VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY 
121 
On the 14th of December, the day was beautifully serene and clear, and 1819. 
there was more redness in the southern sky about noon, than there had been 
for many days before ; the tints, indeed, might almost be called prismatic. Tues. 14. 
At six P.M., the Aurora Borealis was seen forming two concentric arches, 
passing from the western horizon on each side of the zenith to within 20° of 
the opposite horizon, resting on a dark cloud about seven degrees high, from 
behind which the light appeared to issue, and partially streaming from the 
cloud to the zenith. No effect was produced by it outlie electrometer or the 
magnetic needle. The appearance I have just described of the light seeming 
to issue from behind an obscure cloud, is a very common one ; it is not always, 
however, easy to tell whether any cloud really exists, or whether the appear- 
ance is a deception arising from the vivid light of the Aurora being con- 
trasted with the darker colour of the sky near it. 
On the 17th, in the morning, this phenomenon was again observed, being a Frid. 17. 
stationary faint light from S.W. to W.S.W. The breeze freshened up strong 
from the eastward, and the thermometer gradually rose, as usual, till at four 
P.M. it had reached zero, being the first time that it had stood so high since 
the .5th of November. The water in the Hecla’s pump-well had, by this 
time, become completely frozen, so that it was no longer possible to work 
the pumps. In what manner the pumps could be kept free under such cir- 
cumstances, if it were found necessary, I do not know, as there would have 
been a risk of damaging the lower part of them, in detaching the ice from it 
to make the experiment. The Hecla, however, was so tight as not to re- 
quire it ; as a proof of which it need only be mentioned, that the same twenty 
inches of ice which was formed about this period, remained without any 
addition for more than six months, during which time she was never once 
pumped out ; and the only inconvenience that resulted from this, was the 
accumulation of a small quantity of ice among the coals in the lower part of 
the fore and main holds. 
About this part of the winter, we began to experience a more serious in- 
convenience from the bursting of the lemon-juice bottles by frost, the whole 
contents being frequently frozen into a solid mass, except a small portion of 
highly-concentrated acid in the centre, which, in most instances, was found 
to have leaked out, so that when the ice was thawed, it was little better 
than water. This evil increased to a very alarming degree in the course of the 
winter: some cases being opened in which more than two-thirds of the lemon- 
juice was thus destroyed, and the remainder rendered nearly inefficient. It 
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