month than at any other period
during the year, and the dry weather frequently continues till late in
October. Snow falls sometimes early in November, and lays till late in
April; but this does not always hold. The rivers and lakes freeze up
about the middle of this month, some sooner and others later, according
to their situation. It is not uncommon to have frost in all the months
in the year except July: for, as was observed before, it seldom escapes
at the changes of the moon in June, and it frequently happens at the
full in August, particularly on small streams. If, however, it passes
that period, it generally keeps off till late in September. A stranger
would naturally conclude from this account, that the season was too
short and frosty for crops to come to maturity; but this is not the
case. Roots come to perfection and grain gets ripe in most years; wheat
being oftener hurt by the rust than the frost. The springs are indeed
backward; but vegetation is exceeding rapid, and the autumns are
uncommonly fine. The changes of the weather are frequently very sudden.
Often in the space of two hours, (in the seasons of fall and spring,)
changing from the mild temperature of September to the rigor of winter.
This is chiefly occasioned by the wind: for while it blows from any of
the points from the S.W. to the N.E. the air is mild; but when it veers
from the N.E. to the N.W. it becomes cold and clear; and as it
frequently shifts very suddenly, the transition from heat to cold is
equally short. Even in the sultry month of July, whenever the wind
changes for a few hours to the N.W. the air becomes cool, elastic, and
invigorating. This, as was before noticed, is occasioned by its passing
over the immense continent to the northwestward, and Hudson's Bay to
the northward. On the contrary, when the winds are from the southward
and S.E. they are mild and relaxing, retaining a portion of the heat
acquired in the torrid zone. The changes, however, are not always so
violent. The weather often both in winter and summer, continues for
weeks with little alteration in the temperature, and changes
imperceptibly. The coldest weather generally felt in the country, is on
or near the full moon in January; for it is not till after the cold has
had some time to exert its full influence and chill the earth, that the
full rigor of winter is experienced. The same is the case with the
greatest heat in summer, being in July, after the sun has for some