w it as he pleased. Nevertheless, their
romantic friend was not altogether wrong. Judge a little for yourselves.

What is the first "sea" you find in the hemisphere on the left? The
_Mare Imbrium_ or the Rainy Sea, a fit emblem of our human life, beaten
by many a pitiless storm. In a corresponding part of the southern
hemisphere you see _Mare Nubium_, the Cloudy Sea, in which our poor
human reason so often gets befogged. Close to this lies _Mare Humorum_,
the Sea of Humors, where we sail about, the sport of each fitful breeze,
"everything by starts and nothing long." Around all, embracing all, lies
_Oceanus Procellarum_, the Ocean of Tempests, where, engaged in one
continuous struggle with the gusty whirlwinds, excited by our own
passions or those of others, so few of us escape shipwreck. And, when
disgusted by the difficulties of life, its deceptions, its treacheries
and all the other miseries "that flesh is heir to," where do we too
often fly to avoid them? To the _Sinus Iridium_ or the _Sinus Roris_,
that is Rainbow Gulf and Dewy Gulf whose glittering lights, alas! give
forth no real illumination to guide our stumbling feet, whose sun-tipped
pinnacles have less substance than a dream, whose enchanting waters all
evaporate before we can lift a cup-full to our parched lips! Showers,
storms, fogs, rainbows--is not the whole mortal life of man comprised in
these four words?

Now turn to the hemisphere on the right, the women's side, and you also
discover "seas," more numerous indeed, but of smaller dimensions and
with gentler names, as more befitting the feminine temperament. First
comes _Mare Serenitatis_, the Sea of Serenity, so expressive of the
calm, tranquil soul of an innocent maiden. Near it is _Lacus Somniorum_,
the Lake of Dreams, in which she loves to gaze at her gilded and rosy
future. In the southern division is seen _Mare Nectaris_, the Sea of
Nectar, over whose soft heaving billows she is gently wafted by Love's
caressing winds, "Youth on the prow and Pleasure at the helm." Not far
off is _Mare Fecunditatis_, the Sea of Fertility, in which she becomes
the happy mother of rejoicing children. A little north is _Mare
Crisium_, the Sea of Crises where her life and happiness are sometimes
exposed to sudden, and unexpected dangers which fortunately, however,
seldom end fatally. Far to the left, near the men's side, is _Mare
Vaporum_, the Sea of Vapors, into which, though it is rather small, and
full of sunken ro