THE WORLD S WONDERS. 



693 



circles around the horizon, never setting until she has run her 

 long course of brightness. The uniform whiteness of the land- 

 scape and the general transparency of the atmosphere add to the 

 lustre of her beams, which serve the natives to guide their no- 

 madic life, and to lead them to their hunting grounds. 



But of all the magnificent spectacles that relieve the monoto- 

 nous gloom of the Arctic winter, there is none to equal the magical 

 beaut v of the Aurora. Night covers the snow-clad earth ; the 

 stars glimmer feebly through the haze which so frequently dims 



SERPENTINE AURORA. 



their brilliancy in the high latitudes, when suddenly a broad and 

 clear bow of light spans the horizon in the direction where it is 

 traversed by the magnetic meridian. This bow sometimes re- 

 mains for several hours, heaving or waving to and fro, before it 

 sends forth streams of light ascending to the zenith. Sometimes 

 these flashes proceed from the bow of light alone ; at others they 

 simultaneously shoot forth from many opposite parts of the 

 horizon, and form a vast sea of fire whose brilliant waves are 

 continually changing their positions. Finally they all unite in a 



