Page:Polar Exploration - Bruce - 1911.djvu/232

228 shadow was thrown under my hand when placed 5 or 6 inches above the ground (snow). I have often seen auroras casting shadows here and lighting up the cliffs brilliantly. On the evening of the 3rd, at times streamers came playing brilliantly through the fog from the zenith, gambolling round and looking like brilliantly illuminated falling snow. The general impression I have received is that bands and collections of streamers have a more usual distribution across the zenith from east to west, but their directions are very varied."

On the 24th of January, 1897, at 9 p.m., I record "a band of aurora to-night from west-south-west to east, throwing up streamers toward the zenith. Curious appearance at east end being broken up like a very perfect type of fine cirro-cumulus cloud, looking as if illuminated by brilliant sun to the south-south-west; the band was broad and appeared to be crossing some cirrus clouds, and showed a mottled appearance. Here the dark portions were obviously due to cloud and aurora behind them, but to the eastward the cirro-cumulus sunlit appearance was, I believe, purely auroral. Wilton saw this, to whom I pointed it out."

"I have, on moonlight nights, seen aurora and cirro-stratus—one running into the other imperceptibly, not being able to tell with