uit. They
described it to me as resembling attenuated mist. They also named other
colors in the solar spectrum than those known to me. When I first heard
them speak of them, I thought it a freak of the imagination; but I
afterward noticed artists, and persons who had a special taste for
colors, always detected them with greater readiness. The presence of
these new colors were apparent to all with whom I spoke upon the
subject. When I mentioned my own inability to discern them, Wauna said
that it was owning to my inferior mental development.

"A child," she said, "if you will observe, is first attracted by red,
the most glaring color known. The untutored mind will invariably select
the gaudiest colors for personal adornment. It is the gentle, refined
taste of civilization that chooses the softened hues and colors."

"But you, as a nation, are remarkable for rich warm colors in your
houses and often in your dress," I said.

"But they are never glaring," she replied. "If you will notice, the most
intense colors are always so arranged as to present a halo, instead of
sharply defined brilliancy. If a gorgeous color is worn as a dress, it
will be covered with filmy lace. You have spoken of the splendor of the
Aurora Borealis. It is nature's most gorgeous robe, and intense as the
primal colors are, they are never glaring. They glow in a film of vapor.
We have made them our study. Art, with us, has never attempted to
supercede nature."

The sense of smell was also exceedingly sensitive with the Mizora
people. They detected odors so refined that I was not aware of them. I
have often seen a chemist take a bottle of perfumery and name its
ingredients from the sense of smell only. No one appeared surprised at
the bluntness of my senses. When I spoke of this Wauna tried to explain
it.

"We are a more delicately organized race of beings than you are. Our
intellects, and even sense that we possess, is of a higher and finer
development. We have some senses that you do not possess, and are unable
to comprehend their exquisite delicacy. One of them I shall endeavor to
explain to you by describing it as impression. We possess it in a highly
refined state, both mentally and physically. Our sensitiveness to
changes of temperature, I have noticed, is more marked than yours. It is
acute with all of my people. For this reason, although we are free from
disease, our bodies could not sustain, as readily as yours could, a
sudden and severe