Note 36 — ON STEPPES AND DESERTS.
Henry G. (Henry George) Bohn translation
p. 15.—“The phantom of a moving undulating surface.”
The well known phenomenon of the mirage is called in Sanscrit “the thirst of the gazelle.”[GY] All objects appear to float in the air, while their forms are reflected in the lower stratum of the atmosphere. At such times the whole desert 138resembles a vast lake, whose surface undulates like waves. Palm trees, cattle, and camels sometimes appear inverted in the horizon. In the French expedition to Egypt, this optical illusion often nearly drove the faint and parched soldiers to distraction. This phenomenon has been observed in all quarters of the world. The ancients were also acquainted with the remarkable refraction of the rays of light in the Lybian Desert. We find mention made in Diodorus Siculus of strange illusive appearances, an African Fata Morgana, together with still more extravagant explanations of the conglomeration of the particles of air.[GZ]