FromtheArcticOceantotheYellowSea 10178753 PDF

VO T E .
I am i n de b t e d t o t h e p ro
pr iet o s
r of t h e I ll u s t r a t ed L on don
N ew s for t h ei r ki d p e rm issi on t o r ep rod u c e i n t h i s wo k t h e
n r
sk et c h e s a d d a w i gs I ma d e fo t h e m w h ils t o my jou r e y
n r n r n n ,
a e
r a t m a y o f w h i c h hav e a l e a dy a p pe ar e d i
n r t h at p a p e ; a d
n r n
g
a ls o for t h e u s e o f t h e t e x t a c c om p a n yi g t h e m w h i c h h a s f r m e d
n ,
o
t h e b a sis of t h i w ork
s .
F R OM TH E A R C TIC OC E A N
TO THE YELLOW S E A .
TH E N A R R A TI VE OF A J O UR N E Y ,
IN 1 890 AN D 1891 , A C R OS S S IBE R IA , M O N G O L IA ,
TH E G O BI D E S E R T ,
AND N OR TH C H IN A .
J U LI U S M . PR IC E ,
F R G S
. . .
S p ec i a l A r t i s t o f t he “
I l l u s t r a t ed L on don N e ws .
W IT H ON E H UN DR ED A N D F OR T Y -
TWO IL L U S TR A TI O N S
F R OM S K E TC H E S BY TH E A U T H OR .
LON D ON
S A M PS ON LO W , M A RST ON C O M PA N Y
LI M I TE D ,
i t . munfi t an fi £ 0115 2 ’
,
F E T T E R L A N E, F L E E T S TR EET , E C .
1 89 2 .
[A l l r i gh t s r r
es e ve d .
Be fore lea ving S ibe ria probabl y for e ver I a m de sirous of
, ,
r e c or di g my gra t i t u d e for t h e a ss i s t a n ce a ffo r de d m e an d t h e

n
m a n y k i ndne ss e s I r e c e iv e d du ri ng t h e wi t er I sp e t t h er e
n n .
F rom t h e highe st o ffi cia ls t o t h e h u mbl e s t emp loye t h e co u rt e sy

’
I w a s sh o w n on a ll occa s i o n s w as s o g rea t t h a t i n all m y ,
v ari ed ex p er ien c es of t r a v el I rem ember nothi g t o equ a l i t ; a n d

n
i f i t is t h e s a m e a ll o v er t h is m ight y e mp ir e I t r u s t t h a t m y
,
wan d e i ngs w ill l e a d m e s om e day i nto G rea t er R uss ia it s e l f

r .
A mo gs t t h e m a y ge nt le men t o w h om I o we a sp ec i a l de b t o f
n n
gr a t i t u de I ma y m en t i on M r E Wo s t r ot i n e i n Y e ni s ei s k ;
,
. .
,
G en era l T e lak ofi k y D r P e a c ock a n d M e ss r s C h eri pan o fi

' ”
s ,
.
, .
,
M at wi e fi an d Kus n i t s o fl i n Kras n oi ar sk ; G en e ra l G r i mi k e n M
‘
, .
, ,
S ou k at ch ofi a n d M r C h ar l e s L e e i n Irkut s k ; a nd M F eo dr ofi
“ "
.
,
.
,
and M S h oll in ge n , i n Ou rga

. .
J . M . P .
PR E F A C E .
A FEW introductory remarks are I feel necessa ry if , , ,
i s on d é t r e
’
only to give the ra of my j ourney and as ,
a sort of apology for adding to the already formidable

array of books of A siatic travel .
The celebrated voyage of Captain Wiggins i n

1 88 7 , when he successfully accomplished the feat of
navigating a steamer ( the Phoeni x) across the Kara
Sea and up the river Yenisei to the city of Yeniseisk ,
is too we l l reme m bered for it to be necessary for me
to recapitulate an exploit which is destined to become

historic solving as it did the much vexed question of
,
-
the practic a bility of establishing commercial relations

between E ngland and Siberia a s the A rctic Ocean
and the Kara Sea .
This successful expedition ,

o pening up such im
mense possibilities naturally encouraged its financial

,
promoters to follo w it u
p by another and much more
important one . Towards the end of J uly in the
following ye a r ,
t herefore the ,
L a b r a do r , a powerful
v iii PR E F A CE .
w ooden steamer specially b u ilt for A rctic work ,

wa s
desp a tched to the mouth of the Yenisei with a cargo

”
f all sorts w ith which try the Siberian market ;
“
o ,
to
the Ph aen i w ,
which had been laid up for the winter
at Yeniseisk being commissioned to proceed down
,
the river and fetc h b a ck the cargo brought out by

the La b r a dor , the latter vessel bei n g too large to be
a ble to get such a distance from the estuary . For
a ll this special permission had naturally to be got
,
from the Russia n Go vern ment ; but so far from

making any obj ections or putting any obstacles in
the way of the scheme the officials advised of course , ,
from head quarters lent every assistance in their

-
,
power and showed a most frien dly spirit . Throug h

a diversity of causes into , which it is not necessary
to e n ter here the expedition failed to accomplish its
,
purpose , and the L a b r a dor returned to E ngland

withou t having crossed the Kara Sea at all . An
o rdina ry man would have been discouraged at any ,
rate for a time by ,

s u ch a failure ; but Wiggins is
n ot of that stu ff . N othing da u nted h e at once began
,
”
trying to raise “
the sinews of war for a fresh
expedition and was so successful ( such confidence
,
had his frien ds in him ) that th e following year the ,
L a b r a do r once again started for the far N orth - E as t

but only to meet with an o ther failure though thi s ,
PB E F A C E . ix
time the failure it was proved afterwards could have

, ,
been easily averted . In fact so conclusively was

,
this proved that emboldened with the knowle dge of

, ,
how n ear it had been to being a success a syndicate

,
of rich and influential L ondon men was with out

difficulty ot
g together and it was at once decided
,
that two ships should be sent out the followi ng y ear ,

and that everything possible should be done to
ensure success . This time there were no half—
hearted
meas u res ; m oney was forthco m ing and with it ,
a renewed enthusiasm in the s ch e m e, wh i ch I may

,
add parenthetically helped not a little to bring ,
about its eventually satisfactory result ; this n ot
withstanding the fact that the expedition started

handicapped by the untoward absence ( owing to his
h aving met with shipwreck on hi s way to j oin u s )
of Captain Wiggins the leading spirit of the proj ect

,
.
Talki n g about Russia on e morn ing w ith Mr . In
gram at the office of the Il lu s t r a t ed Lon don N ews ,

he
suddenly suggested my going out as their special
artist with this e x pedition . The l ove of travel an d
the spirit of adventure are so stro n g in me that with ,
out the slightest hesitation I eagerly cau ght at the

idea in fact had he suggested my ridi n g across the
,
Sahara on a bicycle I should probably have j umped

at it w i th j ust as much alacrity .
X PR E F A OE .
Well to cut a long story short aft er a lot of

, ,
correspondence had passe d be t ween us the ,

“
A nglo
Siberian Trading Syndi cate agreed to take me sub ,
j cet to certain restrictions as to publication of sketch es

and matter relating to the expedition and to land me ,
eventually if all went well at the city of Yeniseisk

, , ,
in the hear t of Siberia . On my taking a map of the

route down to the offi ce and asking Mr Ingra m ,
.
where I wa s to go if I ever found myself there , You

can go wherever y ou like so long as you send us
,
plenty of i n terestin g sketches for the paper ,

was his
generous reply . With liberty therefore to roam all
, ,
over the worl d so to speak and with unlimited time

, ,
an d plenty of means at my disposal ,

I started on a
j ourney the narrative of which I
,
n ew venture to put
in print in the h ope that at any rate some parts o f
,
it may give a few fresh facts about the vast continen t

I traverse d from north to south .
In conclusion I must candidly confess I arri ved

,
in Siberia with fore g one conclusions derived from

the unreliable infor m ation and exaggerate d stories
se current in E ngland about this part of the worl d;
How far my subsequent experiences dispelled the
prej udices with whic h I started the reader of my ,
narrative may j udge for himself . I have touched but

en
p a ss a nt on the e xile and priso n system for n othing ,
PR EF A C E. xi
was further from my tho u ghts ,

w hen I u ndertook
the j ourney than to make a profound study of this
,
question . E fforts in this direction have b een made

both by prej u diced and unprej udiced writers all of ,
w ho m , however are agreed on the

,
m ain point that ,
t he system is an an ac h ronism and unsuitable to

the present age . What I felt was that in Siberia ,
that vast country with such immense natural re
so u rces there must be much wh ich would be novel

,
and interesting to study in its social aspect apart ,
from the actual prison life and hardships with which

the n ame of Siberia has always been as sociated so I
determined to devote my chief a ttention to phases

of life which are still in general so li t tle known
, ,
that to man y readers probably much that I , ,

h ave
attempted to describe in these pages will come as ,
it di d to me in the l i ght of a revelation

, .
J U LIU S M . PR IC E .
S A VA G E C LU B , L ON D ON ,
M a r ch , 1 892 .
xiv C O N TEN TS .
PA G E
on ce m or e— Af r e sh dan g e r — A fu n n y pr a ct ica l j o k e
—Th e e s t ua y o f t h e R iv er Y e is e i— G ol c h i k a —A
r n
visi t f r o m i t s i habi tan t s —F r o m G ol c h i k a t o K a r a ou l

n 27
C H A TE R IV
P .
TH E P ORT OF KA R A OU L A N D IT S I N HAB IT A N T S .
The as
t u n dr of N or th er n S ib e r i a—Th S m oy e d e s e a
A iv al
rr of the Ph oen i x —M y fi s t R ussi a
r m eal n
V dk a
o and t ea —O ur d e p ar t u r e for K a s a ns k oi
CHA PTE R V .
K A S A N S K OI .
R ussi an cus to m s offi c e r —A sh oot i n g e x cur si o n — V isi t -
t o t h e s ettl e m e n t o f K a sa n s k o i —Th e h o us e o f a
S ib e ri an t r a d e r —In te r e s ti n g p e o pl e F ir st e x p e r i -
en ce of R ussi a n h o spitality—T h e r e t u r n o f t h e
P h oen i x—D e p a rt ur e o f t h e B i s ca ya
C H AP T E R V I .
T H E RI V E R V OYA G E OF T HE PH OENIX U P T O YE N I S E I S K .
Th e Y e n is e i r iv e r —It s n o bl e pr o p o r t i o n s —S c e n er y a l o g n
t h e b an ks — Th e fi r s t t r e e — O fi s t m ishap —T h e
ur r
e tu n of t h e t u —
r r
g A n e xciti g i cid e n t n n
C H A TE R V II
P .
T H E RI V E R V OYA G E —co n t i n u ed .
An awful fa t a l i t y Q M i s fo r t u n e f o ll o ws m isfo r tu e —M n .
S o t n i k o fi —S e lli v a n a k a , t h e s e ttl e m e n t o f t h e S k op t i
—
A visi t f r om t he vill ag e “
e ld e
”
r
C O NTEN TS . XV
C HA TE R P V III .
T U R UC H A N S K
PA G E
.
Vi si t t o t h e m o n a s t e r y —W e r ch n e i m b a c k s k o i —O u r fir t s
visi t fr o m O ffi ci a l R ussia— T h e p olic e O ffi c e r o f the
dis t ric t —T h e vill a g e p r i e s t
C H A P T E R IX .
T H E K A MI N R AP ID S .
A wh o l e ch a p t e r o f a ccid en ts—F irst to uch of wi n t e r

A rriv a l a t Y en is e isk
C H APTE R X .
T H E C IT Y OF Y ENISEISK .
C us to m h s o ffi ci l —N v l ights i m a k t pl c n d
- ou e a s o e s n r e -
a e a
st ts —M y l dgi gs —S ib i id
r ee o f
n b d d e r an ea o
“
oa r an
l dgi g
o n S ci ty i Y is isk
o eA g tl m n en e en e an
c r i m in a l e xil e
C H A TE R X I
P .
T H E C IT Y or YE N I S E I S K— co i
n t n u ed .
A visi t t o t h e p r is o —F i s t i m p r e ssi o n s
n r of the S ib er ian
sys t e m
C H A TE R X II
P
‘
YE N I S E I S K — con t i n u ed .
Th e h o spi t a l S ib e r i a n h o us e s T h ei r c o m fo r t Th e
s t r e et s of th e ci ty
xvi C O NTENTS .
C H AP T E R X III .
FROM YE N I S E I S K TO K R A S N OIAR S K .
PA G E
My fi r st ex sl e dgin g—A d e ligh tful adve n t u re
per ie nce of
Kr i
asn o a s
r k —T h e m ar k et pl a c e—T h e H igh S tr e et -
12 3
C H AP TE R X IV .
K R A S N O IA R s x — con t t n u e d '
P rivil e ge d crim i a l xil s O di a y cri m i a ls A

n e e r n r n
m a chi g c r voy n th a d —C voy s ldi s —T h

on on e ro on o er e
c v y —P c di gs o a iv al t t h P il y f
on o ro ee n n rr a e er a s n o
K i k —Th
r a s no a rs t t f th g g — A s t ll
e s ar os er o e an ro
u d t h P s i l y—T h m i d p is rs q u te rs
n e er a n e ar r e o ne
’
ar
—
ro r
i his c ll — S c
”
A p ivil g d p is
“
r e e ut id e
r o n er n e en e o s
t h e p is o — P is r l ab u —I giv i t a t i l —D et ils
n r on o r e r a a
a t
s u tsid e e m pl oy m t o f p is
o o s en r on er
C H A TE R P XV .
MY JO U R N EY FR O M K R A S N OIA R S K T O IR KU I S K
' ‘
.
My s e v a n t M a t w i e ff— Th e G reat P o s t R o a d —T h e p o s t
r
h o u s e s—T ea c ar a v an s — C u r i o us e ff e c t o f r o ad
S b e i an ly n ch l a w —R u n aw ay c o n vic ts —A cu i o us
i r r
i cid e n t —T h e p o s t c o u r i e r—A n a wkwar d a ccid e n t

n
A r rival a t Ir ku t sk
C HA P TE R X VI .
IRK U T S K .
U n pl e as a t n p er i e n c e s a t h ote l —H o spitality
ex of Mr
C h a r l e s Lee —F i r s t i m pr e ssi o n s O f t h e ci ty
.
C O N TEN TS . xvii
C H A TE R P X V II .
P RI S ON L IF E IN S I BE RI A —C on fi n u ed .
PAG E
T h e Ir ku t sk p is on —C o m p a r at i ve lib e t y of pr is on e r s
r r
— ”—
I c o grui t i e s o f p r is o n life
n n The sh o ps Pr is o n “
a r tis ts
C H A P TE R XV III .
P RI S ON L IF E I N S I BE RI A— con t z n ue d ’
O u t d m pl y m e t n f p is o s — A ch at wi th a n e m
n
—
oo r e o o r e r
”
pl oy e r of c on vict l a bo ur T h e c o n vic t s w o r d “ ’
A n i te r vi e w wi th a ce l e b at e d m u r d e r e ss —T h e
n r
c i m i al m a dh o us e —P o litic a l p is on e r s i n s olita ry
r n r
c on fi n e m e t — I g e t p e r m i s si o n t o p a i n t a pic t u r e i n
n
o n e o f t h e c el ls —E d o f m y visi ts t o t h e p r is o n
n
C H A PT E R XIX .
IR KU T s x —con t '
t n a ed .
A go ld car a v a n — Pa t icu l a r s a s t o t h e go ld m i n i n g
- r -
i dus t y o f S ib e i a —T h e F o u n dli n g H o spi ta l—Th e

n r r
fi e b iga d e — C e l e b a t i on o f t h e C a r s bi r t hday
’
-
r r r z
L ivi n g i n Ir kutsk
C H APT E R XX .
FR O M IRK U T S K T O TH E M O N G OL C H I N E S E FRO N TI E R .
My j o u r n ey t o K i a k h t a the ci t y of t h e te a pr in c e s
—I
,
A c o ss L a k e Ba ik a l
r on t h e i ce n t e r e s ti n g e x p e r i
e me e s
x viii
C HA PTE R X X I .
FR OM IRK U T S K TO T H E M ON G O L C H I N E S E FR O N TI E R
con t i n u e d .
PAG E
Th e roa d f o m Lak Baik al t K i k h t —T h K p et k i
r e o a a e u s
t ack —In cid t s t h w y —I ch g m y sl dg

r en on e a an e e e
f or t a t ass —E xci t i g adv t u s —A iv al t

a ar n n en re rr a
T r o i t z k o s a vs k , t h e busi n e ss s u burb of Ki ak h t a
CHA P TE R X X II .
A CR O S S M ON G O L I A .
R uss o C hi n e s e f r on ti e r —M a i m a chi n —T h e M o n g o ls
-
of t o da y — C uri o us cus to m s — H a i r d r e ssi n g e x t ra

- -
o r di n a r y —A p e s til e n t far m y ar d E x ci ti n g i n ci de n ts -
—A fo r c e d e n c a m p m e n t —A n a wful n igh t s e x p e r i ’
e m e e s — T h e M a n h a t i Pa ss — M a gn ifi c e n t sc e n er y —I
pull O ff a succ e s sf u l blu ff “
B ox e in
t h e w ilds o f M o n g o li a —A r r iva l a t O u r g a
C HAPT E R XX III .
TH E S A CR E D C IT Y OF O U RG A .
Th e R ussi a n c on sul M F e o dr oif —H o s pita lity o f t h e C o n

,
.
sul ate T h e li on s O f O u r g a—Th e c o l o ss a l statu e

-
“
M a i dh a —T h e —A n
” ”
of t h e
“
B o g do f K “
r o u r en e
i m p o m p t u i t v ie w
r P ay e wh e e l s
n er r r -
P a yi g
r n
b oa ds —R e ligi o us f e v o u o f t h e M on go l
r r r s
CHA P T E R XX IV .
FR O M O U RG A TO T H E GR EA T W A LL .
My p e par ati o n s f o r t h e j o u r n ey a c r o ss t h e G o bi D e s e t
r r
T eh R ussi an H e a v y M a il — M y c a m e l c a t — G oo d b
y e -
r -
t o O u ga— T h e fi s t f e w d ays o u t —D isc o m fo r t s o f

r r
t h e j o u n e y — T h e h o m e w a r d—
r b o u d m ail —T h e d e s e r t n
s ettle m e n t o f T c h O Iy r -
C ON TEN TS . xix
C H A TE R P XXV .
T HE G OB I D E S E RT—con t i n u ed .
PA G E
S po t i t h e e e
r n d s t —T h
e r p o s t sta t i — The
- on at Ou d -
en
la t f t h e d e s e t— S a h am Ba lh o u s a —F i s t i m p e s
s o r - r r r
i o n s o f C h i a— C hi n e s e w o m en —R t ur n i g t o s e a
s n e n
l e v e l—C u io us e x p e i en c e —T h e e clips e o f t h e m oo
r r n
— A iva l a t K alga
rr n
CHA P T E R XXVI .
K A L G A N T O PE KI N G .
A h e ar ty w e lc o m e —Y a mb o os h a n —T h e G re a t Wa ll of
C h i n a —A m er ic a n m ss o a e s —M y m ul e li t t e r
i i n ri -
F r om Kalga t o P e ki g —S c e n er y o n t h e r o a d
n n
C hi n e s e i n n —F i s t e x p e r i e n c e o f a C hi n e s e di n n e
r r
A m usi n g r en con t r e —T h e N a n k a o u Pa ss —T h e S e c o n d
Pa a ll e l o f t h e G e a t Wa ll— F i r s t i m p r e ssi o n s o f
r r
P e ki n g— T h e e n tr an c e t o t h e ci t y
C H A TE R P X XV II .
PE KI N G .
E x ci t i n g t i m e s —A i h S i r J o h n Wa lsh a m T h e
chat w t
C hi n e s e ci t y— H o ibl e sc e e s —S o ci al lif e a t t h e
rr n
L e g at i o s i n P e ki g —L a dy Wa l s h a m s A t hom e
’ “
n n s
—T h e h a d e s t wo k e d m a n i t h e E ast —In te r e s ti n g
r - r n
e v e i n g wi t h S i
n R o b e r t H a rt —H i s a cc o u n t o f his life
r
C H A TE R P X XV III .
PE KI N G ( con t i n u ed) A N D H OM E -
.
D iffi cul t y of sk e t chi n g i n t h e s tr e ets —M y j o u r n e y fr o m

P e ki n g t o T i e n t s in — A C hin e s e h o us e bo a t —Th e -
P e iho R iv er —T i e n t si n —F r o m T i e n t sin t o S h a n gh ai
—A n d h o m e
xxii LIS T OF I L L US TR A TI O NS .
A R I V E R P I LOT
T H E R I V E R Y E N I S E I A T W OR OGOVO
S T O RI N G T H E W I N T E R F OR A G E : A V I LL A G E S C E N E ON T H E
Y ENIS E I
Y E N ISE IS K
P EA S A N T WO M A N
IN T H E M A RK E T P L A C E Y E N I S E I S K
-
To f a c e
A P RI S O N B EA U T Y
T H E G OV E R N OR V I S ITI N G T H E M E N S P RI S ON Y E N I S E I S K
’
To f a ce 1 09
THE M U R D E R E R S D EPA RTM E N T Y E N I S E I S K P RI S O N
’
,
111
TH E G OV E R N OR V I S ITI N G T HE WOM E N S P RI S ON Y E N I S E I S K’
,
1 12
C RIMI N A L P RI S ON E R S W A ITI N G A T Y E N I S E I S K F OR CO NV OY
TO ST A RT F OR K R A S N OIA R S R T o f a ce 1 13
S TR EE T S C E N E Y E N I S E I S K
,
11 7
A W A T E R C A R RI E R
- 1 18
G E TTI N G WA T E R FR O M T H E F R OZ E N R I V E R Y E N I S E I T o f a ce 1 18
T H E H I G H S TR EE T Y E N I S E I S K
,
118
A S W E LL 119
T H E T WO C OLL E GI A T E S C H OO L S Y E N I S E I S K ,
T o f a ce 120
L IF E I N S I B E RI A A N A FT E R N OON D RI V E I N Y E N I S E I S K
: 12 1
REA D Y T O S T A RT 12 3
”
G OOD BYE -
126
IM T H E M EA T M A RK E T K R A S N OIA R S K ,
131
A T YP IC A L S I BE RI A N IN T E RI OR K R A S N OIAR S K , 13 2
S N O W S C A V E N G E R K R A S N OIAR S K
, To f a ce 13 3
T H E C A T H E DR A L K R A S N O IA R S K
, 13 4
A C ONV OY OF P R I S O N E R S O N T H E M A RC H ( E NL A RG E M E N T
FR O M A N IN S T A N T A N E OU S K O D A K P H OT O) T o f a ce 138
P RI S ON E R S U N L OA DI N G S L E DG E S O N A RRI VA L A T PE R AS ILN Y ,
K R A S N O IA R S K 140
V E RIFIC A TI ON OF P RI S ON E R S ON A RRI V A L A T PE R A S ILN Y ,
K R A S N OIA R S K To f a ce 14 1
THE T H E GA N G
S T A R OS T E R O F 14 2
G R OU P O F P R I S ON E R S ( F R OM A G OV E RN M E N T P H OT O ) 14 4
”
A PR IVIL IG IE R T O R P R I V I L E G E D P RI S O N E R 14 8
“
,
P EA S A N T WO M E N S E L L I N G P R OV I S I ON S T O P R I S ON E R S 14 9
W A TC H M A N O N D U T Y I N F IR E T OW E R K RA S N O IA R S K , To f a c e 15 5
M Y S E R VA N T 15 6
A RRI V A L A T A P O S T S T A TI O N 1 64
IN T E RI O R O F A P O S T H O U S E -
16 6
T H E IM P E RI A L M A I L 1 73
LI S T OF I LL US TR A TI O N S . xxii i
I RK U T S K
T H E M O S KOVS KAIA POD VOR I E, I RK U T S K
A N IRK UTS K B EA U TY
E N TR A N C E HA
LL OF M I LL I ON A IR E G O L D MI N E -
OW NE R S
’
H OU S E IRK U T S K
,
S TR EE T S C E N E I R K U T S K
,
A C O S SA CK To f a c e
A N IR K U T S K
T H E M U S E U M IRK U T S K
,
T H E RE CR E A TI O N G R OUN D IRK U T S K P RI S ON
,
M A RRI E D P RI S O N E R S W A ITI N G T O B E S E R V E D WIT H N E W

C L OT HE S O N A R R I V A L A T P RI S O N IRK U T S K ,
T H E P RI S ON A RTI S T
T H E B A R ON E S S
A P OL ITIC A L ( FR OM A G O VE R N M E N T P H OT O) T
S W E E T H E ART S A N D W I V E S V I S ITI N G DAY I N T H E IRK U T S K
: -
P RI S O N
A U T OGR APH L E TT E R FR O M T HE B A R O N E S S
’
T H E H IG H S T R E E T IR K U T S K ,
IN T HE C OU RT YA RD O F A F IR E S T A TI ON IRK U T S K ,
T H E G OV E R N O R G E N E RA L S H O U S E IRK U T S K
’
-
,
S TR E E T S C E N E I RK UT S K
,
A B IT O N T H E R O A D T O L A K E B A IK A L
T H E R I V E R A N G A R A N EA R LA K E B A IK A L
L IE S T VI N ITz O N L A K E B A IK A L
,
A L A K E B A IK A L S T EA M E R
C R O S S I N G L A K E B A IK A L
T H E K U PET S KI T R A C K
A P O S T H OU S E O N T H E K U PE T S KI T R A CK
-
A T E A C A RT
DAY DR EA M S A S K E TC H I N T H E T R A N S BA IK A L
-
: -
T H E H IG H S TR E E T T ROIT Z KO S AVS K
,
M Y F IR S T G L IM P S E OF M ON G O L I A
A B OU R R IAT E LA D Y
S K E TC H BY A P O L ITIC A L P RI S ON E R M A D E W H I L S T O N T H E
,
M A RC H A CR O S S S I B E RI A ( T H E O RIGI N A L I S I N S EP I A
A N D W H IT E ) TO f a ce
O N T H E R OA D T o O U RG A
A M O N G O L Y O U RT
A M ON G O L
O U R M ID DAY H A L T
A S TR E E T M U S ICI A N O U RG A ,
T H E P RI N CI PA L T H OR OU G H F A R E O U RG A , T f a ce O
x xiv L IS T OF ILL US TR A TI O N S .
A P I L GRIM FR OM T H I BE T
A LA MA
A P R AYE R W H EE L O URG A
-
,
P R AYE R B OA R D S O U RG A
-
,
T H E O LD O LD S T O R Y A LL T H E WO R L D OV E R
,
IN T HE C A M E L A N D P O N Y BA Z AA R O U RG A ,
IN T H E B A Z AA R O U RG A ,
T H E PUN I S H M E N T OF T H E C A RG U E : A S K E TC H OU T S ID E
T H E P RI S ON O U RG A ,
2 95
A N O U RG A BEA U T Y 2 99
IN T HE G OB I D E S E RT 3 01
M Y C A M E L C A RT - To f a ce 3 03
M ON G O L C O NV EY I N G T H E R U S S I A N L IG H T M A IL A CR OS S T H E
G OB I D E S E RT To f a ce 3 06
T H E M IDD AY H A L T I N T HE D E S E RT 3 09
M Y C A R A VA N I N T H E D E S E RT ( FR O M A K OD A K P H OT O ) 3 13
W E M EE T T H E H OM E W A RD B O UN D M A I L -
3 14
T H E L A M A S E TT L E M E N T OF T C H o IY R I N T H E G O B I DE S E RT -
3 15
I T A K E T E A WIT H A L A M A I N T HE G OB I D E S E R T To f a ce 3 16
T H E R U S S I A N P OS T S T A TI O N I N M I D D E S E RT
- -
3 18
IN T HE G OB I D E S E RT A T EA C A R A V A N O N ITS WA Y T O
:
S I BE RI A ( FR O M A K OD A K P H OT O )
IN T HE G O B I D E S E RT L A D Y V I S ITO R S T o O UR E N C A M P
:
M ENT TO f ce a 3 23
Y E GE N T L E S H EPHE RD E S S OF YE S T EPPE 32 4
S TR E E T S C E N E Y A M BOO S H A N ( S H O WI N G T H E G R EA T W A LL
,
“
O N M OUN T A I N I N B A C KGR OUN D ) T o f a ce 33 2

M Y M UL E L ITT E R-
338
T H E C OU RT YA R D OF A C H I N E S E IN N 3 41
”
A R OO M I N A C H I N E S E IN N
“
343
A N A S T Y BIT OF R OA D
'
To f a c e 3 46
T H E G R EA T WA LL OF C H I N A A T T H E E N TR A N C E T O N A N K AO U
PA S S TO f a ce 3 48
C H I N E S E RE V E NU E C R U I S E R S I N H O N GK O N G R OA D S T EA D
( FR O M A P H OT O GI V E N BY S IR ROB E RT H A RT ) To f a c e 3 63
S TR EE T S C E N E T A RT A R C IT Y P E KI N G
, , 356
S IR R OBE RT H A RT I N H IS DE N A T P E KI N G
,
“
To f a ce 3 66
MY HO U S E B OA T
-
3 75
S HA N G HA I 3 80
THE
“
BI SC AYA LEAV I N G B LA C K WALL .
F R OM TH E A R C T IC OC E A N
T O TH E Y E LLO W SE A .
CHA PT E R I .
F R OM BL A C K WA LL TO S IBE R IA .
Th e o bj e ct o f the exp e di ti on —T h e s t e a m e r B i s ca ya a n d i t s p a s
se n e s a d c a r g o —A c r o ss t h e N o r t h S e a —U c o m fo t bl e
n r a
g r n
ex p er i e n c e s— F i r s t gl i m ps e o f N or w a y—A al e su n d— T h e
L of o de n Islan ds — T h e m id n igh t s u n — A for e ta s te o f t h e
Arc t ic r e gi o n S C a p e F ly a w ay O u r i c e m a s t e r C a p t ai
- -
, n
C r o w t h e r —W e sigh t t h e c oa st o f S ib e r ia—T h e vill a g e o f

K h a r b a o va —Th e e n t a n c e t o t h e K ar a S e a
r r .
IN these prosaic days Of the nineteenth century one

hardly expects a revival of the adventurous exp e
B
2 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
which made the fame of E ngland in the days

di t i on s
of Frobisher and D rake A s a matter of fact the
.
,
world is almost too well known n O W for such

a dventures to be possible even were the leaders ,
forthcoming and the good old buccaneering days

,
ar e long past S till I could not help thinking on

.
, ,
the da y we left Gravesend for the far N orth E as t -

,
bound for a region but little known and with th e ,
uncertainty of ever reaching our destinatio n that ,
it must have been under somewhat S imilar conditio n s

that the adventurers of old started on their perilo u s
j ourneys ; with however this very great difference
, ,
O urs
-
was not a fi l i b u s t er i n g e x pedition but a ,
com m onplace commercial enterprise backed up by ,
—
several well to do E ngli s hmen with absolutely nothing
-
,
of th e romantic about i t beyond the fact Of its

h aving to traverse these wild and comparatively
unknown regions before it could be successfully
achieved .
We started from the Thames on Friday July 1 8 , ,
1 8 9 0 in the chartered N orwegian steamer B i s ca y a

, ,
eight hundred tons gross bound for the Yenisei ,
River with a nondescript tentative sort of cargo con ,
sisting of a mixture of all sorts from a stea m saw ,
mill down to the latest toy for children o u r ultimate ,
destinatio n b eing th e town of Yeniseisk which is ,
S ituated some fifteen hundred miles from the mo u th
of this mighty river The Obj ect Of the e xpedition

.
was to endeavo u r to Open a trade ro u te between

TO TH E Y ELL O W SEA . 3
E ngland and Siberia means of the Kara Sea

bv
passage ,
which was discovered by N ordenskiold in
1 87 5 .
N oth ing of particular interest occurred during the

first fe w days aft er we left the Thames We were .
SO closely packed that it required some careful

arrangement to get us all comfortably stowed so to ,
speak Imagine seven men j ammed into a cabin j ust

.
a bout large enough to accommodate four a n d each ,
m an with the usual amount of superfluous luggage

W ithout which E nglishmen could not possibly travel ,
this baggage also stowed in the cabin and y ou w ill ,
guess that we were packed like sardines A S how .

,
ever no doubt even sardines get used to being

,
packed after a time S O did we ; and although the

, ,
passage across the N orth Sea was about as u n com

for t a b l e a one as I ever experience d we somehow ,
managed to settle into our respective grooves lo n g

before we S ighted the coast of N orway Our party .
consisted of t wo representatives of the L ondon

Syndicate two engineers a master stevedore ( to
, ,
unload the ship on arrival ) an e xperienced ice m aster,

-
,
who knew the Kara Sea thoroughly the captain of ,
the Bi s ca ya and your humble servant

, I don t .
’
think I ever was on board a more crowded S hip .
E ven the de ck s were packed W ith all sorts of para

p h er n a l i a including a large steam launch and several
,
-
pens of live stock ; and so as to obviate any fear Of

,
‘
running S hort of coal in the outlandish parts we were

goi n g to the fore and upper decks had over seventy

,
tons of loose coal o n them We had a head wind .
and a heavy sea nearly the whole way after passing

Harwich where we dropped our pilot thus bidding
, ,
a last farewell to Old E ngland Off the D ogger .
Bank we went right through the fishing fleet which

congregates there and took advantage of the opp or
,
t u n i t y to get some fresh fi s h —a matter of no small
diffi culty as the men had a preposterous idea of its

,
value : they would not take money for it but actually ,
had the effrontery to want t o swop a couple of small

cod a ling and a pair of sol es for two bottles of
, ,
whiskey and a pound of tobacco I Fish is evidently

dearer on the fi s h i n g ground itself than in L ondon
-
.
Whiskey however wa s far more valuable to us than

, ,
fish S O when the men saw we were not buyers on

, ,
their terms they eventually came down to 1 % lb

,
.
of ship tobacco ( value 2 8 4 d ) for the lot which . .

,
was reasonable enough A fter passing th e D ogger .
Bank the wind freshened v ery co n siderably towar ds

e vening and added much t o the discomfort O f the
,
crowded ship in fact so ba dly did she roll about ,
that not only was all our party busy feeding the “
”
fishes most of the time but our cook was also so ,
ill that h e could not attend to his duties and We ,
all had to lend a hand in th e galley as well as

we could I had never been a long voy ag e in a
.
wooden S hip before S O could hardly S leep a wi n k

,
'
a l l night owing to the ( to me ) unusual noise caused

,
time O ff the quaint little village of A alesund with ,
its pretty wooden houses nestling under the high

sno w clad mountains which encircle the beautiful
-
fi or d on which it is S ituated I was disappointed

.
on a nearer inspection of the village which looked ,
so quaint as seen from the sea : the houses all

appeared to be almost n e w doubtless owing to the
,
fact that they are all buil t entirely of wood The .
e ffect is thoroughly characteristic of N or way the smell ,
pervading the place especially so being a s far as , ,
I could guess a mi xture of paraffi n and pi ckled fish

, ,
with j ust a s oup con of burnt wood thrown in here

and there E verything looke d as clean as a n ew
.
pin but as eac h house is exactly like its neighbour

, , ,
the e ffect is certainly monotonous N evertheless .

,
there were several pretty bits wh ich I should have

liked to S ketch had I had time What if anything
.
, ,
struck me most was the entire absence Of any

national or picturesque costume wh ich gives such ,
local colour to most Continental villages At .
A ales u nd the inhabitants looke d for all the world

like E nglish people an d their fair hair and blue
,
eyes added to this resemblance I wa s told how .

,
ever that Ou f é t e days there are some quaint costumes

,
to be seen here and there .
N O time was los t in getting away and shortly ,
after we had lost S igh t of th e quiet little village ,
where we had spent a few lazy hours and were ,
heading it once more for the far distant A rctic -

TO TH E Y EL L O W SEA . 7
regions The days after this date began to lengthen

.
considerably and although we had hardly noticed

, ,
it at first it astonish ed us very much when we

,
’
suddenly found that it was eleven O clock at night ,
and yet the sun was S hining as brightly as during

the afternoon When the novelty had worn Off as
.
,
it naturally did after a few d ays the amount of ,
daylight al m ost palled on one It seemed too absurd .
turni n g in while the sun was up ; still like every ,
thing else one gets used t o i t after a time The

,
.
next few days were uneventful as we were out of ,
sight of land and the usual monotony of S hipboard

,
life was only broken by the usual S kylarking without ,
which n o sea voyage would b e complete .
On July 2 8 we S ighted the Lofo de n Islands ab out ,
fourteen miles O ff on our starboard quarter It .
was a lovely morning and the lofty sno w capped

,
-
mountains towering against the calm eastern sky

presented a grand and impressive sight The e ffect .
was almost that of a colossal painting so still was ,
everything in the bright sunsh ine I was so i m .
pressed by the quiet grandeur of the scene that I

got out my paint b ox and started a S ketch but only
-
,
succeeded in making a sort of caricature of my

impression s L ate the ne xt evening we came across
.
a fleet of small fi s hi n g b oats — abo u t the quaintest

-
lot of craft I ever s a w : they looked as if they had

been copied from the frontispiece of t h e A r g os y .
We got some coarse sort of fish from them in

e xchange for tobacco biscuits and the ine vitable

, ,
ru m. The men were a very fi n e looking set of -
fellows very much like E nglishmen ( as in fact most

, , ,
N or wegians are ) and seemed qui t e comfortable in

,
their ramshackle looking boats A fter leaving them

-
.
we saw for the first ti m e the curious pheno m enon of

the sun above the horizon at midnight It was so .
bright and t h e atmosph ere S O clear that I took a n

, ,
instantaneous photograph O f a group on deck and it ,
came out very well .
The next morning we arrived O ff the N orth Cape ,
and passed it close in to the shore We were n o w .
well inside the A rctic Circle but perceived no ,
di ff erence whatever in th e temperature except th at ,
perhaps it was warmer than it had been previously .
A S a matter of fact we had out the hose and took a

,
most enj oyable bath on deck i n the warm sunshine .
In the afternoon ho wever we had o u r first taste O f

, ,
the A rctic regions a s a dense fog came on and

, ,
lasted till late in th e evening E verything seemed .
saturated with m oisture ; the very rigging was

dripping as under a heavy S hower .
For the next few days nothing of interest occurred ,
when suddenly one morning as we were nearing ,
K o l gu i er Island we were aroused by the news that

,
there was a steamer in sight and soon we were all

,
on deck eagerly scanning the horizon Considering .
how far we were from the ordinary track Of vessels ,
our excitement was natural ; for what was a s hip

TO TH E Y ELL O W SEA .
9
doing i n these outlandish parts We soon made out ?
that it was a large steamer coming from due north ,
straight towards us She was coming at such a .
spanking rate that very soon we c ould see she was

flying the Russian flag ; an d S hortly after she passed
round our stern and we dipped our colours to each
,
other as she did so S h e then brough t up a n d . ,
stopped not far from IIS while our captain hailed her ,
in E nglish a n d asked if they would take some

,
letters ashore for IIS With di fficulty we understood

.
,
”
their reply to be Yes When however i n their
“
.
, ,
turn they asked us where we were bound for and

, ,
”
got the reply Siberia they seemed somewhat
“
,
”
astonished as well they might for
,
Siberia is ,
“
vague We then lowered a b oat and sen t them our

.
,
packet of letters ; after which bidding each other ,
farewell by means of our fog horns we continued our -

,
way We subsequently learnt from the mate who

.
,
had been in the boat that it was a steamer which ,
had been sent to N ova Z e m l a to t r y and discover a

Russian S hip w hich had been lost there some months
,
back .
D uring t h e remainder of that day our course was

again obscured by thick fog whic h prevented us ,
from S ighting K olgu i e r Island in the afternoon as we

had expected When h o wever we came on deck
.
, ,
after tea a curious incident occurred

, Our ice .
master who had been intently looking through his

,
glasses at something which had attracted his atten

tion sud denly declared that he saw land on the

,
hori z on behind us IVe were all naturally somewhat

.
startled at this intelligence as we hardly expected to

,
see it in so distant a quarter for even had we passed

,
A “
D EA D E C K N I N G I N
R O T HE KA A
R SE A .
in the fog at the rate we were going it

K olgu i er ,
could not possibly have been so far away from

?
in the time But what land was it then for on
.
,
looking through o u r glasses we certainly did see high

The days were now b eginning to get shorter again ,
although it was still broad daylight all night ( if such

an expression is E n glish ) the sun remai n ing below ,
the horizon a few m inutes lo n ger every day By .
the way I believe w e were fortun a te in getting

,
in the neighbourhood of the N orth Cape e x actly on

the last day in the year when the sun is visible ,
above the horizon at mi dnight A ll of us were n o w .
anxiously looking forward to getting a glimpse of

the coast of Siberia and y e t th e weather was so
,
warm and t h e sea so cal m and blue that it was more

like yachting in the Mediterranean than a voyage
thro u gh the dreary A rctic regions ; in fact on ,
A u gust 4 when we at length sighted the land the

, ,
sun was S imply broiling L ovely however as t h e .

, ,
da y was it seemed to have very little e ffect on

,
the dreary looking coast line for a more dismal and

- -
,
uninviting country I never s a w flat and uninterest ,
i n g right dow n to the very water s edge and with

’
a striking absence of any colour except a dingy ,
mud dy brown This of course is easily accounted

.
, ,
for as it is only for two or three S hort months that

,
the ground is free from sno w and there is no ,
vegetation in these regions .
Captain Crowther our ice master a veteran A rctic

,
-
,
t raveller wh o was out with the E i r a expedition in

,
1 88 1 —2 and is the only man on b oard who knows

,
these parts now a ssumed the command of the S h i p

, ,
and took up his position on the bridge We were .

TO TH E Y ELL O W S EA . 13
about to enter the Kara S ea by the Wa y gat c h

Straits and it was uncertain as yet if the navigation
,
was open as this remote sea is never entirely

,
OU R IC E -
M A ST E R , C A PT A IN
'
C R OWT H E R .
fro mice It was t obe an e xciting time for t he next

,
ho ur or so for if our passage t h r ou gh t h e Straits

“
’ ’
'
, ,
was blocked we sho uld : have to return and t r y f and

,
'
get round by the co ast O f N ova Z e ml a , a much

longer and still more doubtful route Sailing as we .
were on a summer sea and in th e warm sunshine

, ,
one could h ardly realize that perhaps a mile or ,
so ahead we might find our passage blocked by

,
impenetrable ice it seemed so utterly improb able as

to be hardly worth t h e t hought But we did not .
know the A rctic regions yet .
We soon reached the entrance to the Straits ,
which are for m ed by the I sland of Wa ygat c h on

one side and Siberia on th e other and are only ,
about one and a half m ile across passing so close ,
to the shore that we could plainly distinguish the

battered wreck of a small ve ssel lyi n g on the beach
near a primitive sort of w ooden b eacon which ,
seemed strangely out of place in so melancholy a

spot Some distance farth er on the Siberian S ide
.
, ,
w e could se e the small hamlet of Khabarova con ,
sisting of about a dozen wooden huts or cottages

clustere d round a little church with a fe w fi s h i ng
,
coracles dra w n up on the shingle in front while a ,
short distance away were several Polar b ear skins

h anging up to dry It looked unutterably sad this
.
,
poor little outpost of h u manity so far away from

the busy world .One could n ot h elp wondering
what inducement this dreary A rctic waste could
possibly Offer for any o n e to wish to d well in it I .
hear h owever that a few Russian merchants live

, ,
there carrying on a sort of trade with the Samoy ede

,
n atives in return for furs walrus tusks e t c

, ,
.
TO TH E Y ELL O W SE A . 15
Up till now we had been having real summer

weather with rippling waves sparkling in the brilliant
,
sunshine . Suddenly the scene changed and with , ,
barely any warning a drenching S hower came down

, ,
and wit h it the wind veered round to the north east -

,
dark clouds obscured the S k y and as we entered

,
the K a ra Sea the e ffect was indescribably weird .
It was like going from daylight into a horri d ,
uncanny sort of twilight Behind us we could still

.
see the lovely sunshine we h a d j ust left while ahead ,
the scene was A rctic in the extreme and thoroughly ,
realized my wildest expectatio n s All was cold and

.
wretched with a w intry sky overhead U nder the

, .
low cli ffs which encircled the dreary S hore one could
see huge drifts of sno w which the sunshine of the
S hort A rctic summer had been powerless to disperse
,
while for miles round the sea S imply bristled with

drift ice in all sorts of unco u th shapes I felt that .
it would require the pe ncil of a D or é or the p e n

'
of a J u l e S Ve r n e to convey any adequate idea of

the weird scene in all its desolate gra ndeur .
C LEA I NG
R T HE D IFT
R IC E F R OM T HE P OP ELLE
R R .
CH A PT E R II .
THE KAR A SEA .
In t h e m ids t of —T e di o u s w o k —We i d e ff e c ts a t
t h e i c e fi oe s -
r r
t wiligh t — A s t a n g e m ere t i g — We p a y a visit t o t h e h o m

n e
o f t h e w a l us hu n t e —
r -
C i o hu n t i n g —A su m m e m o n i n g
r ur -
r r
i n t h e i c e — D e ligh t f u l e xp e i e n c e —T h e A c t ic m i a g e
r r r
We p a t f om o n e w f i e n ds —A n u n c e tai n p o st o ffi c e
r r ur r r -
Ic e b o u n d —N o v e l e xp e i e n c e s—S e al hu n ti n g
- r -
.
N OT WIT H S T A N D IN G its unpromising aspect our plucky ,
ice master put the B i s c a ya straight for the icy

-
obstacl es and soon we were surrounded on all S ides

,
by gh ostly shapes which appeared to be hurrying,
past u s like so many uneasy spirits under the leaden

sky A lthough th e ship was well and skillfully
.
han dled in a very short time we were actually blocked

,
in on all S ides by huge masses of ice and remained ,
so for several hours Then the fl oes drifted s u ffi .

FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E Y EL L O W S E A . I7
c i en t lto allo w of our gradually wedging our way

y
through which we did with consid erable difficulty
,
and not without several severe bumps in fact it was ,
a wonder to me h o w we managed to get through

at all still more without serious damage Curiously
, .
enough all the ice for the moment seemed to b e

,
gathered in one spot for the sea beyond was clear

,
for several miles ahead after this ; then more drifts

appeared and during the night we were again
,
hemmed in on al l sides .
The next morning the sun was shining in a

cloudless sky once more a great contrast to our ,
’
previous eveni n g s experience and th e e ffect of the ,
snow white drift ice floating on the blue sea w a s

- -
very b eautiful and n ovel This time the water .
was su fficiently clear ahead to allow of our passage

without much difficulty and we proceed e d without ,
any special incident for several hours Towards .
the afternoon however we O bserved a curious effect

, ,
on the horizon before u s : it was a sort of white

reflection in the sky Our e xperienced ice master who
.
-
,
h a d b een u p to the mast head with his glasses how -

,
ever did not look at it in the same light as we did

,
to him it was n either novel nor interesting He .
told us that it was the reflection in the S k y of

enormous fields of ice which it would be impossible ,
to get through unless we foun d a passage in some

,
part of it For the moment he could see nothing

.
for it but to turn back and try another course as the ,
C
sea ahead was blocked o n either S ide as far as h e

could see This did not sound cheerfu l as it imme
.
,
di a t el y raised visions of wintering in the A rctic

regions if indeed our ship was not smashed up
, , ,
before then Wi t hout any delay the B i s ca ya s head

.
’
was immediately turned right round to the south

east in the hope of finding a clear passage and
, ,
creeping north again under the shelter of the land .
It was wearisome work going right back again over

the Old ground but this was b u t a forerunner of,
what we had to do for some time after w ar ds and ,
by the time we had done with the Kara Sea we had

a ll learnt a good lesson in patience So as to ec on o .
mize the coal we only steamed half speed ahead a l l

,
-
t h e time A fter several ho u rs on this course it was

.
,
decided once more to try our luck and get northward

a gain and all that night we wen t steadily on without
,
meeti n g with a n y ice .
The ne x t morning when we got up on deck a most , ,
provoking S ight awaited us We were steaming very .
S lowly for a fe w miles ahead of us was the wa l l of

,
ice we had been trying in vain to avoid There it .
lay stretched out as far as the eyes could reach

,
on either side in the bright sunshine a ghostly barrier ,
between u s and our route Our ice master was pacing .

