D '794'r Hence, as I confidered the longitude deduced from the lunar obferva-
*— „— ' tioas to be correft, or nearly fo, it will appear evident that the chronometers,
fince the commencement o f the very hot weather, had been gaining
confiderably leis than the rate we were allowing as afcertained at
Monterrey ; for which réafon a new rate was, from thefe and fubiequent
obfervations, found and adopted for pointing out our longitude, by the
chronometers, from this ftation fouthward to the ifland of Cocos.
By this mode No. 14, at noon, on the 31ft of december,
appeared to be fall of mean time at Greenwich, gh g i ' 36" 45“'
And to be gaining on mean time per day at the rate of, 20
No. 176, fail of mean time at Greenwich on thafame day, 11 51 5 9 4 5
And to be gaining bn mean time per day at the rate of, 41 5
Kendall’s fall of mean time on the fame day, - 10 11 43 45
And to be gaining on mean time per day at the rate of, 21 35
CHAPTER
C H A P T E R IV.
Vifit the ifland o f Cocos— Some defcription o f that ifland— AJtronomical and
nautical. obfervations there — Proceed, to the fouthward — Pafs between
Wenmaris arid Culpepper's iflands— See the Gallipagos iflands, and afcer-
tain their filia tion .
D U R IN G our pàlfage thus far from Monterrey, it did not appear
that we had been much affefted by currents, the log and the, obfervations
having in general correfponded very nearly, and the, difference
between 'the longitude, by the dead reckoning, and that which I confidered
to be the true longitude, had not exceeded half a degree, the dead
reckoning haying been in general to the eaftward of the truth..
The wind in the north-weftern quarter continued to blow a fteady
breeze, and as we advanced to the fouth-eaftward it increafed in its
forcé ; the heat was lefs opprelfive, and the mercury in the thermometer
fell to a general temperature of about 78 ; the atmofphere was generally
clear, and the fea, which Was remarkably finooth, abounded with
immenfe numbers o f flying fifh, dolphins, bonitos, albicores, and a great
variety of fmaller fifties; of Unties we eafily procured as many as we
could difpenfe with.
By noon on monday we had .reached the latitude of 9“ 27', and the
' longitude, brought forward from the preceding lunar obfervations, with
the new rates of the chronometers, was fhewn by Arnold’s No. 14 to be
263° 3& i f , No. 176, 263° 34' 15", and by Kendall’s 263° 40' ; the dead
reckoning at this time {hewed 265° 33' ; whence it became evident that
we were now materially affe&ed by a current fetting to the weftward,
1 ' as
Monday 5,