A Sportsman 411 



horses, though they are generally hauled out safely, 

 owing to the firm ice which adjoins the soft parts. The 

 weak parts are pretty well known however, and avoided. 



While the cold in the winter, as indicated by the 

 thermometer, would seem extreme, it is not particularly 

 severe to those who come well prepared and have a 

 comfortable camp, for the dryness of the atmosphere 

 militates against the effect of the cold in a most favor- 

 able manner. That chilliness and bone-penetrating 

 cold which one experiences even in moderate weather 

 on our eastern or western seaboard, is little felt at the 

 lakes in the winter ; and, familiar as I am with many 

 climes, I will say that I have suffered more from cold, 

 which my memory vividly reminds me of, south of 

 Washington and amid the orange-ripening localities 

 of California, than I have in all my experiences in 

 winter at the Rangeley Lakes. 



Yet during my excursion here in the winter of 1890 

 and 1891 the self -register ing thermometer in front 

 of camp indicated for thirteen consecutive mornings 

 an average of 8 degrees below zero, the warmest, 

 lowest marking being 26 degrees below, and the warm- 

 est morning being 12 above. That was an extremely 

 cold spell, as noted by the usually reliable oldest 

 resident in the country, who had no remembrance of 

 so cold a period in forty years. 



One of our family trips made in 1895, was particu- 

 larly pleasant, and not far behind 1890 in cold; 

 yet no day at the lake was too cold for the children 

 of our party to be out snow-shoeing, skating, and 

 tobogganing. 



Our trip was not made for shooting or fishing, as we 

 arrived on the last day of the open shooting, December 



