Mr. H. Seebolim on the Ornithology of Siberia. 179 
a mile wide, opposite the lower angle of junction of the Koo- 
ray'-i-ka and the Yen-e-say', to break away. About half 
the mass found a passage down the strip of newly formed 
thin ice, leaving open water behind it. The other half rushed 
headlong onto the steep banks of the river. The result of 
the collision was a little range of mountains, fifty or sixty 
feet high, and picturesque in the extreme. Huge blocks of 
ice, six feet thick and twenty feet long, in many places, were 
standing perpendicular, whilst others were crushed up into 
fragments like broken glass; and in many other places the 
ice was piled up in layers one over the other. The real ice on 
the river did not appear to have been more than two and a half 
feet thick, clear as glass, and blue as an Italian sky. Upon 
the top of this was about four feet of white ice. This was 
as hard as a rock, and had, no doubt, been caused by the 
flooding of the snow when the waters of the river had risen, 
and its subsequent freezing. Upon the top of the white ice 
was about eighteen inches of clean snow, which had evidently 
never been flooded. When we turned into our berths in the 
evening the captain thought it most prudent to institute an 
anchor-watch. We had scarcely been asleep an hour before 
the watch called us up with the intelligence that the river 
was rising rapidly, and that the ice was beginning to crack. 
We immediately dressed and went on deck. We saw at once 
that the Yen-e-say' was rising so rapidly that it was begin- 
ing to flow up its tributaries. A strong current was setting 
up the Koo-ray'-i-ka, and small floes were detaching them¬ 
selves from the main body of the ice and were running up 
the open water. By-and-by the whole body of the Koo- 
ray'-i-ka ice broke up and began to move up stream. Some 
of the floes struck the ship some very ugly blows on the 
stern, doing considerable damage to the rudder; but open 
water was beyond, and we were soon out of the press of ice, 
with, we hoped, no irretrievable injury. All this time we 
had been getting steam up as fast as possible, to be ready for 
any emergency. It was hopeless to attempt to enter the 
creek opposite which we were moored, and which was now 
only just beginning to fill with water; but on the other side 
o 2 
