Noon
At this season of the year , too , it had reached its maximum height above the horizon ; and consequently its culmination , on its transit across the meridian , would facilitate the work of the two observers . Already the night before , and the same morning , by raking different altitudes , and by means of a calculation of right ascensions , the Lieutenant and the astronomer had ascertained the longitude with great accuracy . But it was about the latitude that Hobson was most anxious ; for what would the meridian of Cape Bathurst matter to him should it not be situated beyond the seventieth parallel ? Noon approached . The men of the expedition gathered round the observers with their sextants ready in their hands . The brave fellows awaited the result of the observation with an impatience which will be readily understood . It was now to be decided whether they had come to the end of their journey , or whether they must search still further for a spot fulfilling the conditions imposed by the Company .