Occasionally There Was The
Fixing Of Certain Crucial Stations, At Intervals Of Sixty Miles
Or So, By Lunar Observations, Or
Distances of the moon either
from the sun or from certain given stars, for determining the
longitude, by which the
Original-timed course can be drawn out
with certainty on the map by proportion. Should a date be lost,
you can always discover it by taking a lunar distance and
comparing it with the Nautical Almanac, by noting the time when a
star passes the meridian if your watch is right, or by observing
the phases of the moon, or her rising or setting, as compared
with the Nautical Almanac. The rest of my work, besides
sketching and keeping a diary, which was the most troublesome of
all, consisted in making geological and zoological collections.
With Captain Grant rested the botanical collections and
thermometrical registers. He also boiled one of the
thermometers, kept the rain-gauge, and undertook the photography;
but after a time I sent the instruments back, considering this
work too severe for the climate, and he tried instead sketching
with watercolours - the results of which form the chief part of
the illustrations in this book. The rest of our day went in
breakfasting after the march was over - a pipe, to prepare us for
rummaging the fields and villages to discover their contents for
scientific purposes - dinner close to sunset, and tea and pipe
before turning in at night.
A short stage brought us to Ikamburu, included in the district of
Nzasa, where there is another small village presided over by
Phanze Khombe la Simba, meaning Claw of Lion.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 46 of 767
Words from 12568 to 12839
of 210958
