RECORD OF AURORAL PHENOMENA. 103 



February 10, 1820. 



"At half-past ten p. m. on the 19th, the Aurora Borealis was seen, as described by Lieut. Beechey, 



in bright coruscations, shooting principally from the S. by W. quarter, across the zenith, to 



N. N. E., and partially in every part of the heavens. 

 The light, when most vivid, was of a pale-yellow, at other times white, excepting to the southward, 



in which direction a dull red tiuge was now and then perceptible. The coruscations had a 



tremulous waving motion, and most of them were crooked towards the E. N. E. 

 The fresh gale which blew at the time from the N. N. E. appeared to have no effect on the Aurora, 



which, as before observed, streamed directly to windward, and this with great velocity. 

 The brighter part of this meteor dimmed whatever stars it passed over, even those of the first 



magnitude; and those of the second and third magnitude so much as to render them scarcely 



visible. 

 The wind blew too strong for the electrometer to be used, but Rater's compass was not in the 



slightest degree affected. 

 The whole of the phenomenon disappeared in about three-quarters of an hour." — Ibid., p. 141. 



N. B. — Dimmed whatever stars it passed over, even those of the first magnitude. 



March 4, 1820. 



" The Aurora Borealis was seen faintly near the S. S. W. horizon, for three or four hours before 

 midnight."— Ibid., p. 152. 



March 8, 1820. 



"From nine p. m. till midnight, the Aurora Borealis appeared faintly in the horizon to the south, 

 occasionally streaming towards the zenith in coruscations of pale-white light." — Ibid., p. 15G. 



April 16, 1820. 



"In the afternoon of the 10th, the weather became clear and nearly calm ; Mr. Hooper and myself 

 observed a coloring in some light fleecy clouds, which formed one of the most beautiful phenomena 

 that I had ever seen. 

 These clouds, which were small and white, and almost the only ones in the heavens, assumed, as 

 they approached and passed under the sun, the most soft and exquisite tints of light lake, bluish- 

 green, and yellow about their edges that can possibly be imagined. These tints appeared only 

 wheu the clouds were within 15° or 20° of the sun, were brightest as they passed under it, 

 which they did as close as 2°, and began to be again indistinct at 10° from it. Some of the 

 clouds remained colored in this way for upwards of a quarter of an hour. There did not seem to 

 be any regular arrangement of tints, as in the prismatic spectrum, but the lake was always next 

 the sun."— Ibid, p. 1G6. 



Winter Harbor.— Lat. 74° 47' 13" N. Long. 110° 49' W. Fisher. 



October 27, 1819. 



"The Aurora Borealis was seen to the southward, but it was too faint to deserve any description."— 

 Fisher, p. 150. 



November 17, 1819. 



"Between three and four o'clock this afternoon, a remarkable cloud was observed in the southwest; 

 the centre of it, indeed, bore S. W. by S. (true). It diverged from a centre, at the horizon, 

 in straight lines or columns, which extended to a great distance over the surface of the sky. The 

 lower edge of it, on each side, was very straight and well defined, and formed an angle of about 

 45° with the horizon. Directly over its centre, instead of straight lines, it had more the 

 appearance of an immense volume of smoke than anything else. The whole was compared by 

 our gunner to a powder magazine in a state of explosion ; which those who had au opportunity 

 of seeing such a sight thought a very apt comparison, for the reflected rays of the sun, which 



