192 THE OCEAN. , 
unknown firmament. The grouping of the stars of 
the first magnitude, some scattered nebule rivalling 
in splendour the milky way, and tracts of space 
remarkable for their extreme blackness, give a par- 
ticular physiognomy to the southern sky. This 
sight fills with admiration even those, who, unin- 
structed in the branches of accurate science, feel 
the same emotions of delight in the contemplation 
of the heavenly vault, as in the view of a beautiful. 
landscape, or a majestic river. A traveller has no 
need of being a botanist to recognize the torrid zone 
on the mere aspect of its vegetation; and, without 
having acquired any notions of astronomy, he feels 
he is not in Europe, when he sees the immense con- 
stellation of the Ship, or the phosphorescent clouds 
of Magellan, arise on the horizon. The heaven and 
the earth, everything in the equinoctial regions, as- 
sume an exotic character.”* _ 
But of all the constellations that stud the sky of 
the southern hemisphere, there is none that more 
strikes a stranger than the Southern Cross. Its 
beauty, as well as the singularity of its form, cannot 
fail to inspire interest; even though we be, through 
the grace of God, furnished with ideas of true 
and spiritual worship, that prevent our viewing it 
with the superstitious reverence with which it is 
regarded by the inhabitants of South America. It 
is not seen above the horizon until we are within 
the tropics, and scarcely appears to advantage until 
we approach the equator. As the two brilliant stars 
which form the top and bottom of the Cross, have 
* Personal Narrative, 1814. Vol. ii. p. 18. 
