travels in North America. 97 



tke Winters are not fo cold as they were eighty Years ago, that 

 in all Appearance they will grow milder hereafter. The Misfor- 

 tune of thofe who came before us, and the good Fortune of thofe 

 who fhall come after us, is no Cure for the prefent Evil which 

 we fulFer. A Creole of Martinico, who fhould have landed the 

 firlVTime i\\ France during the great Froft in 1709, would he 

 have been much relieved by hearing me fay, who came at that 

 Time from Quebec ^ that the Cold was not fo lharp as in Canada? 

 For though 1 fpoke the Truth, and had good Evidences of it, 

 yet he might have anfwered me, that he did not find the Cold 

 of Fra?ice lefs piercing by hearing that it was iharper Hill ia 

 Canada. Neverthelefs, as foon as the Month of May is come, 

 the Scene is foon changed, the Sweetnefs of this End of the 

 Spring is fo much the more pleafing, as it fucceeds a more ri- 

 gorous Seafon. The Heat of the Summer, which in lefs than 

 four Months Time fhews us both Seed-Time and Harvefl (a) y 

 the Serenity of the Autumn, in which we enjoy a Courfe of 

 fine Days, which are feldom feen in moll: of the Provinces 

 of France : All this, added to the Liberty which they enjoy in 

 this Country, is a Compenfation which makes many People 

 think an Abode here, at leall as agreeable as in the Kingdom 

 where they were born ; and it is certain, that our Canadians do 

 not fcruple to give it the Preference. 



After all, there are in this excefTiveand long Cold, fome In- 

 J . conveniencies which can never be well re« 



Thelncon^emen^ medied : I fliall Place in the' firft Rank, the 

 CM ^'''""^ Difficulty of feeding Cattle, which during 



^ ' the whole Winter can find abfolutely nothing 



in the Fields, and of Confequence colt much to feed, and the 

 Flelh of which, after. Jx Months dry Food, has fcarce any Tafte. 

 The Fowls require alfo a great deal of Care, and much Corn, 

 to preferve them during fo long and fevere a Winter. If we fave 

 thç Expence by killing at the End of O^cier, all the Animals 

 we are to eat till May, one may eafily judge that fuch Meat h 

 very inlipid, and in the Manner that I have faid they take l^îûi 

 under the Ice, they cannot be very plenty ; befides that, they 

 are immediately frozen. So that it is almoft impofiible K), have 

 them frelh in the Seafon when it is moft difficult to do without. 

 We fhould alfo be very much embarrafTed during Lent, without 

 Cod and Eels. There is at that Time frelli Butter and Eggs ; 

 and there is but little Nourilhment to be expeded in eating the 



f a J They plow the Fields in Summer, they fow from the midH of j^^ril 

 to the loth of May, they cut the Corn from the 15th of ^uguji to the 20'th 

 of September. The Lands that are not plowed till the Spring hear lefs, 

 becaufe they are not fo v/eU impregnated with the nitrous Parts of the 

 Snow» 



O .Fulfey 



