SKATING AND SLIDING. 
459 
Wednesday, \^th . — 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 fi.\ed, 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, \Qth . — 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., <fec. Grown people once in a while take 
a frolic in this Avay ; 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 gliding 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, \Qth. — 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 
as 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 
