A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 14Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 14
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
I shall conclude this account of Dusky Bay with some observations made and
communicated to me by Mr Wales. He found by a great variety of
observations, that the latitude of his observatory at Pickersgill Harbour,
was 45° 47' 26" half south; and, by the mean of several distances of the
moon from the sun, that its longitude was 106° 18' E., which is about half
a degree less than it is laid down in my chart constructed in my former
voyage. He found the variation of the needle or compass, by the mean of
three different needles, to be 13° 49' E, and the dip of the south end 70°
5' three quarters. The times of high water, on the full and change days, he
found to be at 10° 57', and the tide to rise and fall, at the former eight
feet, at the latter five feet eight inches. This difference, in the rise of
the tides between the new and full moon, is a little extraordinary, and was
probably occasioned at this time by some accidental cause, such as winds,
&c., but, be it as it will, I am well assured there was no error in the
observations.
Supposing the longitude of the observatory to be as above, the error of Mr
Kendal's watch, in longitude, will be 1° 48' minus, and that of Mr Arnold's
39° 25'. The former was found to be gaining 6",461 a-day on mean time, and
the latter losing 99",361. Agreeably to these rates the longitude by them
was to be determined, until an opportunity of trying them again.
I must observe, that in finding the longitude by Mr Kendal's watch, we
suppose it to have gone mean time from the Cape of Good Hope. Had its cape
rate been allowed, the error would not have been so great.
SECTION VI.
_Passage from Dusky Bay to Queen Charlottes Sound, with an Account of
some Water Spouts, and of our joining the Adventure._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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