in the Ordnance Memoir of the Survey, should it at a future day be published. In Ireland, the companies did excellent service in collecting various statistical details, and gathering minerals, fossils, and objects of natural history, to assist in developing the investigations of those interesting subjects. In conducting the survey of Great Britain, however, that branch of the duty has been abandoned.

The survey department comprises nine divisions, the headquarters of which are at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Darlington, Carlisle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Kelso, Ayr, Dumfries, and the Harris isles, a group in the Hebrides. Southampton is the chief station. Special divisions also include detachments employed in the triangulation, perambulation of boundaries, in the duty of levelling and contouring, and hill-sketching, while a strong force is employed in Ireland, with its principal offices at Dublin, Belfast, and Enniskillen. No idea, however, can be formed from this detail of the actual distribution of the survey companies, for the men are dispersed, singly or in small numbers, throughout the United Kingdom. The duty of levelling alone at one time engaged no less than thirty-six detached parties.

The survey is organized and conducted on military principles, “and though the assistance of civilians is largely made available, it is simply to serve as the muscles for the military skeleton. No branch of the duty,” except the engraving, “is performed exclusively by civilians.” The officers of royal engineers have the chief direction. “Their number, however, is by no means constant, but is regulated by the extent of ground under survey, and by the degree of proficiency of the non-commissioned officers.”^[213]

Until 1843 one or more officers always remained with each great instrument, “but now the non-commissioned officers are so well instructed, that they can observe as correctly as their superiors, and the constant presence of an officer is no longer necessary.”^[214]

The non-commissioned officers who have, as observers, had charge of the different great instruments are as follows:—

Ordnance 3-feet Theodolite by Ramsden.

Royal Society’s 3-feet Theodolite by Ramsden.

This is the instrument that was used by General Roy, and subsequently by Captain Kater, in making the trigonometrical observations for determining the difference of longitude between the observatories at Greenwich and Paris.

The greatest distance ever observed by sergeant Donelan was to an object 106 miles from his station. His next two greatest were to points between 104 and 105 miles off. Corporal Jenkins even gained upon his instructor, and observed distances of 106 and 107½ miles. Corporals Forsyth and Stewart were more successful still. One distance obtained was 106 miles, another 108 exactly, and both observed an object upwards of 111 miles away. This achievement records a measurement which exceeds in distance any observation heretofore made on the Ordnance Survey.

The 2-feet Theodolite was used by—

The 18-inch Theodolite has been employed by—

At one period there were forty-five officers on the survey; at another nine only; now there are nineteen including the superintendent. Although the number of officers is very small, considering the extent of the total force employed, yet, by a simple arrangement, the numerous detachments are effectually commanded by the officers. The strength of the different parties is not proportioned to the ranks of the officers, but to the exigencies of the service on which they are employed.^[215]

Except at Southampton and Dublin nearly all the offices of importance and trust on the survey are filled by sappers, “no civilian,” except in a few instances, “being responsible for more than his individual labour.” Each section in the field, however small, “is under the charge of either a non-commissioned officer or private, who is responsible that the work is carried on according to orders, and that every precaution to prevent negligence or deception is taken. In the office likewise, a non-commissioned officer superintends each department of the work and reports either directly, or through a senior non-commissioned officer, to the officer of engineers in charge. Every division having commonly several small detachments in the field, the payment of each detachment is necessarily made through the non-commissioned officer in charge of it.”^[216]

The actual strength of the corps on the survey on the 14th June, 1849, taken from a return presented to the Committee of the House of Commons on Army and Ordnance Expenditure,^[217] is subjoined:—

The survey strength and distribution on the 17th October, 1856, the date of changing the designation of the corps, were as follows:—

There was also a civil force, working with the survey companies, of upwards of 1,700 persons, more than 600 of whom were labourers. The remainder, for the most part, were engravers, surveyors, draughtsmen, computers, and clerks.

For the last thirteen years the strength of the corps on the duty has been disposed of as follows: The totals calculated from the monthly records are the annual averages. Of this force a strong detachment has always been employed in the work of the triangulation, at one time amounting to fifty-four men, who alike visited the mountains of Scotland and England. Such also was the case with the contouring detachment, which in the early part of 1853 and down to October, 1856, numbered about forty men of all ranks. Both parties are included in the averages for England, as their location, from being constantly on the move, has not been determined in the general monthly returns of the corps:—

The greatest strength of the sappers employed on the survey duty, was, in October, 1856, 446 of all ranks.

