lad who forms a good ring is generally wide-awake enough to keep possession of it, and is there betimes in the morning, to renew his claim, and so continues throughout the day. The pence received by the sweeper-boys on the ice in the parks, are well earned and well deserved. The troublesome and importunate sweepers are those who run about all over the ice with broom in hand, teazing and boring every skater who passes near them.

Many a lad, too, plans and sweeps a ring for the skaters, without getting much trade: the reason is, that there is probably a flaw in the ice, or it is not in a good place, or for some other cause it is not frequented; whilst the poor sweeper-boy is unable to divine how it is that "none of the swells" come to his ring, but all go to Bob Sharpe's, though Bob's is a much smaller ring than his. But in the course of a busy day on the ice, most of these boys make a good thing of it, and collect many pence among the skaters.

It is seldom that a well-experienced skater ventures among the crowd of roughs who rush up and down the ice with all their might and main; indeed it is at all times dangerous to mingle with such a throng; frightful gashes in the head and wounds of various kinds have been made by falling and striking the head against the skates of some other person in these reckless throngs: and it is their rushing up and down in large crowds that put the ice to the severest test, causing it to crack in all directions, like a map. We have seen it on such occasions on the Serpentine, bend and rise like small waves of the sea, so great has been the pressure. The greatest possible danger is incurred by venturing on the ice when in such a state; though nobody in the throng ever seems disposed to leave, until some fearful accident has occurred whereby the ice breaks and lets in several of the party; then, and not till then, the excitement changes from bravery and daring to one of fear and alarm. The most dangerous time of all is when the ice is thawing; and yet you see the venturesome, skating all day long sometimes, during a rapid thaw. Nowhere in England are better precautions taken for the prevention of accidents, and yet they do occur, and we believe it to be impossible to avoid them entirely; there are always a few reckless individuals who disregard all warnings, and venture on the ice at all risks.

So eagerly is the pastime of skating pursued in London, that skating by torchlight is a common practice during a hard frost. There are some whose occupations preclude them from indulging in the pursuit by daylight; but rather than be deprived of their sport, they practise it by torchlight; and a truly exciting and strange scene it is to witness. The ice in the parks is sometimes thronged till long after midnight, when the weather is favourable for skating, and on such occasions fun and frolic know no bounds; then there are often as many women as men on the ice; dancing, kiss-in-the-ring, and all such fun prevails, despite the freezing influence of the weather. A scene of the kind on the Serpentine is not easily forgotten, so strange and imposing is the effect produced by the glaring, flaring, blazing lights that are carried to and fro, or fixed on poles in various parts among the crowd; and the noise, the hubbub, the slang, the peals of laughter, and the ring of merriment that prevail, are enough to make a lasting impression. To our minds,

F

however, such scenes are better viewed and observed than indulged in.

With regard to the ice in the London parks, that of the Serpentine is always the most attractive; it is by far the largest surface, and the water is the deepest and most dangerous. The Serpentine is neither more nor less than a beautiful lake, upwards of a mile in length, by about a fourth of that extent in width at the widest part. There is a substantial bridge over it, and in very severe frosts the water is frozen beneath the bridge. Above the bridge the lake narrows very considerably, and this part is called the Long water. At the head of the lake some very pretty fountains and cascades have recently been erected at very considerable expense; these, however, have not interfered with the operations of the skaters, nor curtailed their sports in any way. On the banks of this beautiful lake there is an establishment of the Royal Humane Society, or receiving house, for restoring and reviving persons who are unfortunate enough to break through the ice, to the great peril of their lives; for, notwithstanding that there are a number of the Royal Humane Society's men constantly on duty, with their ropes, belts, lines, life-buoys, and other apparatus, it is sometimes impossible to save the lives of all who get in: every year, though many lives are saved, some few are lost, despite the best efforts of the ice-men.

It has been more than once suggested that the water of the Serpentine should be drained off, and the bottom filled up and cemented in such a manner as to leave it only about three feet deep at every part, in the same manner as the lake in St. James's Park. In the interest of all who love skating, we most earnestly hope no such a suggestion will be carried out. It would be the greatest blow to skating that could possibly be struck; it would in fact be the ruin of it; just as it has been in St. James's Park; for there, directly the ice is thick enough to bear a dog, it is broken up by a set of roughs, who think it very brave, and good fun to venture upon it before it is safe, so long as the water is not deep enough to drown them; and so day by day the whole surface is broken up, and rendered totally unfit for skating. If the frost continues, and is very severe, it gets the advantage in time, and the ice becomes firm and safe; but, nevertheless, useless as a surface for skating, by reason of the whole lake having been broken up in the early part of the frost by the class of roughs before alluded to.

