and the Weather which preceded and followed. 539 
sure towards the middle of September, and was followed by 
an unprecedentedly fine and mild autumn, which continued, 
with scarcely any interruption by frost, quite to the close of 
the year.* It was far otherwise in the year 1829; for though, 
as before, the fall of rain somewhat abated in the months of 
September and October, yet the weather, considered gene- 
rally during those months, was dull and cheerless, and the 
mean temperature lower than had been experienced for seve- 
ral preceding years. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that, on 
the 7th of October, large flocks of wild geese were seen flying 
in a south-westerly direction, it being earlier than I ever re- 
member to have noticed these birds before ; and it was on the 
following night that the first frost occurred. 
Neither did the weather receive any sensible improvement 
as the year declined: on the contrary, the temperature in 
November became still further reduced, and winter seemed 
approaching by unusually rapid strides. Now and then a 
mild day was experienced ; but at intervals, especially towards 
the middle of the month, there was an occurrence of sharp 
frost; and on the 25th this was accompanied by snow, which 
came on in the night previous, and fell throughout the day ; 
a brisk wind springing up at the same time from the north- 
east, the snow was considerably drifted, insomuch that, in 
some places, the roads were for a short time obstructed. 
The beginning of December was somewhat warmer than 
the preceding month, and on the 4th a good deal of rain 
ensued ; but on the 6th the weather relapsed very much into its 
former state, with mostly frost at night, little or no sun during 
the day, and the wind fixed in the east. On the 11th the 
wind changed, passing from the east to the south-east, and 
thence, through the south, to the south-west. This was 
followed by four or five days of dense fog, which came on 
soon afterwards, and hung in the atmosphere night and day 
together with scarcely any intermission; and it is worthy of 
especial notice, that it was during the prevalence of this fog, 
after a second shift of the wind back to the north-east, that 
the weather first assumed that more determined appearance 
by which it was afterwards characterised.+ Indeed, from the 
night of the 15th we may date the commencement of a frost 
* Throughout the month of December, 1828, the thermometer at Bot- 
tisham (distant half a mile from Swaffham Bulbeck ) was in no one instance 
during the day (that is to say, between sunrise and sunset) below the freez- 
ing point, and, till the 26th, was not below 40° within the same period. 
+ I find, by referring to Howard’s Climate of London (tab. 89.), that the 
severe winter of 1813-14 had its commencement, as in the present instance, 
during a swecession of thick fogs ; and in another part of that essay (tab. 115.), 
WN 2 
