THE WINTER NIGHT 309 



76° 36' north latitude. The soundings to-day showed 74 

 fathoms (142 m.) of water, or about the same as yester- 

 day, and the sounding-Hne indicated a southwesterly drift. 

 However anxious one is to take things philosophically, 

 one can't help feeling a little depressed. I try to find 

 solace in a book; absorb myself in the learning of the 

 Indians — their happy faith in transcendental powers, in 

 the supernatural faculties of the soul, and in a future life. 

 Oh, if one could only get hold of a little supernatural 

 power now, and oblige the winds always to blow from the 

 south ! 



" I went on deck this evening in rather a gloomy frame 

 of mind, but was nailed to the spot the moment I got 

 outside. There is the supernatural for you — the northern 

 hghts flashing in matchless power and beauty over the sky 

 in all the colors of the rainbow! Seldom or never have 

 I seen the colors so brilliant. The prevailing one at first 

 was yellow, but that gradually flickered over into green, 

 and then a sparkling ruby-red began to show at the bot- 

 tom of the rays on the under side of the arch, soon 

 spreading over the whole arch. And now from the far- 

 away western horizon a fiery serpent writhed itself up 

 over the sky, shining brighter and brighter as it came. 

 It split into three, all brilliantly glittering. Then the 

 colors changed. The serpent to the south turned almost 

 ruby -red, with spots of yellow; the one in the middle, 

 yellow; and the one to the north, greenish white. Sheaves 

 of rays swept along the side of the serpents, driven 



