,old-,time ,nautical ,instruments ,,by ,,john ,,robinson ,illustration ,,boston1 ,,massachusetts #aiba ,,one ,,hundred ,,copies ,,deprinted ,,from ,old-,time ,new ,england ,,april1 #aiba ,illustration3 ,,ship ,,grand ,,turk1 #aghf ,,old-,,time ,,nautical ,,instruments ,,by ,,john ,,robinson ,curator of the ,marine ,room1 ,peabody ,museum1 ,salem1 ,mass4 ,what sort of instruments did the ,colonial ship-masters carry8 ,what did they have on the ,mayflower8 ,what did ,columbus use8 ,and1 to come down to comparatively recent times1 what instruments were available and were actually used on the vessels during the commercial-marine activities following the ,american ,revolution and up to the time of the appearance of steamships8 ,these questions are often asked1 not only by landsmen but by seafaring men as well4 ,the ship-master of today uses instruments so different from those of ,colonial times1 or even of the earlier years of the nineteenth century1 that unless he has a penchant for research he knows nothing about the earlier ones and certainly not how to use them if by chance they come to his notice4 ,holding in his hand a ,davis quadrant1 the skilful navigator of ,salem's last square-rigger1 the ship ,mindoro1 which passed out of service in #ahig1 said to the writer3--,i have no idea how to use it and ,i do not believe that there is a ship-master sailing out of ,boston today who does4 ,the ,davis quadrant was in common use all through the eighteenth century and probably later4 ,it is figured and explained in a book on navigation in #agif4 ,there are two in the ,peabody ,museum collection in ,salem1 dated respectively1 #agfh and #aggc1 and an undated one in the collection is certainly older4 ,only the student of the history of navigation can explain them or their uses4 ,the ,english navigator1 ,john ,davis1 the inventor of this quadrant1 in his ,seaman's ,secrets1 printed in #aeid1 gives a list of instruments which should be taken on ships1 but it is to be feared few vessels carried them all or that owners were able to provide them4 ,it included1--sea-compass1 cross-staff1 chart1 quadrant1 astrolabe1 instrument to test compass variation1 horizontal plane sphere1 and paradoxical compass4 ,illustration3 ,,sixteenth ,,century ,,spanish ,,astrolabe ,full size4 ,from ,museum of ,fine ,arts1 ,boston4 ,illustration3 ,,universal ,,ring-,,dial ,diameter #c-a_/b inches4 ,owned by ,mr4 ,parker ,kemble4 ,no one knows exactly what instruments ,columbus took with him on his voyage in #adib4 ,he undoubtedly had an astrolabe and a cross-staff4 ,the astrolabe was devised during the first millennium and ,arabian astronomers had perfected it as early as the year #gjj4 ,it is really the basis of all future instruments of its class1--cross-staff1 quadrant1 sextant4 ,some of the most beautiful astrolabes preserved in museums are those made for the ,persian astronomers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries4 ,columbus probably used the form devised by ,martin ,behaim which had been adapted for use at sea about the year #adhj4 ,observations with the astrolabe required three persons1 one to hold the instrument plumb by the ring1 another to sight the sun and adjust the arm1 and the third to read the scale4 ,with these difficulties observations were1 of course1 far from accurate1 but approximate time and latitude could be obtained4 ,another device was the ring-dial1 or universal ring-dial as the old works on navigation called it4 ,this differed from the astrolabe by having adjustable rings with the hours and scales engraved upon them4 ,both of these instruments are now rare4 ,no original cross-staff is known to the writer in any collection in this country4 ,it consisted of a rod thirty-six inches long on which another of twenty-six inches was centered and arranged to slide up and down at right angles to it4 ,by sighting from the end of the longer rod and moving the sliding bar until the sun was seen at one end of it and the horizon at the other1 the figure on the scale at the junction of the rods indicated the sun's altitude and from this the latitude was obtained4 ,illustration3 ,,seventeenth ,,century ,,mariner ,,using ,a ,,cross-,,staff ,from ,seller's ,practical ,navigation1 ,london1 #afgf ,illustration3 ,,seventeenth ,,century ,,mariner ,,using ,,davis' ,,quadrant ,from ,seller's ,practical ,navigation1 ,london1 #afgf ,based on this instrument1 