Old-Time Navigation.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6833, 22 April 1890, Page 1

Old-Time Navigation.

In accounting for the frequent collisions at sea nowadays, it is often remarked there are 80 many more ships afloat. This is not altogether a satisfactory reason, Ib is true that the commerce of tho world isgreatly increased and extended. To offset this in a measure it may be shown that our modern ships have a carrying capacity ten times greater than the ships of the last century, to say nothing of what they were in earlier times.

Again, the improved methods of keeping the ship's reckoning ought to reduce the risks of collision. The real explanation of the disasters is rather to be found in the circumstance that now vessels sail independently of one another, while a hundred years ago or so the merchantmen used to be despatched in fleets, and these were under a convoy- An armed vessel was deemed necessary to protect them.

An old log recently printed throws much light on eighteenth-century sailing. Commodore Anson sailed down the Channel in 1740 with ten men-of-war, and in charge of 150 sail of merchantmen, all luore or less in sight, with nothing but sail power to help them.

Hadley*s quadrant was invented about 1731, so that there was almost time — ten years — for ib to have been adopted by the navy.

Bub there were as yet no chronometers, and the ancient mariner was forced to depend for his longitude almost entirely upon dead reckoning ; feeling his way into the Chops of the Channel by repeated casts of the deep-sea lead, and making careful notes of such geology as came up on the tallow on the bottom of it. Thus, " Brought too, sounded thirty-five fathums, ouzy «anda and broken shels." " Sounded thirty-eight fathums, coarse gray sand with Hake's teeth*"