92 



THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



ally reveals to the astonished gaze the forms of colossal ani- 

 mals long since extinct. Often trunks of trees split asunder 

 with a loud noise ; masses of rock are loosened from their 

 sites ; the ground in the valley is rent with yawning fissures. 

 Dense grows the atmosphere ; the stars wane and flicker ; 

 all nature sleeps a sleep that resembles death, and which is 

 only interrupted in the summer by a short interval of spas- 

 modic activity. 



LIMIT OF TREES IN SIBERIA. 



" 111 winter, when animal life has mostly retreated south 

 or sought a refuge in burrows or in caves, an awful silence, 

 interrupted only by the hooting of a snow-owl or the yelping 

 of a fox, reigns over the vast expanse ; but in spring, when 

 the brown earth reappears from under the melted snow and 

 the swamps begin to thaw, enormous flocks of wild birds 

 appear upon the scene and enliven it for a few months. 

 Eagles and hawks follow the traces of the natatorial and 

 strand birds; troops of ptarmigans roam among the stunted 

 bushes ; and when the sun shines, the finch or the snow- 

 bunting warbles his merry note. About this time, also, the 



