not necessarily equidistant. The outer circular formation represents the horizon, with the canoe its center point. The eastern half of the circle depicts reference stars' rising points on the horizon (tan) while the western half depicts their setting points (tupul). Swell patterns of prevailing trade winds are represented by sticks (not depicted here) overlaying the star compass in the form of a square. All knowledge is retained by memory with the help of dances, chants, and stories, wherein the stars are enumerated as people or characters in the stories. Technique One aspect of the Carolinian method of estimating longitude on inter-island sailings is to visualize the target island relative to a second reference island's alignment with a succession of selected stars, points of the star compass. It is a refined system of dead reckoning whereby the navigator constantly synthesizes his position relative to the reference island's location in his mental model. The most remarkable thing is that the reference island (lu pongank) may be over the horizon, unseen, even imaginary. In its simplest form the star compass describes 32 points at which key stars rise on the eastern horizon and set on the western horizon. North latitude is fairly easy to determine because the North Pole has a zenith star easily seen with the naked eye, called Polaris (Wuliwulifasmughet). Polaris' height above the horizon indicates the viewer's southward displacement from Polaris' nadir, the North Pole. When one travels further north, Polaris appears higher in the sky. Only at the true north pole is Polaris directly overhead at nearly 90 degrees altitude. When one travels south toward the equator, Polaris appears to descend toward the northern horizon. At 45 degrees north latitude, Polaris is 45 degrees above the northern horizon. Near the equator, Polaris' altitude approaches zero degrees, but for the viewer just further south, Polaris will have disappeared below the northern horizon. Continuing south from the equator, though Polaris is no longer visible, Crux (Luubw), the "Southern Cross", will have risen above the southern horizon. Travelling further southward, Crux rises higher in the sky. Through Crux's longest axis, an imaginary line bisecting Gacrux and Acrux points southward toward the southern celestial pole. However, the South Pole has no true zenith star from which direct readings of south latitude may be taken. As a proxy, the southern celestial pole lies at the end of that imaginary line extended southward through Gacrux