REPORT ON THE MAGNETICAL RESULTS. 5 



both. It is not intended to enter into any further discussion of these Bermuda results 

 until those obtained at other islands have been considered. 



Taking the other islands in the order visited, they are as follows : — 



St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands. — Here the declination on the west side of the 

 island was 3° in defect of the normal, but the inclination and force were but little affected. 



St. Paul's Rocks. — There was little or no disturbance. 



Tristan da Cunha. — The westerly declination on the west side of some high cliffs 

 was increased if. 



Kerguelen Island. — At Christmas Harbour, Accessible Bay, and Betsy Cove the 

 declination was 1° above the normal, there being high land to the westward of all three 

 stations, and at two positions where the inclination and intensity were observed they 

 were in excess of the normal, all three elements showing marked effects of a force 

 repelling the north-seeking end of the needle. 



Sandwich Islands. — At Honolulu, on the west side of some high land in the island 

 of Oahu, the easterly declination was f ° in excess of the normal value, whilst at Hilo, 

 on the east side of the island of Hawaii, it was f ° in defect. It has been reported by 

 a careful navigator of one of our vessels of war, that, sailing in the neighbourhood 

 of the islands, he obtained anomalous results of the declination, attributing them to 

 the effects of the visible land. Reasons will hereafter be given for believing in this 

 report as regards the disturbance of the compass, whilst giving other reasons for the 

 cause. 



Juan Fernandez. — -The declination was not observed here, but, like Kerguelen 

 Island, the inclination and force were affected by a magnetic force repelling the north- 

 seeking end of the needle. 



Ascension. — On the coast at Georgetown the observations showed but little local 

 disturbance, whilst at the Green Mountain Station the inclination exceeded the normal 

 by 2i°, the total force by 0'12 (B.U.). 



Applying the same test of obtaining normal values of the magnetic elements at 

 sea, and comparing those observed on adjacent islands or other solitary mountains 

 standing out of the sea, such as St. Helena, similar effects result, and the following 

 general conclusions seem to be supported by the facts enumerated with regard to local 

 magnetic disturbance : — 



(1) That in islands north of the magnetic equator the north-seeking end of the 

 needle is generally attracted vertically downwards, and horizontally towards the higher 

 parts of the land. 



(2) South of the magnetic equator the opposite effects are observed, the north- 

 seeking end of the needle being repelled. In both cases by an amount above that due 

 to the position of the island on the earth considered as a magnet. 



But beyond any points of interest to science which may be drawn from these 



