MEMOIR OF PALLAS. 43 
the Volga was so far cleared that two-thirds of its 
bed was free of ice. The north wind which pre- 
vailed on the 13th very much hastened the descent 
of the ice, till the 15th, when it was entirely free. 
It rarely happens that the opening of the river is 
later than this date, and sometimes it is accom- 
plished in March. The weather was beautiful and 
the country was covered with flowers by the middle 
of April. The willow and hazel-nut began to flower 
on the 14th; between the 15th and the 17th, all 
the cleared spots were strewed with patentilla and 
spring Adonis, and the star of Bethlehem. Violets 
and anemonies surrounded the shrubs in full blos- 
som. The birch and service now put on their 
summer garb, as did most other shrubs by the 
20th. The almond-tree and the wild cherry, the 
tulip and scented iris, blue and purple, yellow and 
white valerians, astragulus, and very many other 
flowers were in blossom before the 20th of April, 
and formed an agreeable carpet upon all the hills. 
The wild apple and the arbutus, which is very 
common about Samara, were in flower by the end 
of the month, as well as the fruit-yielding robinia 
and the prickly cysticus, which generally affects all 
the moist parts of the moors. 
© Birds of passage had made their appearance at 
an earlier date. By the 19th of March we noticed 
flocks of geese and wild swans; by the 25th, quan- 
tities of all sorts of ducks appeared in the free parts 
of the river ; lapwings did not show themselves till 
the 26th, but before the end of March all the aqua- 
