ALASKA. 283 



is a remarkable aurora borealis on the 21st of December. It was not the con- 

 ventional arch, but a gracefixl, undulating, ever-changing snake of pale electric 



light ; evanescent colors, pale as those of a lunar rainbow, ever and again flit- 

 ting through it, and long streamers and scintillations moving upward to the 

 bright stars, which shone distinctly through its hazy ethereal form. The night 



