292 A VOYAGE TO Book VIII. 



grccs, and to form with the vertical circle, an angle of 

 near thirty de^rfíes. 



On the 7th, at eight minutes after feven in the 

 evening, on repeating our obfervations, ue found its 

 altitude to be 1 1°, i i', and its azimuth from the 

 north 72°, 45'. From this fecond obfervation, 

 v.'hich we confidered as more accurate than the for- 

 mer, having made proper allowances for refraftion, we 

 concluded that the right arccnfion of the comet was 

 3 ' 2^ 50', and that its northern declination was 20°, 5'. 

 Whence we inferred, that its trajeélory was the fame 

 with that obfervcd in 1681 by CaiTini, and by Tycho 

 Brahe in 157 , and that, in all probability, it was the 

 fame j for though the periods do not agree, it might 

 have appeared twice in the firft interval. After this we 

 were hindered from profccuting our obfervations by the 

 cloudinefs of the nights : and feme days afterwards we 

 were afibred by feveral, that they had feen it in the 

 morning. 



As all the triangles on the north fide from Pamba- 

 marca, to the place where Mr. Godin had made his 

 fecond aitronomical obfervations were not completed, 

 and the inflrumcnt conftruéled for that purpofe kept 

 in readinefs, we made that our firft taik; Mr. Go- 

 din not having then gone through them all. After 

 finiihing every thing here, we repaired on the 22d 

 of March to the obfervatory de Pueblo Viejo de Mira, 

 where meeting with the fame difficulties from the 

 thicknefs of the atmofpherc, as we had before expe- 

 rienced during the whole courfe of our operations, 

 we were obliged to continue there till the a2d of 

 May, when being fatisfied with the accuracy of the 

 obfervations made during this long interval, we re- 

 turned to Quito, with the pleafing expe¿lation, that 

 our perfevcrance againfl the conitant difficulties we 

 met with from the clouds was at lad come to a period; 

 and that we ihould now rell from the toils and hard- 

 ihips of living on frozen defarts ; a rcpofc the more 



pleafing, 



