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The transit of Venus of 1874. The British expedition waiting
for contact on Punchbowl Street in Honolulu with Diamond Head in the
background.
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he first record of scientific astronomical observations being made from Hawai`i
appears to be that of a British expedition on 8 December 1874. Captain
G. L. Tupman of the HBM Scout observed a transit of Venus from a site on
Punchbowl Street (5). Observations
of this transit were also made from Waimea, Kaua`i.
David Kalakaua reigned over the Kingdom of Hawai`i from 1874 to 189l. King
Kalakaua was a worldly and progressive monarch, especially considering
how recently his people had been exposed to the society and culture of
the "civilized" Western world. It
was his ambition, as King of Hawai`i, to travel far and wide to learn the
ways of the outside world. Even
before his voyage, which took place in 1881 (6), Kalakaua had shown an interest in astronomy, and in a letter to Captain
R. S. Floyd on November 22, 1880, had expressed a desire to see an observatory
established in Hawai`i. His voyage
began with a visit to San Francisco, where he visited Lick Observatory in
nearby San Jose. Mr. French of Lick
Observatory evidently was the King's guide at the observatory. In
his journal Mr. French noted how interested and enthusiastic the King had
been and how he had expressed a desire to bring such a telescope to Hawai`i.

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Letter from King Kalakaua |
It was not long after this that King Kalakaua
expressed his interest in having an observatory in Hawai`i. Perhaps
as a result of the King's interest a telescope was purchased from England
in 1883 for Punahou School, a private school established by early missionaries
to Hawai`i. In 1884 the five-inch
refractor was installed in a dome constructed above Pauahi Hall on the
school's campus. Unfortunately, it
was not a stable, solid mounting, and the telescope was not useable.
Nevertheless,
it was the first permanent telescope in Hawai`i and did prove itself useful
later on, as we shall see. In 1956 this telescope was installed in Punahou's newly
completed MacNeil Observatory and Science Center. Sometime
since then it was replaced and has disappeared, sad to relate.
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