the spangled firmament four stars, which had something of the form
of a somewhat crooked cross, but were certainly not remarkable in
themselves, nor did they excite the least enthusiasm amongst us. A
most magnificent spectacle was, on the contrary, formed by Orion,
Jupiter, and Venus; the latter, indeed, shone so brilliantly that
her gleams formed a silver furrow across the waves.

The great frequency of falling stars is another fact that I cannot
corroborate. They are, perhaps, more frequent than in cold
climates, but are far from being as common as is said: and as for
their size, I saw only one which surpassed ours; and this appeared
about three times as large as an ordinary star.

For some days also we had now seen the Cape, or Magellan's Clouds,
and also the so-called Black Cloud. The first are bright, and, like
the Milky Way, are formed of numberless small stars, invisible to
the naked eye; the latter presents a black appearance, and is said
to be produced by the absence of all stars whatever from this part
of the heavens.

All these different signs prepared us for the most interesting
moment of our voyage--namely, passing the line.

On the 29th of August, at 10 o'clock P.M., we saluted the southern
hemisphere for the first time. A feeling nearly allied to pride
excited every one, but more especially those who crossed the line
for the first time. We shook each other by the hand, and
congratulated one another mutually, as if we had done some great and
heroic deed. One of the passengers had brought with him a bottle or
two of champagne to celebrate the event: the corks sprang gaily in