Quite possibly, something has been misquoted.
As you are aware, there are 32 points to a compass as we all use it today.
However, in the past, this was further divided into "quarter points",
which were frequently used for steering.
I'd ask him to double check the quote, especially for context. It may
have nothing to do with "quarter points" and just be someone's way of
saying a particular "point".

otn

Brian Whatcott wrote:
A correspondent wrote me with this question:

"a niggly question that arose during some of my research.
What is the difference between a bearing of
"North by East," "North and by East"?

I could not provide a confident response.
Any ideas?

Brian Whatcott Altus OK