96 



THE DESERT 



The blue sky. 



Changes in 

 the blue. 



Dawns on 

 the desert. 



deep blue tinge. At noon it has passed through 

 a whole gamut of tones and is pale blue, yel- 

 lowish, lilac-toned, or rosy ; in the late after- 

 noon it has changed again to pink or gold or 

 orange ; and after twilight and under the moon, 

 warm purples stretch across the whole reach of 

 the firmament from horizon to horizon. 



But the changes in the blue during the day 

 have no constancy to a change. There is no 

 fixed purpose about them. The caprices of 

 light, heat, and dust control the appearances. 

 Sometimes the sky at dawn is as pallid as a snow- 

 drop with pearly grays just emerging from the 

 blue ; and again it may be flushed with saffron, 

 rose, and pink. When there are clouds and great 

 heat the effect is often very brilliant. The 

 colors are intense in chrome-yellows, golds, car- 

 mines, magentas, malachite-greens a body of 

 gorgeous hues upheld by enormous side wings 

 of paler tints that encircle the horizon to the 

 north and south, and send waves of color far up 

 the sky to the cool zenith. Such dawns are sel- 

 dom seen in moist countries, nor are they usual 

 on the desert, except during the hot summer 

 months. 



The prevailing note of the sky, the one of- 

 tenest seen, is, of course, blue a color we may 



