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3 ■ - -'
t

HISTORY AND CAUSES

OF THE

INCORRECT LATITUDES

AS RECORDED IX THE

JOURNALS OF THE EARLY WRITERS, NAVIGATORS AND EXPLORERS
RELATING TO THE ATLANTIC COAST OF NORTH AMERICA.

1535—1740-

BY THE REV. EDMUND F. SLAFTER, A.M.,

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY or THE NEW ENOI.ANO H.STOH.C OENEAU.O.CAL SOCETV ■
MEMBER OF T.rE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCnvlY ; HONOHAKV MEMUKR '

OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY <.F GREAT liKlTAIN, ETC. ETC.

BOSTON :

PRIVATELY P II I N T E D

1882.

RKPlMNTEn FROM THE NEW ENOLANIJ HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER,

FOR AIMUL, 1882.

DAVID CLAPP \Nn SON, PRINTERS.

HISTORY AND CAUSES

OF THE

INCORRECT LATITUDES

AS RKCORDKD IN TIIR .TOURNALS OF TIIK EARLY WRITERS,

NAVIGATORS AND EXPLORERS RELATING TO THE

ATLANTIC COAST OF NORTH AMERICA.

1530—1740.

rpiIE progress of geography, as a science, has been dependent,
in all its stages, upon that of astronomy. Tlie latter, the purest
and most exact of all the sciences, advanced at first but slowly, and
was many weary centuries in coming to its present state of perfec-
tion. Climates, their peculiar products both in the animal and
vegetable kingdoms, the shadows cast by objects in the sun noted at
different hours of the day and at different seasons of the year, the
length of the longest and the length of the shortest days, «heir ad-
vance, culmination and recession, were the chief elements at first for
determining the relations of the earth to the heavenly bodies. About
six hundred years before the coming of Christ, Thales described
the earth by dividing it into zones. Parallels of latitude were in-
troduced by Eratosthenes, but the graduation into degrees of latitude
and fractions of a degree was invented by Ilipparchus, a century and
a half before the Christian era. The principles, on which these
lines or divisions were determined, were thus understood at an early
period, but practical difficulties were encountered which it was not
easy to overcome. Extraordinary errors in that rude stage of the
science were introduced, and sometimes perpetuated for luany cen-

turiea. An error of more than two degrees in tlie liititude of Con-
Btantinople, the ancient Byzantium, crept into the geograpliy of
Ptolemy, composed about a hundred and fifty years after Christ, and
remained uncorrected for more than fourteen centuries. In 1594
tlie latitude of London was found to be fifteen minutes less than it
had been computed to be and laid down on the maps ; and the city
was consequently fifteen geographical miles furtiier south on the ter-
restrial globe than had hitherto been supposed. Anterior to 10(J4,
the most distinguished astronomers differed as to the latitude of
Paris, the widest variation being not less than sixteen minutes. In
the reign of Louis XIV. the map of France was revised under the
direction of the government, and was so much abridged at many
points, that the king facetiously upbraided the royal surveyors for
de})riving him of an important part of his kingdom.

While the discovery and correction of such errors as these in the
East, on the continent of Europe, and in Great Britain, were going
forward, the voyagers, explorers, and the chroniclers of our e.arly
history, were placing upon record the latitude, according to their
best means of ascertaining it, at numberless points, from the Grand
Banks, the capes and bays of Newfoundland, the Gulf of St. Law-
rence, the borders of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the Bay of
Fundy, the coast of New England, Jind along the Atlantic shores
stretching down to the inlets and estuaries of our Southern States.
To the student of our earliest history it is a question of great inter-
est, and likewise of some importance, to know whether these records
are trustworthy, wdiether they can be implicitly relied upon, or, on
the other hand, whether they are erroneous, and, if they are errone-
ous, to what extent. Fortunately we have to-day the means at our
command of determining this question with absolute precision. Until
within the last few years, certainly until within the memory of the pre-
sent generation, it has been impossible for any scholar of our early

early
K) their
rand
^aw-
ay of
lores
ates.
inter-
cords
■)r, on
rone-
t our
Jntil
pre-
early

history to test the accuracy of tliese recorded latitudes. TJut this diffi-
culty no lonjfcr exists.' Charts emanating from the office of the
United States Coast Survey at ^ya8hington, and from the Admi-
ralty Office in Enghmd, have been constructed after the most care-
ful and scientiHc surveys, made by authority of government,
under favorable circumstances and by the most skilful and experi-
enced engineers. By collating the early recorded latitudes with
these charts, or others carefully copied from them, it will not be
difficult to determine with exactness where and to what degree errors
exist.

