WINTER : THE FROZEN LAKE. 



IV 



THE CYCLE OF THE SEASONS 



EVERY normal Anglo-Saxon has in his nature, however deeply 

 hidden, some latent reminiscence of primitive instincts not 

 quite eliminated by the habits of civilized life. We are all more 

 or less susceptible to a sort of nostalgia for the woods and wilds, 

 where life may be lived in perfect accordance with nature's demands. 

 Hence it is not because Canada is the nearest colony that she remains 

 for so many Englishmen the most attractive and desirable of all 

 the colonies ; nor yet because her climate, fauna and natural features 

 conform more closely to those of the mother-country, but chiefly 

 on account of the glamour of romance which broods over her 

 primeval forests, boundless prairies, and majestic lakes and rivers. 

 The climate of Nova Scotia, exhibiting as it does so many phases 

 of deep interest, and presenting far sharper contrasts between the 

 seasons than that of Great Britain, matures a hardy and powerful 

 race of men. Each period has its own fitting open-air occupation. 

 Even winter has its peculiar attractions, and the intense exhilara- 

 tion of outdoor exercise in the invigorating frosty atmosphere of 

 winter is preferred by many to the more languid pleasures of summer. 

 The transition period of a few weeks, which neither falls under the 

 category of winter nor yet of spring, is the only tedious interval. 



