Notice of the late Aurora Borealis. 93 



appearance, was unusually splendid and vivid. A great bank 

 of light lay almost permanently in the northern horizon, some- 

 times surmounted by, and sometimes resting upon, a dark 

 cloud, which was visible during the whole time. Occasion- 

 ally, broad flashes of the Aurora would illuminate the cloud, 

 shaded by its denser spots, and presenting an appearance 

 similar to that of a black thunder cloud penetrated by 

 vivid lightning. This dark cloud was visible, and in the same 

 situation, at sea, as will be seen by the following extract from 

 the log book of the British ship Dalhousie Castle, captain 

 Walton, from Liverpool for this port, published in some of 

 the papers. 



" Tuesday, August 28th, 1827- — As daylight closed, the moon 

 had a remarkably red aspect, the sky was clear, and stars brill- 

 iant. At 9, 30, a dark cloud was rising to the northward, and soon 

 afterwards strong perpendicular rays of light were seen from the 

 N. E. to N. N. W. — these rays rose in shape of a cone, or to a 

 point, the lower part resembling much the tail of a comet, becom- 

 ing now and then more or less bright. This continued till 10 

 o'clock, (in which interval the moon had sunk below the horizon, J 

 when a far stronger ray of light appeared in the N. W. in width 

 about eight or nine degrees, and which ascended to thirty five de- 

 grees. After remaining stationary a short time, it ascended till it 

 reached the zenith, and afterwards formed an arc. This contin- 

 ued till about 11, 30, when the upper part inclining to the south- 

 ward, gradually died away. The dark cloud remained stationary 

 all this time, from fifteen to twenty degrees high, and till mid- 

 night, and the strong light from N. E. to N. N. W. continued till 

 after one, A. M. — the intermediate space between the lower part 

 of the cloud and horizon filled with a dense haze. On the 27th, 

 we experienced squally weather with rain and bright lightning. 

 The whole of the 28th was fine weather with light breezes. On 

 the 29th fine weather with light breezes. No appearance during 

 the evening or night of the light. 



[The situation of the ship at 10, P. M. was lat, 42° 12' N. Ion. 

 63° 9' W.] 



At Auburn, in this state, the appearance of the arch was 

 similar to what I have above described, excepting that it 

 continued distinct as a whole but about fifteen minutes. 

 The thermometer at that place stood at 54°, and the ba- 

 rometer at 29.68. 



At Canandaigua it was seen and described as above, the 

 dark cloud stretching from east to north after its disappear- 



