RECORD OF AURORAL PHENOMENA. 75 



had vanished in Escholtz Bay, only ten miles distant, as well as by the Aurora being seen by the 

 barge detached from the Blossom several days before it was visible to persons 011 board the ship 

 about two hundred miles to the southward of her." — Ibid., p. 12.%. 



N. B. — 1. Aurora at no great elevation. 



2. Visible to persons on board the ship after it had vanished in Escholtz Bay, only ten 

 miles distant. 



"In Kotzebue's Sound [lat. 6G° 30' N., long. 163° W.], the Aurora was seldom visible before ten 

 o'clock at night or after two o'clock in the morning. 

 We never heard any noise, nor detected any disturbance of the magnetic needle; but here I must 

 observe that Eater's compass was the only instrument employed for this purpose, and then on 

 board the ship only, the exposed situation in which we were anchored not admitting of any 

 establishment on shore, either for this purpose or for astronomical observations." Ibid., p. 724. 



" In considering the subject of the Aurora Borealis, my attention was drawn to a fact which does 

 not appear to me to have been hitherto noticed. I allude to the direction in which the Aurora 

 generally makes it first appearance, or, which is the same thing, the quarter in which the arch 

 formed by this meteor is usually seen. It is remarkable that in this country the Aurora has 

 always been seen to the northward; by the expeditions which have wintered in the ice, it was 

 almost always seen to the southward ; and by the Blossom, in Kotzebue's Sound, 250 miles to 

 the southward of the ice, it was, as in England, always observed in a northern direction. 

 Coupling this with the relative positions of the margins of the packed ice, and with the fact of 

 the Aurora appearing more brilliantly to vessels passing near the situation of that body than by 

 others entered far within it — as would seem to be the case from the reports of the Greenland 

 ships, and from my own observations at Melville Island and at Kotzebue's Sound — it does 

 appear, at first sight, that that region is most favorable to the production of the meteor." — 

 Ibid., p. 725. 



N. B. — 1. In Kotzebue's Sound, Aurora seldom visible before 10b. p. m. or after 2h. a. m. 



2. Never heard any noise, 



3. Nor detected any disturbance of the magnetic needle. 



4. Here the Aurora has always been seen to the northward. 



Fort Hope (Repulse Bay).— Lat. 66° 32' 16" N. Long. 86° 55' 51" W. Aug. 15, 1846. Rae. 



"This was a beautiful day throughout, In the evening, the sky being clear and cloudless, some 

 stars were visible, and a few streaks of orange-colored Aurora showed themselves to the south- 

 ward." — Rae, p. 65. 



Fort Hope (Repulse Bay).— Lat. 66° 32' N. Long. 86° 56' W. Sept., 1846, to April, 1847. 

 From Dr. Rae's Meteorological Register. 



September, 1846. 



" 22d. Aurora visible to the southward at 8h. p. m. 



October, 1846. 



16th. Faint Aurora to the S. and S. by E. ; altitude 12°. 



17th. Much drift. Aurora to S. S. E., parallel to the horizon; altitude 12°. 



18th. Drift; cirrus. Some faint streaks of Aurora to the west. 



21st, Much drift. At 8h. p. in., several streaks of faint Aurora extending across the zenith in a 



N. W. and S. E. direction ; many rays in different parts of the heavens. 

 27th. Some faint streaks of Aurora in various parts of the sky, bearing for the most part N. N. W. 



and S. S. E. 

 28th. A few clouds near horizon ; a very faint, light-yellow cloud Aurora to the S. E. and N. W. 

 29th. Cirrus extending from S. S. E. to N. N. W., resembling much the Aurora. 



