Page:Extracts from the letters and journals of George Fletcher Moore.djvu/51

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5th.—Nothing worthy of note has occurred of late; we have fine weather, a smooth sea, and a favourable wind.

13th.—I have my expectations excited, from hearing that a great flaming cross is frequently seen in our present position, lat. 38°, long. 67° 35` at midnight. I have seen it, but with great disappointment.

It is composed of many stars, of no extraordinary brilliancy. The sky has not been clear for some time; and it was only last night that I saw it in its erect position at midnight.

I also saw the Pleiades, a beautiful constellation, the sight of which (so powerful is the association of ideas) led my

thoughts far, far from the present scene to our little study, and boyish days, when we conned over Virgil and Ovid; and, heartily sick of their Pleiades and "Aquosus Orion," wished them at the bottom of the sea. I little