BLACK SKY. 187 



tomed to judge of the existence of water, viewed at a dis- 

 tance, are here called into action, and the man of science as 

 well as the peasant alike find themselves deceived. 



This curious appearance is noticed by several of our In- 

 dian travellers. Tlius, Mr. Elphinstone, in describing his 

 passage through the Great Desert, says, " On the 2.5th No- 

 vember we marched twenty-seven miles to two wells in the 

 desert. In the way we saw a most magnificent mirage, 

 which looked like an extensive lake, or a very wide river. 

 The water seemed clear and beautiful, and the figures of 

 two gentlemen who rode along it were reflected as distinctly 

 as in real water." The same very interesting writer re- 

 marks, " On the 22d we made a march of thirty mUes to 

 Moujgur ; the heat of the afternoon was intense, while we 

 halted as usual in the naked plain to give our people some 

 water and to take some refreshments ourselves. In the 

 course of the day several hundred skins of water came to 

 us from Moujgur, where Bahawul Khan had sent his princi- 

 pal officers to receive us. Towards the evening many per- 

 sons were astonished with the appearance of a long lake, en- 

 closvn^ several Utile islajids. Notwithstandin<; the well- 

 known nature of the countrj', many were positive that it 

 was a lake, and one of tiie surveyors took the bearing of it." 



Other varieties of mirage are noticed by Colonel Tod in 

 his valuable work on Rajasthan. 



15. Black Colour of the Sky over the Himmalehs. — The 

 sky, when viewed from lofty mountains, presents a deep 

 blue colour approaching to black. This fact is often men- 

 tioned by travellers among the Himmalehs. Thus, near 

 the sources of the Ganges, the dazzling brilliancy of the 

 snow was rendered more striking by its contrast with the 

 dark blue, approaching to Uackncss, of the sky ; and at 

 night the stars shone with a lustre which they do not pre- 

 sent in a denser atmosphere. " It was curious to see them," 

 says Captain Hodgson, " when rising, appear like one sud- 

 den flash as they emerged from behind the bright snowy 

 summits close to us ; and their disappearance, when setting 

 behind the peaks, was as sudden as we generally observed 

 it to be in their occultations by the moon." At Zinchin, 

 16,136 feet above the sea, the atmosphere exhibited that 

 very fij^k-black colour which is observed from great eleva- 

 tions. The sun shone like an orb of fire without the least 



