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diff --git a/77742-0.txt b/77742-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9473b85 --- /dev/null +++ b/77742-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,30658 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77742 *** + + + + +[Illustration: GOLD-MINE AND WASHING-HOUSE AT KARA.] + + + + + THROUGH SIBERIA + + BY HENRY LANSDELL, D.D., F.R.G.S. + + With Illustrations and Maps + + _FIFTH EDITION_ + + London + SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, AND RIVINGTON + 188, FLEET STREET + + 1883 + + [_All Rights Reserved._] + + + + + I inscribe these pages + + TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE + + HUGH McCALMONT, EARL CAIRNS, P.C., LL.D., + + CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN, AND LATE + + LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND, IN GRATEFUL + + APPRECIATION OF OFFICIAL KINDNESS + + MORE THAN ONCE ACCORDED ME + + IN FURTHERING MY VISITS + + TO THE PRISONS OF + + EUROPE + + + + +PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. + + +Being about to leave England on a projected tour through Russian +Central Asia, and the second edition of “Through Siberia” having +become nearly exhausted, I find myself called upon to make preparation +for a third and cheaper issue. It is only necessary to say that the +subject-matter of the third and second editions is alike, the third +edition, however, being bound in one volume, and printed on thinner +paper, with somewhat fewer illustrations. + + H. L. + + BLACKHEATH, + _21st June, 1882_. + + + + +PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. + + +Being unexpectedly but agreeably obliged to prepare a second edition +before the day for the public appearance of the first, I can do little +more than express my gratitude for the favour with which my book has +been received, and repeat what has already been printed. The kind and +too favourable reviews that have thus far come under my notice seem to +call for little remark but of thanks. One journal, however--the _St. +James’s Gazette_--has stated, on the authority of a Russian informant, +that ‘official orders were sent before me to the prisons to make +things wear a favourable aspect for my visit.’ I venture therefore +here to repeat what I wrote to the Editor (but which he did not think +fit to publish), that if his Russian informant, or any other, thinks +that I have been duped or misinformed, I am perfectly ready to be +questioned, and shall be happy to discuss the question in the public +press, provided only that my opponent give facts, dates, names, and +places, and do not hide behind general statements and impersonalities. +My own conviction is that in the overwhelming majority of cases, at all +events, I saw Siberian prison affairs in their normal condition. + +With the exception, then, of a corrected note which appeared on +page 37, vol. i., a slight re-arrangement of the bibliography and +appendices, a few verbal alterations, and a _new and improved index_, +this second edition is the same as the first. + + H. L. + + THE GROVE, BLACKHEATH, + _20th February, 1882_. + + + + +PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. + + +This book is a traveller’s story, enriched from the writings of +others. In San Francisco an American Bishop said to me, “I hope, sir, +you will give us your experience, for Siberia is a country of which +we know so little.” Accordingly, on my return, two courses presented +themselves--either to confine myself to an account of my personal +adventures, or to supplement them from published information, and +describe the country as a whole. I chose the latter course, and the +result is in the reader’s hands. At the end of the work will be +found a list of books consulted, to the authors of many of which I +must acknowledge myself indebted for much scientific and technical +information. + +My speciality in Siberia was the visitation of its prisons and penal +institutions, considered, however, not so much from an economic or +administrative as from a philanthropic and religious point of view. +Much has been written concerning them that is very unsatisfactory, and +some things that are absolutely false. One author published “My Exile +in Siberia” who never went there. “Escapes” and so-called “Revelations” +of Siberia have been written by others who were banished only a few +days’ journey beyond the Urals; whereas it is only east of the Baikal +that the severest forms of exile life begin. None, so far as I know, +who have escaped or been released from the mines, have written the tale +of what they endured, and very few authors have been in a position even +to describe what the penal mines are like. + +It has been comparatively easy, therefore, in England for writers to +exaggerate on this subject almost as they pleased, because scarcely any +one could contradict them. Comparatively few travellers cross Northern +Asia to the Amur. I doubt if any _English_ author has preceded me. +Probably also I was the first foreigner ever allowed to go through the +Siberian prisons and mines. Perhaps none before have asked permission. +That I obtained such an authorization astonished my friends, though the +open manner in which the letter was granted seemed to show that the +authorities had nothing to hide. A master-key was put into my hand that +opened every door. I went where I would, and almost when I would; and +on no single occasion was admission refused, though often applied for +at a moment’s notice. Statistics also were freely given me; but this +was “not so writ in the bond.” An afterthought, in Siberia, emboldened +me to ask for them in various places, and they were usually furnished +then and there. All these are displayed before the reader. I have +exaggerated nothing,--kept nothing back. + +I speak thus in case I should be thought to have written with a bias; +but I had no reason to be other than impartial. Of politics I know +next to nothing, and so was not prejudiced in this direction. Nor had +I anything to gain by withholding, or to fear from telling, the whole +of the truth. I did not travel as the agent or representative of any +religious body. Two societies, indeed, at my request, made me grants +of books, and a generous friend provided the cost of travel; but the +expedition was a private one, and implicated none but myself. I could +not, of course, see matters as a prisoner would; but I wish to state +that, having visited prisons in nearly every country of Europe, I have +given here an unprejudiced statement of what I saw and heard in the +prisons and mines of Siberia + +That a foreigner, flying across Europe and Asia, as I did, is +exceedingly likely to receive false impressions and form erroneous +conclusions, is obvious to every one, and I claim no exemption; for +though I have journeyed in Russia, from Archangel to Mount Ararat, yet +my experience is that of a traveller only, and not of a resident. I +do not even speak Russ, but have been dependent on interpreters, or +information received in French. I trust, therefore, that no one may be +misled by taking my testimony for more than it is worth. I have tried +to be accurate, and that is all I can say. + +Perhaps I may add, however, that my proof-sheets have been revised by +Russian friends among others, and that most of the chapters concerning +exile life have been submitted not only to a Russian Inspector of +Prisons, but also to released political exiles who have worked in +the mines. The latter endorse what I have said, and (with reference +to the chapters on “Exiles,” “Political Prisoners,” and the “Mines +of Nertchinsk”) the Inspector has done me the compliment to write, +“What you say is so perfectly correct that your book may be taken as a +standard, even by Russian authorities.” I have good hope, therefore, +that in this feature of my work, at all events, I have avoided +misrepresentation. + +On scientific subjects I cannot speak with authority; but I have +been allowed to submit the proof-sheets to various friends, who +have kindly read them with an eye to their particular studies. My +thanks, accordingly, are due to Sir Andrew Ramsay, LL.D., F.R.S., +Director-General of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom; to Mr. +James Glaisher, F.R.S., formerly of the meteorological department of +the Greenwich Observatory; and to Mr. Trelawney Saunders, Geographer +to the India Office. Mr. Henry Seebohm, F.L.S., F.Z.S., has read +such paragraphs as relate to zoology and ornithology; and Mr. Henry +Howorth, F.S.A., author of “The History of the Mongols,” has afforded +suggestions from