20 



RECORD OF AURORAL PHENOMENA. 



ho had observed it at either of the former places; from which circumstance it might be inferred 

 that the C2rf parallel of latitude is even more favorable for the appearance of this phenomenon 

 than the 65th. If, as has been stated, 'a low temperature is favorable to brilliant and active 

 coruscations' of the Aurora, it is to the eastern extremity of Great Slave Lake that observers 

 should direct their course to further this very interesting inquiry, as in that situation a more 

 intense cold was experienced by ten degrees than had ever before been registered.". — King, 

 II, 98. 



Fort Reliance.- 

 King. 



-Lat. 62° 46' 29" N. Long. 109° 00' 38" W. Winters of 1833-34 and 1834-35. 



"It fell to my share, during the two winters the expedition remained at Fort Reliance, to register 

 the position of the needle one thousand and' fifty times; but, as the subject will shortly be brought 

 before the Royal Society, I shall offer only a few remarks. 



I have sometimes observed the needle quite stationary, when the whole concave has been illumined 

 with brilliant and active coruscations; and at other times witnessed it moving horizontally several 

 degrees, without the least appearance of an Aurora, although, from the deep indigo color of the 

 sky, it must have been seen had it been present. The same anomaly was remarked in a hazy 

 atmosphere. 



During the prevalence of counter currents, the needle was observed to dip, by estimation, at least 

 ten minutes. On one occasion, however, the same action was apparently caused by applying 

 the finger to the front glass of the frame containing the needle." — King, II, 101. 



Day. 

 11 

 12 

 13 

 14 

 15 

 16 



Thermometer at Fort Reliance, January, 1834. 



Lowest. 

 —47.00 



Highest. 

 —32.00 

 —41.00 

 —50.00 

 —47.00 

 —44.25 

 —52.50 



—56.25 

 —59.50 

 —59.00 

 —52.00 

 —68.00 



Day. Highest. 



17 ... . —45.00 



18 ... . —38.00 



19 ... . —35.00 



20 ... . —22.00 



21 ... . —36.00 



22 ... . —25.00 



Lowest. 

 —70.00 

 —45.00 

 —54.00 

 —50.00 

 —49.75 

 —48.00 

 Back, p. 568. 



Hudson's Bay (Howe's Welcome). 

 5, 1824. Lyon. 



-Lat. 63° 15' 44" N. Long. 89° 3' 30" W. September 



" In the evening, a bright arch rose in the northwest, and we quickly found that the gale had shifted 

 with increased violence to that quarter. By night, not a cloud was to be seen, and there was 

 every indication of a decided northwest gale." — Lyon (Voyage), p. 85. 



N. B. — Bright arch in northwest. 



Southern Greenland.— Winter of 1828-29. Graah. 



" The northern lights (Aurora Borealis), a remarkable and beautiful phenomenon of which the 

 inhabitants of the greater part of Europe can form no adequate conception, are in Greenland 

 and Iceland a thing of every day occurrence, and serve materially to indemnify the Polar regions 

 for the want of solar light experienced by them, in consequence of the long absence of the sun 

 below their horizon. 

 It may be said to be of two kinds; the one appearing uniformly between the magnetic E. S. E. 

 and S. W., or, W. S. W., in the form of a luminous arch, shining with a steady and more or 

 less vivid light, its highest being, in the magnetic South, from 10° to 20° above the horizon, 



