nearly eight o’clock
The magnificent constellations of the southern sky shone resplendently . At the zenith glittered the splendid Antares in the Scorpion , and not far was Alpha Centauri , which is believed to be the nearest star to the terrestrial globe . Then , as the crater widened , appeared Fomalhaut of the Fish , the Southern Triangle , and lastly , nearly at the Antarctic Pole , the glittering Southern Cross , which replaces the Polar Star of the Northern Hemisphere . It was nearly eight o'clock when Cyrus Harding and Herbert set foot on the highest ridge of the mountain at the summit of the cone . It was then perfectly dark , and their gaze could not extend over a radius of two miles . Did the sea surround this unknown land , or was it connected in the west with some continent of the Pacific ? It could not yet be made out .