790 Note on the Nautical Instruments of the Arabs. [Dec. 



2. N. N. W. 22° 30'. ^J^xi^xk*, the setting of ndsh, the 

 bier. This constellation comprises the four stars of the belly, both 

 of the small and the great bear, but generally and in the present 

 instance, the name applies to the latter, of which, however, the posi- 

 tion is nearer 30 degrees than 22^ in azimuth. 



3. N. by N. 30° 45'. A*U«**i*.*, the setting of ndqe h, the she- 

 camel, probably the same as (jUxJI, the goat, of Dr. Dorn's celestial 

 globe, the middle star of the tail of the great bear, N. P. D. 34°. 



4. N. W. 45° 0. (J^^*" , the setting of dyHq, the kitten, 

 aiovK of the Greeks, or capella ; whose north polar distance is in fact 

 44^ degrees. 



5. N. W. by W. 56° 15'. ^Slju-fc**, the setting of wdqd, the 

 vulture, wega of our astronomy or a lyrse, N. P. D. 51^ degrees. 

 This is the star translated by the Baron Hammer as Aquila ; but the 

 azimuth shews it to be Lyra. 



6. W. N. W. 67° 30'. <JJU*«jlLw>, the setting of simak, con- 

 tracted for ^*\y\\JL)\>+** simak ul rdmd, the spear-bearer, Arcturus, 

 N. P. D. 70°. It is Ascimech aremeah of the Alphonsine tables. 



7. W. by N. 78° 45'. L^XJl^Ua^c, the setting of suraya, the 

 Pleiades. The north polar distance of these stars differs so much from 

 the azimuth here assigned, (being only 67°,) that the name is possibly 

 applied to Aldebaran, {N. P. D. 73° 50') although the latter is the 

 true Arabic denomination of «■ Tauri. 



8. W. 90°. L-^i*"*, the setting place (of the sun), nearly con- 

 stant in the equatorial regions. 



9. W. by S. 101° 15'. yys^u^A/o, the setting oijozd, a con- 

 traction for ' jy^ 'tJ'T*-; the giant's foot, known to Europeans as Rigel 

 in the right foot of Orion, N. P. D. 98.24. 



10. W. S. W. 112° 30'. jiW^l^*, the setting of tir. I do 

 not find any star of this name on the celestial globe described by 

 Dr. Dorn in the Roy. As. Soc. Trans., nor is the word Arabic. The 

 similarity of sound and near coincidence of azimuth might incline me 

 to consider it as Antares, (115° 40',) were it possible that the word 

 yXi nir, bright, in the passage quoted by Dorn from Ebn Muhammed, 

 could be changed to jj the name of the star before us : the pas- 

 sage is as follows : 



" The constellation of the scorpion is known to every one : on the 

 buttock there is a bright reddish star of the second magnitude, 



