The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1867-06-04

a village, and the people about it, And
sure enough there they were, right before
us, and, as it seemed not half mile dis
tant. There was a row of round. topped
hus above the beach and the people, in
clothing Of various colors, were standing
before them, apparently engaged in watch
ing our motions. The little naked brcwn
children could also be distinguished run
ming about at the edge Of the water. Tho
people seemed TO be numerous, and we
were at first uncertain how TO act. At
length, after brief consideration, | de-
iernined to take the risk oflandlng alone.
Putting off part of my clothes, in
order to swim ashore, and giving my
watch and some other small articles which
| had about me TO Frederick to keep,
directed my companions, in case they
saw any harm bcf1l me, TO bear away
Immediately for an anchorage laid down
on the coast TO the northward, where it
was possible that they might find trading
vessel, or at least obtain some provisions
on shore.
l then jumped into the water. The
splash which made produced miracu-
lous effect the whole crowd of people
on shore, great and small, gray, red and
brown, instantly SCARED up into the air,
and flew away in n crowd of pelicans,
1amingoes, sand.pipers, and other birds.
This put the climay to our perpleXity.
We were too much astonished to be
amused at our strange blunler.
Bearing up again for the shore, we
presently arrived at the beach and landed.
On going Up to the supposed village, 1t
proved to be tic skeleton Of an enormous
whale, whose arciing ribs hal taken the
| appearance Of row Of native Euts. Still
it seemed very singular that we should
have .been 20 completely deceived at SO
short Il distance.
On looking about u, we found that
not only was the land we stood on an island
but VIC were surrounded by numbcriess low
| islets. between which the sea was running
| in and ont in the strangrst manner. My
| comptnions now became greatly alarmed,
declaring that we should all perish if we
remained there, AMI insisting that we
should quit this dcsolAte and unknown
region. AMI lock for Walwich Baj.
To qgici them, and to clear up the un-
certainty Of your situation, resolved, as
it was now nearly noon, to get an obscr-
vation. ane determine cur real situation.
Accordingly, we went to the boat, AMI
stood ont from the land, in order 10 obtain
a clear horizon. On taking the altitude
of the sun, and making the calculation, ]
found that we were in the precise latitudi
of Wawich Bay. The Others thought
that | was decciving them; but feeling
positive that was right, l resolved to
stand in for the shore again, in hopes
that the my try would be cleared up
And now wonderful change was ap-
parent The sun, having passed the
meridian, was now shining with a western
deciination. 4 smart brcczh, moreover,
had arising and swept away the haze that
hung over the land. With it, and with
the Change in the position of the sun, the
mieic, which bad been the cause Of all
our pcrpleNi,ies, had Disappeared
Evcrlhing was now familiar to US AZ
VIC hal seen it on the previous afternoon.
4 llti 9 WIS NllNtAll Vistt. Win lllC sht!-
eton Of The whale and the hundreds of
birds about it, no longer maguiiled by the
deceptive ho2c, but in Their natural pro-
portions. The straits which had conver-
ted it into an island were now changed to
dry land, rs WAS also the seeming sea
which had ilowd about the sand hills on
sA,re, AMI turned them into 70 many is
lets,
On the opposite side Of the bay, the
store AMI the triangle, which had been
concealed by the mist, were plainly visA
BE. The source OF all our mistakes was
now apparent; at the same time am
incljne1 to think that any other persons
coming in as we dill would have been
equally deceived When we told the
missionaries of our troubles and perplcxi-
ties on this occasion they were much
amused, and said that they had at first
been frequently puzzled, both at the bay
and in travelling through the country, by
the deiu-iye appearance Of the mirage, to
which it requires some time to become 50
accustomed Il, not TO be mislcd. The hay
they said, from It's shape and the nature
Of the country about il, seemed to be
peculiarly s1lj'ct to those variations in
the density aud retraciive power Of the
atmosphere which give rise 10 these sin
gullr effects. | have been thus particu-
lar in describing them. thinking that it
may be Of some u.s. to put my brother
mariners on their guard against this
source Of deception on approaching a
coast.
ONE OF BApSUM's STORIES Among