Abstract
The desirability of determining as accurately as possible the latitudes and longitudes of a number of points in Mauritius appears to have first appealed to the French astronomer M. L'Abbé de la Caille, who was sent to the island by the French East India Company in 1753. His observatory was situated 4,730 feet east and 2,610 feet north of Port Louis Time Ball, and in addition to determining the geographical position of this. 0bservatory (the house, later demolished, of a Mr Mabile, where Mr D'Après had made observations the previous year)—Latitude 20° 09′ 42″ S.; Longitude 55° 08′ 15″ E. of Paris—,he succeeded in effecting a triangulation of the island. Four bases were measured with wooden scales which previously had been compared with an iron toise (6.394 feet—the French fathom) approved by the Academy of Sciences, Paris; a I4-inch quadrant fitted with micrometer was used to measure the angles.
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