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total darknefs ; that the thick and cloudy 
weather, the great quantities of fnow, and 
almofr inceffant rains at certain feafons, 
frequently interrupted the fight of the 
liars. 
I could not conceive how thefe men, 
who had neither clocks nor watches, nor 
fun-dial, nor nocturnal, had been able to 
determine the length of a natural day, at 
the time when the fun was conftantly 
moving round them, and efpecially when 
they had no longer any fight of him. On 
this head I was very particular in my quef- 
tions; fo that the mate Alexis Himkof, 
furprized at them, anfvvered me withfome 
warmth. " What a fine pilot, Sir, would 
u you think me to be, if I knew not how 
" to take the altitude of the fun when he 
" is before my eyes, or not to regulate 
" myfclf by the courfe of the ftars on the 
fe fun's not appearing, and by that means 
*: : to determine the period of twenty-four 
iC hours? I had for this purpofe made a 
- f ftafT, like that which I had left behind 
" in 
