They also make use of a compass marked north and south; that is, so that the point of the magnetic needle is directly on the _fleur de lis_. In accordance with such a compass many construct their small maps, which seems to me the better way, and so approach nearer to the true meridian of New France, than the compasses of France proper, which point to the northeast. It has come about, consequently, in this way that the first navigators who sailed to New France thought there was no greater deviation in going to these parts than to the Azores, or other places near France, where the deviation is almost imperceptible in navigation, the navigators having the compasses of France, which point northeast and represent the true meridian. In sailing constantly westward with the purpose of reaching a certain latitude, they laid their course directly west by their compass, supposing that they were sailing on the one parallel where they wished to go. By thus going constantly in a straight line and not in a circle, as all the parallels on the surface of the globe run, they found after having traversed a long distance, and as they were approaching the land, that they were some three, four, or five degrees farther south than they ought to be, thus being deceived in their true latitude and reckoning. It is true, indeed, that, when the weather was fair and the sun clearly visible, they corrected their latitude, but not without wondering how it happened that their course was wrong, which arose in consequence of their sailing in a straight instead of a circular line according to the parallel, so that in changing their meridian they changed with regard to the points of the compass, and consequently their course. It is, therefore, very necessary to know the meridian, and the declination of the magnetic needle, for this knowledge can serve all navigators. This is especially so in the north and south, where there are greater variations in the magnetic needle, and where the meridians of longitude are smaller, so that the error, if the declination were not known, would be greater. This above-mentioned error has accordingly arisen, because navigators have either not cared to correct it, or did not know how to do so, and have left it in the state in which it now is. It is consequently difficult to abandon this manner of sailing in the regions of New France.