16 
deep sea-green colour, which gradually faded into a whitish 
blue at about 30 degrees above the horizon. 
Occasional^ this portion of the sky became of a deeper 
green, and then the crests of the clouds in the S. and E. 
acquired a deeper rosy red tint ; and hence it may be inferred 
that all the electrical conditions for an auroral display were 
present for most of the afternoon, but the light of the sun 
was too powerful for it to become visible. Between four and 
five o’clock there were several vivid flashes of lightning, 
accompanied by heavy thunder and occasional showers of 
hail. By six o’clock the thunder clouds had mostly cleared 
away, and the auroral display became most magnificent. 
In the zenith there appeared to be a splendid corona of 
large diameter. The centre at times became intensely 
black, whilst its edges seemed to be draped with festoons of 
bright rose-coloured rays. At times these seemed to become 
wreaths of vapour, which soon shot out on all sides in red 
streaks stretching towards the horizon. The intervening 
spaces were frequently filled with stripes of bright green ; 
the edges were tinged with red, shading off into yellow and 
gray, like the gores of a variegated balloon. Occasionally 
the whole visible atmosphere assumed this variegated 
appearance, which anon changed into masses of bright rose- 
coloured vapour. As the coronre disappeared the aurora 
assumed the form of a bright semicircular bank of white 
cloud, from which the usual pointed rays shot up towards 
the zenith from S.W. to N.E. About seven o’clock rain 
began to fall, and the sky was mostly overcast for several 
hours. At ten o’clock the atmosphere was again clear, and 
the auroral display was at times nearly as magnificent as 
before. Coronse were formed every few minutes, and on 
their dispersion the streamers shot up on all sides from the 
semicircular bank in the north. By eleven o’clock the 
atmosphere was again clouded ; rain began to fall, and no 
further observations could be made. Certainly nothing 
