38 RECORD OF AURORAL PHENOMENA. 



I was led to suppose that they were not in any degree affected by the wind, and did not after- 

 wards pay sufficient attention to discover ray error. 



2d. The prevalent winds were from the eastward and westward; and the arches usually extending 

 from N. W. to S. E., the influence of the wind might have been mistaken for their lateral motion. 



3d. The northerly winds, acting from the same quarter as the direct motion, were confounded 

 with it. 



Lastly. The southerly winds, which were not common, always filled the atmosphere with clouds, 

 so that the Aurora was not visible. 



Perhaps, after all, the Aurora of the 2Tth of April was nearer to the earth than any other which 

 we saw." — 1 Franklin (Hood), 584. 



N. B. — Aurora borne away by the wind. 



Fort Enterprise.— Lat. 64° 23' 24" N. Long. 113° 6' W. March 11, 1821. Hood. 



"On the 11th of March, at ten p. m., a body of Aurora rose iV. 2V. W., and after a mass of it had 

 passed to E. by S., the remainder broke away in portions consisting each of several beams, 

 which crossed about 40° of the sky with great rapidity. 



We repeatedly heard a hissing noise, like that of a musket-bullet passing through the air, and which 

 seemed to proceed from the Aurora; but Mr. Wentzell assured us that this noise was occasioned 

 by severe cold succeeding mild weather, and acting upon the surface of the snow previously melted 

 in the sun's rays. The temperature of the air was then — 35°, and on the two precediug days 

 it had been above zero. The next morning it was . — 42°, and we frequently heard a similar noise. 



Mr. Hearne's description of the noise of the Aurora agrees exactly with Mr. Wentzel's, and with 

 that of every other person who has heard it. It would be an absurd degree of skepticism to 

 doubt the fact any longer, for our observations have rather increased than diminished the proba- 

 bility of it. 



"We were informed by the natives that the Aurora indicated, by peculiar appearances, the state of 

 the atmosphere which was to follow on the ensuing day. 



For instance, when it is bright and the motion rapid, it will be succeeded by a strong wind; but 

 when attenuated and expanded over the sky, by mild and cloudy weather. 



A careful examination of the meteorological journal does not furnish sufficient foundation for these 

 Conclusions. But, although the influence of the Aurora upon the weather has been deemed 

 insignificant, it is by no means improbable that the latter considerably affects the former. 



To suppose a luminous body, floating in the air and sometimes situated near the clouds, is within 

 the bounds of the ordinary atmospherical changes, and may announce those changes by assuming 

 a form which must be in some measure determined by the circumambient pressure, is not, I should 

 think, inconsistent with any philosophical principles. 



If we had not, unfortunately, lost the only instrument calculated for the purpose, we might at least 



have ascertained what relation the weight of the air bears to this interesting meteor." 1 Franklin 



(Hood), 585. 



N. B — 1, Noise supposed to proceed from the Aurora. 



2. Is occasioned by severe cold, succeeding mild weather, acting on the surface of the snow. 



Fort Enterprise.— Lat. 64° 28' 24" N. Long. 113° 6' W. Winter of 1820-21. Richardson. 

 "Remarks on the Aurora Borealis at Fort Enterprise. Extracted from Dr. Richardson's Journal.— 

 The account of the Aurora Borealis in the following pages is an exact transcript of notes taken 

 at the moment of the appearance of the different phenomena. 

 To place a connected view of the appearances before the reader, the whole of the observations in 

 the month of December, 1820, have been given, to which a few remarkable nights in the other 

 months have been added. 