by laying out the circle on a table1 ,john ,davis1 the explorer1 devised his quadrant in #aehf4 ,at first the observer used it by facing the sun1 as the cross-staff had been used1 but a better form was made later where the observer had the sun at his back4 ,this instrument has been called by sailors jackass quadrant and1 supposedly from its shape1 hog-yoke4 ,in early books on navigation it is called sea-quadrant4 ,the earlier form used by the observer standing back to the sun had a solid shade vane which slid along the smaller arc of the instrument4 ,by adjusting this a little short of the supposed altitude of the sun and sighting the horizon through the minute hole in the sight vane until it was seen through the horizon vane at the apex of the instrument1 and then gradually moving the sight vane along the larger arc until the shadow of the shade vane met the horizon line1 the sum of the degrees on the two scales indicated the sun's altitude4 ,this was really the second form of the ,davis quadrant4 ,in the third1 the solid shade vane was replaced by one with a low-power lens inserted in it arranged to focus on the horizon vane1 thus approaching the idea of the reflected sun in the ,hadley quadrant and the sextant4 ,a most interesting instrument1 half-way between a cross-staff and the ,davis quadrant1 is illustrated in ,seller's book on navigation published in #afgf4 ,he calls it a ,plough4 ,above1 it has the small arc of the ,davis quadrant with the sliding rod of the cross-staff below4 ,these were1 of course1 imperfect instruments1 but still a great advance over previous devices to obtain time and latitude4 ,illustration3 ,,sect4 ,,iii4 ,the ,description and ,use of the ,plough4 ,the ,description of the ,plough4 ,this ,instrument was antiently in use amonght ,mariners1 although at this day it is not so commonly used as formerly2 it consists of a ,staff having a small ,arch1 and three ,vanes4 ,the ,figure of the ,plough4 ,the ,staff is about two foot and a half long1 or three foot at the most2 at the ,center-end of which is erected a small ,arch1 that is divided into #he degrees2 on the side of the ,staff are set off the ,graduations proper to the ,plough1 beginning at five or six degrees1 and encreasing to ten degrees towards the ,arch1 every degree being divided into single minutes4 ,the ,vanes are a ,horizon-,vane1 as ,a1 and ,shadow-,vane1 as ,b1 7to be used as in the ,quadrant7 and a ,sight-,vane moving upon the ,staff1 as at ,c4 ,,page ,,from ,,practical ,,navigation1 ,,by ,,john ,,sellers1 ,,london1 #afgf ,illustration3 ,,davis ,,quadrant ,made by ,william ,williams in ,king ,st4 ,boston4 ,an ivory plate has ,malachi ,allen #agfi4 ,mahogany1 #bd inches long1 convex glass in the shade vane2 fine example of cabinet work4 ,in ,peabody ,museum1 ,salem4 ,the ,davis quadrants are usually made of ebony1 rosewood1 or other dark woods1 with boxwood scale arcs and could be made by expert wood-workers4 ,the numerous examples preserved attest the skill of the old cabinet-makers1 for they are never warped or twisted while their jointing is a ,chinese puzzle4 ,probably the ,mayflower carried a ,davis quadrant and quite likely an astrolabe1 and of course1 a compass1 for the compass had been in use for two centuries4 ,whether the compass was independently invented in ,europe or was borrowed from the ,chinese is uncertain4 ,the old marine compasses were set in gimbals4 ,the magnet was a thin bar attached1 usually with sealing wax1 to the under side of the compass card1 the whole mounted in a thin bowl of turned wood4 ,these were the compasses of the eighteenth century4 ,there is one in the ,salem collection inscribed1--,benjamin ,king ,salem in ,new ,england1 with the date #aggj cut in the box2 another has the mark of ,benjamin ,king1 #agij4 ,a surveyor's compass1 wooden throughout1 including wooden sights1 is inscribed1--,made by ,james ,halsey near ye draw bridge ,boston4 ,the liquid compass first suggested by ,francis ,crow in #ahac and improved by ,e4 ,s4 ,ritchie of ,boston1 has largely displaced the older devices4 ,the nocturnal1 used at night1 as its name signifies1 appeared at an early date1 exactly when it does not seem possible to say4 ,one in the ,salem collection is marked1--,nathaniel ,viall #agbd4 ,by adjusting the movable discs to the date on the scale for the day of the month1 sighting the north star through the hole in the center