The division of labour is perfect in detail, and as comprehensive as its delicate minutiæ will permit. To each department of duty a proportion of sappers is attached with reference to their acquirements and experience, and the wants of the service. In the principal triangulation recently finished, the sappers always took an important part. Young soldiers newly posted to the companies, who displayed no particular aptitude for finer work, were usually sent upon it. The duty was arduous and severe, and the men invariably slept in tents or portable huts, on mountain slopes at high altitudes. A sketch of a survey hill encampment may be seen in the Aide Memoire, which graphically illustrates the rugged character of the site, and by inference, the difficult and trying nature of the duty.^[219]

In the great triangulation, the 3-feet, 2-feet, and 18-inch theodolites are used to make the required observations. At the several stations selected for the work, each instrument is fixed in a “crow’s nest” on some mountain peak or crag, or perched upon the turret or narrow towering steeple of some country church or city cathedral, or stayed by guy-ropes among the battlements of some deserted old castle.^[220] For the last thirteen years, non-commissioned officers with strong camp parties under them have fulfilled this duty, and have visited, in every vicissitude of weather, nearly all the leading trigonometrical stations in Great Britain. “It is, perhaps, right,” says Captain Yolland, “to mention, that whereas formerly, it was deemed necessary to employ general officers of the army and scientific individuals to make the required observations with the theodolite to carry forward the principal triangulation, the whole is now done by non-commissioned officers of sappers, the only difference being, that in the one case the general officer worked out his own results, and in the other the non-commissioned officer simply forwards his observations to Southampton for computation. That” continues the captain, “is a very important economical result of employing sappers and miners.”^[221] “In justice to the highly meritorious body of non-commissioned officers of the corps of royal sappers and miners,” writes Colonel James, “I should state, that whilst in the early part of the survey the most important and delicate observations were entrusted solely to the commissioned officers, these duties have of late years been performed by the non-commissioned officers with the greatest skill and accuracy.”^[222]

Several parties are also employed in conducting the secondary and minor triangulations. In prosecuting the former, theodolites of 12 and 10 inches diameter are used, in the latter 9 and 7 inches. The use of the smaller instruments was commenced about 1826 by the sappers, who carried on the observations in connection with the chain survey. Next year a few sergeants were entrusted with 12-inch instruments. In 1833 some expert men were attached to the mountain party of Captain Portlock, who thoroughly trained them as observers. About 1838 a selection of some forward and enterprising sappers was sent to Lieutenant Downes, to replace the civilians in charge of the observing parties. From this time is dated the general employment of sappers in the use of the secondary class of instruments. “The system of employing trained sappers” in the work of the triangulation, and in the use of the zenith sector was “introduced by General Colby, and attained during his time its fullest development.”^[223] Here it should be noted, however, that the sappers in the field are confined to the practical duty of observing only, and consequently take no part in the responsibility of the calculations, which are entirely carried out under the direction of the officers of royal engineers. As mere observers the non-commissioned officers have succeeded eminently, and their observations will bear the strictest comparison with any previously made either with the great instruments or the zenith sector.

The other duties of the companies comprise the computation of distances, areas, altitudes, latitudes and longitudes, the detail survey of the kingdom, and the drawing and colouring of the necessary plans for engraving and publication. Several men have the important duty to discharge of examining the work on the ground, before the plans are fairly finished; and a number are constantly employed in contour levelling. The great bulk, however, of the companies is dispersed on the detail survey and in plan-drawing.

A few non-commissioned officers are also engaged in the perambulation and notation of public boundaries—a branch of duty demanding from those selected to carry it out a good understanding, a habit of sifting and weighing evidence of a confused and contradictory character, and mental vigour sufficient to bear up against the hard and depressing study of wearying and uninteresting details and registries. Long-standing litigations between parishes and townships respecting the demarcation of certain lands have often been investigated by the non-commissioned officers, and upon the accuracy of the reports drawn up by them depended the decisions of the superintending officer. In elucidating the features of particular territorial disputes, dry legal enactments and charters, corporate and manorial records and histories, have not unfrequently to be consulted. Some important cases, shrouded in difficulty and complexity, have called for a more lengthened inquiry and application; and the plodding perambulators, to make themselves masters of the points at issue, have even extended their researches to the study of old and abstruse authorities, such as Pope Nicholas’ Taxation, the Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VIII., and the MSS. of Torre and Archbishop Sharpe. Some of the reports display a more than average amount of talent, argumentative skill, and antiquarian information.^[224]

The following detail shows the regimental and survey rate of pay received by the sappers on the 14th June, 1849, at the time the committee was sitting on army and ordnance expenditure:—^[225]

The majority of the lowest class were men who had but recently joined the survey, and whose attainments and usefulness had not been sufficiently known to warrant their being advanced to the higher classes. The working pay is fixed by the superintendent at a rate for each “according to his acquirements and industry; and for the satisfactory performance of duties requiring management and ingenuity, such, for instance, as reflecting with the heliostat, piling hills with judgment,” accuracy and expertness in taking astronomical observations, &c., “it is customary to allow special rewards.”^[226]

A few of the non-commissioned officers and men not already mentioned in these records, who have been conspicuous on the duty, and have gained special attention for their abilities and advantageous services in very responsible situations, are here given as examples, to encourage others in the corps to seek and cultivate still higher attainments, and to emulate their usefulness and zeal.

