144 Walks in New England 



In the Dog-Days : 1 898 



THE dog-days have been so long with us, 

 beginning at a most unconscionably 

 early date, before Sirius was in the as 

 cendant that recognition of their presence seems 

 belated. It would seem that in sympathy with 

 our soldiers in the tropics, we had taken on some 

 of the aspects of the rainy season of those lati 

 tudes, and were enabled thereby to share, even if 

 in a very small degree, the discomforts and dis 

 couragements of their climatic differences. But 

 as soon as we speak the words, the foolish notion 

 vanishes, the slender resemblance disappears. It 

 is a wetter season than usual; we have malaria 

 fever, the humidity clogs our veins and our di 

 gestions, but we are not having our physical vi 

 tality lowered to the point where collapse follows 

 and the rest of life threatens to be a struggle with 

 a broken constitution. That is the prospect be 

 fore our soldiers, and the thought of it makes us 

 feel as if mere enjoyment of active labour here 

 were something of an affront to the men whose 



