2 QO BREAK-UP OF THE ARCTIC WINTER. 



a nature, that it is certain that no other phenomena 

 in Nature can be compared to it. Ever since the 

 settlement of civilized man upon its banks, for instance, 

 the breaking up of the ice upon the St. Lawrence has 

 proved a constant source of never-failing wonder to 

 the whole Canadian population ; and from time to time 

 a multitude of writers have vainly endeavoured to 

 give an adequate description of its grandeur ; and yet 

 what is the break-up of the ice upon a single river, 

 when compared to the mighty, and almost simultaneous 

 revolution of Nature, which takes place every spring 

 over the whole extent of the southern portion of the 

 arctic ocean, and the numerous great rivers which 

 flow into it? 



To what shall we attribute this stupendous convulsion 

 of whose magnitude the human mind can hardly realize 

 the faintest idea? 



Are we to seek for an explanation of it through a 

 combination of several causes, or must we regard it 

 merely as the result of the sun's rays shining upon 

 the arctic solitudes after a perpetual night of some 

 months' duration? 



We know that on the American plains for example, 

 as long as the wind is from the north, and the 

 temperature in consequence keeps low, there may be 

 very powerful sunshine for many days in succession, 

 without doing more than merely encrusting the surface 

 of the snow with a thin film of ice. We are inclined 

 to think therefore, that great though the sun's influence 

 in this respect may be, it would be insufficient of 

 itself alone to produce this sudden and marvellous 

 change, which we believe is principally due to a change 

 of wind which produces a rapid rise in the temperature 





