Stranica 169 [169]
COLOURS IN RIPPLED WATER 103
advantage. Indeed, the Cornish seas almost rival
those of the Mediterranean in brilliancy, and are
noted for their greener hue. The water is unusually
clear, the headlands being of very hard rock separated
by shallow sandy bays. This sand is largely com¬
posed of broken pieces of pink and yellow shells
mixed with shining grains of quartz and mica. Its
general colour is orange, and that no doubt, among
other causes, influences the apparent colour of the
water, making it look greener than it would over a
white bottom. The skies of Cornwall are, of course,
less blue than those of the Mediterranean, being
usually in fine weather light and clear, and it is pro¬
bably for this reason that the sea does not get so dark
towards the horizon, as it does under a southern
sky.
On other parts of our coast the sea depends for
beauty of effect more particularly upon atmospheric
conditions of colour and lighting. With a uniformly
dull gray sky the water naturally looks dull also, and
we have pointed out in Chapter III (page 68) how the
local colour is emphasized by direct sunshine. But it
is not necessary that the sun should be actually shin¬
ing on the water in order that its characteristic green
should show up strongly. There is often, especially
in showery weather, though the sun itself is hidden, ©
a very bright region of the sky on one side, whilst in
another direction a dark, unbroken cloud-mass rises
from the horizon, extending high up overhead, so that
very little reflected light from that quarter reaches
the eye. In this latter direction the colour of the
water will be unusually conspicuous, though under