But
some weeks later, Banks informed him that his appointment had
been cancelled, as the Board of Longitude objected to his
theology. Priestley's otherwise gentle nature was roused. "What
I am, and what they are, in respect of religion," he wrote to
Banks, in December, 1771, "might easily have been known before
the thing was proposed to me at all. Besides, I thought that
this had been a business of philosophy, and not of divinity. If,
however, this be the case, I shall hold the Board of Longitude in
extreme contempt."
Captain Cook was appointed to the command of the Resolution, and
Captain Wallis to the command of the Adventure, in November,
1771. They proceeded to equip the ships; and amongst the other
instruments taken on board Captain Cook's ship, were two
timekeepers, one made by Mr. Larcum Kendal, on Mr. Harrison's
principles, and the other by Mr. John Arnold, on his own. The
expedition left Deptford in April, 1772; and shortly afterwards
sailed for the South Seas. "Mr. Kendal's watch" is the subject
of frequent notices in Captain Cook's account. At the Cape of
Good Hope, it is said to have "answered beyond all expectation."
Further south, in the neighbourhood of Cape Circumcision, he
says, "the use of the telescope is found difficult at first, but
a little practice will make it familiar. By the assistance of
the watch we shall be able to discover the greatest error this
method of observing the longitude at sea is liable to.
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