Second-corporal William Lowrie. Enlisted in July, 1833. Application and industry soon made his services of value to the survey. His maps of the city of Limerick and town of Liverpool have ranked him among the first class of draughtsmen. In January, 1845, he purchased his discharge, and obtained profitable employment in the Assessionable Manors’ Commission. He is now surveyor and draughtsman at a high salary to the harbour department of the Admiralty.

Sergeant James Sinnett. A non-commissioned officer of indefatigable energy and intelligence; was one of the best draughtsmen in the corps, and excelled in landscape drawing; was also an efficient superintendent, and after a service of more than eighteen years, died at Liverpool in August, 1844.

Sergeant William Jenkins. Has been principally employed in the triangulation, and has observed with the 3-feet theodolite from some of the most important trigonometrical stations in the kingdom. Through a long catalogue of great instrument observers—from the eminent General Mudge to the non-commissioned officers of the corps who had completed the grand triangulation, sergeant Jenkins stands unrivalled. His reputation in this department of duty depends not on opinion but on a fact which has become a feature in the history of the operation; for his observations, computed comparatively with those of other observers, have, in their value, proved to be the best. During the London survey in 1848 he assisted sergeant Steel in taking observations from the station above the ball and cross of St. Paul’s. He also distinguished himself in the use of the zenith sector at Southampton, and subsequently was second in charge of the re-measurement of the base on Salisbury Plain. In 1855 he was selected to exhibit at the Paris Exposition the scientific contributions from the ordnance survey, during which, he had the rare distinction of offering explanations concerning the maps and instruments in his charge, to the Emperor; and also of being the bearer to Colonel James, as head of the national survey of the United Kingdom, a gold medal of honour and a first class silver medal, in testimony of the high appreciation with which the survey specimens of art, had been received in the French metropolis. At present he has charge under Captain Clarke of the persons employed at Southampton on the computations of the secondary and minor triangulations and of the correspondence with the parties engaged on that duty in the field.

Sergeant William Scott, after a service of twenty years, left the corps in November, 1845. He joined it a lad from the Hibernian School. His acquirements were varied and above the average of intelligent men. Whether as a surveyor, draughtsman, examiner, or superintendent, his work was always executed with quickness and accuracy, and he was frequently encouraged in his duty by preferment and eulogy. In 1839 he had the charge of the detail survey of the city of Limerick, and the preparation of the plans on the 5-feet scale. The survey was executed entirely by chain triangulation, in a manner so superior as to elicit the marked approbation of his officers. On retiring from the corps he commenced life anew as a civil engineer, and obtained good employment in the profession in England. His success, however, did not keep pace with his wishes and exertions, but sailing for the West, he was not long unknown in Canada. Under his superintendence the western division of the Great Western Railway was executed. On its completion in 1854, and when his connection with the undertaking had ceased, he was presented by the employés of the company at a public dinner, with a gold watch of the value of 500 dollars, as a token of high respect for his professional knowledge, and for his zeal and amiable firmness in directing the works. He now holds, through his own unassisted efforts, an honourable position in society, is esteemed for his attainments in science and engineering, and his prosperity has placed him in circumstances of moderate wealth.

Corporal William M‘Lintock was a very clever artizan. An ingenious machine was invented by him for ruling the lines of even shades on the copper, superseding its execution by hand engraving; and another for producing a finer, smoother, and more uniform impression of the characteristics of the maps. They are still in use at Southampton. The first, by a simple and beautiful process of mechanism is, when arranged, set in motion, and performs its delicate operations unaided, until the particular service assigned to it is accomplished. The other produces its advantages by an effective adaptation of the hydraulic principle and steam. Both inventions possess many excellences over the former modes of executing these fine and scrupulous details, and not only save much time and labour, but the chance of inaccuracy and irregularity in the performance.

