THE ARCTIC SEAS. 13f 



myself had the pleasure of witnessing this beautiful 

 phenomenon, precisely as described above, and in 

 the same eircumstances : it was in the month of 

 August, 1828, on the coast of Newfoundland, and 

 was viewed from the shrouds of a vessel projected 

 on the surface of a dense but shallow fog. Some- 

 times there are several coloured circles surrounding 

 each other, with a common centre. 



The cause of these appearances seems to be the 

 unequal refraction of the rays of light by passing 

 through media of varying density. To a similar ori- 

 gin may be ascribed those distortions and repetitions 

 of objects near the horizon, called looming, which are 

 occasionally witnessed even in this country, but in 

 the northern seas are very frequent and amusingly 

 fantastic. The ice around the horizon, either almost 

 flat or varied only by slight irregularities of surface, 

 will appear raised into a lofty wall, and the irregu- 

 larities elevated into numberless spires or towers or 

 pinnacles. Ships will have their hulls magnified into 

 castles ; or the hull will be diminished to a narrow 

 line, and the masts and sails drawn up to a ridiculous 

 length; or some of the sails will be unduly elevated, 

 while others are as unnaturally flattened. But more 

 singular than this is the frequent repetition of the 

 object in the sky just above it. Thus above the 

 spired and turreted wall of ice will be seen on the sky 

 another wall exactly corresponding to it, but upside- 

 down; spire meeting spire, and tower tower. Above 

 a ship will be an inverted figure of the same ship, 

 as palpable and apparently as real as the true one. 

 This I once saw, in two vessels in the Gulf of St. 



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