midnight
There was none of that ice `` blink '' to be seen , that whitish tint of which the reflection is absent from dark horizons . Under such circumstances , how could they distinguish the shape of the ground , the extent of the seas , the position of the islands ? How could they recognize the hydrographic network of the country or the orographic configuration , and distinguish the hills and mountains from the icebergs and floes ? A little after midnight an aurora illuminated the darkness . With its silver fringes and spangles radiating over space , it seemed like a huge fan open over half the sky . Its farthest electric effluences were lost in the Southern Cross , whose four bright stars were gleaming overhead . The phenomenon was one of incomparable magnificence , and the light showed the face of the country as a confused mass of white .