302 ON ATMOSPHERIC REFLECTIONS AND REFRACTIONS 



ice continued visible above two hours : of some of the ships 

 about half an hour ; and of others, presenting double reflec- 

 tions, about five minutes. The whole of the phenomena re- 

 presented in the sketch were seen about the same time ; but 

 they occupied a much larger extent than could conveniently 

 be given in a drawing. There were some vessels in the SE. 

 quarter, which were not in the least changed from their natu- 

 ral form or dimensions. 



The atmosphere was again, in a similar state to that just 

 mentioned, on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of July. Our latitude 

 was then 71° 30, longitude 17° W. Ice-fields and floes, with 

 many smaller pieces, were in abundance around us. The wind 

 was extremely light, the sky cloudless, and the temperature in 

 the shade between 40° and 48° ; the sun, at the same time, was 

 bright, and its rays powerful. On each of these three days, curi- 

 ous reflections from fog-banks, or refractions from tremulous 

 vapour, were observed. The ice in the horizon was reflected in 

 one, two, or three parallel strata, at the altitude, as seen from 

 the deck of the Baffin, of ten to thirty minutes above the verge 

 of the sea ; and where water occurred on the horizon, a black- 

 ish-grey undulating streak appeared in the atmosphere above 

 it, exactly resembling the slight waves produced by a gentle 

 breeze of wind, of which it was doubtless a reflection. In 

 some places the reflected ice was in narrow faint streaks ; in 

 others in bold bright patches, resembling cliffs of white marble, 

 of the basaltic structure. Sometimes the phenomenon ex- 

 tended continuously through half the circumference of the ho- 

 rizon, at others it appeared in detached spots, in various quar- 

 ters. From the deck of the ship, with a telescope, the invert- 

 ed images of distant vessels were often seen in the air, while 

 the ships themselves were far beyond the reach of vision. 

 Some ships at the distance of six or eight miles, like those seen 



on 



