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Just as I was looking over the side and noting this fact, while watching the gull's circling in our wake, uttering their plaintive screams at intervals that sounded like the ghost cries of drowned sailors buried beneath the sea, Mr Quadrant, the master, who was on the poop, sextant in hand, reported it was twelve o'clock; whereupon, the commander telling him to "make it so," Eight Bells was struck, the men being piped to dinner immediately afterwards in obedience to another order from headquarters aft.
At noon, he brought out his quadrant, a rusty old thing, so odd-looking that it might have belonged to an astrologer. Sometimes, when rather flustered from his potations, he went staggering about deck, instrument to eye, looking all over for the sun a phenomenon which any sober observer might have seen right overhead.
It would not require superhuman eloquence in some prophetic passenger to persuade them to throw compass and quadrant overboard and steer enthusiastically for El Dorado. The theory of navigation is essentially as speculative as that of salvation, only it has survived more experiences of the judgment and repeatedly brought those who trust in it to their promised land.
Brass parallactic rules, which revolved in azimuth above a brass horizon, twelve feet in diameter. A half sextant, of four cubits radius. A steel sextant. Another half sextant, with steel limb, four cubits radius. The parallactic rules of Copernicus. Equatorial armillaries. A quadrant of a solid plate of brass, five cubits in radius, shewing every ten seconds.
Notwithstanding these hindrances, however, he added several observations to those of Tycho, which he made with two instruments that were presented to him by his friend Hoffman, the President of the States of Styria. These instruments were an iron sextant, 2½ feet in diameter, and a brass azimuthal quadrant 3½ feet in diameter, both of which were divided into single minutes of a degree.
It contains dials, azimuth masonry, altitude pillars, astrolabe, and a double mural quadrant of enormous size and height, on which the gradations have been marked. In a way this exhibit of obsolete paraphernalia refutes the idea that Jeypore's maharajahs have lived solely for the gratification of the senses by amusements.
This brief respite gave Spike a moment to care for his portion of the doubloons; and he rushed to his state-room to secure them, together with his quadrant. The grinding of the brig's bottom on the coral, announced a speedy breaking up of the craft, while her commander was thus employed.
Does he not say he will not strike his spars to any gale? Has he not dashed his heavenly quadrant? and in these same perilous seas, gropes he not his way by mere dead reckoning of the error-abounding log? and in this very Typhoon, did he not swear that he would have no lightning-rods? But shall this crazed old man be tamely suffered to drag a whole ship's company down to doom with him?
"Beg pardon, sir," said this gentleman, whom I presently learnt was Mr Quadrant, the master, or navigating officer of the ship; one who used in the old days to have charge of all the material on board a man-of-war, just as the commander looks after the crew. "None of those stores, sir, have come off from the dockyard that were promised this morning, and all my hands are idle below.
Particular persons were then called on to go into the boat, and some of these were allowed to collect twine, canvas, lines, sails, cordage, and other things to take with them. They were also allowed an eight-and-twenty gallon cask of water, fifty pounds of bread, a small quantity of rum and wine, a quadrant, and a compass.
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