In the month of March, 1774, a very beautiful luminous arch was seen at
Buxton. It was white, inclining to yellow: and its breadth in the crown
was apparently equal to that of the rainbow. As it approached the
horizon, each leg of the arch became gradually broader. It was
stationary and free from any sensible coruscations. Its direction was
from north-east to south-west; and its crown or most elevated part, not
far from the zenith. This phenomenon lasted about half an hour.
The grandest spectacle of this kind which appears to have been seen in
Great Britain, was observed at Leeds, in Yorkshire, on the twelfth of
April, 1783, between the hours of nine and ten at night. A broad arch of
a bright pale yellow, and having an apparent breadth of about fifteen
degrees, arose in the heavens, and passed considerably south of the
zenith. Such was its varied density, that it appeared to consist of
small columns of light, having a sensible motion. After about ten
minutes, innumerable bright coruscations shot out at right angles from
its northern edge, elongating themselves more and more till they had
nearly reached the northern horizon. As they descended, their
extremities were tipped with an elegant crimson, such as is produced by
the electric spark in an exhausted tube. After some time this beautiful
northern light ceased to shoot, and, forming a line of bright yellow
clouds, which extended horizontally about the fourth of a circle, its
greatest portion, which darted from this arch toward the north, as well
as the cloudlike and more stationary aurora, became so dense as to hide
the stars from view. The moon was eleven days old, and shone brightly
during this scene, but did not eclipse the splendor of these
coruscations. The wind was in the north, a little inclined to the east.
A similar phenomenon was observed at Leeds on the twenty-sixth of the
same month. From a mass or broad column of light in the west, issued
three luminous arches, each of which made a different angle with the
horizon. They had not been viewed many minutes when they were rendered
invisible by a general blaze of =aurora borealis=, which possessed the
space just before occupied by these arches.