-
the de ck in a very restless manner and evidently did ,
not like the look of affairs at all A t last he told u s .
that it was no good humbugging abo u t it : we were

fairly in for it A s far as he could j udge the Kara
. ,
like polished glass and on it the floating ice which

, ,
was rapidly mel t ing took all sorts of weird and

,
grotesque shapes conj uring up visions of l o w tide

,
on some i m mense shore i n antediluvian days with ,
uncouth monsters disporting th emselves in t h e

S hallo w water We were so much impr essed by our
.
surrounding s that we remained on deck watching

the S lowly moving
panorama all night ,
or rather during the , ,
hours which are usu

ally night for it was ,
but a sort of m y s t e
rious t wilight all the
time which consider ,
ably added to the

effect .
Towards morning
we got into somewhat
clearer water when , ,
to our great surprise ,
we S ighted some ves

sels ahead of us in
th e ice They turned .
out to be walrus
hunters and on our , ,
H ME
T HE O WAL U HU N T E
OF T HE R S -
R
getting up to the
.
’
nearest one a sort of S l e e p with a cr e w s nest at th e
,
-
mast head with a man in it on th e look out they

-
,
-
,
sent a boat over to IIS and we then learnt that they

,
were all in the same fix as ourselves a nd had been ,
blocked in for some days past as they also wanted ,
to get north They hailed from Hammerfest and

.
,
had been in the Kara Sea since A pril but hoped to ,
be able to get out and on their way back to N or way

to wards the end of A ugust One of our party an .
,
enthusiastic curio —
hunter ( without which n o party
could be complete ) immediately scented his prey
, ,
and on inquiry found that the meu had on board a '
Polar bear s skin they could sell him also some seal
’
S kins and walrus tusks so we j umped into their b oat ,
and they took us across to have a look at the mwhile

their captai n and ours hobnobbed together and talked
N or wegian to their heart s content in th e B i s ca ya s
’ ’
cabin On nearer inspection the s l e e p proved larger

.
,
than we had imagined it and certainly dirtier In,

.
a few minutes a cask was hauled up out of th e hold ,
and a large yellowy brown bundle covered thick l y

-
,
with wet s alt pulled out of it and spread on the

,
greasy deck This was the Polar bear s S kin we had

.
’
’
come to see Our curio hu n ter s enthusiasm went
.
-
down to zero at once for it was as unlike the snowy

,
white rugs one sees in L ondon drawing rooms as -
chalk is to cheese ; still they actually asked th e

,
modest sum of £5 for it in this dirty state The .
sealskins were also very disappointing and we were ,
abo u t to return to the boat when one of the crew ,
produced a l o t of S a m o ve de costumes a n d walrus

tusks which we all made a rush for as at any rate , , ,
they were interesting —and clean Of such there .
were enough to satisfy us all and they were soon

,
bought up I got off cheapest as I managed to get

.
,
some very curious articles in return for my Wa ter

’
bury watch which took the man s fancy On .
returning to the B i s c a y a we found that it had been

arran ged to tow the s l e e p a short distance as its cap ,
tain said he knew the coast and thought he could pilot

,
us through the ice par t of the way The ships th ere .
fore got under way i n company and most of us then

,
turned in for a few hours after a most fatiguing da y

,
.
I n the morning we were at a standstill fairly ,
blocked in on all S ides by the ice which glistened ,
’
and s parkled round us a ll one s eyes ached from the
glare The sea was as cal m as a mill pond the sun
.
-
,
was S hining in a cloudless sky and it was so warm ,
that had it not been for the ice around I should have
suggested having the h ose out and a bath on deck ,
for the thermometer marke d fifty degrees in the

shade It was simply delightful and made one feel
.
,
quite pleased to b e alive so to speak I could not

,
.
help thinki n g as I breathed the exhilarating air how

, ,
fe w L ondoners have ever experienced such delight ,
as inhaling th i s sort of air seems to impart to on e a

’
kind of desire to j ump about and give vent to one s
a nimal S pirits in quite a schoo l b oyish fashion remind ,
’
ing one of one s youthfu l days before the cares of
manhood were u pon us wh en on the weekl y h a lf
,
TO THE Y ELL O W SE A . 23
holiday the rush was made for the cricket ground -

.
Owing to the purity of the a t mosphere the refraction ,
or mirage along the horizon wa s so great that the ice

seemed to be literally standing straight up thus pro ,
du ci n g the impression of our being surrounded by a

high white wall or cliff— a n al m ost indescribable effect ,
and which when seen through the glasses reminded

, ,
one of a transformation scene at a theatre when the ,
background is formed of painted gauze which is

gradual l y lifted to disclose further surprises behind .
A long and wearisome delay n o w occurred as it ,
was m a nifestly absurd even to try and advance a u v

farther in the direction we were in A t last it was .
decided that the B i s c a ya should get out again into

the open sea as soon as possible as our ice master
,
-
did not like the look of the huge masses of ice which
w ere pressing tightly on her S ides The walrus .
hunter expressed his intention of remaining wh ere

he was for a fe w days to try and get some seals
,
.
Before parting company we e n trusted to his care a

packet of letters which he promised to post at the
fi rst port he touched a t — rather a vague promise on
his part as he was uncertain when he would return
,
to civilization However it was worth chancing as

.
, ,
he might possibly get back before we reached the

end of our long j ourney I could n o t help wonderi n g
.
how long m y letter would take to reach the Strand ,
and felt certain I should ne ver find a more uncertain

post offi c e than this one
-
.
For the next few days we were dodging the ice

in all directions N orth south east and west
.
, , , ,
everywhere it seemed to be closing in on IIS till at ,
last during a futile e ffort to break through we got

, ,
so hemmed in that it was deemed advisable to anchor

to a fl oe for a time and see if there was any chance
,
of the drifts breaking u p with the advancing season .
S O we brou ght up at a huge field of hummocky ice ,
and some men were sent do wn with the ice anchor -

.
Most of us then enj oyed our first bit of exercise for

a fortnight It was a novel experience being on
.
one of th ese floating islands Though not very .
S lippery one had to be careful A long the edges

,
.
the water deepened gradually as upon a shore for , ,
a couple of yards or so till where the ice ended ,

'
,
when it suddenly went off into hundreds of fathoms ,
which looked like a black aby ss beneath us There .
was very little to see however and although we , , ,
took our rifles with us we did not meet with a S ingle

,
living obj ect still less a bear or a walrus as we had

, ,
fondly hoped we might .
The n e xt few days passed quietly I managed to .
do a little S ketching although it was chilly work for

,
’
one s feet on the ice Then the weather changed
.
,
and it came on to rain with a thick fog accompany

,
ing it so we fou n d the close and st u ffy cabin very

,
cosy after b eing in t h e bleak wind outside and , ,
if singing ( or rather making an infernal row)

, ,
could help to pass away the time we certain l y ,

T HE
“
BISC AYA ICE B OU N D I N
-
THE KAR A SEA . [ To f a c
e P~ 2 4
26 FR O M TH E A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E Y ELL O W S E A .
Here I am you fello ws ! Why don t you try an d

,
’
”
get me ? But you know you can t ! Then by ’
the time we had go t our rifles and ammunition

ready he would disappear suddenly and a fe w
, ,
seconds a fter come up on the other S ide of the shi p .
A fter a little of this sort O f thing we simply ge t

mad and at last there was quite a battery waiti n g
,
for him wh en he did appear The ice master wh o .

-
,
was up at the mast head and could from th at -

, ,
elevated position see him quite plainly under t h e

,
water directed our movements and when at last

, ,
we got a sh ot at him grew awfully excited yelling ,
’
out That s it ! Hit him again in the same p l ace
, ,
’ ”
and you ll get him 1 We did not ge t him however , ,
for the p e er brute dived do wn leaving a track of ,
blood in t h e water and di d not reappear We then

,
.
got out a b oat and went o n a sort of hunting ex

,
-
e di t i o n round about but w ithout finding anything

p ,
i n fact we came to th e conclusion after paddling

, ,
about for half an hour that there was nothing to ,
find so we gave it up as a bad j ob

,
.
A t last it was decided to up anchor and once

more try our luck as our captains and in fact all
, , , ,
of u s were getting impatient at the delay u n a v oi d

, ,
able t hough i t was Th e rain appeared to have

.
loosened the floes considerably so we were a b i t ,
more h opeful .
“
ON E S P EC K OF L I FE IN T HE IC E B U N D W A T E
-
O S .
CH A PT E R III .
THE KA RA S E A — c on t i n u ed .
F u r th e r i m p r e ssi o n s o f t h e A r ctic r e gi o n s — T h e awf u l sil en c e

A v e r a g e t hi c k n e ss o f t h e i c e — On t h e m o v e o c n e m o r e —A
fr e sh d a n g e r —A fu n n y p r ac tica l j o k e — T h e e s t u a r y o f
t h e R i v er Y e n i s e i — G o l c h i k a —A v isi t f r o m i t s i n h a bi t an t s
— F r o m G ol c h i k a t o K a r a e u l .
TH E novelty of being blocked in on all S ides by

fie l ds of ice soon wears off E ven the chance of a .
S hot at a seal now and a gain fails to enliven one .
The silence of the surroundings is too oppressive ;

all seems dead and it seems like some hi deous dream
,
to row about on these motionless waters w ith the ,
ghostly frozen monstrosities floating around It .

’ ’
reminded one of D oré s illustrations to D ante s
“
Inferno
. One can realize how awful it must be
to be forced to pass a winter in the far N orth where ,
continual n ight is added to the horrors Of the death .
like surro u ndings The silence of the great forest

.
Stanley tells us of in his book must b e almost noisy

( if one can use th e expression ) com pared with it ;
at any rate he had living nature around him wherea s
, ,
i n the A rctic regions al l is gloom a n d eternal S ilence ,
without even vegetation to enliven it Before leavi n g .
the fl e e to which we had been anchored out of ,
curiosity I ascertained the thickness of the ice and ,
to my a stonishment I found it averaged seventeen

feet some pieces being even as much as t wen t y —
, fi ve
f e e t in thickness and ,
this after several weeks O f
continuous thaw .
It would take too long to describe the wearisome

attempts we made during th e next few days while
tryi n g to break through the immense barrier which
lay between IIS and the mouth of the Yenisei River ,
and during all this time we experie nce d every

variety of A rctic climate from hot sunshine to,
s u dden and icy cold fogs This delay was trying

.
to our patience for time was precious as we had

, ,
to get up the river discharge cargo and get the

, ,
ship off again on her return j ourney to E ngland

before the winter ice set in otherwise it meant ,
her being fixed in the Kara Sea till th e late S pring

of next year A t le n gth from the mast head one
.
-
TO TH E Y EL L O W SEA . 29
evening came the long expected and j oyful i n t ell i

-
gence that there was clear water visible ahead a n d ,
our ice mast e r reported having discovered what he

-
thought looked like a passage to it This was good .
news indeed a s the monotony of the last fe w days

,
was beginning to pall on us and we were none of ,
us grieved when after a few more hours of slow

,
steaming the intelligence proved correct and we at

, ,
last saw a clear horizon before us E ven then a .
new and unexpected danger presented itse l f A gale .
had been blowing and although inside th e ice fl e e s

, ,
-
all was calm as in a lagoon outside a heavy sea was ,
running and the enormous masses of loose ice were

,
being tossed about like corks It was an awful S ight .

,
and one of the utmost danger to the Bi s c a ya as it ,
was most difficult to steer clear of the huge heaving

masses which threatened at any moment to smash
into us Fortunately ho wever we managed to pass
.
, ,
through them without the slightest inj ury to the

ship and we gave a hearty cheer for our skipper
,
when we found ourselves once more out in the open

sea and the order was given for the first time for
, ,
many days Full speed ahead !

,
Before quite leaving the ice behind I must tell ,
you of a very funny practical j oke our captain played

on u s while we were at anch or One morning at .
,
’
about three o clock when we were all fast asleep
, ,
we were aroused by the captain rushi n g into our

cabin in a state of great excitement and calling out ,
30 FR OM T HE A R C TI C O C EA N
to us that there was a bear on the ice close by To .
’
j ump out of one s bunk and make for one s ri fl e
’
was the work of a moment while the captain wh o , ,
appeared to b e in a frantic state of e x citement at

the chanc e of such capital sport was rushing a bout ,
looking for his ammunition I n a fe w seconds an d

.
,
without waiting to put on coat or slippers I was ,
out on the deck with nothing on b ut my pyj amas

, ,
in order to get the first S hot if possible I found .
all the cre w looking over the bulwarks It was .
broad daylight a cold r a w sort of morning with a

, , ,
dense fog enveloping every thing a few yards ahead .
A bout a hundred yards away on a huge piece of ,
ice whi ch wa s S lowly drifting to wards us was a large ,
animal looming out through the mist It was too .
far away to be distinctl y made out but there it was ,
undo u btedly —a Polar bear It would make for the

.
water before I could get a shot so without the ,
slightest hesitation I commenced blazing away It .
was so cold standing out in the frosty air with ,
’
scarcely anything on and coming straight from one s
warm bed that I coul d scarcely hold my rifle still
, ,
less disti n guish the dim outline in the distance at

which I fired four rounds in rapid s u ccession as I ,
e x pected every minute the o t h er fellows would turn

up before I could hit it A ll at once the mass of
.
,
ice having by this time drifted nearer the animal ,
turned slowly round towards us and started a ,
plaintive b l oa t i n g
. Wh y it s only a S heep ! I
“
,
” ’
fairly yelled as I now ma de out its form qui t e

,
distinctly Immediately there rose from all S ides

.
such shrieks of laughter as were never heard before

in the A rctic regions I imagine ; the crew S imply ,
r o lled about the de ck in convulsio n s A s to the .
captain and the others they nearly went into fits , .
To my astonishment I then saw one of the ship s ,

’
boats which had been waiting on the other side put

o ff to fetch back the pseudo bear— which was only -
one of o u r own sheep after all and which the , ,
captain as a j oke had himself p u t on the ice rightly

, , ,
g u essing that in our half awakened state none of us -
would hit it The others however did not turn

.
, ,
out quickly enough so I was the sole beneficiary of ,
what was one of the fu nniest practical j okes I ever

heard of and I laughed as heartily as any of them
,
”
when I twigged it all It was no use going back
“
.
to bed again directly so to show I could appreciate , ,
a good bit of fun a n d to keep out the cold we , ,
opened a bottle of whiskey and spent a pleasant hour , ,
while laughing again and again at the description

of how I looked rushing out on deck in my pyj amas
, ,
half asleep and firing wildly over the S ide of the

,
ship Th e sheep ( which had been condemned for

.
mutton ) in recognition of its valour while under

,
fire w a s reserved as our very last victim for the

,
fl e s h pot-
.
We were once more fairly on our way t owards

the Ye n isei and although we sighted a great deal
, ,
more ice we encountered none which formed any

,
serious obstacle we evidently had passed th e worst .
On A ugust 1 1 we got as far north as it was necessary

for us to go ( our position being at th e time 7 5 deg .
north ) and probably very fe w of us will ever get

,
so near the N orth Pole again It was a real A rctic .
day as I tak e it wretchedly cold with hea vy rain

, , ,
and a dense fog so there was nothing for it b u t to

,
remain in the cabin all day In th e afternoon we .

“
crossed the estuary to th e river Ob and— curious ,
phenomenon —passed through fresh water for some

hours We got some on deck and found it drink
.
,
able though brackish .
It was now only a qu es t i on o f making up for .
lost time as it had been arranged that the river

,
steamer the Phacni x should come from Yeniseisk

, ,
and meet us at the mouth of the river about

A ugust 1 2 which would give us a m ple time to
,
get out from E ngland a llowing for delays We , .
reached our place of rendezvous on the 1 3 t h

—
wonderful time all things considered and brought
,
up opposite the litt le station of G ol ch i k a without

'
seeing anything of the S hi p whi ch ought to have

' '
been waiting for u S Th e river here was ab out ten

.
miles wide and the coast on either side was as bare

,
and desolate as that we had seen when passing

through the Wa y ga t ch Straits It was profanely .
though graphically described by one of our party ,
who remarked that it looked as if it were the last

race th ey were dressed in what looked like u n

,
dressed sh eep skin of great age j udging from its

-
,
colour the fur being worn inside next their b odies

,
.
The t wo Russians were dressed in the usual peasant

costume of the country We could non e of us
.
make ourselves u nderstood although I go t out m y ,
guide book and vainly tried to pronounce some j aw

-
dislocating w ords ; so we stood grinning at each

other for several minutes till some one thought of ,
o ff ering them a cigarette This time no interpreter

.
w a s necessary What we wanted to find out from

.
them was whether they h ad seen anything of the

Placen ta but could not make the m understand ; in
,
fact our difficulty n o was to get rid of them to

,
w —
let them know we were pleased to have had the
pleasure of meeting them but that enough was as,
“
”
good as a feast A S they did n o t understand a hint
.
,
we S imply pointed down to their boat waving our ,
hands to them as a S ig n for them to depart ; this

t h ey acted on but not before they had insisted on
,
—
shaking hands with us all round rather a trying
ordeal A fter their departure i t was decided to
.
,
anchor in mid — Stream and wait a few hours for the

Ph aem zc before we attempted reaching the ne x t
'
station without a pilot .
In the mea n time the steam launch we had on

,
-
b oard was ge t out and put in readiness Th e follow .
ing day there stil l being no S igns of the Phoen i x it

, ,
was decided to a ttemp t to reach the ne x t station ,

TO TH E Y E LL O W SE A . 35
Kar a ou l a distance of a bout a hundred and sixty

,
miles without her as it was thought S h e might

, ,
have met with an accident on her way down with

so many lighters in tow ; so with the launch a few ,
hundred yards ahead taking soundings the B i s c a ya ,
left G ol chi k a and started up the river in the hope Of

,
seeing the missing ship We made slow but sure .
progress considering we had no pilot and how

, ,
imperfec t our only chart was and it certainly was ,
a bit of luck that we got on so well as we did as ,
the river is full of sandbanks N o incident worthy .
o f n o t e occu rr e d It was blowi n g a nasty head wind

.
a l l the tim e so those in the launch had a rough an d

,
wet time of it as the river averaged thre e miles

,
wide the whole way and there was no shelter what

,
ever ; yet they stuck to their work manfully alth ough ,
they were nearly swamped several times by th e

heavy seas Towards evening the next day we came
.
in sight of a solitary log cabin on the dreary shore -

,
with a dilapidated sort of storehouse next to it ;

’
close to the water s edge stood a Samoyede tent
with a lot of native dogs lying round it ; all about
were empty casks and ot h er miscellaneous rubbish .
N ot a human being was i n sight We had safely .
acco m plished the risky voyage from G ol ch ik a without

a pilot ; for this wretched little station off which
we dropped anchor with all our colours flying was
, ,
Kara e ul the goal o f the B i s ca ya s voyage

,
’
.
K A R A OU L .
CHA PTE R I V .
TH E P OR T OF K A R A OU L A N D IT S IN H A BIT A N T S .
T h e t u n dr as of N o r th e r n S ib e r i a —T h e S m o y e d e s —Ar r iv
a al of
t h e P h oen i x —M y fi s t R ussian
r me a l—V dk a o an d t e a —O u r
d e p a r tu re f o r K a s a n s k oi .
IN my last chapter I told you h o w we had safely

reached Kara e ul the destination of the B i s ca y a and
, ,
that to our great disappointment the S hip which

, ,
ought to have been there to meet IIS was not at th e

re dezvous
n IV a t could have happened to her
h .
?
N aturally the first idea that suggested itself was

,
that S h e h a d run aground and was unable to ge t off ,
encumbered as S h e was with the heavy barges that

she was towing down from Yeniseisk to take b ack
our cargo in It was m anifestly out of the question
.
attempti n g to proceed any farther without a pilot ,
so it was decided to wait where we were in the hope ,
of the Ph oen i x turning up during the next day or t wo .

FR OM T HE A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E Y ELL O W S E A . 37
In the evening we all went ashore to have a look

round and were received on landing b y qu i t e a pack
'
of native dogs which however only o ffered a mild

, , ,
protest against an invasion by barking at us from a

distance .A limp looking individual dressed in the
-
,
usual Russian costume with the inevitab l e top boots

,
-
,
strolled listlessly down towards the beach with his

hands in his pockets and stared at us in an a imless
,
sort Of fashion The dismal loneliness of t h e sur

.
roundings had evidently had their effect on him and ,
h e was incapable of arousing himself to anything

requiring a mental effort for he did not evince the
,
slightest interest in our arrival strange and unusual ,
though it certainly must h ave been to him in this

out of the way sort of place We found ho wever
- - -
.
, ,
that he still retained the use of his tongue and my ,
slight knowle dge of German then proved very useful ,
as it turn ed out he was not a Russian but hailed ,
”
from the V aterland
“
He informed us that he was
.
the only white man in the place ( which by the way , ,
only contained as many inhabitants as there are

letters in its name ) and usually spent the summer
,
months there looking after the Samoyede fishermen

who were working for the merchant who owned the
dilapidat ed wooden buildi n gs In the winter he was .
employed as a butcher at Yeniseisk and very glad he ,
was to get bac k again there as he said he had a fear,
fully dull time of it here with not a soul to speak to

,
except the Samoyedes a n d very little work to do

,
even when fi s h was brought in to sal t One could .
not help pitying a man who was so down on his luck

as to be o bliged to bury himself alive so far from his
native land i n order to earn his daily bread .
There was not much to see on the beach so we ,
started for a walk over the hills and had a very ,
pleasant ramble thro u gh country which reminded

one not a little of the S co t tish Highlands E very .
where we were knee deep in luxuriant grasses and

-
moss while all around flowers were growing in

wild profusion i t was al m
,
-
ost like being in a huge
deserted garden I noticed no end of ol d friends
.
,
such as the wild thyme campanella and mountain

, ,
daisy It was hard to realize that the ground is

.
eternally fros t bound a foot or so beneath the sur

-
face and that all this wonderful vegetation only

,
comes up during the few months when th e ground

is not covered with snow ; for during the greater
part of the year there is absolutely nothing to
relieve the white vista of the endless roll in g plains ,
which are then deserted by even the aborigines them

selves We came across a solitary Samoyede grave
.
on the hillside the spot being marked by two S ledges

,
standing ready packed as for a j ourney The .
Samoyedes thus leave their dead and the Custom is,
almost touching i n i t s S impl icity A ll the earthly

.
belongings of the deceased are placed on the S ledges ,
covered with a reindeer skin and abandoned to the

,
mercy of the elements w ith no other protection tha n

,
which was but a poor Russian home I could not .
help remarking the e xtreme order in whi ch the place

was kept ; every thing seemed to hav e its place to ,
which it was scrupulously returned when moved .
We then paid a visit en p a ss a n t to the S amoyede
A S A M O YE D E LA D Y .
hut or tent or whatever they call the bundle of

, ,
dirty rags that serves them for a sort of s helter .
Inside we saw an old man two women and four

, ,
or five half naked children huddled together in an

-
,
indescribable state Of filth round a few smoking

,
ember s which were intended to represent a fire The .
stench W as so great that it seemed more like looking
at a den of wild beasts than at human beings The .
river might have been ten miles away instead of ,
only as many yards for all the use they ever made
,
of it .
It had been decided that the next day our stea m

launch S h ould b e sent on a voyage of discovery up
the unkno wn reach es of the mighty river in search ,
of the missing Ph cen i ac The launch had already

.
been t h or ou gh l y o ver h a u l ed so without delay a

'
supply of provisions su ffi cient to last at least three

,
months was put on board of her and three of our

, ,
’
party told off for the expedition A t eight O clock .
the next morning all was in readiness and the little ,

.
launch packed absolutely to the gunwale and towing

,
a b oat full of coal for her engine started on her ,
venturesome j ourney her crew looking very u n c om

,
for t a b l e in their cramped quarters : still as it was a ,
lovely day the sun S hining brilliantly it almost

, ,
made one envy them their trip if they had such ,
weather a ll the time There was j ust a S light mis t

.
on the river so they were not long getting out of

,
sight blowing us a final good bye with their steam

,
-
whistle to which we replied by firing a volley with

,
our ri fl es Our n e w reduced party then returned to

.
the cabin to finish breakfast wondering how long we ,
were de e m e d to wait at Kara e ul in glorious inac

t i vi t y .
A t the end of the meal as we were getting ,
up from table we were startled by hearing the

,
’
launch s whistle blowing with great vigour close at
hand We all rushed on deck fearing some accide n t
.
,
had befallen her when to our astonishment we saw

, , ,
her returning at full speed while close behind her , ,
towering above the mist a n d w ith all her colours

flying wa s the ship S h e had gone i n search of We
, .
were simply d u mbfounded as the situation was ,
almost too absurd ; for had th e mis t only lifte d or, ,
the launc h been detained only a quarter of an hour ,
we must h ave seen her before her pursuer could have

started and thus saved ourselves a lot of trouble
, .
A S m ay be imagined the gallant crew of the launch

,
came i n for a lot of good humoured chaff and we -

,
were a ble to congratulate them on the successful

result of their mission and their safe return In a .
very S hort time the Phoeni x was alongside and we ,
then learnt that she had been delayed by t h e number

of barges she had had to tow — S O much so in fact , ,
that in order to save time it had been decided to

, ,
leave most of them some twenty miles behind at a ,
convenient spot and come on with only one so as

, ,
to commence the transhipment Without any more

unnecessary delay and then return for the rest N 0
,
.
time was lost therefore ; and i n less than an ho u r

,
after we had S haken hands with those on board the

ste am er our h atches were off the s t eam winches
, ,
going merrily and the cargo being rapidly taken

,
out of the h e ld under the supervision of a stately

,
Russian custom house officer who was attend e d by

-
,
two Cossacks .
The Phazm a: appeared to be crowded with men ,
as compared with our small crew of t welve I .
learnt after wards that no less tha n forty fi ve men -
had been brought down from Yeniseisk to work the

barges and get In the cargo an d that among this ,
T A N HIPM E N T
R S OF OU R CA R G O To THE
“
PH CE N IX .
big crowd there was a baker a butcher and a man , ,
specially told off to attend to t h e li ve stock of ,
which they had quite a farmyard on o n e of the ,
barges They evidently knew h o w to make them

.
selves comfortable while they were about it I .
spent an hour i n Watching the men working at the

cargo and could not help coming to the concl u sio n
,
that with a little l ess t alk a good deal more work

could have been accomplished in the time ; there

seemed to be too many foremen and all seemed to ,
di ffer in their orders at any critical moment and so ,
helped to increase the confu sion which was already

ca u sed by the j abbering of the men It was how .
,
ever a picturesque and interesting sight this crowd

, ,
of rough unkempt men with their coloured blouses

, ,
and their loose trousers tucked into high b oots

, ,
reminding one not a little Of bold buccaneers in the

good old A delphi dramas ; and although perhaps , ,
they did not put quite as much energy into their

movements as they might have done they made up ,
for it in effect from an artistic point of view —a n

“
,
”
effect which was heightened by a quaint sor t of

chorus they sang at intervals Th ey struck me as .
b eing a much better looking lot of men than an

-
average crowd of the same class in E ngland and ,
looked we l l fed and contented with their lot A few .
among them I was informed were exiles who have

, ,
served their time but who prefer to continue living

,
in Siberia where from what I can gather th e

, , ,
general opi n ion is that one is better off as an exile

than as a free m a n in Russia itself .
We h a d our first taste of Russian cooking that

morning as we all lunched on board the Ph ce m x
’
and a very good lunch it was although i t certainly ,
w a s very trying to have to eat w ithout drinking as ,
is the Russian custom and I mentally decided to live

,
62 l a F r a n ca i s e while i n Holy Russia A t the end of .

the meal a hissing samovar was brought in tea was ,
brewed and a dec a nter of vodka passed round and we

, ,
all agreed that vodk a makes a very good substitute

for whiskey but th at weak tea without milk drunk
, ,
boiling hot out of tumblers would take some getting ,
used to as it evidently is an acquired taste and wants

, ,
educating up to by a prolonged stay in Russia The .
cabin of the Plzceni zc though small wa s so clean and

, ,
cosy that it seemed quite a treat to have a decently

”
served meal after all the pigging we had had to “
put up with on the B i s c a ya ; it made us almost wish

for the time to come when we should transfer our
quarters to her for the river j ourney E verything .
looked as prim as on a yacht from the white p aint ,
on the deck house to the deck itself which was kept

-
,
perfectly clean I feel sure that were the Ph cem ac to

’
return once more t o her native port of N e wcastle her ,
old owners would not recognize in the smart looking ,

-
river b e at their quondam steamer so thoroughly

, ,
has she b een altered and Russianized The nex t day .
it was decided to go back to where the other barges

had been left by the Phceni x S O our anchors were ,
weighed and both vessels started

,
.
It took only a few hours to reach K a s an s k oi the ,
next station which was destined to be o u r p i ed d

,
LOT r e for some little time

/
The scenery on th e way
.
u
p was tame and varied
,
but slightly from what I
have previously described ; in fact so flat and ,
unint eresting was it at times that one could see

'
46 FR O M ~ TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
'
rolling plains of green for miles and miles ah ead

w ithout even a bus h to break their monotony The .
!
”
effect called m irage is very peculiar in these
“
regions A t times distant h eadlands appear to go

.
right away up into the S k y and one sees clouds ,
and river underneath them sometimes great holes

appear as it were in the sides of the hills and day
, , ,
light thus seen through them ; even on the darkest

and greyest days these e ffects ar e n oticeable A s the .
’
time was now fully occupied in getting the B i s c a ya s
cargo safely transferred to the barges and as during ,
these operations the Ph cen i zc could be of no service

to us it was arranged that she should proceed down
,
to the mouth of the river and wait for the other ship
and the tug which were to have followed us out
,
from E ngland and in the event of th eir turning u p

, , ,
to pilot t hem back to where we w ere So W e were .
to have K a s an s k oi all to o u rselves for a few days .
There being n e w little of interest to me in the well

known S hip I decided to explore the neighbouring
,
hills so would go a shore by m yself in the early

,
morning w ith my gun and my S ketch book and -

,
’
wander about to my heart s content There was .
v ery little to S hoo t and still less to sketch ; n ever

,
t h el es s it was very delightful after being cooped u p ,
for so many week s to find one s sel f once more alone

,
’
a n d free as the air on these boundless plains The .
bright sunsh i ne the familiar flowers the birds

, ,
chirping merrily as they fl i t t e d from bush to bush

OU R CU S TOM H OU S E OFF IC E
-
R .
CH A PT E R V .
K A S A N S K OI .
Our R ussia n cus to m s o ffi c e r —A sh o o t i n g e xcu r si o n —Visi t t o

-
t h e s e ttl e m e n t o f K a s a n s k o i —Th e h o us e o f a S ib e r i a n
tr ad er — In te r e s ti n g p eo pl e—F i r st e xp e r i e n c e o f R ussian
h o spi t ality—T h e r e tu r n of t h e Ph aan i zc—D e p ar t ur e o f t h e
B i s c a ya .
WE had the Russian custom house officer quartered -
on u s during the absence of the Ph oen i x and a very ,
n ice unassumi n g fellow we all found him although ,
we h ardly understood a word he said He was a .
typical S p eci m a n of a R u ssian —a great big chap

with broad shoulders and long fair b oar d I had .
FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E Y ELL O W S E A . 49
heard he was an ardent sportsman though he had ,
no gun with him on board so one evening after

supper I thought he might like to come and have
some S hooting with me But h o w was I to make
.
?
him understand for although I pointed to my guns ,
he did not seem to comprehend A t last an idea .
struck me I got a piece of paper and drew a duck

.
on it at the same time maki n g a S ign of S hooting

,
with my gun H e guessed at once what it meant

.
,
and agreed to j oi n me U nfortunately ho wever I

.
, ,
had only one fowling piece with me and my Win

-
,
chester was hardly the thing for w ild duck as he ,
seemed to wish to tell me ; but to his great amuse ,
ment I drew a b ear on the paper and so made an

, ,
excuse for taking the rifle also A s may b eimagined .

,
we had no occasion to use it For a wonder in a .

,
country like this teeming with birds we only had ,
poor sport in return for a long and fatiguing walk

across miles of s w ampy ground .
After I had thoroughly explored the adj oining

country one morning I got out a s m all steam launch
,
-
belonging to the Ph oeni x and with a Russian who, ,
spoke a little Ger man as fireman and interpreter ,
went down the river as far as the four or five log

houses and h uts which constituted the settlement of
Ka s an sk oi A s at Kara e ul the dogs gave us a
.
,
hearty w elcome though fortunately they were all

, , ,
chained up this time as they looked anything but

,
gentle creatures and tried hard to get at us The

, .
E
largest of the houses was really not a bad looking -
sort of place certainly far better than one would

,
have expected to find The proprieto r came out .
and politely invited us to enter We accepted his .
K A S A N S K OI .
i nvitation and following him i n found ourse l ves in

, , ,
a large kind of kitchen in which several members of

,
the family were busily engaged in various ho usehold

'
duties But for the quain t costume of the man and

.
,
the fact that the women were smoking cigarettes ,
T AD E
R
’
R S H OU E A T
S K A S A N S K OI .
there was nothing particularly striking about the

place I could not however help immediately
.
, ,
noticing h ow wonderfu lly clean it was : the walls

rivalled the boards of the floor i n whiteness the ,
table shone like a looking glass and everything

-
,
S howed the handiwork of a carefu l housewife The .
E NE HO T
S AT K A S A N S KOI .
stove was alight and the heat was e x cessive yet

, , ,
curiously there was not the slightest feeling of ill

,
ventil ation Immediately on entering I noticed ( as

.
my “
Murray told me I should i n all Russian
dwellings ) the inevitable sacred picture in a corner
of the room and in accordance with th e advi ce he
, ,
gives I immediately took off my hat so as to be quite

, ,
e n T e le
g
‘
. The Russians or rather the N orthern ,
Siberians are certainly a most phlegmatic race if

, ,
they are all like the fe w I have already met One .
would have thought that in this remote place the

entrance of a stranger would have e x cited j ust the
least little S how of interest —but no they hardly ,
uttered a word ; they j ust looked u p for a second

from their work and then resumed it without the
,
slightest comment as if I had b een an ordinary

,
every day visitor from a neighbouring house Since .
they paid so little a ttention I wa s equally cool and , ,
walked round about th e room looking at everything ,
as though I had been in a museum ; and then got

out my sketch book a n d S itting down started a
-
, , ,
portrait of my host He seemed to understand what .
I wanted of him and kept as rigid as a statue while

,
I was doing it .
E ven when it was finished no one evinced the ,
slightest curiosity to see the result In any other .
part of the world one would have been pestered by

people crowding round a n d all wanting to finger
’
o n e S S ketch book -
but here in this far away Siberian ,
-
h ome , Wh ere to say the least of it S ketching is not

, ,
an everyday sight stolid indifference was stronger

,
:
than idle curiosity I determined to take advantage

.
TO THE Y ELL O W SEA . 53
of it and since my being there did not seem to

, ,
disturb them a little bit I got out the launch and , ,
returned there the nex t day

wi th my paint box and -
largest sketching block -

.
A ll the people I had seen

on the previous afternoon
w ere in the house havi n g ,
what evidently was their

mor n ing meal .It was a
simple and homel y sight ,
this family gathering round

the brightly polished table ,
with the glittering samovar

towering in the centre It .
struck me as bein g so i n
t er es t i n g that I got a couple
of chairs one to S i t on and

,
the other as an easel and ,
commenced S ketching in the

group as rapidly as pos
sible
. Fancy what would
have happened if such an
WEE T E V E N T EE N S S .
event occurred In an E n gh s h
homestead ! Imagine for instance a bearded Russian
, ,
walking coolly in while breakfast was going o n and

the whole family present and w ithout say ing a , ,
word taking possession of part of the room and

,
commencing to paint the occupants without even

asking permission ! In my case however all went , ,
as merrily as a wedding bell : no one interfered with -
me and they were so long disc u ssing their weak t e a

,
that by th e time they h ad finished I had managed

, ,
to get a very fair idea of the m i s e e n s c en e .
With the exception of an hour when I w e nt ,
down and had my lunch i n th e launch I worked ,
there the wh ole day as comfortably as if I had

been in my own studio In spite of their natural .
indifference the people in their quiet sort of way

, , ,
evidently wished to help me and to S how me ,
some little politeness I noticed that the children .
were forbidde n to talk loud or even to come any

where near me and any one who has had a n y ,
experience of sketching i n strange places wh ere , ,
as a rule the children worry one even more than

,
the flies will understand what a b e e n that was ;

,
while to cap my advent u re with this unique family

, ,
during the afternoon my host came up to me hat ,
in hand and bowing very low pointed to an adj oin

, , ,
ing room Out of curiosity I got up to see what

.
,
was there when to my astonishment I saw the

, , ,
samovar hissing away and tea and cakes waiting ,
for me This was hospitality indeed and my only

.
,
regret was not being able to express my thanks i n

Russian ; but I fancy they must have pretty well
guessed th e meaning of the few blu ff words I said
to that effect i n E nglish a s I drank to the health
’
of my host s wife in b oiling tea and very nearly ,
TO TH E Y E LL OW SEA . 55
scalded myself The ice was broken a n d they all

.
,
laughed very much for fun is probably v ery much

,
the same all over the world We now became quite

.
M A T E R FA M I L I A S .
friendly considering I di d not understand a word

,
they said ; and I made myself quite at home among

t hem till 1 had finished my picture Before leaving .
I presented my h ost with a pencil S ketch of h i s

wife as a souvenir of my visit and he evidently ,
prized it very much for I fancy he i n tended fi x ing

,
it up over the religious picture in the corner .
The Ph oen i x returned in about ten day s and to , ,
our great satisfactio n was accompanied by the two

,
—
vessels she had gone in search of the Thu le a ,
small steamer of 4 00 tons and the small tug S h e ,
had towed out from E ngland N ever before had .
such a flotilla been seen on the river Yenisei ; the

only pity was that there was no one but ourselves
to see i t So far the e xpedition with the exception
.
,
of a few unavoidable delays had gone w itho u t a ,
hitch It was quite a treat getting something in

.
the shape of news such as it was a n d all the papers

, ,
brought by the T hu le w ere devoured as eagerly as

though they were of the previous day instead of
seven weeks old The only thing n o w was to get
.
the cargoes transferred to the barges as quickly as

possi b le for the season S howed unmistakable S igns
,
of being but a short one this year and it was ,
imperative that the two S hips should get out of the

Kara Sea on their way back to E ngland before the
winter came on A s i f to emphasize the admonition
.
the thermometer had given us the lovely weather ,
suddenly broke up and to our great astonishment

, , ,
one morning we woke up to find a couple of inches

of sno w on the ground and everything already ,
looking very winterly although it was only Sep

,
tember 2 E very one therefore set to work wit h

.
, ,
TO TH E Y E LL O W S E A . 57
almost feverish haste so great a fea r d oes the awfu l

,
A rctic winter inspire .
'
The scene during this work of transhipping our cargo

was one of surprising novelty The barges intended .
for th e reception of cattle pigs and poultry were , ,
temporarily turned into a sort of floating farmyard .
The Siberians evidently did not intend to forget

provision for the wants of the inner man d u ring
t h eir long voyage up the river I n stowing the .
TEA- TI M E AT T HE M E N S QU A R T E RS
’
ON S HO E
R .
cargo all had to work against time for every hour

,
,
of summer in these regions is of the utmost impor

tance Here too was alre ady present the inevitable
.
, ,
Russian official personified by one of the m ost

,
charming men I ever met with his two attendant ,
Cossacks prompt to scrutinize each package of the

,
B i s c a ya
’
cargo In deed for this purpose they had
s .
,
been e xpressly sent do wn some 1 5 00 miles on board ,
t h e river steamer Ph oen i x to meet us ; such is th e ,
’
vigilance of the Czar s Officials even at this remote ,
distance from the central seat of government .
C S A CKS
O S .
For IIS meantime who were spectators of the

, ,
opera tions the days were so much like each other

,
that it was at times difficult t o remember what day

of the week it was It was too cold and wretched
.
to even think of going ashore S O there w a s nothing ,

60 FR OM THE A R C TI C O CE A N
CH A PT E R V I .
V V G H E PH OEN IX UP T O Y E N IS E I S K
E O F T
.
THE R I E R O Y A
is i iv — bl p r o p or t i s —S c e n e r y al g
o n t h e
—
Th e Y en e r e r It s n o e on
—
ban ks —T h e fi r s t t r e e O u r fi r st m ish a p T h e r e tu r n of
the tug —A n e xciti n g i n cid e n t .
ON September
1 4 th e ocean
steamers B i s
ca y a and Thu le
started on their
ret urn voyage
to E ngland it ,
having been
A H OU S E B O A T
-
.
si b le . It 3 1
most seemed like parting with an old friend as we ,
got ou r last glimpse of the B i s c a a

y ;
for in spite ,
A lthough we were n o w nearly three hundred

miles from the mouth of the river there was no ,
perceptible difference in its enormous width which ,
must n early average ten miles for at least fo u r

hundred m iles from the sea while in many places ,
it widens out into such enor m ous e x panses of water

that it can only be likened to a continuous serie s of
huge lakes A s a matter o f fa ct between G ol c hi k a
.
,
and K ar a ou l at a distance of two hundred miles from

,
the sea there is one part where for nearly a hundred

,
miles it is over S ixty miles in width and when there ,
is a gale blowing as was the case when we passed

,
up it the sea is quite as heavy as it is during a

,
”
“
sou wester in the E nglish Channel th e flat cha
’
r a c t er of the tundras ( as th e vast treeless plains

“
in these regions are called ) rendering the Wind

e x ceptionally bleak Such noble proportions are
.
thoroughly in keeping wit h the enormous length of

this maj estic river which with its important tribu
, ,
taries the Selenga an d the A ngara is over five ,
thousand miles and takes its rise in Chinese territory

, ,
while according to the French geographer Reclus its

, ,
water system covers an enormous area of nearly

-
square versts ( equal to about

E nglish square m iles ) The largest rivers in E urope
.
dwindle into absolute i n s i gn i fi ca n ce in comp arison

with it for the V olga D anube Rhone and Rhine if
, , , , ,
added together would barely make a Yenisei while

, ,
the poor little Thames would be but as a small muddy

TO TH E Y E LL OW SEA . 63
brook e v en when compared with one of its least

,
important tributaries — the Kureika for instance Yet , .
on the whole of this vast highway traversing as it ,
does such a diversified tract of continent there are ,
only ten steamers and these on l y kept going thro ugh

,
the enterprise of such Siberian magnates as Siberia

k o fl G a dal off Bou da r es off and K i t m an o ff
’
, , ,
Siberi a .
is still in its infancy so th e future of its magnificent

'
resources canno t yet be gauged ; still should they ,
eventually find a market in E ngland through the

medium of the Yenisei and Kara sea route it will -
be solely owing to British pl u ck and enterprise as ,
personified in Captain IVi ggi n s to whom is n u ,
doubtedly due the honour of being the first to land

a British cargo i n the heart of Siberia Wh ether this .
bold and adventurous enterprise be destined ever to

vie with that of the Hudson Bay traders to which ,
it can aptly be compared is scarcely my province to

,
discuss in a narrative which is purely descriptive

still one cannot help conte m plating it with pride
,
that the old spirit which existed in our forefathers

still remains and that while this exists E ngland will
, , ,
al ways retain her position as the pioneer of commercial

enterprise all the world over .
For the next few days after leaving our a nchorage ,
not only was the j ourney uninteresting as regards

events but also from a picturesque point of view
, .
We were still beyond the northern limit of trees and ,
the banks of the river though perhaps presenting

,
som e interest to the geological student were certainly ,
not strikingly picturesque and offered no artistic ,
attractions This barren appearance however gra

.
, ,
dually changed low bush es appeared on the hillsides

,
and gradually increased in height till at las t on , ,
September 1 8 w e sighted the first actual tree we had

,
seen since leaving E urope — a solitary and miserable

specimen of the larch species ; yet it was a very
welcome sight for it betokened our approaching
,
return to more temperate latitudes and brighter

scenes . But one must h ave been in the A rctic
regions to understand how eager one is to get out
of their dreary confin es In a very S hort time trees
.
,
became more and more numerous on either bank — i n

fact it almost seemed as though we had crossed an
,
invisible line beyond which they could not gro w so ,
sudden was the change once past it They were still .
a species of larch though so small that some one

,
” l
remarked that they were not so larch ( ) as in “
E ngland We also saw in the distance several white

.
foxes along the banks ; their being this colour is as ,
is well know n a sure S ig n of approaching winter

, .
We shortly reached the small church village of -
D u di n s k o i the first station of any importance we

,
had y e t come to We arrived too late to go on

.
shore much as we S hould have liked to ; for it

,
appeared from a ll a ccounts to be quite a flourishing

, ,
little place b oasting of a population consisting of a

,
couple of priests a police O fficer some exiles and a

, , ,
inexhaustible supply a couple of days before it seeme d ,
to have positively melted away once the engines wer e

s t arted .A s is the custom all over Siberia n othing ,
b ut wood is burnt and this is easily understood

,
when one comes to consider how vast is th e forest

region of S iberia a region only comparable to the
,
backwoods of N orth A merica .
A t the various small stations and also here a n d ,
t here along the banks of the river are t o b e found ,
huge piles of wood placed by the villagers ready

, ,
c ut ,
for the use of the steamers plying between
Yeniseisk and the mouth of the river This wood .
is for sale at an average price of one and a half

roubles ( a little more than 3 3 8d ) per cubic fathom. .
the R ussian fatho m is seven feet not S i x ,
feet as in E ngland ) — not dear considering how mu ch,
time is saved by finding the wood all ready for use ,
a s we afterwards discovere d when o n one or two

o ccasions we ran S hort of fuel and there being no , ,
”
“
statio n near we actual ly had to b u rn all our
,
a vailable spars and other spare timb er and eventually ,
had to send m e n ashore to cut down trees — a long

a n d tedious operation The Phoeni x burnt about
.
fifteen fathoms a day as I afterwards learnt ; so my

,
’
a stonishment at the quick way t h e h u e piles van

g
i s h e d down the bunker holes is easily explained
-
I .
hear that some of the other river steamers burn

as much as thirty fathoms in the twenty four -
h ours .
The e x citement was great for, although we were only ,
about two miles from the shore the S ituation wa s ,
extremely grave from W hat we could learn from

,
those Wh o had been down to see Most Of us there .

,
fore got our papers and val u ables in readines s in

,
case of emergency In the mean time the pumps

.
were going a n d steam got ready so that in t h e

, , ,
event of its being necessary the ship could be ru n ,
’
ashore at a moment s notice For some hours n o .
visible headwa y was made against the enemy till ,
towards nine o clock after several hours of hard ani l

’
persistent work in icy cold water the men wer e -

,
relieved as it was discovered th e water was abating

,
.
It afterwards transpired t hat from some unexplained ,
cause a plate had been started and the list given

, ,
“
to the ship by the loading of the wood on one S ide

only had caused the inrush of water One of the .
engineers was fortunately soon able to patch it u p

and obviate any further danger T he prospect of .
having perhaps to abandon our comfortable quarters

, ,
was not enticing while it lasted and it cert a inly w as ,
with a great sense Of relief that we got under way

once more and then sat down to an extra late dinner
, ,
with a bottle of champagne to commemorate our

escape .
For th e next twenty four hours we fortunately -
were able to proceed without any special incident .
Th e weath er still continued very cold and wintry ,
a n d much snow fell The few scattered trees on .

TO THE YELL O W SEA . 69
the banks now grew more closely together till at ,
length we reached a dense forest which we never ,
a fterwards entirely lost S ight of Right away south

.
ward with scarcely a break I learnt it stretches to t h e

, , ,
far distant Chi n ese frontier some five thousand miles

-
, ,
while to east it is bounded by the river L ena which ,
thus gives it an a pproximate breadth of t wo thousand

miles — probably the largest tract of forest land in -
the world and as I have p r evIou s ly remarked only

, , ,
c omparable to the backwoods of A merica V ery .
depressing was the effect of this continuous wall of

trees in all the various stages of growth and decay
,
in some parts th e predominance of firs giving it

a lmost the appe a rance of a huge plantation of tele
g raph poles
-
The. chief trees appeared to be pine ,
white birch lime and mounta in ash

, ,
.
70 FR O M TH E A R C TI C O CE A N
CHA PT E R V I I .
TH E RI VE R V OY A G E —C On t i n u ed .
An awful fat lity — M isf

a or t u n e fo ll o ws m isfo tu n e—M S e t i
r u
—S elli va n a k a
.
k oE ,
t h e s e ttl e m e n t o f t h e S k e p t i —A visi t
”
f o m t h vill ag e
r e e ld e r .
f o r tu n e
was des
tined u n
,
fortunate
ly to be but very brief fOI
,
,
on September 2 3 occurred an
D I FF ICU L T N AV IG A TI N O
awful fatality by which we
.
lost the commander of the Phoeni x — M r George L ee .

