390 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA : 
freezes. Those very sudden transitions, how* 
ever, from heat to cold, so common in the 
United States, and so very injurious to the 
constitution, are unknown in Canada; the 
seasons also are much more regular. 
The snow generally begins to fall in No¬ 
vember ; but sometimes it comes down as 
early as the latter end of October, This is the 
most disagreeable part of the whole year ; the 
air is then cold and raw, and the sky dark and 
gloomy ; two days seldom pass over together 
without a fall either of snow or sleet. By the 
end of the first or second week, however, in 
December, the clouds are generally dissolved, 
the frost sets in, the sky assumes a bright and 
azure hue, and for w eeks together it continues 
the same, without being obscured by a single 
cloud- 
The greatest degree of cold which they ex¬ 
perience in Canada, is in the month of January, 
when for a few days it is sometimes so intense, 
that it is impossible for a human being to re¬ 
main out of doors for any considerable time, 
without evident danger of being frost bitten, 
These very cold days, however, do not come 
all together, but intervene generally at some 
little distance from each other; and between 
them, in the depth of winter, the air is some¬ 
times so warm that people in exercise, in the 