Sergeant James Beaton has given much satisfaction as an observer. He is also well known for his successful daring in the building of structures for trigonometrical purposes. Since 1840 he has superintended the erection for these objects of at least fifty scaffoldings with stages, on the summits of towers or spires of churches, and in other prominent positions, in various parts of the British isles. Some of these structures have exhibited great skill, and the ingenious arrangement of the timbers, cordage, and fastenings, made the scaffolds with their platforms, objects alike of curiosity and architectural merit. The celebrated stages at Calaiswold near Bishopwilton, and Arbury Hill near Daventry, were massive and imposing structures. The former was 78 feet high, and 300 trees from the estate of Sir Tatton Sykes were used in its construction: the latter was 80 feet high, and the timber employed in it took a waggon and four horses for six days to collect it on the site. The scaffolds and stages on the steeples of Thaxted and Danbury churches in Essex were cleverly executed. The Thaxted one was a particularly difficult service, and accomplished at imminent personal risk. It was nevertheless a very artistic and beautiful work, and of sufficient interest to receive delineation in a London journal. It was built in April, 1844. The scaffold and stage were more than 102 feet in height, and rose from the crown of the tower, which had an elevation of 100 feet from the ground. His most distinguished work was superintending, in 1848, the erection of the scaffolding and stage around and above the ball and cross of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and which earned the reputation of being a “wonderful specimen of skill”^[227] and workmanship. The design for it was made by sergeant James Steel; but sergeant Beaton effected some important improvements in its details, which gave solidity and stability to the delicate fabric. His coolness, scrupulous care, and unflinching zeal in carrying on the work were astonishing, and during its progress he was visited by many architects, engineers, and professional men, who treated him with great courtesy, and eulogised his talent and courage. In the metropolitan sanitary survey sergeant Beaton took the trigonometrical observations at nine points of the district, the chief stations being on the cupola of the Colosseum, St. Luke’s, Chelsea, the Pagoda Tower at Kew Gardens, and the Wimbledon and Highgate churches. The stage at the Pagoda was very difficult of erection. The tower is 140 feet high, and the pole from its apex rises to an elevation of 20 feet. Above this pole in a very skilful manner was the stage constructed, which rested upon four 30-feet spars based upon the cupola. While the work was in progress frost set in, and the roof, smooth as a sheet of glass, rendered the movements of the workmen very perilous; but the sergeant, equal to the occasion, by means of a circle of sheeting secured at the foot of the uprights, and the strewing of gravel on the planks, effected the service with his accustomed success. At Wimbledon spire the scaffolding from the base to the top was 85 feet, and from its neatness had so beautiful an appearance, that a drawing of it was transferred to the pages of the ‘Illustrated London News.’ It was built during the prevalence of a strong gale, and to insure security against an increased pressure of wind on the superstructure, 700 yards of chain and 500 yards of rope were fixed to the base of the main posts, and passed fourfold through the belfry windows, and made taut to the eight-bell frame by powerful tackling. The strength of the fabric was afterwards severely tested, for a violent storm came on, and whilst large trees were thrown down and others were snapped off above ground, the stage on the fragile spire of the church weathered the hurricane. At Highgate church he built a similar stage above a spire of 60 feet, rising from a tower of 70 feet: this spire was architecturally embellished with turrets, pinnacles, &c., and eight flying buttresses. A storm set in here also, which shook the houses in the vicinity of the church. At midnight the sergeant was awakened by the wind, and dressing himself hastened to the top of the steeple. Nothing daunted by the oscillations of the stage he secured the instrument, and reefing a part of the canvas of the observatory saved it from destruction. This incident is given to show the sergeant’s spirit and devotion to the service. At Gloucester Cathedral he erected on the tower a neat scaffolding and double stage, to receive his observatory, which was made to peer over the delicate pinnacles of the edifice. The pinnacles rose 52 feet above the roof, while the height of the building from the ground to the top of the spires measured 226 feet. This service was carried out with his usual ability and care, and the damage done to the cathedral in the fixing, and afterwards in the removal of the heavy timbers and stores, cost to repair it only the small sum of 1s. 4d. Similar scaffolds and double stages were constructed by him on the towers of Tewkesbury Abbey and Worcester Cathedral. From 1850 to 1855 he conducted the trigonometrical observations with the 2-feet theodolite from the top of Nelson’s Monument on Calton Hill, from the turret over the crown-room at Edinburgh Castle, and from many mountain stations in Scotland. At one period of his service he was employed in the triangulation of Lewis, and underwent incredible hardships in its prosecution. Indeed, throughout his survey career of more than twenty-three years, his adventures and vicissitudes on mountain duty, in observing, in scaffold building, in travels by land and sea, exposed in camp to frost and snow, to violent winds, storms, and deluging tempests, belong almost to the romance of science. This is true not only with respect to the arduous and trying services of sergeant Beaton, but to many others who, like him, have been allotted to the laborious duty of the great triangulation.

