The Sun.
London, England, 1826-10-20 00:00:00

AURORA BOREALIS.

running down Davis's Strait, as well as in crossing
e Atlantic, we saw on this passage, as well as in all our
"ormer autumnal ones, a good deal of the Aurora Borealis.
It first began to display itself on the 15th September, about
the latitude of 69k, appearing in the (true) south-east
quarter as a bright luminous patch, five or six degrees
above the horizon, almost stationary for two or three hours
together, but frequently altering its intensity, and occa-
sionally sending up vivid streamers towards - the zenith.
It appeared in the same manner on several subsequent
nights,, in the south-west, west, and east quarters of the
heavens ; and on the 20th a bright arch of it passed across
the-zenith froth south-east m north-west, appearing to be
very close to the ship, and affording so strong a light as to
throw the shadows of objects on the deck. The next
brilliant display, however, of this beautiful phenomenon
which we now witnessed, and which far- surpassed any
thing of the kind obserVed at Fort Bowen, occurred on the
night of the 24th of September, in latitude .584, longitude
44k. It first appeared in a (true) east direction, in de-
tached masses, like luminous clouds of yellow or sulphur-
coloured light, about three degrees, above the horizon.
.When this appearance had continued for about an hour, it
began at nine P.n. to spread upwards, and gradually extend-
ed itself into a narrow band of light passing through the
zenith, and again downwards to the western horizon. Soon
after this the streams of light seemed no longer to emanate
from the eastward, but from a fixed point about one de-
gree above the horizon on a true west bearing. From this
point, as from the narrow point of a funnel, streams of
light, resembling brightly illuminated vapour, or smoke, ap-
peared to be incessantly issuing, increasing in breadths as
they
.ptoceeded, and darting with inconceivable velocity,
such as the eye could seareely keep pace with, upwards to-
wards the zenith, and in the same easterly direction whieb
the former arch hsul taken. The sky immediately under
the spot from which the light issued, appeared, by a de-
ception very common in this phenomenon, to be covered
with a dark cloud, whose outline the imagination might at
times convert into that of the summit of a mountain, from
which the light proceeded like the &mei; of a volcano.—
The streams of light, as they were projected upwards, did
not consist of continuous vertical columns or streamers, but
almost entirely of separate, though constantly renewed
masses, which seemed to roll themselves laterally onward,
with a sort. of undulating motion, constituting what I have
understood to be meant by that modification of the Aurora,
called the " merry-dancers" which is seen in beautiful
perfection at the Shetland islands. The general colour of
the light was yellow, but an orange and a greenish tinge
were at times perceptible, the intensity of the light and
' colours being always the greatest when occupying the
smallest space. 'Thus the lateral margins of the band or
arch seemed at times to roll themselves inward, *so as to
r approach each other, and in this case the light just at the
edge became much more vivid than the rest. The inten-
sity of light during the brightest part of the phenomenon,
which continued three quarters of an hour, , could scarcely
be inferior to that of the moon when full.—Parry's Third
Voyage..