TIE OPEN SEA 
131 
or sky, mingled with the local color of the wa- 
ter, but it is not possible to be certain about 
this. 
The misty and clondy days at sea are far from 
being colorless, though, of course, the sea is not 
so brilliant as under sunlight. Again I quote 
from my note-book : 
‘sAug. 8. Gray day, mist close in upon us like a veil, 
horizon-circle does not seem more than a mile in diam- 
eter. The water looks gray-green, the mass of the sea a 
shade darker than the mist, some green in the break of 
the wave. At sunset the light seen through a thin rain- 
sheet is very white, almost like phosphorus.” 
‘* Aug. 9. Cloudy, overcast day, sea dark, waves mod- 
erately high. The crest of the wave just below the white 
is a beautiful dark-green. In the churn of white along 
the steamer’s side it is turquoise-green.” 
These peculiar shades of sea-green are sel- 
dom, if ever, seen under sunlight. Cloud and 
storm and flying scud reveal them at their best. 
They often appear in patches, extending over a 
small area of the sea, and will shift position and 
move off, as though caused by the shadows of 
flying clouds, but I have never been able to 
locate the clouds that produced them. Cer- 
tainly they appear as the direct result of clouded 
light, and show at their brightest when the 
waves are breaking with a swash against the 
Cloudy days 
at sea. 
The 
emerald 
greens of 
storm. 
