NAVIGATION

The marine compass evolved from the steel needle cased in a straw or cork and floated freely in a bowl of water. The lodestone would be passed across the top and magically the magnetism in the needle would be revived and would show where the direction of north lay. The pilot on board ship having found north could then determine the position of the vessel by reference to the prevailing wind or by the stars so that a certain course could be steered ‘by wind’ or ‘by stars’.