330 METEORS. 



rumbling, resembling distant thunder. In the Polar re- 

 gions where the shivering inhabitants have one long night 

 of six months, these lights assume an intense brilliancy, 

 and aide^. by the other luminaries of the evening sky 

 give almost the light of day, during the dreary interval 

 of the absence of the sun. Scarcely anything can sur- 

 pass the splendor which these phenomena assume, as 

 they glitter in the clear atmosphere of the frigid zone, 

 and are reflected from its mantle of eternal snow. In the 

 northeastern districts of Siberia, according to the de- 

 scription of Gruelin,* the Aurora is observed to ' begin 

 with single bright pillars rising in the north, and almost 

 at the same time in the northeast ; which gradually in- 

 creasing, comprehend a large space of the heavens, 

 rush about from place to place with incredible velocity, 

 and finally cover almost the whole sky up to the zenith, 

 and produce an appearance, as if a vaet tent were expand- 

 ed in the heavens glittering with gold, rubies and sapphire. 

 A more beautiful spectacle cannot be painted. But 

 whoever should see such a northern light for the first 

 time, could not behold it without terror. For however 

 fine the illumination may be, it is attended, as I have 

 learned from many persons, with such a hissing, crack- 

 ling and rushing noise through the air, as if the largest 

 fire works were playing off. To describe what they then 

 hear, they make use of the expression spo/ochi chorfjat, 

 that is, the raging host is passing. The hunters who 

 pursue the white and blue foxes in the confines of the 

 icy sea, are often overtaken in their course by these 

 northern lights. Their dogs arc then so much frighten- 

 ed that they will not move, but lie obstinately upon the 

 ground till the noise is passed.' 



The inhabitants of the southern hemisphere witness 

 similar lights in the south, which they therefore denomi- 

 nate Aurora Australis or southern lights. Says Captain 

 Cook, 'on Feb. 17, 1773, in south latitude 58, a beau- 



* Gruelin was a German, born about the ye.u- 1700. A man o 

 distinguished abilities, and of a scientific niind. He was a member 

 of the Academy at Petersburg, and obtained much celebrity by 

 publishing a journal of bis travels in Siberia. 