That a similar result would follow in the case of the Serpentine, if it were shallowed and new-bottomed, no reasonable person can doubt. But so long as it remains in its present state, it will always, in severe frosts, offer the fairest chances for the skill and dexterity of experienced skaters. The danger of venturing on too soon, and breaking through in deep water, is the only safeguard to the preservation of the ice; and so it is that the ice on the Serpentine is generally good and smooth at first though broken up all around the sides, the main surface is intact; and if it afterwards becomes cracked and broken in places it is from over-crowding and the assembling of persons in crowds at different parts. And it often happens that through being broken all around the sides, where the water is shallow, persons are prevented from getting upon the main portion of the ice until it becomes quite firm. All day long the eager and venturesome are

continually trying its strength, and not a square yard of the skirts of the ice, all around the lake, is left untried or unbroken; and if the lake were shallowed after the manner of that in St. James's Park, the probability is that the whole of the main portion of the Serpentine, as well as the border, would be broken up, just as it always is in the other park; and thus the skating would be spoiled. It is, therefore, the perils which threaten the venturesome on the Serpentine, that are alone the very means of securing a good and extensive surface of ice for the skaters.

To our minds it would be but a false notion of humanity, to pretend to remove all danger of drowning by new-bottoming and shallowing the depth of the lake to about three feet; and we protest against any such a total destruction to our time-honoured recreation in Hyde Park; besides, too, the expense of such an undertaking would be enormous; indeed it would be a reckless and useless waste of public money; the advantages (if any) would be ridiculously inadequate to the outlay that would be required for the undertaking.

Another extensive piece of water in Hyde Park, or rather Kensington Gardens, is the Royal Round Pond, where too the London skaters assemble in seasonable weather; and where the ice is sometimes equal (except in extent) to that of the Serpentine. The Round Pond is also deep and dangerous; and, therefore, although the ice is broken up all round the sides, long before it is thick enough to bear, the perils of deep water are the means of preserving the main surface from a similar fate to the borders. So also in Regent's Park, where the depth of water is almost the sole preservative of the ice, so long as it is not thick enough to bear. And after it becomes of sufficient thickness, accidents occur, through the foolish and reckless conduct of some; who, despite the most conspicuous cautions, will venture over unsafe places, and, as a natural and inevitable consequence, unless the icemen are very quick and active, the venturesome individual loses his life.

Nowhere in England, or we believe in any other country, are such excellent precautions taken and means employed for the prevention of accidents on the ice, as in the London parks. The system adopted during the frost is admirable, and very numerous lives have been saved through the employment of these means.

In the first place a stout rope is always placed across the lake from side to side, and in the event of the ice breaking and a number of persons being precipitated into the water, the rope is moved up to the spot and serves as something to cling to and hold the heads of immersed ones above water until the attendants are able to get one of the iceboats to the spot, or afford such other assistance as may be at hand by means of life-buoys, life-lines, and other appliances.

This rope is also of great assistance in facilitating and expediting the operations of the ice-men, who by holding and hauling along the rope are enabled to place an ice-boat in the water, at any spot where the ice gives way, in a very few minutes.

In addition to which, there are the numerous ice-boats of various forms, with other apparatus complete, and ice-men of the lightest possible weight, but active and intelligent, and always ready and willing to use their best exertions in the cause of humanity. At the receivinghouse of the Royal Humane Society before alluded to, hot-water baths,

hot blankets, and attendants are always ready during the skating scason; and it seldom happens that a season passes away without the services of that useful institution being called into requisition, and often with the best and happiest results. It is only those who have witnessed a calamity on the Serpentine by the breaking of the ice, who can really appreciate the noble services of such an institution.

"Past four o'clock, and a fros-ty mornin'!" "Past four o'-clock and a sta-r-r-r-light mornin'!" ascended from the leathern lungs of the Charlie through his woollen comforter up to our bed-room window, just as we had awaken, true to time, as tested by our repeater, that drawn from beneath the pillow "ting'd" the half-hour.

