ASSUME COMMAND OF THE ENTERPRISE. II 



listed from 6 to lo degrees, care to be taken to "keep 

 steady" on each point at least four minutes. These 

 instructions were issued for three purposes : (i) to find 

 our own compass errors ; (2) to familiarize the officers 

 with the method employed in swinging iron ships ; and 

 (3) to ascertain the magnetic variation in various parts 

 of the world. 



After taking our powder on board at Fort Norfolk^ 

 we weighed anchor on the 28th of December, 1882, 

 steamed to Lynn Haven Bay in the Chesapeake, and 

 awaited a favorable opportunity to swing ship. Bad or 

 cloudy weather detained us for several days, but at last 

 the required observations were made successfully. 



I will here state that to heel the ship 7° without 

 moving the guns, it was found necessary to shift over 

 to the starboard side all the extra coal which we had in 

 bags on deck, empty the port boilers of water, and lower 

 the port boats, hanging them by tackles to the starboard 

 fore and main yard-arms. 



Our last letters were sent to Norfolk by a light-house 

 tender which was entering the bay, and on the 2d of 

 January, 1883, we proceeded to sea, passing Cape Henry 

 at 5.30 p. M. 



The navigator had already spliced together and reeled 

 off more than 6000 fathoms of sounding wire, and had 

 set up the reel and engine in the starboard gangway 

 ready for work. 



The passage to the Cape de Verde Islands was an 

 unusually stormy one, even for the month of January,, 



