APR. 1770 VARIATION OF THE COMPASS 263 



Medusa radiata, pelagica ; Dagysa gemma, strumosa, cornuta ; 

 HolotJiuria obtusata ; Phyllodoce velella and Mimus volutator. 

 The master to-day, in conversation, made a remark on the 

 variation of the needle, which struck me much. As to me it 

 was new, and appeared to throw much light on the theory 

 of that phenomenon. The variation is here very small : he 

 says that he has three times crossed the line of no variation, 

 and that at all those times, as well as at this, he has 

 observed the needle to be very unsteady, moving very easily 

 and scarcely at all fixing. This he showed me ; he also told 

 me that in several places he had been in, the land had a very 

 remarkable effect upon the variation, as in the place we were 

 in now : at one or two leagues distant from the shore, the 

 variation was two degrees less than at eight leagues distance. 



2*7 th. Some bodies, three feet long and half as broad, 

 floated very buoyantly past the ship : they were supposed 

 to be cuttle bones, which indeed they a good deal resembled, 

 but for their enormous size. 



28th. An opening appearing like a harbour was seen, 

 and we stood directly in for it : a small smoke arising from 

 a very barren place directed our glasses that way, and we 

 soon saw ten people who, on our approach, left the fire, and 

 retired to a little eminence, whence they could conveniently 

 see the ship. Soon after this two canoes carrying two men 

 each landed on the beach under them : the men hauled up 

 their boats, and went to their fellows upon the hill. Our boat, 

 which had been sent ahead to sound, now approached the 

 place, and they all retired higher up the hill. We saw, how- 

 ever, that at the beach or landing-place one man at least was 

 hidden among some rocks, and never, so far as we could see, left 

 that place. Our boat proceeded along shore, and the Indians 

 followed her at a distance ; when she came back the officer 

 who was in her told me that in a cove, a little within the 

 harbour, they came down to the beach and invited our 

 people to land by many signs and words which he did not 

 at all understand. All, however, were armed with long 

 pikes" and a wooden weapon made like a short scimitar. 1 



1 A boomerang. 



