292 WINTER. 7 



from under the clouds, and the effect was curious. For 

 acres and acres all around, the young birch and maple 

 trees, averaging 15 feet or 20 feet in height, were bowed 

 down until their heads touched the ground ; tiny branches 

 no thicker than a pocket pencil were bloated to the size of 

 a man's finger, and the larger ones in like proportions. 

 Farther advance was out of the question, so I was con- 

 strained to stop and admire. Everything that met the 

 eye seemed to be plated with silver and festooned with 

 diamonds. 



The ice commences to make in the rivers about the first 

 week in December. First of all shore-ice forms along the 

 banks and in those places where there is least current, this 

 gets broken off piece by piece by the action of the stream, 

 and for a few days the rivers are choked with lumps of 

 floating ice which reduce the temperature of the water. 

 Simultaneously in the shallows a soft spongy ice forms 

 on the bottom encircling the stones, and this rising to the 

 surface accumulates in the eddies. This stuff, called 

 " lolly," serves to check the force of the current and make 

 the stream more torpid. Then the frost which is every 

 night getting more intense, seals up the floating masses, 

 and the rivers are bridged for the season, leaving, however, 

 air-holes (so called) in the rapids, which often remain open 

 all winter. 



Even those animals who do not regularly hybernate 

 retire to their dens for warmth and shelter in intensely 

 cold weather, coming out on milder days to take their 

 pleasure ; but cariboo are exceptions. Always restless, 

 these hardy animals are doubly so in very cold weather, 

 and travel about incessantly to keep themselves warm, 



