163 
very certain that a different variation will be found 
on every point of the compass the ship’s head is 
put on. The greatest will be found when the ship's 
head is at West, gradually declining till it comes to 
East. 
66 The Princess Carolina, as well as Sybyll, ex¬ 
perienced the same currents as the masters of the 
Greenland ships supposed to exist; for when We 
made Shetland, by Arnold’s chronometer, No. 1081 ^ 
to a mile, our dead reckonings were nearly 6° to the 
westward in both ships ; and when we made the North 
Cape by the same chronometer, (which was under 
my own care), the longitude in both ships, by ac¬ 
count, was 4° to the westward also. The one er¬ 
ror was occasioned by not allowing a sufficient quan¬ 
tity of variation in running to the south-west, and 
the other by allowing too much in running to the 
north-east. 
S£ I do not know whether the sarhe observations 
may hold good when applied to ships coming from 
the Baltic; but should they do so, they must effec¬ 
tually account for ships getting down on the coast 
of Holland, when they suppose themselves well 
over in Mid-channel. Perhaps this may in some 
measure serve to account for the loss of so many of 
our brave tars when coming from that sea. 
46 Notwithstanding the whole tenor of my obser¬ 
vations, as well as those of Captain Flinders, led me 
to, believe that the cause of the variation must exist 
in the ship; yet I had great difficulty in coming 
to a conclusion so remote from what had formerly 
been held to be truth ; and for that reason^ during 
