17?S. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 489 



were made only as an experiment, without aiming at 

 much nicety. I also measured mostly one way ; 

 whereas I ought to have brought alternately the re- 

 flected and direct images to contrary sides, with re- 

 spect to each other ; reading the numbers off the 

 quadrant, in one case, to the left of the beginning of 

 the divisions ; and in the other case, to the right hand 

 of the same. It is evident, that half the sum of these 

 two numbers must be the true measurement, inde- 

 pendent of the error of the quadrant ; and this is the 

 method that I would recommend. 



But I am well assured, that it might have been ob- 

 served much nearer ; and that this method may be 

 useful when neither the beginning nor end of an 

 eclipse can be observed, which may often happen. 



Immediately after the eclipse was over, we observed 

 the distance of each limb of the moon from Pollux 

 and Arietis ; the one being to the east, and the other 

 to the west. An opportunity to observe, under all 

 these circumstances, seldom happens ; but when it 

 does, it ought not to be omitted ; as, in this case, 

 the local errors to which these observations are liable, 

 destroy each other ; which, in ail other cases, would 

 require the observations of a whole moon. The fol- 

 lowing are the results of these observations : 



at ir -*u {Arietis 204 22' 7" \ ; ooi/ e) 

 Myself with [ Pollux c IW 20 , v \ mean 204 21 5 



Mr. King C Arietis 204 27' 45" ( , () 



with \Pollux20V 9' 12" J mean 10 * 18 29 



Mean of the two means - 204 19' 47" 



The time-keeper, at 4 h 30', to which ) 



time all the lunar observations are >- 204 4' 45 ' 



reduced - - - - ) 



The current which I have mentioned, as setting to 

 the eastward, had now ceased ; for we gained but 

 little by plying. On the 6th in the evening, being 

 about five leagues farther up the coast, and near the 

 shore, we had some traffic with the natives. But, as 