his extensive reading in Siberian ethnology. I am also +indebted for information concerning many Sclavonic words, manners, and +customs to Mrs. Cattley, formerly of Petersburg, and a great traveller +in Russia; and to the Rev. C. Slegg Ward, M.A., Vicar of Wootton St. +Lawrence, for literary help. It is difficult to restrain my pen from +mentioning others--the scores of friends who gave me introductions, the +scores of others who received and honoured them--but if I once begin in +this direction, where shall I end? I can only say that, for hospitality +to strangers, Siberia carries the palm before every country in which I +have travelled, and that from the day I crossed the Russian frontier +till I reached the Pacific I met with nothing but kindness. + + H. L. + + THE GROVE, BLACKHEATH, + _20th December, 1881_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + _INTRODUCTORY._ + + PAGE + + Object of the journey.--Interest in prisons.--Visitation of + prisons in 1874.--Distribution of religious literature in + Russia.--Tour round Bothnian Gulf, 1876.--To Russo-Turkish + war, 1877.--To Archangel, 1878.--Origin of Siberian + journey.--Alba Hellman and her correspondence.--The way + opened.--Projected efforts of usefulness.--Books to be + distributed.--Final resolve 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + + _ACROSS EUROPE._ + + Departure for Petersburg.--Official receptions.--Minister of the + Interior.--Metropolitan of Moscow.--Introductions.--Books + forwarded.--Departure for Moscow.--Nijni Novgorod.--Site + of the fair.--Joined by interpreter.--Kasan.--Bulgarian + antiquities.--Neighbouring heathen.--Idolatrous objects + and practices.--Departure from Kasan.--The Volga and the + Kama.--Arrival at Perm 9 + + + CHAPTER III. + + _THE URALS TO TIUMEN._ + + A new railway.--The Ural range.--Outlook into Russia in Asia.--Nijni + Tagil.--The Demidoff mines and hospital.--May weather.--Russian + railways.--Arrival at Ekaterineburg.--An orphanage.--Precious + stones.--Orenburg shawls.--Tarantass and luggage.--Departure for + Tiumen.--The exiles.--Visits to the authorities 17 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + _THE EXILES._ + + Reasons for and history of deportation to Siberia.--Number + of exiles.--Their education.--Crimes.--Sentences.--Loss + of rights.--Privileges.--Proportion of hard-labour + convicts.--Where located.--Release.--Escapes.--Causes and + methods of flight.--Transport.--A convoy of exiles.--Moscow + charity.--Conveyance to Perm and Tiumen.--Their + distribution.--Order of march.--Sea-borne exiles.--Mistakes + of English newspapers.--Conveyance of political exiles 31 + + + CHAPTER V. + + _FROM TIUMEN TO TOBOLSK._ + + General remarks on + Siberia.--Limits.--Area.--Temperature.--Divisions.--Roads.-- + Ethnography.--Language.--Posting to Tobolsk.--Floods.--Spring + roads.--Villages of Tatars.--Their history.--Characteristics.-- + Costume.--Occupation.--Worship.--Language 49 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + _SIBERIAN PRISONS._ + + Old Finnish prisons.--Model Petersburg + prison.--Officers.--Contraband importations.--Russian + prisons of six kinds.--Siberian prisons of three kinds: + their number, location, structure, furniture.--Prisoners: + their classification.--Kansk statistics.--Method of + trial.--Remands.--Exchanging names and punishments 63 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + _SIBERIAN PRISONS (continued)._ + + Charitable committees.--Prison food.--Clothing.--Work.--Hard + labour.--Exercise.--Amusements.--Privileges.--Intercourse + with friends.--Punishments.--Capital + punishment.--Corporal punishment.--Irons.--Prison + discipline.--Flogging.--Exceptional severities 77 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + _THE OBI._ + + Dimensions of river.--Its tributaries.--Province + of Tobolsk.--Geographical + features.--Population.--Voguls.--Samoyedes.--Intemperance.-- + Commercial prospects of Obi.--Siberian produce.--Corn + land.--Timber.--Cost of provisions.--Carriage.--Discoveries + of Wiggins.--Followed by Nordenskiöld.--Ship-building at + Tiumen.--Navigation of Kara Sea.--Books on basin of Obi 96 + + + CHAPTER IX. + + _TOBOLSK._ + + Early history of Siberia.--Yermak.--Conquest of the + Tatars.--Tobolsk the first capital.--The exiled bell.--Our + visit to the Governor.