46 
A VOYAGE TO 
1776. mufquitoes or fand flies, which, were the firft I faw in the 
/ ovy-in cr '. country. In the afternoon we fet out again, and in the 
evening arrived at the Cape Town, tired with the jolting 
waggon.” 
Saturday 23. On the 23d, we got on board the obfervatory, clock, 8cc« 
By a mean of the feveral refults of the equal altitudes of the 
Sun, taken with the aftronomical quadrant, the aftronomi- 
cal clock was found to lofe on fldereal time, i' S' 7 ,368 each 
day. The pendulum was kept at the fame length as at 
Greenwich, where the daily lofs of the clock on fldereal 
time, was 4". 
The watch, by the mean of the refults of fifteen days 
obfervations, was found to be lofing 2",261, on mean time, 
each day; which is i // ,052 more than at Greenwich: and 
on the 21 ft, at noon, fhe was too flow for mean time by 
i h * 2o / 57 /7 ,66. From this, 6 7 48",956, is to be fubftra£ted, 
for what fhe was too flow on the nth of June at Green¬ 
wich, and her daily rate fince; and the remainder, viz. 
I 11 ’ 14'. 08",704, or 18 0 32' io v , will be the longitude of the 
Cape Town by the watch. Its true longitude, as found by 
Mefirs. Mafon and Dixon, is 18 0 23' 15". As our obferva¬ 
tions were made about half a mile to the Eaft of theirs, the 
error of the watch, in longitude, is no more than 8 7 25". 
Hence we have reafon to conclude, that fhe had gone well 
all the way from England, and that the longitude, thus 
given, may be nearer the truth than any other. 
If this be admitted, it will, in a great meafure, enable me 
to find the direction and ftrength of the currents we met 
with on this paflage from England. For, by comparing the 
latitude and longitude by dead reckoning, with thofe by 
obfervation and the watch, we fhall, from time to time, 
have, very accurately, the error of the fbip’s reckoning, be 
the 
