The wind continued not long at north, but veered to E. by N. E., and blew a gentle gale, with which we stood to the southward; having frequent showers of sleet and snow. But in the night we had fair weather, and a clear serene sky; and between midnight and three o’clock in the morning, lights were seen in the heavens, similar to those in the northern hemisphere, known by the name of Aurora Borealis, or northern lights; but I never heard of the Aurora Australis being seen before. The officer of the watch observed, that it sometimes broke out in spiral rays, and in a circular form; then its light was very strong, and its appearance beautiful. He could not perceive it had any particular direction; for it appeared, at various times, in different parts of the heavens, and diffused its light throughout the whole atmosphere. At nine in the morning, we bore down to an island of ice, which we reached by noon. It was full half a mile in circuit, and two hundred feet high at least; though very little loose ice about it. But while we were considering whether or no we should hoist out our boats to take some up, a great quantity broke from the island. Upon this we hoisted out our boats, and went to work to get some on board. The pieces of ice, both great and small, which broke from the island, I observed, drifted fast to the westward; that is, they left the island in that direction, and were, in a few hours, spread over a large space of sea. This, I have no doubt, was caused by a current setting in that direction; for the wind could have but little effect upon the ice; especially as there was a large hollow swell from the west. This circumstance greatly retarded our taking up ice. We, however, made a shift to get on board about nine or ten tons before eight o’clock, when we hoisted in the boats, and made sail to east, inclining to the south, with a fresh gale at south; which soon after veered to S. S. W. and S. W., with fair but cloudy weather. This course brought us among many ice isles; so that it was necessary to proceed with great caution. In the night the mercury in the thermometer fell two degrees below the freezing point; and the water in the scuttle casks on deck was frozen. As I have not taken notice of the thermometer of late, I shall now observe that, as we advanced to the north, the mercury gradually rose to 45, and fell again, as we advanced to the south, to what is above mentioned; nor did it rise, in the middle of the day, to above 34 or 35. In the morning of the 18th, being in the latitude of 57° 54ʹ south, longitude 83° 14ʹ east, the variation was 39° 33ʹ west. In the evening, in latitude 58° 2ʹ south, longitude 84° 35ʹ east, it was only 37° 8ʹ west; which induced me to believe it was decreasing. But in the evening of the 20th, in the latitude of 58° 47ʹ south, longitude 90° 56ʹ east, I took nine azimuths, with Dr. Knight’s compass, which gave the variation 40° 7ʹ; and nine others, with Gregory’s, which gave 40° 15ʹ west.