39 2 Capt. Kater’s experiments for determining the variation 
Cowhythe 54-1815,8^ t0 Portsoy Hill f 6 ' 8 * 
Knock Hill 7.20. 6,9 J ” [_ - 
Portsoy Hill 118.21.37,3 
If the angle at Cowhythe be added to 3i°.57'.B / ', we have 
86°. 15'. 23", 8 for the bearing of Portsoy Hill, to the south- 
west from Cowhythe, from which and the distance of Cow- 
hythe from Portsoy Hill, we obtain 404 feet for the distance 
of Portsoy Hill to the south on the meridian. 
The latitude of Cowhythe, by the Trigonometrical Survey, 
is 57°.4i'.n // from which deducting 4 /7 ,02 for the distance 
on the meridian, T',99 the error of the former latitude of 
Greenwich, and 2^,92 the arc due to 294 feet, we obtain 
57°.4i'.2 ,, ,o7 for the latitude of my station, deduced from that 
of Cowhythe, and differing 4" ,68 in excess from the latitude 
given by the Repeating Circle. 
These observations for connecting my station with Cow- 
hythe were made under various unfavourable circumstances, 
and indeed I am not quite sure that the object I took on 
Knock Hill was in fact the station ; for a pole originally 
placed in the centre of a cone of masonry, as at Cowhythe, 
has been taken away, and it was some time before I could 
decide which to choose among two or three eminences re- 
sembling each other, which happen to be upon the hill. The 
preceding result therefore can be considered only as a proof 
that no error of consequence is to be feared in my determi- 
nation of the latitude of Portsoy. 
Latitude of Leith Fort. 
At Leith Fort, the two following series of observations were 
made, the sun being frequently obscured by flying clouds. 
