ngs--birds and fish--than we had hitherto met with. When the
ocean was rough, only the larger sorts--whales and dolphins, porpoises
and sharks--were likely to be distinguishable; and now in the calmer and
hotter latitudes the inhabitants of the deep seemed to eschew the
surface, and to keep to the cooler regions below. Now and then,
however, as some of the sportsmen on board declared, we flushed a covey
of flying-fish, or rather, they rose out of the water to avoid their
enemy the bonito. A hundred yards is said to be the utmost extent of
their flight; and that is a good flight, considering the weight of their
bodies and the size of their gauze-like wings. They can also turn at an
angle; but they seldom rise more than a dozen or twenty feet above the
surface. They thus frequently fall on the decks of vessels of no great
burden. When getting up a bucket of water from alongside, I was often
interested in examining the variety of minute creatures which it
contained. Among others, I found some beautiful specimens of swimming
crabs, with paddles instead of the usual sharp-pointed legs, by which
they propel themselves rapidly along.

Day after day, as we approached the line, our shadows grew less and
less, till at length those of gentlemen or ladies wearing wide-brimmed
hats were represented by circular discs on the deck, as the sun became
perfectly vertical. The alarm and anxiety of the passengers seemed now
to have ceased. The cabin passengers had their chairs up on the poop
deck, and sat talking, and working, and singing long after sunset,
enjoying the cool air and the magnificent display of stars which
spangled the dark sky. The whole expanse below the Southern Cross down
to the horizon was covered with the glorious luminosity of the Milky
Way, their thousand times ten thousand worlds then glowing before us;
while in the direction of Orion was another rich assemblage of stars,
presenting one of the most glorious of spectacles, speaking loudly of
the eternal power and might of the great Creator. As I gazed at that
innumerable multitude of worlds beyond worlds, all circling in their
proper orbits round one common centre, and thought that all might be
peopled with beings with minds perhaps far superior to the inhabitants
of our small globe, all engaged in praising and honouring Him who made
them all, I felt my own utter insignificance; and yet, at the same time,
my soul appeared to soar upward to a point far higher