ciiAi'. I. EVENINGS WITPIIN THE TROPICS. 9 



interrupted progress was not the only advantage of our voyag- 

 ing in a steam-ship : sixty gallons of beautifully clear fresh 

 water were condensed every day, and proved one of our 

 greatest luxuries. 



Ten days after leaving Plymouth we reached the Island of 

 St. Vincent, and, having replenished our fuel, resumed our 

 voyage on the following day. The difference of temperature, 

 now that we were within the tropics, had produced so great a 

 change in our habits and feelings, that we scarcely seemed to be 

 the same company who, less than a fortnight before, had 

 rarely ventured on deck without extra covering, as a defence 

 against the wind or rain. Now no visitor was so welcome as 

 the breeze, for the thermometer sometimes stood at 85° in 

 the saloon at breakfast-time, and rose as the day advanced. 

 Only the lightest clothing could be endured, and the oppressive 

 heat rendered every exertion a fatigue. Few of the passengers, 

 of whom there was a very pleasant company of between 

 seventy and eighty in the cabin, ever remained long on 

 deck during the day; and the sleeping places below were 

 many of them during the night almost insufferably hot. But 

 the gorgeous sunsets and the long long evenings were seasons 

 of delightful existence. 



The greater portion of the passengers spent most of the 

 evening on deck, attracted by the cool and balmy air, the 

 tranquil sea, the serene and cloudless sky, revealing new con- 

 stellations, and other stars than had ever shone in our northern 

 hemisphere. Conspicuous amongst these was always seen the 

 Southern Cross, so often leading the thoughts by an irresistible 

 tendency away to the contemplation of that brighter lustre by 

 Avhich the Cross of Calvary shall ultimately di'aw mthin its 

 hallowed influence all kindreds of men. 



On the 6th of May we reached Ascension, a sterile and 

 solitary island, rising to a considerable elevation in the centre, 

 and broken into a number of peaks, on the highest portions of 



