as striking as any to be seen in the desert.
The Islands, although apparently suspended
in mid air were sharp and clear.
The spectacle was caused by differences in
the density of the layers of air above the sea,
distorting and refracting the light rays so
that we were seeing an island that was actually
below the horizon.
Such mirages are common along the Labrador Coast,
on what local folk call "loomy days", because the
images suddenly loom up at them.
Sometimes they are upside down.
Sometimes the visibility is so good that ships
as well as Islands can look alarmingly close,
although actually they are very long distance away.
On Labrador's far northern coast there are a number
of ghost colonies; once Eskimo settlements,
they were founded by Moravian missionaries,
and so the sirtes bear such biblical names
as Ramah, Zoar and Hebron.
In most cases little more than the names remain.
Now the only inhabited settlement in far northern
northern Labrador is Nain, total population
under a thousand!
All traces of Ramah and Zoar have long since vanished.