DONATI'S COMET — AN AURORA. 



11 



into a great variety of forms, and on the beach lay large 

 numbers of egg-shaped and spherical bodies, varying 

 from one foot in length and three inches in diameter, to 

 small round pellets of the size of peas. They were 

 covered with minute pebbles, or with sand, and when 

 broken, showed a nucleus of the tough clay which had 

 assumed its regular form by constant rolling on the beach. 

 No organic remains were found, and the impression con- 

 veyed by the aspect of the clay and the marl by which it 

 was capped, satisfied me that it was of the same age as 

 the clay and marly substratum of the Eed Eiver and As- 

 sinniboine Prairies. 



The timber in the forest consisted of aspens and birch, 

 with a few oak, elm, and ash. Our steersman, who knew 

 the country well, informed me that good land on which 

 large timber grew, did not extend more than one mile 

 from the lake. It is succeeded by spruce and tamarac 

 (Larix Americana) marshes, the trees being of dwarfish 

 dimensions. The afternoon was calm and warm, so far 

 verifying the predictions of our voyageurs, which they 

 had based on the sudden appearance of the " weed," in 

 the morning. 



Sept. 22nd. — Last night was cold, calm, and beautiful, 

 the thermometer fell to 36° at 10 p.m., and to the freez- 

 ing point before daybreak. Donati's comet shone a fine 

 celestial object ; and notwithstanding the brightness of 

 the moon, then nearly full, a splendid aurora was dis- 

 tinctly visible, and the heavens presented a peculiarly 

 beautiful spectacle. We camped near the mouth of 

 Drunken Eiver, a small stream which would make an 

 excellent boat harbour, if widened at its outlet. The 

 clay cliffs and marl disappeared before we arrived at our 

 camping place ; the shore again consisting of a beach, with 



