SKATING AND SLIDING. 
459 
Wednesday, 11th. — Pleasant weather. Good sleighing yet. 
Troops of boys skating on the lake. The ice is a fine light blue 
to-day ; toward sunset it was colored with green and yellow ; 
those not familiar with it might have fancied it open ; but there 
is a fixed, glassy look about the ice which betrays the deception, 
and reminds one what a poor simile is that of a mirror, for the 
mobile, graceful play of countenance of the living waters, in their 
natural state. 
The fresh, clear ice early in the season is often tinged with 
bright reflections of the sky. 
Thursday/, 18th. — It is snowing a little. The children are en- 
joying their favorite amusement of sliding to their hearts' content ; 
boys and girls, mounted on their little sleds, fly swiftly past you 
at every turn. Wherever there is a slight descent, there you are 
sure to find the children with their sleds ; many of these are very 
neatly made and painted ; some are named, also — the " Gazelle," 
the "Pathfinder," &c., &c. Grown people once in a while take 
a frolic in this way ; and of a bright moonlight night, the young 
men sometimes drag a large wood-sled to the top of Mount , 
or rather to the highest point which the road crosses, when they 
come gfiding swiftly down the hill to the village bridge, a distance 
of just one mile — a pretty slide that — a very respectable mon- 
tague russe. 
Friday, 19 th. — Cold. The evergreens make less difference 
than one would suppose in the aspect of the country. Beautiful 
in summer, when all about them is green, they never strike one 
ds gloomy ; those which are natives of this climate, at least, are 
not of a sombre character. But as winter draws on, and the 
snow falls, they seem to grow darker ; seen in the distance, in 
