WINTER AT ITS HEIGHT 55 



The cold of Canada and the northern regions is too 

 hackneyed a subject to permit of much dwelling on ; but 

 I may just mention that no fire, however roaring, would 

 warm my hut ; and that water kept within a few feet of 

 the fireplace often became a solid block of ice. Such 

 liquids as ink and oil also froze, but spirits did not. My 

 guns, as they stood in the corner, were covered with a 

 bright inflorescence of frost, as well as every other metal 

 article ; and I was always obliged to put on gloves before 

 venturing to handle them, otherwise the skin of the 

 fingers would be left adhering to the metal. 



As to the effect of the cold on my constitution, it 

 certainly was trying. For the first time since childhood 

 I was seriously laid up this winter, and among minor 

 evils I suffered greatly from chilblains. Otherwise I 

 found the cold bearable, especially while I kept in motion. 

 The only severe frost-bites that I experienced I acquired 

 while fishing at a hole in the ice. 



The ice on the lakes was of a great thickness as 

 much as three feet on some of the larger lakes and 

 rivers, and it was no inconsiderable task to cut a hole 

 through it to the water. The fish generally rose freely 

 to these holes; and sometimes thirty or forty of them 

 were cut within the space of a few hundred yards. The 

 methods of fishing were various. I used baited hooks, 

 and sometimes tried the Indian plans, the commonest of 

 which was spearing. The fish are attracted by a bait, 

 and as soon as they are perceived are impaled by a light 

 barbed spear, and sometimes by a trident. At night the 

 fish are attracted by a bright light, and sometimes an 

 artificial fish, made of painted wood, is used as a lure. 

 Much practice is necessary to make a successful spearer 

 of fish ; but the Indian men and women, and even the 

 children, are very dexterous at it. In this way sixty or 

 seventy fish, weighing three or four pound each, are often 

 taken by a single fisher in a few hours' time. But it is 

 not always that the fish can be attracted to the holes. 



