A S C 



A S C 



grent nrimSor of fmali liiUocks, compofcd oF lava fimilnr to 

 that which th.ty found on the f-ja-ftiore, a!id the pieces of 

 which r,)iiiidcd like jijlafs wlien (Inick againll each other. 

 Between the heaps of lava the foil was a tirm black earth, 

 and where the heaps did not appear, the v.hole w^s a red 

 earth, fo loofe and compofcd of fuch minnte particles, that 

 the wind raifed '"rom it clouds of duft. The conic hills con- 

 fined of a different fort of lava, which was red and foft, and 

 crumbled into earth. One of thefe hills (lands directly in 

 front of the bay, and has on its fiimmit a wooden crofj, 

 whence the bay is faid to take its nan'.e. The fides of tlie 

 hill are very ftetp, but a path about I of a mile long winds 

 to the fiimmit. The plain on which they flood, they con- 

 cluded to have been once the crater of a volcano, bv the ac- 

 cumulation of whofe cinders and pumice ftones the conic hills 

 had been gradually formed ; the currents of lava, which were 

 now dillributcd in many heaps, had, as they corjeftured, been 

 gradually buried in frefh cinders and a(hes ; and the waters, 

 flowing from the interior mountain in the rainy ftafon, had 

 carried every thing before them, and thus iiiled up by de- 

 grees the cavity of the crater. The rocky black lava was 

 the refidence of iiumberlefs men-of-war birds, and boobies, 

 w-hich fat on their eggs and allowed of a clofe approach. 

 Here they found a New York floop, which came to the 

 ifland to catch turtles, in order to fell them at the Windward 

 iflands. The Eail India (hips, it is faid, touch at this ifland 

 for the purpofe of farni(hing themfelves with turtles, which 

 are plentiful and very large. On a fecond vifit to the ifland, Mr. 

 Forller and his companions croffcd the plain, and arrived at 

 a prodigious current of lava, interf;cted by many channels 

 from fix to eight yards deep, which appeared to have been 

 formed by toiTcnts of water, but which they found dr)', as 

 the fun was in the northern hemifphere. In thefe gullies 

 they perceived a fmall quantity of foil which was a black 

 volcanic earth mixed with fonie whitilh particles, that were 

 gritty to the touch. This foil afforded fafficient nutriment 

 to purflane, and a fpecies of grafj, the " panicum fangui- 

 neum." Having with difficulty climbed over this lava cur- 

 rent, they came to the foot of the " Green mountain," 

 which was furrounded by a lava, that was covered with 

 purflane, and a kind of new fern, " lonchites adfeenfio- 

 iiis," on which feveral wild goats were feeding. This moun- 

 tain is divided in its extremities by various clefts into feveral 

 bodies, which run together towards the centre, and form one 

 broad mafs of great height. The whole appears to confill 

 of a gritty tophaceous limeftone, which has never been at- 

 tacked by the volcano, but probably txillcd, as Mr. Forfter 

 fuggells, prior to its eruption : its (ides are covered with a 

 kind of grafs peculiar to the ifland, which Linn-ctus has na- 

 med " ariflida adfcenfionis." The -goats which feed on it 

 were very numerous, but being very (hy, they fled with great 

 velocity over tremendous precipices, wh.ere it was impofTible 

 to purfue them. This ifland, with a little trouble, fays this 

 writer, might in a fiiort fpace of time be rendered fit for the 

 refidence of men. The introduftion of furze, " ulex Euro- 

 pceus," and fome other plants which thrive bell in a parched 

 foil, and which are not likely to be attacked by rats or 

 goats, would foon have the fame cfl^eft as at St. Helena. 

 The moiilure attracted from the atmofphere by the high 

 mountains in the centre of the ifland, would then not be eva- 

 porated by the heat iif the fun, but gradually be collefted 

 into rivulets, and fupply the whole ifland. A fod of gralFes 

 would everywhere cover the furface of the ground, and 

 annually increafe the (Iratum of the mould, till it could 

 be planted with more ufeful vegetables. The outfl^irts of 

 the iflaad are i;eprefented to be beyond Uefcription dreary. 



