618 
RURAL HOURS 
■white looks beautifully just now, when the country about is dull 
and tarnished, only partially covered with the dregs of the winter 
snow. We met a number of sleighs, for the roads are in a bad 
condition from the thaw ; indeed, wagons are out in the village. 
During the last week in February, and in March, the lake is gen- 
erally more used for sleighing than at any other period ; we have 
seen heavily-loaded sleds, carrying stone and iron, passing over 
it at such times. The stage-sleighs, with four horses and eight or 
ten passengers, perhaps, occasionally go and come over the ice at 
that season. Our people are sometimes very daring in this way ; 
they seldom leave the lake until some horse or sled has been lost ; 
but happily, although there have been narrow escapes of this 
kind, no lives have yet been lost. 
Tuesday, 2^ith . — Lovely day. Out on the ice again. Drove 
under Darkwood Hill ; the evergreens looked sombre, indeed, all 
but black. On most of the other hills, one could see the ground 
distinctly, with fallen timber lying like jackstraws scattered about. 
But the growth of evergreens on Darkwood Hill is so dense, that 
they completely screen the earth. Went on shore for a short dis- 
tance near the Cliffs. It is pleasant driving through the woods, 
even in winter; once within their bounds, we feel the charm of 
the forest again. Though dark and sombre in the background, 
yet close at hand, the old pines and hemlocks are green as ever, 
with lights and shadows playing about them, which in the dis- 
tance become imperceptible. The trunks and limbs.of the leafless 
trees, also, never fail to be a source of much interest. The pure 
wintry air is still touched with the fragrance of bark and ever- 
greens, and the woods have a winter-light of their own, filled with 
