Under the Southern Cross

BY

MATURIN M. BALLOU

AUTHOR OF "DUE WEST; OR, ROUND THE WORLD IN TEN MONTHS," "DUE NORTH; OR, GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA, RUSSIA, AND RUSSIAN POLAND," "DUE SOUTH; OR, CUBA PAST AND PRESENT," ETC.

... Of antres vast and deserts idle, Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven, It was my hint to speak,--such was the process; And of the cannibals that each other eat, The Anthropophagi.--SHAKSPEARE.

BOSTON TICKNOR AND COMPANY 211 Tremont Street 1888

Copyright, 1887,

BY MATURIN M. BALLOU.

All rights reserved.

University Press: JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.

PREFACE.

Dr. Johnson is reported to have said that the best way to travel is to sit by one's own fireside and read how others have done it; but though this may be the safest mode it certainly is not the pleasantest. This any travelled writer knows; and he also knows that could he succeed in adequately ins