THE OPEN SEA 



131 



or sky, mingled with the local color of the wa- 

 ter, but it is not possible to be certain about 

 this. 



The misty and cloudy days at sea are far from 

 being colorless, though, of course, the sea is not 

 so brilliant as under sunlight. Again I quote 

 from my note-book : 



" Aug. 8. Gray day, mist close in upon us like a veil, 

 horizon-circle does not seem more than a mile in diam- 

 eter. The water looks gray-green, the mass of the sea a 

 shade darker than the mist, some green in the break of 

 the wave. At sunset the light seen through a thin rain- 

 sheet is very white, almost like phosphorus." 



"Aug. 9. Cloudy, overcast day, sea dark, waves mod- 

 erately high. The crest of the wave just below the white 

 is a beautiful dark-green. In the churn of white along 

 the steamer's side it is turquoise-green." 



These peculiar shades of sea-green are sel- 

 dom, if ever, seen under sunlight. Cloud and 

 storm and flying scud reveal them at their best. 

 They often appear in patches, extending over a 

 small area of the sea, and will shift position and 

 move off, as though caused by the shadows of 

 flying clouds, but I have never been able to 

 locate the clouds that produced them. Cer- 

 tainly they appear as the direct result of clouded 

 light, and show at their brightest when the 

 waves are breaking with a swash against the 



