230 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XVI. 



that the aurora, when peculiarly bright and rapid 

 in its movements, did actually make exactly 

 the sound that he described ; but never having 

 heard it asserted by any one else, I had always 

 been rather shy of advancing such a theory. 



The aurora is seldom seen, or at least seldom 

 attentively watched in this country, in situations 

 where there is not some sound or other, such as 

 voices, running water, or the rustling and moaning 

 of trees, to break the perfect silence ; but it has 

 occasionally happened to me to be gazing at this 

 beautiful illumination in places where no other 

 sound could be heard, and then, and then only, 

 have I fancied that the brightest flashes were ac- 

 companied by a light crackling or rustling noise, 

 or, as my keeper expressed it very correctly, " the 

 moving of dead leaves." Whether this is so or 

 not I leave to others, more learned in the pheno- 

 mena of the heavens, to decide, and only mention 

 the circumstance as the passing remark of an un- 

 scientific observer. 



In the northern mountains of Sutherland, where 

 the aurora is frequently very bright and beautiful, 

 there is a fascinating, nay, an awful attraction in 

 the sight, which has kept me for hours from my 

 bed, watching the waving and ever changing flashes 

 dancing to and fro. I have watched this strange 



