THE GKEAT MIIIROR 



8» 



opal, became glowing and fiery, and finally died away 

 in a dream of blue and silver." 



The opalescent sea is not an appearance that 

 belongs solely to the tropics, but is seen as far 

 north and south as the arctic circles. Occa- 

 sionally the northern and western coasts of 

 Scotland show it with a sharpness of color that 

 might better be called iridescent; and the At- 

 lantic coast about Labrador and Nova Scotia 

 have it mingled with breaking fog and sum- 

 mer mist in a tone that might better be called 

 silvery. At Bar Harbor, on Long Island 

 Sound, off the Florida Coast — anywhere by the 

 Atlantic seaboard where bays or inlets give a 

 chance for smooth surfaces — the opal color ap- 

 pears, often accompanied by a slight mist and 

 a white horizon. 



And frequently in times and places where 

 one would expect only opalescence — in tropical 

 seas like the Southern Atlantic or the Pacific 

 during the heat of early summer — one will find 

 cool colorings that might belong to the Behring 

 Sea or the Iceland coast. In my note book of 

 May, 1900, I find the following memorandum 

 about the waters of the Pacific lying above 

 Mazatlan in Mexico: 



"Hot morning with no wind, lowering clouds, and a 

 lilac sky in the east which has been deepening into pur- 



The opal 

 sea seen in 

 manii lati- 

 tudes. 



The coast 

 of Mexico. 



