EXPEDITION TO POINT BARROW, ALASKA. 373 



February <>, 1882, 10.30 j>. JH. to 9 a. in. February 7. An irregular but rather bright .arch .appeared 

 low in NE., with faint rays occasionally shooting from its N. end. Occasional arches followed, but 

 they could not well be observed, owing to cloudiness. Last observed at 9 a. m. of the 7th. Mag- 

 netic needles very irregular. 



February 1 and 8, 1882, 11 p. m. to 1 a. m. Faint arch low in NE., rising slowly. The cloudi- 

 ness of the sky prevented observation, but occasional glimpses were had of arches near the zenith 

 up to 7 a. m. of the 8th. 



February 8 and 9, 1882, 10.30 p. m. to 11 a. m. Beginning of display could not well be observed 

 in consequence of ha/.iuess of the sky, but occasional glimpses were had until 3 a. in. of the 9th, 

 when there was quite a brilliant interval. Several bands passed through the zenith and on each 

 side of it, running from N. to SE. The haziness was such, however, that it was only near the 

 zenith that a distinct view could be had. It was still visible from time to time until about 11 a. m. 



February 9 and 10, 1882, 10.30 p. m. to 10 a. m. Commenced low down in the N. and extended 

 as low arches towards the SE. and SW., and afterwards rose to the zenith, but the haziness of the 

 sky still obstructed observation. Last seen at 10 a. m. 



February 10 and 11, 1882, 11 p. m. to 10 a. m. This was the most brilliant display that has 

 been observed for some time past. It commenced the usual way, as an irregular arch low in NE., 

 which rose slowly, and became brighter as it rose towards the zenith, but after reaching that point 

 it immediately faded away. This was followed, in rapid succession, by other arches, brighter and 

 broader, -which mostly faded away on reaching the zenith, or broke up into numerous fleecy masses 

 of light, which often spread over the greater part of the sky, and which, though individually not 

 of great brightness in the aggregate, yielded an amount of light approaching that of a full moon. 

 It differed, however, from moonlight in its more diffused character, but still large objects, over a 

 mile distant, -were clearly visible. Several times during the night arches were formed, which 

 deserved the name much better than auroral arches usually do. Instead of being large and con- 

 centric or parallel, as is usually the case, they were end to end, small, and resting on long straight 

 columns, running down to the horizon, as many as tive appearing at one time. One in SE., one in 

 the, E., one in the NE., one in the N.,.and one in the NW. In most cases two arches sprang from 

 one column and went in opposite directions. None of the arches were, of course, exactly symmet- 

 rical, but sc'.netimes they approached it closely. Faint tints of pink and green were occasionally 

 visible, but the prevailing color was yellowish white. The magnets displayed much irregularity. 



Febnutry 12, 1882, 12 a. m. to 11. 30 a. m. Began very faint and went through the same suc- 

 cession of changes, but with much less brilliancy than last night. After 9 a. m. it was very irreg- 

 ular and mostly faint, and finally disappeared at about 11.30 a. m. The needles, as usual, disturbed 

 and "irregular. 



February 12 and 13, 1882, 11.30 p. m. to noon. Began as usual faint and low in the NE., but 

 did not increase much in brightness or become very extensive until alter 3 a. m. of the 13th. After 

 that hour arches, bands, and fleecy masses of light, very extensively distributed, succeeded each 

 other quite rapidly. There was very little appearance of the parallelism usually observed, and 

 seldom more than one band or arch appeared at the same time, but as each arch which retained its 

 shape approached the zenith it generally became very broad and hung overhead like a great elon- 

 galed canopy, and again it stretched across the s-ky in graceful convolutions like an immense scroll, 

 but the commonest form was that of irregular detached masses which spread over the greater part 

 of the sky and faded into a sort of nebulous haze. The general motion was from N. to S. and 

 rather slow. The magnets read irregularly, but there was not very much disturbance even when 

 the whole sky was nearly covered with light. Ended about 12 noon. 



February M, 1882, 12..'50 a. m. to 10 a. in. Began as faint irregular patches low in NE., after- 

 wards succeeded by the usual series of irregular arches, bands, and patches, but at no time was tho 

 display very brilliant; less so than on the two last preceding evenings. Last observed at 10 a. m. 



February 14 ami 15, 1882, 11.45 p. m. to. 10 a. m. Began as a faint light low down on the N. and 

 NNE. horizon, appearing like twilight behind the haze and light clouds. Several arches afterwards 

 appeared in the. zenith through the clouds, extending in the usual direction from NW. to SE., but 

 they presented no marked feature other than the slowness of their movement. This slowness of 

 motion seems to be increasing as the brilliance of the display decreases. Maintained a fluctuating 