,
agent in Siberia of the A nglo Siberian Syndicate The

-
.
circumstances of the tragic event in those far away -
wilds were so impressive i n their horror that they

was great but destined unfortunately to be of S hort

, , ,
duration . A fter some little delay but really in ,
wonderfully quick time consideri n g the tug was ,
o bserved coming towards u s and soon was alongsi de ,

.
On its deck w a s a confused group of men sta nding ,
in awed silence and looking strangely weird through

,
the driving snow and un der th e flickering light of

a lantern In their midst in a blanket which th ey
.
,
were holding by the four corners was something ,
dripping wet huma n in form With l ittle di ffi culty

,
.
it was ge t on b oard the Ph oen i x and then we saw ,
it was the lifeless form of our ill fated friend who so -

,
few minutes before had been with us in the best

of health and spirits little dreaming his end w a s ,
so near It was a solemn sight a n d brought before

.
,
us with a power seldom realized that thrilling

sentence ,
In the midst of life we are in death
“
.
A lthough we persevered for no less than four hours

’
with D r Syl vester s method and tried every other
.
,
known restorative all was in va i n t h e u n fortunate

,
m
man never for one moment showed the least S ign

of life ; so at last w e were reluctantly forced to come
to the conclusion that our efforts were futile .
We afterwards lea rnt h o w the accident had happened

from the only man wh o had witnessed it Mr L ee . .
,
in his e xcitement to l earn t h e depth of the water

as S hown by the sounding pole had stood on a log -
,
o f timber covered with snow which was l ying under
the bulwarks and leaning over too far his foot

, , ,
TO TH E YELL O W S EA .
“
73
s lipped on the treacherous s urface and he went over ,
board head fi rst S O suddenly that he had n ot time

'
to utter a cry Considering how rapid the S t ream

.
was and the darkness of th e night the fact of his

, ,
body being picked up at all was nothing short of

'
miraculous for we were going full speed at the

,
time Only a fe w days before he had been telling

.
,
us he could S wi m like a duck and that evening ,
d uring dinner had been relating some wonderful

e scapes from deat h he had had duri n g his life
.
We .
had learnt that his heart was weak s o there can be ,

.
v er y l i t t l e doubt that th e S hock of the sudden imm er
sion in the icy cold water had had an instantaneously

-
fatal eff ect for his features S howed no signs of any

,
death struggle but were as calm as in S leep A long

-
, .
consultation then took place w ith the result that the ,
L o ndon agent of the Syndicate took command of the

s hip and S h e was aga in started ahead
,
.
This awful event naturally cast a gloom over us all

—although as if in mockery of worldly griefs the s un
, ,
shone o u t brilliantly the next morning for the first time

since we had left ; in fact it was like spri n g agai n , .
It was hard to realize that for the remainder of our

voyage the Ph oen i x so to speak would be a floating
, ,
hearse N0 end of ghastly formalities had to be gone

.
through such as sealing up the dead man s effects

,
’
,
’
h aving a coffin m ade by one of the ship s carp enters ’
,
’
a n d a heap of other details the custom house o ffi cer ,

-
now proving h i mself a really good fellow and helping ,

us as much as h e could in fact I don t know what ,

’
we S ho u ld have done without him speakin g so little ,
Russi a n as w e all did We learnt from him that w e

.
should have to stop at Tu ru ch a n s k the fi r St importan t ,
village we came to a n d get permission from the polic e

,
offi cer there to take the body on to Yeniseisk and a s , ,
there was certain to be an inquest we must mak e ,
up our minds to some unavoidable delay The onl y .
thing to be done therefore was t o ge t on as quickly

, ,
as possible for we had no time to lose with winte r

, ,
so close at hand .
But our misfortunes were not y e t at an end A .
day or so afterwards owing to the strong curren t ,
keeping us back we ran short of wood when we were

,
still some distance from th e next station so in orde r ,
not to let the fires out it was decided ( contrary t o ,
our usual custom as we always anchored at dusk )

,
to proceed all n ight It was a nasty wet night with

.
,
a thick mist over everything so our progress w a s ,
very uncertain A ll went well till abo u t thre e

.
’
o clock when suddenly without the slightest warn
, ,
ing the water shallo wed and with a nasty grindin g

, , ,
sound which I shall long remember the Phoen i x ran ,
aground It was too dark and foggy at th e tim e

.
to make out wh ere we were but we evidently wer e ,
stuck hard and fast as was supposed on a bank i n

, ,
the middle of the river A ll efforts to back her were .
unsuccessful The fog lifted shortly after and it was

.
,
then discovered that we had run clean ashore —s o

with the usual hospitality of Russian people —I m ean

a regular sort of meal they put before one generally ,
consisting of delicious caviare and black bread fi s h ,
pies cakes eggs etc washed down with copious

, , ,
.
,
draughts of vodka and follo wed b y the inevitable

,
samovar . The h ouse was furnished quite in a

lu x urious fashion and the large room we were sh own
,
into boasted a reall y pretty suite of furniture and had ,
pictures on the walls Mr S o t n i k off however i n

. .
, ,
-
spite of his great reputed wealth was dressed in the ,
ordinary costume of a Russian peasant and with h i s ,
lo n g white beard presented quite a patriarc h al a p

p e a ra n c e He. returned our visit later in the day ,
and strongly urge d us not even to attempt to reach

Yeniseisk with all our barges so late in the season ,
winter being so close at hand that the river might

be frozen over at any moment in which case we ,
risked losing all our flotilla if it caught us in any ,
unprotected spot Our best plan he told us would

.
'
, ,
be to leave one of our least important barges in his

charge till next spring and proceed with th e r e ,
m ai n de r without losing a moment if possi b le This ,

.
advice so corroborated w h at we had already learnt

that as a result of a long and serious cons u ltation
, ,
one of the barges was detached and left with him

till the S pring We th en again started hoping that
.
, ,
with our diminished load we S hould make better ,
progress .
The n e x t few days were uneventful the banks ,

TO TH E YELL O W SE A . 77
with their fringe of dense forest still continuin g in ,
dreary and endless monoto ny while overhead flock s ,
of migratory birds were continually passi n g us on

their way south sure and ominous S ig n of approach
,
ing winter We could not help being surprised by

.
the number of seagulls w e still saw about ; in fact ,
their n ame seemed almost a misnomer so many ,
hundreds of miles were we from the sea .
The curious huts of the Samoyede natives along

the shores now gradually disappeared and in their ,
stead appeared other huts some what S imil a r in form ,
only covered with strips of birch bark instead of

skins and inhabited by Ostiaks a race of people n o t
, ,
unlike the Samoyedes but from what I hear cer , , ,
t a i n ly much more civilized — though that is not

saying much for they Could not very easily b e
,
less so .
On September 3 0 we passed S el i va n ak a a pic ,
t u r es qu e and flourishing little settlement which is ,
entirely inhabited by a portion of the secret sect

”
called S k op t i or White D oves who are per
“
, ,
p et u a ll
y banished from R ussia on account of their
peculiar doctrines I had already read much about
.
these curious people and was hoping that we should

,
stop here for wood so that I should be able to go

,
ashore and have a look round ; but we were not in

need of fuel and our time was too precious to allow
,
of any needless delays so I had to content myself,
with as good a look at the settlement and its i n

78 FR OM TH E AR C TI C OC EA N
habitants a s I could get through my bi nocular for , ,
a lthough a boat containing thre e men rowed off to

’
us we did not s t e p H owever we had plenty of

,
.
,
o pportunity later on for a closer inspection of these
men .
It h appened this way : The boat returned to

the S hore and S eli van ak a was fast disappearing
,
behind us when we observed another boat rapidly

,
c atching us u
p coming alo
,
n g close to the S hore In .
a very sh ort time it was abreast of us a n d we then ,
s a w it was drawn by three dogs and contained the ,
s ame men we had previously seen They stopped .
when a little ahead of u s and taking their dogs on , ,
b oard rowed off to us and asked if we would allo w

,
t he m to tow behind us a s far as Tu r u ch a n s k some ,
f e w versts farther on The desired p ermission bei n g

.
g iven to them they shortly

,
after came up on de c k ,
a n d we therefore h a d plenty of ti m e to examine more
c losely these specimens of one of the most curious
s ects in the world I was lucky enough to get one

.
”
o f them who turned out to b e the village elder “
, ,
to let me make a careful S ketch of him as he h ad a ,
face full of character ; during which time I managed ,
through an interpreter to O btain some interesting ,
”
particulars of these peculiar people “
They are .
a ll eunuchs marriage being forbidden among them

, .
The Holy V irgin and the Christ they worship are

a ppointed b y their elders and it is said they con,
sider Peter III as their god imagining him to b e

.
,
still living They are also stri ct vegetarians and

.
total abstainers from which facts one gathers that

, ,
taking one consideration wit h a nother a S k op t i s

’
life is not a happy one .
A fte r wards I had a look at their boat which was ,
towi n g b ehind and I could not help noticing the

,
ready way i n which their dogs made themselves

c omfortable during their masters absence The .
only harness they wear is a sort of band round

the loins which is connected with the b e a t by
,
means of a long cord Three is the number generally

.
used and wonderful are the distances which I am

, ,
told they are able to accomplish — forty and even

,
fifty versts at a stretch and against the stream N o

, .
’
whip is ever used their master s voice being quite
,
sufficient to urge them on for if one of them flags ,
the others snap at h i m and make h i m keep up t h e

pace .
T HE P I N CIP AL TH O U G H FA E
R RO R , T U R U C H A N SK .
CH APT E R V III .
TUR U CHA N SK .
V isit t o t h e m o n as t er y —We r ch n e i m b a c k s k oi —O u r fi r s t visi t

fr o m o ffi cia l R ussi a—T h e p o lic e o ffi c er o f t h e dis t r ic t
T h e vill a g e pri e s t
’
D U R IN G this time we were steadily advancing and ,
in the afternoon we came i n sight of the b ea u tiful

monastery of Tu r u ch a n s k s t an ding up above the
,
trees like a big white lighthouse its silvered dome ,
glistening in the brilliant sunshine It was our first .
real glimpse of Holy Russia and a welcome sight ,
after our long and wearisome j ourney The river .
still retained its noble pro portions but was so fu ll of ,

S2 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
early grave as wa s doubtle ss his wish when first

,
don ni ng it .
The few mo nks live i n a wood en b ui l ding j u st

behind the church and shar e th eir quar t ers with,
the police o fficer of the district — a n ar rangement I ,
h ear not at all to their taste

,
still they have to grin ,
a nd bear it as evidenced by the sentry b o x w hich

,
-
stood at the very door of the sacred edifice and in ,
which a Cossack is stationed when any Gove rn ment

.
mo ney is in t h e dist rict for it i s always kept for ,
S afety in the monastery itself O ur guid e t h e monk .

, ,
h a d very comfortable q uarters and certainly far m ore

‘
luxurio us than one would have expected for a m an

" ’
o f h i s a u stere life
. Here again Russian hospital i ty
.
asserted itself It is certainl y a wonderful trait i n the

.
n atio n al cha racter ; I have n ever seen it equalle d in

an other country O u r ge nial host insisted on our
y .
breaking bread with him and pro duced some delicious ,
caviare and other eatables which looked so appetizing ,
we could not refu se .
On our return to the s h ip we learnt that the

olice O fficer of the district had gone on to the
p
n ext v illage some three hund r ed versts further up
, .
A s by this time th e men h ad finished loading the

wood steam was ge t up and soon we were once
, ,
again moving onward and ere the moon had risen , , ,
peaceful T u r u ch a n s k with its quaint monastery , ,
was far behind us In spite of all the adverse

.
prophecies the weather not o n ly continued fine but

, , ,
TO TH E Y EL L O W SE A . 83
during the next fe w days became absolutely warm ,
again . We made capital progress as we had the ,
wind in our favour and reached the village of

,
VVerc h n ei mb a c k s k oi even sooner than we h a d expected .
Our arrival was hailed by a salute fi red from a

small cannon on the h illside and the villagers ,
crowded forth t o have a look at IIS It was a .
picturesque spot and looked doubly S O in the war m

,
sunsh i ne the Oriental looking little church w ith its

,
~
-
,
I N T E R E S T E D OB S E R V E R S .
white walls and green cupolas standing out in ,
brilliant relief agai n st the b l ue sky In a S hort time .
the police Officer arrived accompanied by his clerk

,
and a couple of Cossacks and we thus received our

,
first visit from O fficial Russia The Russians ph y si .

,
cally are undo ubtedly a fine set of men n early all I

,
have seen so far have been above the average height .
This officer topped them all for he must have stood ,
at least six feet four inches and with his tall , ,
astrachan kepi and long fur coat seemed a huge ,

84 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O CE A N
fellow a very good looking one to boot Our pass

,
-
.
p O r t s had to be examined h ere a n d a sort of inques t .
held o n the body of poor L ee A s the proceedings .
had no interes t for m e not understanding Russian , ,
I went ashore and had a stroll through the village .
It certai n ly wa s a great improvement on any of the

o t hers we had yet come to : the houses even had
som e pretence to architecture and looke d very pretty ,
with their quaint wooden porticoes D og s as usual .

, ,
seemed m ore numerous tha n inhabitants ; and had ,
it not been that I knew how peaceful they are e xcept ,
among themselves it would have required some nerve

,
t o pass through them for the r o w they made was ,

.
simply awful .
In the evenin g the police o fficer dined with u s on

board the Phoeni x and a v e ry pleasant fello w h e
,
seemed He t old us that his j urisdiction e xtended

.
over an enormous extent of country which on con , ,
s u lt i n t h e map we found to be no l es s than

g ,
r e t i m es the S i ze of Great Britain extending right

f i ,
away to the A rctic Ocean — a n awfu l and desolat e

tract which he was obliged to visit twice a ye a r
,
.
D uring th e winter he said the cold was so intens e

, ,
that at ti m es he had experienced as much as 4 5 '
d eg of frost ( R eaumur ) ! We could not help

.
telling him that he looked remarkably well in spit e ,
of all these hardships

‘
The next morning a messen ger came to the ship

expressly to ask if I would go ashore and take a .
TO THE Y ELL O W SEA . 85
sketch of the village priest and his family This .
was rather a comp l iment so I could hardly refuse

, ,
THE V I LLAGE P I E T
R S .
more especially as a few minutes later the worthy

man himself arrived to S ho w me the way ( Coul d .
it b e possible I t h ought that they took in the

, ,
86 FR O M TH E A R C TIC O C EA N
I llu s t r a t ed L on do n N e ws
in this far away Si b erian -
vill a ge and had heard I was on board

,
The
pries t was a person of remarkable appearance
tall slim and e x ceedingly good looking i n a n
, ,
-
,
—
effeminate sor t of way with a long fair beard and
fl o wing locks quite a biblical looking personage so
,
-
,
I immediately spotted him as a good subj ect for

a sketch We went up to his house and I was pre
.
,
sented to Madame who was mos t commonpl a ce look,

-
ing and his children who were still more so F or

, , .
t u n a t el y I h ad brought my camera with me so to ,
please him I took them all in a group and sh u ddered ,
to think how i t would look when developed I then .
asked the gentleman if I might m ake a separate study

O f him ; and he not on l y said he would be very
pleased to let me but even offered to come on b oard
,
to sit for me S O during the morning I made a

.
, ,
careful pencil study of him While doing i t to my .

,
astonishment the police ofli e e r who had come to have ,
a look at what I was doing asked me if I would like ,
to do him afterwar ds This m ade it late in the .
evening before we got away We ho wever had an .

, ,
extra large amount of woo d in the bunkers so hoped ,
to make up for lost time .
N othing of importance occurred till a couple o f

days later when there was a slight outbreak of fire
,
on board which fortunately we were soon able to

, , ,
'
extinguish or it might have developed into a Seriou s

,
a ffair A s it w a s it detained u s som e ho u rs It

.
,
.
A V I LLAGE B OA T .
C HA PTE R IX .
THE K A M IN R A P ID S .
A w h o l e ch a p t er of a ccid e n t s —F i s t t o uch
r of wi nt e r —A rr iva l
a t Y e n is e isk .
IVE reach ed the entrance to the Kamin Pass on

October 1 0 and all of u s ge t u p at S i x in the
,
morning so as not to miss a ny of it I w as very di s .
appointed for though the finest sight we had y e t seen

, ,
on the river the sce n ery was not n early so imposing

,
as I had been led to expect Still I suppose it is .

,
very grand for Siberia which does n ot abound in big

,
e ffec t s For abo u t half a mile high but u np i ct u

.
,
r es u e
q rocks rose r
p pe i t o u s ly from the swirling
FR OM T HE A R C TI C O C E A N T O THE Y ELL O W S E A . 89
waters their summits covere d with dense forests of

,
rigid pi n e trees which In themselves too k away from

,
the e ff ect so regularly did they grow On e of our

, .
A R I V E R PI L OT .
party said it reminded him of the Hudson Ri ver .
With the utmost difficulty the Ph oen i x m anaged to

'
hold h er o wn against the tremendous c u rrent and , ,

with the engines going at their utmos t pressure ,
after eight hours steaming got p ast th e worst of t h e

’
rapids with all her barges in tow— a n unprecedented

,
fea t in Yenisei navigation — a n d this notwithstanding

her damaged propeller .
In the mean time the little t u g was having a

i na u i a i s u a i l cl h e u T e—for
’
’
q with her heavy
,
barge ,
th e stream proved too m uch for her powers it ,
was very di ff erent wor k to towing on th e Thames

and as ill luck would hav e it eventually ended by
,
-
,
her being driven ashore some distance away fro m us ,
and in such shallo w water tha t we could not get

near enough to render her any assistance with the
Ph oen i x For two whole days a ll our av ailable men
.
were working at her before they were s u ccessful

in getti n g her off It was dreary work h anging
.
abo u t the deserted ship during this time for all ,
the b oats were being use d so we c oIIl d not get ,
ashore although an adventurous member of our

,
party tried to fi x up a r a ft b u t was not successful ,
beyond giving us a co u ple of hours hard work in ’
hauling the confounded logs on b oard agai n after

his fruitless attempt However a t last we got under
.
,
way again and arrived at the vill ag e of Wor ogor o

, ,
where we had to stop for wood .
The village itself o ff e red little of interest but I ,
had heard that a wealthy Tartar lived ther e s o wa s ,

p
looking forward to seei n g somethi n g quite s tartling

and A siatic in appearance and had my sketch book ,
-
TO TH E Y E LL OW S EA . 91
ready Imagin e my disappointment when there

.
came on board w hat looked more like a middle

aged E nglish butcher than anything else even to ,
wearing the usual sor t o f blue coat There was .
”
absolutely nothing of the Tartar about him ; he “
looked on the contrary a very mild and inoffensive

, ,
sor t of individual very unlike what one used to

,
’
conj ure up in one s m ind in the good old school b oy
days Close to the village we saw the first cultivated
.
ground we h a d seen S ince leavi ng N or way in July ,

.
The n ext morning an accident happened as they

were getti n g up a n chor and caused tremendous,
e xcitement By some means the anchor dragge d

.
,
and the ship swi n ging round w ith the swift stream
, ,
ca u sed the chain to slip from t h e capstan and it ran ,
ou t with such tre m endous velocity that the ca p sta n

wa s absolutely smashed to pieces For a moment .
all the men around w ere panic stricken and alth ough -
, ,
to my min d there was absolutely no danger as w e

, ,
were qu ite close to the S hore I saw the captai n and ,
the custom house ofli c e r devoutly crossing themselves

-
and m u t t er i n g pray ers L uckily it all ended well

'
.
, ,
for we managed to recover the anchor and chain by

mea n s of t h e derrick and the capstan was soon
,
replaced by the carpenter and we n o w began to ,
congratulate ourselves that at last we should get

fairly u nder way once more .
But we were destined to unde rgo many more - .
’
vexatious mishaps before we reached our j ourney s
92 FR OM T HE A R C TI C O C E A N
end The tug which all along had been unable to

.
,
keep up with us and had proved itself our old man

,
”
of the sea not having turned up when we anchored
,
the previous night and t here being no signs of her

, ,
a boatful of wood i n charge of three men was sent

back in case she had run short of fuel To our .
great annoyance S h e did n o t turn up in t h e morn

,
ing Hour after hour passed by and at last it was

.
,
decided to leave the barges and run back to see

what had happened It was certainly most pro .
v ok i n g but the only thing to do

, S O back we .
went at a tremendous pace with the stream and ,
about ten miles off w e came up with th e laggard

anc h ored as her fuel had run out To our great
, .
astonishment we learnt that they had seen nothing

of the boat with the wood we had sent them ; it
m ust t h en have passe d them during the night and
, , ,
they informed us their anchor light had gone out

at one moment So here was another delay as we
.
,
had n o w to go in search of this boat Off we started .

,
and another seven miles or so farther down we at

last sighted i t —much to our relief for we were ,
al m ost beginning to fe a r something had happened .
The m e n a s ill luck w ould have it had evidently

,
-
,
m an a ged to pass t h e tug during the night at the

e x act moment w hen its lantern went out The day .
was nearly gone by the time we got back to the

barges again S till as there was a moo n rising i t
.
, ,
was decided to proceed with out further delay .

glad to ge t out of its mysterious twilight into the

bro a d d aylight agai n .
Our custom house o ffi cer and t he firs t engineer

-
the next morning took their g uns and started off

in search of game ; they arran ged to be back in a
couple of ho u rs in r eadiness for o u r departu re but
, ,
w hen we w ere ready to start they had not reappeare d .
Two hours more passed a n d s t ill no S igns of them, .
We b egan to get anxious and kept the s t ea m whistle ,

-
going incessantly in case they did not know the

,
time When at last they we re quite four hours late

.
,
We cou l d c o m e to no other co n cl u sion but that they

a
’
had lost themselves or that something had happened

, ,
so we immediate ly Organized search parties and i n -

,
a few minutes a dozen of us fu lly armed s t arted o ff , ,
in different directions into the forest It was a .
di fficult task we had before us and n ot unlike t h e ,
”
proverbial looking for a needle in a bun dle of hay
“
,
as no one had the s l ightest idea which way the two

men had taken It was arranged that as soon as
.
,
they were found ( for w e seemed to have n o doubt

about it) t h e steam whistle should be sounded four
,
-
times as a signal to the other parties to return to

the ship Our satisfaction may easily be imagined
.
when half an h our or so after wards we heard the

, ,
welcome sound which annou n ced that what might

have been yet anoth er serious affair had come to a
safe conclusion .
On getting back w e s a w the t wo men in a state

,
T O TH E Y ELL O W SEA . 95
of utter exha u s t ion ; i n fact if o ne of th e party ,
who ha d found them h a d not had the forethought

to t ake his flask of brandy with him they would ,
n ever have been able to get back without b ei ng

carried as they were dead beat having had nothing
,
-
,
t o ea t that morning They told u s that they had .
’
come across a bear s trail and in their excitement ,
following it lost their way a n d although they ,
could hear the steam whist l e in the distance they -
c ould not localize the sound an d were actually ,
going away rather than to it as it a ppeared They ,

.
s ai d they were on the point of givi n g i n w h e n t h e

!
y
were found for night was coming on and they were
, ,
famished wi th hunger and cold IVe q uite believed .
t hem for th ey presented a pitiable appearance

,
They .
only had three damp matches and a few cartri dges

left and had not e ven a compass to guid e them
, .
This bear hunting experience will therefore probably

-
, ,
f —
teach them a li elong lesson not to venture into a
dense and almost impassable forest without a compass .
a n d taking one s bearings on it beforehand How .
e ver fortunately a s it happene d it was a case of

, , ,
”
“
all s well that ends well although another day
’
had been lost .
We were now getting well within touch of our

destination and on arrival at the village of N asy
,
movo some eighty miles from Yeniseisk sent a

, ,
messe n ger on ahead with letters and telegrams wi t h

’
reference to Mr L ee s death He was a veritable
. .
96 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C E A N T O TH E Y ELL O W S E A .
messenger of death and we felt what an awful shock

,
it would be for his family Still it wa s better they .

,
should know of it before we arrive d This village .

,
t h e last of importance we sho u ld stop at was —quite ,
a big place th e principal street certainly being nearly

,
a mile in lengt h There were several really good

.
shops in one of whi ch a mo n g a host of miscellaneous

, ,
articles displaye d was a package of Brook s Crochet

,
’
Cotton It was qui te refreshing to see the E nglish

"
label .
That eveni n g we had our first to u ch of real

°
cold the thermometer going down to 2 0 Fahr
,
.
quite a respectable commencem ent a lthough none ,
of our Russians seemed to think m u ch of it We .
n o w proceeded more rapidly as the current was less ,
swift a n d we we re looki n g forward to t h e S peedy

,
termination of the most tedious j ourn ey a n y of us

had ever made VVe b egan to count the hours which
’
now Separated us from civilization for the little town ,
which we were now approa c hing seemed a sort of

E l D orado after our cramp ed shipboard quar t ers .
N o further inci dent occurre d and at eight o clock in

’
t he e v ening Of Saturday October 2 5 we anchored , ,
off Yeniseisk th e goal which we had so long been

,
striving to reach and which we had reached in spite

, ,
of all adverse prophecies ,thus a ccom p l i s h In g the fea t

of landing an important cargo of British goods in the
very heart of Siberia .
YE N I S E I S K
CH A PT E R X .
TH E C IT Y OF Y E N IS E IS K .
C us t om - h o us e o ffi c i al s —N o ve l sigh t s i n m a k e t pl a c e a d s t e e ts
r -
n r
—M y l o dgi n gs —S ib e r i a n id e a o f b oa d a n d l o dgi n g
“
r
”
S o ci et y i n Y e n is e i s k—A g e t l e m a n c r i m i a l e x il e
n n .
VE R Y few E nglishmen have any real kno wledge of

Siberia To most of t h em its name raises a dismal
.
vision of ice bound wastes a n d wretched exiles

-
passing t heir lives in hopeless a n d cheerless misery .
L ittle do they know that far away in the very h eart

,
of A sia there exists civilization e q ual to what is to

,
be found in any part of E urop e But this is actu ally .
the case and whe n sitti n g after dinner smoking a

, ,
cigarette in a luxuriously furnished and delightfully

,
H
warm apartment surrounded by rare tropical plants

,
and with appointments not to b e e x celled in Paris ,
it was hard to realize h o w far one was from E urope ,
or that outside the cold was 2 8 deg belo w zero .
( R eaumur ) ,
and that it was so S hor t a distance fro m
the wild uninhabited regions that had to be tra

versed before reaching this far away Siberian city -
.
I S hall ne ver forget my impressions when after the ,
fourteen long dreary weeks passed in th e A rctic

Ocean and in river navigation we a t last anchored ,
’
off Yeniseisk It was towards eight o clock a col d
.
,
wintry evening though O ctober was not yet passed

, .
The moon was j ust rising and in th e still evening,
air th e effect was almost that of a huge panorama :

agai n st the southern sky th e many churches and
the strange looking wooden buildings of the A siatic
-
city stood out in sharply de fi ned silhouettes relieved ,
here and there by the lights i n the windows of the

houses facing the river while along the banks we
,
could j ust discern in th e increasing twilight dark

, ,
m asses of people hurrying do wn to greet IIS on

hearing the sound of our steam whistle which w a s -
,
being vigorously blown to announce our arrival .
The church bells began ringing as we let go ou r

anchors and immediately all the Russians who were
,
cro wded on the upper deck from the captain down ,
wards uncovered their hea ds and bowing devoutly

, , , ,
crossed themselves again and again as they murmured

a prayer of thanksgivin g for their safe return .
1 00 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
stand in close proximity to each other facing the

river each one vying with th e others in architectural
,
pretensions while all alo n g the road facing the water

,
a r e houses or rather large villas which remind one

, , , ,
m u ch of the South of France except that they are ,
of stucco instead of marb le Snow had fallen during .
the night a n d though the temperature was not cold

, , ,
the aspect in the bright morning sunshine was

decidedly wintry in effect Shortly after breakfast .
the custom house people ( our old friend Bou l dak o ff

-
included ) started examining our baggage From .
what I had alway s heard about Russian Officials I ,
quite e xpecte d to have a m a u va i s qu a r t d h eu r e -

’
considering my large store of ammunition and my

big cases of tinned provisions for m y long land
j o u rney To my astonishment however I was
.
, ,
treated with a politeness and a courtesy which i n ,
a ll my varied experience of this most irksome branch
of Government O ffi ci ali s m has never been equalled ,

.
I could not help mentally contrasting it with what I

have often experienced at Charing Cross N e wh aven , ,
or Paris In a very short time my numerous bags

.
, ,
valises and cases were disposed of and I was free to

, ,
land whenever I chose Ou t of all my really large .
quantity of odds and ends so to speak I eventually , ,
only had to pay a slight duty on my photographic

apparatus and films A fter th is as y ou may
.
,
imagine we were all of us soon on S hore and

, ,
exploring the place .

colouring and life to a place O f course there are .
S hops but fro m the outside they are unrecog n izable

, ,
as no goods a r e displayed i n the windows an d only ,
a name board betokens their existence This I hear

-
.
, ,
is the custom throughou t N orthern Si b eria and it is ,
easily understood when one considers that in all the

,
houses there are double and in some cases even ,
treble windows to keep out the intense cold during

, ,
the winter and that even in spite of these precautions

,
th e innermost windows are thickly coate d with ice ,
notwithstanding the high temperature of the rooms !

I was much surprised to learn that there was no
hotel in Yeniseisk —a fact doubtless to be accounted , ,
for by reason of the fe w travellers wh o visit this out

o f the way
- -
place those h aving occasion to do so
,
probably staying with friends or taking lodgings .
Perhaps however with the possible ann u al adve n t of

, ,
E nglish tourists by the Kara Sea route some enter ,
prising Yeniseisk citizen will find it a profitable

venture to start one ( o n E nglish lines it is to be ,
hoped ) .Fortunately lodgings were readily to b e ,
—
got and cheap into the bargain ; so with the a i d ,
of an interpreter I was soon snugly quartered in two

,
rooms which for comfort and warmth left nothing to

,
be desired though there might perhaps have been a

,
little more furniture and also washing a cco m m o ,
dation ; but that however was a detail I have , ,

.
stayed in many worse rooms when on sketching tours

”
in France Board and lodging I arranged for
.
“
,
TO TH E Y EL L O W S EA . 103
but I afterwards discovered that although they had ,
”
agreed to provide everything I was expected to “
,
”
find such extras as bedding sheets blankets towels , , , ,
tea sugar milk butter eg gs and candles if I desired

, , , , , ,
T
such luxuries “ hen I expressed my surprise to the
.
interpreter I was informed that such is the Russian

,
c ustom . I asked what board and lo dging really “
meant then ; but he was unable to explain A s he

,
.
was a Russian himself he probably thought what ,
strange ideas E nglishmen have ! However in spite ,
o f this slight inconvenience I managed to settle ,
down comfortably in a very short time and found ,
the people I was lodging with very obliging and ,
ready to do their best to supply my w ants when I

tried to express them i n the few words of Russian
I had managed to pick up while on board the Ph oen i x .
It was the commencement of the season when we “
arrived at Yeniseisk and the town was full ; for , ,
with the advent of winter the neighb o u ring gold ,
mines are deserted and the rich owners return to

,
their palatial town residences so the place presents a ,
much more animated appearance than it does during

the sum m er when the greater portion of the male
,
inhabitants are absent a n d the streets look compara ,
t i vel y empty .
The great industry of Yeniseisk is of course , ,
centred in its gold fi el ds which were once among

-
,
the most important of Siberia but are now not ,
so proli fi c as formerly E verybody i n the town has .

a direct or indirect in t erest in them this being ,
easily acco u nted for— the money made in them being

all as a r u le spent in Yeniseisk so all the loc a l
, , ,
trades profit by it N o less than eight thousand m en

.
are ann u ally employed i n the differen t workings

many coming from long distances to ge t employment
—the pay as a rule bein g e xception a lly good a nd all
, , ,
their food found them S ome of the wealthiest of

.
.
the m ine own ers e m ploy as many as six hundred m e n

-
,
and have a hospital and medical staff permanently

attached to the works The all u vial gold mines of .
-
t h e Yeniseisk dist ri ct have been worked since 1 83 9 .
The quartz worki n g has only recently been com

m e n c e d and it promises very great results
,
Better .
S kill and appliances than are at present available are ,
however needed I learn

, ,
.
D u ring the winter months Yeniseisk is well pro

v i de d with amusement There is a capital club house
.
-
,
which would pass muster anywhere to which is ,
attached a theatre and a ball room with a delightful -

,
”
“
floor and performances or dances take place two
,
or three times a week I shall long remember my .
first evening at Yeniseisk when I was taken to see ,
the cl u b ; there was a dance on and in the large , ,
brilliantly lighted rooms with an excellent band ,
’
playing a familiar waltz it was hard to believe one s ,
self nearly two thousand miles from a railroa d and ,
in the very heart O f A sia Society in Yeniseisk of .

,
course consists principally of the wealth y mine

,
10 6 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E Y EL L O W S E A .
in very good French b ut with n o end of swagger

, ,
a sked me how I liked Yeniseisk and on my replying ,
that I liked it very much and thought it very pretty ,
he simply stared at me with amazement for a mome n t ,
and then said ,

You ha ve evidently not yet seen
“
Mosco w or St Petersburg or you would not think so

.
,
.
A ll I can say is t h at it i s a positive disgrace to s a

,
nd
”
a gentleman like me to such a hole ! I had the
greatest di ffi cu l t y li n preventing myself from telling
him that he might consider himself l u c k v he had not
committed t h e same O ffences in E ngland or he would ,
”
probably be in a very different sort of hole as he “
,
called it .
A P R I S O N B EA UT Y .
CH A PT E R XI .
C IT Y OF Y E N I S E IS K — c on t i n u eol .
A visi t to the pr is on — F i r st i m p e ss i o s
r n of the S ib e r i an
syste m .
I W A S naturally anxious to see somethin g of the prison

system here On hearing of my desire the governor
.
,
of Yeniseisk with whom I had got on very friendly

,
terms courteously offered not only to let me aecom

,
pany him on one of his w eekly inspections of the

priso n but also to let me make some sketch es of
,
what I should see if I so desired I naturally j umped

,
.
a t the offer and on the appointed day I was punctu al

,
to the appointment and we drove together in his

,
sledge It was an intensely cold day ; in fact the

.
,
coldest I had yet experienced there being no less ,
than 2 8 deg of frost ( R eaumur) so one S imply had t o

.
,
’ ’
bury one s self in one s furs and avoid talking as ,
'
much as p ossible .
The building which is on the outskirt s of th e

,
town O ffers n othing of interest fro m the outside

, ,
b eing an ordinary two story brick building -

,
looking much like most prisons anywhere It i s .
placed in close proximity to the barracks so that i n ,
case of need military assistance is readily available .
A t the gates of the courtyard wh ere a sentinel was ,
st ationed we were received by the p er s onn el of the

,
e s t a b li s h m e n t t h e director of the prison a tall thi n

fl
, , ,
military looking man in a shabby uniform with a

-
,
long sword by his side and a huge astrachan kep i on

,
—
his head and five u n dersized little j ailers wh o wer e ,
armed with cutlasses and big revolvers which looked ,
much too large for them I learnt afterwards that .
the director was a Polish e x ile who had been sent t o ,
Siberia after the last insurrection in Poland and at , ,
the expiration of his sentence had elected to remain ,
in Siberia as the director of the criminal prison of

Yeniseisk We then entered the building
. Once .
inside the heavy iron bound doors the temperature

-
,
was delightfully warm as compared with outside and , ,
as is usual in Siberia a n even heat everywhere on

,
'
the stone staircases i n t h e corridors and in the

, ,
rooms So far as warmth is concerne d the prisoners

.
,
TO T HE Y ELL O W S EA . 1 09
c ertainly have nothin g to complain of A fter con .
s i der a b l e u nlocking of big padlocks and removing

on de r O I IS bars we entered the portion of the prison
p ,
occupied by men undergoing lo n g sentences for felony

and other o ffences It was a big sort of vaulted hall
.
,
dimly lighted by a few heavily grated windows on

one side U nder the windows the whole length of
.
th e room was a very wide sort of mping shelf ,
which ser ves as a sleeping place ; and ranged against-
this shelf S houlder t o S houlder stood a long line of

, ,
prisoners in the usual prison garb Of Siberia On our .
entry they all as with one voice called out in a deep

, ,
”
i S l
f
l bass tone the word ( Good day
“
!
t t u r a ,
c r a s t e t e ) ,
to which t h e governor replied by a military salute .
A s we walked S lowly up the line I had a good Opp e r

t u n i t y of a n ear inspec t ion of the most awful looking -
crowd of r u ffi a n s I have ever seen Perhaps the ill .
fi t t i n g garment t h e y w e r e added to the e ff ect still ,
with very few exceptions vice was written on their

,
faces and I was not astonished to learn that most

,
of them were old criminals and had been there many ,
years This hall led into another and yet another

.
, ,
with the same lo n g lines of unkempt r u ffi a n s Some .
h o w o n looking at th em I could not help thinking

, ,
of the awful photographs one sees outside the Morgue

in Paris I remarked to t he governor what a
.
dreadful thing it must be for a young man for a first

and perhaps trivial offence to b e thrown among such
a crowd of rascals who have no t hing to do all day
,
but sleep and eat and who are under n o supervision

,
whatever e x cept that of an occasional visi t from o ne

’
of the i n si gnificant j ailers He agreed w i t h m e that .
the system is a wrong one but said he Qu e voulez , , ,
’
vous ? Il n y a pas de place pour les caser tous
”
seuls My astonishment was that five s uch l ittle
.
warders could keep such a crowd in order ; but

doubtless the knowledge of the close pro ximity of
the barracks has a wholesome e ffect .
In the corner of each hall close up by the ceiling , ,
was th e indispensable sacred picture or i kon looking , ,
strangely incongruous in such foul surroundings .
Still even in this dismal place there was a touch of

,
humour A s we passed slowly through one miserable

.
,
wretch complained to the governor that his coat did

not fi t to which the governor very neatly replie d
,
that h e could do nothing in the matter If people .

-
wanted their clothes to fit t hey s hould not come there !

’
We the n visited th e m urderers department wh ich ,
was in the upper story There were no less than .

,
thirty men a n d women waiting their trial on this

charge Capital punish m ent does not e xist in Russia
.
‘
so the worst these prisoners can expect is hard labour

at the mines for a certain number of years after ,
which they are free to live i n Siberia but not to ,
retur n to Russia In this por t ion of the prison the

.
rooms were smaller and only contained at the most

, , ,
a dozen men in each A ll these prisoners though as

.
,
yet untried were without e x ception in irons

, , ,
.
caged r u ffi an as he saw the door shut and heard the ,
heavy bars drawn and the massive padlock repla c ed

very different probably to those of the rascals in the
, ,
large hall below wh o doubtless as soon as w e were

, ,
out of hearing recommenced their pandemonium

,
.
’
The women s prison which we after wards visited
, ,
struck me as being a curious S ight and reminded me ,
’ ”
not a little of D ickens s des c r i p t i on of the old Fleet
'
”
or Marshalsea prisons The inmates seemed free .
—
to do what they pleased of course with the e xc ep ,
tion of leaving the place —and the effect on entering ~
was most extraordinary The room was full of steam

.
,
for it was washing day I was informed and over , ,
head was quite a network of ropes with wet clothes

on th em hung up to dr y D irty unkempt children
,
.
,
crowded round us as we entered while through an , ,
open door leading to an adj oining department ,
appeared a lot of semi clad females who regarded us

-
,
with a curiosity devoid of all modesty There was .
here none of the respect whic h we were S hown in th e

’
men s quarters for th ese sullen looki n g half n aked
,
-
,
-
women eviden t ly lo o ked upon our visit as an u n war

r a n t a b l e intrusion on their privacy .
A s a resul t of my very i n teresting morning I ,
could not help coming to the conclusion that at ,
any rate as far as I could j udge the criminals of ,
Siberia have little to complai n of They pass thei r .
forced seclusion in absolute idleness if they so wish , ,
for the work they do if any is voluntary— ea t ing

, ,
T O TH E Y EL L O W SEA . 1 13
and Sleepi n g they while away the time as best they

,
can like so many caged beasts

,
.
On another occasion I had an opportunity of seein g

a batch of criminal prisoners start for K r as n oi a r s k ,
where they were being s en t for trial They were all .
assembled in the hall of the Palais de Justice and a ,
strange crowd they looked sitting a long the wall on ,
a bench dressed in their drab kaftans which serve

, ,
them as overcoats Round about lolled the guard.
which was to escort them half way to K ras n oi ar s k -

,
”
half a doze n undersized soldiers ( not Cossacks ,
as they are o ften erroneously described ) with rifle s ,
and fixed bayonets A ll were well wrapped up for .
the j ourney with huge woollen comforters roun d

,
their necks black gloves and fel t boots on I had

, ,
.
no di ffi culty in getting them to remain still while I

made a s ketch for they seemed readily to under
,
stand what I wanted even t O t h e prisoners A s ,

.
.
usual when I had finishe d no one evinced the

, ,
’
slightest curiosity to see the result A fe w m inutes .
afterwards they started un der the command of a ,

.
non commissioned o fficer A n d a cu r i oUs procession

-
.
it was for none of the prisoners seemed to feel thei r

,
position and walked j ust as they pleased I coul d

, ,
.
not help thinking that the soldiers had the wors t

of it burdened as they were W It h their h eavy rifles
, ,
a m munition and accoutrements while t h e prisoner s

, ,
had absolutely nothing to carry The soldiers fro m .
Yeniseisk only go h a lf way w hen they m eet a convoy -

,
1 14 FR OM T HE A R C TI C O C EA N
from K r a s n oi a r s k and exchange prisoners

,
Th e .
j ourney takes about a week as they only travel abou t ,
fifty versts a day and on l y during the day light

,
.
”
There is no priso n for political exiles in Yeni “
'
s ei s k Most of this class of cl eyoo r t es who are living

’
in the town have already served their term of

punishment elsewhere and have elected to remain ,
in Siberia where they p r o b a b l v find the life not h alf

,
so bad as it is painted ; or as is often the case were , ,
banis h ed for li fe from Russia and condemned t o

“
,
pass the re m a inder of their days in Yeniseisk or some

other town or vill a ge .
In the case of a well co n nected and educated man -
being sent from say Mosco w or St Petersburg or

, ,
.
,
some other i mportant city in R ussia for a lo n g ,
period to some remote Si b erian vil l age the punish ,
ment must be a severe one From the little I h ave .
seen of these villages on our way up the river I ,
can imagine no fate more dre a dful than to be shut

up alone in one of the m among a lot of u ns y m ,
pathetic and ignorant peasants wit h no b ooks t o ,
read and entirely o u t of touch and h earing of the

,
civilized world Better almost to be buried alive

.
!
When however instead of to an out oi —

, ,
the way - -
village he is consigned to a biggish tow n like

,
Yeniseisk or Kr a s n oi a r s k his fate is certainly not ,
S O hard He is allo wed to live h o w and where h e

.
pleases ; if h e has mo n ey of his own he is permitted

to receive it ; a n d if he is a sociable man he w ill
1 16 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E Y ELL O W S E A .
N i s na i a ( Who can tell

”
“
What ! said I is not once su fficient to come
,
“
to Siberia
But sh e shook her head a n d answere d It is, ,
“
very diffi cult to remain S ilent when one sees the

state of th i ngs in Russia and one knows how very ,
different it is in other countries If n o one take s .
the initiative it will never be changed

,
.
We were on delicate ground so I thought it bes t ,
to change the subj ect as one can never tell who may
,
be listening Moreover politics are not in my line

.
,
.
However I man ag ed later on to have a furthe r

,
chat with M X on the subj ect and he corroborated

. .
,
the words of his wife in spite of my aski n g him

,
if he had not had enou gh of it already in Siberia ,
for if he were again caught tripping h e would doubt

less n o t get off so easily but in all probab ility b e
, , ,
sent to th e mines .
( It is all the sam e
to me !) was h i s characteristic reply The i dea that .
they are wasting their lives on a cause wh ich is

not yet n early ripe for solution and which for the , ,
m oment only time can help never seems to occur

, ,
to these men who plod away cheerfully into Siberia

,
with the firm conviction that they are making

martyrs of t h emselves in the cause of liberty ,
whereas in reality they ar e on l y helping to coloniz e

, ,
t his vast continent .

S T EE T S C E E YE
R N , N IS E IS K .
CH A PT E R X II .
Y E N IS E IS K — c on t i n u e d .
The h o spi tal —S ib e r i a n h o us e s — T h e i r c o m f o r t—T h e s tr e ets of
t h e ci ty .
A FE W days after I received an i nvitation to visit

,
the hospital and as I heard it was a very interesting

, ,
sight I eagerly availed myself of it The house

,
.
doctor an amia b le old gentleman who spoke German

, ,
fluently showed me over the place and evidently

, ,
took a great pride in it although he informed me i t

,
was very old and was to be S hortly replaced by a

n e w building The Yeniseisk sick lis t was u nfor
.
-
,
t u n a t ely very large at the time of my visit

,
.
On entering the principal ward every b ed of which ,
was occupied I was much struck with the curious

,
effect before me ; it looked as if the place had been

prematurely decorated for Christ m as E verywhere .
pine saplings were placed —

between the be ds and
along the walls — reaching from the ground to the
ceiling On asking the reason I wa s informed that
.
,
it was to purify th e air It certainly wanted it for

.
,
the atmos p here was simply sti fling A n E nglish .
doctor would have stood aghast at the temperat ure .
There was no attempt whatever at ventilation and ,
the triple windows were all hermetically sealed .
Only a Russian could hav e lived in it a n d all t h e ,
patients see m ed comfortable enough .
A W A TE R CAR RI E R .
Th e fire brigade at Ye n iseisk as is usual in a l l ,
—
Siberian towns where the danger is so great i n
conse quence of the many wooden houses — is remark
ably well organized In case of nee d the numero u s
.
,
water carriers of the town are bound to give thei r

-
services and provide horses and water carts ; while -
in the tower over the fire station is al ways a watch

-
man whose sole duty is to look out fo r the enemy

, ,
and to give warning o f any outbrea k by means of a

big alar m bell fi x ed on the upper platform
-
.
co m plete device for heating a house that was ever

imagined the Russian stove robs th erefore the
,
-
, , ,
Siberian winter of many of its terrors a n d makes a ,
visit to this i n teresting and lit t le known country -
pleasant even during the coldest period of the year .
The High S t ree t of Yeniseisk is not unpicturesque

and the importance of many of the buildings is
enough to upset all the previously conceived ideas
of Siberian to wns It would astonish most E uropeans
.
if they cou ld see the stately mansions owned by some

o f the millionaire mine owners and rich exiles these
-
ho u ses look as if th ey had been transplanted from

the Champs E lys ees or the Bois de Boulogne and in ,
the in t erior are to be found luxu r ies with which

'
Paris ra t her than Si b eria is generally associated

, , .
In my S ketch I have unfort unately been unable to

, ,
give any of these palatial residences a s I wanted to ,
S how the general effect of the town with the schools

, ,
fi r e to w ers one of the many churches and the i n

-
, ,
evitable telegraph poles The two Collegiate school s

-
.
— one for boys the other for girls — were founded b

,
y
one of the merchant princes of the town — M r .
K i t m a n o ff
. They are built in a style which would
mark the m as striking looking buil dings in any town
-
i n the world The y contain a fine laboratory of

.
p h ysical science well supplie d with ap p aratus and

, ,
a dra wing class room provided with plaster casts

-
and geometrical m odels ; the walls of th e rooms and

corridors are hung with maps d r a wings and diagrams , ,
L I FE IN I E IA
S D R I AN AF T E R N OON D IVE
R Y E N E S E IS K
c
.
,
[ IO f a
’ '
e 121
.
TO TH E Y E LL OW SEA . 12 1
useful for teaching and the seats and desks are of

,
the most approved design for schools There are .
several E uropea n professors of competent attainments

in this exce l lent educational institution Yeniseisk .
,
though only a place of ten or twelve thousand

inhabitants is quite a model abode of civiliza
,
tion
.
It is worth while to see t h e ladies of fashionable

society going out for an afternoon drive at Yeniseisk .
When the temperature i s not too low say 1 5 deg , ,

.
belo w zero ( R eaumur ) one sees many smart S ledges

,
’
about Four O clock in the afternoon is the favourite
.
time for driving and one can then see horses as fine
,
as those of any private carriages in L ondon The .
fair occupants of the S ledges are as a rule too much , ,
wrapped up in furs to be seen to advantage a n d as , ,
”
the grand chic is to tear along at top speed but
“
a fleeting vision of beauty is all that is gener a lly

obtained and before y o u have time almost to r e
,
cognize who is in th e sledge it is already far

away .
The city of Yeniseis k at this mome n t is of course , ,
of great i nterest to E nglishmen on account of the ,
scheme for sea traffic between E ngland and the Yenisei

—which if it prove successful will probably go a
, ,
long way towards makin g the for t une of the smart

—
little town and if the canal is ever finished which
,
the Government is constructing to connect Yeniseisk

with Tomsk there will exis t b y means of the V olga
, , ,
12 2 F R OM TH E A R C TI C O C E A N T O TH E E
Y LL O W SEA .
Obi Yenisei Irtish A ngara and A moor Rivers one

, , , , ,
of the lo n gest water highway s of the world and ,
Chinese and Central A sia n goods will be brou gh t

direc t to th e railroad at Ti nmen a n d thus to the
,
gates of E urope wi t ho u t transhipment

,
.
1 24 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C E A N
any importance I had then reached and where I ,
man aged to spend five of the pleasantest weeks

imaginable among some of the most hospitable
people I ever had the good fort u ne to meet Far .
away Yeniseisk w ill long remain graven on my

memory not only on acco u nt of its being the
,
long looked for goal of the mos t eventfu l voyage I

- -
ever made in my life b ut also as recalling many

,
delightful hours and novel experiences .
The j o u rney by sledge from Yeniseisk to K r a s n oi ars k ,
a distance of 3 3 1 versts if one travels day and night

, ,
takes forty eight hours ; this of course mea n s hard

-
, ,
going the whole time b u t as the var i ous post houses

, ,
-
on the road o ffer but little ind u cement for the

traveller to prolong his stay in them longer than is
absolutely necessary there is no temptation to loiter
,
on the way I had been strongly advised to buy my

.
own sledge and n o t trust to the ramshackle convey

,
a n c e s which could b e hired at the different stations ,
so I determined to go by the advice of people who

knew what Siberian travelling meant and with the , ,
assistance of a kind friend was fortunate in picking ,
up a S le dge in exce l lent condition wonderfully cheap .
A ll complete it cos t me only fi ft y two ro u bles or -

,
about £6 1 5 s such a bargain w a s it that I was

.
-
,
informed I should doubtless b e able to sell i t again at

,
the same price any where .
In fact my lucky s t ar seemed to be in the ascend

,
ant at that time for j u st before leaving Yeniseisk I

,
had a unique little adventure which made my first

impressions of Siberian sledging too agreeable for
description in plai n Anglo Saxon -
.
I had made my arrangements for starting when a ,
Siberian friend of mine called and asked me if I

would escort a lady as far as Kr a s n o i a r s k The S ledge .
held two b u t I was alarmed at the idea especially

, ,
as I was informed that the lady was a wido w L ike .
Mr Wel l er I avoid widows It is one of my fe w

.
,
.
guidi n g principles I sai d therefore that my bag

.
, ,
gage was multitudinous and heavy My friend had .
placed me under so many obligations that I co u ld not

refu se to reconsider the matter so i t was arranged
,
that I S hould be presented to the wido w on the next

day to tal k the matter over I went to bed
.
quite determined to have my sledge to myself In .
the morning I called The lady came into the room

.
,
and instead of the wrinkled wido w I had conj ured

,
up in my m ind behold a most charming and graceful

,
creature of twenty fi ve with a mos t vivacious manner

-
and a smile which m elted all the frost in my n ature .
( I mentally decided that if it cost me another sledge

for the baggage the widow should be my compan ion ) .
So wi t hout the slightest hesitation I said twirli n g my ,
moustaches that I S hould feel myself a thousand

,
years younger if I might be permitted to escort her

to K r a s n oi ar s k I made this remark in E nglish so
.
,
neither the wido w nor m y f r i e n d understood it ; b u t

I quickly assured them in my very best Parisian that
12 6 FR OM THE A R C TI C O C EA N
on mature consideration I h ad discovered tha t there :
wa s room for two in the sledge so the horses were ,
ordered at the Government post house and at six -

,
’
o clock that evening we started on our first stage ,
about twenty fi v e versts on the road A p a rty of

-
.
friends accompanied us so far a n d when we reached ,
the post house they produced ch i ckens and champagne

-
G OO D B Y E
-
.
enough to h ave bribed the whole Press of Russia .
Then good bye and away over the moonlit sno w

-
, ,
galloping noiselessly through the night I smoked a .
heavenly cigar ; the wi do w puffed at a cigarette .
A nd S O we travelled h alting only at the post houses to

,
-
change the h orses My sledge was heavily laden with

.
tinned meats and food to last me a long way The .
post h ouses supplied tea and minor necess i ties

-
.
I kne w but th e meres t smatteri n g of the Russian

lan guage The distances between the different
.
stations never exceeded twenty — fi ve v ersts ( about

sixteen miles ) and this generally took a little over
,
t w o hours to do so i t may be remarked the pace was

,
n o t slo w The post station I am informed is usually

.
-
, ,
t h e bes t house in the village ( which is not al ways
saying much ) the owner being paid a certain sum

,
yearly for the use of his largest room which he ,
always has to keep ready for t ra vellers a n d if ,
necessary for a small fee to supply the inevitable

, ,
samovar . Refreshments als o he in most cases , ,
undertakes to provide ; but as a general rule these , ,
only consist of black bread milk and frozen eggs , , ,
so the hungry traveller who is at all fastidious

does well to provide himself beforehand with al l his
gas t ronomical necessaries Of course I am now .
,
speaki n g of travelling on the route fro m Yeniseisk

to Kr a s n oi a r s k and not the
,
Great Post Road ,
which I shall have future occasion to describe I .
found th ese houses in most cases clean and comfor t

, ,
ably furnished but al ways heated to such a degree

,
as to render them almost unbearable ; so stifling as ,
a rule was the atmosphere that it was generally like

