34° Capt. Kater’s experiments for determining the variation 
and His Majesty’s sloop the Nimrod, commanded by Capt. 
Dalling, being in the harbour, she was directed to prepare 
immediately for sea, and on the ist July, her provisions be- 
ing completed, I embarked for Unst. 
Having put into Lerwick for two days, I availed myself of 
the opportunity to present a letter of introduction to Dr. Ed- 
mondstone, and to obtain one from him to his brother Tho- 
mas Edmondstone, Esq. of Unst, to whose hospitality I was 
aware I must be indebted during my stay on that Island. 
On the 9th July we arrived at Unst, having been joined on 
the voyage by the Cherokee, bearing an order from the Ad- 
miral commanding at Leith to relieve the Nimrod. To both 
Capt. Dalling and Capt. Smith I feel myself much indebted, 
not only for their judicious arrangements for the safety of 
the instruments, but also for the personal kindness and at- 
tention I experienced from them. 
At Unst, I was welcomed on the beach by Mr. Edmond- 
stone, who had received notice from his brother of my 
intended visit ; and I immediately proceeded to examine the 
buildings which surrounded this gentleman’s house, to se- 
lect a place proper for my experiments. I at length chose 
the shell of an unfinished cottage nearly adjoining to the cow- 
house, in which the preceding summer M. Biot had made his 
observations on the pendulum when he visited Shetland on 
the part of the Institute of France. One wall of this cottage, 
upwards of three feet thick, was ancient, though the rest of 
the building was modern, and it seemed to promise suffi- 
cient stability for my purpose. 
It is now necessary to give a description of the apparatus I 
employed. 
