CHAPTER II.

An imaginary voyage--View of the Greenland coast--A splendid picture of land and sea--The winter night and its atmospheric phenomena--The aurora borealis described--Its peculiarities and possible causes--Winds and whirlwinds--Phenomena of refraction--The “ice-blink”--Characteristics of the Arctic night--Described by Dr. Kane--Remarkable atmospheric conditions--Effect of prolonged darkness on animal life--Characteristics of the Arctic spring--A spring landscape described by Dr. Hayes--Summer in the North--The Northern heavens and the Pole-Star--List of Northern constellations--The Great Bear--Some conspicuous stars 22–40