,
walki n g into a badly ventilated Turkish bath I .
never stayed a mome nt longer than was absolutely

necessary and was al ways glad to get back again
,
into my comfortable sledge .
Th e road was in exceptionally good condition for

T O TH E Y ELL O W SEA . 12 9
sledging ; for the great e r part of the way it was

like travel ling on a velvet pile carpet I never saw -
.
deeper snow anywhere the horses at times being,
absolutely buried up to their withers in it while ,
the trees on either side of us were simply bent

down with the weight of their fl eecy pall The .
scenery was at times very beautiful having al m ost

‘
the appearance of an E nglish park and altogether ,
very di fferent to what I expected to find in the wilds

of Siberia .
Taking it all in all therefore I found sle dging a

, ,
very pleasant way of travelling and when snugly ,
tucked up in my furs as we dashed on through the

,
darkness of the night I was lulled gradually to sleep

,
by the continuous j i n gle of the du g a bells the Strand , ,
the Paper and in fact L ondon itself seemed but as a

, ,
dream of a far distant past Of course this sort .
of sentimental reverie is only ins pired when one is

’
on a good road ; if it is otherwise well one s , ,
impressions are not of quite so soothing a nature ,
more especially i f they are caused by the corners of

a b ox or the roof of the sled ge !
I had reason to congratulate myself on h aving
provided m yself with quite a Siberian outfit in the
way of furs for I don t think I ever felt such cold
,
’
in my life as I did on the road from Yeniseisk If .
’
one s face was exposed to the wind for only a few
’
seconds one s eyes and nostrils were frozen together
,
and on e S m oustache becam e coated with thick ice .
K
The horses also were s e co vered with white frost

, ,
that their colour w as absolutely unrecognizable I .
fou n d from my thermometer that the cold averaged

each da y no less than 3 5 deg belo w z ero ( R eaumur ) ! .
It will give some idea of its intensity whe n I

mention that whilst smoking in the O pen air and ,
having occasion to expectorate my saliva would Often ,
fall to th e ground as a solid lump of ice

On reaching K r a s n oi a r s k I was much surprised , ,
and of course pleased to find quite a de ce nt hotel

, ,
where I was accommodated with a couple of really

comfortable rooms well furnishe d on fairly moderate ,
terms They would I fancy have been considered

.
, ,
good anywh ere and when I add that they were fitted
with electric bells that there were S heets and bedding
,
to the b e d and that I had a r ea l tub every morn

,
ing you will understand that it seemed like getting

,
back to civilizatio n with th e or dinary comforts

,
of everyday life once more K r a s n oi ars k is decidedly

.
a picturesqu e town and if it be so in winter it must

, ,
b e doubly pleasant in summer Situated on one of .
the most beautiful portions of the river Yenisei in ,
the centre of an amphitheatre of high hills every ,
street has a sort of background of its own so to ,
speak and the c fi e c t is very pleasing It is of course

, .
, ,
a much more important place than Yeniseisk being ,
c onsiderably larger and is more advanced in every

,
respect I was struck with this on the night of my

.
a rriva l by the appearance and length of the lamp

,
sheltered position is not so cold as Yeniseisk the

, ,
average here during the winter months being only

’
1 5 deg . belo w zero ( R eaumur ) E very afternoon .
there is quite a cro w d of skaters in the fine p u blic

gardens and the scene is a very picturesq u e one for
, ,
there are usually many o fficers on the ice their ,
striking uniforms harmonizing well with the furs of

the fair sex .
Society in K r a s n o i a r s k is much gayer than in
A TY PIC AL S IB E R IA N I N T E R I O R , K R A S N O IA R S K .
Yeniseisk I was fortunate in h aving letters of

.
introduction to the Governor General Tel ak o ffs k i a n d

-
other o ffi cials also to the two richest mine owners

,
-
in the place Messrs C o n s n i t s o ff and M a t i vi eff s o

,
.
,
what with dinners and dances I never found the

time hang heavily on my hands of an evening ; in
fact it was rather too much the contrary for s o
, ,
S N OW S C AV EN G E R, K R A S N O IA R S K . [ TO c
fa e P- l 3 3o
CHA PT E R XI V .
K R A S N OIA R S K —c On t i nu ed .
P ivil g d c i m i l
r e e r na ex il e s —O di a y c i m i als —A m archi n g
r n r r n
c o n vo y on t h e r oa d —C o n vo y s o l di e r s —Th e c o v o y n
Pr o c e e di gs o n ar r ival a t t h e Pe a s i l n y o f K a s n oi a r s k
n r r
Th e s t a r o s t o r o f t h e gan g —A s tr ol l r o u n d t h e Pe a s i l r n
y
T h e m ar r i e d p r is o n e sr
’
q u ar te r s
—A p ivil e g e d p is o n e r
”
r r
i n his c e ll —S c e n e o u t sid e t h e p is o n —P is o n l a b o u r —I
r r
giv e i t a t r i a l —D e tails a s t o o u tsid e e m plo y m e nt o f

pris o n e rs .
_
l HA V IN G given some sligh t
idea of the bright side of life
in Kra s n oi ar s k a little about ,
the reverse of the medal

will doubtless be of interest .
In a vast country like

Siberia where a great part ,
O f the population — I m ean
of the lo wer middle class

and working orders is com—
posed o f criminal exiles it ,
may readily b e imagined

T HE
that there exists a peculiar
state of social Opinion which is positively amusi n g
,
at times If a man conducts himself well and is

.
,
TO TH E YELL O W S EA . 13 5
liked it matters not a straw that he be an exiled

,
”
“
gentleman criminal doing his time for he is ,
received almost everywhere and one need not be ,
ashamed to be seen a ssociating with him as even ,
the officials shake hands with him wh en they meet .
He himself makes no secret of his misdemeanour

rather t h e contrary as a rule —for mos t of them ,
”
seem to think that coming to reside in Siberi a
absolutely whitens them a gain in the eyes O f society .
A s a matter of fact they are encouraged in this ,
beli ef for t hey are always spoken of as u n for t u

,
“
nates .Perhaps they are called so because they were

found out and sent here On one occasion two men
I kne w very well m e t in my rooms ; both were
criminal exiles who had formerly oc cupied high
positions in St Petersburg one a German having
.
-
, ,
been s ent for uttering forged b onds ; the other

“
,
a Russian for embezzlement of Government money

,
.
A s they were not acquainted I naturally introduced ,
th e m to each o ther It was difficult to realize that

.
t h ese two well dressed and polished men who spoke

-
,
several language s fluently were each doing a ten ,
’
years penal sentence A fter a shor t preamble on .
the usual everyday topics the Russian asked the ,
German if he were an inhabitant of K r as n oi ar s k .
”
G ot t s ei da n k n ei n replied he
,
I was only ,
”
sent for ten years and my time is nearly up
, .
A h ! then you re a r er s c hi ckt e ? I thought you

“ ’
were So am I IVh at did you come for

. .
Oh only for so and so A nd you 7

, .
”
Oh mine ( with a certain amount of pride )
,
was a big affair ; I managed to get over forty

thousand roubles out of the Government .
A nd so the co n versation rattled pleasantly on ,
gra dually drifting into ( for me ) more congenial

subj ects There was not the least bit of shame
.
about them — they talked of their o ffences while ,
smoking their cigarettes as naturally as most men ,
would relate an interesting episode in their lives ,
—
and I sat and listened and wondered The same .
u nbiassed way of looking on the state of affairs

exists among the lower orders ; and soldiers with ,
gangs of criminals in prison garb and heavy clanking

chains push their way on foot through the crowd in
,
the market place attracting no notice the prisoners

-
, ,
being to all appearance stolidly indifferent to their

, ,
situation .
Pr i c i li g i e r t s or well t O do cri m inal s that is to

,
- -
,
say men of intelligence who have received a good

,
education either in a Government school or gymnase

, ,
and who have occupied good positions i n their time ,
when they are only guilty of such petty O ffences as

forgery or misappropriation are never absolutely
-
,
associated with the vulgar horde of ordinary every ,
day criminals On their way to Siberia although

.
,
they travel with the same ga n g they do so apart , ,
even in their own conveyance if they have the ,
means to pay for it On arrival at the different .

the noise which would be produced by hundreds of

small birds singin g all at once yet I could see n othing ,
of any sort anywhere on the vast plain so I drew ,
’
my driver s attention to it as well as I could with
my limited vocabulary of Russian To him it was .
neither novel nor interesting he knew what it wa s at

”
once The arrestanti are coming he briefly told
.
“
,
me ; a n d sh ortly aft er on ascending a rise i n the

, .
road which had concealed them from our view there ,
came in S ight a big b ody of men coming slowly along ,
and I then dis covered that the strange noise which

had S O impressed me was produced by the clanki n g
of the heavy chains they w e r e But then alas ! all .
,
preconceived i ll u s Ion s vanished for it was a loaths ome ,
and depressing S ight and rendered doubly so under

,
the bright sunlight There was absolutely nothing

.
of the poetic about i t that I had been led to expec t '
fr om the descriptions I had read so often before

coming to Siberia It wa s simply a h u ge crowd of
.
what looked like ( and probably was ) the very scum

of the earth for all races seemed to be represented
,
amongst it making as villanous and evil looki n g a

,
-
lot of men as one could possibly see In front and .
on either S ide of the column were soldiers with rifles

and fixed bayonets By the way many writers
.
,
speak of these soldiers as Cossacks ; as a matter of

fact Cossacks are n e w never under any circumstances
,
used for this or any duty in connection with prisoners ,
nor have they for many years past O n the road .

,
( 3 d ) per
. day bot h on the
,
road and when in prison ,
so that they can purchase their own food and h a ve ,
it co oked according to their b elief the food and ,
cooking being looked after by one of their own

religion deputed by the m selve s In a country where .
it is said that the Jews are so persistently pers ecuted

by the authorities this comes as rather an astounding
,
revelation in my opinion I kno w nothing whatever

,
.
about prison life in E ngland but I am anxious to know ,
if we treat our con victs in the same way Political .
prisoners never march ( unless th ey wish to do so ) ,
but are conveyed on telegas or S ledges according to

the seaso n and alway s follow some distance behind
,
the criminals w ith whom they never are associated

,
.
Consideri n g h ow S lowly the column advances for I ,
am inform ed it is often no less than four or five

months on the roa d resting as it does every second
,
day this must b e an awful j ourney indeed for those

,
who are leavi n g friends home and in fact all behind, ,
them for ever For these unfortunates when not

.
“
,
’
criminal ones all one s sympathy is due ; but the
,
canaille marching on ahead and who are thus most ,
en evi de n c e in most cases richly deserve m ore than

,
their fate and ought to thank their lucky stars t h ey

,
are Russian and n ot E n glish convicts .
I n the rear of the column followed about twenty

open S ledges on w h ich were women childre n foot
, , ,
sore prisoners and miscellane ous bagga ge E ven the

,
.
drivers were soldiers and with their rifles across,

TO TH E Y ELL O W SE A . 14 1
their knees prese n ted a curious ap p earance L ast of .
all came my friend the O fficer in cha rg e of the

,
detachme n t in a luxurio us covered i n sledge There

,
-
.
were no p ol i t i c a l s with the party .
A s I was desirous of seei n g for myself a l l that takes

place on the arrival of a gang of convicts at the
e t a e or r a s i ln of a large town I returned to
’
p p e
y ,
Kr a s n oi ar s k at the head of the detachment and ,
’
made sketches and photo s to my heart s content
of the unsavo u ry crowd of r u ffi a n s following closely
behind me .
The p er as i l n y of K r as n oi ar s k is S ituated on the

outskirts of the town quite close to the os t r og or
, ,
regular prison and like most buildings of its kind

, ,
I have h itherto seen built entirely Of wood even to

, ,
the high wall surroundi n g it It is composed of .
S everal blocks of b u ildings in which prisoners are

indiscriminately placed pending their removal to their
ultimate destination On arri val outside this building
.
,
the convicts were formed up two deep for inspection ,
and immediately after told O ff to unload the S le dges

and get their baggage ; after which they were marched
into the building preparatory to being verified .
In a large b a re whitewashed room sat the officer wh o

had brough t the detachment and two prison officials ,
with a heap of papers before them A ll the prisoners .
were in an a dj oining ro e m at the door of which stood

,
'
the s t a r os t er or leader of th e gang waiting to call

, ,
out the name as each man was required .

It may not b e generally known that in Russi a

every gang of prisoners has i t s s t a r os t er or captain
“
, ,
who is elected by themselves from amongs t t heir

number and who on all occ asions acts as their
,
.
spokesman .It is difficult to ascertain on what
T HE S T A R OST E R OF T HE GA N G .
—
particular merits he is elected perhaps it is that
he is known to be the biggest dare devil villain -
a mongst them or that he is generally feared ; at any

,
rate from all accounts the s t ar o s t er has al ways such

, ,
unbounded influence and power amongst his fello w s

life was made so awful for him that h e was eventually

placed in solitary confinemen t till he could be sen t
G R OUP OF P I NE
R SO RS ( F R O M A G OV E R NM E N T PH O T O G R A PH )
to another prison Capital punishment not existing

.
in Siberia ( except in the rarest and most extreme of

cases) criminals are absolutely reckless as they know
, ,
T O TH E Y ELL O W S EA . 14 5
they cannot get worse than they have got so ther e ,
are m any prisoners with a list of murders and othe r

crimes agains t them which would probabl y make an
E nglish criminal Open his eyes .
But r eve n on s a n os m ou t o ns ( or rather convicts ) .
A S the different men were required the s t a r os t er

called out their names and they then came to b e
,
“
verified t hat is to say compared with their ,
photo which is attached to the paper relating to each

,
one I omitted to mention that all convicts before

.
,
starting on the long march across Siberia have their ,
heads shaved on one S ide to render them immediately

,
recognizable as prisoners an d so as to prevent the m ,
fro m running away ; and very hideous does thi s

operation render them as there is no c on c e a li n g i t
,
.
Still in spite of it numbers o f them do escape a s

, , ,
I shall have occasion to tell you in a subsequent

”
chapter A fter t h e verification the prisoners wer e
.
let loose into the courtyard of the p er as i l n y and left ,
to S hift for themselves and find accom m odation wher e

they could in the building A s I have already .
remarked the p e ra s i l n y is only a sort of de p Ot for

,
prisoners ; they n ever r e m a i n in it long only till a ,
detachment is starting for the pris on or mine to which

.
they have been consigned .
I was permitted to roam about all over the plac e

with my S ketch — book quite alone so made sketches
, ,
amongst the unsavoury crowd of r u ffi a n s to my

heart s content and although they came closer to m e
’
,
at times tha n I desired still I was in no way ,
molested It was certainly a most extraordin a ry

.
S ight .Groups of evil sullen looking men were ,

-
either roaming about the spacious courtyard or else ,
hanging about in groups talking in an undertone to ,
each other Most of them were i n chains a n d their

.
,
clanki n g n oise harmonized well with the gloomy sur

roundings It gave o n e the impression of being in
.
a den of h u man wild be a sts and j udging from their ,
faces I should fancy mos t of them were but little

b etter They all seemed pret t y well free to do w hat
.
they pleased a n d I n oticed m a n y were smoking

,
cigarettes or pipes The principal occupation whilst .

,
I was there seemed to be noting the n e w arrivals

,
a s they individ u ally m ade thei r appearance insi de the
gate . In some cases the new comers immediately -
found friends among the cro wd in which event h e ,
was introduced by the m to th e others and the ,
mutual greetings were most e ff usive and do u btless ,
sufficient to raise feelings of envy in the breasts of

younger prisoners standing by and w h o were ,
unknown to cri m inal fame I was told afterwards .
that n e w comers if they are absolutely unknown to

-
,
any one in thei r cell have to stand a sort of supper , ,
or b i en ven u e— pay their footi n g as a matter of fact

” “
,
.
Fancy this sor t of thing in an En glish prison ! I

naturally asked how a prisoner would manage if he
had no money H e can always get enough for
.
“
” 9
that was the reply How
,
.
an impression as could well be imagined A ll roun d .

,
'
seated or standing w ere lit t le family par t ies s e t o

, ,
speak Tea was go i ng on at the m om e n t I entered a n d

.
,
the women naturally were i n their element ; i n fact ,
it was more like a picnic of the lower orders tha n

a prison scene The heat of the pla ce which appeared
.
,
to be without ventilation was as usual fearfully ,
oppressive and many of the men and women wer e

,
i n the very scant iest of attires for decency did not

-
,
A “
PR I VI LI G IE R T , OR P I VI LEGE D P I SO N E
R R R.
I
pp to a ff ect them much and the S ight of so many
e ar
,
poor little innocent children in such foul surround ,
i n gs struck me as being particularly horrible

, .
We after wards visited the room of a p r i vi ligi er t ,
or swell prisoner who was too good to associate with

,
the ordinary horde of vulgar scoundrels although ,
possibly he may have caused as m u ch misery in his

TO TH E YEL L O W S EA . 14 9
time to his fellow — creatures a s any of them Th e .
”
gentleman in t h is case I heard wrote too well , ,
“
.
He was in ord i nary ci vilian attire and looked a well ,
dressed gentlemanl y fello w His li t tle son was with

,
.
h i m in the room b e occupied which was really not an ,
u n comfortable one for there were two real beds in it

, ,
with sheets bedding etc washi n g appliances look

, , .
, ,
P EA SA N T WO M E N S ELL I N G P OV I S I ON S
R TO P I NE
R SO RS .
ing glass t ea things plates saucers e t c — i n fact qu ite

-
,
-
, , , ,
a lit t le men a ge He was sitting on the bed when I

.
e ntered, and my visit evidently did not seem to

please h i m much for he immediately turned his back
,
o n me and began muttering to h imself However .

,
I w ent in all the same and had a good look roun d ,
a n d made a sketch of him in S pite of h i s ungracious
r eception .
On coming out of the prison I was s u rprised to

see quite a little crowd of pe a sant women with
baskets of bread etc gathered round a hole in the
,
.
,
outer wall through which they were selling the pro

,
visions to such fortunate prisoners who happened to

have a little money It was a curious sig ht and .
,
well worthy of a sketch I though t — the gri my han ds ,
thrust out through t he aperture and in the back ,
ground the mass of swarthy evil co u ntenances — a ,
su b j ect worthy of D or é .
A s I was driving back to tow n wi t h m y friend '
the conversation naturally turned on the scenes I had

j ust witnessed and I asked him if no work was eve r
,
done i n the prisons He then informed me that al l

.
work except such as wood cutting get t ing water etc

,
-
, , .
,
is optional ; if the prisoners can find work and car e

to take it they are at liberty to do so as there are ,
specially reserved rooms for them to work in Many .

,
he told me made money b y making cigarettes at

, ,
.
which they were very cle ver and naturally could ,
turn them out cheaper than they could b e bought at .
the shops Being i n want of some at the moment I

.
,
tho u gh t it would not be a bad idea to get some mad e

by a prisoner j ust out of curiosity So the next day
, .
I purchased some tobacco and paper and went to th e ,
os t r og
( the regular prison not the de
p )
Ot with a ,
friend to interpret for m e It seemed a usual sort o f .
proceeding for the gaoler we s p oke to abou t it said

,
”
immediately M Or gen or
, ( it can
“
be done ) and ,
there is inside it and the average notions about

,
life there seems to me to b e the outcome of entire

ignorance I must say h owe ver that the R u ssi a n
.
, ,
officials take things too much a u s é r i eu x They .
drop upon people for doi n g things which in

E ngland would h e laughed at a nd forgotten in
’
twenty four hours They don t believe in the safety
-
.
val ve principle b u t maybe one o fficial thinks t hat if

,
’
he does n t take notice of a thing some other O fficial
w ill and probably repor t the first o fficial into the
,
bargain E very body is watched from a governor

.
,
Y o u don t see the working of the

’
downwards .
system but it is there all the same I will give

,
.
an instance in proof of this There was a fa n cy .
dress ball at the club and as usual in Siberia every

, , ,
body wore a mask One young fello w thought he.
—
would create a sensation and he did He appeared .
as a sort of wa l king advertisement On his breast .
were written some of the advantages of life in

Siberia On his back were the disadvant a ges so
.
,
strongly worded that a police o fficial tapped him

o n t h e shoulder and requested h i m to step into a
private room This h e did his mask was removed
.
, ,
and it was found that he was a you n g student

at the Tomsk U niversity He was told to leave .
the place notwithstanding t h e in dignation of the

,
o ther guests at the offi ci a l s action The o fficial ’

.
reported the matter ; there wa s telegraphing back

wards and forwards ; the cu lprit was finally sent
’
ba ck to Tomsk a n d I don t know what became
,
of him Probably he is at this moment in solitary

.
e x ile in some out of the way place A t any rate

- - -
.
,
as every one at the ball agreed in conversation about

the affair his life was practically ruined through
,
a freak which in any country not under Russ i an

,
rule w ould simply have been laughed at

,
.
L oca l malefactors whatever their o ffence are first

, ,
taken before the chief of police ( p ol i tc e mea s t er ) who , ,
if the ch arge be only a petty one disposes of it h im ,
se lf if howe ver it be of a grave nature it is sent for

, ,
trial at the high co u rt of j ustice of the district I .
was informed that it goes very hardly indeed with a

liberated criminal e xile if h e is ever caught com
mitting a felony in Siberia for he has then but a ,
very slight chance of ever regaining his liber t y The .
police court itself offered little of interest being

.
,
merely a large roo m with a big table in it at the head ,
of which sat the chief and all his o ffi cers The .
prisoners were brough t in in charge of a soldier or a

warder and stood about anywhere for th ere was no
, ,
dock and the proceedin gs though no vel were not

, , ,
interesting .
I had heard a good deal about the nigh t “
refuges for the destitute which exist in all Siberian,
to wn s so was determined to visit one although

, ,
a t first it seemed likely to prove a di fli c u l t matter ,
as my friends were not eager to go to such an

uninviting den even I n the interests of art How
, .
ever at last I persuaded one to accompany me lat e

,
one night The refuge naturally was sit u ated in t h e

.
“
poorest part of the city and we had some diffi culty

,
at first in finding it It only consisted of two fairly

.
large rooms lighted by a swinging lamp The effe c t

,
.
wa s almost the same as in the prison for there was ,
the same fearful heat and stenc h the same crowd Of ,
unkempt wre t ches most of whom looked like old gaol

,
birds The only difference wa s that these two ro om s

.
were simply packed to their utmost capa city, every

available corner being occupie d even to the floor ,
underne ath the sloping shelf which served as t h e

sleeping place — s o m uch So in fac t tha t it wa s positively
-
, ,
difficult to ge t i n without treading on some one s ’
face or body A s may be imagine d I hurried up wi t h

.
,
my sketch as much as possible for I was anxious t o ,
get out into the open air a gain without delay Be .
yond the slopi n g shelf no other bedd i ng is supplie d ,
the men having to provide any further luxuries t hem

sel ves ; but the heating arrangements were so com
p l et e that no coverings whatever were needed .
Besides the actual lo dging the me n are given a m u g ,
of t ea and piece of bread for supper and the same in ,
the morning for breakfast Those wh o are known t o .
have a l i ttle money are charge d five kopeks ( l t d ) for

the lodging Be fore leaving I was permitted t o
.
,
h a Ve a peep into the female dormitory which wa s ,
comparati vely empty for I only s a w three miserabl e

,
old hags in their beauty sleep .

T O T HE Y ELL O W S EA . 15 5
A s in mos t Siberian town s where wood is principally

used in the construction of the houses the fire brigade ,
forms a mos t important feature in the municipal

arrangements A ll over the city a re to b e seen large
.
and in many cases handsome watch towers in which -

,
watchmen are al ways stationed with a big bell close

,
at hand to give the alarm when necessary ; whils t

below several manuals are in constant readiness with
a supply of war m water during the winter to avoid ,
risk of its freezing .
The theatre is really quite an imposi n g building ,
and rendered more so by being S ituated i n the

centre of an immense open space Performances
.
take place in it three ti m es a week during the

winter and j u dging from the way they are patronize d
, , ,
histrionic ar t is evidently w ell appreciated here .
Taking it all in all therefore I found K r a s n oi ar s k

, ,
’
a very in t eresting place a nd well worth the s i x weeks
,
stay I made in i t in fact I was quite sorry to leave it

, .
15 6 FR OM TH E A R C TIC O C EA N
CH A PT E R X V .
MY J OU R N E Y F R OM K R A S N OIA R S K TO IR KU T S K .
My s e v a n t M a t wi e ff —T he G r e at P o st R o a d—T h e p o s t h o us e s
r -
T e a c a a va n s — C u i o us e ffe c t o f r o a d — S ib e i a n ly n ch l a w
r r r
—R u a w ay co victs— A cu r i o us i n ci de t—T h e p o st c o uri e r

n n n
—A n a wkw a d a ccid e n t—A r r iv al a t I ku tsk

r r .
T R A VE LLIN G in Siberia is evidently

altered Very much for th e b etter
duri n g the l a st three years for my ,
e xperiences on the Great Pos t R O ad
were very different indeed to those

described by th e author of a recent
b ook of travel in these parts Per .
E VA N T
S R
haps however the fact of my doing
, ,
the j ourney during the winter may t o a certain e x tent

account for it ; but whatever the cause the impres ,
’
sions received are the same and the eight days j ourney
, ,
though certa inly a somewhat tedious one will remain ,
in my memory as one amongst the many interesting

episodes of my Siberian wanderings A fter all I had .
read about the many difficulties and discomforts not ,
to say dangers of this lo n g j ourney I m ust confess

, ,
that it was not witho u t certain misgivings that I at

last decided to make a m o ve and to start from my
from the moment I a rra n ged with Sergeant M a t wi eff

all trouble on my par t ceased for he simply took ,
charge of th e arrangements as th ough he had travelled

with me for years and all I had to do was to decide
,
when to start and leave th e rest to him even to

,
-
,
packing my thi n gs ordering the horses and the host

, ,
of minor details inseparable from Siberia n travel It .
is almost u nnecessary to add t h at he spoke no

language b u t Russia n so our means of conversation ,
were very limited and most of the time I had to

,
make h i m unders t and by means of pantomi m e .
A t last my preparations were complete and on ,
the evening of Sunday Jan u a ry 2 5 I started towards , ,
the next stage of my long j ourney and shortly after ,
K r a s n oi ar s k wi t h its many pleasant associations wa s

, ,
but a reminiscence of the past .
The road for some miles after leaving the town , ,
lay along th e ice i n the very centre of the river

Yenisei A s it was a very bright moonlight n ight
.
,
the effect was novel and beautiful the track was ,
smooth and level and the horses went alo n g at their

,
top speed I was gradually lulled into a deep sleep

.
,
and woke to find the first stage of twenty nine versts -
acco m plished and the sledge in the post y a rd of -
Bot o i s k ay a The little village was slumbering ; not

.
a light was to be seen in any of th e Windows ; in

the post house was the only sign of li fe L ooking
-
.
up the quaint s t reet which in the moonlight had a ,
weird appearance with its tumbledown cottages I

, ,
T O TH E Y E LL OW SEA . 15 9
s aw a most curious S ight The centre of the road

.
had exactly the appearance of being laid with rail way

s leepers ; as far a s one could s e e the long ridges in
,
the snow followed each other so regularly that I ,
c ould not hel p asking what was the reason of so

c u tting up the road To my astonishment I was told
.
that these ridges were caused by the thousands of

horses of the cara vans which had passed along the
road since the commencement of the win t er The .
h orses instinctively kno w that they can get a better

foothold by walking in each other s footsteps and ’
fall into th e habit of doing S O almost me chanically .
I shortly after had the fi rst of many opportunities

Of not i ng this for m self for presently a large tea
y ,
caravan came alo n g and I observed that it hardly

,
e ver happened that a h orse stepped out O f the grooves

,
so much so that the drivers strolling alongside seemed

t o have very little to do as the animals appeared to
,
kno w all that was expected of them .
This my first S ight of a caravan on the Great

,
Post R oad was but the forerunner of what we m e t

,
o r passed both da and ight almost without inter

y n
most of them were coming from China with tea So .
great in fact was this t r a fli c that I could not help

, ,
wondering where all this immense quantity of tea

can possibly go to more especially when one comes
,
to consider that what comes to E urop e by the Great

1 60 FR OM THE A R C TI C O C EA N
Post Road is only a small proportion of the annu a l

amount exported from China Th e tea of China .
,
packed in bales of hide is brought across the Go b i

,
desert by e x waggons or by camels as far as Ki ak ht a

-
,
the Russian frontier to wn where it is transferred t o

,
S ledges or Siberian carts according to the season

, ,
and the long j ourney to Tomsk is then commenced ,
a j ourney taking over two months The same horses .
go the whole way ; but they are allowed to take

their own pace and seldom do more than three mile s
,
an hour A t Toms k the tea is stored till the spring

.
,
when it is taken by river steamer into R ussia Tea .
brought overland is said to re t ain more of its original

flavour than that which packed in lead has mad e
, ,
a sea voyage but the difference is probably so slight

,
that only an expert could detect it .
There are co m paratively very few men in charge

of these immensely valuable consignments which ,
often consist of as many as t w o hundred and

fifty S ledges — one man to about seven horses as a
rule — and t hese at night take it i n turns to kee p
watch ; for on the G r eat Post R e a d a peculiar for m
of highway robbery exists : bales of tea a r e frequently
cut loose and stolen in the dark h o urs by thieves ,
who lurk around to take advantage of a dri ver dozin g

on his S ledge The poor fello w then has to pay
.
dearly for his forty winks as he has to make ,
good the loss out of his wages a very serious matter ,
considering the va lue of a large bale of tea L ast .

The wonder to me was how the y e m s ch i k s stand

it as they do ; but I suppose they get case hardened -
to it in time — frost proof in fact for rolled up in

-
, ,
their sheepskins they seem impervious to tempera

ture taking it all as a m atter of course A s to the
,
.
h orses although they were al ways so covered with

,
frost as to have the appearance of being thickly

coated with sno w they never seemed to mind it
,
a bit and wo u ld keep up the same pace the whole

,
stage ; standing afterwards in the post yard as quiet -
as sheep while their icy coats were so to speak , ,
bro ken O ff with a primitive sort of curry comb -
’
att a ched to the handle of the driver s whip T wen t y .
fi v e versts or about two and a half hours of this sor t

,
of temperature was quite enough at a stretch as I ,
soon found and the sight of the v illage boundary

,
fenc e was al ways a welcome sight as betokening the

end of another spell .
The novelty of sledge travelling soon wears off -

,
especially on a road like this where there is so little ,
to vary the etern al monoto n y of the dense forests

or rolli n g plains o n either S ide of one The same .
dreary aspects seemed to repeat themselves over

and over again almost at every turn of the road ,
whilst the various villages resembled each other so

much that it was at times hard to believe we were
not returning to the one we had j ust left I do not .
propose wearying you with a detailed account of the

forty three stations bet ween Kr a s n oi a r s k and Irkutsk
-
,
T O TH E YE LL O W S E A .
for a description of one which I have already given

, ,
s u ffices for all —s o much so in fact that although I

, ,
tried hard to see something more to sketch I could ,
discover nothing I had not already seen and sketched

on our j ourney up the Yenisei or in Yeniseisk or
K r a s n oi ar s k Where for instance in France every
, ,
little pays has its individual character so to

“
,
speak here in Siberi a from one end to the other of

,
this enormous continent all is the same and if you ,
have studied one portion of it you have studied all ,
( of course with t h e exception of the aborigines who

, ,
naturally differ according to their tribes) For my .
own part I can assert that I saw absolutely no

,
difference either in the build of the houses or the

, ,
dress or customs of the inh a bi t ants all the way from ,
G ol ch i k a the tiny settlement on the tundras far

,
away within the A rctic circle and K i ak h t a a distance

, ,
of nearly three thousand miles ; and from what I ,
hear it is the same from the U rals to the Pacific

,
.
It almost seems as though it had been ordained by

Imperial U kase that all over this vast empire the
inhabitants should everywhere adopt the same
costumes and build and furnish their houses always
on the same pattern .
What strikes one most on the long stretches of

'
road is the total absence of isolated cottages or

farmhouses which so help to enliven a la n dsc ap e
in E urope Once beyond the fence which encircles
.
the limits of each village comm u ne all signs of ,

habitation and even cultivation instantly cease and ,
no more are seen till the next commune is reached .
The road then passes through a big wo oden gate ,
with high posts on either side ; j ust inside this is a

small sentry box in which a watchman is al ways
-
,
A R R IV AL AT A P OS T TA TI ON
S .
stationed during the summer months to see that

the gate is kept closed and so keep the cattle from
,
straying outside the boundary ( In the winter the .
gate is always open ) In the distance one then sees

.
the long dreary stretch of village street with the ,
green roofed os t r og or prison and the p u b l i c

-
, ,
winter months and being breathed o ver and over

,
again by hundreds a n d hundreds of travellers .
However ( 2 l a g u er r c c omm a 81 la gu er r e and in

,
,
,
the wilds of Siberia it w ould have been absurd t o

expect to find E uropean notions of sanitation .
With but one exception I had no difficulty what

ever i n getting horses at each station in fact in most ,
instances the fresh team was generally ready to start

before I was so I could not complain about being ke pt
,
waiting The one exception I refer to occurred at

.
Kansk where I arrived unfortunately too late at night

,
to be able to look round this interesting and fl ou r i s h

ing little town as I should have had a m ple time to
,
have done for on reaching the post house the s t a r os t er

,
-
,
( as the postmaster is called ) courteously informed me

t h at no horses could be had till three th e next morn
i n g— s i x ho u rs to wait L uckily the w aiting room
.
-
was as clean and comfortable as one could have wished

it so I decided to have supper at once and turn in
,
on the sofa for a few hours A tin of Irish ste w .

,
washed do wn ( the Irish ste w not the tin ) by a glass

,
or two of vodka and a cup of black coffee seemed a ,
feast for a king after the has t y meals I had been

having since leaving K r as n oi ar s k so when I did tur n ,
in an hour later it was to immediately fall into t h e

deep sleep which naturally follows when one has got
outside a square meal and one has a good digestion .
A lthough I had particularly asked the station master -
to call me as soon as the horses arrived I suppose , ,

’
even the sound of horses hoofs was mu ffl e d a n d the ,
deadly sile n ce of the surroundings was only broken

n o w and again by the subdued j ingle of th e dug a
bells . I could not h elp thinking how serious it

would have been if an accident had occurred to th e
sledge or horses j ust about here ; for the near cut “
was evidently not the usual road as the whole length ,
of it we were entirely alone .
It must have taken us a t least three hours to do

the n ext fifteen miles or so for the track was so ,
narrow in places and so blocked by abutting trees

, ,
that at times it se emed doubtful whether the sledge

would pass at all so tight a squeeze was it How
,
.
ever a t last we got through and out into the broad

,
daylight on the high road again when for a few

-
,
se c onds the light seemed absolutely dazzling after th e

semi obscurity we had j ust left A lthough we passed
-
.
through many miles of dense forest after this we did ,
so on the regular road and in the full glare of the

midday sun so m y impressions were very different
,
to those received in the lonely track we had j ust

co m e through .
The next day or two were uneventful and as there ,
was n othing new to see the stoppages at the different

,
post houses usually came as a pleasant break to the

-
the j ourney and an excuse to get out of the sledge

,
and call for the samovar By the way talking of .

,
sam ovars it is really asto n ishing how quickly one

,
takes to the Russian way of drinking weak te a

without milk boiling hot out of a tumbler There

, ,
.
is no doubt about it that one can appreciate the fu ll

flavour of the tea better that way than as we drink it
in E nglan d although to drink out of a cup appears
,
to me to be much m ore convenient t h an out of a

’
tumbler ; and I am surprised the Russians don t
think so for there is not the slightest doubt which is
,
the more practical .
A n interesting incident occurred shortly after

leaving the village of R a s gon n a i a a I had learnt at .
the station that a large gang of prisoners had passed

a few days previously so hurrie d on as much as ,
possible in the hope of overtaking it and at any rate ,
seeing something which would break the monotony of

the j ourney The road which hitherto had passed
.
,
through forest land was now open on either side and

-
, ,
for miles ahead the rolling snow covered plains ,

-
stretched relieved so to speak only by the winding

, , ,
road and its endless vist a of telegraph poles D u ring -

.
the morning I had noticed that we were contin u ally

passin g rough looking men on foot hurrying along
-
, ,
always in the same direction as though on important ,
business. N ow in any other country than Siberia

,
’
s u c h an occurrence would pass unnoticed for Shank s ,
pony is a cosmopolitan beast and among certain ,
classes generally the only means of locomotion Here .

,
however in the wilds of Siberia a foot traveller is an

, ,
-
extreme rarity outside a village Hence my surprise . .
A t last it occurred to me to ask M a t wi eff if he could

17 0 FR OM TII E A R C TI C O C EA N
tell me what these curious looking men were and -

,
what they were doing on the road so far from a

village Imagine my surprise w hen without the
.
,
slightest hesitation he told me they were b r a di a gga

, ,
or runaway prisoners from the p a r t i o n ahead I ,

.
could scarcely believe it so he suggested our stopping ,
the next one we met and he would then convince ,
me of the truth of his statement To him there w as .
evidently n o t so much novelty in the incident as to

”
me for as an ex gen darme he could probably spot
,
-
a prisoner at a glance .
I had not long to wait for in a short time th ere ,
appeared in the far distance another of these gentle

~
men hurrying to wards u s I thought it would n ot .
be a bad idea to take his photo so ordered the ,
yemschi k to stop and getting out of the sledge

, , ,
"
wait ed till the fello w got up abreast of us M a t wi e fi .
then called out to him to come over to where we

were for he was on the far side of the road which
, ,
( as is usual in Siberia) was of enormous width The .
fellow in his anxiety to get along as quickly a s

,
possible had eviden t ly n ot noticed that we were

,
stopping for w hen he heard us call out to h im and

,
he looked up and caught sight of us a most curious ,
look came over his face which we could not help ,
remarking Whether it was the sight of my revolve r

.
( which I always wore outside my coat ) or the gen

darme cap M a t wi eff had on I cannot tell but he , ,
looked round wildly for a second over th e snow

I asked him wh ere he was going to To my astonish .
”
‘
ment he replied Moscow The idea of h i s s et t i n g

,
“
.
out on foot to accomplish over three tho u sand miles

, ,
home in the depth of winter struck me as being an

, ,
awful task to undertake .
A t the next station the s t ar o s t er on m y mentioning

, ,
the incident informed me that in the village th ey

,
were simply infested with r u naway convicts after a

conv oy h a d passed a n d that at night the barns and ,
outhouses were always occupied ; he had known as

many as a dozen men sleeping in the bath house of the -
station ( The baths in a Russian village are generally

.
in wooden outbuildings ) The peasants he fu rther .

,
informed me so far from interfering with the

,
fuyards or thinking even of giving them up

, ,
su pply them on the quiet with bread and broken

victuals so that at any rate there is n o fear of them
, , ,
dying of hunger within the village commune A s .
a matter of fact the men themselves know that they

,
can always reckon on something to eat in every place

they have to pass through and it has gro wn to b e ,
such a reg u lar custom this providing of food for ,
them that they take it as a matter of course

, .
The wind which hitherto had some what lulled

, ,
now rec ommenced with renewed force Fortunately .

,
ho wever o wing to the road going in a different

,
direction it was at our backs for so hard did it blow

, ,
th at the country presented the effect almost of steam

ing u nder it owing to the driving particles of sno w ,
[ TO fa c e p 1 73
I M P E I AL M A I L
. .
THE R .
had been re commen ded to go to St Petersburg to get .
the highest of medical advice This is the longest .
’
j ourney I ever h eard of to see a doctor I saw
“
.
them start again shortly a fter and although there ,
were so many of them they had such a huge sledge

,
that they all seemed to pack into it quite comfortably .
You may imagine h ow refreshing so to speak it , ,
was after the sort of wildern ess we had come through

, ,
to find tha t t h e next station Tou l ou n g w a s quite , ,
a busy little town its many and well built streets

,
-
actually lighted up whilst several important looking

,
-
shops and large houses helped to give quite a lively

appearance to the place The post house itself wa s
.
-
”
a lso quite u
p to the tow n and not only boasted
,
of several large and well furnished rooms b u t also -

,
a big apartment , m ost han d somely decorated in ,
which I was informed the Governor of Irkutsk

,
,
held receptions when he had occasion to visit the

town . T o u l o u n
g
,
though an old to wn was cert a inly ,
one of t h e prettiest and most flourishing I had passed

th rough and my only regret was that it was night
,
when we got there for I should like to have sketched

,
some of th e bits I saw notably the beautiful house

,
of the merch ant Mr S h ok ou n off which stands exactly

,
.
,
opposite the post station for it struck me as being

-
,
a splendid specimen of Russian architecture A fter .
doing a littl e shopping a n d a look round and a , ,
feed once more I got under weigh

,
.
The next few stations were wretchedly uncomfort

TO TH E Y E LL OW SEA .
175
able or anyway they seemed so perhaps out of

,
,
contrast to the nice one we had j ust left ; so there

was little temptation to loiter in them longer than
was absolutely necessary whilst waiting for the fresh
horses A t Ti r et sk ay a where we had to cross the
. ,
O ka the road wen t along the centre of the river

,
on the ice for several miles and t h e high wooded ,
banks on either side gave it a most peculiar and

striking appearance not unlike a railway cutting
,
.
The next place of interest we came to was the

large village of K ou t ou lik ( or rather small to wn for
, , ,
it contains over eleven hundred inhabita nts ) The .
post house here w as without exception the smartes t

-
on the whole road Th e waiting room which w a s

.
-
,
r eally well furnished was not only fu ll of plants and

-
,
flowers but actu a lly h ad pictures on the walls not

, ,
the usual ch eap religious ones but good oleograph s ;

, ,
w hil st to add to the good impression caused by these
attempts at luxury I learnt that there was a real

,
“
”
dinner ready if I cared to take of it You may .
imagine I j umped at it after living on tinned food

for nearly a week The wife of the s t ar os t er had
.
evidently b een a professed cook in her time j udging ,
fro m the result and the way I was served A fter .
dinner I lit my pipe and had a stroll through the

village whilst M a t wi efl was looking after the horses
,
.
The streets presented so lively and animated an

appearance that I spent more time than I had
intended to w andering about in search of subj ects
, .
The inhabitants were evidently used to artists for ,
neith er my sketch book nor my c amera attracted any

-
particular attention .
D uring the night after leaving ou t ou li k K oc c u r r ed

the accident which I have already referred to We .
had started from the station of Pol o vi l n ay a at about

a m
. and I was soon fast asleep How long I
.
, .
had been asleep I kno w not but I was suddenly ,
woke up by an indescribable sort of sensation that

”
the sledge had changed front“
I sprang up and .
,
raising the hood looked out when to my no slight

, , ,
dismay I disco vered that we were on a long and

,
steep hill and that the horses had lost all control
”
over the sledge which was skidding do wn side “
ways a t a rate that increased every instant .
M a t wi e ff was immediately as wide awake as myself ,
and we both sat and looked out and waited breath

'
lessly for the result which was absolutely inevitable

, ,
for it would have been utter madness to have

attempted to j ump out encumbered as we both were
,
with our heavy furs and the stiff apron of the sledge .
A lthough the driver urged the horses to their very

top speed they could not get ahead of the heavy
vehicle which had obtained complete mastery over
,
the m and was simply dragging them along with it .
Just before reaching the bottom of the hill was a

slight rise in the road such as one sees on a switch
back rail way ; here the driver was shot off his seat
as out of a catapult and a few yards further down
,
only some for t y versts off with out any unnecessary ,
delay In spite however of the cold c ompress t h e

.
, , ,
pain in my foot probably a ggravated by the move

,
ment of the sledge increased to s u ch an extent th at

,
I was in positive agony when at last we came in

sight of our destination and th e many golden cup olas
,
and minarets of the capital of E astern Siberia s tood

out clear and defined as a pict u re against the bright
morning sky .
The scene was a beautifu l one and I could not ,
help enj oying it i n spite of the acute pain I w a s

suffering O u r road lay right across the frozen rive r
.
”
A ngara the mos t beautifu l ri ver in the worl d as
,
“
,
it has b een called It was a S u nday morning a n d

.
,
cro wds of gaily dressed peasants on foot and i n

sledges were m aking their w ay to wards the city in
'
the brilliant sunshine The air resounde d with the

.
merry ring of sledge bel l s whilst th e many quaint ,
costumes and curio u s conveyances gave an aspec t of

gaiety and life t o a scene the like of which I had
not yet witnessed in Siber i a My on ly regret was . .
that owing to m y being unable to move I could not

get out of the sle dge to make a sketch or take a
photograph Ho wever I promised myself n ot to lose
.
,
sight of the subj ect and to return on the very first

,
occasion when my foot would allow m e A fe w .
minutes afterwards the driver drew up outside a

large triumphal arch standing at the entrance to the
city and removed the duga bells before passing
TO TH E Y EL L O W SEA . 17 9
through as nowhere in Siberia

,
these allowed
except on the high road
-
.
’
My eight days tedious j ourn ey was at last ended ,
and it was with a veritable feeling of relief that I

found myself passing throug h the broad well built ,
-
streets with the prospect o f soon being once agai n

,
in a com fortable and well appointed hote l

-
.
I K UT K
R S .
CH A PTE R X V I .
I R KU T S K .
U n pl e as a t xp i c s
n e er en e at h o t e l — H o spi ta lity o f M r C har l e s
.
L e e—F i r s t i m p e ssi o s o f t h e ci ty
r n .
I WA S much disapp ointed to fi n d on reachin g the ,
principal hotel the Jlf os ko vs ka i a P OdOOT i é that its

, ,
glories of which I had heard so much were things

, ,
of the past and that as a hotel i t no longer existed

,
.
True the imposing three storied building still r e

,
-
mained but under a n e w designation for it is now

, ,
the head quarters of the Irk u tsk military staff and

-
,
is known as the E tat Maj or of the city A fe w .
C h a m b r es m e u b lees in the upper stories are all that

'
FR OM T HE A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E Y ELL O W S E A . 1 81
remain of what wa s two years ago the best h otel in

, ,
Siberia I after wards learnt that its failure was

.
owing to its havi n g been got up on far too grand a

scale for the place and that its promoters had lost a
,
”
“
pot of money over it w h ile i t was ope n Of .
course there were many other hotels so I left the ,
matter i n the hands of the yemschik for my foot ,
was so painful th a t I felt absolutely i ndifferent as to

where or how I was lodged so long as I could get ,
out of the sledge and lie down quietly somewhere .
But it was evidently the he i ght of the season in

Irkutsk and the city cramme d for every where I ,
”
was told they were full A t l ast however after .
, ,
a lot of driving about I found a place where they ,
had one roo m j ust vacant It was a re a lly smart .
a n d impo sing looking hotel from outside and quite

-
,
a find as I imagined —till I got inside the build

“ ”
,
ing when I found myself in one of the dirtiest places

,
of its kind I had yet seen in Siberi a The contrast .
between the e xterior and the interior was simply

startling Much however as I was disgusted w ith
.
, ,
it I was so sick of hunting abo u t for lo dgings that I

,
determined to put up with i t for a s h ort time ; at

any rate till my foot was better With the help of
, .
M a t wi e fi I th erefore made myself as comfor t able as

I could on two chairs ( for I did not like the look of
”
the sofa) and composed myself for forty winks
,
“
wh ilst waiting for the something to eat which I “
had ordered for the acci dent to my foot had not

,
1 82 FR O M TH E A R C TI C O CE A N
interfered wit h my appe t ite But I found it i m

-
.
possible to h ave a nap on account of certain strange

,
noises round the room A t first I could not make

.
out wha t th ey were occasioned by b u t I soon dis ,
covered after a slight inspection Th e wall paper .

-
,
which was stretched over a wooden foundation did ,
not touch the wood everywhere and the curious noise ,
was produced by myriads of blackbeetles cock ,
roaches and other ver min runni n g up and down the

,
wall and in and out of h oles th ey had eaten in t h e

paper This cheerful discovery decided me at once
.
to clear out of the place and chance finding some

,
thing better elsewhere .
Suddenly a n idea occurred to me I had a letter .

.
of introduction to a Mr Charles L ee an E nglish

.
,
engineer livi n g i n Irkutsk a brother of th e u n for

,
t u n a t e man wh o lost his life on our way up the
Yenisei so I sent this l etter to him with a note

, ,
tel l ing him of my accident and ask i ng if he could

,
recommend me some other h otel to go to My .
good luck had not quite deserted m e for in a fe w ,
minutes came back a message say i ng he w ould h i m

self be round to see me directly an d shortly after he ,
arrived O n seeing m y h elpless conditio n this good

.
,
Samaritan insisted on my immediately leavi n g th e

h otel and going to stay a t his house to be n ursed ,
till my foot was well ; and so as to ensure my not

,
refusing he gave orders for my luggage to be forth

,
with remove d In a very short time I was in a sn u g

.
plays which give so much life and character to a

place But what astonished me most pleasantly i n
.
this far a way Siberian city w as to see the fair s ex

-
dressed in the very latest of Parisian fashions for I ,
s aw costumes in the Bolshoi Ou li t z a which would

have looked smart eve nin Bond Street or the Rue de
la Pai x and as ad ded to which I don t think I w as
, ,
’
ever i n a place which for its size could boast of

more pretty faces the effect on a bright s unny aft er
,
noon may be imagined .
Irkutsk is no t nearly so cold a place as Kra s n oi a r s k ,
for a ccor ding to Keane the mean winter temperature

, ,
is on ly minus 4 deg Fahr and the summer temperature

. .
,
equal to that of Melbourne and considerably higher ,
than that of Paris Of course I was par t icularly .
fortunate in visiting Irkutsk in the very height of

the season for as is the case all over Siberia and I
, , , ,
believe Russia also the time to see life is during the

, ,
“
winter months when the rich and fashionable classe s

,
are in tow n and all sorts of fes t ivities are going on

,
.
”
A s at K r a s n o i a r s k I fo u n c society h ere a b s o
,
“
l u t el y E uropean in its character for mos t of the ,
wealthiest people annually pass several months in t h e

West so are quite a n c o ur O mt with al l that is going
,
on in the world of pleasure and manage to convey ,
their impressions back to their Siberian palaces in the

shape of luxuries and e x travagances of every sort .
A mongst the many hospitalities I was sho wn I had

th e pleasure of dining one evening at the ho u se of
TO TH E Y EL L O W S EA . 1 85
Mr S ou k a t ch off the Mayor of Irkutsk one of the

.
, ,
richest and most important men of the city His .
magnificent house with its large picture gallery ( in

,
-
which are over two hundred and fifty e xamples of
A N I R K UT S K B EA UT Y .
the best known of continental artists) its immense ,
library and i t s priceless collection of curiosities from

,
every part of the world made my visi t to this gentle

,
man a sort of artistic treat — a treat which was in

FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
no way spoil t by the very excellent dinner he gave

us a n d the interesting people I was i ntro duced to
, ,
many of whom spoke French and German fluently ,
E N T R A N C E H ALL OF M I LL I ON A I E
R G OL D M IN E
- N E R S H OU S E I R K UTS K
OW
’
, .
and some of them E nglish also Here as elsewh ere .

