At times, he feared
that he should lose this position. One cause of apprehension was,
that the local parliament would discontinue the grant for the
Observatory; another, that superior interest might wrest it from
him, as he had not been regularly appointed to the staff by
Government, but by Mr. Ligar himself, who had seen, by intercourse
with him during the survey, that he was putting "the right man in
the right place." In a letter to me, December, 1858, he says: "I
hope I shall not have to go into the bush again, I like Melbourne
and my present occupation so much. But everything must be uncertain
until after Christmas, as all depends on Parliament voting money
for the Observatory. Should they not allow the necessary sum, I
must return to surveying once more."
. . .
Magnetic Observatory, Melbourne, March 16th, 1859.
MY DEAR MOTHER,
It gave me much pleasure to receive a letter from you by the
last mail; but I can assure you that I am always so busy, and the
time passes so quickly, that I had almost forgotten to write to you
until it was too late, as the mail closes early to-morrow morning.
I am now living at the Observatory, Professor Neumayer having
kindly given me a room here, which is a great advantage in many
ways.
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