A RIVER IN TRAVAIL


My presence in the Sifkova country was not for long but I used it in
full measure. First, I sent a man in whom I had confidence and whom I
considered trustworthy to my friends in the town that I had left and
received from them linen, boots, money and a small case of first aid
materials and essential medicines, and, what was most important, a
passport in another name, since I was dead for the Bolsheviki. Secondly,
in these more or less favorable conditions I reflected upon the plan for
my future actions. Soon in Sifkova the people heard that the Bolshevik
commissar would come for the requisition of cattle for the Red Army. It
was dangerous to remain longer. I waited only until the Yenisei should
lose its massive lock of ice, which kept it sealed long after the small
rivulets had opened and the trees had taken on their spring foliage.
For one thousand roubles I engaged a fisherman who agreed to take me
fifty-five miles up the river to an abandoned gold mine as soon as the
river, which had then only opened in places, should be entirely clear
of ice. At last one morning I heard a deafening roar like a tremendous
cannonade and ran out to find the river had lifted its great bulk of ice
and then given way to break it up. I rushed on down to the bank, where I
witnessed an awe-inspiring but magnificent scene. The river had brought
down the great volume of ice that had been dislodged in the south and
was carrying it northward under the thick layer which still covered
parts of the stream until finally its weight had broken the winter dam
to the north and released the whole grand mass in one last rush for the
Arctic. The Yenisei, "Father Yenisei," "Hero Yenisei," is one of the
longest rivers in Asia, deep and magnificent, especially through the
middle range of its course, where it is flanked and held in canyon-like
by great towering ranges. The huge stream had brought down whole miles