Colour-sergeant James Donelan was discharged in April, 1853, and, subsequently, for his excellent services received a silver medal and an annuity of ten pounds a year. From the year 1839 he was employed in charge of parties on mountains and at other stations, in making observations of angles and bearings, for the secondary and minor triangulation of Ireland. From December, 1841, to April, 1842, and from January, 1843, to late in 1852, he had the sole charge of Ramsden’s three-feet theodolite, and made observations for primary triangles, some of whose sides were more than 100 miles in length. This class of observations previously had been performed by officers and mathematical assistants of great experience only, but the observations made by sergeant Donelan proved on calculation to be equal in accuracy to those of his predecessors. To his credit it must be recorded, that he was the first non-commissioned officer of the corps intrusted with the charge of a three-feet instrument. For more than twelve years he was encamped on remote mountain heights, or moving from one wild spot to another as the requirements of the service demanded. In this way he visited upwards of fifty trigonometrical stations in the British isles, many of which have become famous by the labours of General Roy, General Mudge, Captain Kater, and General Colby. Robust and physically adapted for laborious employment, he sustained with cheerfulness and evenness of temper and purpose, the arduous toils and difficulties of his duty, and the privations, discomforts, and atmospherical vicissitudes of a trying situation. His was necessarily a rugged life, but in all he acted like a true soldier, and was faithful and efficient alike as a sapper and an observer. Here it may be proper to mention that at Leith Hill, in Surrey, he received a visit from an eminent stranger, of whose position in society he was at the time unconscious. With the strict injunction that he was not to touch the instruments, or to interfere or speak while the observations were being conducted, the gentleman was admitted into the observatory. Sergeant Donelan having closed the series of the arc to the Whitehorse-hill heliostat, entered into conversation with the stranger, and after an unrestrained reciprocation of thought and opinion on professional matters, he was embarrassed to learn that the visitor was no other than Professor Airy, the Astronomer-Royal. The visit was a beneficial one to the sergeant, for the professor, in a half-hour’s stay, imparted to him much valuable information, and complimented him in a letter to Southampton for his care, industry, and ability. Among his later military services he was engaged for some months in the irksome operation of refinding the trigonometrical stations in Ireland. The duty was one of no common difficulty, but with his accustomed perseverance and precision, he succeeded in effecting it to the perfect satisfaction of his officers. He not only found the various sites, some of them almost hopelessly lost, but to render them easily accessible to future observers, described their characteristics and the physical features and bearings of the most remarkable objects in their vicinity. He is now employed as a civilian, observing with a 12-inch theodolite for the second and minor triangulation at a salary of 7s. 3d. a-day, in addition to his pension of 2s. 0½d.

Sergeant Joseph Longland served about seventeen years in the corps, was proficient in the field duties of the survey, and bore the character of being a fine draughtsman. Coupled with his charge of the drawing and tracing at Mountjoy, he superintended the revision of the engravings for Ireland. For several years he took the meteorological observations, directed the reduction of them for publication, and not only proved himself to be an excellent and careful observer, but introduced improvements in the meteorological registry. At Southampton, under the executive, he superintended, with singular efficiency and correctness, the staff of draughtsmen, civil and military, employed at the Ordnance map office. The vast range of his information, his habit of close reflection and studious application, rendered him a trustworthy and successful assistant. Thrice he has appeared before the public as a poet. His works bear the titles of ‘Othello Doomed,’ ‘Bernard Alvers,’ and ‘Trephely.’ The two first are richly imaginative, displaying a versatility of style, an originality and wildness of idea and incident, a gracefulness and sublimity of diction, that bid fair, as he expands in experience and familiarizes himself with the compass of his powers, to give him a high stand among the poets. His last production, however, does not come up to the expectations of his admirers. It is too vague, eccentric, and improbable to meet with favour. Undoubted evidence it bears of spirit, thought, care, and ambition, but it lacks the charm—the merit of his earlier works. In 1855 he received a commission as Quartermaster in one of the foreign legions, but the labours to which he was subjected in the organization of a new corps with whose language he was utterly unacquainted, not suiting the bias of his mind for close sedentary occupation, induced him to resign. The step was accompanied with pecuniary inconveniences. Fairly thrown on the world, with good talents and proper ambition to start with, there is little doubt but that his energy of character will introduce him to employment which will make up for the honourable position he felt it expedient to sacrifice.