AVe propose therefore to exhibit on the following pages a colla-
tion of these latitudes with the modern charts just referred to, in
cases sufficiently numerous, taken at diffijrent points and at different
times, and by different hydrographers and surveyors, to show not
only whether errors exist, but if so, whether they are uniform or
vary by any fixed and determinate laws.

AVe proceed therefore to give, in the following references, first,
the name of the place whose latitudes we have collated ; second, the
early latitude with its source ; third, the true latitude and the author-
ity on which it rests ; and, lastly, the amount of the error, if any be
found .

Anticosti, a large island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, north-west
end, Lat. 50°, as given by John Alphonse, 1542, Hakluyt's Voy-
ages, Vol. iii. p. 292. True Latitude 49° 53', according to the
Admiralty Charts, Ga'ptain H. W. Bayfield of the Royal Navy.
Error, 7 minutes.

Advocate's Harbor, Bay of Fundy, Lat. 45° 40', Cham,'-
plaints Voyages, 1613, Otis's Trans. Prince Society ed., Vol. ii.

• Instruments and methods arc at the present time so perfect, that, if one slcillcd in the
science were blindfolded and carried to any point on the globe, he would be able, in the space
of a few hours, to determine his position within a hundred yards.

p. 25. True Latitude 45° 20', Admiralty Charts, Captain P.
2P. Shortland, Itoyal Navy. Error, 20 minutes.

Banook, Maine, Lat. 45° 25', Chantj)lains Voi/ar/cs, 1013,
Prince Soc. etl., Vol. ii. p. 40. True Latitude 44° 45', Charts
of United States Coast Survey . Error, 40 minutes.

Boston, Mass., Lat. 42° 10', John Duntou's Letters, 1080,
Prince Soc. ed., p. 0(5. Lat. 42° 30', John Josseli/n's JVew Evg.
Rarities, 1672, Tuckerman's ed., p. 33. Lat. 42° 30', "Alma-
nack of cojlestial motions for the Year of the Christian Epocha,
1081, by John Foster, Astrophile. Calculated for the Meridian
of Boston in New-England, where the Arctick Pole is elevated 42
Degrees & 30 Minutes."' True Latitude 42° 21', Charts of
United States Coast Survey. Error for the first, 11 minutes;
for the second and third, 9 mimctes.

Brant Point, Marshfield, Mass., Lat. 42° 45', Chaviplain's
Voyages, 1613, Prince Soc. ed.. Vol. ii. p. 70. True Latitude
42° 5', Charts of United States Coast Survey. Error, 40
minutes.

BiiYON Island, entrance to Gulf of St. Lawrence, Lat. 47° 30',
Jacques Cartier, 1535, Brief liecit, D'Avezac, ed., p. 45, verso.

2 In the last part of Foster's Almanac for 1681, the following note is introduced : " The
Reader is desired to take notice that our Latitude here in Boston, hitherto reputed to be
42 (jr. 30 min, is by better Observations found not to exceed 42 gr. 24 m. of wiiicli you may
expect the certainty by the next opportunity." Mr. Foster was a graduate of Harvard
College in the class of 1667, a famous school-master of Dorchester, and the tiist printer in
Boston. He was styled an " ingenious Mathematician and Printer." Vide Sibley's Har-
vard Graduates, vol. ii. p. 224. Mr. Foster died in 1082, and his Almanac for that year,
which he lel't incomplete, did not give the latitude of Uoston. The same latitude, 42° aO',
continued to be given in the Almanacs until 1685, when it was stated to be 42° 21'. After
the year 1686, however, it fell back to 42° 30'. But in 1690, in Harvard's Ephcmeris or
Almanac by H. Newman, the latitude of Cambridge, where it was published, is given as
42° 27'. But the same year, in the Almanac of John Tully, the latitude of Boston is still
given as 42° 30', and so continued till 1701. Mr. Tulley died in 1702. In 1707, Nathaniel
Whittemore's Almanac makes the latitude 42° 25'. In 1710 Thomas Robie's Ephcmeris
gives tlie latitude of Boston 42° 24'. In 1727 Nathaniel Ames's Almanac has the latitude
42° 25', and continues to give the same for many subsequent years. In Thomas Salmon's
Geographical Grammar, published in 1785, the latitude of Boston is given as 42° 25'.

