BEMARKABLE ILLUSION, 123 



"been more successful ; at all events, it is worth a trial. Beau- 

 tiful scenery will requite the labour of the walk, and by standing 

 opposite a deep scarbrae, where the sandstone strata have been 

 cut partly through by time and floods, I presume the angler may 

 observe a very singular phenomenon. The place I refer to may 

 be about three miles below Allanton, more or less ; but I have 

 often observed the phenomenon in other places. 



I have said that my companion, on the last occasion I fished 

 these streams, was a most experienced and successful angler, 

 strong and bold in hand, clear-sighted beyond most men. Yet 

 his eyes misled him strangely whilst standing on the bank of 

 the river, and looking intently at the pool before him. In it he 

 saw, or fancied he saw, many salmon, sea trout, and grilses. 

 He threw his line. They moved and danced about, shifting 

 their ground in a manner so natural, as to deceive his most 

 experienced eye. But I had more experience in this case, for I 

 had seen them before, and knew them to be the reflected angles 

 and edges of the sandstone cliffs, which, rising high above the 

 waters, throw their shadows into the pool beneath. To observe 

 Nature, and to discover the absolute truth, requires, in many 

 cases, more than good eyes and a brain : it requires knowledge 

 or experience, previously-instructed sight, otherwise the object 

 may be before you, and yet remain wholly unseen or Linperceived 

 by you. I remember being on a patrol in Caffraria, with a 



party of fifteen men, commanded by Ensign C . We crossed 



the great Yische Riviere at De Bruin's post, climbed the high 

 lands running parallel with that stream, and crossing the open 

 country, reached the Koonap River about noon : here we rested. 

 My friend had never seen wild elephants, nor had any of the 

 party but myself. As we journeyed onwards, I promised him 

 that if his way lay towards the junction of the Koonap and Fish 

 Rivers, a spot I was anxious to see, it being at the time unknown 

 to Europeans, I doubted not our meeting plenty of elephants. 

 It was about three in the afternoon, and soon after crossing the 

 Koonap, we entered on a most beauteous undulating country, 

 with scenery altogether park-like, but superior to any park that 

 ever was modelled by human hands. At the distance of about a 

 mile to the right there ran a ridge of moderately-elevated hills, 



