THE HIGHLAND LIGHT. 
161 
his wicks in the morning, the sun falling on the reflec¬ 
tors on the south side of the building would set fire to 
them, like a burning-glass, in the coldest day, and he 
would look up at noon and see them all lighted! When 
your lamp is ready to give light, it is readiest to receive 
it, and the sun will light it. His successor said that he 
had never known them to blaze in such a case, but 
merely to smoke. 
I saw that this was a place of wonders. In a sea 
turn or shallow fog while I was there the next sum¬ 
mer, it being clear overhead, the edge of the bank 
twenty rods distant appeared like a mountain pasture in 
the horizon. I was completely deceived by it, and I 
could then understand why mariners sometimes ran 
ashore in such cases, especially in the night, supposing 
it to be far away, though they could see the land. Once 
since this, being in a large oyster boat two or three hun¬ 
dred miles from here, in a dark night, when there was a 
thin veil of mist on land and water, we came so near to 
running on to the land before our skipper was aware of it, 
that the first warning was my hearing the sound of the 
surf under my elbow. I could almost have jumped 
avshore, and we were obliged to go about very suddenly 
to prevent striking. The distant light for which we 
were steering, supposing it a light-house five or six 
miles off, came through the cracks of a fisherman’s 
bunk not more than six rods distant. 
The keeper entertained us handsomely in his solitary 
little ocean house. He was a man of singular patience 
and intelligence, who, when our queries struck him, 
rung as clear as a bell in response. The light-house 
lamps a few feet distant shone full into my chamber, and 
made it as bright as day, so I knew exactly how the 
