NA VIGA TION. 1 1 1 



course of eight or ten or fifteen years of navi- 

 gation on this principle, a captain of a mail 

 steamer has made land just at the desired place 

 a dozen times, after runs of strictly dead reckon- 

 ing- of from three or four hours to two or three 



3 



days. Perhaps of all these times there has only 

 once been a strictly dead reckoning of over thirty 

 hours with satisfactory result. Still, the man 

 remembers a time or two when he has hit the 

 mark marvellously well by absolutely dead 

 reckoning ; he actually forgets his own prudence 

 on many of the occasions when he has corrected 

 his dead reckoning by the lead, and imagines 

 that he has been served by the dead reckoning 

 with a degree of accuracy, with which it is im- 

 possible, in the nature of things, it can serve 

 any man. Meantime, he has earned the character 

 of being a most skilful navigator, and has been 

 unremitting in every part of his duty, according 

 to the very best of his intelligence and know- 

 ledge. He has, moreover, found favour with his 

 owners, through making excellent passages in all 

 weathers, rough or smooth, bright or cloudy, clear 



