RECORDS OF MEETINGS. 711 



Forces in that department, a flag was sent from thence on the fifteenth 

 to the British Commanders at Penobscot, with letters from the Rever- 

 end Professor Williams, desiring permission to enter their harbor im- 

 mediately, as our business was solely to promote the interest of Science, 

 which is the common interest of all mankind. Mr Vernon took charge 

 of the letters. On the 16"' he returned with the answers of Lieut. Col. 

 Campbell & Captain Mowatt. They both permitted us to come up the 

 Bay immediately, & to anchor our Vessel in Williams' cove on the east 

 side of Long Island, about three leagues from the British Fort. From 

 thence we were directed to go in our boat to the Albany, which lay 

 near the fort, before we should" land. Capt. Mowatt very politely 

 offered us every assistance in his power towards promoting the busi- 

 ness we had in view. Colonel Campbell received us with evident 

 reluctance. His strict prohibitions of all communication with the In- 

 habitants put it out of our power to procure the smallest articles of 

 refreshment, or any building to secure our apparatus. In consequence 

 of these orders we went up the Bay to Williams' cove on the 17* & on 

 the next day in our boat to the Albany. We found no convenient place 

 for our observations about the harbor. Being uncertain of our Longi- 

 tude and Latitude, & surrounded by almost perpetual fogs. We deter- 

 mined to tarry at Long Island. With permission we took up part of 

 an house & barn which were made to answer our purpose. On the 19"^ 

 & 20'^ we set up our clock & other instruments. Till the 24* the 

 weather was so thick, that we had no opportunity to make any obser- 

 vations, either for regulating the clock or ascertaining the Latitude. 

 The Variation we observed daily by means of a meridian drawn the 

 first day of our being ashore. All our observations made it 11°, 55' 

 West. In the year 1761 Doctor Winthrop observed the Variation to 

 be 8° West at Fort Pownal about twelve miles N. E. from our place of 

 Observation. Whence it appears, that contrary to the common opin- 

 ion the Variation has been increasing in the eastern parts of this State 

 for several years past. 



" The 24* 25* & 26* were spent in regulating the clock, & deter- 

 mining the latitude. The latitude appears from the mean of several 

 observations of the Sun & Fixed Stars to be 44°, 17', 8", which is not 

 so far northerly as the maps represent. 



"On the Twenty seventh the weather was perfectly fine. In the 

 morning we took several altitudes. A little before eleven o'clock the 

 observers took their places : But as a compleat account of their Obser- 

 vations will be presented by M^ Professor Williams, to mention them 

 particularly here would be needless. I shall confine myself to physical 

 appearances ; & content myself with remarking that the eclipse was 