,
in Siberia on every occasion when I have dined out

, ,
eith er i n Irk u tsk Kr as n oi a r s k or Yeniseisk the

'
, , ,
t ec t u r a l
pretensions on either side which would not ,
disgrace any Western capital For its size I do not .

,
think there is any city in the world which can boas t

of more p ublic instit u tions than Irkutsk On first .
driving through the city this was the ch a racteristic
S T EE T S C E N E I K UT S K
R ,
R .
feature which str u ck me for everywhere almost i n

, ,
every street was som e important public edifice many

, ,
of the institutions being I was informed the result

, ,
of private m u n i fi c en ce I had often read of these

.
monuments as erected by Siberian millionaires more

TO T HE Y ELL O W SEA . 1 89
to satisfy their personal vanity and love of oste n

t a t i o n than out of any true charitable or public spirit
—rather as a means of proving to the vulgar horde
what wealth the y really possess Whether or no this .
is the case of cours e it is impossible to say but at any

, ,
rate the result is a conglomeration of public i n stitutions

,
which considering the size of the place could not b e

, ,
rivalled anywhere I fa ncy A brief list of them in .

,
proof of my statement may be of interest as giving an

, ,
idea of the importance of t h is distant Siberian city .
Of public schools there are no less than nineteen ,
a ll under the supervision of a Government E ducational
Committee .
—
Then there are six hospitals namely t hree town ,
hospitals a foundlin g hosp i tal on the u sual Russian ,
s ystem a military hospital a nd a madhouse ,

.
Of homes for children there are a t least four ;

three as ylums for the aged and infirm ; a monastery
for men and one for women ; a convict and a civil .
p rison ; a geograph i cal institute ; a large observ a tory
—
( with a n E nglish telescope ) ; and two clubs o n e
m ilitary th e other for merchants — m aking a total of

,
o ver forty important public i n stitutions for a o u

p p
lation of less than forty thousand .
Of the handsome churches of w h ich there are no ,
less tha n twenty two besides two cathedrals many

-
, ,
were a lso presented to this lucky city by its

millionaire inhabitants who when they decide to
-
, ,
s pend the i r money do so in no parsimonious manner

, ,
as is e videnced by th e result The monastery of .
St Innocent a short distance from th e city is as

.
, ,
beautiful a specimen of Italia n a rchitecture as one

co u ld see anywhere and cos t its donors several ri ch
.
, ,
merchants I don t kno w how many million roubles

,
’
.
It is not only in Irkutsk however that one finds , ,

.
such proofs of great private m u n i fi c en c e for I learn ,
that t h e magnificent cathedral of K r a s n oi ar s k was

presented to the city by a rich man who made his
millions out of vodka !
Irkutsk b ei n g the seat of the Government of
,
E astern Siberia ( a district equal in size to th e h alf

of E urope ) is naturally well stocked with o fficials of
,
all sorts and grades the governor general and civil

,
-
governor having each no less than three T emp la ga n t s .
Considering what an i mportant centre Irkutsk is I ,
w a s surprised to learn that it was only garrisoned
by one battalion of 1 0 0 0 soldiers a n d one s ot n i a

( nominally 1 00 but actually
,
1 5 0) of Cossacks ; so the
energies of the military governor are not overtaxed .
The Chinese frontier district comes within the govern

ment of the Trans Baikal and Amour provinces
-
.
”
The police arra n gements struck m e as being
particularly good In the daytime m ounted m en
.
are conti n ually patrolli n g the streets to prevent

any co n gestion of the tra ffic a very necessary
measure considering the reckless manner in which
,
Siberians drive A t night there is a c u rious and

.
truly E astern c u stom still in vogue in this important

A N I R K UT S K P OL IC E M A N .
[lo fa
’ '
c e
T HE R E C R EA TI O N G R O U N D I R K UT S K P R I SO N
,
.
CH APT E R X V II .
P R IS ON L IF E IN S IBE R IA — c on t i nu ed .
The I k tsk p is on
r u —r C o m p a at iv e lib e ty
r o f p is o n er
—
s In con r r
g r iut i es o f p is o n lif
r e — T h e sh ps — P is o n a t is t s
o r r .
TH E R E was always so much to see and do in Irkutsk ,
that the five weeks I spent there were fully occupied .
Th e prison life of Siberia has always interested me

high ly for I had read so much of it before coming
,
to the country that I never missed an opportunity

of se ei ng as much of it as possible One of my first .
excursi o n s therefore w a s to th e gaol here A s at

, ,
.
Yenisei s k and Kr as n oi a rs k the o ffi cials were polite,

The description I have give n of the Yeniseisk prison

will almost suffice for the Irkutsk one as well with ,
the exception that the various halls or dormi ,

“
”
tories there were infinitely b etter than those here
, ,
which —probably on account of their overcrowded

state— were in a filthy condition and little b etter ,
than human pigsties E very spot was occupied and

.
,
the stench was awfu l in consequence for this is an ,
old prison as compared with that at Yeniseisk I was .
much astonished to see dogs cats and even pigeons , ,
”
a n d doves in some halls and on inquiry w a s i n
,
”
formed that prisoners are allowed their pets and ,
that each crowd had its special and distinctiv e

favourites fed o u t of the general mess
,
It was “
uite touching to see some hulking r u ffi a n l oa fi n

q g
a bout in the sunshine with a tiny kitten in his arms ,
or to hear th e cooing of turtle doves in some gloomy -
recess of a filthy ce l l A lthough these incongruities

.
o f prison life str u ck me as being very extraordinary ,
they passed unnoticed by my companions who were ,
surprised when I dre w their attention to them and

o bserved h o w muc h more se vere the E ngl ish pr i son
system is .
A fter going the round of the halls we n e x t

v isited the workshops A s I told you i n a previous
.
chapter work in a Siberian priso n is purely optional

,
a man can be as lazy as he likes or else h e can set to ,
and earn a littl e m oney at his particular trade if he ,
has one and such work is required There a r e two

,
.
kinds of work permitted by t h e Government —work

in the prison itself in the various workshops provided
for the di fferent trades and outdoor work away from
,
the prison In the Irkutsk prison almost every

.
tra de was not only represented but well employed

also for in m any of the workshops I was informed
,
the men were so busy with orders on hand that for

the moment they could undertake no more A ll th e .
work being carried out was for to wnspeople Of .
the money thus earned a certain percentage goes

“
to the Government and the rest is divided equ ally

,
amo n g the men of the atelier

We visited all the shops and it was quite r e
“
,
freshing to see the men hard at work and working ,
cheerfully together —as well they might considering ,
that it is to their mutual advantage to do so They .
were working evidently u n der no restraint whatever ,
for I noticed no guards about I was told that one .
could get almost anything made here — for in the

”
“
shops were tailors hatters bootmakers smiths
, , , ,
locksmiths carpenters cabinet makers cigarette

, ,
-
,
makers j ewellers engravers and even artists ; for in

, , ,
the prison at the time I visited it were two men

, ,
convicted of uttering false banknotes and who , ,
having ar t istic proclivities passed their ti m e in paint

,
—
ing the one portraits from photographs the other
, ,
b on s D i eu az or the sacred pictures so dear to the

,
Greek Church I saw the por t rait painter at work in

.
-
the same room as the cigarette makers and m uch out -

,
of pl a ce here did the easel and canvas look almost ,
as m u ch so a s the artist himself in h i s prison garb , ,
with a large palette and bunch of brushes and mahl

stick in his hand The fellow spoke German fluently
.
,
so we had a talk together as he was not a t all ,
reticent and did not seem to feel his position a little

,
bit He informed me that he always had as muc h

.
work to do as he could possibly get through so he ,
never found the time hang heavily on his hands .
—
This work which by the way was very indiff erent
, ,
I further learnt was mostly for local photographers

,
.
The other artist who m we subseq u ently visited ,
was quite a swell for he was in solitary c on fi n e

,
ment and had been permitted to fit up his s mall cell

,
quite as a studio There were shelves on the walls

.
full of half completed pictures a lot of the us u a l

-
,
paraph e rnalia of art lay ab out while in o n e corner ,
hu n g a large framed oil painting a copy of a cele

-
,
b r a t e d picture I knew well through th e rec ently pub

li s h e d p h otogravures of it in L ondon — a beautifu l
composition and looking strangely incongruous in so
,
gruesome and dismal a place for the only light ,
entered by a small heavily grated window high up

,
near the ceiling This gentleman who seemed quite

.
,
as busy as the portrait painter was however quite a

-
, , ,
di fferent character and as reticent and moody as the

,
other was talkative for when the director asked h i m

,
if he did not speak French or German so that I could

a s k h i m a few questions he curtly replied that he
,
CH A PT E R X V III .
PR IS ON L IF E IN S IBE R IA — c on t m u ed .
Ou t d oo r pl oy m e n t o f p is o e r s —A c h a t wit h a e m pl oy e
em r n n r
— ”—
of c o n vic t l ab o ur T h e c o n vic t s w o r d
“ ’
A n i t er vi e w n
with a c e l e br ate d m urd e e ss —T h e c m n a l m adh o us e

r ri i
Po li t ica l p is o e r s i s o li t a y c o fi e m e t — I ge t p er
r n n r n n n
m issi o n t o p ai n t a pic t u r e i n o n e o f t h e c e lls —E d o f m y n
visit s t o t h e p r is o n.
O UT D OOR employ
ment away from
the prison is often
granted to prisoners
wh o have been r e
marked for special
good conduct and ,
they are drafted off

either to Govern
ment or private
works such as salt ,
or iron workings .
Those sent to private wo rk s are thus rewarded for

exceptionally good behaviour whilst in prison ; they
get well paid whilst thus employed and they work ,
side by side wit h free men receiving the same pay , ,
and enj oying the same allowances the only difference ,
being that Of course they cannot leave of their own

accord . The pay struck me as being e x ceptionally
good for it averages twenty fi ve roubles
,
per -
month for foremen and ranging down to four roubles

,
for ordinary labourers Besides t his pay each man

.
receives eighty pounds of flour for himself and if ,
married forty for his wife and the same amount for ,
each child from the day of its birth till it is thir t een
years of age E ight roubles per year are also allowed
.
for boots and gloves Housing is provided by the

.
owners O f the works but the convicts may if they

,
choose live apart on the works at their own expense .
A t the Government works ( not the hard labour ones ) -
it is very di fferent for although it is a distinct rise

,
i n the prisoner s position to be sent to them the pay

’
is very poor indeed being only five kopeks ( a little

,
over one penny ) per day and the men are al ways ,
under the supervision O f convoy soldiers There is .
no military guard over men working at private works .
I had an interesting interview with the owner of

some salt works who largely employs convict lab our
He told me that he would far rather employ convicts
”
than ordinary labourers as they were more reliable
,
.
If a convict gave his convic t s word to do or not to ’
do a thing as the case might be he could rely on

, ,
his never breaking it for it would be contrary to the

,
recognized code of prison honour For instance h e .

,
told me it would O ften happen when th e gang h e

, ,
had ordered arrived the s t a r os t er O f it would inform

,
him that such and such prisoners were unreli able ,
a s they had declared their intention of running a way
at the first opportunity But how about th e .
others he would ask for it would be awkward to

”
find one s self S horthanded at a critical moment
’
.
“
Oh the others would r epl y t h e s t a r os t er have
’
, , ,
’
given me their convict s word to remain and do their
‘ ’
best so yo u can rely on them

,
This system of thus .
utilizi n g convict labo ur is undoubtedly part of a huge

scheme for gradually colonizing this vast continent ,
as round th e works small villages grad u ally spring up .
A fter visiting the men s quarters we went to the

’
portion reserved for the fair sex which beyond being , ,
very crowded offered but little of novelty or interest

,
.
Just as we were turning to leave the building how ,
’
ever the doctor said
,
L e t s go and see how the
,
baroness is so we went back and down a corridor ,
at the end of which was a door by itself Before .
going in I was informed that this was the cell of the

famous poisoner Sofie de Wi llu p Baroness de Sachs
, , ,
whose trial with that of her lover a gro o m some

, , ,
years ago in St Petersburg for murdering her second

.
,
husband by slow poison was a c a u s e c elé b r e for it

’
, ,
then transpired that her first husband had also died

in some mysterious manner The case was proved .
to the hilt I was told and in E ngland her fate th e

, , ,
gallows would have b een inevitable but in Russia it

,
2 02 FR OM TIIE A R C TI C O C EA N
On a carved bedstead in one co rner of t h is unique

”
prison cell lay the invalid a healthy not u n p r e
“
, ,
possessing young woman of ab o u t thirty years of

age ; she was dressed in ordinary walking costume ,
and on hearing our knock had evidently hastily

thrown h erself on the bed a nd covered herself with
a smart travelling rug so as to carry out fully her
,
invalid condition The whole look of the place was

.
certainly the m ost h ollo w mockery of j ustice I had

ever see n and I c ould not help involuntarily con
,
t r a s t i n g her surroundi n gs with those of the poor
wretches in other parts O f the buildi n g whose crime s ,
were probably not half as bad as h ers Th e lady .
languidly gave us her hand to shake and in reply to ,
”
the doctor s question as to h ow Madame la baronne
’ “
felt said she felt a little better .
”
By the way said the governor
,
you speak ,
'
3 ’
E nglish or Fre n ch or German don t you Baronne
, , , ,
Oh yes s h e replied al l three

, ,
.
S O I was formally introduced and had my first ,
conversation with a real live murderess It w as .
rather embarrassing at the commence m ent for I ,
hardly knew what to say ; but sh e helped me out of

the di fficulty by asking in very fair E nglish h ow
dear old L ondon looked and h ow long it was since ,
I had l eft it etc and we ended by having quite

. .
,
a cosmopolitan chat together first in E nglish then in , ,
Fre n ch and gradually drifting into G erman as so t o

,
, ,
speak we wandered about E urope talking of t h e

,
,
TO T HE YE LL O W S EA . 203
different places we knew whilst I meanwhile was

,
‘
making a rough sketch of the room and its occupant .
She told me to my surprise that she hoped to be

, ,
free in a couple of months when although she would

, ,
not be a llowed to leave Siberia she could live on her ,
means ( which I believe were ample ) in some de s ig

, ,
n a t e d village or town A fter six years of prison

.
”
life she added
, ,
any place will be an ag reeable
“
”
change for me .
On leaving the baroness the doctor suggested that

the criminal madhouse might interest me so we all ,
adj ourned to a neighbouring building standing within

a high stockade . The u nfortunate inmates were
evidently well looked after for the place was as warm
,
as toast and as clean as poss i ble Th ere were no .
dangero u s madmen there when we visited it so the

'
padded rooms were empty It gave one more t h e .
impression of a hospital than a madhouse A s we .
entered a wretched looking little individual rushed

,
-
up to the director and loudly co m plained about his

being stil l detained there because the governor
general of Irkutsk refused to pay him what he owed
him The director agreed with him that it was very
.
unfair his being there under the circumstances but ,
as s u red him that the matter was receiving the

attention it deserved and doubtless in a few days
,
he would be permitted to leave This seemed to .
satisfy the poor fellow and he withdrew after thank

, ,
ing us all for having honoured him with our visit .

In another of the wards amongst the patients was

,
an actor ( absurdly like Willard ) Immediately he .
ca u ght sight of us he ran up to the doctor and in ,
excited tones informed him that he h ad not yet

recei ved the thirty thousand roubles which were ,
owi n g to him for his last performance The doctor .
pacified him with the assurance tha t the money

would shortly be forthcoming but h a d not yet been ,
received by the officials and further to humour him

, , ,
”
asked how the performance for his benefit was “
progressing In reply the fellow gave us in the

.
, ,
centre of the room what evidently was part O f a

,
scene he had once a cted in and went through some ,
e xtraordinary performance alternately weeping tear, ,
ing his hair a n d grovelling on the floor whilst

, ,
uttering incoherent sentences and then rushing about ,
as though with a sword in his hand and singing

operatic airs It was a painful rather than an
.
amusing sight and one which I shal l not easily

,
forget — the poor half witted chap in the centre of

-
th e large room declaimi n g to an imaginary audience ,
and all round sitti n g or standing by their beds were

, ,
the other lunatics watching his movements i n rapt

,
amazement .
We then went back to the prison as I expressed a ,
wish to see the prisoners in the solitary or s elcr é ,
t en e cells
,
. This w a s the only part Of the building
wh ich was really like a prison A nd very gloomy and .
depressing was it ; no less than three heavily barred

A “
P LITICAL
O .
( F r om a G r m ph
o ve n e nt ot o .
) [ To f a c e 2 05 .
TO TH E Y ELL O W S EA . 2 05
iron doors had to be u nlocked before we reached the

corridor where these cells were situated A warder .
is on duty here I was told night and day for

, , ,
there were several political prisoners and the rest ,
were the most desperate characters In each door .
was a little hole about the size of a S ixpence through ,
which could be seen the interior of the cell I had .
a peep into all ; it was almost like looking at some

caged wild beasts the clanking Of the heavy chains
,
they wore on their hands and feet heightening the

illusion Some of the prisoners had I was informed
.
, ,
been there for years and only were allo w ed out for
,
e x ercise for an hour a day an d were not permitted

,
to mi ngle with t h e other prisoners It was easy to .
”
distinguish which were the ol i t i c al s for they
p ,
were in ordinary civilian costume and had no chains

on as far as I could see Most of them were quite
,
.
you n g men one being a mere lad his curly hair and
, ,
good looking face not giving him the appearance of

-
being so dan gerous a political character as to n e c es

sitate such elaborate precautions being taken to pre
vent his escape TO my astonishment for I had
.
- .
always read to the contrary— I no t iced that all these

political prisoners were not only allowed books to
read but in most cases were smoking also and in
, ,
every instance had their own mattresses and bedding

'
s o their cells at any rate looked cleaner and more

, ,
cheerfu l than those Of the ordinary criminals to ,
whom filth seemed indi fferent .

A s we were
crossing the quadrangle on our way
out a prisoner came up and o ffered to sell me a
,
h orsehair chain he h a d made The fac t O f the gover nor

.
a n d other O fficials bei n g present did not seem to

m atter a bit so as the w ork was curious I bought it
,
of him and as I had no small money about me he

, ,
took a rouble note a n d w ent and got change from

some other prisoner !
This my first visit to the prison wa s followed by
many others and I made a heap of sketches in fact
, ,
I fancy I got to b e looked upon as quite an h a b i t u e of

’
t h e gruesome place I even O btained permission to

.
make a painting of a prisoner in one of the solit ary

’
c ells ,
and had a whole day s work at it under the
’
supervision of a warder a break in the poor wretch s
,
awful ex is tence which he will probab l y remember for

many a long year whilst probably wondering what
,
the A ngles ki G osp ooli n could have seen worthy of

’
bei n g painted in so dreary a place .
On the morning of my last v isit to the prison ,
w hen I went to fetch away m y canvas and paint b o x

-
-
,
I was rather surprised to notice as I drove u p a tall ,
well dressed woman walking up and down aecom

-
;
,
a n i e d by a gaoler in th e sunshine outside the gates

p , , ,
in front of the group of warders and soldiers who were

always lolling about smoking and chatting on the
b enches against the wall On getting nearer I found
.
,
it w a s my m u rderess friend the baroness We s h ook .
hands in the most unconstrained manner and she told ,

TO TH E YELL O W SEA . 2 07
me in French that she was taki n g her usual consti

”
t u t i on al after breakfast We then had quite a long
.
talk together for she had news to give me In a

,
.
month she would be free again and was going to live

,
at a little place called Ou s s ol i é near Irkutsk where

, ,
she intended building a house for herself She then .
told me a lot more about her future plan s — I almost

felt inclined to ask if they included any more hus
bands ! Whilst thus chatting the warders in no,
way interfered with us they did not seem to consider

it in any w ay strange my speaking to a prisoner .
Before leaving her she said she would be glad to write

to me if I ever cared to hear fro m her and would ,
also send her photo if I liked My murderess friend

.
was evidently smitten“

I gave her my address ,
and to my surprise a fe w days later received the

, ,
letter of which I give a facsimile and also enclosing

, ,
h er photo which I after w ards learnt she had had

,
taken expressly for me With this somewhat novel

.
adventure ended my visits to the prison .

CH A PT E R XIX .
IR K U T s K — c on t i n u ed .
A g o l d car a v a — Pa r tic la r s a s t o t h e go ld m in i g i n dustr y o f

- n u -
n
S ib e ri a —T h e F o u n dli n g H o spital—Th e fi r e br iga d e —C e l e

-
bra ti o o f t h e C z a r s bi r t hd ay —Livi n g i n Ir ku t sk
n
’
WH ILE driving out

side the city one day
I met a m ost c u rious
looking procession .
It consisted of twelve
c over e d s l e d e s n e ar l
g y
all exactly of the same
pattern with num ,
bers written on them ,
and the leadin g and

hindmost ones with
TH E HIG H S T EE T I K UT S K
R , R .
to the sme l ting house which is considerable and
-
, ,
the further cost per caravan and rail to S t Peters .
b u rg which amounts to forty roubles per pood The

, .
Government keeps back for assaying smelting etc , ,

.
,
4 1 6 ro u bles per p e e d on all gold fro m the L ena
mines and 1 3 2 roubles in gold sent from the A mour

,
district I naturally a sked the reason of the grea t

.
diff erence in the charges agains t the t wo districts ,
and was told that in the A mour district where only ,
the width of the river separates the Russian from

the Chinese empire the temptation to sell the gold
,
across the frontier would be very great were th e

Russian Government duties excessive ; so it is for
that re a son they are so much reduced The L en a .
mines are too far a way for anything of the sort to be

feared .
Through the courtesy of the Officials I was enabled

to spend a very interesting morning at the Govern
ment smelting house and witnessed several opera
-
,
tions to me very n ovel from the unpacking of the

, ,
gold as it is received from the mine owners its -

,
weighing smelting and eve ntual run n ing O ff into

, ,
ingots Over . worth of gold was operated

on so I had a good O pportunity of seeing the entire
,
m odu s Op er a n dz
’
I noticed by th e way that all

.
, ,
the assaying instruments were E nglish and by a ,
L ondo n maker A fterwards I was shown in the

. .
”
safe ingots to the amount of n early half a million
,
some Of them so heavy that I could

’
hardly lift them all of which had the owner s mark
,
o n them with date weight etc

, , ,
.
A n enormous q u antity of gold annually leaves

Siberia for St Petersburg L ast year I am informed
. .
, ,
the weight amounted to 1 2 9 5 poods or lbs ,

.
E ach caravan such as the one I had seen by which

, ,
it is sent as far as the rail way at Ti u m e n consists ,
O f twelve sledges or tarantasses accordi n g to the ,
s eason and is accompanied by two O ffi cers and s i x

,
s oldiers which is certainly not a big guard con

, ,
s i der i n the immense value of their charge for each

g ,
c onveyance contains 2 5 poods ( or 9 00 lbs Of solid .
g old ) , so the entire caravan carries no less than

lbs of the precious metal
. .
T O m y surprise I learnt that no Siberian gold

,
s mith is allowed to buy or work in gold the penalty ,
for breaking this law being very severe In spite .

,
however Of th ese regulatio n s I hear that a lot O f

, ,
il l icit gold buying and even goldsmith s w ork exists ;

’
-
f or as is always the case when such stringent

,
precautions are taken there are weak points in the ,
l a w which serve as loopholes to the many people

,
w hose consciences do not prick them with the result ,
that a deal of Siberian gold crosses the frontier into

C hina where it finds a rea dy market
, .
A mongst the m any imposing b uildings in the

c ity there was one w h ich struck me as being par
t i c u l ar ly fine On inquiry I was informed that it

.
was the Foundling Hospital ( Vosp i t i t e li zi D om ) .

I had read so much about these unique Russian

i n stitutions that my curiosity was aroused Without
,
.
any difficulty whatever I O btained permission to visit

it and I was v ery much interested i n all I wa s
,
sho wn for I had n ever seen anything Of t h e kind

,
before It was of course a r ep l i c a on a smaller

.
, ,
scale of the colossal institutions of the kind in

St Petersburg and Mosco w and other Russian cities
.
,
”
which ar e s o ably described in Murray A s their .
r a i s on Ol é t r e
’
may not be generally kno wn a few ,
extracts from t h e work j ust named may be of

interest .
In speaking Of these hospitals at St Petersburg and .
Moscow he says
The fate o f ill e gi t i m ate child en a n d t h e e sp o sibili ti e s of r r n
th e i p ar e n ts h a v e b e e n a d i a l l p r o babili ty w ill r e m a i o n e
r ,
n n n,
o f t h e m o s t diffi c u l t subj e c ts f o r l e gisl a t i o n i m ost c oun t ie s n r .
B u t t h o ugh s o m e l a ws e ga di g i t a r e n e c e ss a y t h e e c a n b e
r r n r ,
r
no
q u e s ti o th at n atu a l aff e c ti o n n a y e v e n c o m m o hu m a n i ty
n r , ,
n ,
S h o uld i culc at e up o
n tho s e w h o c a p o s sibly r ais e t h e m e a s
n n n
t h e du t y o f b i gi n g t h e m u p a t t h e i r o w n e xp e s e
r n The n .
faciliti e s affo r d e d by t his h o spita l m ilitate w e thi n k agai s t , ,

n
this p i cipl e r n .
“
We c a o t h e l p t hi ki n g t h at a visi t t o t his r e m ar k abl e
nn n
e stablish m e t
[ t h e S t
n P e t e sb u g o n e ! c an n o t fa il t o e xci te
. r r
v e r y s e i o us r e fl e cti o n s i n t h e m i d o f t h e E gli s h tr a v ell e r

r n n .
If t h e i n stit u t i o is t o b e vi e w e d i n t h e ligh t O f a ch ar i ty i t is
n ,
chari ty up o a v e y q u e s ti o abl e p r i n cipl e ; b u t b e t his a s i t

n r n
m a y this va s t b r e e di g ca g e will giv e vi si t o s a v e y cl e a id ea

, n -
r r r
o f t h e p o w e r a n d i m m e n s e r e s o u r c e s o f t h e S t at e T h o ugh .
this is call e d a f ou n dli g h o spital i t is i eality a g e n e r a l

n ,
n r
r e c e p ta cl e f o r a ll child r e n w h o a r e r e c e iv e d u p t o a c e r t a i n a g e
,
witho u t e x c e pt i o n i t b e i n g e n ti r ely l e f t t o t h e o p ti on o f t h e
,
p ar en t s t o s tat e t h e i n am e s a n d c o n diti on s a n d t o c o n t ribute

r ,
which the babies were dressed or rather tightly , , ,
packed up in swaddlin g cloth es —a curious process

which ga ve them the appearance of miniature
mummies all exactly O f the same pat t ern for the ,
rolling always seemed done on a sort of system atic

principle I was much astonished to learn tha t
.
many of th e wet nurses were the mothers of the -
children they were nursi n g for they are often so ,
appointed if they wish it when there is no reason to ,
the contrary The infants are usually kept in the

.
hospital for about six weeks and are then sent out ,
to n urse a mongst th e peasants round about for ,
which a small monthly sum is paid by the i n s t i t u

tion and then when they reach a certain age ,
Ab o u t y ear s o l d t h e y a r e tak e n fr o m t h e i r f o s te
six ,
r
pa e n ts [ wh at a p a t i n g this m us t b e t o th o us an ds e v e y
r r r
y e a r I! t h e gi ls t o S t P e te r sb g f o r t h ei e duc a ti o a n d t h e
,
r . ur r n ,
b o ys t o a b a c h e s tablish m e t a t G a t s h i n a ( M u ay )
r n n rr .
Of course the Irkutsk foundlings are brought up

and remain in Siberia .
A mongst the many other charitable institutions

’
here I also visited one Of the children s homes
,
( deds ki p r i ou t t ) where orphans of bot h sexes are

,
received up to a certain age and ed u cated and brought ,
”
up free A lso the Home for the aged and infirm
.
“
who through no fault O f their o wn fi n d themselves

, ,
stran ded at the end of their lives — a Home unique

”
in its way b eing neither a workhouse nor an alms

,
h ouse as we understand i t in E nglan d What most .

TO TH E Y EL L O W SEA . 2 15
impressed me i n these i nstitutions was the marvellous

cleanliness and order which existed everywhere .
The fi r e brigade is quite a big affair here as wel l

-
,
it m ay be after the terrible experiences of the i n

-
habitants in 1 87 9 and as i s the case i n all Siberian

, ,
cities large watch towers are placed in all the most

,
-
prominent positions from which watchmen can ,
discern any outbreak and then give the alarm by ,
mea n s of a big bell ; whils t in the stations below
IN T HE COU T YA D
R R OF A F I R E S T A TI O N I R K UT S K
, .
the men horses manuals and water carts are in

'
-
, , ,
constant readiness and can turn out in wonderfu lly

,
short ti m e — i n fact so smart are they that had I not

, ,
seen a proof of it on one occasion I could hardly ,
have beli eved it possible to harness the h orses a n d

get away so quickly There is a stea m fi r e engine at
.
-
Irkutsk and I was gratified to note that it was

,
by an E nglish firm Shand and Mason V ery proud

, .
the men seem of it too for it shone all over like , ,

2 16 FR OM T HE A R C TI C O C EA N
a looking glass and is evidently kept in tip top con

-
,
-
dition In this distant Siberian city its familiar for m

.
seemed like a connect ing link with far away L ondon - -

.
I was much struck with the number of overhead

wires one sees in Irkutsk and on inquiry learnt ,
they were mostly telephone wires and that all t h e ,
Government o ffi ces and most of the big business

h ouses are c onnected by this means The wires are .
worked by a private company and the charges are ,
n ot e xcessive considering the cost per year i n , ,
cl u ding hire and fixing of machine etc being only ,

.
,
twenty fi v e roubles
-
Irkutsk is also i n direct
c ommu nication w ith a St Petersburg Central N ews .
A gency and every item of news of importance is

,
received here by telegram as soon as it is known

at the Russian office In this way I learnt O f the .
l ast Whitechapel m u rder on the very eveni n g of the

day it had occurred for everybody at t h e club was ,
t alking of it such an impression did it make even

,
right away here in the centre of A sia Talking of .
clubs there are two real l y well arra nged ones here
,
-
,
’
one a military th e other a merc h ants though n either
, ,
of them can come up to the one at Kr a s n oi a r s k in

my opinion .
The museum which I visited one morning well

, ,
repaid me for the couple of hours I spent there for ,
the five rooms contain besides many valuable speci ,
mens of Siberia n and Mongolia n c u riosities and

mammoth bones a complete st u ffed collectio n of
‘
,
2 18 FR O M TH E A R C T IC O C E A N
wi t hout a p r a s ni k O f some sort occurring during it ;

'
so much so that my astonishment is that any business

can be carried on successfully with s u ch contin u o u s
T HE G OV E RN O R GE N E RAL S H O U S E I R K UT S K
-
’
, .
interruptions ; for on these holidays all the shops are

closed and nothi n g whatever goes on a ll day e x cept
,
church b ell rin ging and subsequent parading of t h e

-
streets by the towns people in their well used holi day

- -
attire The most important of all these f et es occurred

.
whilst I was in Irk u tsk March 1 0 ( February 2 6 , ,
’
Old Style ) bei n g the anniversary of the Czar s birth
,
day . The city w a s gaily decorated for the occasio n

and as it wa s quite a warm spring like day the streets -
were thronged with people and presented a most ,
animated appearance A fter the customary thanks .
givi n g service in the di ff erent churches a roy al salute ,
was fired and a parade O f the garrison took place in

,
front Of the cathedral in the presence of the governor,
general and his staff Th e t roops wh o were without

.
,
t h eir rifles performed several evolutions wit h a

,
smartness which quite surprised me for although , ,
undoubtedly a serviceable looking lot of men they -

,
h a d never given me the impression of having any

smartness i n them A fter marching past first in
.
,
quarter column and then double colum n of companies ,
they were formed up in line the wheeling being ,
remarkably steady and the proceedings ended w ith

,
a cheer for his most holy Maj esty the Cz a r of all the
Russias .One sees so little of the military in
Siberia e x cept when they are Off duty that it is
, ,
seldom one has an opportunity of j udging what

”
stu ff they are made of .
L iving in Irkutsk is not cheap rather the reverse ,
I thought after my K r a s n oi ar s k and Yeniseisk ex

,
er i e n ces — for in spite of rent food and labour bei n g

p , , ,
as cheap as anywhere else in Siberia the charges at ,
all the hotels were as high as they would have b een

2 20 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E YELL O W S E A .
any where in E urope One could understand it if

.
everyth ing had to be brought from a great distance

b u t considering that Irkutsk is the centre of a huge
produci n g district it ought to be one of t h e cheapest
,
places to live in rather th an the c ontrary Still it is .

,
a city well worth seeing and had I n o t visited it

,
I should cer t ainly have missed the real life of “
Siberia .
S T EE T C E N E I K UT SK
R S ,
R .
222
’
sig n of bein g an early one so I felt there was no ,
time to be lost if I w i s h e d to see this vast inland

sea in its winter garb and I had heard so m u ch a bout
,
the wondrous beauties of this enormous expa n se of

ice and the novel experiences O f the j ourney across ,
that I decided not to remain any lo n ger in Irkutsk ,
but to p ush on to K i a k h t a th e frontier city and , ,
finish up my work there Moreover I had very .

,
positive confirmation of my views for shortly after ,
the news re ached us that the ice on the A ngara river

had commenced to break u p and that for many miles ,
the river was already clear .
I no w learnt that I could not go the whole way

from Irk utsk to Ki ak h t a by sledge as the snow ,
al ways ends s ome miles before the frontier is reached ,
and the remainder of th e j ourney has to be made in

a conveyance on wheels I was advised therefore
.
, ,
to do the snow covered part of the road on a cheap

-
,
open sledge which I could sell for a few roubles at

,
th e last post house S O my big sledge in which I

-
.
,
had trav elled so many thousand versts had to b e ,
disposed O f an d I was fortunate eno u gh to find an

,
enterprising dealer who took it o ff my hands at a

fair price probabl y on t h e off chance of making a
,
-
good thing out of it next winter My next concern .
was to buy the cheap open sledge for the j ourney ;

this I had n o difficulty in procuring and for eight ,
roubles ( less than £1 ) I got a big awkward looking ,

-
vehicle not unlike a huge clothes basket covered with

,
-
s acki n g— a great contrast to the luxurious p a uos ka

I had hitherto been travel ling in Still it was in .
,
itself a welcome sign that for me the lon g Siberian , ,
winter wa s nearly past and that I was soon to b e

,
e n r ou t e for the sunny South .
My preparations did not take long for t he j ourney ,
t o K i a k h t a only occupies two days and o n the even ,
i n g of March 1 1 I left the gay capital of E astern

Siberia for the Mongol frontier I had been advised .
t o s tart at night so as to reach the lake — which is

,
o nly —
sixty versts off early in the morning and ,
a cc omplish the crossing by daylight I had not .
t h ought it necessary to hamper myself with a servant
f or so sh or t a j ourney so was travelling quite alone

,
.
For m any miles after leaving the city the road lay
a long the ice in the very centre of the river A ngara ,
a n d as it was quite a warm evening and the track
very smooth the motion was so pleasant that the idea

,
o f perc hance the road e n di n g abruptly never entered
my h ead and it was quite with a feeling of regret

,
that I saw th e horses at last turned towards the bank

a n d we were on land once more But only by the .
wil dest stretch of the imagination could it have been

c onsidered a sledge track my driver having actually
-
,
t o s earch for bits O f snow here and there and make ,
for th em as well as he could across the inter veni ng

m u d ; in fact it seemed absurd attempting it in a
,
S ledge
. H owever we managed somehow to reach the
,
first station and found th e yard full Of t a r a n ta s s es

,
( the summer posting carriages wh ich I shall have ,
occasion to describe fu rther on ) which had j ust arrived ,
wit h travellers b ound for Irkutsk ; my sle dge looking

strangely out Of place a m on g the tall unwieldy ,
vehicles The postmaster sh ook his head and said

. ,
he v e r y m u ch doubted wheth er he ought to l e t m e

'
proceed except on w heels ; event u ally h e only let

,
me have horses on condition t hat I did not start till

j ust before daybreak so as to reach th e bad par t when
,
”
it was light I shall lo n g remember that bad part
.
,
for I don t think I was ever on such a r e a d before in

’
my life even in a wheeled carriage and certainly

, ,
hope never to b e on such a one again in a sledg e .
Many times I got out and tramped along in the m u d

o ut of sheer compassion for the horses w ho were ,
”
“
p u lling their hearts o u t to get the unwieldy
sledge through th e awful qu a gmire for it was ,
nothing else .
It was a lovely m orning with every promise of ,
another spring like day when we once more sighte d

-
,
the river A ngara But to my astonishment this was

.
,
no silent expanse of ice a s when I had seen it on t h e

previous night for before me w a s a broad swiftly
, ,
runni n g river its clear limpid waters sparkling lik e

,
crystal in the bright rays of the rising sun while on ,
its surface no trace O f i ce could I discern .
It was a b eautiful and impressive scene tho u gh ,
positively startli n g with al to see a moving river onc e

,
more after the dreary ice bound wastes one h a d got-

all these gr a nd hills are clothed with the gorgeous

verdure of an A siatic summer ? Then indeed must
the effect b e almost of surpassing beauty and one ,
which m u st fully j ustify its title Of th e most “
”
beautiful river in the world Considering the .
i m portanc e O f the A n gara its resources are u n ,
doubtedly as yet in their infancy for this mighty ,
river is t h e only outlet Of the waters O f L ake Baikal ,
being curiously enough the only river which flows

, ,
ou t O
f i t and is
,
as may be,
seen by a glance at the
map t h e big connecting link O f the whole of the huge
,
w atershed of Central A sia — a watershed so vast and
extended that in comparison with it that of the

Mississippi and Missouri pales into i n s i gn i fi can ce .
U nfortunately however there is an impediment t o

, ,
the entire utilization of this great waterway which

up to the present has defied the combined i deas of
some of the greatest practical engineers of the world ,
for not far fr om wh ere the A ngara leaves L ake Baikal

it forms a big rapid over two miles in le n gth and ,
before gaining its subsequent level actually fall s over

a ledge Of rock which bars its entire width It is .
this huge step which mus t be removed before the

river can be entirely used for navigation E ngineers .
for years past h ave been studying the possibility O f

removing this Obstacle but as yet nothing has been
,
attempted Meanwh ile however that Siberian mag

.
, ,
nate M S i b er i ak off has undertaken the task Of

,
.
,
making the river navigable the whole way for

steamers runni n g from Irkutsk to L ake Baikal and ,
he proposes carrying out his scheme on a chain haul -
ing principle on the plans of the Swedish system .
Whether or not this will be successful on a Siberian

river remains O f course to be seen
, ,
.
The navigation of the river Selenga L ak e Baikal , ,
and the river A ngara is at present only carried on by

nine steamers only t hree of which ply b et w e en
,
Irkutsk and the rapids A ll these vessels except .

,
one ,are owned by Russians The one exception is .
owned and worked by an E nglishman resident in

Irkutsk Mr Charles L ee a gentleman to whom I
, .
,
have already referred The Russian steamers off er

.
but little Of interest having been purchased in Russia

, ,
and only put together i n Siberia N ot so h owever the .

, ,
E nglish one which was n o t only built and launched

,
at Irkutsk but every portion of her constr u ction

, ,
from her engines to her o u ter plates and rivets was ,
made in Irkutsk under the supervision O f Mr L ee .

,
who is a practical engineer of great ability This as .

,
being I believe the first attempt at actual ship

, ,
building ( not merely p u t t i n g t oge t h er ) in Siberia is ‘
of g reat interest and more especially so when one

,
learns that the credit of the enterprise is due to an

E nglishman ; not the least interesting part Of it
being that this was Mr L ee s first experience in ship
.
’
building and that the whole O f the work was done

,
by convict labour ; also that the ship w hen finished , ,
was launched si deways in itself a somewhat novel feat

, .
We n o w followed the banks of the river the whole

way i t widened more and when we a t length sighted
,
the lake it must have been considerably over a mile

,
in wid t h Here right in the centre of the seething

.
,
ra pids is the celebrated Chaman stone a huge

,
“
,
rock which fro m time immemorial has withst ood the

tremendous rush of the waters rou n d it It is the .
subj ect of many legends amo n gst the peasantry one ,
being tha t on the da y it is at length carried away ,
the waters of L ake Baikal will escape and inundate

t h e surrou n ding country Without attaching any
.
faith to s u ch legends there are many people in

,
Irkutsk who would regard with unfeigned dread a ny

tampering with the A ngara rapids and wh o believe ,
that the rocks which cau se them alone ho ld the

waters of m i ghty L ake Baikal in check and that th e ,
day they ceased to exist an awful disaster would

happen .
I was prepared now for any surprises a ft er th e ,
transforma t ion that h ad so startled me i n the early

morning ; so when a bend in the road brought us in
full vie w of this vast inland sea I was not astonished ,
to see that it was still held in the icy grasp of the

Siberian winter The ice commenced agai n at the
.
very mouth of the A ngara a most e xtra ordinary ,
phenomenon for i t was as though it had been cut

,
away by m a n to allow O f the escape of the i m

prisoned waters Fro m one side of the stre a m to the
.
other the line of ice was as straight as if it had

My driver evidently knew the place well for we we n t ,
right through the sort of fleet at full gallop and a ,
few minutes later reached the quaint little v i llage of

Li e s t vi n i t z the point at which the j ourney across the
,
lake is commenced A nd after I had had a good

.
sluice in a bucket of cold water I was soon comfort ,
ably settled a t breakfast in one of the cleanest post

houses I had yet seen A real square meal followed
.
,
by a good cigar put me in the righ t sort of trim to

,
fully appreciate the novel experiences in store for me ,
and wh en I gave the order to start I was lounging ,
back in my sledge literally bas king in the genial

sunshine prepared to enj oy m y self to the very utmost
,
.
Try and im agine what it would b e like starting from

the L ord Warden Hotel at D over on a warm spring ,
like morning with th e intent Ion of dr i vi ng over t o

,
-
Calais or Boulogne and you will have some ide a of

,
this p ar t of my j ourney .
The opposite shore for which I was b ound was

quite invisible ; and th e ice owing t O its smoothness,
and the unusual absence of snow on its surface ,
almost presented the appearance of a very cal m sea

under th e bright blue morning sky .
L ake Baikal or as it is called by Russians

, ,
th e ,
”
Holy Sea of S iberia is one of the largest fresh w ater
,
-
lakes in the world Its elevation is 1 5 0 0 feet above

.
the level of the sea This magnificent sheet of water

.
covers an area of square miles equal to sixty ,
times that of the L ake of Geneva and is 4 2 0 miles in ,

l ength ,
and forty in breadth in the widest part The .
principal characteristics of this big inland sea are

its great depth the severe and s u dden storms which
,
rage upon it and the curious fact that seals are

,
annually caught in it to a great extent That this .
immense lake owes its origin to volcanic agencies

has I think never been d o ubted its enormous depth
, ,
alone carries out this supposition for in parts where , ,
A LA K E B A I K AL S T EAM E R .
lines of 5 0 00 feet and 6 00 0 feet have been used no ,
bottom has been found while in most places its

,
average depth is 5 4 04 feet I hear that it is said in

.
Irkutsk that it is o n ly on Baikal th at a man learns

”
first to pray from his heart for so unexpectedly do
,
its awful hurricanes arise that no one can tell how

, ,
ever promising may be the outlook w hen starting ,
under what conditions the opposite shore will be

reached Of course I had no opportunity of j udging

.
for myself but I heard anything but good accounts

,
of the three steamers employed for the j ourney which ,
usually takes about s i x hours under favo u rable

circumstances Other remarkable features of L ake
.
Baikal are the marvellous transparency O f its water

and the rapidity with which it freezes when winter
sets in The appearance O f the ice on the lake
.
depends entirely on the weather at th e ti m e the

water con gealed If the surface was then much
.
a gitated t h e ice everywhere will present a broken

,
appearance like w aves plainly showi ng how sudden

,
and irresistible was the icy grasp of th e Siberia n

winter I am informed that along the coas t the
.
curious phenomenon has often been noticed of f r oz en

wa ves the curl O f the water and even the foam being
,
plainly distinguishable in the solid mass I was .
fortunate in findi n g the ice perfectly smooth ; it had

evidentl y been a dead calm at t h e time the frost set in .
The road the whole way is in dicated by means O f

a double row of pine saplings st u ck at intervals in
—
the ice a curious c fi ec t bei n g thus produced not ,
unlik e an endless miniature boulevard stretching

away till it is lost in the distance I could not help .
noticing the way the horses are s h e d for the work :

huge spikes are fastened to their shoes which as they , ,
gallop alo n g splinter th e ice in all directions b u t

, ,
give them a firm foothold on its treacherous s u rface .
In a very short time after leaving picturesq u e

2 34 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O C E A N T O TH E YEL L O W S E A .
down into the black abyss beneath ; this feeling ,
however gradually changed to one of fascination till

, ,
at last I found it positively difficult to withdraw my

gaze from the awful depths w ith nothing but this ,
sheet of cry stal between me a n d eternity. I believe

that most travellers on crossing the lake on the ice
,
for the first ti m e experience the same weird and

,
fascinating influence A bout hal f way across I stopped

.
-
to make a sketch and take some photographs It .
was no easy matter as I found on getting out of th e

,
sledge for the ice was so slippery that in spite of my

,
having felt snow boots on I could hardly stand The

-
.
death like silence of t h e surroun dings reminded me

-
not a little of my experiences in the ice O f the Kara

Sea This wonderful stillness was occasionally broken
.
,
however by curious s ou n ds as though big guns were

, ,
being fired at some little distance They were caused .
by the cracking of the ice here and there I was .
told that in some parts of the lake were huge fissures ,
through which the water could be seen It i s for .
this reason that it is alway s advisable to do th e

j ourney by daylight .
We reached M ou fs h k a y a on th e opposite coast , ,
e x actly four and a half hours after leaving Li es t ven i t z ,
the horses having done the whole distance of over

thirty miles with only two stoppa g es of a few minutes
each It was evidently an easy bit of work for them
.
,
as they seemed as fresh when we drew up in the post

yard as when they started in the morning .
T HE K U PE T S K I T ACK
R .
CH APT E R XXI .
F R OM IR KU T S K TO THE M O N G OL C H IN E S E F R O N T IE R
c on t i n u e d .
The ro ad f o m L k e B a ik l t K k h t — T h
r a a K p t sk i
o ra a e
“
u e
t a ck —I cid n t s o n t h e w a y — I c h an g e m y sl e dg e f
r n e a or
ta a t ss — E xci tin g adv e tu e s — A ival t T oi t k o s a vs k

r n a n r rr a r z ,
t h busi e ss s
e b nb f Ki k h t a
ur ur o a .
F R OM M ou fs hk ay a to K i a k h t a I had the choice of two

—
roads on e the regular Government post road which
,
-
passes t h rough Ve r c h n i U dinsk and then branches o ff ,
to the frontier ; the other a private track made by the ,
merchant princes of K i a k h t a which goes straight there ,
w ithout touching at any town thus saving at least ,
’
two days j ourney This road I had been i n formed
.
, ,
could be used without any special permission so after , ,
my recent experiences of Siberian posti n g I did not ,
hesitate which O f the t wo to go by especially as I had ,
’
been told tha t the K u p e t s k i track or merchants ,
route was by far the more picturesque while Ver ch n i

, ,
U dinsk and the fe w scattered v illages on the post

r e a d offered but th e usual monotony of Si b erian travel ,
which I kne w only too well I was well repaid for .
my choice ; for not only did the road pass through

some magnificent mountain a n d forest scenery but the ,
post houses with only two exceptions were better

-
, ,
than I had usually fo u nd on the Governme n t roads .
For many miles after leaving the lake the road

passed through a narrow gorge with high mountains
and dense pine forest on either side N ight was .
coming on and in the deepening gloom around me

, ,
whence issued the sound O f a rushing torrent the ,
e ffect was very weird Here th e snow lay thick so

.
,
there was no doubt about the practicability Of

sledging and we got along very well ; but we did
,
not reach the next post house til l it was quite dark
-
.
A fter but a very short delay j u st to ge t fresh horses

, ,
I started again The night was so black that had it

.
not been for the sno w on the road it would have been
a most di ffi cult matter to find it at all ; as it was ,
we shortly aft er had a slig h t accident In one part .

.
of the road where it was exceptionally narrow one

, ,
of the horses somehow got out of the track and fell

into a deep hole full of snow The other t w o .
so withou t hesitation I j u mped ou t and the yemschik ,
explained to me that he ha d l os t his way and had '
someho w got the sledge wedged b etwee n these two

trees Here was a predicament
. For the next hour
we were trying all we knew to ge t the clumsy vehicle
A P O ST H O U S E
-
ON T HE K U PE T S K I T ACK
R .
free and it was only after endless futile efforts that

,
we literally had to cut it out — with no little di ffi

culty for the wood seemed as hard as iron By the
,
.
time we got under way again and after searching for ,
the track day was beginni n g to break and it was

, ,
broad day light when we reached t h e station It had .

taken over five hours to do the last fifteen miles .
The postmaster here who s p oke German fluently , ,
informed me that it was out of the question attempt

ing to procee d any further in a sledge and that I ,
should have n o w to continue my j ourney in a

t et r o mt a s s or post cart A s he agreed to purchase
,
-
.
my sledge for exactly what I had given for it I ,
could not O bj ect though I felt that the remainder

,
Of the ro u te to K i a k h t a would not be enj oyable as ,
I should at every station have to repack my baggage

, ,
i n a fresh conveyance However there was n o h elp .

