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CHAPTER II.
THE ARCTIC HEAVENS: ATMOSPHERIC AND METEORIC PHENOMENA.
Again this green overcame the red; blue and yellow blended with
each other in their swift flight; violet-tinted arrows flashed through a
broad glow of orange, and countless tongues of white flame, formed
of these uniting streams, rushed aloft and clasped the skies. The
effect of the many-coloured lustre upon the surrounding objects was
singularly wonderful. The weird forms of innumerable icebergs,
singly and in clusters, loomed above the sea, and around their
summits hovered the strange gleam, like the fires of Vesuvius over
the villas and temples of Pompeii. All along the white surface of the
frozen sea, upon the mountain-peaks and the lofty cliffs, the light
glowed and dimmed and glowed again, as if the air were filled with
graveyard meteors, flitting wildly above some vast illimitable city of
the dead. The scene was noiseless, yet the senses were deceived,
for sounds not of earth or sea seemed to follow the swift
coruscations, and to fall upon the ear like
“The tread
Of phantoms dread,
With banner, and spear, and flame.”
Though the details, so to speak, are not always the same, the
general character of the aurora changes very slightly, and, from a
comparison of numerous accounts, the gradation of the
phenomenon would seem to be as follows:—
The sky slowly assumes a tint of brown, on which, as on a
background, is soon developed a nebulous segment, bordered by a
spacious arc of dazzling whiteness, which seems incessantly
agitated by a tremulous motion. From this arc an incredible number
of shafts and rays of light leap upwards to the zenith. These
luminous columns pass through all the hues of the rainbow,—from
softest violet and intensest sapphire to green and purple-red.
Sometimes the rays issue from the resplendent arc mingled with
darker flashes; sometimes they rise simultaneously at different
points of the horizon, and unite in one broad sea of flame pervaded
by rapid undulations. On other occasions it would seem as if invisible
hands were unfurling fiery dazzling banners, to stream, like meteors,
in the troubled air. A kind of canopy, of soft and tranquil light, which
is known as the corona, indicates the close of the marvellous
exhibition; and shortly after its appearance the luminous rays begin
to decrease in splendour, the richly-coloured arcs dissolve and die
out, and soon of all the gorgeous spectacle nothing remains but a
whitish cloudy haze in those parts of the firmament which, but a few
minutes before, blazed with the mysterious fires of the aurora
borealis.
THE AURORA BOREALIS—THE CORONA.
The arc of the aurora is only part of a broad circle of light, which
is elevated considerably above the surface of our globe, and the
centre of which is situated in the vicinity of the Pole. It is not difficult,
therefore, to account for the different aspects under which it is
presented to observers placed at different angles to the focus of the
display. A person some degrees south of the ring necessarily sees
but a very small arc of it towards the north, owing to the interposition
of the earth between him and it; if he stood nearer the north, the arc
would appear larger and higher; if immediately below it, he would
see it apparently traversing the zenith; or if within the ring, and still
further north, he would see it culminating in the south. It has been
supposed that the centre of the ring corresponds with the magnetic
north pole in the island of Boothia Felix.
Generally the phenomenon lasts for several hours, and at times it
will be varied by peculiar features. Now it will seem to present the
hemispherical segment of a colossal wheel; now it will wave and
droop like a rich tapestry of many-coloured light, in a thousand
prismatic folds; and now it exhibits the array of innumerable dazzling
streamers, waving in the dark and intense sky.
The arc varies in elevation, but is seldom more than ninety miles
above the terrestrial surface. Its diameter, however, must be
enormous, for it has been known to extend southward to Italy, and
has been simultaneously visible in Sardinia, Connecticut, and at New
Orleans.
According to some authorities, the phenomenon is accompanied
by noises resembling the discharge of fireworks, or the crackling of
silk when one piece is folded over another; but this statement is
discredited by the most trustworthy observers.