It is faid that, as this ifland is vifitcd by the homeward- 

 bound flups on account of its fea-fowls, fi(h, turtle, and 

 goats, there is in the crevice of a rock a place called by the 

 lailors the " Pod Office," where letters arc depofited, fnut 

 -up in a well-corked bottle, for the (hips that next vifit the 

 ifland. Mod. Un. Hill. vol. xi. P.45S. 



Ascension, or Jfcengaon, JJ'e cf, a fmall ifland about 

 120 leagues eafl; from the coaft of Brazil, N. lat. 20° 5c'. 

 W. long. 35" 40'. Some have fuppofcd this ifland to be 

 the fame with the ifle of Trinidad or Trinity. M. la Pe- 

 roiife, who wilhed to afcertain the cxirtence of the ifland 

 of Afcenfion, made fearch for it, and avers (fee his vovage 

 vol. i. p. 24.) that no fuch ifland exifts from the meridian 

 of Trinidad to about feven degrees wed longitude, between 

 the latitudes of 20° 10', and 20" 50'. M. le Paute d'Agelet 

 alfo fufpefts (Mem. Acad. Sc. Paris, for 1788) the French 

 geographers have committed an error with regard to the 

 ifle of Trinity, which they have laid down in their maps of 

 the African feas, but which he thinks is really the ifle of 

 Afcen<;aon, which, by fome error of reckoning, occafioned 

 probably by currents, has been twice laid down. But M. 

 Dapres (Neptune Oriental, p. 10.) has placed the ifland cf 

 Afcenfion 100 leagues weft of Trinidad, and fifteen miles 

 to the fouthward. It appears alfo, that though the latitudes 

 of thefe two itlands were nearly the fame, their longitudes 

 were very imperfedlly afcertaincd ; and from the minute 

 and vei-y different plans which Dairy mple has given of 

 thefe two iflands and their appearance, it is prefumed 

 that they are not the fame. La Peroufe did not purfue 

 his refearches far enough, as the ifle of Afcenfion is pro- 

 bably fomewhat nearer the coaft of Brazil than Dapres has 

 placed it. 



Ascension Bay, lies on the eaft fide of the peninfi-la 

 of Yucatan, in the bay of Honduras, having Amber bay on 

 the north, and the northern point of Ambtrgreafe key 

 on the fouth, whith forms a paffage into Hanover bay, 

 fouth from Alcenlion bav. — Alfo, a bay in the north part 

 of the gulf of Mexico, fituate between cape Balize at the 

 mouth of the Mifiifippi. and the bay of Freili-w-ater on the 

 weft, in N. lat. 30°. and W. long. 92^. 



ASCENSIONAL ZJ^mnr^, in Jjlronomy, is the differ- 

 ence between the right and oblique afcenfion of the fame 

 point on the furface of the fphere. 



To find the als^nfional difference trigonometrically, hav- 

 ing the latitude of the place, and the fun's declination given, 

 fay. As radius is to the tangent of the latitude, fo is the 

 tangent of the fun's declination to the fine of the afcenfional 

 difference. 



E. G. Let it be required to find the fun's afcer.fional 

 difference at London, lat. 51^ 32' N. on the 2 ill of 

 June, being the longeft dav, when the fun's declination 

 23"2S'N. 



Let the primitive circle PES(5_(y^/-on. PL II. Jg.lJ.) 

 reprefent the meridian of the' place, and the diameter HR 

 the horizon; take RP from R, the north point, for the 

 latitudc=^5l° 32'; draw the axis, or 6 o'clock hour circle, 

 PS, and perpendicular to it draw the equattn- EQ^; make 

 En, Qj?i, each==23° 28', the declination, and defcnbe the 

 parali!.! ot declinaticn run, interfering the horizon in Q, 

 the place of the fun at his rifing or fettiiig, and through this 

 point defcribe the hour circle POS. 



In the fpherical triangle ry^OA, right-angled at A, the 

 angle Q^t1^> meafurcd by the arc Q^, is the co-latitude; 

 A© is the fun's declination; and the required a(cenfional 

 diflerence is <^ A, which may be found by the proportion 

 above ilated ; viz. 



Rad. 