--Hard-labour prisons.--Interior + arrangements.--“_Travaux forcés._”--Testimony of + prisoners.--Books presented 109 + + + CHAPTER X. + + _FROM TOBOLSK TO TOMSK._ + + The steamer + _Beljetchenko_.--Fellow-passengers.--Card-playing.--Cost + of provisions.--Inspection of convicts’ barge.--An exile + fellow-passenger.--Obi navigation.--The Ostjaks.--Their + fisheries.--Feats of archery.--Marriage customs 117 + + + CHAPTER XI. + + _TOMSK._ + + The province of Tomsk.--The city of Tomsk.--Visit to the + Governor.--The prison.--Institution for prisoners’ + children.--A Lutheran minister.--Finnish colonies in + Siberia.--Their pastoral care.--Dissuaded from visiting + Minusinsk.--Distribution of Finnish books.--_Détour_ to + Barnaul 127 + + + CHAPTER XII. + + _SIBERIAN POSTING._ + + Travelling by post-horses.--The courier, crown, and ordinary + _podorojna_.--The tarantass.--Packing.--Harness.-- + Horses.--Roads.--Pains and penalties.--Crossing + rivers.--Cost.--Speed.--Post-houses.--Meat and drink 134 + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + _FROM TOMSK SOUTHWARDS._ + + Application for horses.--Effect of Petersburg letter.--A false + start.--A horse killed.--Attempted cooking.--Siberian + weather.--Meteorology.--Scenery.--Trees, plants, and + flowers.--An elementary school.--Education in Western Siberia 143 + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + _BARNAUL._ + + Situation of town.--Cemetery.--Burial of the dead.--The Emperor’s + usine.--Visit to Mr. Clark.--Visits to hospital and prison.--A + recently-enacted tragedy.--Crime of the district.--Smelting + of silver and gold.--Price of land and provisions.--Return to + Tomsk 152 + + + CHAPTER XV. + + _THE SIBERIAN CHURCH._ + + The Russian Church.--Geographical area.--History, doctrines, + schisms.--Ecclesiastical divisions of Siberia.--Church + committees.--Russian Church services.--Picture + worship.--Vestments.--Liturgy.--Ordination.--Baptism.-- + Marriage.--Minor services 161 + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + _THE SIBERIAN CHURCH (continued)._ + + Parochial clergy.--Their emoluments.--Duties.--Official + registers.--Discipline.--Morality.--Status.--Our + clerical visits.--Monastic clergy.--The Metropolitan + Macarius.--Fasting.--General view of Russian Church.--Compared + with Roman.--Teaching respecting Holy Scripture and salvation + by faith.--Needs of Russian Church 171 + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + _FROM TOMSK TO KRASNOIARSK._ + + Book-distribution in Western Siberia.--Departure + from Tomsk.--Postbells.--How to sit in + posting.--Sleeping.--Boundary of Western Siberia.--Wild + and domesticated animals.--Birds.--Scenery.--Roadside + villages.--Peasants’ houses.--Hammering up “the + Prodigal Son.”--Siberian towns.--Houses of upper + classes.--Misadventures.--A hospitable merchant.--Frontier + of Eastern Siberia 183 + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + _THE YENESEI._ + + Sources of the river.--Discoveries of Wiggins and + Nordenskiöld.--The Yenesei at Krasnoiarsk.--Current, + width, depth.--Breaking up of ice.--The Yeneseisk + province.--Geography.--Meteorology.--Forests.--Timber.--Fish + of Yenesei.--Birds.--Russian population.--Navigation.--Corn + and cattle.--Towns.--A Scoptsi village.--Salubrity of + climate.--The aborigines.--Ethnology.--Tunguses.--Fur-bearing + animals.--Methods of hunting.--Minerals 196 + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + _A VISIT TO A GOLD-MINE._ + + Gold in Siberia.--Where found.--Gold-hunting.--A + prospecting party.--Thawing the ground.--Subterranean + passages.--Hardships.--Mining calculations.--Building of + barracks.--Preparations for our visit.--Costumes.--Road + through “the forest primeval.”--Luxuriant + vegetation.--Crossing mountains.--Arrival at mine.--Labour + of miners.--Gold-washing machine.--Government + inspection.--Wages.--Hours of labour.--Miners’ + food.--Pay-day.--Drink and its follies.--Miners’ + fortunes.--Mines of Eastern Siberia.--Return to Krasnoiarsk 211 + + + CHAPTER XX. + + _FROM KRASNOIARSK TO ALEXANDREFFSKY._ + + Situation of Krasnoiarsk.--Our hotel.--Dr. Peacock.--Visit + to prison, hospital, and madhouse.--Cathedral.--Drive + in “Rotten Row.”--Shoeing horses.--Bible affairs at + Krasnoiarsk.--Consignment to Governor for provinces of + Yeneseisk and Yakutsk.