Letters on Natural Magic; Addressed to Sir Walter Scott, Bart.

by David Brewster

Fig. 32.

Hitherto our aërial visions have been seen only in their erect and natural positions, either projected against the ground or elevated in the air; but cases have occurred in which both erect and inverted images of objects have been seen in the air, sometimes singly, sometimes combined, sometimes when the real object was invisible, and sometimes when a part of it had begun to show itself to the spectator.

In the year 1793, Mr. Huddart, when residing at Allonby, in Cumberland, perceived the inverted image of a ship beneath the image, as shown in Fig. 32; but Dr. Vince, who afterwards observed this phenomenon under a greater variety of forms, found that the ship, which was here considered the real one, was only an erect image of the real ship, which was at that time beneath the horizon, and wholly invisible.

Fig. 33.

In August, 1798, Dr. Vince observed a great variety of these aërial images of vessels approaching the horizon. Sometimes there was seen only one inverted image above the real ship, and this was generally the case when the real ship was full in view. But when the real ship was just begin beginning to show its top-mast above the horizon, as at A, Fig. 33, two aërial images of it were seen, one at B inverted, and the other in its natural position at C. In this case the sea was distinctly visible between the erect and inverted images, but in other cases the hull of the one image was immediately in contact with the hull of the other.

Analogous phenomena were seen by Captain Scoresby when navigating with the ship Baffin the icy sea in the immediate neighbourhood of West Greenland. On the 28th of June, 1820, he observed about eighteen sail of ships at the distance of ten or fifteen miles. The sun had shone during the day without the interposition of a cloud, and its rays were peculiarly powerful. The intensity of its light occasioned a painful sensation in the eyes, while its heat softened the tar in the rigging of the ship, and melted the snow on the surrounding ice with such rapidity that pools of fresh water were formed on almost every place, and thousands of rills carried the excess into the sea. There was scarcely a breath of wind: the sea was as smooth as a mirror. The surrounding ice was crowded together, and exhibited every variety, from the smallest lumps to the most magnificent sheets. Bears traversed the fields and floes in unusual numbers, and many whales sported in the recesses and openings among the drift ice. About six in the evening, a light breeze at N.W. having sprung up, a thin stratus or “fog bank,” at first considerably illuminated by the sun, appeared in the same quarter, and gradually rose to the altitude of about a quarter of a degree. At this time most of the ships navigating at the distance of ten or fifteen miles began to change their form and magnitude, and when examined by a telescope from the mast-head, exhibited some extraordinary appearances, which differed at almost every point of the compass. One ship had a perfect image, as dark and distinct as the original, united to its mast-head in a reverse position. Two others presented two distinct inverted images in the air, one of them a perfect figure of the original, and the other wanting the hull. Two or three more were strangely distorted, their masts appearing of at least twice their proper height, the top-gallant mast forming one-half of the total elevation; and other vessels exhibited an appearance totally different from all the preceding, being as it were compressed, in place of elongated. Their masts seemed to be scarcely one-half of their proper altitude, in consequence of which one would have supposed that they were greatly heeled-to one side, or in the position called careening. Along with all the images of the ships a reflexion of the ice, sometimes in two strata, also appeared in the air, and these reflexions suggested the idea of cliffs composed of vertical columns of alabaster.

On the 15th, 16th, and 17th of the same month, Mr. Scoresby observed similar phenomena, sometimes extending continuously through half the circumference of the horizon, and at other times appearing only in detached spots in various quarters. The inverted images of distant vessels were often seen in the air, while the ships themselves were far beyond the reach of vision. Some ships were elevated to twice their proper height, while others were compressed almost to a line. Hummocks of ice were surprisingly enlarged, and every prominent object in a proper position was either magnified or distorted.

But of all the phenomena witnessed by Mr. Scoresby, that of the Enchanted Coast, as it may be called, must have been the most remarkable. This singular effect was seen on the 18th of July, when the sky was clear, and a tremulous and perfectly transparent vapour was particularly sensible and profuse: at nine o’clock in the morning, when the phenomenon was first seen, the thermometer stood at 42° Fahr.; but in the preceding evening it must have been greatly lower, as the sea was in many places covered with a considerable pellicle of new ice,—a circumstance, which, in the very warmest time of the year, must be considered as quite extraordinary, especially when it is known that 10° farther to the north no freezing of the sea at this season had ever before been observed. Having approached on this occasion so near the unexplored shore of Greenland that the land appeared distinct and bold, Mr. Scoresby was anxious to obtain a drawing of it; but on making the attempt he found that the outline was constantly changing, and he was induced to examine the coast with a telescope, and to sketch the various appearances which presented themselves. These are shown, without any regard to their proper order, in Fig. 34, which we shall describe in Mr. Scoresby’s own words: “The general telescopic appearance of the coast was that of an extensive ancient city abounding with the ruins of castles, obelisks, churches, and monuments, with other large and conspicuous buildings. Some of the hills seemed to be surmounted by turrets, battlements, spires, and pinnacles; while others, subjected to one or two reflexions, exhibited large masses of rock, apparently suspended in the air, at a considerable elevation above the actual termination of the mountains to which they referred. The whole exhibition was a grand phantasmagoria. Scarcely was any particular portion sketched before it changed its appearance, and assumed the form of an object totally different. It was perhaps alternately a castle, a cathedral, or an obelisk; then expanding horizontally, and coalescing with the adjoining hills, united the intermediate valleys, though some miles in width, by a bridge of a single arch, of the most magnificent appearance and extent. Notwithstanding these repeated changes, the various figures represented in the drawing had all the distinctness of reality; and not only the different strata, but also the veins of the rocks, with the wreaths of snow occupying ravines and fissures, form sharp and distinct lines, and exhibited every appearance of the most perfect solidity.”