and then bringing the arm against the guard stars1 the hour was indicated with reasonable accuracy4 ,good pictures and descriptions of the nocturnal may be found in old books on navigation4 ,in #agcj1 ,john ,hadley in ,england and ,thomas ,godfrey in ,philadelphia1 independently invented the octant1 known for nearly two hundred years as ,hadley's quadrant4 ,both ,hadley and ,godfrey received awards for their devices4 ,although called quadrant in this country it is generally known elsewhere as octant1 which is the better name1 for the instrument represents but one eighth of the circle4 ,by the principle of reflection1 however1 it covers ninety degrees and the scale is so marked4 ,the ,davis quadrant with its two arcs does represent one fourth of the circle and for that instrument the name is correct4 ,the ,hadley was a great improvement over the ,davis quadrant and other older devices for finding latitude4 ,by moving the arm the sun is reflected by the mirror at the apex and brought down to the horizon line and the eye is protected by colored glasses of various degrees of density through which the sun's rays shine4 ,catching the sun the instant it is on the meridian 7noon71 the scale indicates the altitude by which the latitude was figured with the ,bowditch ,navigator1 used for more than one hundred years by ,american seamen1 or ,moore's before that and numerous others back to the early eighteenth century4 ,the ,hadley quadrant is still used in its modern form with telescopic eye-pieces although the sextant--one-sixth of the circle and by reflection one-third--is a more accurate instrument and also may be used to make lunar observations to obtain longitude1 a complicated and difficult matter1 so difficult that the authors of the older works did not even take trouble to explain the process1 for only the most expert could make this observation1 nor were the results satisfactory4 ,the sextant was devised about #ageg and as now made is framed wholly of metal4 ,to prevent corrosion1 the scale1 which is minutely divided1 and has a vernier with a magnifying glass to show divisions of minutes1 is made of gold or platinum in the best instruments4 ,a half-circle has been devised and is exceedingly rare4 ,an example in the ,salem collection was made before #ahah4 ,a curious double-jointed dividers accompanied it and the entry in the museum catalog reads1--used to correct a lunar observation for longitude4 ,a full circle of reflection is also sometimes used1 more often on land than at sea4 ,this is a beautiful instrument and is not often met with in collections or in use4 ,all of these instruments are similar in character and may be traced1 as previously stated1 to the ancestral astrolabe4 ,illustration3 ,,nocturnal ,nath'll ,viall #agbd4 ,boxwood1 arm seven inches from centre to tip4 ,in ,peabody ,museum1 ,salem4 ,the early ,hadley quadrants were huge affairs made of wood with an arm twenty-four inches in length4 ,today they are more generally of metal with arms from ten to twelve inches4 ,using the sextent or ,hadley quadrant the observer stands facing the sun1 but old ,hadley quadrants were made with a back sight so that they could be used like the ,davis quadrant1 thus making two independent observations the average of which would ensure greater accuracy4 ,illustration3 ,,hadley ,,quadrants 7,,octants7 ,,in ,,peabody ,,museum1 ,,salem #a4 ,made by ,john ,dupee #agee for ,patrick ,montgomerie4 ,all wood1 ebony1 arm #bb inches long4 #b4 ,made by ,ino4 ,gilbert on ,tower ,hill ,london for ,hector ,orr ,augt4 #f1 #agfh4 ,ebony1 arm #bj inches long4 #c4 ,norie ,co4 ,london4 ,ebony and brass1 ca4 #ahdj4 ,arm #aa-c_/d inches1 telescopic eyepieces1 used by ,capt4 ,john ,hodges4 #d4 ,spencer ,browning and ,rust ,london4 ,ebony frame1 brass arm #ag inches1 ivory scale1 pencil inserted in cross piece1 ca4 #ahjj1 used by ,capt4 ,henry ,king4 #e4 ,j3 ,urings ,london4 ,all brass1 arm #bj inches1 back sight broken off1 ca4 #aghj1 rare4 ,to obtain the ship's latitude with comparatively good results was an easy matter with the quadrant and its fore-runners1 but the great problem for centuries was how to find the longitude1 now universally and quickly obtained by the chronometer and simple observations in the morning or at noon4 ,spring clocks and watches appeared about #aecj but they were unreliable and of no use on long voyages4 ,sand glasses like those of the