PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. W. THACKER AND CO., ST. ANDREW'S LIBRARY AND 87, NEWGATE STREET, LONDON. 1851. PREFACE. It must have been apparent to the numerous Officers of the Army as well as to the various other persons appointed to the Revenue Surveys in India, that scarcely one of the many English works on Geodesy extant, touch on, or afford any practical insight into, the system of Survey as carried on, and as peculiarly applicable to this country. Valuable and of high order as many of these works are, and of great importance as fixing the leading and fundamental principles of the profession, they are destitute of the most essential parts of an Indian Surveyor's duty, and of the most useful details, for adapting such principles to the nature of the country with which he has to contend. A Surveyor of even some experience, when placed in situations of difficulty and responsibility so common in the almost boundless fields still left unexplored in this vast country, with no competent adviser at hand, and far removed from all chances of assistance, may, and often does feel greatly at a loss; the want of A |