Letters to Thomas Maclear on a range of matters, including problems with the Port Elizabeth Time Ball, with some related papers. There is a letter from H. Read on irregularities in the time of dropping of the time ball, 9 February 1866, and regular reports from that date; information on Bailey's survey; observations of Earth currents on telegraph lines between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and Simon's Bay, 4 April 1867; various reports of sightings of a meteoric shower, 1867; an estimate from W. Hare for building a room at the Cape Observatory, 4 September 1869; and a history of the 'Klerk's Krall' area of land and its use.