

VOYAGE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 63 



" made in Captain Cook's last voyage, will find, that 

 " there were few, even of the petty officers, who 

 " could not observe the distance of the moon from 

 " the sun, or a star, the most delicate of all observ- 

 " ations, with sufficient accuracy. It may be ad- 

 " ded, that the method of making and computing 

 " observations for finding the variation of the com- 

 pass, is better known, and more frequently prac- 

 tised by those who have been on these voyages, 

 " than by most others. Nor is there, perhaps, a 

 " person who ranks as an officer, and has been con- 

 " cerned in them, who would not, whatever his real 

 " skill may be, feel ashamed to have it thought that 

 " he did not know how to observe for, and compute 

 " the time at sea; though, but a short while before 

 " these voyages were set on foot, such a thing was 

 " scarcely ever heard of amongst seamen; and even 

 " first-rate astronomers doubted the possibility of 

 " doing it with sufficient exactness.* 



* In addition to Mr. Wales's Remark, it may be observed, that 

 the proficiency of our naval officers in taking observations at sea, 

 must ultimately be attributed to the great attention paid to this 

 important object by the Board of Longitude at home ; liberal 

 rewards having been given to mathematicians for perfecting the 

 lunar tables, and facilitating calculations ; to artists for con- 

 structing more accurate instruments for observing, and watches 

 better adapted to keeping time at sea. It appears, therefore, that 

 the voyages of discovery, and the operations of the Board of Lon- 

 gitude^wem hand in hand ; and they must be combined in order 

 to form a just estimate of the extent of the plan carried into exe- 

 cution since his Majesty's accession, for improving astronomy and 

 navigation. But, besides the establishment of the Board of Lon- 

 gitude on its present footing, which has had such important con- 

 sequences, it must also be ever acknowledged, that his present 

 Majesty has extended his royal patronage to every branch of the 

 liberal arts and useful science. The munificent present to the 

 Royal Society for defraying the ex pence of observing the transit 

 of Venus; the institution of the Academy of Painting and Sculp- 

 ture; the magnificent apartments allotted to the Royal and 

 Antiquary Societies, and to the Royal Academy, at Somerset 

 Place; the support of the Garden of Exotics at Kew, to im- 

 prove which, Mr. Mason was sent to the extremities of Africa ; 

 the substantial encouragement afforded to learned men and learned 