Mrs. Somerville’s description is worth quoting, as taking up more
emphatically some points to which we have already alluded:—
The aurora, she says, is decidedly an electrical (or, more strictly
speaking, a magneto-electrical) phenomenon. It generally appears
soon after sunset in the form of a luminous arc stretching more or
less from east to west, the most elevated point being always in the
magnetic meridian of the place of the observer; across the arc the
coruscations are rapid, vivid, and of various colours, darting like
lightning to the zenith, and at the same time flitting laterally with
incessant velocity. The brightness of the rays varies in an instant;
they sometimes surpass the splendour of stars of the first
magnitude, and often exhibit colours of admirable transparency,—
blood-red at the base, emerald-green in the middle, and clear yellow
towards their extremity. Sometimes one, and sometimes a quick
succession of luminous currents run from one end of the arc or bow
to the other, so that the rays rapidly increase in brightness; but it is
impossible to say whether the coruscations themselves are actually
affected by a horizontal motion of translation, or whether the more
vivid light is conveyed from ray to ray. The rays occasionally dart far
past the zenith, vanish, suddenly reappear, and, being joined by
others from the arc, form a magnificent corona or immense dome of
light. The segment of the sky below the arc is quite black, as if
formed by dense clouds; yet M. Struve is said to have seen stars in
it, and so it would appear that the blackness of which several
observers speak must be the effect of contrast. The lower edge of
the arc is evenly defined; its upper margin is fringed by the
coruscations, their convergence towards the north, and that of the
arc itself, being probably an effect of perspective.
The aurora exercises a remarkable influence on the magnetic
needle, even in places where the display is not visible. Its vibrations
seem to be slower or quicker according as the auroral light is
quiescent or in motion, and the variations of the compass during the
day show that the aurora is not peculiar to night. It has been
ascertained by careful observations that the disturbances of the
magnetic needle and the auroral displays were simultaneous at
Toronto, in Canada, on thirteen days out of twenty-four, the
remaining days having been clouded; and contemporaneous
observations show that in these thirteen days there were also
magnetic disturbances at Prague and Tasmania; so that the
occurrence of auroral phenomena at Toronto on these occasions
may be viewed as a local manifestation connected with magnetic
effects, which, whatever may have been their origin, probably
prevailed on the same day over the whole surface of the globe.
Among the atmospheric phenomena of the outer world we are
justified in reckoning the Winds, which are remarkable for their
variability. Their force is considerably diminished when they pass
over a wide surface of ice; sometimes the ice seems even to beat
back the breeze, and turn it in a contrary direction. The warm airs
from the south grow cool as they sweep across the frozen expanse,
and give up their moisture in the form of snow. In a region so bleak
and chill it is not often that clouds are created, the atmospheric
vapours being condensed into snow or hail without passing through
any intermediate condition.
Whirlwinds of frozen snow are formidable enemies to the seaman
forced to traverse the ice on foot, or in a sledge drawn by Eskimo
dogs. Dense showers lash and sting the unfortunate traveller’s face,
penetrate his mouth and nostrils, freeze together his very eyelids,
and almost blind him. His skin assumes a bluish tint, and burns as if
scarred by the keen thongs of a knout.
An optical illusion of frequent occurrence in the Polar Regions
makes objects appear of dimensions much larger than they really
possess. A fox assumes the proportions of a bear; low banks of ice
are elevated into lofty mountains. The eye is fatigued by dwelling
upon the horizon of lands which are never approached. Just as in
the sandy deserts of the Sahara the distances of real objects are
apparently diminished, so the Arctic explorer, misled by the aërial
illusion, advances towards a goal which seems always near at hand,
but is never attained.
Another source of error, common both to the Arctic and the
Tropical deserts, is the mirage, a phenomenon of refraction, which
represents as suspended in air the images of remote objects, and
thus gives rise to the most curious illusions and fantastic scenes. Dr.
Scoresby one day perceived in the air the reversed representation of
a ship which he recognized as the Fame, commanded by his father.
He afterwards discovered that it had been lying moored in a creek
about ten leagues from the point where the mirage had played with
his imagination.
Again, in approaching a field of ice or snow, the traveller
invariably descries a belt of resplendent white immediately above the
horizon. This is known as the “ice-blink,” and it reveals to the Arctic
navigator beforehand the character of the ice he is approaching. At
times, too, a range of icebergs, or of broken masses of ice, will be
reflected in colossal shadows on the sky, with a strange and even
weird effect.
But, after all, the special distinction between the Arctic lands and
the other regions of the globe is their long day and longer night.
Describing an immense spiral curve upon the horizon, the sun
gradually mounts to 30°, the highest point of its course; then, in the
same manner, it returns towards the horizon, and bids farewell to the
wildernesses of the North, slowly passing away behind the veil of a
gloomy and ghastly twilight.
When the navigator, says Captain Parry, finds himself for the first
time buried in the silent shadows of the Arctic night, he cannot
conquer an involuntary emotion of dread; he feels transported out of
the sphere of ordinary, commonplace existence. The deadly and
sombre deserts of the Pole seem like those uncreated voids which
Milton has placed between the realms of life and death. The very
animals are affected by the profound melancholy which saddens the
face of Nature.