At the appointed hour the boy, his parents and myself presented ourselves at the door of that hospitable mansion. We were cordially welcomed, and conducted without further parley into the lofty observatory on the top of the house. In due time the magnificent tube was presented at the planet, but it was discovered that the power it was set for was too low. It was then gauged for 240,000 diameters, being the full strength of the telescope, and the eye of the boy observer placed at the eye-glass. One cry of joy, and unalloyed delight told the story! Mars, and its mountains and seas, its rivers, vales, and estuaries, its polar snow-caps and grassy plains--its inhabitants, palaces, ships, villages and cities, were all revealed, as distinctly, clearly and certainly, as the eye of Kit Carson, from the summits of the Sierra Nevada range, beheld the stupendous panorama of the Sacramento Valley, and the snow-clad summits of Mount Hood and Shasta Butte. [Decoration] [Decoration] XII. _THE EMERALD ISLE._ Chaos was ended. From its ruins rolled The central Sun, poised on his throne of gold; The changeful Moon, that floods the hollow dome Of raven midnight with her silvery foam; Vast constellations swarming all around, In seas of azure, without line or bound, And this green globe, rock-ribbed and mountain-crown'd. The eye of God, before His hand had made Man in His image, this wide realm surveyed; O'er hill and valley, over stream and wood, He glanced triumphant, and pronounced it "good." But ere He formed old Adam and his bride, He called a shining seraph to His side, And pointing to our world, that gleamed afar, And twinkled on creation's verge, a star, Bade him float 'round this new and narrow span And bring report if all were ripe for Man. The angel spread his fluttering pinions fair, And circled thrice the circumambient air; Quick, then, as thought, he stood before the gate Where cherubs burn, and minist'ring spirits wait. Nor long he stood, for God beheld his plume, Already tarnished by terrestrial gloom, And beck'ning kindly to the flurried aid, Said, "Speak your wish; if good, be it obeyed." The seraph raised his gem-encircled hand, Obeisance made, at heaven's august command, And thus replied, in tones so bold and clear, That angels turned and lent a listening ear: "Lord of all systems, be they near or far, Thrice have I circled 'round yon beauteous Star, I've seen its mountains rise, its rivers roll, Its oceans sweep majestic to each pole; Its floors in mighty continents expand, Or dwindle into specs of fairy-land; Its prairies spread, its forests stretch in pride, And all its valleys dazzle like a bride; Hymns have I heard in all its winds and streams, And beauty seen in all its rainbow gleams. But whilst the LAND can boast of every gem That sparkles in each seraph's diadem;