150 RIVERSIDE LETTERS xx 



with scarcely one break of importance, right 

 up to the 1 8th of February, and even then 

 did not end, as the severe frosts which Gil- 

 bert White described did, abruptly, with a 

 sudden thaw, but took more than a fort- 

 night before it could be said to have com- 

 pletely passed away ; thawing by day with 

 the sunshine, and freezing again during the 

 nights. 



I found the ground had been so deeply 

 penetrated by the frost that it was quite im- 

 possible to dig, even on the 6th of March, 

 sufficiently to sow potatoes, and even a fort- 

 night after that I found the interior of a heap 

 of rotten leaves quite hard and caked with 

 frost. It was more like a North German 

 winter than an English one, the deep 

 penetration of the frost being no doubt due 

 to its extreme protraction. The havoc it 

 played with the water-pipes in town will 

 cause it to be remembered by Londoners for 

 many years. 



I am gradually becoming aware of my 