7° 30',
verso.

(1: "The

Ited to be

yon may

Harvard
[printer in
ley's Har-

lat year,
], 42° ao',
|1'. After
lemeris or

given as
is still

Fathaniel

)hemeris
iatitiKle

Salmon's

True Latitude 47° 48', Admircdty Charts, Capt. JJai/Jlchl.
Error, 18 minutes.

Cap de La IIeve, Nova Scotia, Lat. 44° 5', Champlains Voy-
ages, 1G13, Prince Soc. cd., Vol. ii. p. 10. True Latitude 44°
11', Charts of Ifydrographic Office, United States. Error, 6
minutes.

Cap des Monts nostre Dame, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Lat. 49°,
John Alphonse, 1542, Ilakluyt, Vol. iii. p. 292. True Latitude
4U° 18'', Admiralty Charts, Captain Bayfield. Error, 18
minutes.

De Mont's Island, St. Croix River, Maine, Lat. 45° 20',
Champlains Voyages, 1613, Prince Soc. ed., pp. 33, 34. True
Latitude 45° 1' , Admiralty Charts, Capt. Shortland. Error,
13 minutes.

Elizabeth's Island, Cuttyhunk in Vineyard Sound, Mass.,
Lat. 41° 10', Gabriel Archer, 1G02, Purclias Pilgrims, Vol. iv.
p. 1G49. Bartholomeio Gosnold's Letter to his father, Sept.
7, 1602, Lat. 41° 20', idem, p. 1640. True Latitude 41° 25'.
I^rror, first, 15 minutes. Error, second, 5 minutes.

Gloucester Hakbor, Mass., Lat. 43°, Champlain's Voyages^
1613, Prince Soc. ed.. Vol. ii. p. 115. True Latitude 42° 36',
Charts of United States Coast Survey. Error, 24 minutes.

Irondiquois Bay, Iiaroiitagouat, in Lake Ontario, east of the
Genesee River, N. Y., Lat. 43° 12', Relation de L'Ahhe de Gal-
linee,^ 1669, Decouvertes des Frangais de L'Am6rique Septentrio-
nale, par Pierre Margry, p. 126. True Latitude 43° 14', Charts
of United States Survey of Northern Lakes. Error, 2 minutes.

' Gallinee says he took the latitude avec le baston de Jacob. Jacob's Staff was one of tho
names given to the Cross-staff. Perhaps the good Father chose this rather than the more
usual appellation out of respect to the Patriarch. It was sometimes rendered in Latin,
Radius astronomicus, and in the French, Ray nautique. The close approximation to the
true latitude in this instance was doubtless a mere accident, as will appear iu the sequel.

IfSLE OF Haues, lilver St. Liiwrcncc, Lat. 4H° .'5', John Al-
phcnae, Kubeival's Expedition, 1^)42, llakluyt, Vol. iii. p. 21)3.
True Latitude 47° 54', Admiralty Charts^ (JapL Bayjidd. Er-
ror, 9 minutes.

Isle des Coudues, I?iver St. Lawrence, Lat. 47° 4,')', John
Aljihon.se, in lioherval's Ex[)cdition, 1542, llakluyt, Vol. iii. p.
293. True Latitude 47° 20', Adniimlly Charts, Capt, Bay-
field. Error, 19 minutes.

Isle of Orleans, Kivcr St. Lawrence, north-eastern end, Lat.
47" 20', John Alphonse, in lloberval's Ex[)cdition, 1542, Ilukluyt,
Vol. iii. p. 293. True Latitude 47° 2', Admiralty Charts, Cajn.
Bayfield. Error, 18 minutes.

