2 TIMES AND SEASONS. 



soned flame, that diffuses itself over the heavens, and is 

 reflected from the unsullied snow beneath. These pheno- 

 mena I have seen during many years' residence in the 

 grim and ice-bound Newfoundland, and in still sterner 

 Canada. There, too, I have often witnessed the 



, . . . " Kindred glooms, 

 Congenial horrors !".... 



that the poet apostrophises, when 



. . . . " The snows arise, and, foul and fierce, 

 All winter drives along the darken'd air." 



A snow-storm, when the air is filled with the thick flakes 

 driven impetuously before a blinding gale, rapidly oblite- 

 rating every landmark from the benighted and bewildered 

 traveller's search on a wild mountain-side in Canada ; or 

 on the banks of Newfoundland when a heavy sea is run- 

 ning, and floes of ice, sharp as needles and hard as rocks, 

 are floating all around is something terrible to witness, 

 and solemn to remember. 



Yet there are gentler features and more lovable attri- 

 butes of winter, even in those regions where he reigns 

 autocratically. The appearance of the forest, after a 

 night's heavy snow in calm weather, is very beautiful. 

 On the horizontal boughs of the spruces and hemlock- 

 pines, it rests in heavy, fleecy masses, which take the 

 form of hanging drapery, while the contrast between the 

 brilliant whiteness of the clothing and the blackness of 

 the sombre foliage is fine and striking. Nor are the 

 forms which the drifted snow assumes less attractive. 



