|g BOTANY OF THE VOYAGE OE H.M.S. HERALD. 
■ 
for milder regions in order to obtain those suppHes Avhich the Polar world begins to deny 
them Nearly nine months the waters are covered with ice, the land with snow ; and the 
temperature is sometimes so low, faUing as it does to forty-seven degrees Pahrenheit below 
zero, that rum and quicksilver become sohd the instant they are exposed. The a\r is so pure 
that'voices may be heard at a distance of two miles, and that even a whisper faUs distinctly upon 
the ear. As the wmter proceeds the days become shorter ; in November they last but a few 
hours, in December the sun is hardly above the horizon, and in some latitudes never seen. 
Occasionally the darkness is dispelled by the appearance of the aurora borealis. Prom east 
to west an arch is forming, extending its brilliant coruscation up to the very zenith, and 
spreading a magic light over the wintry scene. Sometimes the rays are flashing up in 
straight lines, at others they move irregularly like a flame when afi*ected by a breeze*". It is m 
the depth of winter that the grandeur of the Arctic region displays itself. A death-hke silence 
is reigning far and wide ; the stars, the moon, and a bleak expanse of snow and ice are the 
only objects visible. In vain does the wanderer Usten ; no chiming of bells, no barking of 
dogs, no croA\ing of cocks indicate the vicinity of civilization. His own breath, the solitary 
beating of his own heart, is all the ear perceives. It is in such moments, it is in the dreary 
steppes of the Polar region, that man feels he is made not to be alone, that there is something 
in his nature which longs for associations and prompts him to seek those circles where his 
exertion may be beneficial to his neighboiu-s, and his wants be supplied by the aid of his 
fellow-creatures. 
At last the sun returns ; the days and the temperatiu-e increase. In the end of June 
the land is free from snow, and the ice breaking up. The summer sets in most rapidly. The 
landscape is quickly overspread with a hvely green, flocks of geese and ducks arrive from the 
south, the plover, the snipe, and many other birds enliven the air with their notes, ^A'liilc the 
murnmring of rivulets and the hum of insects give evidence that winter has passed and sum- 
mer fairly set in. The sun is now always above the horizon, and for some weeks there 
w 
is no distinction between day and night, except that at midnight the hght is less bright than 
at noon, the former differing from the latter about as much as a November and a June day 
in England. The rays faUing continually upon the siuface of the earth prevent the tempera- 
tm'c from cooling do^Mi much, and thus, notmthstanding the low altitude of the sun, a degree 
of warmth is produced which, imdcr other circumstances, would not be possible ; the ther- 
mometer rising as high as sixty-one degrees Pahrenheit. With a sun shining throughout the 
twenty-four hours the growth of plants is rapid in the extreme. Tlie snow has hardly disap- 
peared before a mass of herbage has sprung up, and the same spots which a few days before 
presented nothing save a white sheet, are teeming with an active vegetation, producing leaves, 
flowers, fi-uit, in rapid succession. 
* I observed tliat whenever the arch is above an angle of thirty degrees the coruscations are undisturbed 
by the lower atmospbenc waves ; whenever it assumes a higher altitude the rays are visibly affected by the 
action of the wind, moving in a uuiform direction with it. 
