THE U'lXTER NIGHT 321 



the N.N.E.' In his aurora boreaHs journal Hansen de- 

 scribes that of this evening as foHows : 'About 8 p.m. an 

 aurora boreahs arch of Hght was observed, stretch ing 

 from E.S.E. to N.W., through the zenitli ; diffused quiet 

 intensity 3-4 most intense in N.W. The arch spread at 

 the zenith by a wave to the south. At 10 o'clock there 

 was a fainter aurora borealis in the southern sky; eight 

 minutes later it extended to the zenith, and two minutes 

 after this there was a shining broad arch across the 

 zenith with intensity 6. Twelve seconds later flaming 

 rays shot from the zenith in an easterly direction. Dur- 

 ing the next half-hour there was constant aurora, chiefly 

 in bands across or near the zenith, or lower in the south- 

 ern sky. The observation ended about 10.38. The in- 

 tensity was then 2, the aurora diffused over the southern 

 sky. There were cumulus clouds of varying closeness 

 all the time. They came up in the southeast at the be- 

 ginning of the observation, and disappeared towards the 

 end of it; they were closest about 10 minutes past 10. 

 At the time that the broad shining arch through the 

 zenith was at its highest intensity the cumulus clouds 

 in the northwest shone quite white, though we were un- 

 able to detect any aurora borealis phenomena in this 

 quarter. The reflection of light on the ice-field was 

 pretty strong at the same time. In the aurora borealis 

 the cumulus clouds appeared of a darker color, almost 

 the gray of wool. The colors of the aurora were yellow- 

 ish, bluish white, milky blue — cold coloring.' According 



