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Date	Original Topic
7th December 2002	What time is it? By Keith Smith May I start another hare? I have long been fascinated by the discrepancies in times reported by people for the same event: the arrival of Durnford at Isandlwana, for example. I therefore wonder, in view of the inaccuracy of watches at that time, compounded by the complexities of local times (no International Time Zones then), how they mnaged to keep time. Quote: "I'm making a sun dial now, as we often get out of our time reckoning" Captain MacGregor, beseiged in Eshowe, quoted in Sonia Clarke, Zululand at War, p. 148. Quote "Then I had to find the variation of my compass, rate my watch, fix the latitude and draw maps." W.C.F. Molyneux, Campaigning in SA, p. 154, on his duties as ADC. Any ideas out there? Keith
Date	Replies
19th December 2002	Chris Evans You can figure out when noon is if you can see the sun. If you've got a watch, and don't change longitude, you can check the watch's accuracy the next day. While watches of that time weren't as accurate as they can be now, there were accurate chronometers available. The army might not have had much perceived use for accuracy, though the navy certainly did. I fear I've been up too long, poring over this excellent site - I can't figure a clever way to work the American term for GMT into this post, other than to say that clearly, despite its being ZULU time.
22nd December 2002	Keith Smith Hi Chris Thanks for your response. In fact, there was no such thing as GMT in 1879. The international agreement on time zones was not adopted until 1884 and even then the French continued to use their own, based on the Paris meridian, unitl early in the 20th century. At that time, local time in Pietermaritzburg was 2h 13m ahead of London time. I you would like to see it, I have a draft paper on this subject which I would be happy to email to you. Keith