SNOWED UP 53 



is the actual weight of snowfall that has brought 

 about our isolation; but for drifting, the average 

 depth would not greatly exceed eight inches. It 

 was the furious wind that did the mischief, piling 

 the snow into wreaths twenty and thirty feet deep. 

 For the last five days, a hundred men have been cut- 

 ting away at one such drift, about five miles long, on 

 the line between Altnabreac and Forsinard. Every 

 shovelful of snow has to be lifted three times, for 

 the only way to clear the cutting is in a triple tier 

 of stages. Two trains were imbedded there for 

 several days, and when the men reached them yester- 

 day, it was found that the wheels were all frozen 

 hard, and the carriages were as immovable as ever. 

 These surfacemen themselves were in considerable 

 jeopardy, for they were working many miles from 

 any shelter or supplies ; a train of provisions, sent 

 up from Helmsdale, got snowed up in a fresh drift 

 near Kinbrace, and the poor fellows suffered severely 

 from hunger and exhaustion before they could be 

 relieved. 



Meanwhile we, who are not yet on short com- 

 mons, find our lot not without alleviation. The 

 tempest which brought the snow has passed away, 

 and the climate has become divine. The frost is 



