382 AN AURORA BOREALIS, 



part of it, increasing in splendour for several 

 successive minutes ; when, suddenly, the whole 

 of the Aurora disappeared, as if extinguished by 

 magic. The phenomena did not, however, termi- 

 nate here : it seemed that the curtain dropped 

 merely to show the end of the Jirst act. In a 

 few minutes a new piece was introduced, the cha- 

 racter of which was not only very different to the 

 former, but far superior in brilliancy and gran- 

 deur. The northern skies were now lighted 

 up with a rapid succession of luminous waves, 

 rolling upwards from nearly the horizon to the 

 pole star. This display commenced a little after 

 nine o'clock, and lasted till nearly ten. About 

 the latter hour the brilliancy and frequency of 

 the waves began to languish, and in less than 

 half an hour afterw^ards, the Aurora had entirely 

 disappeared, and was not seen to re-appear during 

 the night. 



On the following night, the Aurora IHorealis 

 appeared again : but in consequence of clouds, 

 could only be seen at intervals, when they par- 

 tially cleared away between the meteor and the 

 observer. No streamers were observed, nor any 

 other indication of an Aurora, beyond that of a 

 strong light. A phenomenon of this kind 



