236 



RECREATION. 



QUEBEC IN WINTER. 



E. M. 



Early last summer I told an ex-resident 

 of Quebec that I expected to visit his na- 

 tive city. 



"Not in summer!" he expostulated. 



"Why, of course !" I replied. 'Isn't that 

 a good place to keep cool in?" 



"Oh, yes," he answered indifferently, 

 "but the time to see Quebec in her real 

 glory is winter." 



I gasped, and shivered with apprehension. 



"Not at all," insisted the man from Que- 

 bec. "People in Quebec do not suffer so 

 much from the cold as we do here in New 

 York; and they enjoy life in winter more 

 than they do in summer. The air is dry, 

 pure and bracing. It does not carry the 

 deadly chill of damp sea air. On the con- 

 trary, it inspires activity and gaiety. If you 

 expect to see Quebec in characteristic 

 mood, defer your visit until next winter." 



I followed his advice, for why spend time 

 and money to see a place except at its best? 



I reached Quebec in the evening, and my 

 first impressions of that beautiful, historic 

 and most interesting city gave me a new 

 thrill. Seated in a curious little cariole 

 and wrapped to my chin in soft fur robes, 

 I was driven swiftly through the quaint 

 streets, sometimes between high, foreigtir. 

 looking stone walls topped with massive 

 buildings, to the Chateau Frontenac/ most 

 picturesque and beautiful hotel iri the 

 world. The artistic and exquisite interior, 

 softly warm, was glowing with lights, and 

 suggested rather a uniquely beautiful home 

 than a mere hostelry. The room to which 

 I was shown confirmed the impression | not 

 a square, formal, sepulchral hotel room, but 

 a dainty boudoir of artistic coloring. 



I turned to a window, and before me" was 

 a vision of the glory of winter. Far q*own 

 below, the majestic St. Lawrence wound to 

 meet the sea; the earth lay quiet beneath a 

 downy cover of snow; long rows of lights 

 on both sides of the river sparkled and 

 snapped with dazzling brilliancy ; and above 

 all rose the moon, bathing the scene in 

 white splendor ! I was more than ready to 

 bend my knee to the Frost King! 



It is in Quebec in winter that sport is 

 truly royal. Then the native population 

 gives itself up to those forms of social and 

 physical enjoyment which are the more 

 characteristic of its picturesque life and en- 

 vironment. Then, too, the atmosphere is 

 at its purest and best and defies insomnia, 

 malaria and all diseases of the respiratory 

 organs. Instead of the enervating climate 

 of the South that makes exertion of every 

 kind a burden, physical exercise in Quebec 

 during the season of frost and snow . is a 

 positive pleasure. The more one walks or 

 skates or drives or tramps on skiis or snow 

 shoes, the more temptation there is to re- 

 peat the experience. The bracing air of 

 the Canadian winter is the elixir of life, 

 ennui and enervation giving way to exhil- 

 aration and health. The lungs expand to 

 the enormous inhalations of oxygen, and 



the purified and brightened blood courses 

 more freely and invigoratingly through the 

 veins. Clad in raiment befitting the cli- 

 mate, with ad libitum accompaniments of 

 the beautiful furs that are there so fash- 

 ionable and so comparatively inexpensive, 

 discomfort is unknown, and luxury and ex- 

 hilaration are the order of the day. The 

 blood tingles with a vigorous sense of 

 pleasure and delight that is unknown in 

 lower latitudes, and that inspires a desire 

 for active participation in out of door ex- 

 ercise and the prevailing sports and pas- 

 times of the people. These are at the same 

 time picturesque, attractive and rational. 

 Strangers who wish to participate therein 

 are warmly welcomed by the different win- 

 ter clubs and quickly initiated into the va- 

 rious forms of local sport. Skating on the 

 various rinks is continuously in progress 

 there during the winter. There are both 

 ^ indoor "and outdoor rinks to which guest 

 tickets of admission may be had by non- 

 residents for the asking, and tfie fancy 

 skating daily witnessed there is alone well 

 worth a long journey to see. 



The most^ exciting winter game of Que- 

 bec is hockey, which, with the possible ex- 

 ception of polo, is the fastest known to 

 lovers of athletic sports. There are often 

 2 or 3 matches a week. Quebec has 2 curl- 

 ing rinks and many lovers and excellent 

 players of the roarin* game. Tobogganing 

 down the hills of the Cove Fields that 

 form part of the historic Plains of Abra- 

 ham is a favorite amusement with Quebec- 

 ers and a thrilling experience for visitors. 

 This toboggan slide is one of the greatest 

 in the world. The daring tobogganers 

 start from immediately under the Citadel, 

 speed down the Glacis, and run until the 

 toboggan reaches the other end of the beau- 

 tiful Dufferin Terrace. This scene at night, 

 with the picturesque club uniforms, under 

 the many lights, can not be surpassed. 

 Sleighing is also fashionable amusement in 

 Quebec, and the roads round about the city 

 are kept in excellent condition. In the 

 streets of the city hundreds of carioles, 

 queer little sleds peculiar to this quaint old 

 place, dash along, their jingling bells filling 

 the air with silvery music. The various 

 snowshoe clubs contribute largely to the so- 

 cial life and enjojment of Quebec in win- 

 ter. Their long night tramps to their coun- 

 try rendezvous are often headed by a bugle 

 band, and they present a highly picturesque 

 appearance tramping in Indian file over the 

 snow, clad in their multi-colored blanket 

 suits and bearing torches. Skiing is also a 

 fashionable source of amusement, and is 

 yearly growing in popular favor. The use 

 of the ski is easily learned, and with a 

 little practice the beginner soon becomes 

 a skilled skier. During January arid Febru- 

 ary good sport is obtainable in fishing for 

 tommycods through the ice of: the St. 

 Charles river, where cabanes, or huts, com- 

 fortably heated, are erected for the purpose. 

 The winter visitor leaves Quebec reluc- 

 tantly, vowing to return when the world 

 elsewhere shall become too tame for him. 



