3. Besides these observers, two or three others, if not many more, less scientific, perhaps, but yet entitled to attention, have communicated to different newspapers their accounts of the same phenomena. “The metropolis,” says one of these, “was surprised on Tuesday night by a brilliant display of Northern Lights, which but very seldom stray so far south. The last which we beheld in London were in the autumn of 1804, about the end of September, or beginning of October; and the fancied prodigy filled all the superstitious heads, at the time, with fearful prognostics, and loosened the tongues of a hundred prophets. The spectacle, then, was truly magnificent. On Tuesday night (the 25th) the northern parts of the heavens displayed, about eleven o’clock, so ruddy a blaze, as to appear like the reflection of a mighty conflagration. An hour later, the red hue was gone; but the whole horizon, from the north to the east, was lined with a thin cloud, from which the rays of light rolled, or sudden rays flashed up, and as suddenly vanished, to appear in a different part.” “At about half past eleven o’clock,” says a second, “my attention was attracted to a singular appearance of light and streakiness in the sky. I observed it for nearly two hours. The sky, to the north, was obscured, for about fifteen degrees above the horizon, by a dense stratum of black clouds; from the upper edge of this, the light became first apparent, extending from nearly north-east to north-west, exceeding considerably in power that arising from the moon just previous to its rising. From this broad stratum of pale yellowish light shot beautiful pencils, of a luminous, hazy appearance, up to the very zenith, changing momentarily in length and intensity. During this period, the wind blew gently from the south; and I frequently observed, that when it freshened [p400] a little, the Aurora Borealis became more brilliant in its appearance, sending beautiful coruscations of light, in rapid succession, towards the zenith, and frequently passing that point ten or fifteen degrees to the southward. I have been assured, by those who are well acquainted with this beautiful phenomenon, that they have not seen any appearance of it equal in brilliancy and beauty to this, for upwards of six and thirty years.” “Last night,” says a third, “we were favoured with that interesting phenomenon, the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Twilight, which so often amuses and cheers our neighbours in the north, but seldom, I believe, is seen in our latitude. It was without those varied colours,” adds this writer, “which cause it to be a grand spectacle in those regions.” “Not far from the horizon,” he adds, “in the northern hemisphere, were transparent bodies of light, eclipsing the brightness of the stars, which, however, were perceptible through it. From hence, beams of light, varying in degrees of brightness and breadth, shot up towards the zenith; here streamers of light flew from the east to the west, and from west to east. The southern hemisphere was cloudless, the stars shining with brilliancy. By the light of this phenomenon, I could discern the time of night, which was between eleven and twelve, as well as other objects, as they appear on a moon-light night, when the moon is obscured by clouds.” “The sky in the north,” we are told by the fourth, “appeared as if a light shone from behind some dark masses of clouds. As I approached Hampstead, the silvery light was gradually tinged with rosy spiral streams, like those which sometimes precede the rising and follow the setting sun. These spiral red streaks did not appear to move quickly; but they were subsequently followed by the merry dancers, which fully maintained the character bestowed upon them by our northern neighbours. After passing through Hampstead, I crossed the heath, and came down what is called North-end Hill, to Golder’s Green, Hendon. When you arrive at the foot of the hill, you enter upon the open part of Golder’s Green, where you have a clear and unobstructed view of the sky from west to north. I never shall forget the grandeur of the scene which awaited me there. A continuous border of dark cloud skirted the horizon completely from west to north, whilst [p401] from behind it, incessantly and rapidly shot up the most beautiful coruscations of white light, which, being relieved by the dark border, added double brilliancy to the ever-shifting scene.”
VI. But, after transcribing these respective accounts, it may be permitted, for the purpose of uniting them with that submitted in the preceding pages, to remark,
1. That the account by Mr, Adams, of the appearance worn by the Aurora at an early hour in the evening, is, no doubt, entirely correct; and that it is easy to understand, from this description of that early appearance, why little observation was attracted to the phenomenon till about eleven o’clock at night, the time assigned, as well in this, as in all the other accounts, for the commencement of the phenomenon.
2. That the “streaks of a pale white light,” which Mr. Adams describes as proceeding, a short time after eleven, “from the clouds,” must be understood, as stated by the writer last quoted, as proceeding “from behind the clouds;” that, when the astronomical writer at Deptford speaks of Ursa Major and other stars being seen through the Aurora, it must be recollected, that, perhaps, this remark should apply to the medium of the thin and shifting lights in or near the zenith; and,
3. That it is with respect to the “broad streak, curved,” of Mr. Adams; the “two red beams of light,” of the astronomical observer at Deptford; and the “arch” of the present description, that the principal, if not only discordance obtains. Neither of the other three writers appears to have seen any thing, whether of one “broad streak, curved,” and “varying in colour from a deep copper hue to a red,” or of “two red beams,” as spoken by the writer at Deptford; while, in each of the three accounts in which that part of the phenomenon is actually referred to, the descriptions are materially dissimilar:—
1. The writer at Edmonton mentions only a single streak, while the writer at Deptford speaks of two.
2. The writer at Edmonton describes his single streak as curved, while the writer at Deptford says nothing of curvature; and, in describing the position of the beams as “perpendicular to the horizon,” may seem to leave no curvature to be understood. [p402]
3. The writer at Edmonton seems to lift his “broad curved streak” much above the horizon; for he first places a small dense cloud 30° above the horizon, and, then, his broad streak above the cloud; thus describing a curve of which the situation was near the zenith, while the writer at Deptford is describing “two red beams,” standing perpendicularly to the horizon.
4. The writer at Edmonton places his “broad streak, curved,” “in a N.N.E. direction;” while the writer at Deptford records “two red beams of light, seen in the easterly and westerly direction.” Lastly,