20 AVOYAGETO Book I.. 



the governor of the place. We v/ere informed that the 

 French academicians were not yet arrived, nor was there 

 any advice of them. Upon this information, and being 

 by our inftru6lions obliged to wait for them, we agreed 

 to make the bed ufe of our time ; but were unhappily 

 deftitute of inftruments, thofe ordered by his majefty 

 from Paris and London not being finiftied when we left 

 Cadiz but were forwarded to us at Quito foon after our 

 arrival. We however fortunately received intelligence 

 that there were fome in the city, formerly belonging to 

 Brigadier Don J uan de Herrera, engineer of Carthagena ; 

 by thefe we were enabled to make obfervations on the 

 latitude, longitude, and variation of the needle. We alfo 

 drew plans of the place and the bay from thofe of the 

 faid engineer, with the neceffary additions and alterations. 



In thefe operations we employed ourfelves till the 

 middle of November 1735, impatient at the delay of 

 the French academicians. At length, on the 15th, a 

 French armed vefTel came to an anchor, during the 

 night, under Boca Chica ; and to our great fatisfadlion 

 we learned, that the long-expedted gentlemen were on 

 board. On the 16th we vifited them, and were receiv- 

 ed with all imaginable politenefs by Mr. de Ricour, 

 captain of a man of Vv^ar, and king's lieutenant of Gua- 

 rico, in the ifland of St. Domingo ; and MefT. Godin, 

 Bouguer,and de laCondamine, academicians; who were 

 accompanied by MefT. Juflicu, botanift ; Seniergues, 

 forgeon; Verguin, Couplet, and Deirordonais,a(rociates; 

 Morenvile, draftfman ; and Hugot, clockmaker. 



Our intention being to go to the equator with all 

 poffible expedition, nothing remained but to fix on the 

 moil convenient and expeditious route to Quito. Hav- 

 ing agreed to go by the way of Porto-Bello, Panama, 

 and Guayaquil, we prepared to fail ; in the mean time, 

 by help of the inilruments brought by the academicians, 

 we repeated our obfervations on the latitude, weight of 

 the air, and the variation of the needle ; the relult of 

 which will appear in the following defcription. 



The 



