LIFE IN ENTRE RIOS, MINAS GERAES. 169 



in here and played and sang to the guitar till nearly 

 I a.m. ; so I had enough of them. They exhausted my 

 store of liquor. 



The appearance of the sky on a moonless night is so 

 different here to what it is in the northern hemisphere ; the 

 stars are very sparsely scattered about, in comparison. 

 The principal constellations are in the neighbourhood of 

 the Milky Way, and that is thinner than ours. In the midst 

 of it is the Southern Cross, near which, to the south-east, 

 is a remarkable blackness that is incomprehensible to me. 

 I admire the Magellanic Clouds very much, and should like 

 to see them through a telescope. There is also the 

 beautiful a and j3 Centauri, and a little way off Canopus of 

 Argo-navis, second only in brightness to the Dogstar 

 himself 



May 4. — "Mez de Maria," the month of Mary, has 

 begun, and now every evening there is a service in the 

 church in honour of Our Lady. Several friends have told 

 me I ought to go and see it, but I have not been yet. To- 

 day, however, being Sunday, I went to church in the 

 morning, and was appalled at the sight that met my eyes. 

 The altar was all covered with white, all the various orna- 

 ments and images were removed from the lofty retable, 

 which was also draped with white, and at the top was a 

 tall statue of the Virgin entirely in white, with a wreath of 

 fresh flowers on her head. I hear that at the daily evening 

 service this wreath is renewed by a little girl. Round the 

 figure's waist is a broad blue ribbon, which hangs down 

 over the altar, and this ribbon was devoutly kissed by 

 many on leaving the church. After the Gospel, Padre 

 Antonio preached a good little sermon on purity ; but at 

 the close of the service was sung the Litany of the Blessed 

 Virgin Mary, and other prayers to her. 



