CLIMATE 45 



Billy and I alternated through the night in watching them, 

 ^oing out among them every hour or so, and in the mean- 

 time squatting over a little outdoor fire, making large 

 plans, and comparing the southern nights with those on 

 •our western plains. 



The sky over the pampa is by no means the equal of 

 that over the prairie, for it has fewer brilliant constellations, 

 and always seems so far away, while on a clear night in 

 the west of the United States one feels one can almost touch 

 the stars, so near do they seem. And the famous "south- 

 ern cross" must disappoint every northerner, when first 

 he sees it; for the four stars arranged in a diamond with 

 one or two very dim ones inside, do not for a moment 

 compare with our bright north star and the great dipper, 

 which draw the eye of every camper, and settle in his mind 

 the points of the compass that by then are often a bit 

 confused. 