Isle of Monpiegan, coast of Maine, Lat. 43° 30', Capt. John
Smith, Description of New England, 1616, Vcazie's ed., p. 19.
True Latitude 43° 46', Charts of United States Coast Survey.
Error, 16 minutes.

Kennebec, mouth of the River, coast of Maine, Lat. 43° 40',
Pierre Biard, Relation des Jesuitcs, 1610, (Quebec ed., p. 36.
True Latitude 43° 44', Charts of United States Coast Survey.
Error, 4 minutes.

Mount Desert, Bar Harbor, Maine, Lat. 44° 30', Champlain's
Voyages, 1613, Prince Soc. ed.. Vol. ii. p. 39. True Latitude 44°
23', Charts of United States Coast Survey. Error, 7 minutes.

Nauset Haubor, Eastham, Mass., Lat. 42°, Chamjjlain's Voy-
ages, 1613, Prince Soc. ed.. Vol. ii. p. 81. True Latitude 41°
49', Charts of United States Coast Survey. Ei-ror, 11 minutes.

Plymouth, Mass., Lat. 41° 37', Josselyn's Voyages, 1675, Vea-
zie's ed., p. 122. True Latitude 41° 59', Charts of United States
Coast Survey. Error, 22 minutes.

Quebec, Canada, Lat. 46° 30', Le Grand Voyage dv Pays des
Ilvrons, Gabriel Sagard, 1632, p. 57. True Latitude 46° 49',
Admiralty Charts, Capt. Bayfield. Error, 19 minutes.

KossiONOL, Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Lat. 4 f^ 5', (JhionpUthis
\^(ji/(i(jcs, 1()1.'5, I'l'iiice Site, etl., \'n\. ii. p. 10. Tiuo Latitiulc
4P 3', Charts of llijdrofirftphic OJice, United States. Error,
2 minutes.

JiiciiMOMKS Island, Maine, Lat. AW 34', Jossebjn's Votjar/es,
1()75, Vcazic's ed., p. l')\. True Latitiulo 43^ 32', Chccrts of

United Stales (Ji

mutes.

Salkm, j\Ias9., Lat. 42'^ 35', Josselt/u's Voyages, 1G75, Vcazic's
ed., 1). 120. True Latitude 42^ 31', Charts of United States
Coast Survey. Error, 4 minutes.

Saouknay, entrance of Itiver, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Lat. 48°
20', John AlphoHse, in Kobcrval's Expc<lition, 1542, Ilakluyt,
\o\. ill. [). 2!)3. True Latitude 4b'^ 7', Admiralty Charts, Cajit.
Jiayfidd. Error, 13 minutes.

Saint John, New Brunswick, Lat. 45° 40', Champlain^s Voy-
ages, 1()13, Prince Soc. cd.. Vol. ii. p. 30. True Latitude 45°
1()', Admiralty Charts, Capt. Shortland. Error, 24 minutes.

Saco lliVEit, Maine, Lat. 43^ 45', Champlaiii's Voyages, 1(513,
Prince Soc. ed.. Vol. ii. p. 07. True Latitude 43° 2y', Charts
of United States Coast Survey. Error, 17 minutes.

Seguin Island, coast of Maine, Lat. 44°, Chamj)lains Voy-
ages, 1G13, Prince Soc. ed.. Vol. ii. p. GO. True Latitude 43°
42', Charts of the United Slates Coast Survey. Error, 18
minutes.

Stage IIarrou, Chatham, Mass., Lat. 41° 20', Champlaiii's
Voyages, 1G13, Prince Soc. ed.. Vol. ii. p. 130. True Latitude
41° 40', Charts of United Slates Coast Survey. Error, 20
minutes.

Strait of Canseau, Nova Scotia, Lat. 45° 45', Champlain's

Voyages, 1613, Prince Soc. ed., Vol. ii. p. 155. True Latitude

45° 21', Charts of English Ilydrographic Office rejmhlished by

United States. Error, 24 minutes.
2

!|)

Seven Isles, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Lat. 50° 30', John Al-
phonse, 1642, Eoberval's Expedition, Ilakluyt, Vol. iii. j). 202.
True Latitude, most northerly point, 50° 11', Admiralty Charts,
Capt. Bayfield. Error, 19 minuses.

