148 Auroras and Sunset. 



and in this latitude, was observed; but, as the evening came on 

 and the last light from the sun could no longer be seen, streaming 

 rays darted up higher and more towards the zenith, while the base 

 spread farther and farther around, until the whole horizon seemed 

 the Auroral fountain. The atmosphere was almost entirely clear 

 from the commencement, and what appeared for a time to be a 

 cloud ascending from the southern horizon so suddenly vanished, 

 that it left a doubt whether it were in reality a vapory sheet or 

 merely a modified exhibition of this beautiful Aurora. At twen- 

 ty minutes past eight, the whole vault of the sky seemed made 

 of silvery stripes constantly changing positions, separating into 

 blocks, and incessantly dancing from the horizon to the zenith, 

 where they converged in a ragged cloud, that assumed, in its in- 

 terval-existence, every conceivable shape. 



The pencils, for the most part, were bluish white, with a tinge 

 of leaden color ,• and there prevailed, during the whole display, 

 more or less of a beautiful lake and a lilac, which being thrown 

 occasionally hke a mellow cloud over wide sections of the heav- 

 ens, and combined with, or spread over the pencils, presented the 

 richest arrangements of colorst hat, it would seem, could be gath- 

 ered in the skies. In some stages, the lake gave to the sky that 

 gorgeous appearance, observed at the rising of a summer-sun, when 

 the clouds, thin and scarcely visible, are tipped with a deep crim- 

 son tinge. In others, it lay a broad band, unmoved by the flashes 

 that played above and below. Like the lake, there was a sheet 

 of white that moved about, distantly accompanied by smaller 

 sheets or more properly segments of belts, unaffected by the flick- 

 ering agitation observed above and around. 



Toward the close of the exhibition, which was of interest un- 

 til past ten, the sheaves of light were long, and looked, when the 

 eye was turned a little from a direct view, like the dartings of 

 tongued flame from a large furnace, only more brilliant, and of 

 greater length. Being cut off in some places by bars of white 

 clouds near the horizon, the interest of the scene was heightened 

 by the more rapid movement which was apparent near the bases 

 of the pencils. 



The focus continued very near the same point, which was 

 about four degrees directly south from the zenith. At times the 

 point to which all the sheaves tended, would be glowing as if 

 with accumulated light, that looked like a torrent at its entrance, 



