122 DISCOVERY BY PALLISER AND HECTOR [Feb. 14, 1859. 



the aurora varied between a height of two to four miles, but very frequently 

 much lower, as described by Mr. Tayler. Indeed, it was very common to 

 see the lower surface of nebulous clouds illuminated by polar light, thus 

 showing its proximity to the earth. I remember Sir Edward Parry, when in 

 a different latitude observing the aurora, saw a bright ray shoot suddenly 

 down between him and the land, distant at that time only 3000 yards. 1 

 have frequently seen it nearly — that is to say, apparently — touching the tops 

 of the pine-trees, situated on a slight elevation, about a mile and a half from 

 my observatory. And I may take this opportunity of mentioning, for it will 

 not be devoid of interest to some in this meeting connected with the old 

 North- West Company, now the Hudson Bay Company, that as Mr. Clark, 

 one of its officers, was passing over a portage of the river Maligne, the 

 coruscations of the aurora were so low and vivid that the Canadian voyageurs 

 threw from them their knives, axes, or whatever metallic things they were 

 carrying, and actually fell with their faces to the earth. Lastly, 1 would 

 remark, that many have thought — old travellers especially — that there was 

 a noise caused by the aurora resembling the rustling of a flag in a strong 

 breeze. We almost thought so too, I mean Franklin, Kichardson, and myself, 

 for a long time ; but we discovered that it was simply the effect of severe cold 

 after a comparatively warm day ; that is to say, when the snow had been 

 thawed during the day, and a cold of 30 to 42 degrees minus zero had suc- 

 ceeded at night. On those occasions we heard a hissing sound, and when the 

 aurora was in rapid motion, it was natural to associate that motion with the 

 sound. However, that was not the case. Nevertheless, the Indians and 

 many of the old residents in the Hudson Bay Company's territories are of 

 unanimous opinion that its motions are sometimes audible. 



The Pkesident. — Sir George Back has left very little more to be said 

 respecting this remarkable phenomenon. I am happy, however, to see near me 

 Admiral van Dockum, the Minister of Denmark, that power to which Green- 

 land belongs ; the country in which Mr. Tayler made his observations. It 

 gives me pleasure to remind you that the Danish Captain Graah, a distin- 

 guished maritime explorer, has admirably described the phenomena of the 

 aurora borealis in a work which has been translated into English at the 

 expense of this Society.* 



The second Paper read was — 



2. Discovery by Captain John Palliser, f.r.g.s., and Dr. Hector, of 

 Practicable Passes through the Itocky Mountains within the British 



Communicated by the Right Hon. Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, Bart., m.p., 

 Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies. 



Captain Palliser's despatch is dated from Fort Edmonton, his 

 winter quarters on the Saskatchewan river, and narrates the pro- 

 ceedings of himself and his party about the east flanks of the Kocky 

 Mountains and the upper course and tributaries of that river during 

 the previous summer. 



The chief results before us lie in the discovery and mapping of 

 the following numerous passes : — 



* See Graah's Greenland. J. W. Parker, Strand, 1837.— Ed. 



