Flocks of ducks were already crowding the marshes, but there was not even a hint of improvement.
(2) "To pour out fear" refers to a practice resorted to in case of fear.

When it is desired to know what caused this, melted lead or wax is poured into water, and the object whose form it assumes is the one which frightened the sick person; after this, the fear departs.

Sonyashnitza is brewed for giddiness and pain in the bowels.

To this end, a bit of stump is burned, thrown into a jug, and turned upside down into a bowl filled with water, which is placed on the patient's stomach: after an incantation, he is given a spoonful of this water to drink.
It was red upon the steppes.

Ricks of grain, like Cossack's caps, dotted the fields here and there.