Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1888-12-29
MOUNTAIN MYTHS.

The Probable Cause of Feelings Born Of
Ignorance and Superstition.
Turning back to the heather and the
savage, we see at once whence comes
the old feeling about mountains, a feel
ing born of dark shadows that disap-
pear in the light of knowledge. We
have all heard of the Broken and its
witch revels, made famous by the.
genius of Goethe. The Hartz mount
aims are so rich in superstitious le-
gends, not that they have more impos-
ing features of their own than many
other less celebrated mountains, but
because, standing out by themselves
on the great northern fats of Ger
many, they powerfully impressed the
imagination of the lowlanders around,
and because, this district being one of
the last converted to Christianity, they
long continued to be a retreat for
pagan rites, and thus gained their
grim reputation as a seat of witch
craft. Here, as is well known, ap-
pears the Speeter of the Broken,
when, at sunrise Or sunset, the amazed
traveller happens to see a magnificent
reflection of his own figure thrown
upon the sheet of mist vailing some
opposite peak. The most extraordi-
nary of all such appearances seem to
be that observed at Adams Peak, in
recent expedition undertaken by the
Hon. Ralph Abercromby and two other
men of science:
''This mountain rises in an abrupt
cone, 1000 feet above the chain and
Z, 552 feet above sea level. titles near
an elbow in the main range, while T.
gorge runs up from the northeast just
to the west of it. When, then, the
northeast monsoon blows morning
mist up the valley, light wreaths of
condensed vapor pass to the west Of
the peak, and catch the shadows at
sunrise. The party reached the sum
NIT On the night,of February Fl, 1886,
amid rain, mist and wind. Early next
morning the foreglow began to bright
en- the under surface of the stratus
cloud with orange; patches of white
mist filled the hollows, and sometimes
masses of mist, coming from the val
ley, enyeloped them with condensed
vapor- At ESQ a. M. the sun
peeped through a chink in the
clouds, and they saw the
pointed shadow of the peak lying on
the misty land. Soon a complete pris-
matte circle of about eight degrees
diameter, with the red outside, formed
round the summit of the peak as q,
center. The meteorological knowing
that with this bow there ought to be
spectral figures, waved his hand about,
and Immediately found giant shadowy
arms moving in the center of the rain
bow. Two dark rays shot upward and
outward on either side of the CEN
ter, and appeared to be nearly in a
prolongation of the lines of the slope
of the peak below. Three times with
in a quarter of an hour this appearance
was repeated as the mist drove up in
proper quantities, and ftful glimpses
VI iH6 SUI SbVc SuluCI0H6 light
to throw a shadow and form a
circular rainbow. In every case
the shadow and bow were seen
in front of land, and never against the
sky. When the sun rose pretty high,
the characteristic popularity of the
shadow was beautifully observed. As
a thin wreath of condensed vapor
came up the valley at proper height.
q Respondent bow formed round the
shadow, while both seemed to stand
up Enthusiastically in frontiof the observ-
ers, and then the shadow fell down
upon the land, and the bow vanished
as the mist passed on. About an hour
later the sun again shone out, but
much higher and stronger than before,
and then they saw brighter and
sharper shadow of the peak, this time
encircled by a double bow; and their
own spectral arms were again visible,
The shadow, the double bow, and
giant uforms combined to make this
phenomenon the most marked In the
whole word tse9A b HepsI