Mr. R. M. Ballantyne, in his journal of six years’ residence in the
territories of the Hudson’s Bay Company, tells us, that for part of
October there is sometimes a little warm, or rather thawy, weather; but
after that, until the following April, the thermometer seldom rises
to the freezing point. In the depth of winter, the thermometer falls
from 30° to 40°, 45°, and even 49° _below zero_ of Fahrenheit. This
intense cold is not, however, so much felt as one might suppose; for
during its continuance the air is perfectly calm. Were the slightest
breath of wind to rise when the thermometer stands so low, no man could
show his face to it for a moment. Forty degrees below zero, and quite
calm, is infinitely preferable to fifteen below, or thereabout, with
a strong breeze of wind. Spirit of wine is, of course, the only thing
that can be used in the thermometer; as mercury, were it exposed to
such cold, would remain frozen nearly half the winter. Spirit never
froze in any cold ever experienced at York Factory, unless when very
much adulterated with water; and even then the spirit would remain
liquid in the centre of the mass. Quicksilver easily freezes in this
climate, and it has frequently been run into a bullet-mould, exposed to
the cold air till frozen, and in this state rammed down a gun-barrel,
and fired through a thick plank. The average cold may be set down at
about 15° or 16° below zero, or 48° of frost. The houses at the Bay are
built of wood, with double windows and doors. They are heated by large
iron stoves, fed with wood; yet so intense is the cold, that when a
stove has been in places red-hot, a basin of water in the room has been
frozen solid.