Trinity Harbok, Newfoundland, Lat. 49°, Richard Wliit-
bovrne^s Voyages, in Purchas Pilgrims, 1625, Vol. iv. p. 1884.
True Latitude 48° 22', Wilson's Charts of the Coast of JSTurth
America, London, 1880. Error, 38 minutes.

Wiers, New Hampshire, Lat. 43° 40' 12", Survey made under
the direction of a Committee appointed by the Genet'al Court of
Massachusetts t 1652. Vide New England Historical and Genea-
logical Kegister, Vol. i. p. 312. True Latitude 43° 36', Survey
by Prof. E. T. Quimby.* Error, 4 minutes.

In the collation of the latitudes given above, it will be observed
that variations have been found in every case examined, and that
they follow no uniform rule. The early latitudes sometimes exceed
and sometimes fall short of the true latitudes. Tiie average varia-
tion as tested by these collations is over fifteen minutes, the smallest
being two and the largest forty. The cases here reported have been
investigated without reference to any probable error, whether large
or small, and we are sure that a wider collation would reveal the
same inex-^tness.

It is obvious, if a cartographer of two hundred years ago, resid-
ing in London, or Paris, or Berlin, had proposed to himself to
construct a map of our Atlantic coast, and to fix the situation of our
principal towns according to the latitudes given by the best au-

* The latitude of the Wiers not having ben determined by the United States Coast and
Geodetic Survey, we arc happy to give tlie latitude on so good authority as that of Profes-
sor Quimby, whose name alone would be suflleiont, even if he were not at this time con-
nected with the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. He hud talcen the latitude of a poiut
not far from the Wiers, and by a close estimation he adds, " I do not think it can ditler one
minute," which is of course sufficiently near for our present purpose. Ms. letter of Prof.
Quimby, Dec. 28, 1881.

thorities then existing, his work would have presented many extra-
ordinary and surprising features. Our ancient Plymouth would no
longer rejoice as the magmim oppidiilnni in Cape Cod Bay, but
would have been fixed on the heights of South Boston, and the little
Pilgrim colony would have been surprised and perhaps annoyed to
find itself in such close proximity to its Puritan neighbor. Glou-
cester Harbor would no longer have been the jewel and ornament of
Cape Anne, but would have exchanged its cool breezes of July and
August for the softer and less invigorating atmosphere of Cohasset.
Salem would have lost its excellent harbor, and have built its stately
mansions on the serrated and picturesque shores of Beverly Farms.
Bangor would have retreated to the north at least forty-five miles,
and have spread out its lumber yards on the flats of Mattawamkeag.
St. John, New Brunswick, would have abandoned its splendid har-
bor, and have nestled under the frowning clifis of Campobello, on
the. chilly little island now occupied by Eastport. Boston, follow-
ing one authority, would have floated down the bay and moored
itself at Scituate Harbor, while by another authority, it would have
gone to the north and have made a lodgement on the rocky penin-
sula of Marblehead.

In the face of such excessive inaccuracies the inquiry naturally
arises as to the origin of the errors. They were clearly not acci-
dental. The general principles on which latitudes were determined,
if we except some minor disturbing causes, were as well understood
at that time as at the present moment. But the instruments em-
ployed were inadequate to their purpose, and have long since gone
into disuse. In these we shall probably find the chief source of
most of the variations. A brief description of the processes neces-
sary for taking latitudes will elucidate the cause of the errors, and
at the same time will not be an unimportant, and, perhaps, not an
uninteresting page, in our early history.

ill

'§

The first step in taking latitudes was to determine the meridian
altitude of the sun.* The instrument generally used for this pur-
pose, down to nearly the middle of the eighteenth century, was the
Mariner's Astrolabe, but another instrument was sometimes cm-

ployed, of which wo shall presently speak. The astrolabe consisted
of a disk, or circular plate of brass or bronze, from five to seven
inches in diameter. It was divided into quarters, and the upper

* Observations were sometimes made for this purpose upon well known stars, which were
practicable, if the observer had lil<ewise a tal'le of their declination, but in practice this re-
sort was at that period exceptionable.

quarter on the left was siibclividccl Into ninety spaces representing
degrees, wliieh were duly numbered, as may be seen in the engraved
ilhistration which we iiere give." Attached to the face of the disk
was a moveable index or diopter turning on a jjivot in the centre.
On eaeh end of the diopter was affixed a small plate, or pinule,
pierced with holes or notched with narrow slits to serve as sights.
A handle consisting of a simple ring or hinge was attached at the
zenith point, by which it was conveniently suspended for use.

