ROSS'S SECOND VOYAGE. 203 



dip, as indicated by my dipping-needle, was 89 59', 

 being thus within one minute of the vertical ; while the 

 proximity, at least, of this pole, if not its actual existence 

 where we stood, was further confirmed by the action, 

 or, rather, by the total inaction, of the several horizon- 

 tal needles then in my possession." This was very 

 nearly the position assigned to it by scientific men 

 several years earlier, and arrived at by protracting the 

 direction lines of compass-needles in various circumja- 

 cent latitudes, till they met in a central point. Parry's 

 observations placed it eleven minutes distant only from 

 the site determined by Ross. 



"As soon/' says the latter, " as I had satisfied my 

 own mind on the subject, I made known to the party 

 this gratifying result of all our joint labors ; and it was 

 then that, amidst mutual congratulations, we fixed the 

 British flag on the spot, and took possession of the 

 North Magnetic Pole and its adjoining territory in the 

 name of Great Britain and King William IV. We had 

 abundance of materials for building in the fragments of 

 limestone that covered the beach, and we therefore 

 erected a cairn of some magnitude, under which we 

 buried a canister containing a record of the interesting 

 fact, only regretting that we had not the means of con- 

 structing a pyramid of more importance, and of strength 

 sufficient to withstand the assaults of time and of the 

 Esquimaux. Had it been a pyramid as large as that of 

 Cheops, I am not quite sure that it would have done 

 more than satisfy our ambition, under the feelings of 

 that exciting day. The latitude of this spot is 70 5' 17", 

 and its longitude 96 46' 45" west." 



Even if the pole were stationary, this determination 

 could only be regarded as approximate ; but when we 

 know that the centre of magnetic intensity is a movable 

 point, we shall readily understand that the cairn erected 



