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Bréguet did still more: he found means to preserve the regularity of his chronometers even in case of their getting any sudden shock or fall, and this he did by the parachute.
In July, August, and September further occultations were observed, and a fairly reliable rate was worked out for the chronometers and watches.
He was a clever mechanician, and his skill as a repairer of watches and chronometers was great among the sailors, with whom he did a very irregular sort of traffic, conducted, often without much use of money, but rather on the principle of barter, they bringing him foreign coins and odd curiosities picked up on their travels in exchange for his services to their nautical instruments or their watches.
When they arrived at St Helena, the first mate, for a wonder, no longer made any difficulty of going on shore for an hour or two, if he knew that Newton would be the commanding officer during his absence; nay, so high did he stand in the opinion of his captain, that not only was he permitted to take charge of the chronometers, but if called away for a time below, Captain Drawlock would hand over to Newton's charge any one of the unmarried responsibilities who might happen to be leaning on his arm.
I should be sorry to carry you to sea, gentlemen, without your small stores; and as for the cabin, it is as full as a lawyer's conscience. No remedy but the steerage in such a case. Lay forward, men, and heave away. Some of you, man the fore-top-sail halyards. We are as regular as our chronometers; the 1st, 10th, and 20th, without fail."
Our chronometers still kept terrestrial time; we knew the exact number of days and hours that had elapsed since we had departed, and so it was possible by placing ourselves in a line between the earth and Mars to be practically in the situation of an astronomer in his observatory at home.
My particular work consisted of rating chronometers, sewing, packing, stowing, making sundials, calibrating instruments, and preparing little charts which could be rolled up on a bamboo stick and carried in the instrument boxes of the sledges.
'In the officers' quarters there is an immense dark room, and next it on one side a space devoted to the physicist and his instruments, and on the other a space devoted to charts, chronometers and instruments generally. 'I have a tiny half cabin of my own, next this Wilson and Evans have their beds.
The following observations were obtained: latitude 68 degrees 18 minutes 50 seconds North, longitude 110 degrees 5 minutes 15 seconds West, but 109 degrees 25 minutes 00 seconds West was used in the construction of the chart as the chronometers were found, on our return to Hood's River, to have altered their rates; variation 44 degrees 15 minutes 46 seconds East and dip of the needle 89 degrees 31 minutes 12 seconds.
But while there were charts in plenty of West Indian and of English waters, and a set covering the German Ocean, not a chart of any sort relating to the North Atlantic did I find. Neither were there chronometers nor any nautical instruments in the room. In one corner was a strongly made closet in which they may have been kept; but of this the door stood open and the shelves were bare.
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