The appearance of the troops on duty within the town, as
described by Knox, was scarcely less eccentric. "Our guards
on the grand parade make a most grotesque appearance in
their different dresses; and our inventions to guard us against
the extreme rigor of this climate are various beyond imagination.
The uniformity as well as nicety of the clean, methodical
soldier is buried in the rough, fur-wrought garb of the frozen
Laplander; and we rather resemble a masquerade than a body
of regular troops, insomuch that I have frequently been accosted
by my acquaintances, whom, though their voices were familiar to me,
I could not discover, or conceive who they were. Besides, every man
seems to be in a continual hurry; for instead of walking soberly
through the streets, we are obliged to observe a running or trotting pace."
Early in January there was a storm of sleet, followed by
severe frost, which glazed the streets with ice. Knox, being
ordered to mount guard in the Lower Town, found the descent
of Mountain Street so slippery that it was impossible to walk
down with safety, especially as the muskets of the men were
loaded; and the whole party, seating themselves on the ground,
slid one after another to the foot of the hill. The Highlanders,
in spite of their natural hardihood, suffered more from the cold
than the other troops, as their national costume was but a
sorry defence against the Canadian winter.
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