dragged them ashore. Others were intercepting timber of every description, for fuel.
January 11. The weather frequently changes from frosty to humid. Yesterday at two P.M. the thermometer stood at 76° in sunshine. The hottest day since the ninth of December. To-day the temperature was 54° in the shade.
Jan. 13. At seven o'clock in the morning, the thermometer indicated 21°. By mid-day, the sun's rays softened the mud in the streets. The people say that the winter has hitherto been milder than usual, and some infer that we will have no severe cold during the season. Last winter the thermometer was once observed to stand so low as 10° below zero. The greatest cold from 1787 to 1806 was minus 18°. The most intense frosts of this country have the effect of congealing the moisture in forest trees, and splitting them with a loud noise. Notwithstanding the moderation of the present season, the grasses and weeds on the ground are withered to whiteness. In the woods no evergreen plants are to be seen, except the tufts of mistletoe, which are perched on the branches of the tallest trees.
Examples of credulity are not rare. Yesterday a woman was deriving liberal emolument in town from fortune-telling, and from her supposed sagacity in knowing every thing respecting stolen goods. She also pretended to have the faculty of discovering springs of water and metallic ores, by means of the divining rod. Her speaking in the German language led me to suppose that she is descended from that part of Europe, where Rhabdomancy[73] {128} is prevalent. Almanack predictions of
