The weather became intensely severe; and, during the latter part of November, and the first half of December, Captain Parry's journal presents little more than observations on it; and oh the meteoric appearances and fantastic illusions of light and colour, with which the voyagers were often amused. At one time, the moon appeared to be curiously deformed by refraction; the lower edges of it seeming to be indented with deep notches, and afterwards to be cut off square at the bottom; whilst a single ray or column of light, of the same diameter as the moon, was observed to descend from it to the top of a hill. At another time, several transparent clouds were seen to emit, upward, columns of light, resembling the aurora borealis. The aurora borealis itself appears to have been seldom witnessed, in the splendour with which it occasionally illuminates even the northern parts of Scotland; still it was both frequent and vivid enough to give variety and beauty to the long nights which the voyagers had to endure. The new year was ushered in by weather comparatively mild; but it soon regained its former severity. Captain Parry and his crews did not, however, experience those effects from the cold, even when 49 degrees below 0, which preceding voyagers have stated; such as a dreadful sensation on the lungs, when the air is inhaled at a very low temperature; or the vapour with which an inhabited room is charged, condensing into a shower of snow, immediately on the opening of a door or window. What they did observe was this: on the opening of the doors, at the top and bottom of the hatch-way ladders, the vapour was condensed, by the sudden admission of the cold air, into a visible form, exactly resembling a very thick smoke. This apparent smoke settled on the pannels of the doors and on the bulk-heads, and immediately froze, by which the latter were covered with a thick coating of ice, which it was necessary frequently to scrape off.