THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
7 
country, we had obferved to be in any eftimation there, 1776. 
either as ufeful or as ornamental. He had, befides, received , ^ une ' , 
many prefents of the fame nature from Lord Sandwich, 
Mr. * Banks, and feveral other Gentlemen and Ladies of his 
acquaintance. In ftiort, every method had been employed, 
both during his abode in England, and at his departure, to 
make him the inftrument of conveying to the inhabitants 
of the illands of the Pacific Ocean, the molt exalted opinion 
of the greatnefs and generality of the Britifh nation. 
While the Refolution lay at the Nore, Mr. King made 
feveral obfervations for finding the longitude by the w'atch. 
The mean of them all, gave o° 44' o", for the longitude of 
the Ihip. This, reduced to Sheernefs, by the bearing and 
eftimated diftance, will make that place to be o° 3' 1' o" Eaft 
of Greenwich; which is more by feven miles than Mr. 
Lyons made it, by the watch which Lord Mulgrave had 
with him, on his voyage toward the North Pole. Whoever 
knows any thing of the difiance between Sheernefs and 
Greenwich, will be a judge which of thefe two obferva¬ 
tions is neareft the truth. 
The variation of the needle here, by a mean of different 
fets, taken with different compaffes, was 20° 37' Weft. 
On the 25th, about noon, we weighed anchor, and made Tuefday-25, 
fail for the Downs, through the Queen’s Channel, with a 
gentle breeze at North Weft by Weft. At nine in the even¬ 
ing we anchored, with the North Foreland bearing South 
by Eaft, and Margate Point South Weft by South. 
Next morning, at two o’clock, we weighed and ftood Wednef. 26. 
round the Foreland ; and when it bore North by the com- 
pafs, the watch gave i° 24' Eaft longitude, which, reduced 
* Now Sir JofepE 
to 