--Departure from Krasnoiarsk.--Change + of scenery.--Kansk _Okrug_.--Our arrival anticipated.--Visit + to Ispravnik.--Statistics of crime.--The Protopope of + Kansk.--Parochial information.--Demand for Scriptures.--A + travelling companion.--Further posting help.--Butterflies + and mosquitoes.--Nijni Udinsk.--Telma factory.--A + _détour_.--Alexandreffsky 227 + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + _THE ALEXANDREFFSKY CENTRAL PRISON._ + + Prison wards.--Punishment cells.--Communication with + friends.--Nationalities of prisoners.--Their + work.--Food.--Distribution of books.--Our + reception.--Lunch.--Departure.--Runaway horses.--An + accident.--Left alone.--Return to post-house 245 + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + _A CITY ON FIRE._ + + Approach to Irkutsk.--The city entered.--Remains of a fire.--A + second fire.--Our flight.--Crossing of the Angara.--A + refuge.--Inhabitants fleeing.--Salvage.--Firemen’s + efforts.--Spread of the catastrophe.--Return to lodging.--A + chapel saved.--Spectacle of fire at night.--Reflections 253 + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + _IRKUTSK._ + + Province of Irkutsk.--The capital.--Its markets.--Telegraph + officers.--Visit to the Governor.--Ruins of the + city.--Attempt to establish a Bible depôt.--Supposed + incendiarism.--Benevolent arrangements of + authorities.--Wife-beating.--Servility of Russian + peasants.--Visit to a rich merchant.--Ecclesiastical + affairs.--Visit to the acting Governor-General.--The + prisons.--A prisoner’s view of them.--Prison + committee.--Distribution of books.--Visit to inspector of + schools.--Change of route 264 + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + _THE LENA._ + + History of Russian invasion.--Former travellers to + Okhotsk.--Cochrane, Erman, and Hill.--Down the Lena to + Yakutsk.--Prevalence of goitre.--The Upper Lena and its + tributaries.--The Lower Lena.--Discoveries of mammoths.--New + Siberian islands.--Nordenskiöld’s passage 281 + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + _YAKUTSK._ + + The province of Yakutsk.--Rivers.--Minerals.--The town of + Yakutsk.--Its temperature.--Inhabitants.--The + Yukaghirs.--The Yakutes.--Their dwellings.--Food.--Dress.-- + Products.--Occupations.--Industries.--Language.--Religion.-- + Route from Yakutsk to Okhotsk.--Reindeer riding.--Summer + journey.--Treatment of horses 294 + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + _ACROSS LAKE BAIKAL TO TROITZKOSAVSK._ + + Leaving Irkutsk.--The Angara.--Approach to the Baikal: its shores + and fish.--Steaming across.--Seizing post-horses.--Arrival + at Verchne Udinsk.--Smuggling at the prison.--Arrival at + Selenginsk.--English mission to Buriats.--English graves.--Old + scholars.--Story of the mission.--Journey to Troitzkosavsk 309 + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + _THE SIBERIAN FRONTIER AT KIAKHTA._ + + Hospitable reception.--History of Kiakhta.--Treaties between + Russians and Chinese.--Early trading.--Decline of + commerce.--The tea trade.--Troitzkosavsk church.--Miraculous + ikons.--Kiakhta church.--Russian churches in + general.--Bells.--Valuable ikons.--Climate of Kiakhta.--Drive + to Ust-Keran 322 + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + _THE MONGOLIAN FRONTIER AT MAIMATCHIN._ + + Outlook into Mongolia.--Town of Maimatchin: + without women.--Visit to a Chinese + merchant.--Refreshments.--Attendants.--Purchases.--Tea + bricks for coin.--The town.--Buddhist temple.--Chinese + malefactors.--Their punishments.--Chinese + dinner.-Food.--Intoxicating drinks.--Route to + Peking.--Travellers.-Modes of conveyance.--Manners of the + desert.--Postal service 337 + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + _FROM KIAKHTA TO CHITA._ + + Farewell ceremonies.--Writing home of changed + plans.--Caravans.--An iron foundry.--Buriat + yemstchiks.--Methods of driving.--Salutations.--Insignificant + post-stations.--Visit to a missionary to the Buriats.--Russian + missions in Japan.--A remarkable meeting.--The Yablonoi + mountains.--Chita.--Visit to the Governor and prison 353 + + + CHAPTER XXX. + + _THE BURIATS._ + + Country of the Buriats.--Their physiognomy + and costume.--Habitations.--Mongol + yourts.--Hospitality.--Fuel.--Possessions in + cattle.--Character of Buriats.--Their religions.