Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/46

DUE WEST GOES SOUTH. 35 Of course, the use of the "spherograph, " or great circle or tangent saUing, was not invented at the date of our story, and, more than that, they were soldiers, not sailors, hence knew very little of navi- gation or the use of the compass or the necessity of making allowances for the world being round; and it would seem that those who have endeavored to dis- credit the assertion of the men being as far north as the Arkansas river overlook this rule for the use of the compass. Spanish translators give it that they continued "west," "west";thuspremisingthat they skirted along the sout^ bank of the Arkansas river until they reached the west line of Kansas. This is reasonable, for at this i «: it it deflects north, which would make them in 38 aegrees north latitude, and the head of the Gulf of California is in, say, 31 degrees north lati- tude, or seven degrees (486 miles) south of the Arkan- sas river. The west line of Kansas is west of "Wash- ington 27 degrees and the head of the Gulf of Califor- nia is 89 desrrees west of Washington, or twelve de- grees f re m th 3 west line of Kansas to the head of the Gulf of California, (about 500 miles). If a Une is drawn on the map from the point where the Arkan- sas river leaves Kansas it would be found that the line came very nearly striking San Francisco, which is about 400 miles north of the Gulf of California; a,nd by reason of the curvature of the earth and the four men keeping directly west by the compass, even it they had no needle but kept toward the setting sun it would direct their course south between the '22nd d«y of June and the 22nd day of December, for, as