Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1872-04-04

A correspondent writes the 6IDsinI
J in regard to a mirage be and . r1epse
; ting companion witnessed ca tAS 6rt,
Min Desert beyond Rsesow0 New ko1,
day las. Summer. The dssera N u i
level plain Of alkali ss white. n ant
smooth in many places as q plastesl VAN
We we're toiling through the ( ! de
scrt. and had trsversed half thel Apo,
across it when m eaclausation ekG nriss
uttered BY William. caused - q -
fore. Apparently in . second IL whole
face of the landscape had e6anss Ia.
stinctively ard without ssxov6 y bosh
drew rein sad halted. Dse& yssA.sshssx
sat s~ssafs. Jees ss.S-a a.
white glittering. sterile desert. bounded By
high coast line Of rugged bills burnt tc
various hues-expanded bread and pla.
cid lake. beyond which vas sses the sern.
blance Of villas aud large cassellated piles.
Some Of the latter occupied bold promouto.
ries. while others crowned small islands
which seemed to foat upon the calm sur.
face Of the lake. Tall trees Of tropical ap-
pearanee-yet unlike anything had evel
seen IN any country-reared their heads
above the castle and clustered in grove.
about The villas.
To render the deception more complete.
all that was seen on the seeming shore
castles, trees and villas-was seen per-
fectly mirrored in the lake Even. upon
that shore of the lake nearest to US was
seen the work Of enchantment wrou ght by
the mirage. There were no castles nor
villas. but there was everywhere tropi-
ical luxuriance of vcge,ation-trees load
cd. or rather overloaded, with the most
wonderful masses Of bright green foliage
and grasses. that lowered aloft and waved
to the breeze like some African jungle. -
A small flock of crows that had settled
near the margin Of the lake seemed at
least fifteen feet in hight. and rs they walk
ed about in their queer. swinging way. with
necks swaying to and fro. presented a
weird appearance But these are ap-
pcaranccs which frequently have been
noted and described. What desire nost
! particularly to mention is what now took
place. and Of which have as yet seen no
account in descriptions Of mirage phenom-
ena. AS We gazed upon the enchanted
scene the lake began to glide rapidly
against the villas. castles and groves. and
down, down. they went beneath its CLASSY
surface. while beyond new villas and cas-
ties ran up.
These were different in form and loca-
tion from the first. but we only had time
to note them slightly before they melted
down and disappeared under the advan-
cling waters of the lake, new a. 81. .c-
er wonders rising upon the reccding shore.
Now. as suddenly as the former change,
! the land began advancing upon the CLASSY
bosom Of the lake. pushing forward grove,
villa and castle SO rapidly that these OBJ
jects seemed rolling over and ever each
other. and tossed here and there Is If by
the throes Of mighty earthquake. The
land was then in turn driven back BY the
water, and these changes soon became SO
rapid that the eye could hardly follow
them. reminding US Of the rapid shifting
of the slides of magic lantern. This
was succeeded by sudden lifting-up OF
the whole scene. when the mountains
were shown much in their natural shape,
but inverted. while above them, rose up
moving columns or spires Of white. gilt
tering light. closely resembling what is
seen in brilliant no, ,ticrn lights.
There were some other curious changes.
but the only other we vii! note was that
ofa second. third. fourth inverted range
appearing above the frst. As We advan-
ced upon the scene it held its ground
though with many Kaleidoscope changes,
until We were close npon the fairy realm.
The road VIC were following. though we'll
worn and plain. was cut of from our sight
by the laae a; distance Of about three
hundred yards ahead; indeed. we moved
much nearer before the illusion of the i'm
mediate presence Of the lake was dispel!ed.
Then the whole scene was suddenly shifted
far to our right. where it quivered a mo-
ment and was gene-only waves of hea.
shimmerius over the level desert, as above
furnace, remained. g.