DESERT SUNSETS 111 



picture of them which would adequately express the 

 impression they give, for the main impression is 

 derived from light, and the colours are therefore far 

 more glowing than they could ever be reproduced 

 on canvas. Nor can the changing effects be repro- 

 duced on a stationary medium. The nearest ap- 

 proach to the glory of a Tibet sunset which I have 

 seen is a picture in pastel by Simon de Bussy of 

 a sunset in the Alps. But all pictures — even 

 Turner's — can only draw attention to the glory 

 and show us what to look for. They cannot repro- 

 duce the impression in full. The medium through 

 which the artist has to work — the paints and the 

 canvas — are inadequate for his needs. 



If we try to describe the impression in words 

 we are no better off. We can, indeed, compare the 

 sunset colours with the colours of flowers and 

 precious stones. But here also we miss the light 

 which is the very foundation of the sunset beauties. 

 And we have neither the changefulness nor the vast 

 extent of the sunset colouring. 



To get the least idea of the variety of colours 

 mixing, merging, and intermingling with one an- 

 other we must go to the opal, though even there 

 there is not the intensity of colour, and of course 

 not the change nor extent. From an orange — 

 especially a blood orange — we get a notion of the 

 combined reds and yellows of the sunsets, though 

 the reds may range deeper than orange into the reds 

 of the ruby or the cardinal flower, and lighter into 

 the pinks of the rose or the carnation ; and the yel- 

 lows range from the gold of the escholtzia to the 

 delicate hue of the primrose. And for the trans- 



