Abstract
ON Sunday the 4th instant, at 9h. 28m. P.M., my attention was suddenly called to a “fire.” Looking in the direction indicated, I saw at S.S.E., about 15° above the horizon, a glare of reddish light. Curious to know whereabout the supposed fire was, I kept my eyes upon that part of the heavens. Presently, similar patches of light broke out on either side of the first, and in a few seconds I could see, on the assumption made, that there must be several fires blazing away over a wide range, for the sky was here and there lit up with a peculiar dark red light over an extent of at least 70° of the horizon. My attention being now aroused, I had recourse to various conjectures, which were speedily abandoned. The idea of an aurora had occurred almost at the outset; but as I had never, with certainty, seen one in Mauritius, and never heard or read of any having been observed there by others, I felt some reluctance to admit the fact that I was actually witnessing one. My doubts, however, were soon dispelled. I noticed that patches of cloud floating across the illuminated portions of the sky reflected no light, and on one or two occasions, a faint flickering, like lightning, was seen among the upper cirrus clouds. These and other facts, coupled with the knowledge that the magnets had been occasionally disturbed to a considerable extent on Friday and Saturday, and on the morning of Sunday, left no doubt on my mind.
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MELDRUM, J. Aurora Australis . Nature 5, 392–393 (1872). https://doi.org/10.1038/005392a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/005392a0
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