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Thursday Nov 1st 1860 Nov 1st it is - Well I must improve this month - & all others while I live. Since 8 o'clock this morning the day has been fair - Cold indeed & strong wind but still fair. When I arose this Morn Ther. 22 1/4 To night (X o'clock) it is 7 1/2[[degree symbol]]! At Meridian 14[[degree symbol]] VI o'clk PM 10[[degree symbol]]. Hands have been in all day ^[[except Mr Rogers & his crew who went out upon the Island for 2 or 3 hours 1st of the day]]. The weather [[strikethrough]] nt [[/strikethrough]] unfavorable for Whaling. I have spent the morning mostly on deck studying the handiworks of God. What a glorious response was that of old when God appeared a mortal and said unto him: Ask what I shall give thee! - ^[['The wise man answered']] "Give me now Wisdom & Knowledge". Humble & unworthy as I am, I cannot but strive to gain more & more of these virtues. O that I may yet be blessed by possessing them. Then how like an angel must I feel looking out upon creation truly appreciating 'it' in all its parts. To-night Aurora has been a good part of my study. At VI an arch of Aurora the uniformity & width of a Rainbow stretched over the whole heavens from W. to E! At IX it began to play in detached beams of varied colors ^[[& continued to X]]. The moon shining very brightly yet the Aurora unveilling its beauty & glory. Aurora mostly S.W. to night While the A. was widely spread over the heavens both the W. & S. all at once beams of it shot up in the proximity of the Moon just North of it (then the [[symbol]] true E.) that part of the sky was before free from all 'A'. Wind blowing hard all day & to this hour of the night (even within the last hour now & then a cessation) Barometer been rising all day now 29.8 3/4. A fact that during the ^[[N.W.]] gale the other day & the strong ^[[NW]] blow of this day, Bar all the time rising! XI The Aurora now stretching from SW to S.E. but showing faintly. Not a cloud [[strikethrough]] in the [[?]] [[/strikethrough]] to be seen! The ^[[Moon]] seems now to be the acknowledged Queen! I long to have the ice make - Many observation I desire to make but await [[strikethrough]] [[?]] [[/strikethrough]] the time when I can travel to my obse^[[r]]vatory on [[underlined]] terra firma! [[/underlined]] Friday Nov. 2d 1860 The visit of Don-li-ton (Hannah), sister of "Ee-noo-loo-a-pik" & "To-Co" celebrated (in these parts) as great travellers & intelligent Esquimaux. About IX this Morning while, ^[[intently]] engaged in my little Cabin writing, I hear ^[[a soft, sweet]] [[strikethrough]] musical [[/strikethrough]] voice [[strikethrough]] greeting me: [[/strikethrough]] 'Good morning, Sir'! The [[underline]] tone [[/underline]] with which it was spoken, musical, lively & varied, told ^[[me]]^ instantly that a [[underline]] lady of refinement was ^[[here]] greeting me! Was I dreaming?[[/underline]] No - I was [[underline]] wide-awake - & writing! [[/underline]] Was I [[underline]] mistaken? [[/underline]] One thing is certain; Had a thunder-clap intonated upon my ear, notwithstanding it was snowing smartly at the time, I would not have been more surprised than I was at the sound of that voice! I raised my head - a lady indeed was before me [[strikethrough]] ! [[/strikethrough]] & extending to me an strikethrough]] unglovet [[/strikethrough]] un-gloved hand! Of course my welcome to such a an unexpected being in these Northern Regions was as befitting as my astonished spirit could make it. The door-way ^[[in]] which she stood leads from the main cabin into the one where [[strikethrough]] when [[/strikethrough]] I was. Over the entrance to [[strikethrough]] this door-way is [[/strikethrough]] ^[[my room]] are the [[strikethrough]] [[lantern?]] [[/strikethrough]] ^[[sky-lights -(deck]] windows) admitting a flood of light
