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Snow Blockade on the Pacific Railroad: Arctic

Captain Scoresby, the Arctic traveller, who be coveted.

Snow is always a wonderful thing to was first to observe them, gave ninety-six those who are not accustomed to see it. illustrations of their graceful forms, in The ancient historian Herodotus tells us, his description of the Arctic regions. It was at first thought that only such thought that only such in his gossiping way, that the Scythians reported of the country lying beyond extreme cold as that of the Arctic regions them, and further to the north, that it could produce this crystallization. On could neither be passed, nor yet discerned investigation, however, it was discovered with the eye, on account of the feathers that in our own severe winters the snow which are continually falling. With these presents an equally wonderful appearance; both the earth and the air were so filled and an eminent meteorologist has given as effectually to obstruct the view. He to the world a representation of one hunhad himself sufficient acquaintance with dred and fifty figures from the snow, natural phenomena to conjecture that by which had come within his own observafeathers the wild inhabitants of Scythia tion. These are quite as beautiful and in reality meant snow; but it is more than diversified in character as those noticed probable that when the uninformed in- in the Polar seas, nearly all of them sixall of them six habitants of warmer latitudes first gazed, sided. in their travels, on the spectacle of a snow- My young readers will notice the beaustorm, they verily believed, and reported tiful engraving which represents tobogin all honesty, that feathers had been fall- ganing." This is quite a new term for ing to the ground. the old-fashioned "sliding down hill." I The nursery story of the "old woman am not sure but it is a Canadian word. for