16 TRANSACTIONS. 
it, directly in the centre of the gorge already referred to, but on a 
level with the spur of the Closeburn hills. No such field kad ever 
been observed there before. Then, to our surprise, what we had 
at first taken to be the reflection of the sun’s rays by the clouds 
appeared to be the whole valley of Lower Nithsdale elevated to 
the level of the hills and brought within our view, while in the 
far distance the waters of the Solway were plainly visible. The 
surface appeared uniform and unbroken by any elevation, while 
the woods, plantations, and groups of trees shone as dark patches 
and more prominent than usual. The valley sloped gently 
upwards on the west, as it does towards the ridge occupied by 
the parishes of Tinwald, Torthorwald, and Mouswald, &c. The 
outline of this ridge on the west was somewhat indistinct, and at 
the sensible horizon merged into the clouds above. The general 
colour was of a reddish yellow, not unlike cultivated land, and 
formed a strange contrast to the sky above, which presented a 
natural appearance, with overhanging clouds in some parts. No 
houses were visible, nor, with the exception of the one already 
referred to, could fields be distinguished ; but the general contour 
of the valley, with a clearer outline of the Solway, was distinctly 
marked. This strange appearance lasted fully twenty minutes, 
and when the sun went down nothing could be seen but the well- 
defined outline of hills against the clear sky. On the following 
day I climbed the Doon, a hill in our neighbourhood over 900 feet 
high, and from this coign of vantage made minute observations of 
the landscape in sight. The general outline corresponded exactly 
to that seen on the evening previous, while I at once recognised, 
down in the valley, the field and wood that had appeared so 
vividly in the foreground. The relative positions of the woods 
and plantations were exactly similar. I may here remark that a 
correspondent in the Scotsman gave a brief account of a similar 
appearance observed by him about two weeks previous. Such 
phenomena are rarely seen in this country, and can only be 
observed by a person in a position such as we were—with his 
back to the sun. No doubt this phenomenon was simply caused 
by the refraction of the rays of light from the valley on passing 
through the denser atmosphere immediately above it. 
