THE EARTH A MAGNET. 29 



we supposed would lead us home. We travelled on 

 with full confidence in our pocket-guide ; at each turn- 

 ing we consulted it in an artistic manner, carefully 

 poising it and waiting till its vibrations ceased. But 

 when we had travelled some two or three miles without 

 seeing any house or road that we recognized, matters 

 assumed a less cheerful aspect. "We were unwilling to 

 compromise our dignity as " explorers " by asking the 

 way a proceeding which no precedent in the history 

 of our favorite travellers allowed us to think of. But 

 evening came on, and with it a summer thunder- 

 storm. We were getting thoroughly tired out, and the 

 hcBG olim meminisse juvdbit with which we had been 

 comforting ourselves began to lose its force. "When 

 at length we yielded, we learned that we had gone 

 many miles out of our road, and we did not reach 

 home till several hours after dark. How it fared with 

 our school-fellows we know not, but a result overtook 

 ourselves personally, for which there is no precedent, 

 so far as we are aware, in the records of exploring 

 expeditions. Also the offending compass was con- 

 fiscated by justly indignant parents, so that for a long 

 while the cause of our troubles was a mystery to us. 

 We now know that instead of pointing due north, the 

 compass pointed more than 20 toward the west, or 

 nearly to the quarter called by sailors north-northwest. 

 No wonder, therefore, that we went astray when we 

 followed a guide so untrustworthy. 



