114 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Makch, 
ON THE TOBOGGAN SLIDES. 
Among the amusements at the recent Ice 
■Carnival at Montreal were coasting on the 
“ tobogganing slides curling sports by clubs 
from Canada and the United States—these 
sports upon-smootli ice areas on the St. Law¬ 
rence; snow-shoe races; a torchlight proces¬ 
sion; a snow-shoe concert; a skating masquer¬ 
ade; horse races on the ice; a carnival ball, 
and railroad excursions on the frozen surface 
■of the river, upon ice so firm that it sustained 
a railroad track, a train of loaded cars, and a 
seventeen-ton locomotive. “Tobogganing” 
is a word which may be new to many of our 
readers in the United States and Territories. 
Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
The “toboggan,” from which the term 
is derived, is the simplest of sleighs, and 
is of Indian origin. Imagine the letter 
J, laid on its side, the curved end forward 
and upward, and you have the “ toboggan.” 
The Indians used this flat, broad sleigh 
for conveying peltry, food, fuel, etc., over 
the deep snow, impassable for sleighs with 
runners. They also used it in their winter 
sports, and the white settlers were not slow 
to adopt it. “Tobogganing” is the great 
winter amusement of the Montreal people. 
The many elevations in and near the city 
offer every opportunity for this amusement, 
which is not without danger. The Mount 
Royal Slide, which takes in a part of Peel St., 
is one mile long. Other slides are a thousand 
feet or more. The great tobogganing hill 
was brilliantly illuminated, at night, by thou¬ 
sands of colored lights. The game of curling 
is a favorite Scotch game, in which a heavy 
weight of smooth stone or iron is propelled 
from the hand, like a ten-pin ball, against 
another similar mass, to drive it in a given 
direction. These out-door amusements di¬ 
versify the monotony of the long and cold 
Canadian winter, and make a strong and 
healthful race, which rises superior to tbe 
