TITLE: JOHN BISCOE AND THE AURORA
2002 9.5 X 20 INCHES

JOHN BISCOE:
1794-1843, British explorer and sealer.

On the night of March 2nd, 1831, Biscoe and his crew were distracted by an
extraordinary aurora. Biscoe commented:
"Nearly the whole night, the Aurora Australis showed the most brilliant
appearance, at times rolling itself over our heads in beautiful columns, then as
suddenly forming itself as the unrolled fringe of a curtain …without exception
the grandest phenomenon of nature of its kind I have witnessed."

Biscoe was born in Middlesex England. He joined the Royal Navy in 1812. In
1830 lead a sealing expedition to Antarctica. In the Tula and the Lively, his
was the third expedition to circumnavigate the continent. He made the first
landfall in the Indian Ocean sector calling it ‘Enderby Land’. On the way
home, the Lively was wrecked in the Falkland Islands and the crew deserted.
Biscoe arrived in England with four men and three boys. Living in Australia in
1842, he was broke and in ill health. An appeal was launched to enable him to
return to England. Sailing for home in 1843, he died at sea.