on Strange things / Incidents

Standing on one of the highest points in the station of Cherra, about sunset, I have seen my shadow cast on a distant bank of white fog, that filled the valley to the eastward, an appearance resembling that of the celebrated giants of the Hartz, and Stockhorn. The figure was surrounded by a circular iris. The heavy fogs that fill the large valley to the east of Cherra render this a common phenomenon at sunset. It has since been pointed out to me that any one may witness this on a small scale, in going through the grass at sunrise on a dewy morning. (Most observable in riding across a field of green wheat soon after sunrise- Eds.) Each will see a faint halo surrounding the shadow of his own head.

Another curious appearance at evening, I first observed at Cherra, though I have often since seen it, during the present rainy season, in the Upper Provinces; namely, the distinct imitation of a sunset in the East, so far as shewn in long white rays diverging apparently from a point exactly opposite to the setting sun’s position.
During the rains of 1842, when the whole of Sylhet country below had the appearance of a sea, several of the dwellers at Cherra were much struck by the appearance of innumerable lights on the surface of the distant plains; far too many to be accounted for by any theory of villages and fishing boats. The natives said at once that it was “Shaitan” nor were any of the numerous suggestions on the subject, more plausible