177 



28th, 3.00. Still a trace of this tilow, but very faint. 



4.00 The wind suddenly shifted to the S.E., and a mild 

 blizzard with a little drift and strong puffs com- 

 menced. Instantly a strong auroral beam shot up 

 for a height of 15° or 20° of arc, above the N. end 

 of the great alto-stratus canopy over Mount 

 Erebus, and a strong auroral glow appeared along 

 the top edge of the stratus cloud. At the same 

 time a strong and extensive auroral glow was visible 

 just above a largo stratus cloud in a direction N. 

 by E. and N.N.E. A few minutes later drifting 

 snow almost shut out from view the amoral effects, 

 but they remained still faintly visible through the 

 haze and drift. 



5.00 A patch of bright glow above a dense bank of stratus 

 and alto-stratus cloud to the E.S.E. There was a 

 slight giow above a cumulus cloud extending from 

 E.' to N. by W. 



0.00 Strong auroral glow to the E. and a fainter one to 

 N.E. 



8.00 Aurora over Mount Erebus. Thick weather during 

 the day. At 15.30 the zenith cleared till larger 

 stars visible. 

 20.45 An auroral glow noted over the horizon of the N. 

 highlands of Ross Island. At this time dense 

 clouds were spread over this portion of the sky. 

 During the next few minutes the glow spread 

 rapidly. The greatest intensity appeared along 

 the horizon line, whilst a luminous haze crept down 

 the slopes of Mount Bird between us and the 

 mountain: this finally extended as a band at about 

 the 5,000-feet level along the whole face of Mount 

 Erebus. For a time it appeared like faint 

 streamers in a background of nebulous haze. The 

 glow spread above this area until within 15 minutes 

 the whole was aglow. 



"21.00 Starting from the horizon the luminous glow crept 

 W.. towards us, concurrently with which the dark 

 canopy of cloud slowly disappeared. In this pro- 

 cess the dark cloud-bank first became furrowed by 

 luminous tracts, which increased in intensity until 

 the former black homogeneous cloud-mass consisted 

 of black island-like cloud-masses in a sea of light. 

 Slowly these islands also disappeared. 



21.40 Finally the whole area was occupied by a compara- 

 tively faint luminous haze. During this interval 

 a glow brightened and faded on the S.E. horizon. 

 About this time a dark cloud-mass over the Sound 

 became lit by luminous furrows. Faint streamers 

 had been visible at intervals during the evening 

 towards the N.E., especially somewhat N. and W. 

 of the luminous cloud-display noted above. 



22.30 The Ross Island highlands were enveloped in a faintly 

 luminous haze,' and the cloud-patch had almost 

 entirely gone. Over the Sound the clouds were 

 greatly reduced, and the faintly luminous areas 

 consequently increased : several of these patches 

 were brighter than the rest. A bright luminous 