,
for it A Tarantass is a most curious and distinctively

.
Russian vehicle In shape it is not unlike a very

.
unwieldy barouche with a large fixed hood at the ,
back A s in a sledge the luggage i s packed inside

.
,
so as to form a seat and though not an elegant look , ,

-
ing conveyance it is well adapted to the rough roads

,
O f the country I was once more travelling on wheels

.
,
for the first time since I had left E ngland .
The country n o w began to assume a much more

barren and steppe like appearance and there was -
,
h ardly a trace of snow anywhere The trees also .
seemed to h ave disappeared and for miles ahead ,
there was a bare undulating plain I could not .
help noticing that everything was now beginning

to look more Chinese or rather Mongolian E ven , , , .
the tea caravan s w e passed were composed Of

quaint looking carts undoubte dly O f C h inese origin
-
, ,
whilst the drivers with their swarthy su nburnt faces

, ,
looked strangely out O f keeping with the cold l a nd

scape .
I n the afternoo n we reached a small river over ,
which as usual the road p a s s e d on the ice My

, ,
~ .
yemschik quite a young lad was however in no

, , , ,
hurry to cross when we saw a car t which was coming

towards us sudden l y half disappear through th e ice ,
A TEA CA RT .
which was evidently very rotten The water for t u .

,
n a t el was on l y four feet deep at the utmost so

y, ,
beyond th e di fficulty of getting his horse and cart

out again he ran no risk A fter watching the fellow
.
( who was standing up to his wais t in th e icy cold -
water ) in his vain efforts to m ove the lumbersome

vehicle I decided that we could n ot stay where we
,
242 FR O M TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
that n ight if it could be done so I peremptorily ,
ordered the fresh tarantass and horses at once an d ,
a fter but a short delay I was soon on the move again .
The road now lay right across the turf and owing to , ,
the nature of the soil was scarcely visible i n the

,
rapidly faili n g light ; in fact in m any places I ,
wondered how the driver found his way a t all for I ,
could see no sign of a n y track .
It was quite dark when we came to what looked

like an immense wh i te plain This the y emschik .
,
told me w a s the river Selenga This m aj estic river

, .
,
which flo ws into L ake Baikal was here as wide as ,
the Thames at Gravesend and in the darkness the ,
o pposite bank was scarcely visible O ur road lay .
right across its i ce bound s u rface A t the edge O f

-
.
the ice my driver dre w up and getting down said , , ,
h e would go and look round before vent u ring on it ,
a s a man who had that afternoon ca me i n from the
next station reported that the ice was beginning to

break up I immediately re m embered the incident
.
which had happened only a _few miles back and ,
visions rose up before me O f what would be the resul t

in the event of such an accident occurring on this
mighty river so I felt j ust the least little bit u n com
,
for t ab l e w hen after bei n g absent some t wenty

,
minutes he came back a n d said he thought it would

,
be all right so on we went It may have b een my

,
.
fancy but th e heavy lumbering vehicl e seemed to

,
weigh more than ever n o w as it rattled over the ice,

D AY D EA M A
-
R S : SK E TCH IN T HE T A N S B A I K AL
R -
.
( The 6 10 q h a n gi ng a rr a nge me nt i
s a cr dl )
a e .
2 44 FR OM TII E A R C TI C O C EA N
al way s advisable where possible to cross the big

, ,
rivers by day light on account of the m a n v fissures

,
in the ice I remember nothi n g of the next twenty

.
versts for I w ent Off into a deep sleep prob a bly

, ,
occasio n ed by the recent excitement and neve r ,
moved till I was woke up by the yemschik calling

out to me that we had reached our destination and ,
wanti n g to kno w where he should drive me .
I sat up and looked round me no easy matter for ,
it was snowing so thickly that I could scarcely s ee

any t hi n g and the dreary looking deserted street
,
-
looked still more wretched as in the piercing Wi nd , ,
the blinding flakes were whirled about in clo u ds It .
was as uninviting and wintry a scene as could b e

well imagine d and for a moment I wished mysel f
,
b ack in my comfortable quarters at Irkutsk .
S O this was the frontier city Of K i a k h t a the ,
d elightfu l place where as I had read it never snows

, , ,
and where pinning my faith on t his outrageous

,
stateme n t I had been fondly imagining I should

,
fi n d a genial temperature ; but the Siberian winter

evidently holds good to it s reputation to the fu rther
most confines of the vast country However it was .
,
no time for this fanciful musing for we were in the ,
middle Of the night and the road also and I knew

, ,
not where to turn for a lo dging Th e only h otel .
of K i a k h t a was not stro n gly recommended ( whic h

means a great deal in Siberia ) so I had made up m y ,
mind to seek accommodation elsewhere ; b u t t h e

arri vi n g from the desert It w a s a sign that a .
war m er and more pic t uresq u e country was close at

hand and made me long the more to get out of
,
cold Siberia But the novel and interesting sight s

.
at K i a k h t a were but poor specimens of what I

hoped to see fur ther on ; so I decided not to begi n
sketching them till I s a w the genuin e article i n
Mongolia itself .
By the way a somewhat interesting incident

,
o ccurred whilst I w as here I had made friends with

.
a local photographer a man of some considerable

,
talent and would frequently while away a n hou r

,
in his company One day that I was visiting h i s

.
studio for th e first time I was much struck w ith ,
”
a background painted on a large canvas ly ing
“
against the wall It was so exceptional ly good tha t

.
I could not refrain from making a remark u pon

it when I was informed to my astonishment that
, , ,
it was the work O f his assistant who was standing ,
by One does not expect to meet artists O f talent

.
’
in local photographers emplo y in these far a way -
places and I could not help saying so I was still

, .
further impressed when the young fellow in reply ,
to my question as to whether he h a d any other

work to show produced a portfolio of sketches
,
which indicated a talent rarely met with Becoming .
enthusiastic I told him he must be mad to be

,
wasti n g his time at photography in this out of the - -
way town when St Petersburg w ould b e accl a imi n g

.
M Y F I S T GL M PS E
R I OF M ON G O L I A . ! To f a c
e P 246
. .
2 48 FR OM T H E A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E Y EL L O W S E A .
m ay be in practice be so cruelly d i s c ip li n a i r e as
,
many would have us b elieve .
Meanwhile my work progressed rapidly and after

, ,
’
a little over a for t n ight s stay I s a w my way clear to
,
a rrange for my fu r t her j ourney to the sacred city of

'
O urga and then across th e Gobi desert to China

,
but of all this I will tell you in my next chapter .

\N \j r
\ x x ,
S K E TCH B Y A P OL ITICAL P I S ON E M A D E WH L S T
R R I ON T HE M A CH
R
A C O SS S IB E I A R R .
( Th e or i gi na l 28 in s ep i a a nd wi n t e )
c
.
[ To f a e p . 2 48
.
Russian tarantass dra wn by horses I chose the

,
.
latter conveyance The distance a little over t w o

.
,
hundred miles takes four days as the same horses

, ,
have to do the entire j ourney there being n o means ,
of getting fresh relays on the roa d .
It w a s a lovely spri n glike morning when in a , ,
fairly co m fortable vehicle with three stro n g h ors es I ,
crossed the frontier my saddle horse being fa stened ,

-
loosely alongside the tarantass to b e ready at a ,
’
moment s notice in case of need when fording rivers
or for sporting purposes .
What a ctual ly marks t h e frontier it would “
be di ffi cu lt to say Beyond a narrow dirty strip of

.
,
”
what I believe is called neutral ground but which ,
is evide n tly used principally as a sort Of Russo

Chinese dust bin there is n othing to denote the
-
,
borders Of the two vas t empires and th e road ,
passes right across into Mongolia without a break .
Many years ago I learnt some sort O f barrier existed

, , ,
but i t has long since been done away with Th e .
Russians who as a rule are so fond of sticking

, , ,
up their national coat of arms and placing thei r

black and white sentry boxes wherever practicable
- - -
doubtless consider this remote corner u n worthy O f

suc h ostentation for there is here a striking absence
,
of these ( in Siberia) familiar Obj ects Mentionin g .
this noteworthy absence O f any national ins i gnia

here reminds me Of a remarkable inst a nce of clair
,
voyance on the part of a traveller who crossed thi s

TO TH E Y ELL O W SEA . 25 1
frontier w i thi n t he la s t fi r e yea r s and who described , ,
”
in his subsequent Impressions de V oyage in a most ,
graphic manner having passed on tha t auspicious

, ,
”
occasion ,
a guard house and high w oode n gates
“
-
,
which were burnt down ni n e t een ye a r s previously !

Once however on the other side O f the neutral
, ,
’
ground one finds one s self in quite another world so
, ,
to S peak for here is the wonderfully quaint little

,
Chinese town of Maimachin which presents as great ,
a contrast to the neighbouring Si b erian town ,
K i a k h t a as could be imagined
, .
From the outside little can be seen of Maimachin, ,
as it is surrounded by a h igh wooden palisade ; but

once entered through the picturesque archway Si b eri a ,
is as it were left s o completely that it takes a fe w

, ,
minutes to get used to the wonderfu l transformation ,
’
for at on e step so to speak one finds one s self in the
, ,
Far E ast with all its brilliant colouri n g and strange

,
costumes There are probably no t wo nations i n

.
the w orld which present a greater dissimilarity in

point O f artistic taste than the Russian and th e
Chinese ; so going direct from one to the o t her
, ,
the contras t is positively startling Maimachin is .
a poor specimen of a Chinese town but is almost ,
like a museu m compared with the monotonous aspect

of Siberian cities T h is town with about two
.
, ,
thousand inhabitants is of some importance as the ,
final stage for t h e camel caravans with tea before

they re a ch Siberia a n d the consignment is handed
over to the Russian merchants It therefore always .
presents a busy and ani m ated appearance A most .
striking peculiarity here is the entire absence of

women ; for according to Chinese law no female
, ,
of t hat nation is permitted to dwell beyond th e

Great Wall The Chinese who seek their fort u nes
.
in M o n golia readily h o wever console themselves , ,
with M ongolian ladies in the absence of their own ,
c ou n t r vw om en .
A ft er passin g through Maimachin the road a ,
broa d well de fi n e d track — lay for many miles across

,
-
level grassy plains bo u nded in the extreme distance

,
by a low range of hills and was flat and uninterest ,
ing in the extreme A few wretched y ou r ts or huts

.
, ,
with some camels and cattle browsing h ere and

there were the only signs of life in the vast solitude
,
.
Before proceeding further into Mongolia a sh ort

'
description of the Mo n gols and their habitations

m ay b e of interest A yourt is a sort O f cone shaped
.
-
hut covered with a kind of coarse felt made out

,
O f sheep s wool I ts walls are held up o n the insi de

’
.
,
to a h eight of ab out five feet by a circular arra n ge ,
ment of wooden lattice work this also supports the -
roof not unlike a huge umbrella the ribs fitting

, ,
tightly into the lower part ; the centre of this is

something like a big wheel from which the ribs ,
radiate being left O pen to allo w the smoke from

,
the fireplace to escape This firepl ace in the centre .
of t h e apartment is usual ly a rough sort of iron

By rich I mean being the possessor Of many horses

“
,
or camels a n d head of cattle and much ya m b a as ,
Chinese bar sil ver is called for gold is not valued

,
at a ll by the Mongols The average yourts were

.
indescribably filthy n o t only serving as shelter for

,
A M ON G O L .
families O f several persons of b oth se x es herded

indiscriminately together but in many cases for
,
sheep or goats with their young A s added to .

,
which the smoke from the fire as a rule only

,
partially escapes the atmosphere under such con

,
di t i on s may b e i m agi n ed L iving therefore in such

.
, ,
T O TH E Y ELL O W S E A . 25 5
human pigsties it is n ot to be wondered that the

,
ordinary Mongol presents an e xtremely unsavoury

appearance so that it is oft en difficult to tell
,
whether n ature gave him a black or a whi t e skin ;

for they are n ot a water loving race cleanliness
-
,
evidently not being one of the appurtenances of

go dli n ess from Mongol Buddhist point of V iew
-
.
The curious fashion of the wome n fixing their

hair in a sort of circle ro und their faces by m eans
of massive silver ornaments has O ften a very i n
congr uous effect as I have seen Old hags dressed
, ,
in a ma ss O f rags which a professional L ondon rag

picker wo uld pass in disgust with quite a l ittle ,
fortune on their heads in many cases even amo n g

,
the p oorer classes to the valu e O f £3 0 0 r £4 0 ! A l l .
the family savi n gs go fir s t towards providing a wife

w ith the orthodox j ewellery as a girl is not spoken
‘
”
of as a w oman till her hair is dressed properly
“
never mind the rest Of her w ardrobe A mong t h e .
very poorest classes I have occasionally seen strips

of wood used w hen silver could not be afforded ,
but this is very e xceptio n al Of course in their .

,
dress as in their dwelli n gs there are social class

, ,
differences and the rich or noble Mongols wear

,
clothes of the finest silks Of the most gorgeous h ues ,
their w ives and daughters being decorated with

costly silver j ewellery of exquisite workmanship .
A mong wo m en of the higher classes are to b e found

actual b eauties and the curious method of arranging
,
the hair is really very becoming whe n it encircles

a pretty face with sparkling eyes and pearly teeth .
I remember on one occasion seeing a princess riding

through Ourga who was so startli n gly beautiful that
the apparition simply took my breath away ; it was
”
like a vision from the A rabian N ights and for
“
,
”
several days aft er I fel t quite smitten with the
lovely unkno wn one and my appetite su ffered con
,
s i de r a b l in consequence
y
A lthough as a distinct nation the Mongols are
slowly disappeari n g owing to gradual fusion with
,
the Chinese still there are many amongst the

,
descendants of the old princes who yet cli n g to

the ide a that the glorious times of Genghis Khan
will a gain return and that some day another such
,
leader will appear and restore to this once so mighty

race its Ol d prestige In fact there is one sect
.
,
amongst the people who believes that Genghis Khan

is not dead at all but has only disappeared for a
,
time and will on some not very distant date again

,
return to earth ; and in the national songs the name

of this hero and his great deeds are continually
appearing E n a t t en da n t this millennium however
.
, ,
the Mongols have lost a l l trace of the formidable

w arriors t h ey were in the past and have lapsed into
,
suc h quiet and inoffensive bei n gs that it is hard to

realize they are descendants O f the mighty horde
which o nce conquered Russi a and thre w all E urope
,
into a state of panic Of their old national c h a

.
nightfall when we reached the station where the

,
halt for the n ight was to be made —a couple of

yourts close together forming a sort of Mongol farm ,
w here m y driver fro m experience kne w he was
certai n to be able to get hay and water for the

horses I do not think I was ever in a more gloom y
.
or depressing spot It was a sort of n arro w valley

.
between two high hills with scarcely a trace of ,
vegetation He avy cl o u ds gradually coming up

.
, ,
now quite obscured the sky and the deadly stillness ,
of the air betokened some a pproaching change in the

weather during the night A ll around were curious .
looking O bj ec t s lyi n g on the ground In the twilight .
I could not a t first distinguish what they were but ,
on a nearer inspection I discovered that these were

dead oxen I counted fourteen lyi n g within a fe w
.
yards O f the huts ; a n d j u dging from the O dour I, ,
imagine they must have been dead some considerable

time On inquiring of my driver the reason of so
.
wholesale a slaughter he told me that they had not

,
b een killed but had died from starvation owing to

, ,
the severe winter The wretched inhabitants of the

.
two yourts in the apathy caused by their misfortu n es

, ,
had not the energy to remove the decomposing

carcases out of sight I could not h elp feeling
.
thankful that we had encamped far enough away to

be clear of the perfume O f this pestilent farmy ard .
The n i ght I passed comfortably eno u gh wrapped

up in my da ch a in t h e tarantass whilst my driver , ,
used to the peculiarities of Mongol life sought his ,
couch inside one of the yourts Towards morning .
it came on to blow and rain and in a short time ,
such a tornado burst over us that I expected every ,
minute the ramshackle vehicle wou ld be blown

bodily over ; fortunately ho wever it was heavy , ,
enough to withstand the gale which abated almos t ,
a s suddenly as it had arisen a n d when towards five ,
’
o clock we made a start it was a beautifully clear
,
morning with every promise of a fine day

, The .
country presented n ow if anything a more desol a te

, ,
appearance than any we had hitherto passed through

—i t was a desert i n every respect A ll around
“
.
were low san dy hills without even a bush to break

,
their monotonous appearance ; not even a blade of

grass was to be seen on the wide expanse O f stone
and sand The aspect was uninteresting in the
.
”
extreme so I got my driver to hurry up a bit
, ,
so as to get out of the dreary surroundings as quickly

as possible We had to do the nex t eight hours with
.
scarcely any stoppage as there was no sign of any

,
human habitation anywhere in this sol itude and no ,
human bei n gs meant no water or hay for the horses ,
so we were o b liged to push on at any cost A b ou t .
’
one O clock we at length sighted a few wretched
yourts and in a few minutes drew up at the
,
station aft er the longest stage we had yet made

, .
The horses did not seem very fatigued however ; as ,
long as they got plenty to eat and drink the ,

distances between the stations affected them but

—
little the hard work they were used to Four .
hours we had to pass in this dreary uninteresting

place I managed somehow to while away the time
.
with my pipe and sketch b ook and very glad was

-
,
OU R M I DD AY H AL T .
I when we at last started preparations for continui n g

the j ourney .
The day which had commenced so brightly had

, ,
not fulfilled its early promise the sky had gradually

become obscured a n d as on the previous afternoon
, , ,
the wind also sho wed signs of renewed activity ; so

when the yemschik told m e that we had forty versts
F R OIII TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
merciless wind ble w with ever increasing force and ,
the driving sno w felt l ike so many needles so there ,
wa s absolutely nothing for it but to chance getting
across the river as the man said the station was

,
only some ten versts off The horses however .

, ,
evidently took a different view of the matter a n d ,
it was some time before they could be go t t o a dvance

’
eve n to the water s edge and still longer b efore they
,
w ould vent u re into it It was an awk ward moment

.
,
for they started plunging and kicking to such an

e x tent that I e x pected every moment to find myself
,
in the water with the tarantass on the top of me .
We had nearly got over and without any incident , ,
for the water was barely four feet deep , when my

saddle horse was seized with ungovernable fear and ,
managed to break loose somehow and bolted back ,
as fast a s he could A fe w min utes after and we

.
were safe on the O pposite b ank .
In the mean ti m e the snow was coming down so

thickly that every thing was already completely
covered with it so much so that it was impossibl e
,
to distinguish the track leading from the ri ver In .
vain did the yemschik get down and search about

on his hands and knees for some clue to guide him
as to its whereabouts His efforts were fu tile for there
.
,
was absolutely nothing to go by ; and although after

’
a few minutes search he got up and drove O ff fu ll
speed I felt convinced by his manner that he was
,
on a wild goose chase A nd so it proved for in a very

-
.
,
T O TH E Y EL L O W S E A .
2 63
short time he pulled up agai n and once more ge t

down to have another search But it was useless
.
,
as I could see by the bewildered way in which h e

w a s looking about ,
and every minute ma de the
chances Of hitting on the track still m ore remote ’
,
for all this time it was snowing so thickly t h at i t was

almost impossible to see a yard ahead The cold.
wa s also intense .
~
On the man getting back on to his seat as I ,
thought with the intention of driving on further ,
I asked him what he intended doing as I felt ,
sure it was useless risk going on blindly and ,
perchance getting turned over into some gully or

losing ourselves quite hopelessly A t first he did.
not reply and when he did it was only to mumble

,
out something about hearing dogs barking close by ,
so there must be a yourt near I listened but heard

.
,
absolutely nothing but the r e a ri n g and screeching

of the wind ; when on looking at the fello w again
, ,
[ s a w to my horror that h e wa s g oi ng t o s leep — the

long exposure to th e cold was beginni n g to take
e ff ect Sleep under such conditions I was well aware
.
meant dea t h so I immediately sprang up and com

,
m e n c e d shaking him as hard as I could and after a ,
while succeeded in waking him I then told him

.
that I had decided not to risk going on any further ,
but to remain where we were till morning and that ,
we should have to unharness the horses and make

them as comfortable as we could with some oats ,
which we providentially happened to have left .
Suiting my action to my words I got out and lent ,
him a hand as well as I could although it was m ore,
to sho w him that I intended to stand no nonse n se

than to really help ; for Siberian harness is a com
plicated arrangement Of tied ropes and straps whic h ,
wants some knowing before meddling with it in the

dark My determination had the desired effect for
.
,
in a very few minutes we had the horses stalled on

either side of the shafts which we managed to pro p
,
up and by placing a piece of loose sacking over them

, ,
made a very good impr o mptu manger out of which ,
the three hardy brutes were soon eating their oats a s

tranquilly as though in a stable paying not t h e ,
slightest heed to the s n o w or win d so used are they ,
to be out in al l weathers .
A ll being secure I then ordered the man t o get

,
into the tarantass and roll himself up in his sheep

skin and after a stiff glass of vodka apiece to k e ep
, ,
out as much cold as possible I attempted to go ,
to sleep I say a ttempte d for very little sleep did

.
,
I get and I hope never again in my life to spend

,
such a wretched n igh t as I did that 8t h of A pril .
The cold seemed to come in at every corner and

crevice Of the hood which sheltered us and it was ,
almost impossible to get e ven t h e chill O ff one whilst ,
the w histling of the wind around and the uneasy

movements of the horses combined to keep me from
an y thing b u t j u st dozing Off till the welcome dawn
We had now reached the cr u x of the j ourney t o

Ourga the pass through the M a n h a t i Mountains
,
.
I gathered , from what the Mongol of t h e yourt w a s

telling my yemschik that t h e road furth er on w a s
,
in a very dangerous condition and that therefore h e ,
w ould go with us part of the way to lend a hand i n ,
case of accident We therefore made a start unde r

.
,
the pilotage of our good natured host and he and -

,
I rode on a little distance ahead to ascertain the

condition of the track after the stor m The sharp .
,
exhilarating morning air and the bright sunshin e

considerably helped to liven me up again and even ,
m y wiry little horse with a good feed inside him , ,
was as game as possibl e and evidently not a bit t h e ,
’
worse for his night s outing It had undoubtedly .
b een a very severe frost during or immediately after , ,
the storm for the steep track was simply coated with
,
ice so we had to proceed very cautiously indeed and ,
pick our way along as well as we could bet ween t h e

rocks th e heavy tarantass following u s up very
,
slo wly In many places the road followed the very

.
edge O f a precipice where any accident would pro

,
bably have been followe d by d i sastrous consequences .
It took us two hours to reach the top of the defile ,
and then after a few minutes to rest the horses

, ,
during which time I had opportunity to fully enj oy

as fine a panorama of forest and mountain as I have
ever seen we started on the do w n ward j ourney
, ,
which if anything o ffered still more diffi culties than

, ,
the part j ust accomplished ; for this side of th e

mountain facing the south had evidently been but ,
the previou s day a sort O f series Of torrents caused

by the melting snow and t h e severe frost during th e
,
night had been sufficient to coat them thickly with

ice but naturally not stro n g enough to bear the
,
weight of a man still less a horse so my poor yem

, ,
s c hi k was more than half the time floundering about
u
p to his knees in icy cold water as h e had to lead ,
the horses the whole way so treacherous was the ,
ground and timid the animals in consequence In

,
.
spite however O f the almost impassable state of the

, ,
defile we managed fortunate l y to get through with

,
out the slightest incide n t worth mentioni n g and ,
exactly four hours after starting reached the plains

once m o re where the whole aspect O f th e surround
,
ings chan ged suddenly as i t were .
In front of me stretching away into the far dis

,
tance on either side till where it was bounded by a

,
faint blue wall of mountains was a vast prairie and , ,
on its surface n ot a trace of snow was to be seen .
In the long grass cattle were grazing peacefully or ,
standing knee deep in a rippling stream which

-
,
sparkled like a silver ribbon thrown across the green

s ward Some little distance O ff a group of Mo n gols
.
, ,
dr essed in yellow a n d red kh a la t s were galloping ,
merrily along the sound of their voices an d laughter

,
reaching m e quite plainly on the still atmosphere ;

w h ile a gorgeously coloured tent near by gave a
still further note O f colour to this delightful picture .
In the warm sunshine the e ffect was almos t one of

”
having re a ched a promised land so great a con
“
,
trast did it o ffer to the cold wintry appearance on

the mount a ins close by ,
The rest O f the j o u rney was all clear sailing ; for ,
with the e x ception Of the last part of t h e road which ,
was again very mountainous the track was very ,
level and we made good progress encamping for

, ,
the usua l halts at the yourts of friendly Mongols ,
known to my driver By the way an incident .

,
occurred on one O f these occasions which m ay b e of ,
interest A t a yourt where we had halted for our

.
midday rest a large tea caravan consisting O f several

, ,
hundred carts was also enca m ped ; all th e oxen were

,
out on the plains and the drivers a cro wd O f some

, ,
twenty swarthy Bou r r i a t s and Mongols were l oa fi n g ,
about smoking and whiling away th e time as best

,
they could My arrival was of course quite an

.
, ,
event and although my man asked them not to do

, ,
so they crowded round me in a very offensive

,
manner as soon as I left the tarantass One may .
imagine what would b e the effect if a Mongol were

suddenly to arrive in the midst of a crowd of
E nglish roughs My position was somewhat similar
.
,
e x cept that there was no friendly policeman near I .
felt instinctively that I was going to have a very

unpleasant time of it unless I managed to score Off
them someh o w ; nor was I mistaken for in a few ,
A ng li s hi H ome and added someth ing in an under

,
tone to the men near h i m at which they all gra dually

,
moved off and left me master O f the situation I .
was not interfered with again after th at I h a d .
”
pulled O ff a successful bl u ff
On nearing Ourga sno w once more began to show
itself thickly on the ground and the temperature
,
gradually lowered till it was so chilly even in th e

sunshine that I had to keep my furs on We were .
now in sight of the last spur O f mount a ins which

separated us from the plai n i n which Ourga is
situate d and had a very steep bit of track to do
,
for the next hour or so A t last we reached the top

.
,
where was a h uge cairn consisting of bones stones

, , ,
a n d all sorts of rags and odds and ends O ff erings t o ,
Budd h a by pious Mongols on reaching the end of

their j ourney or the top of th e mountain A s it
,
.
was n o w all downhill work till we reached our

destination I lit my pipe and composed myself
,
comfortably for the remaining hour before me But .
my comfor t was destined to be but of short duration ,
for the track down the mountain side i n fact the -

,
whole way was simply awful and th e shaking and

, ,
bumping I got during th at hour makes me feel sore

e ven n o w to think of The heavy springless tarantass
.
h aving to go over rocks and gullies which would

have smashed up a n y Ordinary conveyance in a few
minutes I got the m a n to drive slowly in the
,
hope of lessening the shocks as much as possi b le ,

TO TH E YELL O W S EA . 271
for I was doubtful whether my inside could h old out

lo n g under such treatment ; but slow or fast seemed
to make but little difference so at last i n despair I ,
ordered the man to get over the ground as rapidly

as possible in the hopes of get t ing to my destination
,
with at any rate some O f my most vital arrange

, ,
ments unimpaired A t length a welcome turn in

.
the road sho wed me that my su fferings were nearl y

ended for on t h e plain below I saw a huge con
,
glomeration of dirty yourts and wooden palisa des ,
with here and there a somewhat higher building to

break the dull level monotony This dreary place .
,
looki n g doubly wretched in the wintry surroundi n gs ,
was the capital of Mongolia the sacred city of Ourga , ,
O f which I had heard so much and travelled so far
to see It was a disappointi n g sight to say the

.
,
least of it and with the recollection of my long and

, ,
comfortless j ourney still fresh in my memory the ,
first thought that crossed my mind was te jeu n e ,
ua ut p as la cha n dell e .
CH A PT E R XXI I I .
TH E SA C RED C IT Y OF O U R GA .
Th e R uss i an c on sul ,
M F e o d r o ff —H o spi t
ali t y f t h e C s u lat
. o on e
—T h e li on s ” “
f O u g a—T h c l ssal s t tu
o f th
r e o o a e o e
”— ”—
Ma i dh
a Th B gd f Hu
e A o im p m p tu
or o r en e n ro
i te e
n r vi w P ay r wh ls P ayi g b a ds — R eligi us
r e ee r n o r o
f e vo u r o f t h e
r M o n go ls .
D IS A PP OIN T IN G
though
the first view Of
the sacred city u n
dou b tedly is when ,
seen from t h e moun

tains it certainly i m
,
proves On a nearer i n
s ect i on
p A s I dro ve.
through th e broad
i r n ci al t h o r o u h far e
p p g ,
which was thro n ged

with as noisy and p i e
t u r e s qu e a crowd as
A T EE T M U ICI A N U G A
S R S ,
O R .
could well be Im a
g i n ed I c o u l d n o t help coming to
,
'
the conclus i on
t h at however uninteresting its buildings were amo n g
, ,
its inhabitants at any rate I sh ould find a m ple scope

, ,
for my brush and pencil during my stay On .
reaching the house of the merchant on whom I had

a letter of credit a n d where I had anticipated being
,
able to find a lodging I learned to my disappoint

, ,
ment that there was no room to spare for the

,
moment but that the Russian consul had sent word

,
( as evidently my arrival had been expected ) that I

was to stay at the Consulate ; so without losing ,
time I ordered my man to drive there at once as

, ,
it was getting dark and the horses had evidently

had enough work for the day It took half an hour .
t o reach the large block O f buildings with the gilt ,
dome which represents the kingdom of the Czar at

,
O urga .
For reasons best known to the authorities the ,
C onsulate is situated at least two miles from the city ,
and stands quite alone out in the desert some , ,
d istance from any habitation Most of t h e few .
travellers I believe wh o have visited this out —

, ,
O f the -
way corner of the w orld have been received and

e ntertained under its hospitable roof during the fe w
d ays their stay has usually laste d for accommoda ,
tion in Ourga itself is very di ffi cult to find owing ,
to the fe w E uropeans living there Putting up at a .
Mongol yourt being of course out of the question

, , ,
a n d as I had come with the express intention of

studying this city and its inhabitants so little known , ,
I presently decided th at I should h ave but little

o pportunity of so doing if I fixed my quarters so far
from the centre O f interest ; so I made up my mind

to put up with anythi n g in the shape of accommoda
tion in Ourga itself I received a very kind and
.
truly Russian welcome from t h e Consul M F e odr off ,

. .
The fact Of my being a total stra n ger u n prov i ded ,
even with a letter O f introduction to him appeared ,
to m a ke no difference He had he a rd I was coming

.
,
so took it for granted that I like other travellers , ,
would stay at the Consulate On my informing him .
O f my desire to fi n d if possi b le a lodging in t h e

, ,
city itself he good naturedly O ffered to do his best

,
to help me but added that he doubted my b eing

,
able to get anythin g comfortable as th ere were only ,
se ven E uropean houses and these so small that thei r

,
accommodation was naturally very limited In t h e .
mean time he begged me to make myself at home a t

his place .
The Consulate I found was quite a little colony in

, ,
itself consisti n g of the men employ ed by the consu l

,
and their families each havi n g their o wn quarters

,
.
One wing Of the build i n g was used as a post o th ee ; -
for although on Chinese territory the postal servic e

, ,
across Mongolia and thro u gh China to Peking and

Tientsin is conducted e n tirely by Russ i ans Besides .
the actual p er s onn e l of the establishment there was ,
also a guard O f five Cossacks under the command o f

a non commissioned Officer In spite however of the
-
.
, ,
attractions of the comfortable quarters I was i n I ,
reminded my hospitable host t h e very n ext day o f

his original tent The effect therefore of these long

.
, ,
monotonous rows of rough logs relieved at regular ,
intervals by tall wooden doors all exactly of the ,
s ame pattern is indescribably dreary ; and were it

, ,
not for the t wo or three large open spaces where a

bazaar is daily held there would b e but little to see
, ,
1
for Ourga has but few There is really only
o n e building of any pretension in the place and that ,
is the large wooden Buddhist temple which enshrines

the huge gilt bronze figure dedicated to the apostle
-
“
M a i dh a .
E ither the Mongols don t kno w or won t tell — most

’ ’
probably the former but at any rate I was unable , , ,
to find out anything about this mysterious figure or ,
h ow or when t h e immense mass O f metal w a s brought

t o the desert ci t v I t is certainly not less than forty
.
fee t in height and is in the familiar seated position

,
in which Buddha is al w ays represented In fact I .

,
s hould have taken it for that divinity had not my
informant a Mongol insisted on its representing ,
M a i dh a who I afterwards learned is one of the

, , ,
Mongol Buddhist a postles and one much p rayed to ,
in Mongolia The body and extremities of this

.
immense figure are draped in yello w silk and are ,
a lmost lost in the surrounding obscuri t y ; but the

face itself which is surmounted by a maj estic crown
, ,
is lighted up by a hidden window i n front of it so

i t stands out in foreshortened relief against the
darkness of the dome which gives it a certain weird ,
appearance t h at is somewhat increased by the eye s

being painted a natural colour .
Still Ourga is most interesting representing as i t

, ,
does one of the standpoints of the Mongol B u ddhist

faith and the capital of a fast disappearing nation ;
,
for here is the abode

of that most holy O f
h oly perso n ages the ,
”
Bogdo r of K u r e n e ,
and long and weary

are the pilgrimages
frequently made by
devout Mongols for a
gli m pse of this m y s t e
r i o u s man who o c cu
,
pies i n their faith

almost the same posi
tion as the pope does ,
or rather did in former

times to the Catholi cs
, .
It is for this reason

A PI LG I M F M THIB E T R RO .
t ha t Ourga is spoken
of as a sacre d city and ranks immediately aft er the

,
mystic capital O f Th ibet L hassa where is the abode

'
, ,
of the prophet of Buddha the livi n g God the mighty, ,
D alai L ama and which is yet a forbidden place t o

,
unbelievers .
The Bogdor of K u r e n e is a sort of branch establish

ment in Ourga of t h e head o ffice at L h a ssa ; for all
, ,
Bogdor are supplied exactly O f the same youthfu l age ,
when r e q uired by the D alai L ama himself It is

,
.
diffi cult to learn what are the special aptitudes

necessary for this high p osition for the a verage ,
M ongol is very reticent on matters concerning h i s

faith ; but at any rate wh atever they may be the
, , ,
Bogdor seems to have a very good time of it here for ,

,
h e has little or nothing to do but to live on the fat

of the land and to say prayers a l l day What more .
can a man want He has no voice in municipal and

Sta t e matters which are conducted entirely by a
,
Manchurian ge n eral representing China and by a

, ,
Mongolian prince There is however j ust one little

.
, ,
d rawb ack t o being so august a personage If the .
Bogdor conducts himself as his n umerous L amas

consider h e ought t O do all goes well ; but u n for t u
’
,
n a t el
y youth w i l l have or tries to have
, i t s fling and , ,
even a Bogdor is a fter all only an ordinary mortal

, ,
so when as has been usually the ea s e up to now th e

, ,
youth arrived at years of discretion wished to

, ,
meddle in affairs which di d not concern him or to ,
indulge in pleasures not consonant with his austere

position he su ddenly died ; he was snuffed out so
, ,
to speak h ow or when was never known n or were

, ,
an
y questions asked ; and in course of time another
Bogdor arrived from L hassa to take his place and ,
perchance also to meet the same fate V ery few of .
these holy y out h s have lived much beyond the age

o f twenty The first of the l ine t w o hun dred years
.
,
dressed in bright yellow silk the crow n of his fur ,
trim m ed hat c overed with gol d which glittered lik e ,
a halo on h is hea d A lthough I had some idea tha t

.
he must b e some very exalted personage i n spite of ,

"
the frantic sh outing of the people aroun d I went on ,
quietly w ith my sketch j ust for the fun o f seeing t h e

,
adventure out In a few seconds they were close to

.
!
me whe n to my astonishment they all gallop ed u p

, , ,
to where I was and I was su rrounded by a curiou s

,
and inquisitive crow d who had probably n ever ,
se en a sketch book before Th e pale faced y o uth

-
.
-
,
who looked something like an E nglishman got up for

a fancy dress b all appeared to be the most interested
-
,
in m y proceedi n gs and put several questions to m e

,
in Mongol which of course were unintelligible t o

, , ,
m e so I replied in Russian sayi n g I was an E nglish

, ,
man and di d not understand Mongolian E vidently .
this was considered a capital j oke although I had ,
not inten ded t o b e humorous ; for they all laughe d

heartily for a fe w moments and then some one said ,
something to the pale faced youth and they con -

,
tin n ed their ride Immediately they were gone the

.
people came up a n d pointi n g to the horsemen said

, , , ,
”
Bogdor ! Bo gdor ! in a reverential sort of way ,
making signs that th e youth with the gold roof t o

his hat was th at august person himself So I sup .
pose I c a n claim th e honour of bei n g the firs t

E uropean who has h a d an i nterview
”
w ith this “
.
inaccessible personage .
TO TH E Y E LL OW S EA . 2 81
The Bogdor of K u r en e is supported on the same

f —
principle as a r e some O the L ondon hospitals that
is by v o l u ntary contrib u tions only ; yet so fervent
,
are the Mongols in a ll matters connected with their

religion that the amount of donations of all sorts
,
which annually reach him is sufficient to suppor t him

and his numerous suite
O f L amas in a grand and
fitting style A ll is grist

.
which comes to the Bog

dor s mill so everyt h ing
’
ho wever small is accept ,
able and the poorest

,
Mongol can Offer his

humble tribute .
By the way I was ,
much struck by the

number of L amas I met
everywhere in Mongolia ;
almost every other m a n
seemed one On inquir
LA M
.
A A
i ng ,
ho wever I found ,
that although there are so many most of them

, ,
are only so i n name but a comparatively small ,
proportion are really priests It is customary ou t .

,
of every family where there are several sons to make ,
at least one of them a L ama From his earliest .
childhood his head is shaved this being th e great ,
distin guishi n g outward mark betwee n the L amas and

ordinary individ u als ; and though perhaps h e may , ,
not i n after life serve as a priest still he can n ever ,
marry The title Of L ama therefore in most cases

.
, , ,
is but a very empty one a n d carries nothing with it

,
except the O bligation to wear always yellow a n d red ,
and to dispense with the pigtail and man y oth er

comforts of life .
Still I could not h e lp feeling that the Mongols

,
are in their way a very religious people and as

, , , ,
I have remarked before their devotions form an i m

,
portant item in their daily routine though perhaps , ,
to an unb eliever in the Mongol B u ddhist fait h these ,
devotions may seem to take a fo rm which is some

what astonishing Still i t cannot be denied they are
.
,
carried out with great sincerity A mong the principal .
features of Ourga are t h e prayer wheels which are -

,
placed for public use in most of the big open spaces .
These wheels or rat her h ollow wooden cylinders are

,
-
,
placed under cover of ro u gh wooden sheds and ,
present at first sight a very curious appearance .
Most of th em are covered with Thibetan inscriptio n s ,
and all are com pletely fi lled with prayers written

on pieces O f paper In order to pray all that is
.
,
necessary—beyond O f course a sincere faith in w hat

, ,
you ar e doing— is to walk round and round inside

the sh ed and turn the cylinder with you ; th e more
,
turns the better M any of the Old people w hile

.
,
O perating the large w heel with one hand at the same ,
time diligent l y turn a small portable one with the

O dds and ends of silk and bits O f rags intended a s ,
O fferings to Buddha .
A par t from the wheels are the prayer boards “

-
,
also placed for public use in various parts of th e city ,
and on which are contin u ally to b e seen prostrat e

fig u res lyi ng on their faces and thus literally ,
humbling themselves to the very dust Fro m a littl e .
P AYE B OA D S O U GA
R R- R , R .
distance these boards presented a very ludicro u s

,
appearance which so reminded m e of th e familia r

,
spring board in a swimming bat h that I n ever passed

- -
the m with out an i nward grin s—if you can imagine

what that is — for any out ward sign of mirth at t h e
strange proceedings would probably have got m e
into trouble T he whole action of th e people using
.
them was exactly like that of a person preparing

to mak e a run along the board and take a
”
“
header rather than a prelude to a devotional
e xercise .
’
I do n t think I was e ver in a more strangely
r eligious place than Ourga E verywhere at the .
,
most unexpected places at all times one often saw

, ,
p eople throwi ng themselves suddenly face down

wards full le n g t h on the ground saying their
, ,
prayers just a s the fit took them I suppose these

, , ,
c urious proceedi n gs attracting no attention Many .
a time I h ave been ridin g quietly along when all ,
O f a sudden my horse w ould be made to swerve

v iolently by some hideous old man or woman who ,
w a s seized w ith an irresistib l e impulse to say a

rayer j ust in front of its feet A n d their devotions
p .
d o not end here for every y ou r t h ow e ve r humble

, , ,
not only contains a family wheel but is decorated ,
”
outside w ith innumerable prayer fl ags or rather -
,
bits of rag tied on to strings suspended from poles all

,
round the palisades Till I was informed what they

.
w ere I took them for bird scares for they could not
,
-
, ,
e ven by the wildest stretch O f the imagination be ,
taken for flags If the Mongols were only a quarter

.
a s industrious in ordinary everyday pursuits as they
a r e in their religion t h e Chi n ese would not as the

,
y ,
d o m onopolize all the trade of the country while its

, ,
inh abitants sit about on their hams twirling their

prayer wheels or manipulating their rosaries quite
-
,
content if they only earn enough to keep them from

day to day .
’
The sight of a nation s decadence is al ways a sad
dening spectacle ; but that of the once so powerful
Mo n gol race being gradually but surely exting u ished ,
by the people they once conquered is a stil l further ,
and o verwhelming instanc e Of D arwin s theo ry o f ’
the sur vival of the fittest A lthough b eyond the .

,
annual reari n g O f a fe w ponies camels and cattle , ,
by some O f the richer families there is no actual ,
industry and the bulk of the populace live fro m

,
!
h and to mouth there are but few signs O f actual

,
want Of course there are poor wretchedly p oor

.
, ,
people in Ou rga who live or rather manage to

, , , ,
exist in the most awful hovels Bu t still during the

, .
,
whole month I spent in the sacred city I was never ,
once pestered b y a beggar indeed I never saw one , .
O urga in this respect o ffered an agreeable con

, ,
o
trast to most O f the Siberian towns I was in where ,
’
one could never leave one s hotel or lodgings W ith out
finding quite a little crowd of them lying in wait .
Whether this is a relic of the Ol d national pride I ,
cannot of course tell but I give it as a curious and

, , ,
remarkable fact .
The absence of beggars was however but the one , ,
redeeming feature of this dirty and disappointi n g

city — or rather I don t think that this could b e
, ,
’ '
called a redeeming feature for it was more than ,
co u nterbalanced b v the immense q u antity of dog s

T O TH E Y E LL OW SEA . 2 87
—
with which the place is infested h u ge fierce brutes ,
more li ke wild beasts than domestic a ni mals They .
are not unlike certain breeds of Scotch collies only ,
considerably larger Till I went to Ourga I used t o

.
,
be fond of the friend of man ; but I had not been

“
long in the sacred city before I got to h ate the very

sight of dogs A t night it was absolutely impossibl e
.
to work owing t o the incessant barking they kept

up ; at all times it was dangerous to ve nt u re out
unless one was armed with a heavy stick Al though .
it would not be a di fficult matter to extermi nat e

these pests they are lef t to increase unmolested so
,
it is not to be wondered at that every street i s

blocked with them to the great danger Of passengers
,
.
These dogs do n o t confine their attentions entirely

to strangers the inhabitants themselves feari n g the m
,
as much as the E u ropeans do It wil l give some ide a

.
of the size and ferocity Of the brutes when I add that

only a sho r t time ago an O l d woma n passing through ,
a b y street w a s set upon by a pack of them a n d

-
, ,
actual ly torn to pieces and devoured in broad day ,
light before any assistance could reach her N or i s

,
.
this an isolated instance for not many y ears since an

,
old L ama was riding t h rough the city late at night ,
when he was literally dragged O ff his horse and

killed Very fe w of the in habitants think of go i n g
.
out i n the streets at night unless they have very

,
important business and then very seldom alone

, .
One of the worst i n a u r a i s gu a r ts d heu r e I think

-
’
I ever had was one afternoon here w hen aecom , ,
p an i ed by a Russian friend who spoke a little ,
E n glish I was returning from a stroll around

,
In .
order to m ake a short cut we passed through a ,
number of narro w back streets and w hile going ,
along the v ery narrowest of these we suddenly heard

a sort Of hoarse murmur behind us which w a s ,
quickly getting nearer On lookin g back to see .
w hat it was we sa w a big cloud of dust and in the

, ,
midst of it a huge crowd of dogs coming towards us ,
at full speed with one wretched looki n g brute on

,
-
ahead of them w h i ch they were evidently chivying

, .
The fe w people in the street made a rush for their

doors and got inside their enclosure w ithout much
,
”
hesitation It is a m a d dog ! exclaimed my com
.
“
panion at the same time pulling me close to the

,
palisade b ehind us which was flush with the road ,

.
We stood with our backs to it as flat as we could ,
make ours elves and in less time than it takes to tell

,
it the w hole pack were abreast Of us with the poor ,
hunted beast covered with blood and dirt snapping

, ,
and biting v iciously right and left at his tormentors

as he flew past Fortunately for u s they were too
.
,
occupied to direct their energies in our direction ,
though they actually had to squeeze by us so narrow ,
was the street I did n Ot feel comfor t able a gain

.
u ntil s ome little time af t er they were out of sight .
The savage nature of these brutes will be more

readily unders t ood when it is remembered that the
some trifling article and pai d for it i n Russian money ,
which the Mongols a r e at any rate shrewd enough

, ,
n ever to refuse Imagine my s u rprise when for the

.
,
change I was handed a small slab of brick t e a and

,
-
two dirty little b its O f floss silk which I should have ,
passed u n noticed in the gutter These rags which .

,
intrinsically were probably wort h less than a farthing ,
represented t wenty kopeks ( S ixpence ) as I was i n ,
formed while t h e tea was equivalent to thirty kopeks

, .
This tea by the way is the only real currency

, ,
thro u ghout M ongolia ; the silk is becoming gradually

O b solete ,
probably because it wears out too soon ,
whereas the tea will stand almost any amount of

”
hard we a r A brick of tea sixteen inches long
.
“
,
by eight wide and about one and a half thick r e pr e ,
sents sixty kopeks equal to one shilli n g and S ix p ence

, .
If a smaller sum is necessary the brick is cut up into ,
sections s ay six O f ten kopeks each and even these

, , ,
are again subdivided b y the poorer Mongols .
It is curious to note that although M o ngolia is ,
really Chinese territory everything is Russian S O to

, ,
speak ; and even the tea and silk represent an equi

vale n t in Russian and n o t Chinese money Some of .
the Russian merchants in Ourga have even adopted a

sort of pr i vate bank note system so as to do away
-
,
w ith the bother of havi n g to keep a large stock of

loose cash — that is O f bricks — always handy
,
.
These notes represent so many bricks each and are ,
redeemable on demand but I hear that the Mongols

TO TH E Y EL L O W S EA . 291
prefer the bulky article to the flimsy paper substitute .
When after a time this currency becomes inj ured by

, ,
hard u s a ge and chipped round the edges it is use d

, ,
for the usual purposes Of tea and it may be imagine d ,
what a delightful beverage it makes after it has bee n

passing from hand to hand for some months among .
the dirty Mongols ! However these children of t h e ,
desert are not fastidious and the greasy looking stu ff

,
-
is broken up and literally put to ste w in the common

cauldron of the yourt where eaten wi t h millet seed
, , ,
it makes a dish much appreciated for some days .
This dish is to the Mongol what the samovar is t o

th e Russian and if one is on intimate terms e n ough
,
”
to visit a big man i n his yourt al mos t the first
“
,
thi n g he Offers y o u is a basin of tea which is usually ,
poured out of a metal j ug begrimed wi t h the dirt of

generations I remember on one occasion aecom
.
,
a n i e d by a friend who S poke M ongolian visiti ng

p ,
a Mon gol who was rather a swell in his way for his ,
yourt which I had been a nxious to see was fitted up

, ,
”
with some pretension to style We seated our .
selves in the usual manner on the floor and our host , , ,
a fter a few minutes of conversation O f course Offered ,
us the i nevitable tea T h is was what I wanted

.
particularly to avoid but there was no getting out

,
of it this time A particularly unwholesome looking

.
-
old h a g then dived into the gloomy recesses O f a sort

of cupboard and produced three wooden b owls con
,
taining so m e greasy lookin g com pound w hich she

-
,
forthwith proceeded to clean out with her grimy

fingers finishing up by polishing them vigorous ly with
,
the tail Of h er gown ; these tasty receptacle s were

then placed before us on the ground and filled with ,
some vile liquid which b ore no more resemblance to

'
th e cup which cheers but does not inebriate than

does the proverbial chalk to t h e proverbial cheese .
It would have been an insult to the man to have

refused h i s h ospitality so for the next five minutes
,
I was racking my brai n h o w to get out of even

sipping the a w ful stuff My companion wh o was .
“
used to Mongolian customs was not s o delicate in h i s ,
tastes and managed to get through his b owl all

,
right at the same time advising me to try and do

,
likewise so as not to Offend the man Pr o vide n

,
.
t i a lly at this mo m ent some one came to th e door
O f the yourt to speak to our host and we all got u p , ,
I imme diately taking advantage Of the opportunity

to quietly empty the contents Of my bowl into a dark
corner near me We shortl y after took ou r leave i n
.
,
’
spite of the old Mongol s pressing invitation to stay
’
and h ave a drop more tea ; and when we got out side
th e yourt my companion who had not noticed my
, ,
man oeuvres but had O bserve d the empty bowl r e

, ,
’
marked that he knew I should like Mongol tea i f

I once tried it !
It was fortunate I had plenty of work to occupy
me for there was little or nothing t o do but to stroll
,
round about a sort of market place where a bazaa r -

,
T O T HE Y EL L O W S EA . 2 93
wa s daily h eld and whe re everythi n g almost could

.
—
be bought Mo n golian of course This market alon e ,
. .
offered almost endless scope for my pencil for it ,
always presented interes t ing scenes One part was .
devoted to camels and p o n i e s a nd it was amusing ,

'
to watch the zeal displayed by the owners of some

promising lot when a likely purchaser appeared .
When I was at Ourga one could ge t a very decent

looking pony for abo u t t wo pounds ( sixteen rou b les ) ,
which was not dear considering ; for I don t think ,

’
it is possi b le to get anything really good for less any

where — this I believe will be conceded In Southern
, , .
Mongolia in t h e district bordering on China these

, ,
serviceable little animals fetch much high er prices ,
especially if they sho w a ny sign of speed ; and the

district at certain ti me s Of the year is overrun with
"
agents from Sh anghai a nd Tientsin racing men on -
”
t h e look out for promising
-
gr i ffi n s and compara ,
t i v ely big sums of money are paid for them A part .
from racing purposes , the Mongolian ponies make

capital hacks when trimmed up a bit and knocked
into shape I could hardly believe th at the smart
.
,
well fed carefully groomed animals I saw in Peki n g

-
, ,
Tientsi n and Shanghai were originally rough u n

, ,
kempt brutes of the desert so great was the trans ,
formation .
A nother part of the market would be occupied by
A g iffi nr is a
yo un g u n t ra i n ed h o rs e which sh o ws sig n s
”
of
“
sp e e d .
vendors of saddlery an important and flourishing

,
departm ent as well it might be considering wh at

, ,
indefatigable horsemen the Mongols are But w hat .
always struck me as being th e m ost unique part of

the motley gathering an d a sight almost wor t h going
,
to O u rga to see was the hat bazaar a department

,
-
,
entirely i n the hands O f the fair sex A Mongol s .

