Polar Explorations. 149 



settled, it will be a large compensation for the hazards and 

 hardships encountered by the patriotic adventurers, who 

 have confronted the elements and the savages in making the 

 acquisition. Professor Barlow is of opinion that the hypoth- 

 esis suggested above, viz. "that of the magnetic pole having 

 a daily motion about its mean orbit, of about 2A' or 3' in ra- 

 dius, serves to explain all the general phenomena of the ob- 

 served daily changes in direction and intensity of the mag- 

 netic needle in different parts of the globe." The position 

 of the magnetic pole is in 69° 16' N. lat. and 98° 8' W. long, 

 as computed by Professor Barlow, from the observations of 

 Capt. Franklin, Capt. Parry, and others. 



The Aurora Borealis was less brilliant in the high lati- 

 tudes, than in the Shetlands, Orkneys, and Bear Lake, but 

 was noticed with particular accuracy, though without arriv- 

 ing at any satisfactory conclusion respecting the cause of its 

 appearance. Whenever it appeared, it was in the southern 

 part of the hemisphere, and peculiarly near and low, even be- 

 low the clouds. Capt. Parry, accompanied by several offi- 

 cers, observed in one instance a column streaming down- 

 wards between the ship and the shore, a distance of only 

 three thousand yards. No crackling or noise was at any 

 time heard, and the prismatic colors were of very rare oc- 

 currence. The corruscations were generally of an uniform 

 yellow color, in a low arch of steady light, though some- 

 times in a small degree undulating and streaming, as in 

 lower latitudes.* 



* In a late No. of the Lond. Mechanic's Magazine, it is stated that Professor 

 Hansteen, accompanied by a naval Lieutenant, were to set out in May, 1828, 

 upon a scientific expedition through Siberia. At St. Petersburgh, they were 

 to be joined by Dr. Erman of Berlin, who goes with them as astronomer and 

 naturalist. They were to proceed by the way of Moscow, Kasan, Tobolsk, and 

 north along the Obis to Bereson, in order to examine the northernmost branch 

 of the Ural chain, and to observe the temperature of that tract. They hoped 

 to arrive in season, to pass the winter at Irkoutsk. They intend to go thence 

 north east to Jakoutsk, and onward one thousand and fourteen wersts, (six hun- 

 dred and seventy six miles,) to Ochotsk, over a country entirely uninhabited, 

 carrying provisions for the whole journey. The tour it is calculated will oc- 

 cupy two years. 



The grand object of this important expedition, is to observe the phenomena 

 of magnetism and to ascertain if possible, the situation of the magnetic poles. 



The British brig Chanticleer, commanded by Capt. Forster, left England 

 about the same time, on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean, for scientific objects. 

 The officers who accompany Capt. Forster, have all been selected on account 

 of their scientific acquirements. They arc limited to three years absence, and 

 are instructed to proceed as far toM^ards the South Pole as they can without 

 risking the ship, . 