Sergeant Donald Geddes possessed varied ability both as a surveyor and a mechanic. He was also a clear-headed and suggestive clerk of works, and not without pretensions as an architectural draughtsman. When discharged in the summer of 1853, he was in subordinate charge of the electrotype apparatus and copper-plate printers at the Ordnance map office at Southampton, under Captain W. D. Gosset, R.E., in which, through his assiduity and intelligence, the process of producing the copper for engraving was carried out very successfully. In attending to this duty his attention had been much engaged in scientific investigations and chemical experiments, and his diligent application made him intimately acquainted with the sciences of galvanism and electricity. Frequently on these subjects he lectured at the Polytechnic Institution at Southampton to large audiences, and his addresses were invariably reported in their entire length in the local papers. In January, 1852, he was honoured by a request to open the session of the institution with a lecture. This sergeant Geddes complied with. His subject was “The Advantages of Scientific Knowledge,” and it was received by a crowded assembly with enthusiasm. “The eloquence, ease of illustration, and fine talent of the lecturer, were surprising, and professors with a stream of initial titles to their names could not more have instructed and delighted their audiences at the royal and other metropolitan institutions than did sergeant Geddes.”^[228] An incident occurred on this occasion which, from its remarkable character and effects, should not be omitted. The lecturer in alluding to the electric-telegraph, drew attention to the fact that friendly salutes had, by its agency, been fired between the coasts of England and France. “Let us only imagine,” he continued, “that this wire were carried across the channel and attached to the cannons of Paris or Madrid; let us wish to salute them on some great occasion, and by the simple touch of our wires it is done!” Here the lecturer united his wires, and lo! three pieces of artillery were fired in the adjacent grounds, to the great astonishment of the audience; but though the experiment was successful, it was attended by one of those striking accidents which, instead of damping the interest of the assembly, assisted to increase its zest and to prolong its hearty applause. The distance that the guns were likely to be out of the road of doing harm was not accurately ascertained, and when the explosion took place the crash that ensued embraced the destruction of more than 100 panes of glass in the Polytechnic building! At the invitation of Mr. Andrews, the Mayor of Southampton, he afterwards delivered a lecture at St. John’s House, Winchester, on voltaic and magnetic electricity. “The lecture, so interesting and yet so practical in its illustrations, accompanied by experiments so brilliant and successful, was listened to with the most earnest and intelligent attention.”^[229] Mr. Andrews and Miss Smith—the heroine of the ‘Amazon’—were present; and sergeant Geddes, during his sojourn at Winchester, was the honoured guest of the mayor, and favoured with the amiable and intelligent company of the accomplished lady. In March, 1855, he delivered perhaps his best lecture at Southampton in the Polytechnic Institution, on the “Monumental Remains of Egypt, Assyria, and Greece.” It was illustrated by drawings and photographs of striking subjects—gleaned chiefly from Layard’s remarkable discoveries. There was also a view of Attica, nine feet long, sketched by Mrs. Bracebridge, celebrated for her heroic devotion and gentleness to our sick troops in the hospitals on the Bosphorus. The hall was filled to inconvenience, and he was encouraged by the presence of many of the notabilities of the city. A respectable local paper spoke of the lecture as being comprehensive and “greatly enhanced in effect by his not having to refer to a single note throughout.” The journal further observed, that “the lecture was altogether one pleasing flow of words, strictly appropriate, forcible in a scientific point of view, and convincing, as in all other respects, to the inquisitive mind of an audience excited to the highest pitch of attention.”^[230] On several occasions sergeant Geddes has contributed to the columns of the ‘Hampshire Advertiser’ original and popularly written articles on art and science. In the erection of the new gaol at Southampton, he held the office of clerk of the works; and he now fills, by the patronage of Colonel James, the superintendent of the survey, a similar appointment in connection with the building of fire-proof offices and stores at the Ordnance map office, for which a sum of 8,000l. has been voted by Parliament.

