The Eastern Extent Of The Isles And Shoals Off That Coast, Between
The Latitude Of 15 Deg.
And 23', were not known.
The resemblance of the two
countries; Bougainville's meeting with the shoal of Diana above sixty
leagues from the coast; and the signs he had of land to the S.E.; all tend
to increase the probability. I must confess that it is carrying probability
and conjecture a little too far, to say what may lie in a space of two
hundred leagues; but it is in some measure necessary, were it only to put
some future navigator on his guard.
Mr Wales determined the longitude of that part of New Caledonia we
explored, by ninety-six sets of observations, which were reduced to one
another by our trusty guide the watch. I found the variation of the compass
to be 10 deg. 24' E. This is the mean variation given by the three azimuth
compasses we had on board, which would differ from each other a degree and
a half, and sometimes more. I did not observe any difference in the
variation between the N.W. and S.E. parts of this land, except when we were
at anchor before Balade, where it was less than 10 deg.; but this I did not
regard, as I found such an uniformity out at sea; and it is there where
navigators want to know the variation. While we were on the N.E. coast, I
thought the currents set to S.E. and W. or N.W. on the other side; but they
are by no means considerable, and may, as probably, be channels of tides,
as regular currents.
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