Weather at Lyndon in Rutland. 53 
ice hanging about them ; but, being laid on dry ftraw in a 
cellar, they all recovered. Some have made a pra&ice of 
breaking the ice to give the fifh air ; but, by all the examples 
1 heard of in this froft, it appears to be a great miftake, and 
that they are much fafer without it. 
Times of diftrefs will make creatures look out for unufual 
food. A land animal does not feem naturally to live on filh ; 
but in this froft a fox was frequently tracked to the mouth of 
a covered drain, juft deep enough to let in the fifh from a pond, 
and was one morning feen eating one on the bank, the blood of 
which was traced on the fnow to the drain, lhewing plainly 
that it came from thence. 
After the froft broke it was windy and wet, and the air did 
not become mild for ten days or a fortnight ; and the ground 
was fo dry within, that the melting of the fnow and the rain 
together did not make great floods. It continued often windy 
and fhowery till March ; but from the latter end of January 
it was, as to warmth, mild. With March the winter returned, 
there was almoft conftant north winds, frofty mornings or quite 
froft, and fometimes hard and frequent fnow. This flopped 
the feed time, which was begun before, and made it late ; but 
when it did come, it was good. The fpring was backward, 
and frequent frofty mornings; but mended gradually, and 
things came on, though flowly, and the fpring was dry till the 
middle of May. 
Then came a fhowery and fine growing time for three weeks, 
and after a ihort time it became hot and dry. The middle of June 
a wet feafon began with a very great rain, and it was wet without 
interruption till the end of July. There was a great deal of hay 
made this year, but little of it right good. Many of the mea- 
dows were flooded ; the uplands could not be well gotten for 
2 the 
