The second is, the
vapour with which the air of an inhabited room is charged,
condensing into a shower of snow immediately on the opening of a
door or window communicating with the external atmosphere. This
goes much beyond anything that we had an opportunity of observing.
What happened with us was simply this: on the opening of the doors
at the top and bottom of our hatchway ladders, the vapour was
immediately condensed, by the sudden admission of the cold air,
into a visible form, exactly resembling a very thick smoke, which
settled on all the panels of the doors and bulkheads, and
immediately froze, by which means the latter were covered with a
thick coating of ice, which it was necessary frequently to scrape
off; but we never, to my knowledge, saw the conversion of the
vapour into snow during its fall.
On the evening of the 15th, the atmosphere being clear and serene,
we were gratified by a sight of the only very brilliant and
diversified display of Aurora Borealis which occurred during the
whole winter. I believe it to be almost impossible for words to
give an idea of the beauty and variety which this magnificent
phenomenon displayed.
About this time it had been remarked, that a white setter dog had
left the Griper for several nights past at the same time, and had
regularly returned after some hours' absence.
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