ON RAINBOWS, 673 



some brink, but they arc drawn to it by the hope of beholding the mysterious 

 apparition known as the " Fo-Kuang," or " Glory of Buddha," which floats in 

 mid-air, half-way down. So many eye-witnesses had told me of this wonder, 

 that I could not doubt ; but I gazed long and steadfastly into the gulf without 

 success, and came away disappointed, but not incredulous. It was described to 

 me as a circle of brilliant and many-colored radiance, broken on the outside with 

 quick flashes and surrounding a central disk as bright as the sun, but more beau- 

 tiful. Devout Buddhists assert that it is an emanation fi-om the aureole of 

 Buddha, and a visible sign of the holiness of Mount O. 



Impossible as it may be deemed, the phenomenon does really exist. I sup- 

 pose no better evidence could be desired for the attestation of a Buddhist miracle 

 than that of a Baptist missionary, unless, indeed, it be, as in this case, that of 

 two Baptist missionaries. Two gentlemen of that persuasion have ascended the 

 mountain since my visit, and have seen the Glory of Buddha several times. They 

 relate that it resembles a golden sun-like disk, inclosed in a ring of prismatic 

 colors more closely blended than in the rainbow. . . . The missionaries inform 

 me that it was about three o'clock in the afternoon, near the middle of August, 

 when they saw the meteor, and that it was only visible when the precipice was 

 more or less clothed in mist. It appeared to lie on the surface of the mist, and 

 was always in the direction of a line drawn from the sun through their head^^, 

 as is certified by the fact that the shadow of their heads was seen on the meteor. 

 They could get their heads out of the way, so to speak, by stooping down, but 

 are not sure if they could do so by stepping aside. Each spectator, however, 

 could see the shadows of the by-standers as well as his own projected on to the 

 appearance. They did not observe any rays spreading from it. The central 

 disk, they think, is a reflected image of the sun, and the inclosing ring is a rain- 

 bow. The ring was in thickness about one fourth of the diameter of the disk, 

 and distant from it by about the same extent ; but the recollection of one inform- 

 ant was that the ring touched the disk, without any intervening space. The 

 shadow of a head, when thrown upon it, covered about one eighth of the whole 

 diameter of the meteor. The rainbow ring was not quite complete in its lower 

 part, but they attribute this to the interposition of the edge of the precipice. 

 They see no reason why the appearance should not be visible at night when the 

 moon is brilliant and appositely placed. They profess themselves to have been 

 a good deal surprised, but not startled, by the spectacle. They would consider 

 it remarkable rather than astonishing, and are disposed to call it a very impres- 

 sive phenomenon. 



It is to be regretted that Mr. Baber failed to see the " Glory," and 

 that we in consequence miss his own description of it. There seems 

 a slight inadvertence in the statement that the head could be got 

 out of the way by stooping ; for, as long as the " Glory " remained 

 a circle, the shadow of the head must have occupied its center. 

 Stepping aside would simply displace the bow, but not abolish the 

 shadow. 



Thus, starting from the first faint circle seen drawn through the 

 thick darkness at Alp Lusgen, we have steadily followed and developed 

 our phenomenon, and ended by rendering the " Glory of Buddha " a 

 captive of the laboratory. The result might be taken as typical of 

 larger things. 



VOL. XXIT.^3 



