INTRODUCTION. lxiii 
u ments and obfervers, which deferved the name, were 
“ very rare; and fo late as the year 1770, it was thought 
ie neceffary, in the appendix to Mayefs TfMes, publifhed by 
(( the Board of Longitude, to Rate fatfts, in contradiction to 
u the affertions of fo celebrated an aftronomer as the Abbe 
ei de la Caille, that the altitude of the fun at noon, the 
“ eafieft and moft fimple of all obfervations, could not be 
6i taken with certainty to a lefs quantity than five, fix, 
“ feven, or even eight minutes *. But thofe who will give 
“ themfelves the trouble to look into the aftronomical ob - 
u fervations , made in Captain Cook’s laft voyage, will find, 
<fi that there were few, even of the petty officers, who 
u could not obferve the diftance of the moon from the 
66 fun, or a ftar, the mo ft delicate of all obfervations, with 
“ fufficient accuracy. It may be added, that the method 
u of making and computing obfervations for finding the 
“ variation of the compafs, is better known, and more fre- 
“ quently pracftifed by thofe who have been on thefe voy- 
“ ages, than by moft others. Nor is there, perhaps, a per- 
“ fon who ranks as an officer, and has been concerned in 
* The Abbe’s words are, “ Si ceux qui promettent une fi grande precifion dans ces 
<c fortes de methodes, avoient navigue quelque temps, ils auroient vu fouvent, que dans 
“ 1’obfervation la plus fimple de toutes, qui eft celle de la hauteur du foleil a midi, deux 
<c obfervations, munis de bons quartiers de reflexion, bien rectifies, different entr’eux, 
K lorfqu’ils obfervent chacun a part, de 5', 6 7 , 7', & 8 / .” Ephemer. 1755—1765. 
Introduction, p. 32. 
It muft be, however, mentioned, injufticeto M. de la Caille, that he attempted to 
introduce the lunar method of difcovering the longitude, and propofed a plan of calcula¬ 
tions of the moon’s diftance from the fun and fixed ftars ; but through the imperfection * 
of his inftruments, his fuccefs was much lefs than that method was capable of afford¬ 
ing. The bringing it into general ufe was referved for Dr. Mafkelyne, our Aftronomer 
Royal. See the preface to the Tables for correcting the Effects of Refraction and Parallax , 
publifhed by the Board of Longitude, under the Direction of Dr. Shepherd, Plumian 
Profeffor of Aftronomy and Experimental Philofophy at Cambridge, in 1772. 
“ them* 