old ,colonial churches were used on ships and so conservative is the ,british mind that some were in use on ,british naval vessels as late as #ahbh and one authority states as late as #ahci4 ,greenwich ,observatory was established in #afge and a ,royal ,commission was soon appointed with authority to award prizes for important inventions in aid of navigation4 ,a prize of #bj1jjj was finally offered for a time-keeper that should meet certain requirements which practically meant absolute accuracy4 ,in #agfg1 ,john ,harrison produced the chronometer1 based on the principle of an invention of #agce1 and eventually he received the reward4 ,chronometers were so expensive and so hard to obtain that few ,new ,england ships had them until more than a half a century later4 ,other devices were tried to obtain longitude by lunar observations and by ,jupiter's satellites1 but these observations were too difficult to be of practical use4 ,today1 fine watches serve for short trips and chronometers are carried by nearly all vessels making long voyages4 ,that so important an instrument as a telescope or spy-glass is rarely mentioned in books on navigation or in sea journals seems strange4 ,it is exceedingly difficult to obtain information of any being taken to sea1 although one would think a spy-glass would be about the first aid on ship-board especially when skirting the coast4 ,telescopes did not become of practical use1 even if the principle had been known1 until they were made in ,holland in #afjh4 ,it is at least certain that ,columbus did not have one and probably there was none on the ,mayflower1 although its passengers had recently come from ,holland where telescopes were invented a few years before4 ,so far no references to them have been found in a rather casual examination of old log-books4 ,in the ,marine ,room ,collection of the ,peabody ,museum at ,salem1 is a spy-glass four feet long1 octagonal in form1 two and one-half inches in diameter1 with a short focusing tube4 ,it was taken from a ,british prize vessel off the coast of ,ireland1 in #aggi1 by ,capt4 ,james ,barr in his ,salem privateer4 ,another glass of similar form1 but longer and with a mahogany case1 was used on a ,united ,states naval vessel about #ahae4 ,the spy-glass1 familiar to everyone1 in two or three sections1 was used at sea through the first half of the nineteenth century and is often seen tucked under the left arm1 in the portraits of ship-masters brought home from foreign ports4 ,many of these were excellent instruments1 especially those from ,dollond of ,london4 ,there is also in the ,salem collection a rude telescope or spy-glass five and one-half feet long with a copper case about three inches in diameter looking precisely like a section from a house water-conductor4 ,it focuses by a small upper sliding section1 fitted like a stove funnel4 ,this glass was brought from ,nagasaki1 ,japan1 by a ,salem ship-master about #ahfe4 ,it had been used there to observe vessels coming into the harbor4 ,it may be ,dutch and it is evidently very old4 ,illustration3 ,,sextants ,,in ,,peabody ,,museum1 ,,salem #a4 ,bradford ,london4 ,brass frame and silver scale arm #ad inches long1 ca4 #ahae1 used by ,capt4 ,george ,bailey before #ahdj4 #b4 ,l4 ,bleuler1 ,london4 ,ebony frame1 ivory scale1 brass arm #ad inches long1 ca4 #ahbj1 came from ,plymouth1 ,mass4 #c4 ,g4 ,gowland #gf ,castle ,st4 ,liverpool4 ,used by ,david ,livingstone in his ,african explorations and after his death sold at ,zanzibar by order of the ,royal ,geographical ,society and bought by ,capt4 ,william ,beadle1 of ,salem1 and used on some of his voyages4 ,the speed of a vessel was first obtained by throwing overboard a floating subject at the bow and noting the time elapsed when it passed an observer at the stern4 ,from this the log line with knots was derived1 with the fourteen and twenty-eight seconds sand glasses to record speed4 ,a knot indicates a geographical or sea mile which has been standardized at #fjhj feet2 the land or statute mile is #ebhj feet1 therefore1 if a vessel is said to be sailing at the rate of thirteen knots1 a railroad train going at the same speed would be running at the rate of fifteen miles an hour4 ,the term knot is used solely to indicate rate of speed2 the distance covered is always stated in nautical or sea miles4 ,heaving the log meant throwing out from the stern of a vessel a small