urora on the evening of Sunday,
the 4th February, 1871, which lasted several hours. The whole sky from
east to west was of the most brilliant flickering white light, from
which streamers of red darted up to the zenith. There was also a lunar
rainbow. The common people were greatly alarmed, for there had been a
prediction that the world was coming to an end, and they thought the
bright part of the Aurora was a piece of the moon that had already
tumbled down! This Aurora was seen in Turkey and in Egypt.

* * * * *

I am deeply grieved and shaken by the death of Sir John Herschel, who,
though ten years younger than I am, has gone before me. In him I have
lost a dear and affectionate friend, whose advice was invaluable, and
his society a charm. None but those who have lived in his home can
imagine the brightness and happiness of his domestic life. He never
presumed upon that superiority of intellect or the great discoveries
which made him one of the most illustrious men of the age; but conversed
cheerfully and even playfully on any subject, though ever ready to give
information on any of the various branches of science to which he so
largely contributed, and which to him were a source of constant
happiness. Few of my early friends now remain--I am nearly left alone.

* * * * *

We went to pass the summer and autumn at Sorrento, where we led a very
quiet but happy life. The villa we lived in was at a short distance from
and above the town, quite buried in groves of oranges and lemons, beyond
which lay the sea, generally calm and blue, sometimes stormy; to our
left the islands of Ischia and Procida, the Capo Miseno, with Baia,
Pozzuoli, and Posilipo; exactly opposite to us, Naples, then Vesuvius,
and all the little towns on that coast, and lastly, to our right, this
wonderful panorama was bounded by the fine cliffs of the Monte
Santangelo. It was beautiful always, but most beautiful when the sun,
setting behind Ischia, sent a perfect glory over the rippling sea, and
tinged the Monte Santangelo and the cliffs which bound the Piano di
Sorrento literally with purple and gold. I spent the whole day on a
charming terrace sheltered from the sun, and there we dined and passed
the evening watching the lights of Naples reflected in the water and the
revolving lights of the different lighthouses. I often drove to Massa
till after sunset, for from that road I could see the island of Capri