450 FARTHEST NORTH 



sky from the arc to the zenith was aflame. It flickered 

 and blazed, it whirled round like a whirlwind (moving 

 with the sun), rays darted backward and forward, now 

 red and reddish-violet, now yellow, green, and dazzling 

 white ; now the rays were red at the bottom and yellow 

 and green farther up, and then again this order was in- 

 verted. Higher and higher it rose ; now it came on the 

 north side of the zenith too ; for a moment there was a 

 splendid corona, and then it all became one whirling 

 mass of fire up there ; it was like a whirlpool of fire in 

 red, yellow, and green, and the eye was dazzled with 

 looking at it. It then drew across to the northern sky, 

 where it remained a long time, but not in such brilliancy. 

 The arc from which it had sprung in the south was still 

 visible, but soon disappeared. The movement of the 

 rays was chiefly from west to east, but sometimes the re- 

 verse. It afterwards flared up brightly several times in 

 the northern sky ; I counted as many as six parallel 

 bands at one time, but they did not attain to the bright- 

 ness of the former ones. 



" And this is Christmas-day ! There are family din- 

 ners going on at home, I can see the dignified old 

 father standing smiling and happy in the doorw^ay to 

 welcome children and grandchildren. Out-of-doors the 

 snow is falling softly and silently in big flakes; the young 

 folk come rushing in fresh and rosy, stamp the snow 

 off their feet in the passage, shake their things and hang 

 them up, and then enter the drawing-room, where the 