Sergeant-major James Steel.—From the first he had a taste for the investigation of abstruse questions of science and philosophy, and his strong mind and perseverance, his power of application and fulness of resource, have made him acquainted with a fund of knowledge and information not commonly possessed by men in his sphere of life. As a mathematician he holds a fair reputation for proficiency and accuracy, but it is chiefly with the work of the triangulation and astronomy he has most distinguished himself. His early service was passed on severe hill duty. Ben Auler and Creach Ben were his first mountain stations. There he experienced a round of the varied hardships and dangers peculiar to a trig camp.^[231] Possessing a buoyant temper and a hardy constitution he for many years bore with happy composure all the stern trials and changes to which the service exposed him, and carried on his duties with unrelaxed ardour and success. At Creach Ben he learnt the use of the instrument, and succeeded Lieutenant Hamley, R.E., in its charge in 1841. He is the first non-commissioned officer of the corps who used one of the larger instruments. In prosecuting his new trust, his travels embraced all parts of the British Isles. Now he would have his station on the mountain top, now on some craggy peak, and anon staged on the tower of some majestic castle or cathedral. This again he would leave for service on some stormy coast, or to perch his observatory on the slender weather-worn spire of some quiet village or city church. At Norwich cathedral his observatory rested on a scaffolding 315 feet from the floor of the building—nearly the height of St. Paul’s, but without the advantage of a dome at the base, to diminish the apparent distance of the observer from the ground. Here he used to creep into the “nest” through a hole in its floor. Some of the men were weeks before they could reach the top, while it was the duty of sergeant Steel and others to ascend it, and carry on the work in the most tempestuous weather and in the darkest nights. The oscillations of the structure were frequently very violent, but the observer, cool and fearless, continued to complete his arcs and to record the movements of the stars. In one of the storms which broke over Norwich an architect paid the sergeant a visit, but the vibration of the “nest” appeared so alarming to him, that through his representation a peremptory order was given to abandon the station, by removing the instrument and scaffolding from the spire. At Beachy Head the sergeant spent a winter season, where he was exposed to cold the bitterest he had ever experienced. This was in March, 1845, and at midnight, when the temperature was 25° below freezing-point, he did not forsake his work, but continued to observe the elongations of the pole-star, protected only by the canvas sides of his frail observatory. In moving from place to place he acquired much skill and facility in the constructionconstruction of scaffolding and stages, and some of these fabrics, from his own designs, have only perhaps been excelled by the interesting works of sergeant Beaton. Soon after this, sergeant Steel, instructed by his officers in the use of the transit and zenith sector instruments, was employed during periods of five years in carrying on a series of astronomical observations with Airy’s zenith sector for the determination of the latitude of various trigonometrical stations used in the Ordnance survey of the British isles. Out of the twenty-six sector stations he visited seventeen, at fifteen of which he took the whole of the observations with the exception of a few at Balta, and about one-half at Southampton, which were made by corporal William Jenkins. The record of his observations, comprising about 700 quarto pages of closely-printed matter, attest both his industry under difficulties, and his talents. In this honourable service he displayed a quickness of perception, an accuracy in the manipulation of his instrument, and a skill and dexterity in the taking and registration of his observations, that place him in an enviable light even among scientific men. The most important work with which the name of sergeant Steel is popularly associated is the triangulation of London for the Sewers’ Commissioners. He it was who designed the beautiful scaffolding around and above the ball and cross of St. Paul’s, and who for four months carried on his duties from the observatory, cradled above the cross, with so much spirit and zeal, notwithstanding at times its alarming oscillations. In that period he made between 8,000 and 10,000 observations, and on the completion of the service superintended the removal of the scaffolding, which was found to be an operation even more difficult and hazardous than its erection. Another important work superintended by him, was the remeasurement of the base line on Salisbury Plain by means of the compensation-apparatus, which he conducted with his accustomed fidelity. In this delicate and peculiar duty his readiness of invention and perseverance enabled him to master, with complete success, the various obstacles he met with in its progress. So important a charge as this was never before intrusted to the responsibility of a non-commissioned officer, for heretofore the base lines were measured only by general officers of great scientific merit and experience. That on Salisbury Plain was executed by General Mudge in 1794, and its remeasurement was, in its operation and results, fully equal, in point of skill and correctness of execution, to any of its predecessors. Subsequently he took a leading part in the survey of the Queen’s estate at the Isle of Wight, for which Prince Albert presented him with a cheque for ten pounds “as a mark of His Royal Highness’s approval of his attention and care in making the survey of Osborne.” On the 14th August, 1855, after a stay of ten days on the summit of his old acquaintance Ben Lomond, he arrived at Arthur’s Seat, where the zenith sector was awaiting him. No time was to be lost in working it, as a measure of the local attraction of the mountain—to be supported by about 850 determinations of latitudes and theodolite observations at three stations—was to be delivered for the consideration of the savans of the British Association, at their gathering on the 15th September. Quickly rearing his instrument, and obtaining the loan of a chronometer from the astronomer-royal of Scotland—Piazzi Smythe—he threw his whole energy into the operation, labouring with his untiring sappers for twelve, sixteen, and sometimes twenty hours a-day. Thus robbing nature of her wonted rest, he registered by the 13th, with his usual accuracy, the necessary number of observations, but the result by calculation did not turn out as was expected. An additional spur was thus given to scientific inquiry, experiments were renewed and investigations made, which ended in establishing, to some extent, the existence of a disturbing power in that romantic hill, besides its understood attraction, to influence the plumb-line. Of that other disturbing force the cause is still a mystery, but as Arthur’s Seat is in the vicinity of the Modern Athens, and is daily visited by professors and students of geology and other branches of natural philosophy, there is every chance of this strange phenomenon being sooner or later discovered and explained.^[232] Of his services Colonel James thus wrote: “The observations were made by sergeant-major Steel, during the months of September and October last; 220 double observations of stars were taken at each station, and the results have justified my confidence in him as an observer.”^[233] Sergeant Steel’s services and attainments have always been of the highest class for usefulness and integrity, and his attention to the public economy was marked by a penetrative species of calculation, which made him more than a match for such contractors as it was occasionally his duty to engage. Under the years 1848, 1849, and 1850, the valuable services of this non-commissioned officer are more particularly alluded to in connection with the special services upon which he was then employed. It is only a poor act of justice here to mention that in this instance, as in all others in which non-commissioned officers and men have signalised themselves, the corps is deeply indebted to the Royal Engineers for information, direction, opportunity, patient instruction, and an interest in the development of individual character and talent; so that, for nearly a quarter of a century, the officers have assigned to them the performance of many important services, which from the accuracy and integrity of their accomplishment have greatly enhanced the corps in the confidence of their officers and in public esteem. Sergeant—now sergeant-major—Steel is the chief non-commissioned officer of the corps on the survey, and is stationed at Southampton, where, under Captain Clarke, he is superintending the calculations for the publication of the principal and secondary triangulation of the United Kingdom.

