1840.] ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. 2S7 



holes are worn into their fluted sides, over which depend 

 gigantic icicles ; and as the shadows appear and disappear in 

 the crevices, with the wavy motion of the sea, it requires 

 but little stretch of fancy on the part of the beholder, to re- 

 gard them as fairy habitations, or Gothic shrines, — or he may 

 be reminded of that Neptunian palace which the genius of 

 Scott has hallowed — 



" That wondrous dome, 

 Where, as to shame the temples deck'd 

 By skill of earthly architect, 

 Nature herself, it seem'd, would raise 

 A minster to her Maker's praise !" 



When the sky is unobscured by the dense mists, and thfl 

 heavy cumulous clouds, whose deep shadows are so com- 

 monly thrown over this chosen abode of the gloomy winter, 

 and the glorious rays of the sun are permitted to dart forth 

 in perfect freedom, they seem to run riot with gladness, and 

 the whole atmosphere, the sky, the ice, and the ocean, fairly 

 flicker with their splendor. And when the lonsr twilight 

 comes on, everything is adorned with their rich tintings of 

 puce and salmon color, till the entire landscape glows with 

 their parting effulgence. 



The Aurora Australis is also represented as appearing like 

 some vision of enchantment. It is so brilliant at night that 

 the smallest print is distinctly legible. The upper points of 

 the rays are often more beautifully attenuated than those of 

 the Aurora Borealis. Sometimes there is no exhibition of 

 color, and at others the aurora is of a yellow color, with 

 edges of the purest pink or green. The coruscations are 

 usually most brilliant. Vivid flashes of a bright pink dart 

 upward continually, and tall streamers float along the sky, 

 from the cloud to the zenith, having a tremulous lateral 

 motion, and presenting a most brilliant display of all the 

 prismatic colors. 



(8 ) All traces of vegetation, unless exhibiting itself in new 

 forms hitherto unknown, disappear on entering this region of 

 eternal frost and snow. The cabbage (pringlea anti-scor- 



