220 ICY HILLS AND RAPID DESCENTS. 



been my fortune to cross. It was worse by much, as it 

 appeared to me, than the ridgy part of the road between 

 St George and St Andrews, in New Brunswick. The 

 whole road, also, was glassy with frozen snow ; and, 

 as we were on high wheels, it was no easy matter to get 

 safely over the steep descents. Every successive ridge 

 was another montagne Russe. To hold back was impos 

 sible, as, immediately on the attempt being made, the 

 carriage began to slew round and proceed sideways. 

 The only way to keep us from spilling, therefore, was to 

 give the horses rein 5 and it really did seem frightful to 

 look at the break-neck pace with which our four horses, 

 digging in their feet, galloped with us down these icy 

 slopes. Had the horses not gone on so, the carriage 

 would have got before them and so, with a steady hand 

 and eye, and no great deal of light, but with a perfect 

 knowledge of the road, the duty of the coachman was 

 simply to steer. With one change of horses, it may be 

 supposed that, at such a pace, we made very fair speed 

 during these last twenty-eight miles. A strong wind 

 blew, however and though, on our arrival at Cherry field, 

 the thermometer was no lower than 6 Fain*., we felt it 

 bitterly cold. Without buffalo-coats, with which I and 

 my fellow-passengers were all furnished, it would have 

 been almost impossible to have lived throughout the 

 twelve hours I had sat in that open carriage. 



Dec. 26. A comfortable bed for a few hours, and a dirty 

 breakfast, prepared us indifferently to start again at six 

 in the morning. The thermometer was at 12 Fahr., 

 low enough for an open carriage ; but the sky was clear 

 and calm ; so that it was not by any means so chillingly 

 cold as on the previous night. We were still on wheels, 

 but the road was not so hilly as before, and we reached 

 Ellsworth soon after 11 A.M. This is a pretty, clean, 

 and prosperous-looking little town, supported chiefly by 

 lumbering. A clean pleasant inn, a warm blazing fire, 



