"How do you compute the difference between the true and apparent course?"
"I've got my standard compass, and I make a guess."
"To guess is all very well. To know for certain is better."
"Christopher guessed."
"When there is a fog and the needle revolves treacherously, you can never tell on which side you should look out for squalls, and the end of it is that you know neither the true nor apparent day's work. An ass with his chart is better off than a wizard with his oracle."
"There is no fog in the breeze yet, and I see no cause for alarm."
"Ships are like flies in the spider's web of the sea."
"Just now both winds and waves are tolerably favourable."
"Black specks quivering on the billows—such are men on the ocean."
"I dare say there will be nothing wrong to-night."