The vegetables are dug up in the beginning
of winter, and are kept in cellars and from thence brought to market. A
month's consumption can be bought at a time, without the provisions
spoiling, as all remains frozen till it is cooked. The sheep and pigs
are seen standing, as if alive, but in a thoroughly frozen state. The
winter lasts from November till April. Sleighing is the universal and
only mode of travelling. The sleighs, which are very gay, are covered
with bells, and the travellers in them are usually clothed in expensive
furs. Pic-nics are carried on in the winter, to arrange which committees
are formed, each member inviting his friends till the parties often
number 100. They then hire a large room for dancing, and the guests
dress themselves in their ball dresses, and then envelope themselves in
their furs, and start at six in the evening for their ball, frequently
driving in their sleighs for several miles by moonlight to the place of
rendezvous. Open sleighs are almost always used for evening parties, and
apparently without any risk, although the evening dress is put on before
starting. There is great danger without care of being frost-bitten
during a Canadian winter, but it must be a very gay and pretty sight to
see sleighs everywhere, and all seem to enjoy the winter much, though
the cold is very intense.
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