392 TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA t 
such a constant and friendly intercourse is kept 
up amongst the inhabitants,, that, as I have 
often heard it mentioned, it appears then as if 
the town were inhabited but by one large 
family. 
By means of their carioles or sledges, the Ca¬ 
nadians transport themselves oyer the snow, 
from place to place, in the piost agreeable 
manner, and with a degree of swiftness that ap¬ 
pears almost incredible; for with the same 
horse it is possible to go eighty miles in g day, 
so light is the draft of one of these carriages, 
and so favourable is the snow to the feet of 
the horse. The Canadian cariole or sledge is 
calculated to hold two persons and a driver; it 
is usually drawn by one horse; if two horses 
are made use of, they are put one before the 
other, as the track in the yoads will not admit 
of their going abreast. The shape of the car¬ 
riage is varied according to fancy, and it is a 
matter of emulation amongst the gentlemen, 
who shall have the handsomest one. There 
are two distinct kinds, however, of carioles, the 
open and fc the covered. The former is conir 
monly somewhat like the body of a capriole, 
put upon two iron runners pr slide®, similar in 
shape to the irons of a pair of skates; the lat¬ 
ter consists of the body of a chariot put on 
runners in the same manner, and covered en- 
tirely over w ith furs, which are found by ex- 
