OPTICAL PHENOMENA. 



537 



coast of Picardy was rendered distinctly visible, and was apparently brought near to that 

 of Hastings. On July the 2Gth, about five in the afternoon, while sitting in his dining- 

 room, near the sea-shore, attention was excited by a crowd of people running down 

 to the beach. Upon inquiring the reason, it appeared that the coast of France was 

 plainly to be distinguished with the naked eye. Upon proceeding to the shore, he 

 found that he could see the cliffs across the Channel, which are fifty miles distant, 

 and are actually hid by the convexity of the earth, that is, a straight line drawn from 

 Hastings to the French coast would pass through the sea. They appeared to be 

 only a few miles off, and seemed to extend for some leagues along the coast. At first 

 the sailors and fishermen could not be persuaded of the reality of the appearance, but 

 they soon became thoroughly convinced, by the cliffs gradually appearing more elevated, 

 and seeming to approach nearer, so that they were able to point out the different places 

 they had been accustomed to visit, such as the Bay, the Old Head, and the Windmill at 

 Boulogne, St. Yallcry, and several other spots. Their remark was, that these places 



Atmospheric Illusion. 



appeared as near as if they were sailing at a small distance into the harbour. The 

 apparition of the opposite cliffs varied in distinctness and apparent contiguity for nearly 

 an hour, but it was never out of sight, and upon leaving the beach for a hill of some con 

 siderable height, Mr. Latham could at once see Dungeness and Dover cliffs on each side, and 

 before him the French coast from Calais to near Dieppe. By the telescope the French 

 fishing boats were clearly seen at anchor, and the different colours of the land on the heights, 

 with the buildings, were perfectly discernible. The spectacle continued in the highest 

 splendour until past eight o'clock, though a black cloud obscured the face of the sun for 

 some time, when it gradually faded away. This was the first time within the memory of 

 the oldest inhabitants, that they had ever caught sight of the opposite shore. The day had 

 been extremely hot, and not a breath of wind had stirred since the morning, when the small 

 pennons at the mast-heads of the fishing-boats in the harbour had been at all points of the 

 compass. Professor Vince witnessed a similar apparent elevation of the coast of France as 

 seen from Kamsgate, for at the very edge of the water he discerned the Calais cliffs a very 



