202 REFRACTION. 



which was the sun itself. This magnificent spec- 

 tacle is sometimes enhanced by a second circle of 

 light enclosing the whole, and the edges of several 

 outer circles springing in faint light therefrom until 

 gradually lost, leaving the imagination to call up 

 the idea of an endless series of glories extending 

 over the whole sky. 



Refraction frequently causes grotesque as well as 

 wonderful and beautiful appearances. Ships are 

 sometimes seen with their hulls flattened and their 

 masts and sails drawn out to monstrous dimensions ; 

 or the hulls are heightened so as to appear like 

 heavy castle walls, while the masts and sails are 

 rendered ludicrously squat and disproportioned ; 

 and not only so, but ships are often seen with their 

 images inverted over their own masts, so that to the 

 observer it appears as if one ship were balancing 

 another upside down mast-head to mast-head. Land 

 and icebergs assume the same curious appearances 

 peaks touching peaks, one set pointing upwards, the 

 other set pointing down, while the broad bases are 

 elevated in the air. At other times the whole mass 

 of land and ice on the horizon is more or less 

 broken up and scattered about as if in confusion, 

 yet with a certain amount of regularity in the 

 midst of it all, arising from the fact of every object 

 being presented in duplicate, sometimes triplicate, 

 and occasionally, though seldom, four-fold. 



When sharp sudden frosts occur in those regions, 

 the splendour of the scenery is still further eii- 



