About ten in the evening
This circumstance , as it appeared favorable to the defenders of Irkutsk , Ogareff might have regretted . He did not do so , however . The traitor knew well that the Tartars would not try to pass the Angara , and that , on its side at least , their attempt was only a feint . About ten in the evening , the state of the river sensibly improved , to the great surprise of the besieged and still more to their disadvantage . The passage till then impracticable , became all at once possible . The bed of the Angara was clear . The blocks of ice , which had for some days drifted past in large numbers , disappeared down the current , and five or six only now occupied the space between the banks .