1. Fort Saint George is indeed Madras. 2. Cape Comorm is Cape Comorin, also in India (you did indeed misread "in" as "m"). 3. It's a good bet that Isphan is the modern city of Isfahan (also Esfahan) in Iran. 4. Cainiec ? 5. St Mich. Isle is Saint Michael Island (in Portuguese Sao Miguel) in the Azores. 6. Ca. Spir Sancto is either Cape Espiritu Santo on Tierra del Fuego (but the longitude is way off) or the island of Espirito Santo in Brazil (longitude within one degree). 7. Ca Fare Freezld: Cape Farewell (Danish Kap Farvel) in Greenland? (longitude 44d W). 8. Port Concepn: the only possibility I can come up with is the city of Concepcion in the Philippines (off by more than 10 degrees from the value given) 9. Compostetta is probably the city of Compostela in Mexico (but the modern longitude is 105d W, not 117d W)
-----Original Message----- From: John Davis [ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ] Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 10:14 AM To: Sundial mailing list Subject: Fw: Historical locations and longitudes Dr J R Davis Flowton, UK 52.08N, 1.043E email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----- Original Message ----- From: John <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Davis To: Mailinglist Sundial <mailto:sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de> Sent: 19 July 2001 15:09 Subject: Historical locations and longitudes Hi colleagues, I have recently had the opportunity to inspect a superb bronze horizontal dial made by George Adams (the elder) in the second quarter of the 18th century. Amongst other exiting details of the engraving, it carries the names of 32 cities or locations worldwide in the chapter ring. The names are evenly distributed with two between each pair of hour numerals, but small arrows identify the time of noon at these locations (compared to that of the dial, located at around 1 degree East) to the nearest minute. Many of the cities still have the same names: Dublin, Lisbon, Boston etc. Some are easy to guess: Dantzick = Gdansk; Constanstinople = Istanbul; Berbadoes = Barbados etc. However, some have me baffled and hence I'm posting this looking for help, please. Can anyone identify the following locations, with very approximate longitudes calculated from the dial. I say approximate because some of the known cities have large inaccuracies compared to modern values, eg although Lisbon is right to half a degree, "Pekin in China" is 16 degrees off the value my atlas gives for Bejing! Name on dial Longitude Fort St George 86d E (perhaps Madras?) Cape Comorm 79d E Isphan 56d E Cainiec 27d E St Mich. Isle 28d W Ca. Spir Sancto 41d W Ca Fare Freezld 50d W Port Concepn 110d E Compostetta 117d W Note that the engraving makes some characters difficult to read and the above list might have mis-identified in for m, f for the long s etc. Here's hoping the list includes some historical cartographers! John ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- Dr J R Davis Flowton, UK 52.08N, 1.043E email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
