but his credit. The markets are well supplied with fish, meat, fruit, and esculents.

At one period of the history of the colony it was inundated with newspapers, which were continually waging war one against the other, and all against the government. At present the press is in able and impartial hands. The "Empire" and the "Sydney Herald" are the two metropolitan papers. The latter is considered the "Times" of Australia, the earliest and most authentic news always appearing in that journal. The former has not the same extent of circulation and age to recommend it; but it is ably conducted, and doubtless with an increasing population, there will be ample scope for both. The proprietors of the Sydney "Morning Herald" have realized a handsome fortune, although not originally brought up in the trade of catering for public curiosity.

Dr. Chapman, the chief medical officer on the staff, mentioned to the writer that insanity was frequent among the people in Australia, arising from excessive drinking.

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REFLECTIONS DURING

CHAPTER XVII.

REFLECTIONS DURING NIGHT AT SEA-THE POLAR STARORION PLEIADES- WORSHIP OF HEAVENLY BODIESTURNER'S PICTURES-THE CHRISTIAN FEELINGS-PROFESSOR WHEWELL-CONJECTURE AND SPECULATION-THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS-THEIR MIGHTY MUTATIONS-GEOLOGY REV. H. MOSELEY'S ASTRONOMICAL LECTURES DR. CHALMERS-RETURN FROM SYDNEY-A DRUNKEN BLACK STEWARD-ICEBERGS ROUND THE HORN-FLOATING OR FIELD ICE- ACCIDENT TO CARPENTER FALL FROM FORE-TOPSAIL YARD-RIO DE JANEIRO-THE HARBOUR -THE HEALTH OFFICER-THE CUSTOM-HOUSE BOOK THE YELLOW FEVER PREDISPOSING CAUSES THE MARKET-PLACE OR BAZAAR- SLAVERY TREATMENT OF SLAVES-BOUGHT OR SOLD LIKE ANIMALS-A BELLOWING BLACK WHAT RIGHT OF PROPERTY IN A SLAVE -THE APPEARANCE OF RIO DE JANEIRO-PRODUCTIONS OF THE BRAZIL EMPEROR'S RESIDENCE

ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS-THE BRAZILIAN CONSTITUTION.

ONE of the most exquisite and sublimest emotions a person experiences in taking a voyage, is the contemplation of the firmament on a fine cloudless night in the tropics. The brilliancy and number of the heavenly bodies

in the southern hemisphere exceed those of the northern. Gradually we left behind us the Great Bear, or Charles's Wain, and Polar Star, and substituted in their place the Southern Cross and the Magellan Clouds. Now the writer and his fellow-passengers are glad to see the very converse of this taking place, these clouds having disappeared, and the Southern Cross describing a small arc on its visible horizon, which appears as the chord, and the Polar Star rising higher each evening, as the two pointers which form a part of Ursa Major direct him towards that brilliant object. The constellation of Orion, his belt and square, the Pleiades and Sirius, are all leading points in the celestial sphere which arrest and engage his attention; and the soft, pale light of the Milky Way, and those balls or globes of fire which the planets seem to be when they emerge on the circumference of that unchanging circle of which he appears in his vessel to be the centre, on that deep which He maketh to boil like a pot."

These heavenly bodies have been often,

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WORSHIP OF HEAVENLY BODIES.

in many countries, objects of adoration. And it is not surprising that where the glorious light of the gospel does not shine, these should become subjects of worship. There is in their appearance an imposing beauty and sublimity, which relieve the mind, in paying homage to them, of its load of speculation and of wondering conjecture, how worlds have been called into being. Perceiving the influence of light and warmth upon the animal and vegetable kingdoms, it is natural that a labouring imagination. should resort to them, as the architects and preservers of all things, which it cannot explain to itself.

There is something indicating a more inquiring and intelligent spirit in adoring the great luminaries, than in kneeling before stocks and stones and creeping things, as many pagans still continue to do. If we could ever desire a poet's mind, it is when we gaze upon the heavens on a serene, calm night at sea, with a light, balmy air, the ship tracing her way on the phosphorescent waters; for to his imagination they must present themselves with an

TURNER'S PICTURES.

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intensity and a height of sublimity which do not belong, even in conception, to the ordinary mind, or to the colder and severer calculations of philosophy and mathematics. Often has the writer looked upon moonlight scenes with a fellow-passenger who is well acquainted with Turner's pictures, and speculated whether if faithfully transferred even by such a hand to canvas, they would not have been considered exaggerated in effect and untrue to nature. A painter is said to admire all that is good and beautiful in the natural world: here is food for his mind of the richest quality, and inexhaustible materials.

But to the Christian believer with the Book of Books in his hand, or in his memory, how does the survey of the vaulted sky studded with sparkling lights, on an azure ground, raise the soul from earth to the throne of the Ancient of Days! If the beauty of His work fills the heart of the beholder with adoring reverence and delight, so does its universality astound the mind. The one is a witness to man of His love, the latter is