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5 - Rainbows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2009

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Summary

Shortly we came in sight of that spot whose history is so familiar to every school-boy in the wide world — Kealakekua Bay — the place where Captain Cook, the great circumnavigator, was killed by the natives, nearly a hundred years ago. The setting sun was flaming upon it, a Summer shower was falling, and it was spanned by two magnificent rainbows. Two men who were in advance of us rode through one of these and for a moment their garments shone with a more than regal splendor. Why did not Captain Cook have taste enough to call his great discovery the Rainbow Islands? These charming spectacles are present to you at every turn; they are common in all the islands; they are visible every day, and frequently at night also — not the silvery bow we see once in an age in the States, by moonlight, but barred with all bright and beautiful colors, like the children of the sun and rain. I saw one of them a few nights ago.

Mark Twain, Roughing It

Unweaving the rainbow

How many rainbows have you seen recently, say in the last six months? Not many, I'll wager. The fact is that, unless you live somewhere where the conditions that favour their formation occur on an almost daily basis, such as an oceanic island like Hawaii, you probably don't often get the chance to see a rainbow.

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Out of the Blue
A 24-Hour Skywatcher's Guide
, pp. 88 - 126
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2002

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  • Rainbows
  • John Naylor
  • Book: Out of the Blue
  • Online publication: 14 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511536595.007
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  • Rainbows
  • John Naylor
  • Book: Out of the Blue
  • Online publication: 14 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511536595.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Rainbows
  • John Naylor
  • Book: Out of the Blue
  • Online publication: 14 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511536595.007
Available formats
×