Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary European Accounts c10.22

c10.22

But supposing after all that his Observatory (contrary to every rule of probability) was built for ostentation and not for use; that there is nothing in its construction worth remarking; no observations on record to be met with, nor any appearance of utility to be derived either from its situation, its form, or position of the instruments, yet even in that case the expense will not be entirely lost; for a number of observations may be made respecting the geography, meteorology and astronomy & c. of India that will more than compensate the trouble. The surveys of India are known to be remarkably defective, and there is great reason to believe that not a single place in India has had its longitude properly determined except Pondicherry. The latitudes are nearly in the same predicament, and indeed most of the English maps are made up of ideal chains of mountains and imaginary woods, taken piecemeal by pretended surveyors, and put together at random without either longitude or latitude by people who were only solicitous to have a fine drawing, without any regard to exactness or to use; by these means the countries are horribly distorted in their positions and geography is so little benefitted by such maps that they are a nuisance rather than an advantage, and there is no other proper method of correcting such surveys but by determining the positions of some of the most material points by astronomical observations; this would assist in putting the different surveys properly together, and as the longitude of Benares and others that might be deduced from it, would contribute in part to that purpose, a journey thither of course would be so far useful.