ittle pipe, in which sweetness cannot make up for want of force.
Fanti, a really good actress, and, although with a veiled voice, a
capital singer, is not so much considered, I discover, as Bordogni.

The house was quite filled, the boxes rejoicing in a display of pretty
faces few _salles d'opera_ might be admitted to rival. The prevailing
head-dress exceedingly showy and fanciful, a little too much so
perhaps:--but these are doings which, after all, change with each
season; therefore fashion can alone be arbiter. On the subject of beauty
I speak fearlessly, all men, having clear eyesight, being, upon this
point, admitted as competent witnesses. The _parterre_, too, was
occupied by a few parties of well-dressed women; but its prevailing
character, stalls included, was sombre and great-coatish,--not quite up
to the pit of the King's Theatre;--there was more applause though,
therefore I presume more enjoyment, which is the main object after all.
At the close of the performance several delicate bouquets, together with
a pretty coronal or two of choice flowers, were showered on the stage in
compliment to the fair _beneficiere_.

_Wednesday, 12th._--Winter has at length arrived in person, and his
active bridge-maker is laying for him a firm icy path across the waters.
It was reported yesterday that the passage between Staten Island and New
Jersey was no longer open, Amboy Creek being thickly frozen from Newark
Bay to the Raritan. On reaching the steamboat this morning, I found that
the report was a correct one, and that our only practicable passage lay
through the Narrows and round the south end of Staten Island. The
occasion thus presented of a winter view of the bay quite reconciled me
to this more exposed and circuitous route, as it, in truth, amply
compensated for it.

It was just seven A.M. when I reached the dock where the boat lay, to
all appearance firmly imbedded in thick ice; the river, I perceived, was
still pretty clear. Punctual as usual, the bell ceased to clang; the
paddle-wheels were vigorously applied; and in a few moments we burst our
bonds, thrusting the thick flakes of ice aside, and darting into the
clear river free from all farther impediment.

There were very few passengers, and I had the promenade deck to my
exclusive use. Although day had not long broke, the clearness and purity
of the atmosphere gave to the most distant parts of the landscape an
outline cold and distinct, and brought all objects