AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SPITZBEKGEN. 447 



a narrow band, right across the zenith, springing from the east 

 right across to the west. It was most brilliant during the hardest 

 puffs of the squalls, and sometimes narrow bands or lines appeared 

 in it, almost like lightning. Once or twice, right overhead, the 

 ribbon had almost a circular turn in it ; occasionally part would 

 assume the colours of a rainbow. The wind towards evening got 

 gradually less violent, rain squalls at intervals ; much sympathy 

 felt for crews of "jagts" and other small vessels outside, and 

 hopes expressed for their safety. Later the Aurora was again 

 visible, but not bright, and this time distributed over a large part 

 of the sky. 



October 6. — Still blowing the same, but gradually getting 

 better ; the squalls, instead of being almost continuous, as yester- 

 day, come to-day, first at intervals of nearly half-an-hour, then 

 perhaps quite half-an-hour apart, and none are so violent as 

 yesterday. It was very tantalising to have to remain here, when 

 we were only twenty-six English miles from Tromsb, and the end 

 of our voyage ! One of our anchors dragged during the night. 

 Snow fell in the morning, the highest mountain-top in sight being 

 first whitened, and later in the morning the other mountains 

 being well powdered over, almost to their bases ; then it turned 

 to sleet and hail, and these two rang the changes all day, sleet 

 being the commonest. Saw a good many Kittiwakes to-day ; one 

 large one, and Rabot reported later seeing about one hundred 

 at once. Arnesen reported two Eagles in the morning, and in 

 the afternoon I saw a large bird soaring over the Fjord, pre- 

 sumably a White-tailed Eagle; also saw one or two Hooded 

 Crows, and a Herring Gull (?) or two, and what was perhaps a 

 Greater Black-backed Gull ; a couple of dark birds in the water 

 near the shore were probably Eiders. Arnesen went ashore, while 

 it was comparatively calm, for a gossip ; an old man informed him 

 that they had not had such a hurricane since February, and that 

 though it is not uncommon for the water to be blown off the sur- 

 face out in the bay further to the north, it is very rare for this to 

 happen here. The squalls had almost come to an end by night. 



October 7.— Under way at 3 a.m. ; sleet and rain nearly all 

 day, but improving latterly. As we were sitting at supper about 

 nine, a sudden squall, whose approach had not been foreseen in 

 the darkness, struck the smack and nearly sent all our crockery 

 to an untimely end. As we ran in to Tromso the wind was 



