158 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



witnessed it when crossing the desert of Suez on the 

 occasion of my first journey to India. We were a 

 small party, and crossed the desert riding on donkeys ; 

 we had ridden for many hours, and were all very tired 

 when night came on ; we had then still some miles 

 to travel. There was no moon, and, in the darkness, the 

 desert seemed full of shadows. Presently, as we 

 journeyed on, the shadows seemed to take shape and 

 assume the form of hills and gentle undulations ; next, 

 figures appeared passing by or approaching. 



They were all such as I had seen during the day : 

 camels and men on horseback wearing turbans and 

 flowing robes, and carrying in their hands long lances ; 

 they were so distinct that at first I supposed them 

 to be real. It was only as they came near and vanished 

 that I perceived that they were illusions. Presently, 

 as I became more tired, I seemed to behold buildings 

 and lights. It was past midnight before we arrived 

 at the station ; there during supper we talked over 

 our journey, and I found that nearly all the party 

 had had much the same experience of the mirage 

 as myself. 



On some few occasions I have witnessed the same 

 phenomena in India. The objects that I then appeared 

 to see were similarly those that I had beheld in the 

 day-time: carts drawn by bullocks, palanquins, men 

 in native dresses, and, perhaps, a string of camels or 

 an elephant ; also, when very tired, I thought that I 

 saw lights and houses. The conditions necessary to 

 give rise to the phenomena seem to be a dark night, 

 an open country, allowing an extended surface to be 



