STILL WATERS 



181 



lake-banks or under the shade of an overhang- 

 ing tree that completely shuts out the sky, we 

 can see the hue of the water ; but here again 

 we have to reckon with the reflected green of 

 the tree or the color of the bottom. We must 

 look through the reflection, and not at it. Even 

 then, and under the most favorable conditions, 

 we are often deceived into thinking the water 

 one color, when in reality it is another. And 

 just here begins another complication. 



I said that smooth water, like a mirror, is 

 always throwing back from its face " some like- 

 ness " in light, form, and color of whatever is 

 above it. Its light is always feebler than the 

 original, but its color is almost an exact like- 

 ness, provided the water is very clear and pure. 

 The tall cumulus cloud, the blue sky, the dawn, 

 the sunset, and the rainbow, are all given in the 

 lake reflection with accuracy, but with perhaps 

 more delicacy than in the original. This is par- 

 ticularly true of the sky and the clouds. The 

 hue in the reflection is more refined and silk-tis- 

 sued, and the lines of the clouds are less posi- 

 tively defined. Now deeply colored or darkened 

 water will reflect a likeness, too, reflect it in 

 form quite as sharply as clear water, but the 

 color will also be deepened and darkened. On 



Confusion 

 of hut*. 



Phases of 

 reflection. 



