in the direction of the compass needles , &c. 1 1 5 
greater than the result of azimuths taken by a compass 
placed between two or three feet on the larboard side ; and 
an almost equal difference in a contrary direction took place 
on removing the compass to the starboard side, rendering it 
a matter of some trouble and difficulty, to make the azimuth 
compass agree with those in the binnacle by which the ship 
was steered, and for which it was therefore necessary to 
determine the variation. 
As the ships ascended Davis's Strait, these latter compasses 
began to traverse so sluggishly, that it was necessary to 
shake the binnacles continually to assist their motion. The 
cards of these* had a metal rim round their circumference, 
weighing one ounce, eleven drams avoirdupois, which, as the 
directive power of magnetism diminished, became too heavy 
for the needle to carry round : they were also frequently 
found to disagree with each other from ~ or | of a point ; the 
conseqijence, most probably, of the different local attraction 
to which they were exposed. These compasses ceased there- 
fore to be attended to, except as an occasional assistance to 
the helmsman, and a position was selected in each ship, in 
which a compass on a more suitable construction was perma- 
nently fixed; by this the ship's course was directed, azimuths 
taken, and bearings of land, &c. noted, during the voyage. 
This standard compass, as it may be called, was placed in 
the Isabella exactly amidships, between the main and mizen 
mast, on a stout cross beam elevated nine or ten feet above 
the deck ; this beam was the usual walk of the Greenland 
pilot, or of the quarter master, as affording a better view of 
the ice among which the ships were frequently steered, than 
* Burt’s patent binnacle compasses. 
