ciiAr. i. 
EVENINGS WITHIN THE TROPICS. 
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 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 
which the Cross of Calvary shall ultimately draw within 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 
