of the man's shoe form a cross--thus:

*
* * *
*
*
*

Everywhere he leaves this impress behind him.

On the smooth and polished snow, these footmarks seem imprinted by a foot
of brass on a marble floor.

Night without twilight has soon succeeded day--a night of foreboding
gloom.

The brilliant reflection of the snow renders the white steppes still
visible beneath the azure darkness of the sky; and the pale stars glimmer
on the obscure and frozen dome.

Solemn silence reigns.

But, towards the Straits, a faint light appears.

At first, a gentle, bluish light, such as precedes moonrise; it increases
in brightness, and assumes a ruddy hue.

Darkness thickens in every other direction; the white wilds of the desert
are now scarcely visible under the black vault of the firmament.