366 Capt. Graydon's Celestial Compass, 



left there to procure game, and the Fury stood towards the 

 marghi of the ice. Just before we reached off the floe, the 

 weather continuing extremely thick, with hard rain, I desired 

 Mr. Crozier to set the extremes of the loom hanging over 

 Igloolik, which was then on our lee quarter. He did so ; 

 but presently afterwards remarked that the compasses (both 

 Walker's azimuth, and Alexander's steering) indicated the 

 ship's head to be S.W. which was about the middle point on 

 which, but a few minutes before, he had set the loom of the 

 land two or three points abaft the beam. Knowing, by the 

 true dii'ection in which we were sailing, that the ship's course 

 by the compass, if unaffected by any foreign local attraction, 

 should have been about east, which in fact the needles had 

 indicated previous to the change remarked by Mr, Crozier, I 

 tried what tapping with the hand (the usual expedient in cases 

 of mere sluggishness) would do, but without producing any 

 effect. Being now obliged to tack for the ice, we carefully 

 watched the compasses in standing off, and having sailed about 

 a quarter of a mile, observed them both return gradually to 

 their correct position. Being thus satisfied that some extra- 

 ordinary local attraction was influencing the needles, we again 

 tacked to repeat the experiment, and with a nearly similar re- 

 sult. The observations were then continued on one or two 

 successive tacks, the ship being steadily steered upon a given 

 point, by some object a-head ; and an account of the whole is 

 subjoined in one connected view. The observations were made 

 between six and nine P.M. The wind being moderate at east 

 (true), the weather very rainy, the soundings fifty-two fathoms, 

 and the neai'est land distant from six to eight miles. 



" The space sailed over dui'ing the time the changes were 

 taking place, did not exceed a quarter of a mile. 



" Starboard tack, compasses first indicating the ship's head 



East, then changed to South-west. 



Larboard N.W. b. N S.W. i W. 



Starboard East S.S.E. 



Bore aware to endeavour to cross our original track. 



T 1 J,. 1 r Alexander's compass N.W. b. N...W.b. S. 

 l^arboard tack I ^^,^,j^^^.,^ ^ ^r W.S.W. 



Starboard, both compasses East S.W. ^ S. 



^ , , /Alexander's ...N.W. I N S.W. b. W. f W. 



l^aiDoaul ^ s^YsAker's N.W S.W. b. W. \ W. 



Starboard tack, both compasses .... N.E. b. E. | E. . . . E. f E. 

 Alexander's, a minute or two after, returned to N.E. b. E. | E. 

 and Walker's to E. \ N. Alexander's compass was placed on 

 the binnacle, the other stood about five feet higher, in its usual 

 place. ,, j^ 



