20 



NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



decided impression on the landscape. The two 

 lights together give us the most charming il- 

 lumination imaginable. The expiring fire of 

 the one and the soft glow of the other mingle 

 in a strange amalgam ; and a lustrous light 

 envelops the world as tender and as lovely as 

 that reflected from mother-of-pearl. There is 

 neither deep shadow nor sharp color ; and around 

 the great ring of the horizon, stealing far up the 

 sky, there is a vast blend and mystery of color. 

 The molten golds and garnets of the west as they 

 steal along the horizon circle to the north and 

 south, change into opalescent tints of yellow, 

 rose, and amethyst ; and the blue and silver of 

 the east as they spread out to meet the flush 

 of the west, pass through all the shades of gray, 

 mauve, and lilac. For producing delicate tints 

 of color there is no such light as this double il- 

 lumination coming from the east and the west. 

 Wonderful in their variety, more wonderful in 

 their unity, these tints drape the whole circle of 

 the horizon like a celestial tapestry. Never for 

 a moment are they fixed or permanent. The 

 great waves of light that came up the blue vault 

 at dawn have calmed down to gentle undula- 

 tions, but they still heave and roll along the ho- 

 rizon-walls, and at every heave some beautiful 