In taking the altitude of the sun, the operator, holding the astro-
labe in his hand, suspended it so that it should hang plumb or per-
pendicularly to the horizon. He then directed the index or diopter
to the middle of the sun at noon, or to one edg( of it allowing for
the distance to its centre, so that the same ray of light might shine
through the two sights on the pinules of the diopter at the same
time. Tbe diopter would then [)oint to the degree of the sun's me-
ridian altitude indicated on the outer rim of tbe aj-trolabe.

The other instrument to which we have referred, sometimes used
in taking the altitude of the sun, was the [Mariner's Cross-staff. It
consisted of two square rulers of wood, of very hard and compact
fibre. The longest of the two, denominated the staff, was usually
about twenty-seven inches in length, and was graduated into ninety
degrees. Tbe other piece, called the transom, was about nine inches
in length, and had in the centre a square ajjcrturo through which
the stair could pass freely from end to end. In taking the altitude
of the sun with this instrument, the end of the staff, marked with
90, was brought to the eye, while tbe other end pointed to the hori-

* The illustration lu'vo given is from an old woilv on naviuation, i-sucd in London in
1022, and rcpri'.scnts in iirudu engraving the Astrolaljc tlien in eotninon n>c. Otlu'i> move
claliorate were sometimes made. In soTne all the ((nartcrs of tlie circli' were graduattil, lint
this was probably to give ornament and liiiish to tiie in^trnmcnt. Soinctinu's a table was
nttaehed to the diopter for determining the deellnation ol'the sun, lait as the table .-oon be-
tainc incorrect, this attachment was of little importance.

zon. The transom was then moved until the end of it came into
exact range with tlie middle of the sun, or to one edj^c allowing for
the distance to the centre. The degree on the staff, cut by the edge
of the transom at that moment, was the altitude of the sun. Our
illustration is from an old drawing issued in London in 1G22.

ip'iiiiii

'I'liriii

rm i iimi

'IMIIIIII

If the observations by either of these two instruments were made
when the sun was at the equinoctial, the altitude in der -ees thus
taken, subtracted from 90°, would give the latitude. But if the
sun, in its apparent course through the ecliptic, were either north or
south of the equinoctial, then the next step was to ascertain the sun's
declination. This was taken from a table calculated for every day
in the year. As this required a bulky document, it was usually con-
densed so as to occujjy but two pages by employing a Zodiacal
Ephemeris, of which we give a drawing on the next page, taken
from an old Treatise on Cosmography, dated London, 1594.

It consisted, as may be sec umerous concentric circles, on the

outer rim of which are display eu ihe signs of the zodiac, each covering
thirty degrees, duly graduated and numbered. On the inner rim, in
exact correspondence, av. represented the months of the year, divid-
ed into spaces representing days, likewise graduated and numbered.
By this instrument it was easy to find in what sign and degree the

1')

Bun was on every clay tlirougliout the year. This Avas ascertained
by hoklini^ f> slender silken thread at the centre of the instrument,
and extending it through tiie point indicating the day of the month,
on the inner rim, for which the declination of the sun was desired,

Zotrttical ISpfjcmci'ts.

carrying it to the outer rim of the circk', where it would rest upon
the deijree of the siijn of tiic zodiac whicii the sun had reached on
that day. Opposite to the degree thus found, in a table calcuhited for
the purpose, occupying but a jmgle sheet, was set down the declini-
tion of the sun for the day sought, in degrees, minutes and seconds.

liii

Ilaviiifv thus found the declination, if the sun was north of the
equinoctial, it was to he suhtracted from the t^un's aUitude, or, if
the sun was soutii of the eciuinoetial, it was to he added to the sun's
altitude, and the remainder or sum, as the case might be, was sub-
tracted from 1)0°, which <>ave the latitude soutjfht.

