Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 181 
was not yet broken up. All this time the weather was warm 
and foggy, with very little wind, and occasional slight rain. 
There was a perfect Babel of birds as an accompaniment to the 
crashing of theice. Gulls, Geese, and Swans were flying about 
in all directions ; and their wild cries vied with the still wilder 
screams of the Divers. Flocks of Redpoles and Shore-Larks, 
and Bramblings and Wagtails in pairs, arrived, and added to 
the interest of the scene. On the 2nd of June there was 
little or no movement in the ice until midnight, when an enor- 
mous pressure from above came on somewhat suddenly, and 
broke up the great field of ice to the north of the Koo-ray’- 
i-ka, but not to a sufficient extent to relieve the whole of the 
pressure. The water in the Koo-ray’-i-ka rose rapidly. The 
immense field of pack-ice began to move up stream at the 
rate of five or six knots an hour. The poor ship was knocked 
and bumped along the rocky shore, and a stream of water 
began to flow into the hold. At 9 o’clock all hands left her, 
and stood upon the snow on the bank, expecting her instant 
destruction. The stream rose and fell during the day; but 
the leak, which was apparently caused by the twisting of the 
stern-post, choked up. Late in the evening an opportunity 
occurred of a few hours’ open water, during which steam was 
got up; and by the help of a couple of ropes ashore, the rud- 
derless ship was steered into the little creek opposite to which 
she had wintered, and run ashore. Here the leak was after- 
wards repaired and a new rudder made. We calculated that 
about fifty thousand acres of ice passed the ship up stream 
during these two days; and we afterwards learned that most 
of this ice got away some miles up the Koo-ray’-i-ka, where 
the banks were low, and was lost in the forest. 
The battle of the Yen-e-say’ raged for about a fortnight. 
The sun was generally burning hot in the daytime ; but every 
night there was more or less frost. The ice came down the 
Yen-e-say’ at various speeds. Sometimes we could see gi- 
gantic masses of pack-ice, estimated at twenty to thirty feet 
in height, driven down the river at an incredible pace, not 
less than twenty miles an hour. In the Koo-ray’-i-ka the 
scene was constantly changing. The river alternately rose 
[9] 