’
h a t is perhaps the most striking feature O f his

, ,
toil et ; and a rich man w ill O ft en spend a large sum

on his fur trimmed head gear There is very little
- -
.
’ ’
to distinguish a lad y s from a gentleman s only a ,
tassel or two behind and as owing to their peculiar

, ,
sh ape no particular difference in size is necessary

, ,
there is any nu mber to selec t from The noisy .
crowd of chattering females dressed in their quaint ,
costume with their multi coloured stock i n trade

,
- - -
,
was undoubtedly one of the most interesting sights

of Ourga ; a n d often did I h over around t hem with
m y sketch book in hand-
But although it was a .
quiet and inoffensive crowd i n the bazaar it was ,
certainly a very curious and inq u isitive on e and at

first it was very trying to my temper to find myself
suddenly th e centre O f a grou p of dirty evil smelling ,
-
M o ngols who were n o t satisfied with mere observa

,
tion of my movements but would actually maul me ,
all over with their hot grimy fi n gers to a scertain O f

what stuff my clothes were made my corduroy coat ,
especially coming i n for the largest share O f public

attention A fter a time however I got u sed to the se
.
, ,
2 96 FR O M TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
the street and combine with the dogs to make night

,
hideous Besides these varied arrangements there is

.
,
a regiment of Chinese soldiers quartered on the out

skirts O f t h e to wn formi n g a sort of body guard to '
-
,
the Chinese resident ge n eral who represents the ,

’
suzerainty of the First Cousin of the Moon over

the Mongol Tartars and who in conj unction with , ,
the Mongol prince constitutes the Government of

,
’
the whole territory for the Bogdor s power is merely
,
spiritual and he has actually nothing to do with the

,
management of State affairs .
Still I could not help feeling h o w much more

,
under Russian than Chinese influence everything was

in Mo n golia For instance the consul at Ourga was
.
,
undoubtedly a far more important personage than

even the Chinese general himself and from what ,
I learnt I believe the l ate c on s u l M S h i s m a r o ff

'
'
.
, , ,
was practically the leading m a n of Ourga for he was ,
not only very much esteemed and looked up to by

the Mongols but was actually consulted by them
,
in most S t ate affairs The fact of a l l the trade O f

.
t h e c o u n t r y being virtually in the hands of the

'
Russians may to a certain extent accou nt for this

ascendancy ; but b e it what it m a y one thing is ,
certain that a Cossack cap inspires an incredible

,
amount O f respect in these distant regions not only ,
amo n g the Mongols but also the Chinese themselves

,
for there seems to be as far as I could make out , ,
a pretty general apprehension or rather conviction , ,

of what would h appen were a subj ect of the Czar

to be O ffered any insult D uring my subsequent
.
j ourn ey throug h China I was much struck with the

difference of the footing on whic h E nglish and other
nationalities are placed with regard to the Chinese .
The days in Ourga passed by very slowly indeed ,
and had it not been for the work I had laid myself
out to get through the month I spent in the sacred
,
city would have been very dreary indeed for the ,
whole time I was there but one event occurred to

break the eternal monotony of the stagna n t existence .
This was the annual commemoration of the festival

of the M a idh a o n A pril 2 3 the most important of
, ,
yearly celebrations among the Mongol B u ddhists For .
days beforehand the city was in t h e throes of pre

r a t i on the various m arkets were shifted to other
p a ,
temporary quarters and the streets through which

,
t h e procession was to pass were invaded by hordes of
youngsters whose mission was to clean up the roads

,
as much as p os s i b le a n d it was no easy matter con

w
s i der i n
g that they are all used as open sewers Th e .
mode of procedure was certai n ly novel if n othing ,
else The bulk of the filth w as swept into big h eaps

.
,
and shovelled into dried bullock hides to which ropes

-
,
were fastened A dreary sort O f c h orus was then

.
started and the load was dragged away and deposited

,
on some other road generally only a few y ards

,
distant.
The appointed day arri ved and from an early hour

,
the populace thronged the different O pen spaces

where the best view of the proceedings could be
O btained Fortunately the weather was fine so t h e
.
, ,
c o up d ec i l was very animated and interesting ; the

’
-
—
procession which was really three processions moving
abreast — was certainly most imposing in effect and ,
quite Oriental in the brilliancy O f the colours di s

played It was composed exc l usi vely of L amas and
.
, ,
from the length of it gave me a fair i dea ho w many

,
of these men there are in the capital alone On all .
sides were to be seen h uge waving banners with

'
stra n ge devices on them and surmounted by still ,
stranger carvings ; immense coloured umbrellas on ,
stands each drawn by several m en ; also crowds

,
fantastically attired marchin g along beating large

, ,
drums shaped like big warming pans others blowing -
musical instruments of forms and shapes impossible

to describe ; while in the centre O f this immense
movi n g crowd was a huge sort O f trophy on w heels , ,
and surmounted by a large woo den horse painted ,
red and sheltered from the rays O f the sun by a big

,
multi coloured umbrella fixed over it

-
This was .
evidently the p i ece de r é s i s t a n ce for it towered high ,
ab ove a l l the rest Close behind it surroun ded by

.
,
a crowd Of the highest L amas was a bright y ellow ,
sedan chair in which reclin ed the sacred Bogdor

-
,
h imself .
The procession making a tour of the city with

, ,
certain halts a t different spots either for refres h ment ,

A N O U R GA B EA UT Y .
’
TO T HE Y ELL OW S EA . 2 99
or religious O bser vance — I could not quite make out

—
which probably both occupied the greater part O f
,
the da y many of the rests being for as long as an

,
.
hour all the men then squatting on the ground in

,
lines round the centre trophy I managed to get .
a very good V iew O f the early part O f these pro

’
c e e di n s from the roof of a frie n d s ho u se and then
g ,
took my horse and rode through the crowd to inspect

,
’
it more closely I don t think I ever saw a m o re
.
gorgeous display of costumes and j ewellery Some .
of the women were dressed in the richest of silks ,
a n d were literally one mass o f silver decorations from
head to fe e t ; back and front every available part ,
was covered w ith the very q uaintest ornaments

imaginable till they had t h e appearance O f walking
,
—
j ewellery shops and th ey seemed not th e least afraid
O f being robbed while pushi n g t h eir way through the
crowd Of course most of the el i t e w ere on h orse

.
,
back and it was curious to notice how even in far

, ,
a way Ourga the old O l d story is still the same ;

, ,
for I saw m any really pretty girls surro u nded by

quite a little crowd of admirers fl irting away j ust ,
like their sisters in the civili z ed world .
One touch of natu r e makes the whole world kin ,
and for a moment I felt quite lonely at n o t knowing

any of them and being able to j oin in the fun Th e
, .
day s following all this animation were very dull

indeed and I could not help thinking that even a
,
few more re l igious processions would have helped to

3 00 E R GI II TH E
’
A R C TI C O C EA N T O TH E YEL L O W S E A .
liven dreary Ourga up a hi t A s it was I fou nd

.
,
m y self e a gerly looking forward to my j ourney across

the desert to the Great Wall and had I bee n able to
curtail my stay I certainly sh ould h a ve done s o
, ,
b ut
3 02 FR OM TH E
'
A R C TI C O C EA N
they shook their heads and expressed an opinion ,
that I would not find it an easy matter to make up

so small a caravan as I should require for the j ourney .
A nd so it proved Moreover much to my annoyance

.
, ,
I learnt that there was not one really reliable Mongol

in O u rga at the time and that to think of going ,
alone with doubtfu l guides would have been t o t e m p t

Providence I was therefore advised to make the
.
, ,
bes t of it and postpone my departure for a w hile on ,
the chance of something turning up A t length the .
Russian postmaster with who m I was on very frien dly

,
terms came to my rescue and kindly O ffered to let

, ,
me acco m pany th e caravan of the Russian Heavy

Mail as far as Peking This w a s indeed a bit of .
luck for the c on vo v is not only always accompanied

,
b v t wo experienced Cossacks but does the j ourney ,
in considerably less time th an any ordinary caravan ,
and my expenses would also b e very much lessene d .
A S the time for my departure approached my ,
preparations for the long and te dious j ourney required

a good deal O f atten t ion for nothi n g can be purchased
,
en r ou t e Much to my disappointment I learned

.
,
that I should not be able to take my horse with me ,
as there w ould be no means of getting sufficient food

for him even if he co u ld stand the long forced
,
marches for it is only by h aving relays of fresh

,
camels that the mail can get across so q u ick l y as it

does I h a d taken the precaution to bring out with
.
me from E ng l and a s u fficient quantity of tinned pro

[ To f a c 3 03
: C A M EL C A T
e p . .
MY
-
R .
the Gobi in this ca m el cart and that was that I

-
, ,
possessed under certain conditions a thorough com

, ,
mand of my mother tongue I managed to hire .
one of these conveyances for to have one built ,
expressly is a very expensive a ffair and would have ,
taken some little time I also had to hir e an extra

.
camel from the Mongol who runs th e m ail for the ,
postmaster only undertook to provide me with one

for my baggage so I had to ge t a n other expressly
,
—
to draw m y cart no e a s v matter a s I soon found ,
out for it is not every one of these brutes that will

,
’
allo w himself to be harnessed ; and when they don t
at once condescend to walk between the shafts n o ,
m an n er of persuasion will ever in duce them to do so .
With a camel whipping is simply out of the questio n ;

for immediately one attempts to chastise him h e
'
, ,
either lies do wn and refuses to get up or else starts

, ,
kicking . Till I went to Mongolia I had al ways

thought that the camel was the most patient and
docile of animals I soon however saw that for
.
, ,
absolute bad temper and stubbornness he h as n ot his

equal anywhere a n d as added to th ese gentle traits
,
of ch aracter nature has also provided him with a

,
unique and disgusting means Of defence in the form of ,
a power to spit or rather ej ect almost on the slightest

, ,
provocation a mass O f undigested food a t any one

, ,
wh o may be unlucky enough to incur h i s displeasure ,
it may b e imagined that he is seldom interfered with by

strangers owi n g to the risk of receiving one of these
,
TO TH E Y E LL OW S EA . 3 05
odoriferous discharges N o less than s i x camels were

.
tried before one could be found which was deemed

reliable enough to dra w th e cart and this had to be ,
bought for the purp ose The value Of these brutes

.
varies according to their age ; full grown ones gene -
rally average from 1 6 0 to 2 0 0 roubles to

Th e Mongolian dromedary or rather camel— for it
,
—
has two humps is a very different looking animal to -
its A rabian cousin for it is very much smaller and

,
in winter covered with a long and shaggy coat O f

h air D uring the summer months this coat comes
.
off and the an i mal then present s an even more

,
-
unpleasant appearance than usual which however , , ,
in summer or winter is thoroughly in harmony with

,
that O f the Mo n gol attendants .
The caravan of the Russian Heavy Mail usually

consists of the two Cossacks in charge of it three ,
Mongols and six camels If the mail be an e x c ep

,
.
t i on al l y heavy one an extra camel is perhaps added

,
but this occurs very seldom It is in reality th e.

, ,
Parcel Pos t for only heavy matter is sent by it

,
.
L etters are conveyed across the Gobi by horse post ,
which goes three times a month both ways o n a ,
system not unlike the Ol d pony express in A merica ,
the distance of one thousand miles from Ki a k h t a to ,
Kalgan being covered in th e S hort time of nine days

,
by five consecutive riders and nine relays of h orses .
Only Mongols are employed on this a rduous task ,
and night a n d clay in all weathers and seasons these

, ,
x
hardy sons of the desert do their monotonous a n d

lonely j ourney keeping their time with almost the
,
regularity O f clockwork so well is the system organ ,
i z ed . They go at a hard gallop the wh ole way th e ,
mail being carried in saddle bags slung over a second -

,
.
horse which they lead with them The difference in

,
.
the time occupied by the heavy and th e li ght posts

is naturally very considerable the c a i a va n s t aking as
much as seventeen and eighteen days to do the -
distance from Ourga to Kalgan and this even wit h

“
,
four different relays of camels on the way Still .

,
this is very much quicker than the ordinary tea

caravans can do it for it is no unusual occurrence
,
for twenty fi ve thirty or even as much as forty

-
, ,
days to b e spent on the j ourney across The great .
difference of course between the mail and the private

, ,
caravan is that the latter has the same camels to go

the whole way ; so a road has to be taken which
passes through the district most likely to afford
pasturage to the animals A s owing to the number .
,
of caravans passing these pastures are yearly becoming

,
m ore remote the roads in consequence are getting

, , ,
longer for the ordinary caravans for they have to ,
go fu rther afield in search of grass The two Cossacks .
who went in charge of the mail I accompanied were

both men who had had much e x perience on the road ,
the leader N i c ol a i eff having been eleven years con

, ,
t i n u a l ly passi n g to and fro across the Gobi S O he ,
knew almost every inch O f the ground .

T O TH E Y EL L O W SEA . 304
I could not help wondering what ind u cement the

dreary Mongolia n waste could O ffer to any young
and active m a n for h i m to elect to pass his life in
,
it so to speak ; for although the same Cossacks

, ,
accompany the mail right across China as far even ,
as T i e n t s i n they only stay long enoug h there for the

,
contrast of the life in the busy to wn t o appear even

more marked in comparison with their o wn mono
tonous existence Yet th ere are men in most cases
.
,
married who actually give up the best years of their

,
lives in th i s obscure and remote postal service and —

for what ? Th e Cossack N i c ol a i eff received I learnt , ,
the m u n i fi c en t s u m of twenty roubles per

month out of which he had to keep himself and
,
family ! S t ep an o ff who was his j unior received

, ,
somewhat less Of course it must not be forgotten

.
,
that living is cheap in th ese pa rts Still 1 2 s 6 d .

,
. .
per week is not a big sum to keep a large family on .
It has seldom been my luck to come across two

s u ch thoroughly good fellows as these hu m b le
Cossacks and i t was with a real feeling Of regret
,
that I separated from them at the end of th e j ourney ;

’
for I don t think that I ever met t wo men working
together In more absol u te harmony of fri endshi p .
There w a s n one of the effu siveness one sees in the

higher walks Of life but there was I noticed a
, , ,
certain quiet and unobtrusive steadfastness bet ween

them which meant vol u mes more than a ll the old “
”
chap this or old man that could ever convey
“
.
D uty bound them together and with the implicit ,
obedience to it which is an instinctive quality in the

character of the Russian soldier they did their work ,
together like men and brothers .
It was with a feeling of relief that o n May 7 I

left the dreary desert city of Ourga though certainly ,
not without some forebodings O f the hardships which

would have t o be endured before I reached civiliz a
tion . E ight hun dred miles of sandy waste lay
between m e and the Great Wall of China —a sandy
waste which for utter desolation and monotony is
, ,
probably without an equal in the world I do not .
prop ose to give a chronol ogical a ccount of th e tedious

j ourney ; events were so few and far b etween durin g
th e long a n d tiresome marches tha t a description of
the routine O f on e da y will suffice for all Th e start .
’
for the day s j ourney w a s usually m ade at daybreak ,
wh en in a few seconds the sleep i ng encampment

would b ecome a scen e of bust l e a n d m ovement The .
dawn was scarcely visible in a faint streak of rosy

red on th e h orizon when the drivers would b e ,
awakened by th e lea der and preparations at once ,
made for t h e start A ll had to be repacked on th e

.
camels and m ine re h arn essed to my cart everything

, ,
being fi nish ed a n d ready to proceed in an incredibly

short space O f time N 0 time w hatever was w a sted
.
in toilet arra n gements or even refreshing the inner

m an and although I wo u ld often have given any
, ,
thing for a cup Of hot co ffee or Bouillon Fleet before

3 10 FR OM T H E A R C TI C O C EA N
astonish e d the simple Mongol Still even this .

,
attempt at a square meal was n ever unattended by

discomfort for in th e middle of th e day a cold
,
piercing easterly wind was invariably blowing and , ,
a lthough th e Cossacks always pitch ed their tent the ,
O pen air w a s preferable to its smoky malodorous ,
interior with a fire in th e centre T wo h ours and .
a half were usually the limit of time allowed for th e

midday rest ; then the b oys would b e sent O ff to fetch
back the camels which would often stray far away
,
fro m the encampment in search of pasturage Then .
the tent was struck loads rea dj usted th e caravan

, ,
marshalled into its usual order with my c art leading

, ,
and once more we started on another dreary a n d

monotonous spell which only terminated late at
,
night .
Our rate Of progression even under th e most

,
favourable con ditions never exceeded three a n d a

,
half miles an hour It was usually m anaged so that

.
we should have reached a well when we halted still ,
the precaution was always taken of fi l ling our water

barrels whenever th e opportunity offered so as n ot ,
to have to rely on doi n g the exact distances between

the wells These distances varied very considerably
.
from fifteen up to even thirty miles ; but the water

varied still more I thought when I was u p country
.
,
-
in A frica that I had drun k the most repulsive water

,
it would ever be my lot to have to put up with but ,
I had not then been in the Gobi D esert E ven my .

To TH E Y ELL O W SEA . 3 11
pocket fi lt er on one or two occasions gave it up as

-
a bad j ob for it got so clogged with dirt that it

,
would not act so I had then to throw aside the

,
remains of my fastidiousness and dri n k the awful

liquid in its natural state which in appearance and ,
consistency was a cut between chocolate paste and

co ffee and milk ; for i l y a va i t de gu Oi b oi r e e t
m a nger I could not help noticing h ow very sligh t ly
.
the Cossacks were affected by these nasty incidents .
L ong habit had acclimatized them so to speak to , ,
living in dirt and eating and drinking it also they

,
were quite Mongolized in fact On one occasion at,

.
,
the commencement of the j ourney I rememb er going ,
into the tent when their dinner a quantity of meat , ,
was stewing or rather boiling in the large iron pan

, ,
over the open fire The preparation was a simple

.
o n e for th e meat had been merely cut into chunks

,
a n d thrown into the pot and covered with water .
A s the mess b oiled a nasty scum consisting of all

, ,
the dirt in the water and the meat rose to the ,
surface This filth was eagerly sco oped up by both

.
the Cossacks and the Mongols and swallowed with ,
much avidity ; in fact I learned they look u pon it

,
as the bes t part O f the food for when I expres sed ,
my astonishment at their even leavi n g it in the

stew as it would b e better and cleaner if it were
,
removed they stared in blank surprise at what they

,
probably considered my ignorance I was much .
s urprised to notice how very little water a camel

re quires when on the road and how li ttle he get s ,
given to him ; even when there was an abundanc e

they never received it more often than once every
two days so as not to accustom the m to luxuries
, ,
and they did not seem to b e very kee n for it even

then .
The first day after leaving Ourga wa s un eventful

enough the track o ffering little or nothing of
,
interest though the actual flat sandy expanse of

,
desert had not yet commenced The surrounding .
hills were b a re and desolate l ooking and th e dreary -

,
aspect was a fitting prelude to the unutterable

solitude and desolation farther on A few miles out .
from th e capital we crossed the broad swiftly run ,
ning Tola River Our camels were quite girth deep

.
-
in its waters for there had been rain up in the

,
mountains recently ; still the animals did not seem

,
much to mind crossing it breasting th e c u rrent as

,
unconcernedly as though they liked it This was .
the last water of a n y importance we s a w until we

reached Kalgan ne a rly three weeks after
,
.
A s w e slowly advanc e d we gradually left the hills

behind till at last three days out we reached the
, , ,
actual commencement Of the great desert ; and I

saw stretched out before me a vas t limitless waste , ,
so flat and u nbroken that it looked exactly like the

sea A quiet as though of death reigned over it
.
, , ,
for not even the slightest sign Of life broke the

oppressive stillness of the scene N either the Karoo .
the sl i ghtest incident in that weary uneventful ,
j ourney magnified itself into an important occurrence .
D uring the aftern oo n we met the caravan of the

homeward bound Russian mail and considering we
-
, ,
had not seen a living soul except each other for , ,
more than forty eight hours it may be imagined

-
,
how pleasurable was the meeting The two convoys .
halted for a time ; our Cossacks exch anged news

with the other Cossacks and even the Mo n gol s ,
h obnobbed together ; the inevitable vodka was pro
WE M EE T T HE H OM E WA D B OU N D M A I L
R -
.
du c e d, and under its gen i al influence for a few

, ,
moments the weariness of the j o u rney was forgotten

then with many final shakes of the hand a n d friendly
,
wishes we were under way and in a sh ort time

, ,
were once more alone on the b oundless waste It .
was on this occasion that I first heard of the attempted

assassi n ation of the Czar owitch .
The next day we reached a ra n ge of rocky hills

great heaps of huge boulders l a y piled around in
picturesque confusion and altogether the scene was
, , ,
TO TH E YELL O W SE A . 3 15
a welcome change after the flatness of the plains .
Right in t h e very midst of these hills nestling as ,
it were under their shelter to my surprise we came ,
upon a miniature town which I had never even ,
heard of before This I learned was Tcho Iy r a

.
, ,
-
,
L ama settlement entirely inhabited by Mongols wh o

,
a r e devoting their lives to religion .
It w a s a lovely day the fi nest one we had had as

,
et and in the still air an d the eternal silence O f

y ,
T HE LA M A S E TT LE M E N T OF TCH O -IY R IN T HE G OBI D E S E R T .
t he surroundings the e ffect was very impressive fOI ,
”
it was inde e d asleep in the sunshin e O f the E ast
“
,
and far from the busy haunts of m e n I therefore .
persuaded N i c ol a i eff to halt the caravan for a sh ort

t ime so that I co u ld have a stroll around the quaint
,
little place wit h my sketch book and camera ; an d

,
-
very pleased was I afterwards that I had done so ,
for it was one Of the prettiest spots I saw in M ongolia .
O n a nearer inspection it turned out to b e larger

t han I had first taken it to b e and absolutely ,
di fferent from what I e x pected to find for the q u iet ,
pervading the streets was quite in ke eping with th e

proximity to the vast deser t — there was in fact , ,
quite the atmosphere of religio us seclusion which

one feels in a monastery But what struck me most
.
was the won derful cleanliness I saw everywhere a n d ,
’
I don t think that for its size I ever saw its e qu al
, ,
.
E verything looked spick and span as though it ,
were cleaned carefully every day There was also a .
striking absence O f dogs those pests Of Mongolia

,
.
One could stroll about w ithout being continually on

the gu i C i ne as in Ourga Instead of a conglomera
, .
tion of dirty yourts there were trim neatly b uilt

, , ,
whitewashed cottages of absolutely the same out ward

,
ap p earance as E nglish ones not so large perhaps b u t

, ,
still strangely reminding one of far a way E ngland -

.
Curiousl y enough I did not see anything at all

,
similar to the m anywhere else eith er in Mongolia or ,
Chin a n or could I find out why this style of build

ing was exclusively confined to the pretty littl e
desert settlement .
My appearance naturally created quite an excite

ment for I was probably the first E nglishman that
,
has ever visited the place which is I b elieve o u t of

, , ,
the usual caravan route ; a n d the appearance of a .
stranger in their midst will doubtless for m t h e subj ect

of conversation for a lo n g time to come S till I .
,
—
was i n no way annoyed a little crowded in perhaps , ,
but that I was beginning to get accustomed to and ,

TO TH E Y E LL O W S EA . 3 17
the half hour I spent there was so pleasant that I

-
really regretted having to hurry away E ither there .
were no women in the place or at least very fe w , ,
for I never saw them ; the inhabitants appeared to

be entirely of the sterner s ex and all O f them from
, ,
the very you n gest L amas or L ama st u dents The

,
.
effect O f the entire population being dressed in red

an d
yellow was very curious Many of the older .
men w e r e massive gold rimmed spectacles which

-
,
gave them a very learned appearance A couple of

-
.
large temples of Tibetan architecture in excellent ,
preservation seemed the most important buildings in

,
the town and besides these I learned there was

, , , ,
a monastery When I got back to the caravan I

.
,
foun d it quite surrounded by visitors for the news of ,
our arrival had by this time spread all over the

place and evidently a general half holiday had b een
,
-
taken in consequence .
T HE R U S I A N POS T S T A TI O N
S - IN M ID - DE E T S R .
CH A PT E R XX V .
TH E G OBI D E S E R T — c on t i n u e d .
S p o r t i n t h e d e s e t —T h e
r p o st s t a t i o n a t O d en —T h e l ast
“
- u -
of t h e d e s e t—S a h a m B l h o s a —F i s t i m p e ssi o n s
r -
a u r f r r o
C hi n a —C hi e s e w o m e n —R e t u i g t s e a l e v e l
n rn n C u i o us
o - -
r
e xp e i e n c e —Th e e clips e o f t h e m o o n —
r A iv a l a t K a lg a n
J
rr .
N OT H IN G of particular interest ccurred during the o
n e x t fe w days after leaving Tcho I r T O the l o w

y
-
. .
range of rocky h ills surrounding it succeeded a

monotonous e xpanse of endless gravel coloured plain -
,
’
which was positively depressing to one s spirits .
D ay after day would find us surrounded by the

same unbroken horizon while with th e regularity , ,
’
O f clockwork at eleven o clock every mor n ing the
,
pierci n g cold north easterly wind would commence

-
blowing and continue until late in the a fternoon

, ,
very Often with the force of a strong gale Owing .

,
I believe to its being some four thousand feet above

,
a rabbit which the Mongols called

,
Tar b a r gan .
These w ere easily ge t proba b ly because they were

,
no g ood for eating purposes even the Mo n gols ,
refusing a couple I shot Other parts of the deser t .
w ere simply covered with large mounds which the ,
Cossacks told me were made by Koshki a sort “

,
of wild cat which burrows in the ground I never .

,
however s a w any of the animals though we were

, ,
passing th rough their haunts for days Small green .
IN T HE G O BI D E S E R T—A TE A C A A VA N
R ON IT S WA Y TO S IB E I AR .
(F r om a K oda k p h ot og r ap h .
)
l i zards seemed to thrive everywhere even in the ,
’
most arid places ; in fact I don t think I ever saw ,
so many before A peculiar

. kind of beetle w hich ,
covered the grou n d in great n umbers seemed con ,
fined to a certain district or undefined z one for once ,

T O TH E YE LL O W S EA . 321
out O f i t they disappeared Often in the early .
morning when the sleeping carava n was aroused

,
to prepare for the start wolves would be seen ,
prowling around at a short distance from us ; but

they always got away before I could get the sleep
out of m y eyes and my rifle ready S O it cannot .
be said that ani m al life in the Gobi is ex t ensive

enough to be considered good sport or sufficient to ,
enliven the monotony of t ravelling across it Of .
course I am speaki ng only from my e xperience o n

,
the caravan route possibly in the mo re remote

districts O f the vast waste on the Manchurian side , ,
are animals in abundance but they are too far away ,
to be ge t a t able
f
-
On May 1 5 we reached a post station which stands -
”
at a pl ace called O u d e n exactly in m i d desert
“
-
,
-
,
consisting of a cou ple of yourts in charge of a

'
Russian It would b e impossible to imagine any

.
thing more unutterably l onel y and dreary than this

little station For miles before we reached it the
.
'
desert was simply a vas t expanse of bare rocks'
without the sligh t est sign of vegetation to break the

monotony of their dull muddy grey colour It -
.
almost appeared as if the mos t bleak and wretched

spo t had been purposely chose n for the post .
“
”
station for there was not even a Mongolian yourt
,
within miles and even the neares t water was some

,
distance away I could not help thinking that e xile

.
to the most far away Siberian villages would b e

-
preferable to the awful existence here while the life ,
of the Cossack s in charge O f the mail continually ,
o n the march was one of positive gaiety co m pared

,
to i t Still the man li ving thus of his o wn free

.
, ,
will was no Old broken down individual l ooking

, ,
-
,
as though he were sick of the world but a smart ,
young fellow with very little of the hermi t in his

,
out ward appearance ; yet this is what to all intents

and purposes he is and for the wretchedly small pay
,
of thirty roubles per m onth out o f which ,
he had to keep himself ! I learned that with the ,
exception of a Mongolia n servant he was quite alone , ,
and never saw a soul except when the home ward or

outward bound mail passed once a month He h a d
-
.
not got even a horse or a gun to help while away the

time and his stock of books t h e poor fell o w told me
, , ,
he h ad read through and through many times during

the three years he had spent in the station .
What an e xistence ! It has often struck me th a t

there are certain types O f men whose intelligence is so
little above that of animals that so long as they can ,
man age to exist somehow and without t oo mu ch

exertion it is all they require ; to them such words
, ,
as discontent or a m b ition are unknown ; like the

blind horse turning a wheel they plod on day after ,
day in the same well worn groove with n o other -

,
prospect b u t the respites for food or sleep A nd it is .

,
doubtless fortunate it is so for these are the men

, ,
who uncomplainingly pass a way their lives in distant

T O TH E YEL L O W S EA . 3 23
lighth ouses and other lonely and far O ff places where -
other men would simply go ravi n g ma d in a short

“
time We stayed the night here for our fresh

.
,
c amels had not arrived a n d did our be st to m ake a

,
merry time of it the postmaster giving us quite a

,
feast and producing a large bottle of some awful

,
”
s t uff which I learned was Chinese vodka to wash
, ,
it down with Somehow tho u gh laughter seemed

.
, ,
°
out of place in this remote solitude for to me at any ,
rate the death like silence outside seemed as if

,
-
endeavouring to reassert itself during every pause in

the conversation The Gobi is n o place for frivol i ty
. .
We were astir betimes the follo wing morning a n d ,
after a hasty breakfast a n d a final stirrup cup with -
'
our host the caravan w as fairly got u n de r way a n d

, ,
we were once more en r ou t e for the Celestial E mpire .
We were now over the top O f the hill so to speak , ,
and every step brought us nearer our destination ,

’
though we still had many weary days before u s .
So few incidents worthy of note occurred during

the next week th a t I will pass over the remain der of
the j ourney through the Gobi itself Su ffi ce it to say
.
that from one side to the other O f it with the ex ,
c e t i on
p of an occasional oasis its desolate
,
aspect
rema in ed uncha n ged I might here mention how
.
curiously e verythi n g in the desert became charged

with electricity ; my furs simply crackled like biscuits
wh en touched .
A t le n gth on May 2 3 there were signs th at we

, ,
were at last reaching vegetation once more for grass ,
began to sho w itse l f and i n a short time as thoug h

, ,
we had passed a n invisible line we were crossing ,
rolling prairies which were an agreeable change after

,
the stony waste Just o n the confines of the desert

.
we passed the M ongol Monastery of H olfer Sum a -

,
curious looking group of buildings of Thibetan

-
architecture ; we were however too far away for me

, ,
t o be able to pay it a visit This was my last

.
,
glimpse of Mongoli a ; and it was certainly with no

feelings of regret that I bid adieu to the most dreary
and wearisome country I have ever visited .
E arly the next morning we were in sight Of the

little Chinese frontier to wn of Saham Bal h ou s ar and -
,
shortly after dre w up outside t h e station , where we

had to change our ca m els for mules The long and .
tedious desert j ourney was over at last a j ourney on ,
which I had an ticipated meeting with difficulties not ,
to say da n gers considering I was quite alone ; but

,
the whole time I was in Mongolia I never had any

serious molestation— as a matter O f fact I can o n ly ,
recall one incident which might have had a n u n

pleasant ending a n d that was the adventure on the
,
road to Ourga .
Saham Ba l h ou s a r is quite a rising little place a n d

-
, ,
although only called a vill a ge is of very respectable

,
dimensions It was my first glimpse at China proper

.
,
for though some distance fro m the Great Wall it is

, ,
thoroughly Chinese in character A s a matter of .

TO TH E YELL O W SEA . 3 25
fact i t impressed me much more favourably than

,
many places I passed through after ; the style of its

b u ildings als o struck me very much for they were ,
quite distinct from anything I had as yet seen and ,
had a n almost E gyptian ap pe ar ance in the bright

sunlight .
It was h ere that I first saw that most hideous of

mutilations the small foot O f the Chinese wome n
,
.
The custom of crippling their female infants is I ,
believe gradually dying out and slowly but surely

, ,
the Manchurian shoe is coming more into use To see .
the wretched women hobbling about on th eir high

heels is I fancy more painful to the E uropean
, ,
beholder than it is to the victims themselves who ,
have doubtless become quite accustomed to their

crippled condition I have a pair of shoes belonging
.
to a full grown woman and they o n ly meas u re three

-
,
inches in length ! The highest class of Chinese ladies

are absolutely unable to walk about at al l on account
of the smallness of their feet .
It was in Saham Ba lh ou s a r that I had for the first

-
time a real gli m pse of what over population means -

.
A lthough I h a d of course O ften heard of the teeming

, ,
millions of China I had never until then really formed

,
any accurate idea of what that meant This first .
Chinese town I visited opened my eyes for I saw ,
everywhere such crowds of people and children that

I could n ot help wonderi n g wh ere they all managed
to l ive in the place and the curious part O f it was
, ,
how much they all resembled one another ; they all

seemed part of o n e huge family The children .
througho u t China were simply stunning and qu ite ,
pictures in themselves .
Our caravan dre w up in the courtyard of the

house and the baggage was transferred from the
,
camels to several curious looki n g carts built expressly

-
,
for the road through the mo u ntain pass to Kalgan -

,
a distance of so m e sixty miles It was well on in .
the afternoon by the time our preparations wer e

complete and we were ready to start again I forgot . .
to mention that my car t still remained with us ,
though it was n o w only a camel telega in name ,
for instead of a ship of the desert two diminutive

, ,
mules were harnessed tandem fashion i n the shafts .
The mail c a rts were dra wn by mules and do n keys

-
,
harnessed together anyhow driven by Chinese ,
’
“
boys It w a s certainly a grotesque procession
.
,
and one scarcely worthy of so high sounding an

”
appellation as the Russian Heavy Mail and very
“
,
out of place did the Cossacks with their O ffi cial caps

look s eated on the top of the heap O f heterogeneou s
,
baggage .
A lthough there is no visi b le boundary line bet we en -
Mongolia and China the difference was m anifest,
immediately we left Saham Ba lh o u s a r O n all sides -

.
were small hamlets scattered about the plain whilst ,
the country was laid o u t i n plantations and fields ,
whic h were simply teeming with ind u strious peasant s .

328 FR O M TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
that it m a de me almost think I was in a dream This .
idea was ho wever soon dispelled for the road was

, , ,
realistic and material enough for it had meanwhile ,
been gett ing so steep and rocky and the path so ,
narro w that we all had to walk and lend a hand at

,
getti n g the w ag gons through .
I then suddenly remembered that the whole plateau

O f Mongolia is more than five thousand feet above
the sea so we were al m ost level before with the tops

,
of the mountains which form the northern boundary

of China This then was the rocky range of b i ll s
.
, ,
we had been approaching during the ev e ning ; we

were now therefore on our way down into th e
, ,
Celestial E mpire A s we gradually descended the

. ,
granite cliffs a n d peaks loomed u p higher and higher

around us and so dark w a s th e night that at times
, ,
it became positively dangerous to advance owing to

the O bscurity and the numero u s precipices along the
edge O f which the track lay The moon remai n ed .
hidden for nearly two hours till j ust as da wn showed ,
signs of breaking when she began to appear once

,
more to the evident relief Of our followers Half

,
.
way d o wn at the end of the worst b it we halted for

, ,
a couple of hours to have a rest and fee d the animals ,
and I felt so knocked up after my long and ro u gh

w alk or rather climb that I immediately fell into a
, ,
deep sleep from which I only woke j u st as we were

,
starting again .
It was now bro a d dayl i ght and a lovely mornin g

TO TH E YE L L OW S EA . 3 29
so lovely in fact th at it would require the pen O f a

, ,
poe t to convey any idea O f the glorious sunrise i n

that remote mountain pass -
We were n o w but a
.
short distance from Kalgan but the track was so ,
rough that our progress was very slow fo r we were ,
still descending thr o ugh a sort of gorge which looked

like the old bed of a river The scenery at times
.
appeared magnificent ; still even in these wild and

,
uninviting surroundings the ever energetic Celestials

,
-
h a d seized on every available spot and high u p the ,
almost precipitous sides of the mountains one could

see here and there little patches of cultivation which ,
in places were so numerous as to form what looked

like terraces on the side of the precipices each plot ,
bei n g surrou nded by a miniature w a ll Certainly .

,
’
one s first impressions of the Chinese especially when ,
comi n g from Mongolia are such as to make one

,
absolutely admire t h e i r mar vellous energy and

industry ; this impression is ho wever somewhat , ,
modifie d later by more intimate knowledge O f the

people .
One O f the quaintest sights I th i nk I have ever

seen was i n this pass when we reached a little
,
village ( of which I forget the name ) and which was ,
bu i lt right on the face of the mountain itself T h e .
effect of the tiny houses perched right away up in

m i d air and the glimpse O f its blue —
-
, coated inh abitants
dotted here and there like dolls was quite unique ,
.
The awful state of the road over which I was being

330 FR OM TH E A R C TIC O C E A N
bumped t o pieces somewha t marred however my , ,
appreciation of the scen ery throu g h which we were

passing.
We were now quite close to our destination and ,
the traffi c around us increased every moment ; in a

shor t time a turn in the road sho wed me the welcome
,
sight O f a big cluster of houses This was Yam

.
b o os h a n a s u bur b of Kalgan where lived the Russian

, ,
tea merchants and to on e O f whom I had a letter of

,
int r od u ction My j ourney across the G rea t Hungry

.
.
”
D esert was accomplishe d a n d I wa s once more
,
within to u ch Of c ivili z ation .

in white silk who came out to meet me but a letter

,
had been received announcing my probable arrival so ,
a room in the house had been prepared for me Ha d .
I been an old friend of the family it would h ave

been impossible to do more for me ; and it may be
imagined how welcome all this was after the hard
ships I had j ust gone through N or was there in my .
mind any pang of regret at saying good — bye to m y

camel —cart w hich had bro u ght me so many weary
miles safely it is true but shaken to pieces almost
, , ,
.
M y one hope was tha t I should never set eyes on its

.
like again To have a good warm bath to get rid

.
,
of t h e dust with which I fel t literally s a t u r a t e d w a s ,

'
m y next move and I then sat down with my host

,
to the best meal I had tasted since I left Irkutsk

'
and washed dow n b y a capital bottle of B u rgundy .
”
“
Roughing it has its charms but after all commend ,
me to the comforts O f civilizati on My friends the .

,
C ossacks came in shortly after and I learnt from

, ,
them that I should be able to spend two days in

Kalgan as the mail would not be ready to start for
,
Peking sooner So I was to be in clover for the

.
next forty eight hours-

.
Y a m b o os h a n is one of the quaintest l ittle places I

was ever in I t looks more like some lit t le far away
.
-
village nestling under the A lps in N orthern Italy

than a Chinese settlement the high mountains ,
w hich surround it and amongst which the houses

,
a r e perched here and there he l ping to c arry out the ,

T EE T C ENE
S R S , Y A M R OOSH A N : S H O WING T HE
“
G R EA T WALL ON M OU N T A IN
IN T HE B A C K G R OU N D
.
[ To f a c e 332 .
FR O M THE A R C TI C O C EA N
win ding away over th e tops even of the h i gh est

mountains had been raised as a serious defenc e of
,
the empire in bygon e days However I took the .

,
tro u ble to climb u p the mo u ntai n to it a n d it was .

,
only when I found how long it took to reach it

'
that I began to realize its si z e Of course i t is so .
dilapidated that one can only conj ecture what its

original appearance was like ; but a lthough n u
doubtedly big its dimensions we r e to me very di s
, , ,
appointing Th e base o f course one cannot measure

.
, , ,
as it follows the sinuosities of t h e ground and in ,
some places therefore is much wider than in others

, , .
The height also varies considerably from t h e same

c ause ,
but I should think at a rough g u ess it , ,
averaged t welve feet on the inside ; on the outside

it is in many places a p i c with the sides of the
mou n tain I found I could sit astri de the top so it
.
,
is n ot very wide In sha pe t h e Kalgan Wall is

.
c onical its base b eing formed of huge boulders

,
loos ely heaped together ; at inter vals of half a mile

'
or so are rough towers each capable O f containing a,
few soldiers .
I found Kal gan even more curious and interesting

than I anticipa t ed it would be ; in fact I could n ever ,
h ave imagined such a sight as met my eyes The .
streets were well nigh impassable not only on account

-
,
of their fearfully badly paved state but on account ,
’
of the imme n se a m o u nt of traffic of all sorts I don t .
think I ever s a w s u c h a busy or novel scene as

T O TH E YELL O W S EA . 3 35
presented itself to me on passing through the

po nderous gateway with its huge paper lanterns
,
swin ging overhead The principal street was simply

.
blocked and I had to wait some little time before

,
I could advance my horse a step My appearance .
attracted little or no attention for I was in a Russian ,
costume and my Cossack cap was a lone sufficient

,
to guarantee me respect — su ch a wholesome dread

h ave the Celestials o f i n terferi n g with a s u bj ect of
the czar I have not been able to get any reliable
.
figures as to the actual populatio n of this fronti er

town but there seemed to be positively m yriad s O f
,
people about and the firs t im pression was of being

,
.
in some immense fair the low built houses or rather

,
-
,
O pen b oo t hs on all sides adding considerably to this

,
appearance However interesting though the fi rst

.
, ,
v isit to Kalgan was the novel impression c a

,
used by
the strangeness of the surroundings soon w e r e off ,
and then the dirt and abominations of the evil

smelling place were apparent in all their barbarous
hideousness A s a matter Of fact this was my
.
,
subsequent impression O f all Chinese cities wi t hout

any exception and I believe most travellers will
,
agree w ith me .
I had learnt that there were t wo mission houses -
in Kalgan one E nglish the other A merican So I

, ,
.
thought I would pay these gentlemen a visit if only ,
to have a chat for I had not spoken E nglish for some

,
months I therefore got my guide to take me first to

.
33 6 FR O M THE A R C TI C O CE A N
th e enr oyé s O f U ncle Sam Th e m i s s i o n station was

.
'
a large bric k building standing in its own grounds

, ,
which were laid out as a n a t t e m p t at a gard en and ‘
surrounded by a high wall I was received by a .
Mr . in the usual cold distant narrow minded , ,

-
manner which S O far as my own experiences are

,
concerned seems peculiar to this particular pro

,
fe s s i o n ; and aft er a fe w trivial remarks about the

weather and other everyday topics ( for my arrival
seemed quite an ordinary occurrence to him ) I was ,
asked into the house an d introduced to Mrs .
an d we made some further attempts at a con

versation It was scarcely m ore than an attempt
.
,
however for my visit did not appear to gratify these

,
worthy people over much A fter about t e n minutes

-
.
of digging out syllables on my part t h e gentleman ,
left the roo m apologizing for having to get on with

,
his work or something of the sort ; and I took the

,
hint and my depar t ure also It is almost needless

, .
to add they did not press me to remain or to call

again A S I rode away from this inhospitable abo de
.
I could n o t help mentally contrasting the reception

I had j us t received with the hearty welcome I had
invariably been shown throughout my travels amongst
the Russians who never can do enough for the
,
stranger within t heir gates .
A couple of days i n dirty Kalgan were more than

sufficient to see all there was to see ; therefore I was
not at all sorry when N i c ol a i eff came in the next
3 38 F R OM TH E A R C TI C OC E A N
track I was not long howe ver in my litter before

.
, ,
I was completely undeceived on this point for we ,
had n o t proceeded many miles wh en down fell the

leader on a perfectly smooth road and for a few ,
seconds I had an uncomfortable time of it as it was ,
quite an open question what would have happened

if h e had started kicking for I should not h ave ,
h a d time to get out Fortunately for me he w as

.
,
got on his feet pretty easily Still the incident .

,
opened my eyes and I realized long before w e

,
reached the mountains that travelling in a mule litter -
”
is not all “
b eer and skittles What struck me .
particularl y was the wonderful intelligence of the

mules as they have no reins to guide them by but
, ,
are simply directed occasionally by a word or two

from the b oy in charge and are as a rule allowed
, , ,
to pick th eir own way I should certainly in ma n y

.
cases have preferred their being led more especially ,
when we reached the precipitous mo u ntain pass -
shown in my sketch ; but such a procedure would

have been against all precedent and the m ules would ,
probably have resented any such implied doubt of

their surefootedness so used are they to bei n g left
,
entirely to themselves on the mos t dangerous parts

o f the road .Still it was giddy work for often
, ,
o n one side of the narrow path the rocks rose pre

c i i t ou s l as a wall whilst on the other was a sheer
p y ,
precipice with out th e slightest rail to protect one

, .
It was a magnificent bit of scenery but one which ,

3 40 F R OM TH E A R C TI C O C EA N
of bl u e coated Celestials N ight was on us long

-
.
before we reached the crenelated walls of the city

where we were to put up till morni n g and for mile s ,
a n d miles we had to skirt them till we reached t h e
entrance gateway .
There was somethi n g indescribably weird a n d n u

c a nny in the se seemingly en dless battlements standin g ,
out i n bl ack and forbidding relief against the starlit

sk and this gloomy impression was i n o degre e
y ; n
lessened when we at length rea ched th e frowning

a rch w ay from which issued th e ho arse murmur of
the c ongested barbaric life within its precincts an d ,
.
immediately after our entrance the iron bound gate s -
were closed with a clattering an d clanging whic h

reminded me that the civilized world was thus com
l t el shu t o ff from u s till the n ext morning
p e y .
Knowing what I did of the uncertainty of t h e

Chinese character I could not h elp feeling that i n
,
the event of any hostile feeling arising against the

”
white devils during the night our chances of
“
,
getting out of the place were positively n i l .
It took some little time to reach the i n n for “

,
the streets were as usual crowded— a t ti m es eve n

, ,
quite blocked w ith tra ffic and in the uncertain

,
flickering light of the pa per lanterns presented a

scene not easily to be fo rgotten A t last however
.
, ,
we reac hed our destinati o n and I was able to form

,
some idea of what a Chinese inn is like I fancy I do .
not r u n m u ch chance of bei n g contradicted by an y

on e who has travel l ed in these parts wh en I say that

for filth and general discomfort the average Chinese
inn is probably without its equal in the world A s
’
a rule it consists of a dirty courtyard surrounded by

'
tumble down dilapidated outhouses some of w hich

-
, ,
a re partitioned o ff as rooms whilst the oth ers are ,
T HE C OU TYA D
R R OF A CHI N E E
S IN N .
reserved for the mules and other animals Th e place .
s hown in my sketch is a fair sample of its kind .
U nfortunately one cannot produce th e smell per

vading the place without which no really accurate
,
i dea can be formed of it a smell which as far as I

, ,
c ould guess seemed a co n glomeration of sewage

, ,
342 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O OE A N
garlic decomposed ani m al matter and general human

, ,
u ncleanliness all mixed up together In my many .
an d varied travels I have al ways noticed h o w

characteristic of the countries the different smell s
were ; and even now after a lapse of many years I , ,
feel sure I could recognize a place I had visited lon g

ago if its characteristic odour were put under m y
”
nostrils But of all the perfu mes th e memory of
.
“
,
which still lingers in my ol e fa c t ory organs tha t of a ,
Chinese inn will I feel sure remain lo n g after t h e

, ,
others have vanishe d for it is the most pungent and ,
unpleasant I ever experienced .
A description of one room in these inns will “
s u fii c e for all as th e difference was simply in the

,
amount of dirt ab out them T he windows i f t h e — .
tissue paper covered apertures in the walls can b e

- -
so called — usually stretch the whole width of the

room and beyond preventi n g the full light of day
,
from coming in were of no earthly use a s a rule for

, ,
the paper was gen erally ha n ging in shreds so ther e

was no privacy to be obtained A lo n g one side .
also was the ka ng or raised platform covered with

, ,
matting which serves as a sleepi n g place and unde r

,
-
,
which in winter is lighted a fire A small table i s

, ,
.
placed on th e kang round which visitors squat , ,
tailor fashion to take their meals

-
,
There was .
seldom any other furniture in the place .
With regard to the food in these inns for those whose ,
stomachs are e qual to Chinese cooking there is plenty

3 44 FR OM TH E A R C TI C O OE A N
tepid methylated spirits makes me sh u dder even

,
now to think of .
One look a t the interior of o u r room decided me

t o sleep in my mule litter out in the y ard which
-
, ,
a lthough it was crowded w ith all sorts of vehicles
and people would be preferable to voluntarily s u r

,
rendering myself to t h e enemy as I knew would be ,
the case if I slept on the dirty ka ng ; and although

m y cramped bed was a n y t h i n g b u t l u xurious owing
'
'
’
to the fact that my legs from the knees downwards

, ,
protruded o u t into th e cold night air still someho w , ,
I managed to sleep as soundly as usual and did not ,
wake up till I w a s disturbed i n th e early morning

with the noise and bustle occasioned by the de
par t ure of some of the many travellers who h a d
s topped at the place over night Sleep after this
-
.
was impossible so there was nothing for it but to

,
get out and while away the time as best I could

with my sk etch b ook till we were ready to start
-
,
a fter a m akeshift sort of breakfast .
By the way a rather amusing incident occurred

,
one morning at one of these inns I was busy r e .
packing my litter when N i col a i eff came u p and

,
told me t o my n o lit t le surprise that a n E n glish

, ,
gentleman and lady had arrived during the night ,
and pointed out t o me an individual wh o was

standing in a doorway close by as the A ngles /t i
'
G osp od i n in question T his was qui te an event for

.
m e after not h aving seen any E nglish people for so

,
T O TH E YE LL O W S EA . 3 45
long so to go up and a scer t ain whether h e re ally

,
did hail from the old country was naturally the

impulse of the moment His s u rprise at meeting .
an E nglish m an in such an out of the way place was - - -
e q u al to mine at meeti n g him for he had taken me ,
for one of the Cossacks in ch arge of t h e mail h e ,
told me laughingly I then learnt he was travelling

.
through with his wife to visit some missionary

friends in N orth China and intended spending the
,
s ummer there I wa s then introduced to the lady

.
,
who came out at th a t moment on hearing E nglish ,
spoken They both naturally wanted to know what

.
brought me in such outlan dish parts alone and ,
where I had com e from ( for th ey had not taken m e

for a m issionary so they said— and I bel ieved them
,
and se emed much astonished when I told them that

I had j ust come from Siberia and across the Gobi ,
desert .
I suppose you have not seen any of the L ondon

papers recently then , said the gentleman ; and on ,
my replying that it was many months since I last

saw one he added that as I h a d j ust come through
,
S iberia it would dou b tless interest me very much to

,
see a lot of pictures of prison life in that country ,
w h ich had been appearing for some time p ast in
the I llu s t r a t e d L on don N e ws ; so many in fact , ,
that the paper seemed to have devoted itself to

S iberia for some reason or other
'
, It may be .
i magined how this information tickled me ; for it

was positively the first intimation I had got that my

numerous batches of prison sketches and manuscrip t
had got through t h e Russian post offi c e and reached -
,
E ngland safely Without h o wever giving my n a m e

.
, ,
or saying w hat I was I asked as unconcerned l y as I

, ,
could if he kne w who they were by as I might

, , ,
perhaps h ave m e t the artist whilst in Siberia

, .
”
Price ,
was the n a me he thought With tha t I
, .
took out one of my cards and presented it to him , ,
and we had a hearty laugh at the incident .
A fter le aving S i n Fou Fou the road passed ,
through some really magn ificent mountai n scenery ,
the wildest and grandes t I think I have ever seen , , .
A t ti m es the track passed right along the very edge

of awful precipices which ma de me feel quite sick t o
,
look down into for on e false step of either of my

,
mu l es would have been fatal Yet t h e brutes some .
h o w would persist in keeping as near the edge as i t

was absolute l y possible t o go in spite of the en ,
deavo u rs of the boy to hold th em back Knowing .

