o06 EXPEDITION TO THE 



A singular appearance was observed in the heavens, be- 

 tvvecn three and four o'clock on the morning of the 9th of 

 July. The night had been stormy, much rain had fallen, 

 and frequent flashes of lightning had been observed, but 

 at that time the heavens presented to the north a vivid 

 sheet of light of a yellowish hue, and brighter than the 

 most intense lightning we recollect witnessing. Although 

 the light was constant, it was not a steady one ; frequent 

 coruscations were observed, they were rather of the na- 

 ture of the beams, than of the arches described by Captain 

 Franklin.* The light which it produced was such, that the 

 reflection of it from the parade ground awoke us, though 

 our windows opened to the south-west. The effect was the 

 same as if the whole row of barracks had been on fire. 

 This light continued without interruption for about fifteen 

 -minutes; during the first five minutes, the rain fell with 

 an impetuosity which we do not recollect to have ever seen 

 surpassed. It might truly be said to fall in torrents ; loud 

 peals of thunder were occasionally heard. After the phe- 

 nomena had continued about a quarter of an hour, the light 

 vanished, and sunk into the dark gray usually observable 

 of a misty morning before sunrise. The atmosphere ap- 

 peared to be very highly charged with electric fluid, but 

 we were unfortunately not prepared to observe the influ- 

 ence of this Aurora upon the magnet, &c. The heat had 

 been great the day before ; the wind was high all night 

 and from the south-south-west. 



The bluff upon which the fort is built, offers a good op- 

 portunity of observing the geological structure of the coun- 

 try. It consists of several strata, all disposed in parallel 

 and horizontal superposition. On the surface of the ground, 



♦Narrative of a journey to the Polar Sea, by John Franklin, Captain, 

 -B. N. London, 1823. 



