230 FIELD NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XVI. 



when peculiarly bright, and rapid in its movements, 

 DID actually make exactly the sound that he de- 

 scribed ; 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 occa- 

 sionally happened to me to be gazing at this beau- 

 tiful illumination in places where no other sound 

 could be heard, and then, and then only, have I 

 fancied that the brightest flashes were accompanied 

 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 phenomena of the 

 heavens, to decide, and only mention the circum- 

 stance as the passing remark of an unscientific 

 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 



