Mason declined to conduct the work himself for the offered commission of one guinea per day. The task therefore fell to Maskelyne, for which he was granted a temporary leave of his duties as Astronomer Royal. He was aided in the task by mathematician and surveyor Charles Hutton, and Reuben Burrow who was a mathematician of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. A workforce of labourers was engaged to construct observatories for the astronomers and assist in the surveying. The science team was particularly well-equipped: its astronomical instruments included a 12 in (30 cm) brass quadrant from Cook's 1769 transit of Venus expedition, a 10 ft (3.0 m) zenith sector, and a regulator (precision pendulum clock) for timing the astronomical observations. They also acquired a theodolite and Gunter's chain for surveying the mountain, and a pair of barometers for measuring altitude. Generous funding for the experiment was available due to underspend on the transit of Venus expedition, which had been turned over to the Society by King George III.