20 THE GREAT DENE RACE.

But then cold and frost are not without their advantages. They transform our
great lakes into boundless plains, over which the native huntsman, tired of
the hardships of forest travelling, hurries while sending forth the plaintive
notes of his weird music, or his canine team gambols after the painful
ascents and numberless difficulties attending land driving. They bridge over
the rivers, preserve eatables from corruption and solidify liquids, so that they
can be carried about with the greatest ease.

And then cannot the reader appreciate the beauty of those vast soli-
tudes where man can so readily commune with his Creator, of those silent
forests dressed in an immaculate garment over which the bright, if not very
warm, rays of a March sun sprinkle myriads of the purest diamonds?
Would he not feel the charm of those brief days when brilliant Sol receives
a suite of two, four, or even eight satellites through the mysterious operations
of the parhelia, or of those unending nights when nature seems at play, either
encircling her silvery orb with a glorious halo, or displaying in the quiet
heavens the wonders of the aurora borealis: now gigantic serpents that
silently glide about through the sidereal spaces; then simply luminous rays
that proceed from an unseen focus, to paint and stripe the huge dial over
which revolves the tireless Great Bear, which plays for the child of the north
the role of a never failing time-piece?

All these wonders, and many more, are the exclusive appanage of our
high latitudes. They contribute towards making life bearable, nay agreeable,
even to the exile from the land of smiling fields and sun-kissed meadows.