Hfihrie of the Incites, lib. i. 5 ? 



not which way to dire<5i their courfc, butby the Stars 

 Sunne, and Moone : and that failing(as it doth often, 

 in a darke and cloudie feafon,) they did governe them- 

 felves by the qualitie of the winds , and by coniec- 

 ture of the waies which they had pafled. Finally they 

 went as they were guided by their owne motions. As at 

 the Indies jhe Indians faile a long way by fea , guided 

 only by their owne induftrie & naturall inftind. And it 

 ferues greatly to purpofe , that which Plinie writes of 

 the Handers ofT*pfri>aiM , ("which at this day, we call 

 Sumatra^) fpeaking in this fort , when as he treates of 

 the art and induftrie they vfe in failing. Thofe ofTa- 

 probamifie not the North to faile by : which defect theyfup- 

 ply with certainepnaU birdes they c&rrit with them , the 

 which they often Utflie , and as thefe birdes by a, natural in- 

 ftinft flic alwaies towards the I and, fo the Mariners dtretl 

 their courfe after them. Who doubtes then, if they had 

 had a#y knowledge of the compafTe , they would 

 not have vfed thcfe little birdes for their guides , to 

 difcover the Land . To conclude , this fufficeth to 

 fliew that the Ancients had no knowledge of the 

 fecrets of the Loadftone : feeing that forfb notable a 

 thing, there is no proper word in Latine, Greeke 5 or 

 Hebrew : for a thing of fuch importance , could not 

 have wanted a name in thefe tongues , if they had 

 knowne it . Whercvpon the Pilots at this day to di- 

 red him his courfe thatholds the helme, fit aloft in the 

 poopeof the Shippe, the better to obferuethecom- 

 pafle : where as in olde time , they fat in the prow of 

 the Shippe, to marke the differences of lands and feas, 

 from which place , they commaunded the Helme: 

 as they vfc at this day , at the entrie or going out 

 of any Port or haven : and therefore the Greekes 



E 4 called 



