The Southern Heavens 39 



remnants of smashed worlds. In 1827 a man was 

 killed at Mhow in India by a falling meteorite. Strange 

 things are always happening in India. Where people 

 starve to death by tens of thousands, and thousands are 

 annually devoured by tigers and killed by snake-bites, 

 it would be singular if some one were not now and then 

 knocked down by a falling star. The population in 

 India is crowded, you know. 



When we had crossed the Tropic of Capricorn the 

 fact that we were in another hemisphere began forcibly 

 to impress itself upon us, as we looked at the heavens. 

 Orion in September stood in the south with his heels 

 toward the zenith and his head toward the horizon, 

 just the reverse of what is true in the north when 

 this constellation is visible. The tail of the Scorpion 

 pointed upward. The ' Man in the Moon ' likewise 

 had changed his apparent position. His eyes appeared 

 to be toward the eastern horizon, as if he were lying 

 on the side of his face. The sun shone in the north 

 and our shadows pointed toward the south. Every- 

 thing was topsy-turvy. But we were on the underside 

 of the world, and seeing things as we might see them at 

 home if we always walked on our heads. 



I have a friend who has a telescope with which he 

 beguiles his evening hours. One summer night the 

 man-of -all- work, a German, who had been a couple of 

 years in America, having put the lawn-mower into the 

 tool-house, came and stood near by, evidently filled 

 with curiosity as he saw his employer training his glass 

 at the skies. He was invited to take a peep, and 

 explanations were given. Presently he turned and with 

 evident amazement and pleasure exclaimed: 'Mein 

 Gott! dose vas de same shtars I used to see in Tscher- 

 many!' Of course! Both Germany and the United 



