322 ARCTIC VOYAGES. Chap. IX. 



his former voyage through Barrow's Strait, such as 

 the north end of the needle pointing due south, and 

 then south-east, and the entire uselessness of the 

 compasses, owing to the iron in the ship proving 

 stronger than the directive power of the needle, 

 were to be anticipated on reaching the pole of the 

 earth. For the same reason it was not to be .ex- 

 pected that the achievement since performed by his 

 gallant companion James Ross, of actually planting 

 the British flag on the magnetic Pole, could now 

 be accomplished, as it was already known that the 

 point upon the earth's surface which is so designated, 

 lay in a much lower latitude. 



The other method of ensuring the return of our 

 travellers upon the right meridian, namely, by 

 means of chronometers, was one which required 

 some consideration. It is obvious that to an ob- 

 server standing upon the Pole, the sun would, at 

 the precise moment of apparent noon at any given 

 place, appear to the observer exactly in the direc- 

 tion of that place, and that consequently this, as 

 ascertained by chronometers, would prove an un- 

 erring guide as to the right direction. But in the 

 ordinary mode of marking the dial-plates of watches, 

 from one hour to twelve only, there was reason to 

 apprehend that the wrong twelve o'clock might be 

 taken, under circumstances of constant sunshine, 

 and without any change in the altitude of that 

 luminary, to distinguish day from night. To avoid 