float attached to a line running from a reel held clear of the rail1 the float remaining stationary in the water4 ,at the instant the log is heaved a sand glass is turned4 ,on the line are knots 7hence the term71 pieces of marline or rags tied through the strands and spaced the same fraction of a mile apart1--above forty-six feet and six inches1--which twenty-eight seconds is the fraction of an hour1--about one one-hundred and twenty-eighth4 ,therefore1 using a twenty-eight seconds glass and checking the line the instant the sand runs out1 the number of knots and fractions paid out on the line will at once indicate the number of sea miles per hour which the vessel is going4 ,this1 of course1 is doubled if the fourteen-seconds glass is used1 which is done when the vessel is going very fast4 ,the old log lines have been superseded by many forms of the patent log and the museum is indeed fortunate which possesses an original log line1 reel and float in perfect condition4 ,there is an excellent example in the museum collections of the ,marblehead ,historical ,society4 ,once discarded1 the lines were soon used to tie up packages and the reels and floats were thrown away4 ,the patent log with its revolving blades1 now universal1 was devised by ,humfray ,cole in #aegh2 it was improved by various persons from time to time but1 strange to say1 did not come into general use for nearly three centuries4 ,the rotating blades in the water record the rate on an indicator on the vessel which may be read at any time4 ,so far1 the earliest reference to the use of a device of this sort among our ,new ,england navigators is the ,gould's patent log used by ,captain ,george ,crowninshield on his famous yacht ,cleopatra's ,barge during the voyage to the ,mediterranean in #ahag4 ,charts were made in very ancient times but they were crude and almost useless4 ,the first nautical maps appeared in ,italy at the end of the thirteenth century1 and it is said that ,bartholomew ,columbus brought the first one to ,england in #adhi4 ,the close of the sixteenth century saw many map makers at work1 including ,gerard ,mercator whose name is perpetuated in the familiar scale charts in our geographies known as ,mercator's projection which were the sea charts in general use4 ,globes were carried on ships in preference to charts in the early days and what is known as great circle sailing was evolved from them4 ,davis describes it in #aeid and it is possible that ,cabot knew of the theory a century before4 ,such a simple instrument as a parallel ruler was not invented until late in the sixteenth century and tables of logarithms and ,gunter's scale by which navigators make all their calculations were not known until the year the ,mayflower sailed4 ,during the first century following the settlement of ,new ,england it is probable that the small coasting and fishing vessels were navigated by dead reckoning and not venturing far beyond the sight of land a compass was the only instrument carried4 ,but the larger vessels sailing from ,boston1 ,salem1 ,portsmouth1 ,newport and other ports on voyages to the ,west ,indies1 ,england and ,spain1 it would seem should have carried instruments with which observations could be made to obtain their approximate position4 ,mr4 ,george ,francis ,dow has searched the early probate records of ,essex ,county coast towns between #afcd and #afhj1 a period of nearly fifty years1 and finds but thirteen references to nautical instruments in inventories and wills4 ,sometimes they are listed as marriners instruments and in one case a quadrant is valued at #a4 ,robert ,gray of ,salem1 who died in #affa1 possessed a quadrant1 a fore-staffe 7cross-staff71 a gunter's scale1 and a pair of ,compasses4 ,john ,bradstreet1 who died at ,marblehead the previous year1 owned #c small sea books valued at #a4 #fs4 ,the inventory of the estate of ,jonathan ,browne of ,salem1 who died in #affg1 discloses a fore-staff1 and that of the estate of ,john ,silsby of ,salem1 taken in #afgf1 lists marriners instruments and callender1 #ads4 ,in a very detailed inventory made in ,salem before a notary publick on ,nov4 #d1 #agjb1 of the equipment of the ship ,province ,galley1 #ij tons1 owned by ,roger ,derby1 the only instruments for navigation that appear are ,two ,compasses1 two half hour glasses1 a half ,watchglass1 a half minute glass 444 a hand lead line1 a deep sea lead line4 ,the ,boston ,news-,letter1 ,july #af1 #agaf1 has the following advertisement3 ,a ,parcel of ,mathematical ,instruments1 viz3 ,quadrants1 ,meridian ,compasses1 all sorts of ,rules1 black lead ,pencils1 and brass ,ring ,dials1 etc4 ,to be sold by ,publick ,vendue at the ,crown ,coffee ,house in ,king's ,street1 ,boston1 on ,thursday next4 ,the same issue has the advertisement of ,william ,walker in ,merchants ,row1 near the ,swing ,bridge1 who had quadrants for sale4 ,in looking back and noting the slow process of perfecting all nautical instruments1 the wonder is how the old ships were navigated through distant seas without greater loss of life and vessels4 ,the dangers were real during our commercial-marine activities following the period of the ,revolution and the early nineteenth century1 as attested by reference to old newspapers and letters1 and to such records as the ,diary of ,rev4 ,william ,bentley of ,salem1 where nearly every ,sunday some of his parishioners asked for prayers for friends at sea or for the loss of husband1 son or brother4 ,the shipmasters of ,salem1 ,boston1 ,providence1 ,new ,york and ,baltimore1 undertaking distant voyages1 had few good charts--none for the new regions they visited--they had no chronometers1 few had sextants1 and their compasses were frequently unreliable4 ,and yet these men--most of them were scarcely past their majority in years--with the courage and enthusiasm of youth1 in ships filled with valuable cargoes1 entrusted to their care by wealthy owners1 sailed into uncharted seas1 visited unknown lands1 and1 all the while rarely reported1 finally came safely back1 to their everlasting credit and the enrichment of the country4 ,we do not know exactly what instruments the old shipmasters carried with them on these voyages1 but we do know that they were comparatively few and very inferior to those in use today4 ,an idea of the paucity in some instances may be obtained from the story of the ship ,hannah1 condemned at ,christiansand in #ahaj1 in the protest of ,american shipmasters which is now preserved in the ,new ,haven ,historical ,society collections4 ,it reads3 ,we1 the undersigned masters of ,american vessels now in the port of ,christiansand1 having heard with astonishment that one of the principal charges against the ,american brig ,hannah1 from ,boston1 bound direct to ,riga1 and condemned at the prize court at this place1 is as follows1--that the said court have pronounced it absolutely impossible to cross the ,atlantic without a chart or sextant4 ,we therefore feel fully authorized to assert that we have frequently made voyages from ,america without the above articles1 and we are fully persuaded that every seaman with common nautical knowledge can do the same4 ,no doubt many valuable data lie hidden in old log-books and sea journals1 early newspaper files1 shipping records of old business houses and elsewhere4 ,to anyone with time and the inclination for research a fascinating field is open where material of historical and scientific value may be found4 ,the writer is not aware that any such investigations have been made or accounts of any published4 ,accurate knowledge of the instruments carried by ,colonial shipmasters on their voyages to the ,west ,indies or along our coast and across the ,atlantic would be of much interest1 and still more to know what were supplied by owners or carried as their personal property by masters and supercargoes for the longer voyages to ,russia1 the ,mediterranean1 ,africa1 ,india1 ,china1 and the ,south ,seas4 ,it would be interesting to know1 besides this1 what had been their experiences with them3 the accuracy of observations1 how the compass behaved1 etc4 ,the early nineteenth century shipmasters were close observers1 and in his works on navigation ,lieut4 ,m4 ,f4 ,maury pays them high compliment for the valuable assistance rendered in furnishing notes and observations on currents1 shoals1 coast lines1 compass variations and winds1 for the charts and sailing directions which he compiled4 ,with these things in mind this paper has been prepared1 hoping that someone may be encouraged to take up the work systematically4 ,it is a subject which seems to have been neglected1 and the results certainly will repay much time devoted to its investigation4 ,illustration3 ,,schooner ,,baltick1 ,,capt4 ,,edward ,,allen ,coming out of ,st4 ,eustatia1 ,nov4 #af1 #agfe