NAVIGATION. The history of the compass is the history of the rise and progress of navigation. Under that head (Compass) we have already shown the developments which in course of time enabled the mariner to abandon the tediousness of a coasting voyage, when desirous of reaching a distant port, and to avail himself boldly of such aids as the resources of the period afforded for ascertaining his position by celestial observation and the use of charts.
Certain it is that was practised as an art, by the sailors of the East, previous to the voyage of Vasco de Gama round the Cape of Good Hope, during the 15th century.
The publication of Napier's tables of logarithms, in 1614, may fairly be considered as the origin of the present system by which ships are navigated to distant parts, although at that period and long afterwards, the want of better instruments was a great detriment to the seaman whose facilities for computation far exceeded in amount those for observing the celestial bodies :—for although Hadley s quad rant was described in the 'Philosophical Transactions,' so early as 1731, some years elapsed before its use became general among those who from habit had been content with the cross-staff or the fore-staff. Indeed it was not until the close of the last century that the cross staff fell into disuse.
It is somewhat singular that this order of things has been reversed in so pre-eminently maritime a country as Great Britain ; for at the present time the perfection of instruments has contributed more especially towards increased accuracy by observation, while it is to be regretted that computation has been allowedsto retrograde.
Before entering upon any details as to the art itself, it will be well to glance at those who are called upon to practise navigation. Under the heading GREAT CIRCLE, or TANGENT SAILING, we have already adverted to certain unsatisfactory circumstances connected with the present state of nautical education as allecting the real question and interests of navigation. Possessing the finest merchaut service in the world we are absolutely deficient in that essential educa tional groundwork, which can alone constitute in any individual the complete navigator. The Board of Trade perceiving the insufficiency of the general educatiou of those who, necessarily leave school at an early age to join the sea service, wisely instituted a system of examina tion for sea offieeis, and the merchant has already learnt to appreciate increasing competency in ship-masters who, stimulated by the desire of honourable public mention, have obtained extra certificates. But it is to be lamented that deeply rooted impediments exist in the path of progress which it would be wed to remove. Tien' are never so apparent
as when we attempt to compare the Enesish system of educatiou with any foreign one. If we seek a standard for comparison we have it in the corresponding classes of men who occupy the same relative mari time position as those of our own country.
To say that navigation is the art of moving a ship from one part of the ocean to another, is the usual prefatory definition ; but so various are the methods by which such changes are effected that these are, as a whole, justly considered as an art. For instance ;—it is easy to couvey a vessel from a port or place to a not far distant headland, or along a coast several points of which lie within eight of the usual track of the vessel. To do this is the mere work of a sailor or one accustomed to the management of the masts and sails, &e., so as to be able to steer in the right direction. Of such nature was the work of our earliest navi gators, before the compass came into general use. But even in these short passages it will sometimes occur that heavy gales drive the mariner beyond the limits of his knowledge of the locality as depend ing upon sight of land, and throw him upon some extra resources, such as he can obtain by loose speculations founded on the appearance of the heavenly bodies, or by the use of the lead-line. A very large portiou of master mariners are of this class; they plod their way about our coasts, ignorant of any scientific means whatever of navigation. Others, again, traverse the English Chanuel, the Irish Sea, the North Sea, &c., and have so far consulted system, as to have acquired the rough know ledge of a quadrant and the method of taking by it a meridian altitude for the latitude : with this, and the occasional use of the lead-line, together with some such slight initiation into plane sailing as can be gathered from an ordinary epitome, this very large class -of navi gators perform their voyages not only with celerity but certainly with marvellous safety and regularity. Simple, however, as the nautical operations of these may appear to the mere landsman, a vast amount of valuable local knowledge is treasured in their memories. Nor is this local knowledge to be mistaken for the mere ability to recognise points of land, or glimpses of the coast or lighthouses. &e. ; but at is the deep study of the ocean bed which constitutes mainly the highest attainment of the so called over-sea pilot. This together with an acquaintance with the peculiarity of the tides, so variable in their courses along the coast line, and a knowledge of their periodical ebb.