Up we sprang, and giving a vigorous poke at the fire in the next room, which, "like master like man," had been quietly sleeping, well covered over, the last thing. Taking a peep through the curtains at the bespangled heavens and besilver'd ground, we then went through the performance of our ablutionary and toilet duties, while we were half-humming, in a manner Pope never intended, those lines

"Time was, a sober Englishman would knock

His servant up, and rise by five o'clock;"

our servant, however, proving that even at an earlier hour it was not necessary to knock him up, for at a quarter-past a rap, and breakfast appeared, coffee strong and clear as brandy, a brace of eggs, butter'd toast, and slicings of the household, appeasing hunger, and providing against a'tacks for awhile. Packing having been completed the even. ing prior, and Leporello now off for a coach, we merely thrust our dressing materials together, and presently crept quietly down-stairs.

As the hall-door opened, how cold the air rushed in at us, nipping our nose and biting our chin! There was the Jarvey dancing like a bear in his wooden-clumped soles, though on the reverse of red-hot plates, and embracing himself vehemently to keep the blood warm, or get it so; and there stood the Charlie swathed in wrappings, a large lantern swinging across his bowels, a rattle in his belt, and an caken cudgel pendulating to and fro from his wrist, as he bang'd his gloved palms together, with a "Yappy Christmas, yer honour, and a yappy new year "-synonymous, of course, to "Give us, yer honour, a shilling." Portmanteau, carpet-bag, and hat-box-not omitting for all the world an addendum replete with gifts, the chief value of which would be realised in their appreciation-being carried out to the

vehicle, we stepped into the crazy, creaking, lumbering, machine awaiting us, and were jolted to the starting-place of the "Wonder."

We pulled up at the curb near the entrance, and on gaining the yard beheld a scene which in these days would seem as strange as a nightmare-the quaint balustraded balcony above took one back to the times when spectators thronged them, and the audience bestowed their plaudits or disapproval on the players below, smirking chambermaids now flitting hither and thither, tapping at this number or that of the rooms ranged along and around, boiling water in hand for slumberers roused from their snorings, few needing any other awakening summons, we should suppose, than the Babel of confusion beneath of swearing ostlers, shouting drivers, inquiring passengers, clattering horses, clinking splinter-bars, rattling chains, ringing of bells, banging of boxes, in union with shovings and pushings, hurryings and hastenings, oil, tallow, and torches flaring and glaring on all.

"Next me, sir, be pleased," said the guard; and we were provided for with the only place vacant; nor, as it turned out, were we averse to the arrangement, Hobson's choice though it was.

The formation of the last stratum of luggage on the primeval basis beneath, that the planning, hauling, and practical manipulation, experience of long-standing alone would give for the adjustment of angles and accommodation of protuberances completed, the guard, a fine stalwart specimen of his class, folding up the way-bill, with a hop skip and a jump caught at the rail, and slung himself up with an "all right," and off went the cloths, the leaders snorting, rearing, and plunging, all four bays striking fire out of the stones as they took us through the narrow arch-way, the wheels heavily weighted rolling out silently upon the snow in the road, the "padding sound of the steeds hardly heard as they sobered themselves into their collars-we passengers, finally adjusting our various coverings, righting for mutual convenience our positions, and thrusting our feet more thoroughly into the straw of which we had an abundance around and about us.

"Not a mail in, much less a night coach, they say," said the guard, putting the green cord of his bugle more to his liking.

"Heavy fall in the north," replied a stout passenger facing him. "Ah! sir, there's snow in plenty everywhere, and more to come, and that you may depend upon.'

"Eleven minutes arter time," he observed, consulting the dial of his turnip, as such a watch was usually called-" Eleven minutes arter time, but they won't matter in casting up minutes arter time at the 'Crown,' at Bulborough, I takes it."

This prognostication was not pleasant. A twelve hours' journey prolonged on a bitter New Year's eve, was not pleasant, not at all.

"Hope's, ma'am, you and your chicks is comfortable," inquired the guard, of a very respectable-looking pretty young woman with a baby in her lap and a couple of children beside her; and an answer in the affirmative being given, he added, in a tone protective and kindly, "Me and these gentlemen, we'll take care on you-don't be afeared o' the cold nor nothin-we'll mind yer," and we certainly endeavoured in such trifling ways as circumstances suggested to take care of the hen and her chickens.