pply of books with me, and other means of
amusement, I found the winter glide away without suffering much
from ennui; my health, however, proved very indifferent; and that
circumstance alone would have been sufficient to induce me to quit
this wretched country, even if my earlier prospects had been realized,
as they have not been. From the accompt current, I find my income
as chief trader for 1841 amounts to no more than 120l.: "Sic vos non
vobis mellificatis apes;" and since things are come to this pass,
it is high time I should endeavour to make honey for myself, in
some other sphere of life. I therefore transmitted my resignation to
head-quarters.

I cannot close this chapter without mentioning a singular phenomenon
which the lake presents in the winter season. The ice is never less
than five feet in thickness, frequently from eight to nine; yet the
water under this enormous crust not only feels the changes in the
atmosphere, but anticipates them. An approaching change of wind or
weather is known twenty-four hours before it occurs. For instance,
while the weather is perfectly calm, if a storm be at hand, the lake
becomes violently agitated the day before; when calm weather is to
succeed, it is indicated in like manner by the previous stillness of
the lake, even when the gale is still raging in the air. In summer
there is no perceptible current in the lake; in winter, however, a
current always sets in the direction of the wind, and indicates a
change of wind by running in a different direction. These curious
points have been ascertained by the long observation of our fishermen,
who, in the beginning of winter, bore holes in the ice for the purpose
of setting their lines, and visit them every day, both in order to
keep them open, and to take up what fish may be caught.

In consequence of the frequent shifting of the current, they
experience no little difficulty in adjusting their lines, the current
being occasionally so strong as to raise them to an angle of forty
degrees. Thus, if the lines were too long, and the current not very
strong, they would drag on the bottom; if too short, and the current
strong, they would be driven up upon the ice. The approach of a storm
is indicated, not by any heaving of the ice, but by the strength of
the current, and the roaring of the waves under the ice, which is
distinctly heard at a considerable distance, and is occasionally
increased by the collision of detached masses of broken