,
from personal experie n ce that they were not s o ,
surefooted as th ey seem to imagine they are I ,
felt anything b ut comfortable However n o t the .

,
slightest i nc i dent of any kind occurred worth men

t i on i n g To the mountain pa sses succeeded valley s
.
covered with rich plantations of rice their submerged ,
state givi n g a curi ous and inundated appearance to

the landscape E very where the industrious Celestial s
.
were hard a t work as though th ere was not a momen t

to lose The whole scene was one of great and i n

.
cessant animation in fact I never s a w anyth ing to

.
equal the sight The traffic a lo n g the roa d which

.
,
was of e n ormous width seemed simply endless and

, ,
resembled a continuous caravan of camels donkeys , ,
and mules and immense flocks of sheep and the noise

, ,
at times was deafe n ing .
Ma n y of the towns we passed through were evi

de n t ly very ol d and in most cases their venerable
,
crenelated walls showed signs of gre a t antiquity .
One place in particular Tchai D ar the entrance to

, ,
which was through a sort of double arch way in

splendid preservation was very fine and doubtless
, ,
dating back very many hundreds of years O n ce .

,
however inside these magnificent relics all illusion

, ,
vanished it was almost like going behind the scenes

of a theatre for the cities were invaria b ly squalid
,
in the extreme a nd offered a striking and disappoint

,
ing contrast t o their outer medi ae val appearance .
On Fri day May 2 9 we re a ched the famous

, ,
N a n k a o u Pass and a little before we reached the

,
town of that name the road passed under a n arch

,
way throug h what is generally known as the Great

”
Wall of China Some time before reaching it
. ,
I could distinguish t h e mighty structure standing

out i n bold relief against the sky where in places ,
it actual l y crossed the very tops of the highest

mountai n s I had fully prepared mysel f for some
.
thing wonderfu l but this marvellous work more than

,
r ealized my e xpectations a n d fairly held me spell ,
b ound for a few minutes One can form some ide a .
o f the panic the Celestials must have been in when
they undertook such a gigantic b arrier The Kalgan .
wall in my opinion is not worthy of being mentioned

, ,
i n the same breath even and any one wh o first saw ,
this one a nd then fancied he would fi nd something

,
finer at Kalgan would be grievously disappointed

,
.
What str u ck me most about it was its wonderful

state of preserva t ion t h e symmetrically hewn stones
,
o f which it is composed showing but few signs of the
ravages of time I persuaded N i col a i e ff t o halt

.
the caravan long enough for me to make a rough

_
sketch ; but it is too overpowe ring and colossal for
a n ordinary pencil to be able to do j ustice to H ow
'
it could have ever been defended is a mystery for it ,
would undoubte dly h ave been as difficult to h old

a s to attack The N a n k a ou Pass is very b eautiful
. ,
and reminded me not a little of parts of “ ales or T
Ireland Through the rocky gorge ran a sparkling

.
torrent and the b oulders on either side were cloth ed

,
w ith the most brilliant lichen .
Th e town itself where we arrived in time for our

,
m i d da y halt o ff ered b u t little of partic u lar interest

-
,
,
a s it was very like a l l the others we had passed

through e x cept that it was market day and the
, ,
narrow streets were if possible more crowded I , ,

.
noticed here more w omen walking about than

hitherto many of them not crippled with the h ideous
,
Chinese foot but wearing the more se nsible M a n

,
churian shoe .
N a n k a o u also impressed itself on my memory on

account of the awful amount of flies every where ;
in fact they were positively mad dening as there
, ,
’
was no getting away fro m them O ne s food if .
,
left exposed for only a fe w seconds became covered ,
with what resembled a moving mass of j et Up till .
then I had been enj oyi n g a comparative immunity

from insect pests but I should now have to pay t h e
,
penalty of h aving co n tinuous warm weather and

sunshine These flies were ho wever insignificant
.
, , ,
compared with what I had to endure later on w h en ,
the mosquitoes and s a n dfl i e s never for a moment left

me alone night or day .
We were n o w rapidly nearing the end of our long

j ourney and evidently beginning to get in touch s o
, ,
t o speak with the capital the country becoming if

, ,
possible even more cultivated and the stream of ,
traffic along the road more and more congeste d I .
now began to get a slight foretaste of what heat

and dust in China really mean ; for at times every
thing within a few yards on either side was lost in a
dense sort of fog through whic h the moving p er s p i r
, ,
ing masses of people appeared to be groping thei r

way tediously A t last on the horizon not very far
.
,
ahead I made out a long dark line j ust visi b le

,
above the surroundi n g trees A t the same moment .
N i col ai e ff wh o was riding close to my litter pointed

,
n
,
350 FR O M TH E A E OTJ O O OE A N
to it a n d with a smile of satisfaction on his sun b urnt

, ,
face informed me that the walls of Peking were

,
before us .
Our goal once in sight t h e time did n ot see m so ,
long in reaching it and in less th an half an ho u r we

,
were advancing in the midst of a dense crowd under ,
the shado w of the massive c renelated battlements ,
towards the entrance of the immense city In .
comparison t o its size there are but few entrances

, ,
and these far a part and we had to follo w the walls

,
quite a long way before we reached an arch way b u t ,
not the entrance to the city it self for on the other ,
side of the vast walls were the inner wal l s enclosing

the Tartar city our dest i nation a wide e xpanse of
, ,
waste ground separating them from the outer e n c ei n t e .
A l o n g this dusty stony waste hundreds of cara vans

,
and vehicles and passe n gers were passing to and fro .
It w a s a stran ge scene and rendered doubly so by ,
the w eird hoarse murmur of the great city so c l ose .
The venerable walls seemed almost endless at any ,
rate to me for I was all impatience for the wonders

,
w hich I felt sure were coming .
A t last we reached the principal entrance a huge ,
tunnel like archway through the thickness of the

-
walls themselves With di fficulty and advancing but

.
,
very slowly through the throng of people we made ,
our way in and I found myself in a vast open square

,
paved with immense slabs of stone This square was .
s u rrounded on all fo u r sides by the city walls ,

35 2 FR OM TE E A R OTI O OOE A N
a more hideously dirty place than Peking In fact .

,
to say it is dir ty is but to describe i t mildly for I ,
ca n safely assert that one does not know what dus t
a n d dirt re a lly are unless one has been to Peki n g .

CH A PT E R XX V I I .
P E K IN G .
ci
Ex t ni g t i m e s —A c h a t wi t h S i Jo h n W a lsh
r a m —T h e C hi n e s e
city— H o r r ibl e s c e n e s —S o cial life a t t h e L e ga t i on s i n
P e ki g—La dy Wa l s h a m s A t h o m e s —T h e h ar d e s t
n
’ “
w o r k e d m a i t h e E as t —
n n In t e e s ti g e v e i n g wi t h S i r
r n n
R o be t H a t— H i s a cc o u t o f his life
r r n .
PE K IN G ,
though perhaps from its general appearance
the last place in the world where one would expect
to find a good E uropean hotel can boast of a really ,
fair h Os t eller i e —fortunately for such travellers as find

their way to this out of the way city ; and after the
- - -
long and d u sty ride through the crowded streets it ,
’
may be imagined what a relief it is to find one s self
in this welcome oasis The Hotel de Pé kin as it
.
,
is somewhat humorously calle d is part of a large ,
general store kept by a genial Frenchman M Ta i l li eu , .

,
who many years ago came out to the Far E ast to

m ake his fortune and has ended by sett l i n g down
,
in the Celestial capital as a sort of purveyor to the

different L egations Travellers are not numerous
.
here so the hotel is but a sort of a nn ex e of the

,
store ; still the accommodation was all that could

,
be desired and the living which was a kind of

, ,
2 A
family t a b le Ol h é t e was excellent and fairly cheap

-
’
, ,
considering .
I happened to arrive in th e city at a particularly

e x citing time j ust after the a nti E uropean riots and
,
-
murders on the Y a n gs t e and the air was full of dis ,
quieting rumours of approaching troubles In fact .

,
on the very day I reached Peking the walls of the

various E uropean compounds had been covered with
placards calli n g on th e people to rise that n ight and
”
exterminate the foreign devils “
N othing however .
, ,
came of it fortunately and the night passed without

, ,
the slightest indication of any hostile feeling on the

part of the inhabitants A s a matter of fact had .
,
anything occurred I should probably not now be

writing this for th e E uropeans in Peking are in
,
the unenviable position of the proverbial rat in “
”
a hole ; as whatever resistance th ey might o ffer
,
were they attacked after nightfall the result would ,
be absolutely inevitable as no outer hel p could reach

,
them . A t eight every night the city gates are

closed and as th e telegraph wires are outside th e
,
walls all communication with civilization is thus

,
completely severed .
Of course my first duty w a s to call at the British

L egation and pay my respects to Sir John Walsham ,
our Minister to the Co u rt of Peking I had already .
heard a lot abo u t the magnificence of the palace

which represents Great Britain in the capital of the
Celestial E mpire but I was u n prepared for the
,
356 FR OM TH E A R O TI O O OE A N
however E urope had her hands fu ll I could not

,
.
help mentioning that I had already h eard of all this ,
and that it was always a source of wonderment to me

that the great Powers had so long stood this sort
of a rrogant insolence on the part of a semi barbaric -
nation.
It is only my intention to attempt to describe
S T EE T C E N E T A TA CIT Y P E K I N G
R S ,
R R ,
.
Peking in a very superficial manner ; for alth ough ,
I spent a month in it I felt that it would require

,
a much longer stay in the place and a much abler ,
pen than mine to do even scanty j ustice to its many

,
curiosities and the historical souvenirs it re calls or ,
to give even a slight idea of the many horrib l e and

stran ge sights t o be witn essed in its crowded evil ,
smelling streets where one cannot take a step without

,
having one s eyes or nostrils shocked by some a b om i

’
n ation or other I have heard Canton described as

.
the most hideous city in the Far E ast but I fancy ,
Peking runs it pretty closely It will give some idea

.
’
of its horrors when I state that I don t think I ever
went through the Chinese city without seeing the
dead body of a beggar lying about somewhere I .
well remember my astonishment on the first of these

occasions A ccompanied by a friend and a guide I
.
,
was passing along a very crowded thoroughfare called

’ ”
the Beggars Bridge when I espied a poor emaciated
,
wretch in a state of absolute nudity l ying in the ,
centre of the pathway right out in the broiling sun .
He was in s u ch a twisted contorted position , that I

,
,
remarked to my b oy
’
“
That s a queer place for a man to sleep ,
He no belong sleep sir ; he belong dead man

, ,
”
replied Joe in his quaint pigeon E nglish .
It might have been a dead dog for all the notice

the body attracted The busy crowds passed to and
.
fro evidently so used to such sights that they never

,
even thought of moving it on one side or even of ,
covering it up .
It is to live in the midst of such barbaric sur

roundings that civilized nations have sent their
representative ministers with their families .
Still in spite of the m any inevitable discomforts

, ,
35 8 FR OM TH E A R OTI O O OE A N
social life amongst the E uropeans in Peking seemed

to me pleasant enou gh in its way for there was ,
always plenty to do and when I was not working ,
the time never hung heavily on my hands for the ,
h ospitality I was shown whilst there was q u ite equal

to anything I had experienced in Siberia and that ,
is sayi n g a good deal .
With such a charming and hospitable a n ambassa

dress it may be imagin ed that th e life of the littl e
,
colony centred itself so to speak round the British

, ,
L egation and L ady Wa l s h am s

,
A t home days ’ “
were events to be looked forward to ; and t h e c oup

cl ael l during the afternoon when tennis and t ea wer e
’
in full swing and the gardens crowded was a s pretty ,
as it wa s unique the temple like buildings in the

,
-
background form i ng a telling contrast to the white

clad figures under the trees or on the lawn .
I was particularly fortunate in arriving in Peking

during the season for towards the end of June
“
, ,
when the heat and dust become insupportable its ,
E uropean residents betake themselves up into the

hills where many disused temples are annually con
,
verted into temporary country houses and from all -

, ,
accounts very charming places they make

,
.
N o description of E u ropean life in Peking would

be complete without some reference to that most
striking personality of the E ast Sir Rober t Hart , ,
the Inspector — Genera l of the Chinese Imperial

’
Customs so a brief r es u m e of an extremely i n

,
place to live in so entirely isolated from the foul

,
smells and sights of the native city outside .
”
Yes replied Sir Robert
,
it certainly is a very ,
“
pleasant retreat and it is very s eldom indeed that

,
I ever leave it to go into th e city My work occupies .
so much of my time that I have little inclination

aft er it is over of a day to go out visiti n g so I liv e ,
here almost like a hermit My Wednesd a y garden .
parties are my sole relaxation and I have only had ,
’
eighteen months holiday in all since I j oined t h e
Chinese Customs Service in 1 8 5 9 L ady Hart left .
China for E ngland some ten years ago a n d I had ,
arranged to j oin her there in a fe w m onths but every ,
time I commenced making arrangements to leave

Peking something turned up to prevent me and I ,
am even now u ncertain when I shall be able to get

away but when I do it will certainly b e for goo d
, , ,
”
for I have had enough of it .
A t this moment dinner was anno u nced so we ,
adj ourned to the house which is a very large ,
bungalo w built structure which reminded me very

-
,
much of the ho u ses to b e seen in the newer suburbs

of L ondon E very thing inside was about as E nglish
.
looking as it could well have been They were huge .
bachelor quarters such as barring their size could

, , ,
be found a nywhere in E n gland and th e resemblance ,
was heightened by the fact of all the rooms being

lighted by gas — made on the premises I learnt , .
The dinner was e xcellent and would not have ,

TO TH E YELL O W SE A . 3 61
disgraced a Parisian ch ef and although the m en u ,
was written in Chinese and I therefore did not ,
always know what I was eating I appreciated it ,
none the less We dined positively in Oriental

.
magnificence no less than eight men servants

,
-
waiting on us ; for the high position which Sir

'
Robert holds in China forces him to keep up a style

on a footing with his rank a n d he told me that ev en ,
when he is alone the same ceremony has to b e

observed It was one of the penalties of greatness
.
,
I remarked To me however u nused to such

.
, ,
splendour there was something particularly j arring

,
in feeling myself thus surrounded and every mouthful ,
I took watched by the many and observant eyes ,
so I felt quite a sense of relief w hen the banquet was

concluded and we were left alone with our cigars
,
and co ffee and coul d talk unrestrained

, .
Reverting to the length of time he had been in

China I remarked to Sir Robert that he must have
,
come out as a mere youth for he does not look a ,
very old man n o w .
Why how old do you think I am

, he asked .
A s I hesitated to give a direct answer to this

question he proceeded to inform me to my surprise
, , ,
’
that he j oined her Maj esty s Consular service in
Hong Kong i n 1 8 5 4 j ust one year before reaching
,
his m aj ori t y ( He was born in Belfast in

.
Well you have had a wonderful time of it since

,
”
then Sir Robert said I
, and could doubtless
, ,
“
3 62 FR OM TH E A R O TI O OOE A N
write a book of re m in iscences which would be of

thrilli n g interest .
”
Yes replied my genial hos t ; b u t a l t h ou gh it
,
“
has often been suggested to me to publis h such a

book I shall probably never carry it into effect for
, ,
on ce I commenced there would be n o e n d to my

”
souvenirs .
Bu t how did you come to attain the wonderfully

infl u ential position you n o w h old 7
“
Oh it was simple enough replied Sir R obert
, ,
.
It came about somewhat in this fashion A fter I .
had b een i n the Consular service five years I was ,
invited to j oin th e Chinese C u stoms This w a s .
shortly after L ord E lgin s treaty when certain port s

’
were to be opened to E uropeans Something inspired .
me to accept the offer one thi n g led to another and ,
in 1 86 1 I was made A cting Inspector General in the -

,
place of Mr L ay who was going home on leave for

.
,
two years A fe w months after his return t o China

.
he was compelled to resign and I was appointed ,
Inspector General in his stea d So in four years I

-
.
had risen to the highest post in the service In those .
days the position was not nearly so important as it

is now for the Chinese Customs Service was in i t s
,
infancy It has since grown to such huge dimensions

.
that th e work it entails is something incredible In .
1 8 6 1 there were only three ports open t o E uropeans ,
whereas there are now thirty ; the ra m ifications of

the system extend as far south as Tonkin and in ,
TO TH E Y ELL O W SE A . 3 63
the north to Corea O ver seven hundred E urope ans

.
and three thousand Chi n amen of all classes are , ,
employed i n the land service alone The entire .
coast line is guarded by twenty armed cruisers of the

-
very latest types buil t in E ngland most of them by

, ,
A rmstrong These cruisers are commanded by

.
E uropeans and manned by Chinese There is .

,
besides quite a flotill a of armed steam launches

,
-
used in the various harbours The lighthouses along .
the coast are also u n der my j urisdiction E ach por t .
has its E uropean commissioner who has acting under ,
him a Chinese o fficial and staff of assistants E uropean ,
”
and otherwise .
H o w do you admit E uropeans into the service 9

’
I asked Have you a competitive e x amination or

.
“
,
”
are special qualifications ne cessary ?
“
Well it is very seldo m there is a vacancy
, ,
replied Sir Robert but when there is there are so

,
“
,
many candidates on the waiting list that my agent

in L ondon has a sort of examination held ; but of ,
course a man with some knowledge howe ver slight

, , ,
of Chinese has the best chance of getting the berth .
”
Bu t h o w is all this supported ? I naturally
asked though a ware that the Chinese Government
,
got a splendid revenue out of the Customs service .
The Chinese Government replied Sir Robert , ,
allows about a year for the support of the

service This is absolutely under my control ; also
.
the appointment or dismissal of all officials The .

3 64 FR OM TH E A R OTI O OOE A N
Ch i nese Customs are assuming bigger proportions

every year and a r e an ever increasing source of
,
-
reven u e to the State The gre at mistake that .
foreigners make with regard to Chin a is to imagine

that she is in want of e xtraneous pecuniary assistance
—that she is bordering on a state of insolvency . .
N othing could b e more erroneous ; it is rather th e

other way If the Chinese monied men only trusted
.
their own Governme n t a little more Chin a would ,
undoubtedly soon b e i n the p osition of being able to

lend money to other countries Putting this a side .
,
Chin a is not tryi n g nor has she ever been trying to

, ,
borrow money though many German French a n d

, , ,
other syndicates have been doing their u tmost to len d

her some .
I could not help remark i ng that this was a very

enviable position for a country to be in .
”
“
Besides continued Sir Robert
,
the system o f ,
“ '
such loans is contrary to Chinese ideas for a China

man prefers a short loan at a high rate of interest to
a long one at a low rate I have been much amused
.
,
knowing what I do to hear of a gents of syndicates

,
stopping in Pek i n g for months at a time on the chance

v
of floating a loan In several cases in th eir anxiety

.
,
to do business they were on the point of doing so

,
with the wrong people A fter all the Chinamen are

.
,
n o better than they ought to be ; and as it takes so
little to make the average E uropean believe that

every well dressed Celestial is an official mandarin
-
,
3 66 FR OM TH E A R O TI O O OE A N
spite of sarcasm and adverse criticism she adheres to ,
her slow steady pace and so far has n ever receded a

, , , ,
single step A s compared with Japan she reminds me

.
,
”
always of t h e old adage of th e hare and the tortoise .
Having finished our coffe e we rose from the table ,
and had a stroll through the suite of roo ms in which

Sir Robert dwells in solitary grandeur There was .
a striking absence of the curios which one would

have expected to find in the quarters of a man who
h a d passed so many years in the Far E ast Beyond .
his work Sir Robert h a d evide n tly but few hobbies .
In one corner of the drawing room was a large table -
cover ed with the Christmas cards which m y host

received last ye a r from his many friends all over the
wo rld whil st on the walls were a few very ordinary
,
pictures The whole place even to the large bare

.
,
lookin g bal l room with t wo pianos in it was v ery ,
c omfortless in appearance and I could not help think ,
’
ing that it must b e very trying to one s n erves to
’
have such a big bare place all to one s self How .
c h a cu n a 3 071 gou t ! Sir Robert s office or

’
e ver
’
, ,
”
r a ther his de n as h e called it was very characteristic
“
, ,
of the man and sh owed evident signs of being more

,
used than any other room in the house for here ,
S i r Robert spends the greater par t of his day His .
writing table particularly struck me as being very

-
unusual for h e informed me he never sits down to

,
his work but al ways stands and does his writing at

,
the tall desk in the centre of the room .

S IR RO BE T HA T
R R , IN H IS
“
D EN A T PE K ING .
[ TO f a c e 3 66 .
3 68 FR OM TH E A R OTI O OOE A N
work for the Chinese seem particularly anxious to

,
”
tak e the foreign customs under their own control .
I co u ld not help remarking on the immense c ol

lection of b ooks and papers which encumbered the
room and added that doubtless Sir Robert felt quite
,
i n his element amongst this accumulation of sta t is

tical matter .
“
Well curiously enough replied the inspector
, ,
general laughingly al t hough I have been mi x ed

,
up with it for so many years there is no work I have ,
disliked more all my life than statistics but forming ,
as it does part of my daily routine I have become ,
so accustomed to it that though I c a n never like it , ,
it has ceased to be irksome to me .
”
L eading out of the den was a room which Sir
“
Robert told me he uses as his audience chamber ,
and wh ere he receives a ll Chinese o ffi cials The .
place was furnished in a sort of semi Chinese fashion -
with the indispensable raised platform for sitting on ,
a n d the usual small table in the centre There was .
nothing particularly striking about it e x cept a huge

Chinese inscription stuck over the door which in , ,
reply to my inquiry Sir Robert informed me w as a

,
”
proverb and meant
,
L ike a bird on a twig which
, ,
simile he further added is according to the Chinese

, , , ,
supposed to convey the idea of h o w insecure one s ’
footi ng is in this we a ry world of ours I di d not .
like to ask whether this motto had b een given to

Sir Robert by his Chinese friends to stick up over
the door or whether it was a pet proverb of his

, ,
for I was not very certain as to what it really meant .
IVe then strolled out into the verandah and a s I ,
was lighting a nother cheroot preparatory to taking

my ease in one of the two long chairs which lay so
invitingly handy with a s m all table between with
,
the m a terials on it for whiskey and seltzer I turned ,
to my host and remarked that I had often heard

how di ffi cult foreigners usually found it to get on
with the Chinese officials owing to the contempt in
which the latter hold any rank but their own and ,
a sked him how he managed having to deal with ,
such a h igh class of mandarin .
”
“
Wel l replied Sir Robert owing to the favour
, ,
o f the emperor t h ere are but fe w with whom I a m

,
brought into contact w h o h old a higher rank than

mine for I am the happy possessor of almost all the
d istinctions a Red Button of the First Class a
-
,
Peacock s Fe a ther and the First Class of the Second

’
D ivision of the D ouble D ragon But the honour .
recently besto w ed upon me is the highest that it is

possible to confer on even a most distinguished
Chin ese subj ect : my family was ennobled by imperial
decree to three generations back ; that is to say
,
,
A ncestral rank of the first class of th e first order

for three generations with letters patent The value
, .
’
of this decree may be estimated from the fact that at

the same time the emperor ennobled his own grand
mother i n like fashion she having been an inferior
,
2 B
3 70 FR OM TH E A R C TI C OOE A N
wife Of the E mperor Taou Kwang in whose reign ,
”
took place the first opiu m wa r .
A lthough Sir Robert wa s to o modes t to re fer to

t h e m m os t people are aware that he holds also many
‘
of the most coveted of E uropean decor a tions also ,
s u ch as the Knight Grand Cross of S t Michael and .
S t George a n d Grand O fficer of the L egion of

.
,
Hono u r etc , .
I was on the point of asking fu rther questions ,
when I notice d my host glanci n g surreptitiously at

his watch Mechanically I followed sui t and found
.
,
that absorbed in such an interesting conversatio n

, ,
the hours had flo wn by and it was a lready pas t ,
midnight an unprecedented hour for Peking ; so

,
without delay and with hear t y thanks to my kind

entertainer I took my leave .
While ret u rning to my h otel I could not hel p

pondering on the wonderful career of the man and ,
his devotion to the nation which has done so much

for him as is shown by his refusal in 1 8 8 5 of t h e
,
post of British minister to China which was offered ,
him N evertheless he still keep s a warm corner i n

.
,
his heart for the country of his birt h as is shown ,
by the fact according to what one generally hears

,
in China that an Irishman in his service has better

,
chance of q u ick advancement than any othe r

nationality .
372 FR OM TH E A R O TI O O OE A N
city walls but the coup d aei l one got from such an
,
’
elevated position was not to be compared with that

in the midst of the busy throngs A s ill luck would .
h a ve it I had run sh ort of ph otographic films so m y

, ,
Kodak was u seless .
There was so much to see in the various quarters

of Peking th at one could spend hours simply roaming
a bout looking at the shops or rather open booths ,
.
The Chinese city was far a n d away the most interest

ing Its narrow streets whic h were darkened by the
.
,
immense number of sign boards hanging overhead -

,
resembled an immense bazaar where everything con

c e i va b l e almos t could be purchased The curio “
.
hunting fever came over me like it does over all

n ew comers to the Far E ast and many were the
-
good bargai ns I imagined I had made although , ,
doubtless I shall find that most of the things could

,
have been b o ught cheaper in L ondon .
”
Of course I did th e lions as completely as “
possible and visited the theatres a n d the opium

,
d e n s and saw enough temples and monuments to

,
last me for many years and witnesse d scenes which ,
made it hard to realize that all these relics of the

bar b arism of th e Middle A ges were within touch of
the civilization of the nineteenth century Still I .
,
could not help coming to the sa m e conclusion as Sir

Mackenzie Wallace and thoroughly agree with him ,
“ ”
that sight seeing is the weariness of the fl es h ;
-
so at last I made up my mind to bid adieu to

TO TH E Y E LL OW SEA . 3 73
al l hospitable friends and make another move

my
on my homewa rd j ourney for I still had many ,
weary miles to traverse before I reached Old E n gland

again .
There are two ways of getting to Tientsin the ,
port of Peking where one embarks for Shanghai

,
either in w hat is known as a Peking car t or by ,
house boat Having already had some not altogether

-
.
delightful experiences of these native carts it did not ,
take me long to decide which mode of conveyance

to use and although I lear nt that t h e river rou t e
,
was considerably lo nger I settled at once to go

by it .
A s luck would have it j ust as I had made all my ,
arrangements to start I managed to find a very ,
genial companion for the j ourney in Mr Sav a ge .
L andor a traveller a n d rovi n g artist whose acquaint

, ,
ance I had made whilst in Peking This gentleman .

,
who had j ust returned from Japan was on his way ,
to A ustralia so we arranged to go as far as Shanghai

,
together Travelli n g in company is undoubtedly

.
’
more pleasant than alone mor e especially if o n e s ,
companion has tastes at all in sympathy with

one s own and in this particular instance it w a s
’
’
especially so for the three days uneventful j ourn e y
,
to Tientsin passed a way very agreeably We had .
taken the precaution of providing ourselves with

a boy to act as servant and cook ; and a very
“
excellent c hef di d he make the little dinners he ,

3 74 FR OM TH E A R C TI C OOE A N
gave us being q uite works of art in their way ,
considering his limited culinary arrangement s Il .
c a s a n s di r e th at we had stocked our lar der b efor e
starting with a plentiful supply of delicacies a s ,
we had been informed that nothing e x cept name

less Chinese abominations co u ld b e purchased en
r ou t e .
The house b oat which we had previously sec u red

-
, ,
was lying i n the river Peiho at Tungchow t h e ,
nearest point to Peking and to reach i t we had a ,
’
s i x hours j ourney b efore us down th e canal in a ,
small open b oat Our baggage we sent on ahead of

.
us by cart .
It was on an absol u tely perfect day in June with

'
the sun shining in a cloudless sky that I bid a fond ,
( and I h ope last ) fare w ell to dirty Peking and started ,
on the final stage of my j ourney towards the Yello w

Sea A fter a not unpleasant though somewhat tedious
.
,
j ourney down the canal we eventually reached Tung ,
”
chow and went on board the yacht where we
,
“
,
found that Joe our boy had got quite a nice little
, ,
supper ready for us ;

A Chinese n ative house boat though un doubtedly -
,
a dmirably adapted for its purposes is certainly not ,
what one would term a luxurious craft nor one in ,
which I sh ould care to linger longer t h an was a b s o

l u t ely n ecessary It is a very long vessel partially
.
,
decked over with th e saloon amidships the galley

, ,
’
a ft and the men s quarters up for a r d Its rig ’
, .
376 FR OM TE E A R OTI O O OE A N
to remark that we were doubtless fortunate in gettin g

this particular house boat for I had heard th a t as a
-
,
rule these craft simply swarmed with vermin of all

sorts whereas this one seemed absolutely free from
,
”
them as I had not detected any sign of life ab out
,
“
the place The words were scarcely out of my mouth

.
when I noticed L andor who was seated opposite me , ,
s m ile and look at the wall behind me I glanced .
round when to my horror I saw coming to wa rds u s

,
what looked like a long procession of positively the

biggest blackbeetles and cockroaches I ever set eyes
on and which doubtless attracted b v the food were
, , ,
making for the table I have such a natural loathing

.
of these filthy creatures that I cleared out on to the

deck in n o time a n d as may b e imagined my supper
, , ,
was abruptly ended We then discovered that the .
saloon was simply infested with all sorts of playful

creatures which though perhaps presenting some
, ,
interest to the en t y m ol ogi c al student certainly offered ,
no attract i on from an artistic point of V iew I .
decide d without much hesitation that sleeping on

deck in the open air under the canopy of th e stars
would be preferable to an unconditional surrender of
my perso n during the dark hours to this watchful
—
enem y ; so when sweet slumber beckoned us to “
’
her arms I betook myself to a downy couc h con
, ,
sisting of an old sail thrown over two packing

cases on t h e fore deck whilst L andor rely ing on
-
, ,
th e merits of Keati n g s pow der retired to the ’
,
sleepi ng apartment of th e cabin and barricaded

-
,
himself inside quite a magic circle of vermin “

~
killer .
These trivial discomforts di d not however inter , ,
fere with our enj oyment of the trip and the novel
scenes around us for from the time we left T u n gch o w
,
‘
till we reach ed Tientsin the windi n g river was on e

continuous and ever changing panorama of life and -
movement I don t think I ever be fore saw such an

.
’
immense number of boats on any river as we passed

during that j ourney all apparently of the same size
,
and pattern and as usual positively crowded with

,
human beings A s far as the eye could se e on either

.
side o wing to the fl atness of the scenery a n d t h e

,
many turns in the river the country seemed a b s o ,
l u t el y planted so to speak with huge mat sails and

, , ,
the effect was indescribably strange A ll this added .

,
to the teeming crowds at work in th e fields pre ,
sented a scene of population the like of which I

imagine cou l d not b e witnessed anywhere but in
China .
We reached the last village before Tientsin too

late for th e boat to b e able to p r oceed that evening ,
as the river we learnt was closed after a certain hour ;

, ,
so rather than spend another night on board when so

,
close to a decent hotel we decided to leave the b oy ,
in charge of our belongings with instructions to bring ,
them on the first thing in the morning and to go ,
across country to the town in some conveyance .

With some diffi c u lty t wo j i nrickshas were procured ,
a n d with two boys in th e shafts of each we st a r ted ,
o ff a t a good pace for our goal This was my fi r st

. .
experience of these co nv eni ent little carriages with

their apparently indefatigable human steeds in th e
shafts and very pleasant did I find the motion
, ,
more especially with the recollection of my recent

travels fresh in my memory .
We had about six miles to go and t h e whole ,
way t he t w o b oys went at a quick run only stopping ,
once or twice to change places between the shafts .
Gradually the native h ouses on either side of the

broad road began to get more numerous On the .
horizon in front I could make out th at i n defi n a b l e

sort of glare which by night seems to hang over
a ll large towns whilst a s t h ou h to assure me that
, g ,
my long j ourney was at length over the dist a nt

.
sound of the whistle of some large steamer in the

river came wafted to my ears on the calm evening
air ; and when sh ortly after I found myself passing
through fine well arranged avenues a n d streets
-
'
lighted by gas I fel t this really was the end of my

,
discomforts the fact of our finding excellent a o

,
commodation and a m ost obliging landlord at th e

Glo b e Hotel where we put up h elping not a little to
, ,
increase this pleasurable feeling .
W e found we had about t wenty four hours before -
th e steamer star t ed for Shanghai so had ample time ,
to look round and see all there was to be seen of this

3 80 FR OM TE E A R OTI O OOE A N T O TE E Y ELL O W S E A .
N ought remained for me now b u t to choose my

route home This I eventually decided to make r i d
.
Japan and A merica thus completing a circ u it of the

,
glob e by an entirely novel route .
SH A NG HA I .
3 82 IN D EX .
Go bi D e s e r t T ol a ,
r iver , 3 12
wa t e r i n , 3 10 Ka lg a n , 3 3 1
G ol c h ik a , 3 2 m i m issi i s
A e r can on a r e , 3 35
t o K a r a on l , 3 4 i m p ssi s f 3 3 4re on o ,
G rea t Wa ll of C hi na , 3 47 Ka m i p ss 88
n a ,
the F i rs t Pa ll l ra e ,
”
3 33 Ka n sk 165 ,
K ar a ou l , 3 5
t he c hi e f i h bit a t of n a n , 37
H K a ra S e a, c u i hu ti g 2 1
r o- n n ,
H art , S ir Ro be r t, i nt e r vi e w i
w th , e n t ran c e t o, 1 5
3 59 i ce b u d i th e 24
-
o n n ,
H igh wa y r bbe y 160 o r ,

i e fi e lds i 17
c n,
H olid a ys i n S ib e i 2 I7 r a, i t s d dly sil e c 2 7

ea n e,
s l sh t i g 2 5
ea -
oo n ,
the p t i s p l b ea r i n t h e ;
ca a n
’
o ar
In q u est , 84 l rus h u t e s 2 0
t h e wa -
n r ,
Ir k u t sk , a rr iv l a ta ,
17 9 t hi k ss o f t h e i e 2 8
c ne c ,
a b ll t M d S i ev s
a a . e er ,
187 t wil i gh t i 20 n,
amu se m t s 2 17 en ,
K a san sk i m y fi s t visi t t o 49
o ,
r ,
s t f livi g i 2 19 t d e s h ou s e t 5 0
’
o n n, ra r a
co ,
fi e b ig d e 2 1 5
r r a ,
d e p t u e f om 6 1
ar r r ,
f u dli g h spi t al 2 12
o n n o ,
K h b o v a t h h m l t f 14
a ar ,
e a e o ,
g is f 190
a rr on o ,
Ki k hta
a iv l t 2 44
,
ar r a a ,
M os k o vs k a i a Pod vor i é , 1 80 d p rt u f 2 2 3
e a re or ,
mu se u m 2 1 6 ,
d e p t u e f m 25 0
ar r ro ,
p li 190
o ce , to Ou g m y p e p t io s
r a, r a ra n for
p is 192
r on , jou y 2 49
r ne ,
t ist s 196
ar ,
K l g i e Isl
o u rd 11 an ,
i m i l m dh ou s 2 03
cr na a e, K ou tou l i k 1 6 5 ,
i g u i t i e s f 194
n con r o ,
wa t i i g m i p s t h u se
n -
roo n o -
o , 17 5
i te l n n g m e t s of
r na a r ra e n ,
Kr a s n o i sk d p t u
ar for 12 4 , e ar re ,
a v y f p is s on
co n o o r o n er the
I pa i t a pi c t u e i 206
n r n, r oa dt o, 1 38
p li t i l p is s 2 05
o ca r on er ,
a Pr i vi l zgz er t
’ ’
p iso r n e r, 148
s li t y c lls 2 04
o ar e ,
arr iv l a at , 13 0
the b e ss 2 00
ar on ,
c igm ki g i p is 149
a re t t e - a n n, r on ,
l s t i t view wi t h a n er ,
u t y d f p i l y 14 6
co r ar o e ra s n ,
i m i l x il s 13 4
cr na e e
fi —
,
wor ksh ps 19 4 o ,
t w s 15 5
re o er ,
p iso
r n er s ou t d or e mpl y m
,
o o en t h t l t 13 0
o e a ,
o f, 1 98 i id t t f y d ss b ll 1 5 2
nc en a a nc re a ,
p u blic i s t i t ut ions 188 n ,

i t i f p i l y 147
n e r or o e r as n ,
s o i et y 184
c ,
J wis h ed M h mm d an o a e an
t l ph e s
e e d t el e g phs 2 16
on an ra ,
p isr s 140
on e r ,
t h e B olsh i O l i t 18 3 o u z a, l l m l f t s 15 3
oca a e a c or ,
t h e g ld i n d u s t y 209
o r ,
m i d p is s q u t s i
arr e r on e r
’
a r er n
t o Ki k h t m y p p arat i o f
a a, re n or p e ra s i l n y , 147
j ur y 2 23
o ne ,
p li i l x ile s
o t ca e , 15 1
u pl ea s a t exp e i en ce s 181
n n r ,
Pr z vi lzgzer t s
’ ‘ ‘
cr i mi als n , 13 6
IN D EX . 3 83
K ra s n oi a rs k , s ce ne o u t side pr ison , 149 s i ks 7 7

O t a ,
s iet y 13 2
oc ,
Ou g m y
r a, a rr iva l t 2 7 1 a ,
t h m k t pl
e ar e a ce , 13 1 bs a en ce o f b gg s 2 86 e ar ,
t h e igh t fu g n re e, 15 3 a m a d do g, 2 88
t h e p era s i l n y o f, 1 4 1 a n i m p m p u i t vi w 2 79
ro t “
n er e ,
h
t h e t e a t re , 1 5 5 disp s l f t h d e d 2 89
o a o e a ,
v i fi t i f p is er s
er ca on o r on ,
1 45 d gs 2 86
o ,
d p t u e f m 1 57
e ar r ro , f s t iv l f t h e M ai dh 2 97
e a o a,
Ku p t ki t k 236
e s
”
ra c , fi s t i m p ssi o s f 2 7 3
r re n o ,
i id t s
nc 2 37 en on, L m s 2 81
a a ,
M r F eodrofi
'
.
, 274
L p ra y e n b oa rd s , 2 84
La k e ik l 2 3 0
Ba a ,
p y
ra e r -fl a gs , 2 85
fi s t vi w f 2 29
r e o ,
p y w h ls 2 82
ra e r- ee ,
th d ss o t h i ce
e r oa a c ro , n e ,
ligi ou s f v u of t h e M gols
re er o r on ,
t sp
ra n y f i e 2 33 ar en c o c
b
,
L an d M S v ge 3 7 3
or , r . a a ,
the a z aa r, 2 92
”
L e e , M r C h a r l es , 1 82 , 2 2 7
.
the Bogdor , 2 75
M r G e o r e , ea t o f, 7 1
. g d h th e fi gu re o f t h e M ai dh a , 2 7 6
L h ss
a a, 2 77 the s t o y 2 99
o ld, o l d r ,
”
L i es t vi n i t z , 2 3 0 th p y d m lm k t
e on an ca e ar e , 2 93
L ofode n I sl ds
an 7 t h R u ssi
e C s ul t 2 7 3 an on a e,
,
w t hm
a c 2 95 en,
M d p t u f m 3 08
e ar re ro ,
Ma il u i 17 3
co r er,
Ma mb t i P ss 2 6 6
a a ,
t wi fi m y s v P e ih r ive 3 7 4
’
Ma e ,
er ant, 15 7 o r,
M ia m ac h i n , 2 5 0 P e ki n g de p r t u re f om
, a r ,
374
id igh
M n t s u n, 8 e n t ra n c e t o, 3 5 1
M i ge
ra th Y is i iver 46
on e en e r , e x iti g t m s 3 54
c n i e ,
M g l f my d 258
on o ar ar , sk t hi g i 3 7 1
e c n n,
h i d ssi g 2 5 5
a r- re n , st t s r ee s 357 cen e ,
M g li u
on o y f 289
a, c rr e n c o , t h B i t ish L g t i
e r e a o n, 35 4
R u ssi i fl u e i 2 96 an n e nc n
, t h h t l 353
e o e ,
M g li
on m e ls 3 05
o an ca , Ph oen i iv l f 42
x, a r r a o ,
M g ls 2 5 5
on o , ca bi f 45 n o ,
M ou fs h k a ya , 2 3 4 h er c re w, 43
Mo u n t i s o f N or t h
a n C hi na , 3 28 sp i gs a l e k 6 7
r n a
M u l e li t t
,
-
337 er , P li t i a l x il es t K i k h t
o c e a a a, 2 47
M ules 3 3 7 ,
N a nk aou Pa ss ,
3 47 R u ssi a n c ooki ng o r fi rs t ,
u s
t a te of , 44
N a s y m o ro , 95 c u s t o m h ou s e ofii ce r -
,
48
N iju i U di sk 165 n , h vy m il
ea v a , c a ra an o f, 3 05
N or t C a h pe 8 , t h t w C ss ks wi t h 3 06
e o o ac ,
h spi t li t y m y fi s t ex p e ien
o a ,
r r ce
0
o f, 54
i l R u ssi s visit f om Im p i l M il 17 3
'
O ffi c a a, fir t r ,
83 er a
‘
a ,
Ok a riv 17 5 e r, light m il i t h G obi a n e ,

305
3 84 IN D EX .
R u ssi an p oli e offi er 84 c c ,

T roi t z k os a vs k 2 45 ,
R u sso C hi n e s e fron t i e r 2 5 0
-
,
T u n d ra s , 38
of N or t h er n S ibe i r a, 47
S
T u n gc h o w , 374
T ur u c h a n s k , 80
S ah a m 3 24
visi t t o t h e m o st er y na 81
p t u e fr m
de ar r o ,
326
,
Sa m ov s 1 6 8 ar ,
V
Sa m y ed g v e 3 8
o e ra ,
b u t , 40 Ven t il a t i on 16 5 ,
Sa m y d s t G l hik
o e e a o c a, 33 V ill a ge co mm u n e s , 1 64
S ea gu lls 7 7 ,
p ie s t
r , 85
Se l g iv 2 4 2
en a r er ,
x i t i g i id t
e c n nc en on , 2 43 W
S e l i va n a k a , 7 7 Wa lsh a m h in t e vi ew
S ir J o n, r wi t h ,
S h a gh i
n iv l t 3 7 9
a ,
arr a a ,
3 55
,
T i t si t 379 en n o,
Wa yga t ch t h e S tra i t s o f 14
S ib i fi s t gli m ps
, ,
f 12
e r a, r e o ,
We r ch n ei mb a ck s k oi 83 ,
S i n F ou F ou , 3 3 9 Wi ggi n s s e x p e di t i on 6 3
’
k hi g
S e t c n a t K a s a n s k oi , 5 2 ,
Woo d fu e l on t h e Y en is e i 66
,
,
,
S k op t i 7 7 ,
Worogo vo 90
S n o w r g e , 1 59 id s t h e T a r t ar
,
at, 91
v si
S ot ni k o ff , M r , a i t t o , 7 5
l g — v lli g v l y
.
S e d e t r a e n , n o e t of 1 6 2 ,
Y
S l e dgi g 1 2 4 n ,
fi s t ex p i e e s f 12 9
r er nc o , Y en is i ive p p o t i o s o f 62
e r r, ro r n ,
G on t P st R d 15 6 rea o oa , Y en is isk i v l t 96
e , a rr a a ,
th ld 1 2 9 e co , am u s m t s 1 04
e en ,
t h e p a da r ojn a , 12 7 avisi t t t h m s p riso 107 o e en

’
n,
p s h us s
t h e o t o e , 12 8 av i si t t o t h e w m s p is o en
’
r on ,
t h w id w 1 2 5
e o ,
S t a ro st f p is o
er o s 1 42 r ner , c h i h p li t i l x il 1 15
at w t o ca e e,
S t ea m l u h e x p edi t io of
-
a nc ,
n ou r , 41 c u s t om h u s ffi i ls 1 01 -
o e o c a ,
d p t u f i m i ls 113
e ar re o cr na ,
T fi e b ig d e 1 1 8
r r a ,
T a ran t a , 2 3 9 ss fi s t i m p ssi s o f 9 8
r re on ,
i
T ch a D a r 3 4 7 . g ld fi lds 103
o e ,
Tc hi n
e g t P eki g
-
M en a e, n , 3 51 H igh S t t 12 0 re e ,
T va s 1 6 0
ea ca ra n , h u s s 1 19o e ,
wi t h L m 29 1 a a a, m y l dgi gs 102 o n ,
Th l r iv l
u e, a r f th 56 a o e, p li t i l e x il s t 1 14
o ca e a ,
Ti t si
en iv l t 3 7 8
n, a rr a a , sh ps 1 01 o ,
T i r e t s k a y a , 17 5 s i t y 1 05
oc e ,
T ou l ou n g, 16 5 , 1 7 4 t h h ospi t l 1 1 7
e a ,
T ra v ell s s ca i t y
er ,
rc o f, in S ib i
er a t h m k e t 10 1
e ar ,
17 3 Ya mb h
oos a iv l t 3 3 0
a n, rr a a ,
T r ee s , n or t he rn li m i t o f, 64 Yo u t s 25 2
r ,
DS S P9 4 18 9 2
Pr i c e , J u l i u s Me n d e s , d .
IOZ 4 .
Fr o m t h e Ar c t i c Oc ea n t o t h e
Ye l l o w S e a .
UTHERN REGIONALLIBRARY FACILITY

UC SO
AA 001
3 12 1

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VO T E .

IN 1 890 AN D 1891 , A C R OS S S IBE R IA , M O N G O L IA ,

r e c or di g my gra t i t u d e for t h e a ss i s t a n ce a ffo r de d m e an d t h e

F rom t h e highe st o fﬁ cia ls t o t h e h u mbl e s t emp loye t h e co u rt e sy

I w a s sh o w n on a ll occa s i o n s w as s o g rea t t h a t i n all m y ,

v ari ed ex p er ien c es of t r a v el I rem ember nothi g t o equ a l i t ; a n d

wan d e i ngs w ill l e a d m e s om e day i nto G rea t er R uss ia it s e l f

G en era l T e lak oﬁ k y D r P e a c ock a n d M e ss r s C h eri pan o ﬁ

and M S h oll in ge n , i n Ou rga

A FEW introductory remarks are I feel necessa ry if , , ,

only to give the ra of my j ourney and as ,

a sort of apology for adding to the already formidable

The celebrated voyage of Captain Wiggins i n

is too we l l reme m bered for it to be necessary for me

to recapitulate an exploit which is destined to become

the practic a bility of establishing commercial relations

This successful expedition ,

mense possibilities naturally encouraged its ﬁnancial

w ooden steamer specially b u ilt for A rctic work ,

desp a tched to the mouth of the Yenisei with a cargo

the river and fetc h b a ck the cargo brought out by

from the Russia n Go vern ment ; but so far from

the way of the scheme the ofﬁcials advised of course , ,

from head quarters lent every assistance in their

power and showed a most frien dly spirit . Throug h

purpose , and the L a b r a dor returned to E ngland

rate for a time by ,

had his frien ds in him ) that th e following year the ,

L a b r a do r once again started for the far N orth - E as t

time the failure it was proved afterwards could have

been easily averted . In fact so conclusively was

this proved that emboldened with the knowle dge of

how n ear it had been to being a success a syndicate

of rich and inﬂuential L ondon men was with out

that two ships should be sent out the followi ng y ear ,

a renewed enthusiasm in the s ch e m e, wh i ch I may

add parenthetically helped not a little to bring ,

about its eventually satisfactory result ; this n ot

withstanding the fact that the expedition started

of Captain Wiggins the leading spirit of the proj ect

Talki n g about Russia on e morn ing w ith Mr . In

gram at the ofﬁce of the Il lu s t r a t ed Lon don N ews ,

out the slightest hesitation I eagerly cau ght at the

Sahara on a bicycle I should probably have j umped

Well to cut a long story short aft er a lot of

correspondence had passe d be t ween us the ,

Siberian Trading Syndi cate agreed to take me sub ,

j cet to certain restrictions as to publication of sketch es

eventually if all went well at the city of Yeniseisk

in the hear t of Siberia . On my taking a map of the

where I wa s to go if I ever found myself there , You

plenty of i n terestin g sketches for the paper ,

over the worl d so to speak and with unlimited time

an d plenty of means at my disposal ,

it may give a few fresh facts about the vast continen t

In conclusion I must candidly confess I arri ved

in Siberia with fore g one conclusions derived from

narrative may j udge for himself . I have touched but

was further from my tho u ghts ,

question . E fforts in this direction have b een made

w ho m , however are agreed on the

t he system is an an ac h ronism and unsuitable to

that vast country with such immense natural re