On the variation in Nova Zembla.
Variations in parts near the pole are greater (as has been shown before)
and also have sudden changes, as in former years the Dutch explorers
observed not badly, even if those observations were not exact--which indeed
is pardonable in them; for with the usual instruments it is with difficulty
{180} that the truth becomes known in such a high latitude (of about 80
degrees). Now, however, from the deviation of the compass the reason for
there being an open course to the east by the Arctick Ocean appears
manifest; for since the versorium has so ample a variation toward the
north-west, it is demonstrable that a continent does not extend any great
distance in the whole of that course toward the east. Therefore with the
greater hope can the sea be attempted and explored toward the east for a
passage to the Moluccas by the north-east than by the north-west.
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