fmyjkJ DRIVING WIIH THE ICE ON THE 

 KUREIKA 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE. 



Weary Waiting for Summer — Ravens — More Ostiak Neighbours — The 

 Ship breaks her Bands of Ice — A Hen-harrier — Appearance of the Rising 

 River — Premature Migration of Geese — My Week's Work — Old Story of 

 Thaw in the Sun and Frost in the Shade — Last Day of May — Revolutions 

 in the Ice — A Range of Ice Mountains — Signs of Summer — Arrival of the 

 Common Gull and of the White Wagtail — Ice Breaking up— An Unpre- 

 pared-for Contingency — Dangerous Position — Driving along with the Ice 

 — Loss of the Ship's Rudder — Preparations to Abandon the Ship — Babel 

 of Birds — We Desert the Ship — On Board Again — The Thames Steered 

 into the Creek — Enormous Pressure of the Ice — The Battle of the 

 Yenesei — " Calving " of Icebergs — The Final March Past. 



The fifth week of weary watching and waiting for a 

 summer, which some of the sailors began to think would 

 never come, commenced with a cloudy sky and an occa- 

 sional attempt at a snowstorm, the wind chopping about 

 from south-east to south-west. Many geese flew over 

 during the day and hawks were more frequently seen than 



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