st be visible
over large areas of the earth. Both continued all night long and were
of the same general description, but the second night's display was
emphasised in its main features and elaborated in its detail, and was
the more striking and notable and worthy of description.

It began by an exquisite and delicate weaving of fine, fluorescent
filaments of light in and out among the stars, until at times a perfect
network was formed, like lace amidst diamonds, first in one quarter of
the heavens, then in another, then stretching and weaving its web right
across the sky. The Yukon runs roughly north and south in these reaches,
and the general trend of the whole display was parallel with the river's
course. For an hour or more the ceaseless extension and looping of these
infinitely elastic threads of light went on, with constant variation in
their brilliance but no change in their form and never an instant's
cessation of motion.

[Illustration: Photo by Paul Schultz.

THE SUN DOGS.]

[Illustration: "TAN," OF MIXED BREED.]

[Illustration: "MUK," A PURE MALAMUTE.]

Then the familiar feature of the draped aurora was introduced, always a
beautiful sight to watch. Slowly and most gracefully issued out of the
north band after band, band after band of pale-green fire, each curling
and recurling on itself like the ribbon that carries the motto under a
shield of arms, and each continually fraying out its lower edge into
subdued rainbow tints. Then these bands, never for a moment still, were
gathered up together to the zenith, till from almost all round the
horizon vibrant meridians of light stretched up to a crown of glory
almost but not quite directly overhead, so bright that all the waving
bands that now assumed more the appearance of its rays paled before it.
Then the crown began to revolve, and as it revolved with constantly
increasing speed, it gathered all its rays into one gigantic spiral that
travelled as it spun towards the east until all form was dissipated in a
nebulous mist that withdrew behind the mountains and glowered there like
a dawn and left the skies void of all light save the stars. It was a
fine instance of the stupendous sportiveness of the aurora that
sometimes seems to have no more law or rule than the gambolling of a
kitten, and to build up splendid and majestic effects merely to "whelm
them all in wantonness" a moment later. A particularly fine and striking
phase of an aurora is very likely to be