Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-07-22
THE MIRAGE
Strange Illusions Noted in Refraeted
liaht.


Light.
The peculiar and unusual character
of the desert is productive naturally
Of strange and extraordinary things.
There you may find much to wonder
at that you will find nowhere else
Nowhere but on the desert will you
see such colors or such dry air-that
air that is responsible for so much
that is wonderful, so much that Is de-
sirable. The marvellous colored air,
that you can see in no other region,
the near-lying night skies that bring
the broadened stars closer to earth
than elsewhere, are things to marvel
at, as are, too, the rain that falls but
never reaches the earth, the brilliance
of the sunset skies, the exhilaration of
the air at dawn, the solitude, the ST.
lence, the desolation, and many an
other thing that Is always changing,
ever different Few places present as
great a variety of illusions, or illu-
sions as extraordinary as does the
desert. A residence Of some time In
that region gives one a surprising
number Of experiences with such phe-
nomepa, and so varied in form and In
color are they, that you may see many
that none have seen before, and that
you may not yourself see again.
The most deceptive thing on the
desert Is the apparent distance Of OBJ
jects. This is a deception that often
takes a long time to understand and
overcome, and Is Of more or less dan
ger to those who are depending upon
reaching a certain visible point in a
limited time. Mountains that often
appear but a short walk from you,
may be a good days horseback ride
away. The mountains loom up in their
largest form early in the morning and
late in the afternoon, the shadows
throwing them out in bolder relief, but
the shadowless light Of midday fiat
tens them out, in a way, and causes
them to appear very much lower and
Of a smaller size.
Next to the deceptive distances,
probably the commonest Illusion, as
we'll as the most beautiful and inter-
esting, is the mirage. Although this
illusion is seen in other places than
the desert, it reaches its greatest per-
fection and beauty in those arid re-
tho ". fc nd "a
heat intense, and especially where
there is an entire lack of vegetation,
such as in the large beds of former
lakes that are fiat and dry. I have
seen the mirage in many localities in
the southwest other than the desert,
once in the San Gabriel valley near
Los Angeles-a very good and inter-
esting one, showing a large body Of
blue water in which were islands on
which green trees grew. The mirage
often appears on the great San Joa-
quin ranch, south of Santa Ana. 1t is
frequently seen at sea, but there the
object presented Is usually upside
down. Sometimes in the desert mir
age the objects appear reversed, but
the ydo not commonly appear so.
The mirage is caused by the refrac-
ton of light from bent light rays in
heated and thickened air, or air of
varying densities, and by reflection. 1t
takes many forms, but the commonest
one is the appearance of bodies Of wa
ter. like lax cor a sea, on which are
islands These bodies of water fire.
quently appear to cover great areas,
even to many square miles. The shim-
mering of the heat waves gives appar-
ent motion to the water, and white
capped waves seem to be rolling in on
the bench in a most realistic manner.
This water illusion is caused by re-
Election from the air above it. Many
Of these water mirages are very bea
tiful. Out of nothing they come.
Where but moment before lay the
hot yellow sand there appears a calm
blue sea, with charming little islands
aloat in the placid waters on which
are green growing trees. Exquisite
lights hang above and around it, and
wonderful purple shadows pass over
it. Perhaps for hours it will lie there
vibrating in the sun and then sudden
ly it will fade away and leave the hot
yellow sand as it was before. While
1t is a beautiful sight to the content
observer, it is one terrible in it's con-
sequences to the thirst-tortured soul
who comes upon 1t in his delirious
wanderings over the desert in search
of water. Can anything more terrible
be imagined than to be on the hot
desert dying for drink Of water, and
then to see a beautiful sheet Of cool
water stretching out before you and
apparently close at hand, and to walk
feverishly toward 1t as fast as weak