Morgana.

But perhaps the most wonderful, and apparently preternatural effect
arising from this cause, is the _spectre of the Hartz Mountains_ in
Hanover. There is one particular hill, called the Brocken, in which he
appears, terrifying the credulous, and gratifying the curious to a very
high degree. The most distinct and interesting account is given by Mr.
Hawe, who himself was a witness to it. He had climbed to the top of the
mountain thirty times, and had been disappointed, but he persevered, and
was at length highly gratified. The sun rose about four o'clock in a
serene sky, free from clouds, and its rays passed without obstruction,
over another mountain, called the Heinschoe. About a quarter past five
he looked round to see if the sky was clear, and if there was any chance
of his witnessing what he so ardently wished, when suddenly he saw the
Achtermanshoe, a human figure of monstrous size turned towards him, and
glaring at him. While gazing on this gigantic spectre with wonder mixed
with an irrepressible feeling of awe and apprehension, a sudden gust of
wind nearly carried off his own hat, and he clapped his hand to his head
to detain it, when to his great delight the colossal spectre did the
same. He then changed his body into a variety of attitudes, all which
the figure exactly imitated, but at length suddenly vanished without any
apparent cause, and again as suddenly appeared. He called the landlord
of the inn, who had accompanied him, to stand beside him, and in a
little time two correspondent figures, of dilated size, appeared on the
opposite mountain. They saluted them in various ways by different
movements of their bodies, all which the giants returned with perfect
politeness, and then vanished. A traveller now joined Mr. Hawe and the
innkeeper, and they kept steadily looking for their aerial friends, when
they suddenly appeared again three in number, who all performed exactly
the same movements as their correspondent spectators. Having continued
thus for some time, appearing and disappearing alternately, sometimes
faintly, and sometimes more distinct, they at length faded away not
again to return. They proved, however, that the preternatural spectre,
which had so long filled the country with awe and terror, was no unreal
being, still less an existence whose appearance suspended the ordinary
laws of God and Nature; that, on the contrary, it was the simple
production of a common cause, exhibited in an unusual