Colour-sergeant William Campbell.—Joined the corps in 1829, and early distinguished himself by his attainments. This led to his selection, when quite a junior non-commissioned officer, to give instruction to the inspectors of national schools in Ireland in surveying and levelling. These gentlemen were appointed to watch over the schools in the twenty-five educational districts into which Ireland was divided, to carry out the spirit and intentions of Lord Stanley’s plan for Irish education. Sergeant Campbell spent two months in training the superintendents, during which time he was brought into contact with noblemen and distinguished personages, all of whom uniformly treated him with marked courtesy. On completing the service he was rewarded in 1838 by the Commissioners of Education, of whom the Duke of Leinster was the chief, with a handsome case of drawing-instruments. His pupils also, in testimony of their esteem for his attention and ability, presented him with a purse of ten sovereigns, accompanied by a flattering address. When removed to the survey of England, his experience and the wide range of his information qualifying him for more extended usefulness, he was appointed, under the executive officer at Southampton, to fill the second subordinate post of importance on the duty. There he had charge of the correspondence, accounts and returns of all parties employed in the principal triangulation, and was responsible for all the money received for their payment, which at the time amounted to about 6,000l. a-year. He was also in charge of the calculation and preparation of the initial spirit-levelling, showing the relative altitude of land, which forms the basis of the whole of the contouring and vertical survey of Great Britain and Ireland. The importance of this duty, and the fidelity with which it was executed, gave him a high stand in the estimation of his officers for intelligence and resource. The special survey and mapping of Southampton for sanitary purposes was completed under his superintendence, with Captain Yolland as director. Under that officer he had charge of the construction and preparation of the Block-plan of London for the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers, comprising 847 sheets on the 5-feet scale, and also a plan on the 12-inch scale, containing 44 sheets, which was subsequently engraved at the Ordnance map office for the commissioners. By Captain Beatty he was intrusted with a like superintendence of the 10 and 12-feet plans of seventeen other towns, surveyed for local boards of health by parties under the direction of the captain. In conducting the survey of Southampton, he became popular with the citizens, and was commended by the corporation. By some of the municipal authorities he was called upon to suggest the best means of supplying the town of Southampton with water. With the sanction of his commanding officer he made a minute examination of the sources from which the town could be provided, and furnished his opinion in a lucid and spirited report on the propriety of selecting the Otterbourne Spring.^[234] Twice sergeant Campbell was examined on his project by a committee of the House of Commons; but the bill was eventually lost, not from his being unable to afford proof of its practicability and preference of selection to other springs, but from want of zeal and unanimity on the part of the corporation to prosecute the scheme. When the Society of Associated Engineers was formed, several condemnatory letters and articles appeared in various public journals prejudicial to the Ordnance system of employing officers of engineers and soldiers of the royal sappers and miners to execute the government surveys; and the ‘Builder’ was indefatigable in promulgating the statements. Sergeant Campbell undertook a defence of the Ordnance system; and fortified as he was by facts and accurate results, a thorough acquaintance with the effective working of the survey machinery, and a facility of expressing his views with force and clearness, his four well-known letters to the ‘Builder’ in 1849, tended in great measure to terminate the controversy, and to render the operations of the associated society innocuous to the corps. After serving on the national surveys for more than twenty-two years, and reaping its highest honours and rewards, he was discharged in July, 1852, on a pension of 1s. 11½d. a-day. On parting with him, Colonel Hall recorded his opinion of the very satisfactory manner in which sergeant Campbell had performed all the responsible and trustworthy duties so long confided to him, and the great value of his services to the survey, both as an able superintendent and a first-class assistant. His regimental pay and allowances were 7s. 3d. a-day, with quarters &c.; and since his retirement he has been awarded, through the influence of Colonel Hall, an annuity of 10l. a year, and a silver medal for “meritorious service” in the corps. From the ranks of the sappers he passed into comfortable employment in civil life. Out of a tiring number of candidates who offered themselves, with brilliant testimonials, for the office of cashier to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, he was selected to fill it, at a salary of 210l. a year; since which—such has been his probity and efficiency—his income has been increased to 300l. a year.