Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary European Accounts c8.9

c8.9

I cannot quit this subject without observing, that the Bramins, without the assistance of optical glasses, had nevertheless an advantage unexperienced by the observers of the more Northern climates. The serenity and clearness of the atmosphere in the night-time in the East Indies, except at the seasons of changing the monsoons or periodical winds, is difficult to express to those who have not seen it, because we have nothing in comparison to form our ideas upon: it is clear to perfection, a total quietude subsists, scarcely a cloud to be seen; and the light of the heavens, by the numerous appearance of the stars, affords a prospect both of wonder and contemplation.