188 ZODIACAL LIGHT. 



haze. At night, the part of the horizon where the moon 

 was expected^to rise could scarcely be distinguished before 

 the limb touched it ; and the stars and planets shone with a 

 brilliancy never seen unless at great heights. 



With a transit-telescope of thirty inches, and a power of 

 thirty, stars of the fifth magnitude were distinct in broad 

 dav ; but none of less size were perceptible. At Subathu, 

 4200 feet above the sea, stars of the fourth magnitude re- 

 quire a power of forty to make them visible in the day. 



17. Su7iri£e and Pillar of Light, or Zodiacal Light in 

 /?i(f?'a.— Sunrise is often characterized by the appearance 

 of a pillar of light, which never fails to make a strong im- 

 pression on those who take an interest in the natural phe- 

 nomena around them, and who, for the first time, witness 

 tWs beautiful appearance. Dr. Adam, in the following de- 

 scription of Indian sunrise, mentions this luminous ap- 

 pearance : — 



" The country in the neighbourhood displays a thousand 

 charms compared with the district near the Jumna. The 

 roads are drv, and the rocky elevations in front, having a 

 covering of beautiful shrubs, entwined with numerous va- 

 rieties of climbing plants, give quite a new feeling to the 

 mind on viewing the prospect. New animals, too, inhabit- 

 ants of these, present themselves. The peacock, arrayed 

 in all his gorgeous hues, and shining with a native glossi- 

 ness of plumage, is not unfrequently seen perched on a pro- 

 jecting block of granite, while herds of antelopes bound 

 along the plain below ; and the shrill cry of the Indian par- 

 tridge, heard on every hand, first cheers the traveller with 

 the opening day. I was much delighted one morning here 

 with viewing the natural phenomenon of sunrise. Con- 

 trary to my usual practice, I had started early with my bag- 

 gage. It was quite dark, excepting what light the stars af- 

 forded, which in India is always considerable at this season 

 (October), when not a cloud obscures the expanded vault 

 of the heavens. After moving on for some time, on turn- 

 ing my eye towards the east, I could perceive the first ap- 

 pearance of day. It was not dawn, but a mere grayish pil- 

 lar of light shooting from the horizon upwards, in the shape 

 of a comet's tail, but without lustre ; the effulgence, if it 

 could be so called, resembling that of the milky way more 

 than any other object in nature which I have seen. This 



