THE EARTH. 



113 



appear transparent, and no part of it will 

 seem coloured ; but such as are at angles of 

 forty-five degrees from the eye, forty-rive de- 

 grees upward, forty-five degrees on each side, 

 and forty-five degrees downward, did not the 

 plane of the earth prevent us. We therefore 

 see only an arch of the rainbow, the lower 

 part being cut ofFfrom our sight by the earth's 

 interposition. However, upon the tops of 

 very high mountains, circular rainbows are 

 Been, because we can see to an angle of forty- 

 five degrees downward, as well as upward, 

 or sideways, and therefore we take in the 

 rainbow's complete circle. 



In those forlorn regions round the poles, 

 the meteors, though of another kind, are not 

 less numerous and alarming. When the win- 

 ter begins, and the cold prepares to set in, 

 the same misty appearance which is pro- 

 duced in the southern climates by the heat, 

 is there produced by the contrary extreme." 

 The sea smokes like an oven, and a fog 

 arises, which mariners call the frost smoke. 

 This cutting mist commonly raises blisters 

 on several parts of the body ; and, as soon as 

 it is wafted to some colder part of the atmos- 

 phere, it freezes to little icy particles, which 

 are driven by the wind, and creates such an 

 intense cold on land, that the limbs of the 

 inhabitants are sometimes frozen, and drop 

 off 



There, also, halos, or luminous circles 

 round the moon, are oftener seen than in any 

 other part of the earth, being formed by the 

 frost smoke ; although the air otherwise 

 seems to be clear. A lunar rainbow also is 

 often seen there, though somewhat different 

 from that which is common with us ; as it ap- 



irs of a pale white, striped with gray. In 

 se countries also, the aurora borealis 

 streams with peculiar lustre, and variety of 

 colours. In Greenland it generally arises in 

 the east, and darts its sportive fires, with va- 

 riegated beauty, over the whole horizon. 

 Its appearance is almost constant in winter; 

 and at those seasons when the sun departs, 

 to return no more for half a year, this meteor | 

 kindly rises to supply its beams, and affords 

 sufficient light for all the purposes of exis- 

 tence. However, in the very midst of their 



Paul Egede's History of Greenland. 



tedious night, the inhabitants are not entirely 

 forsaken. The tops of the mountains are of- 

 ten seen painted with the red rays of the sun ; 

 and the poor Greenlander from thence begins 

 to date his chronology. It would appear 

 whimsical to read a Greenland calendar, in 

 which we might be told, That one of their 

 chiefs, having lived forty days, died, at last, 

 of a good old age ; and that his widow con- 

 tinued for half a day to deplore his loss, with 

 great fidelity, before she admitted a second 

 husband. 



The meteors of the day, in these countries, 

 are not less extaordinary than those of the 

 night : mock suns are often reflected upon 

 an opposite cloud ; and the ignorant spec- 

 tator fancies that there are often three or 

 four real suns in the firmament at the same 

 time. In this splendid appearance the real 

 sun is always readily known by its superior 

 brightness, every reflection being seen with 

 diminished splendour. The solar rainbow 

 there, is often seen different from ours. In- 

 stead of a pleasing variety of colours, it ap- 

 pears of a pale white, edged with a stripe of 

 dusky yellow; the whole being reflected 

 from the bosom of a frozen cloud. 



But, of all the meteors which mock the 

 imagination with an appearance of reality, 

 those strange illusions that are seen there, m 

 fine serene weather, are the most extraor- 

 dinary and entertaining. " Nothing," says 

 Krantz, " ever surprised me more, than on a 

 fine warm summer,s day, to perceive the islands 

 that lie four leagues west of our shore, putting 

 on a form quite different from what they are 

 known to have. As I stood gazing upon 

 them, they appeared at first infinitely greater 

 than what they naturally are ; and seemed 

 as if I viewed them through a large mag- 

 nifying glass. They were not thus only made 

 larger, but brought nearer to me. I plainly 

 descried every stone upon the land, and all 

 the furrows filled with ice, as if I stood close 

 by. When this illusion had lasted for a 

 while, the prospect seemed to break up, and 

 a new scene of wonder to present itself. The 

 island seemed to travel to the shore, and re- 

 presented a wood, or a tall cut hedge. The 

 scene then shifted, and showed the ap- 

 pearance of all sorts of curious figures ; as 

 ships with sails, streamers, and flags ; antique 



