CLIMATE. 



29 



gracious favour towards me during the past 

 year. He has shielded me in the shadow of 

 his hand through the perils of the sea and of 

 the wilderness from whence I may derive 

 motives of devotion and activity in my pro- 

 fession. Thousands are involved in worse than 

 Egyptian darkness around me, wandering in 

 ignorance and perishing through lack of know- 

 ledge. When will this wide waste howling 

 wilderness blossom as the rose, and the desert 

 become as a fruitful field ! Generations may 

 first pass away; and the seed of instruction 

 that is now sown, may lie buried, waiting for 

 the early and the latter rain, yet, the sure 

 word of Prophecy, will ever animate Christian 

 liberality and exertion, in the bright prospect 

 of that glorious period, when Christianity shall 

 burst upon the gloomy scene of heathenism, 

 and dispel every cloud of ignorance and super- 

 stition, till the very ends of the earth shall see 

 the salvation of the Lord. 



As I returned from divine service at the 

 Fort, to the farm, on the 7th, it rained hard 

 for nearly two hours, which is a very unusual 

 thing during winter in this northern latitude. 

 We have seldom any rain for nearly six 

 months, but a continued hard frost the greater 

 part of this period. The sky is generally clear, 



