Note 10 — 1848.

The privates here named have died under rather singular circumstances; Porteous suddenly, in September, 1853, when encamped on Brandon-hill; Pemble in June, 1854, at Elvanfoot, in Lanarkshire, from exhaustion and exposure to stormy weather. The latter had been sent from the camp to build a pile for trigonometrical purposes, and next evening, after a fatiguing day’s work, he was returning to the station, when he lay down to rest himself by the side of a mountain stream, and perished. Both these soldiers were the chief practical workmen in the formation of the structures for the observatories. At lofty heights, where the senses of most men would paralyze, borne up on shaking props or slender supports, they calmly carried on their dangerous operations with spirit, activity, and ingenuity.