are
heavier and much less comfortable than those of France; to those
of England they can bear no comparison. I never saw any harness
that I could call handsome, nor any equipage which, as to horses,
carriage, harness, and servants, could be considered as complete.
The sleighs are delightful, and constructed at so little expense
that I wonder we have not all got them in England, lying by, in
waiting for the snow, which often remains with us long enough to
permit their use. Sleighing is much more generally enjoyed by
night than by day, for what reason I could never discover, unless
it be, that no gentlemen are to be found disengaged from business
in the mornings. Nothing, certainly, can be more agreeable than
the gliding smoothly and rapidly along, deep sunk in soft furs,
the moon shining with almost midday splendour, the air of crystal
brightness, and the snow sparkling on every side, as if it were
sprinkled with diamonds. And then the noiseless movement of the
horses, so mysterious and unwonted, and the gentle tinkling of
the bells you meet and carry, all help at once to soothe and
excite the spirits: in short, I had not the least objection to
sleighing by night, I only wished to sleigh by day also.

Almost every resident in the country has a carriage they call a
carryall, which name I suspect to be a corruption of the cariole
so often mentioned in the pretty Canadian story of Emily Montagu.
It is clumsy enough, certainly, but extremely convenient, and
admirably calculated, with its thick roof and moveable draperies,
for every kind of summer excursion.

Their steam-boats, were the social arrangements somewhat
improved, would be delightful, as a mode of travelling; but they
are very seldom employed for excursions of mere amusement: nor do
I remember seeing pleasure-boats, properly so called, at any of
the numerous places where they might be used with so much safety
and enjoyment.

How often did our homely adage recur to me, "All work and no play
would make Jack a dull boy;" Jonathan is a very dull boy. We are
by no means so gay as our lively neighbours on the other side the
Channel, but, compared with Americans, we are whirligigs and
tetotums; every day is a holyday, and every night a festival.

Perhaps if the ladies had quite their own way, a little more
relaxation would be permitted; but there is one remarkable
peculiarity in their manners which precludes the possibility of
any dangerous outbreaking of the