SEARCH FOR DE GAMA LAND 285 



At 1:30 in the afternoon the Captain Commander, in answer to our 

 signal mentioned above, came close to our ship. Through the speaking 

 trumpet we told him that we signaled because he was on the rhumb 

 W by S, 5 knots distant, wind SW by W, and that we ought to keep 

 closer together. If we failed to do so we might become separated in 

 foggy weather and spend valuable time in looking for one another, for 

 we were on the course agreed upon and the wind fair. 



The same day the Captain Commander signaled for one of our lieu- 

 tenants. Captain Chirikov requested that, unless it was an urgent matter, 

 the communication should be made through the speaking trumpet, for 

 to send a lieutenant necessitated the lowering of a boat and the loss of 

 time. It was replied (from the St. Peter) that if we had any communica- 

 tion of importance to make to the Captain Commander we should send 

 a lieutenant; if we had not we need not send him, and that this was all 

 they wished to tell us. After this the signal was taken down. 



June 7, 1741 

 Latitude 50 55'; from Vaua, longitude 4° 26' 7", rhumb S54°2i'E, 

 distance 201.4 knots. 



June 8, 1741 

 Latitude 49 52'; from Vaua, longitude 6° 49', rhumb S54°4i'E, 

 distance 313 knots. 



At the fourth hour in the afternoon the Captain Commander signaled 

 for our ship to take the lead. 



June 0, 1 74 1 

 Latitude by observation 48 42'; from Vaua, longitude 9 09' 6", 

 rhumb S54°o8'E, distance 428.4 knots. 



June 10, 1741 



Latitude by observation 47 45'; from Vaua, longitude io° 53' 9", 

 rhumb S53°33'E, distance 518 knots. 



At the fifth hour the St. Peter came near us, and we told them that at 

 night we would heave to in order to take soundings and when we did that 

 we would hang a lantern at the ensign staff and that they should keep 

 a lookout for it and not run into us. 



from Vaua are reckoned differently from what they are in the log of the St. Peter. 

 The rhumb is expressed as direction within a quadrant instead of in points of the 

 compass, as there (footnote 2, p. 37); the distance, in knots, or nautical miles 

 (60 to a mean degree of latitude), instead of in German miles (15 to a degree). 

 Comparing the entries for June 6 and reducing them to a common term, we get: 

 (1) rhumb: St. Peter, SE by E 3° 30' E, or, in azimuth, 120 15'; St. Paul. Ss4° 30'E, 

 or 125° 30'; (2) distance, St. Peter, 2$% German miles, or 101 knots; St. Paul, 

 87.9 knots. For the track of the St. Paul PI. I should be consulted throughout. 



