222 THE RAINBOW 



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-coloured radiance, broken on the 

 outside with quick flashes, and surrounding a central 

 disc as bright as the sun, but more beautiful. Devout 

 Buddhists assart that it is an emanation from the 

 aureole of Buddha, and a visible sign of the holiness of 

 Mount 0. 



* Impossible as it may be deemed, the phenomenon 

 does really exist. I suppose 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 moun- 

 tain since my visit, and have seen the Glory of Buddha 

 several times. They relate that it resembles a golden 

 sun-like disc, enclosed in a ring of prismatic colours 

 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 

 heads, 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 bystanders as well as his own projected on to the 