Such were the instruments employed and such the method of tak-
ing the latitude two hundred and fifty years ago, and indeed down
to 1731, when the invention of liadley's quadrant introduced a
new method, and gradually superseded the old instruments.' The
reader has undoubtedly observed, not only that the probabilities of
eri'or were numerous, but, that with the facilities which then existed,
it was impossil)le for the navigator or ex[)lorer to determine the lati-
tude with any degree of exactness. The following sources of error
are especially notable.

Both the Astrolabe and the Cross-staff were graduated only to de-
grees. The disk of the former instrument was usuallv from five to
seven inches in diameter. Long experience proved that a larger
disk could not be successfully used by the explorer and navigator,
on account of the jostling motion given to it by the wind or the
movement of the ship at sea. Owing to the small size of the in-
strument, the space occupied by each degree would, therefore, be
considerably less than one tenth of an inch, and to graduate it to
minutes it would be necessary to divide the minute space of less than
one tenth of an inch into sixty divisions, which would be practically
impossible. While therefore the operator in taking the altitude of

'> Tlio pi-inci]ile involved in tlic reflecting quiidnint, commonly known ns liadley's Quad-
rant, wiis diseovered by Sir Isaac Newton, ami, after liis doatli, which oceiirrcd in 1727,
a description of it was found in iiis h.ind-writintc auionfj his jiapers. Iladley exhiliited liid
invention at a ineelinit of tlic lloyal Society in 17:U. About the .same time Thomas God-
frey, of Phiiadclpiiia, invented a similar instrument. The Royal Society decided that both
Hadley and Godfiey were independent inventors. The invention of tliis instrument marks
an era in obtaining trustworthy results in astronomical observations. After its introduction
it was possible for nuiriucrs to take their hititutlc with nearly absolute exactness.

the sun could get the degrees with some certainty, what he put down
as the fraction of a degree, or minutes, was an absolute and sheer
guess. To determine to which of the sixty parts the diopter or in-
dex pointed, when the wliolc space was less than a tenth of sin incii,
was a process too delicate to be undertaken with any liope of success.
In the old journals the minutes arc usually written in fractions of
a degree, as one-fourth, one-third, one-half, two-thirds or three-
fourths, but sometimes translated into minutes, and given as fifteen,
twenty, thirty, forty or forty-five minutes, but Very rarely in any
nmnber of minutes not represented by these general fractions. It
is highly probable, indeed nearly certain, that the early navigators
and explorers did not suppose that their statements of latitude would
be interpreted with any degree of exactness as to minutes. They
were at best but guesses, as they and doubtless all others at that
period knew, with no ground or pretension whatever of certainty.

But another not unimportant source of error is found in the old
method of taking the siui's declination. The zodiacal ephemcris, or
diagram then in use, of whicii we have given a drawing in the pre-
ceding pages, was not graduated to minutes, and consequently there
was an inaccuracy as to the exact point of the sun in the zodiac at
the time of taking the latitude. But a still greater error arose from
the tables used in connection with this instrument. These tables
were not calculated annually, as is customary at the present time,*
but were only renewed once in about thirty years. Owing to the
precession of the equinoxes, which changes the equinoctial points at
the r.ate of about 50" eacii year, these tables were constantly becom-

^ These tables are now found in the Astronomical Ephcmcrides, or Nautical Almanacs.
They arc issued annually, under the authority of government, by Germany, Spain, Portu-
gal, France, Great Britain and the United States. The French began the publication under
the title of the Connaisance des Temps in 1679, and have continued it to tlie present time.
The British Nautical Almanac was begun in 1767. The American Ephemcris has been pub-
lished regularly since 1855.

ing inaccurate, and when used several years after the date of their
calcuhition, as they often were, they furnislied an important source
of error in ohtaining tiie declination of the sun.

No account was taken or correction made, at the early period of
which wc are treating, for the Dip of the Horizon, for Refraction
or for Parallax, sources of error of minor importance compared with
the larger ones to which we have referred," hut nevertheletJS of
considerable gravity in working results, and carefully corrected by
all navigators and surveyors of the present day.

