Second Autumn in the Ice. 485 



be seen in the northern part of the sky, only streamers 

 every here and there. To-night, as usual, there are 

 traces of aurora to be seen over the whole sky ; light 

 mists or streamers are often plainly visible, and the sky 

 seems to be constantly covered with a luminous veil,* in 

 which every here and there are dark holes. 



There is scarcely any night, or rather I may safely 

 say there is no night, on which no trace of aurora can 

 be discerned as soon as the sky becomes clear, or even 

 when there is simply a rift in the clouds large enough for 

 it to be seen ; and as a rule we have strong light 

 phenomena dancing in ceaseless unrest over the firma- 

 ment. They mainly appear, however, in the southern 

 part of the sky. 



" Friday, October iQth. A fresh breeze from E.S.E. 

 Drifting northwards at a good pace. Soon we shall 

 probably have passed the long-looked-for 82 and 

 that will not be far from 82 27', when the Fram will 

 be the vessel that will have penetrated farthest to the 

 north on this globe. But the barometer is falling ; the 

 wind probably will not remain in that quarter long, but 



* This luminous veil, which was always spread over the sky, was less 

 distinct on the firmament immediately overhead, but became more and 

 more conspicuous near the horizon, though it never actually reached 

 down to it ; indeed, in the north and south it generally terminated in a 

 low, faintly outlined arch over a kind of dark segment. The luminosity 

 of this veil was so strong that through it I could never with any 

 certainty distinguish the Milky Way. 



