Page:Scott's Last Expedition, Volume 2.djvu/43

We had a fine aurora in the south low on the horizon as a low curtain and arch, with a very striking orange colour all over.

We made only 2½ miles in the day. [A terrible day. I felt absolutely done up at lunch—three frostbitten toes on one foot—and heel and one toe on the other—burning oil is all that keeps us going now—better night however. We are getting into the swing of doing everything slowly and in mits.

I have pricked six or seven blisters on fingers to-night.]

Monday, July 3, 1911.—The min. temp. for the night was −65°. The weather was calm to begin with and clear, but became gradually overcast all round, starting with a few curve-backed storm clouds over Terror. After lunch however the sky cleared again completely, and we were able to relay by moonlight in the afternoon. We had made only 1½ miles by daylight in the forenoon march, and in the whole day only 2½ miles.

The temp. ranged from −52° to −58·2°.

We had a magnificent display of auroral curtains between 7.30 p.m. and 8 p.m., during which four-fifths of the eastern half of the sky was covered by waving curtains right up to the zenith, where they were all swinging round from left to right in foreshortened, swaying curtains forming a rapidly moving whirl, constantly altering its formation. Some of the lower curtains were very brilliant and showed bands of orange and green and again orange fading into lemon yellow upwards. Bowers noted it as follows: 'Remarkably brilliant aurora working from the N.E. to the zenith and spreading over two-thirds of the