The method of taking the early latitudes which we have described,
and the instruments employed, were in universal use. No better
method or better instruments were known in any part of the world.
The latitudes recorded by the explorers of that day in whatever
quarter of the globe, if collated and tested, would be found subject
to the same inexactness. It is undoubtedlv true that in cities, where
structures could be erected for the accommodation and use of larger
instruments, somewhat gi'cater exactness might be secured."" But
these were exceedingly rare, and of course never practicable for the
use of the roving navigator or the itinerant explorer.

The result of these investigations leads us to three important con-
elusions, wli.ch we may state as follows :

I. The early latitudes are generally trustworthy to within a
single degree.

II. The minutes or fractions of degrees, as set down by writers
anterior to the middle of the eighteenth century, are never to be re-
lied upon, and are never correct except by accident.

9 These and some other minor sources of error were known to exist at an earlj* period,
but their relations were so complicated and subtle that a correct knowledge of their quanti-
tative value in astronomical calculations has onl j' been approximately determined at a com-
paratively modern date.

'0 Edward Wright, in 1594, took the latitude of London by observations of the " Polo
Star," with a brass quadrant of six feet radius. It was found to be 51° 32', which is very
nciivly correct. As no allowance was at that time made for refraction, the accuracy of the
result must have been in part accidental.

1!)

III. The annotfitioiiJ of tho learned coninicntators upon the lat-
itudes recorded in the journals of our early navigators and explorers,
in all cases in which they atten»j)t to identify places, within the limit
of one degree, hy the latitude alone, cannot properly he cited as
authority.

It is to he remarked that some of the more recent writers, by col-
lating with government surveys, have become aware of the discrep-
ancy, at least in the cases which they have examined, but none of
those, whose works have come under our own obfiervation, seem to
have been clearly aware of the extent of the errors or of their true
causes.

If the latitudes of the early navigators had been determined with
as nuich accuracy as is attained by the observations of the present
day, some interesting historical questions might be definitely settled,
and some not very decisive controversies might have been avoided.
In such an event the Pye Bay of De Laet would probably not have
been made identical with waters about ]Marblehcad." If the lati-
tude of the little French colony on ]\Iount Desert, swept off by Sir
Samuel Argal in 1G13, were surely at 44" 20', controversy would be
cut short as to its exact location.'" If Weymouth's icaternirf place
were clearly fixed in latitude 43" 20', several literary skirmishes
would not have occurred,'^ and if AViiitson Bay were really in
latitude 41° 25', we sliould no longer doubt whether ^lartin I'ring
passed the summer of 1G03 in Plymouth Harbor in Cape Cod Bayj
or in the little haven of Edgartown on the eastern borders of the isl-
and of Martha's Vineyard." But more than this, if the triumphs of

" Cf. Collections Xcw York Historical Society, ii. s. vol. i. p. 292.

" Cf. Pierre Biard, Relations des JiJsuitcs, Quebec cd., vol. i, p. 45.

" Cf. Collections Maine Historical Socicti/, vol. v. pp. 309, 344 ; vol. vi. pp. 293, 309, Me-
morial of Poj}ham Celebration, p. 301.

" Cf. New England IJistorical and Genealogical Register, vol. xxxii. p. 76. American
Biography, hy Jeremy Belknap, D.D., vol. ii. p. 128.

science had been earlier, if the okl hititudcs had been taken with
exactness, \vc siiouUl have been able I > trace the course, on sea and
on shore, of the intrepid and immortal ex[)lorer8, who first penetrat-
ed our northern waters, Davis, Frobisher, Barents, Hudson, Ilorc,
Gilbert, Koberval, Cartier, and the rest, with the entiiusiastic satis-
faction which certainty alwsiys imparts to historical investigations.

It would have been far more gratifying, wc confess, if this inves-
tigation had led us to the conclusion, that the old latitudes were al-
ways correct. The haziness and doubt, however, which have so long
brooded over the subject, have, wc think, been cleared away. And
it will doubtless be admitted, that the certainty that the old latitudes
were always wrong' is next in importance to the certainty that they
were always right.

ii:l

ken with
n sea and
l)enetraf-
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5tic eatis-
itions.
us invcs-
wcro nl-
B so long
7. And
latitudes
Iiat they