ATMOSPHEROLOGY'. — LIGHTNING. 415 



sion of an off-land wind, I am not prepared to de- 

 cide. 



The principal meteors, not being of the aqueous 

 kind, that remain to be considered, are Lightning 

 and the Aurora borealis. As we approach the 

 Pole, theformer phenomenon becomes more rare, and 

 the latter more common. Lightning, indeed, is 

 seldom seen to the northward of the arctic circle ; 

 and when it does occur, is almost never accompanied 

 by thunder. In Hudson's Bay, Ellis, James, Hud- 

 son, and other voyagers, have observed heavy storms 

 of thunder and lightning ; but in West Greenland, 

 where, according to Crantz, a thunder cloud some- 

 times gathers, and emits flashes of lightning, thun- 

 der seldom occurs ; " and when something like it is 

 heard, one cannot decide whether the sound proceeds 

 from a distant thunder clap, or from the crack of 

 ice and stones rending and precipitating from the 

 rocks." In Spitzbergen, neither thunder nor light- 

 ning has, I believe, ever been observed. For my 

 own part, I have never seen lightning to the north- 

 ward of latitude 65°, and only in two instances, 

 when at any considerable distance from land. July 

 the 95th 1815, latitude 63° longitude 0°55'W., 

 lightning was seen in the western quarter ; and on 

 the 4th of April in the same year, much lightning 

 with thunder, occurred in the latitude of 65° and 

 longitude 0°10'W. In no other cases have I seen 



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