answers the purpose; and you may see them piled upon the ice in large quantities, all frozen. It is a remarkable thing, that the Canadian horses eat them. One can scarcely help smiling at the idea of a horse eating fish, but, you may rest assured, it is a fact.

Great quantities of these fish are caught at Quebec, with lines. The manner of doing so is odd enough: A hole is dug in the ice, and a temporary house is built over it, large enough to hold half a dozen people, and a stove to keep them warm. Those who cannot afford to purchase deals to make a house, substitute large pieces of ice, with which they form a kind of defence from the weather. The middle of the night is the best time for fishing. They place a strong light near the hole, which attracts the attention of the fish, and brings them round the hole, in large quantities; so that they are caught as fast as they can be pulled in. These houses are erected on the river St. Charles, in great numbers; and have a singular appearance in a dark night, particularly those made of ice, the transparency of which, gives them the effect of so many lanterns.

At

It is a singular fact, that these fish, if not bruised, will, when put into cold water several days after they are caught, return to life, and swim about as well as ever. the time they are caught, they are thrown into a basket, and in the course of a minute or two, they become frozen stiff. When carried home, and put into cold water, they become thawed, and begin to swim. How long they would continue out of the water in the frozen state, and afterwards shew signs of life, I cannot determine; but I can speak to the fact, for several days. I have tried some that had been taken, and been in a frozen state for eight days, but they did not recover, or shew any signs of life.

It is a curious circumstance: certainly the vital principle had not been destroyed. Perhaps the ice, or sudden freezing, had not penetrated much below the surface; and, by forming a kind of covering, having the properties of a non-conductor, may have preserved the vital heat from escaping into the cold air. Perhaps, a kind of torpor came on, like that of the bear and other winter sleepers. Probably the cause is beyond our reach, for nature generally

draws a veil betwixt us and her most extraordinary operations.

On my arrival at Montreal, I found the good folks employed in precisely the same way, that those I had left in Quebec, passéd their time. In all countries, people pass their leisure hours pretty much alike; that is, they dedicate them to amusement. In Canada, as most of their winter hours are leisure hours, there is, of course, some ingenuity necessary to give such variety to their amusements as may prevent them from becoming insipid by frequent repetition. Hence, in Quebec and Montreal, to the regular town parties, are added, irregular country parties. Pic-nic feasts, where every one carries with him a ready-dressed dish, are very common; and as the place of rendezvous is generally a few miles out of town, the ladies and gentlemen have the pleasure of a little carioling before dinner; the roads, it is true, are often abominably bad, being a constant succession of cahots, in which you are jolted most unmercifully; not to say any thing of cariols being very frequently upset, and their contents, ladies, gentlemen, soup, poultry, or roast beef,

tumbled into the snow, to the no small amusement of the rest of the party. It is also any thing but excessively pleasant, after having dined, danced, supped, and passed the evening in festive glee, enlivened by the song and the catch, to drive home in the middle of the night, let the wind blow, and the snow drift as much as they please. Besides, there sometimes come on such dreadful storms, that neither man nor horse ean shew their face to them. The conse→ quence is, the party remain all night; the fiddlers again strike up the merry dance, and the whist players again cut for partners; what cannot be cured, must be endured. Day-light comes at last, and enables the party to take the road homeward without the danger of losing their way, which most probably would have been the case with some of them had they attempted it in the course of the night. The little hardships, disasters, or inconveniences of these country parties, give a zest however to the more elegant amusements of the

town.

A stranger in Canada, who has had a respectable introduction, is well received,

and meets every where the greatest hospitality.

To travel from Canada to the United States, is, in England, considered to be a most arduous and perilous undertaking. In truth, it is not without its dangers and difficulties, particularly in winter; yet, with all the inconveniences attending it, the journey is performed very frequently. The Americans are constantly coming into Canada, particularly to Montreal. They bring provisions, and various sorts of dry goods, generally in Sleighs, which resemble the Canadian cariole, except that they are placed on high runners, and are larger and more commodious than the cariole. The high runners give them one great advantage, which is, that they do not form in the roads those inequalities the Canadians call cahots, which jolt you so much, and are one of the principal drawbacks to winter travelling in Canada.

I procured one oft he Yankie sleighs, as they are usually termed, and left Montreal in a very cold, hazy morning. Our first stage was from Montreal cross the St. Lawrence to Laprairie, a distance of about nine miles.