he earth on
its axis, half the time in light and half the time in darkness,--that
is, day and night are twelve hours each all over the globe.

These two dates are called equinoxes, March 21st being the vernal, and
September 21st being the autumnal, equinox.

As the earth moves in its orbit after March 21st, the North Pole
inclines more and more towards the sun, till June 21st, after which it
turns away from it. On September 21st day and night are again equal all
over the earth, and after this the North Pole is turned away from the
sun, and does not receive its light again till the following March.

It will thus be seen that from the autumnal to the vernal equinox the
North Pole is in darkness and has a night of six months' duration,
during which time the sun is not seen. Therefore, any point near the
pole is, during any given twenty-four hours, longer in darkness than in
light.

The number of days of constant darkness depends on the latitude of the
observer. At the pole the sun is not seen for six months, at the Arctic
Circle it is invisible, as I have said, for only one day in December. At
North Cape and Nordkyn the sun disappears November 18th, and is not seen
again till January 24th. That is the reason I have called the land
between North Cape and the Arctic Circle "The Land of the Long Night."

This "Land of the Long Night" commences at Nordkyn, or the most northern
point of the continent of Europe,--or at North Cape, but five miles
distant--on the 16th of November. The whole sun appears on that day, its
lower rim just touching above the horizon at noon. The next day, 17th of
November, the lower half of the sun has disappeared, and the following
day, the 18th, it sinks below the horizon and does not show itself again
until the 24th of January--hence the night there lasts sixty-seven days
of twenty-four hours each. And at the Arctic Circle the sun is only
completely hidden on the 22nd of December.

The following table shows you the dates of the disappearance of the sun,
and of its reappearance at the principal places to which we are going.

THE CONTINUOUS NIGHT

_Where the sun is last seen, begins at:_

Karasjok November 26th
Vardoe 22nd
Hammerfest 21st
North Cape or Nordkyn 18th

_Where the sun is first seen again, begins at:_

Karasjok January 16th
Vard