VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
115 
theatrical entertainments under our present circumstances, and to determine 1819. 
me to follow them up at stated periods. I found indeed, that even the occu- 
pation of fitting up the theatre, and taking it to pieces again, which employed 
a number of the men for a day or two before and after each performance, was 
a matter of no little importance, when the immediate duties of the ship ap- 
peared by no means sufficient for that purpose ; for I dreaded the want of 
employment as one of the worst evils that was likely to befal us. 
On the 6th we tried the temperature of the sea at the bottom, the depth Sat. 6. 
being five fathoms, and found it to be 30°, whilst that of the surface was 28°, 
and of the air— 16°. On the 9th, the temperature of the bottom was as high Tues. 9. 
as 31°, the surface being still at 28°. The specific gravity of the surface water 
was 1.0264, at the temperature of 52°, and that of the water brought from 
the bottom 1.0265, at 50°. On the same evening, the weather being fine and 
clear, the Aurora Borealis was seen for nearly two hours, forming a long, low, 
irregular arch of light, extending from north to south in the western quarter 
of the heavens, its altitude in the centre being 3° or 4°. The electrometer- 
chain was hoisted up to the mast-head, and its lower end brought down to 
the ice, so as to keep it perfectly clear of all the masts and rigging, which 
method was used throughout the winter; but no sensible effect was produced 
on the gold-leaf. It was tried a second time, after the sky became full of 
white fleecy clouds, but with as little success. 
On the forenoon of the 11th, the thermometer having again fallen to — 26|°, Thur.ll. 
the smoke, as it escaped from the funnels, scarcely rose at all above the 
housing. Mr. Ross, having gone to the mast-head at noon, reported that he 
saw the sun. There was no time for measuring the altitude, but Lieutenant 
Beechey, who went up to observe it, considered that about twenty-four mi- 
nutes of its disk appeared above the horizon, according to which the amount of 
refraction would appear to be 2° 09' 05". The temperature of the atmosphere at 
this time was — 27°, and the mercury in the barometer stood at 30.07 inches. 
The thermometer having fallen to — 31° on the following day, we expected to Frid. 12. 
have seen the sun again, and looked out from the mast-head for that purpose, but 
it did not re-appear. At six P.M. the Aurora Borealis was seen in a broken 
irregular arch, about 6° high in the centre, extending from N.W. b. N. to 
S. b. W., from whence a few coruscations were now and then faintly emitted 
towards the zenith. From eight P.M. till midnight on the 13th, it was again Sat. 13. 
seen in a similar manner from S.W. to S.E., the brightest part being in the 
centre, or due south. On the 15th, Lieutenant Beechey informed me that 
