Stranica 143 [143]
COLOURS IN STILL WATER 8 I
component part of the effect. There will be, first, the
stones seen through the water, distorted always by
refraction, so that, if the general structure of the stone
shows straight parallel lines above the water, you may
be sure they will be bent where they enter it; then
the reflection of the part of the stone above the water
crosses and interferes with the part that is seen
through it, so that you can hardly tell which is which;
and wherever the reflection is darkest, you will see
through the water best,’ and wzce versd. Then the real
shadow of the stone crosses both these images, and
where that shadow falls, it makes the water more
reflective, and where the sunshine falls, you will see
more of the surface of the water, and of any dust or
motes that may be floating on it: but whether you
are to see, at the same spot, most of the bottom of
the water, or of the reflection of the objects above,
depends on the position of the eye. [he more you
look down into the water, the better you see ob¬
jects through it; the more you look along it, the eye
being low, the more you see the reflection of objects
above it. Hence the colour of a given space of sur¬
face in a stream will entirely change while you stand
still in the same spot, merely as you stoop or raise
1 «For this reason it often happens that if the water be shallow,
and you are looking steeply down into it, the reflection of objects
on the bank will consist simply of pieces of the bottom seen clearly
through the water, and relieved by flashes of light, which are the
reflection of the sky. Thus you may have to draw the reflected dark
shape of a bush, but, inside of that shape, you must not draw the
leaves of the bush, but the stones under the water; and, outside
of this dark reflection, the blue and white of the sky with no stones
visible” ( /bid., page 332).
G