Think, then, less of the picture as I have to paint it in words
than of the feeling its original inspired in me when, looking
closely for the first time on that rare loveliness, trembling
with delight, I mentally cried: "Oh, why has Nature, maker of so
many types and of innumerable individuals of each, given to the
world but one being like this?"

Scarcely had the thought formed itself in my mind before I
dismissed it as utterly incredible. No, this exquisite being was
without doubt one of a distinct race which had existed in this
little-known corner of the continent for thousands of
generations, albeit now perhaps reduced to a small and dwindling
remnant.

Her figure and features were singularly delicate, but it was her
colour that struck me most, which indeed made her differ from all
other human beings. The colour of the skin would be almost
impossible to describe, so greatly did it vary with every change
of mood--and the moods were many and transient--and with the
angle on which the sunlight touched it, and the degree of light.

Beneath the trees, at a distance, it had seemed a somewhat dim
white or pale grey; near in the strong sunshine it was not white,
but alabastrian, semi-pellucid, showing an underlying rose
colour; and at any point where the rays fell direct this colour
was bright and luminous, as we see in our fingers when held
before a strong firelight. But that part of her skin that
remained in shadow appeared of a dimmer white, and the underlying
colour varied from dim, rosy purple to dim blue. With the skin
the colour of the eyes harmonized perfectly. At first, when lit