22 



sentiment attaches them to a constellation, the 

 form of which recalls the sign of the faith plant- 

 ed by their ancestors in the deserts of the new 

 world. 



The two great stars which mark the summit 

 and the foot of the Cross having nearly the same 

 right ascension, it follows hence, that the con- 

 stellation is almost perpendicular at the moment 

 when it passes the meridian. This circumstance 

 is known to every nation, that lives beyond the 

 tropics, or in the southern hemisphere. It has 

 been observed at what hour of the night, in dif- 

 ferent seasons, the Cross of the South is erect, or 

 inclined. It is a time-piece that advances very 

 regularly near four minutes a day, and no other 

 group of stars exhibits, to the naked eye, an ob- 

 servation of time so easily made. How often 

 have we heard our guides exclaim in the savan- 

 nahs of the Venezuela, or in the desert extending 

 from Lima to Truxillo, " Midnight is past, the 

 Cross begins to bend ! " How often those words 

 reminded us of that affecting scene, where Paul 

 and Virginia, seated near the source of the river 

 of Lataniers, conversed together for the last 

 time, and where the old man, at the sight of the 

 southern Cross, warns them that it is time to 

 separate. 



The last days of our passage were not so hap- 

 py, as the mildness of the climate, and the calm- 

 ness of the ocean, had led us to hope. The dan- 



