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Among other things, I had written-
|
| > Cook didn't have a chronometer,
| > on this, his first voyage. Anyway, on land,

and Alex answered-

| George, this is a misunderstanding.
| I was talking all the time of Cook's SECOND voyage.
| (The dates of observations I am speaking about
| are early May 1774.
| He DID have a chronometer in this voyage.

So he did. I had completely lost track of where Alex had got to in his study
of Cook's observations, but his subject heading should have put me right, if
I had bothered to read it. Sorry about that.

Cook's Journal (Beaglehole vol 2) for early May 74 is no help. Cook is
heavily involved in obtaining and preserving his ship's food stocks, and
makes no mention of any astronomical observations. Presumably, he was then
leaving such matters to his astronomers.

It seems quite likely that those faulty Moon altitudes could have been taken
by a middie, using a wooden octant. Another possibility might be that the
wrong limb of the Moon had been chosen, and then corrected. Would the wrong
Moon altitudes be compatible with such an error? It's no more that a
suggestion. I don't have Wales' numbers to work on.

George.

contact George Huxtable at george@huxtable.u-net.com
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.|


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