332 THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE 



upon which was lying six feet of snow, was broken up at 

 the rate of a hundred miles a day. Many obstacles could 

 cause a temporary stoppage in the break-up of the ice — a 

 sudden bend in the river, a group of islands, or a narrower 

 place where the ice might jam. But the pressure from 

 behind was an ever-increasing one. Although the river 

 frequently fell for a few hours, it was constantly rising on 

 the whole, and in ten days the rise where we were 

 stationed was seventy feet. Such a display of irresistible 

 power dwarfs Niagara into comparative insignificance. 

 On several occasions we stood on the banks of the river 

 for hours, transfixed with astonishment, staring aghast at 

 icebergs, twenty to thirty feet high, driven down the 

 river at a speed of from ten to twenty miles an hour. 



The battle of the Yenesei raged for about a fortnight, 

 during which the Kureika alternately rose and fell. 

 Thousands of acres of ice were marched up-stream for 

 some hours, then the tide turned and they were marched 

 back again. This great annual battle between summer 

 and winter is the chief event of the year in these regions, 

 like the rising of the Nile in Egypt. Summer, in league 

 with the sun, fights winter and the north wind, and is 

 hopelessly beaten until she forms an alliance with the 

 south wind, before whose blast the forces of winter 

 vanish into thin water and retreat to the Pole. It was a 

 wonderful sight to watch these armies alternately advanc- 

 ing and retreating. Sometimes the pack-ice and floes 

 were jammed so tightly together that it looked as if one 

 might scramble over them to the opposite shore. At 

 other times there was much open water, and the icebergs 

 " calved " as they went along, with a commotion and 

 splashing that might be heard half a mile off. No doubt 

 it is the grounding of the icebergs which causes this 

 operation to take place. These icebergs are formed of 