--Buddhist + Buriats.--The soul of Buddha.--The lamas.--Their celibacy, + classification, employments, disabilities.--Buddhist + doctrines.--A prayer cylinder.--Christian Buriats.--English + missions.--Reports of English travellers.--Results of Russian + missions.--Distribution of Buriat Scriptures 364 + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + _SIBERIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS._ + + The Za-Baikal, a natural prison.--“Decembrists” of + 1825.--Misapprehensions respecting political prisoners.--The + “Story of Elizabeth.”--Vindictive foreign writers.--Palpable + misstatements.--Misleading information.--Dostoyeffsky’s + “Buried Alive.”--Rosen’s “Russian Conspirators.”--Present + condition of political prisoners.--Testimony of + Poles.--Treatment of an attempted regicide.--The number + of “politicals” exaggerated.--Calculations concerning + them.--Their mode of transport.--Paucity of statistics + accounted for 377 + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + _FROM CHITA TO NERTCHINSK._ + + The Trans-Baikal province.--Books deposited with the + Governor--Specimen letter of consignment.--Prisons and + hospitals.--Governor’s distribution of books.--Satisfactory + results.--Journey from Chita.--Buriat _Obos_.--Russian + emigrants.--Salutations.--Approach to Nertchinsk.--Its + mineral treasures 400 + + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + _THE SILVER AND (SO-CALLED) QUICKSILVER MINES OF NERTCHINSK._ + + The supposed quicksilver-mines.--Inadequate evidence of their + existence.--Unsupported statements of writers.--Not + known to Anglo-Siberians.--Silver-mines, perhaps, + intended.--Deleterious fumes a myth.--Questionable + allegations regarding silver-mines.--Sensational + writers.--Misstatements exposed.--Testimony of Collins and + other eye-witnesses.--Accounts of ex-prisoners and Lutheran + pastor.--Nertchinsk Zavod and work in the mines.--Condition + of affairs in 1866.--Present state of things.--The Nemesis + of exaggeration 408 + + + CHAPTER XXXIV. + + _FROM NERTCHINSK TO STRETINSK._ + + Nertchinsk.--Its climate and history.--Scene of a + Russo-Chinese treaty.--Appearance of the town.--Visit to + the authorities.--Dinner with a rich merchant.--Siberian + table customs.--Poverty of travelling fare.--Fine arts in + Siberia.--Painting and photography.--Journey from Nertchinsk 425 + + + CHAPTER XXXV. + + _FROM STRETINSK TO UST-KARA._ + + Arrival at Stretinsk.--Recorded distances from Petersburg.--Taking + in a passenger.--Travelling allowance to officers.--Parting + with interpreter.--Farewell to tarantass.--Starting + to Kara.--The world before me.--Previous writers on + the Amur.--Gliding down the Shilka.--Talking by dumb + signs.--My Cossack attendant.--Taking an oar.--How Russians + sleep.--Arrival at Ust-Kara 436 + + + CHAPTER XXXVI. + + _THE PENAL COLONY OF KARA._ + + Evil reputation of Kara.--Testimony from Siberians and + exiles.--My own experience.--The Commandant.--Our evening + drive.--Hospitable reception.--Statistics respecting + prisoners: their crimes, sentences, and settlement as + “exiles.”--The Amurski prison.--Cossack barracks.--The upper + prison.--Convicts’ food.--Prisoners’ private laws.--Middle + Kara prison.--Mohammedan forçats.--Sunday labour.--Convict + clothing.--Guard-house.--A genuine political prisoner.--The + church.--Lack of preaching.--House of the Commandant 445 + + + CHAPTER XXXVII. + + _THE CONVICT MINES OF KARA._ + + Gold-mines not underground.--Hours of labour.--Visit to a + mine.--Punishments.--Branding abolished.--Miners marching + off.--Statistics respecting runaways.--Women criminals at + mines.--A new building for expected politicals.--Superannuated + forçats.--The hospitals.--“Birching” and its effects.--Kara + in 1859.--Improvements effected by Colonel Kononovitch.--A + children’s home.--Return to the gold-mine.--Comparison of + Siberian and English convicts.--Distribution of books 462 + + + CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + _THE SHILKA._ + + Departure from Kara.--Parting hospitality.--Ust-Kara + police-master.--The head waters of the Shilka.--Collins’s + descent of Ingoda.--The Onon.--Formation of + Shilka.--Scenery below Stretinsk.--Shilkinsk.--Hospitality + of police-master.--Non-arrival of steamer.--Efforts + at conversation.--Steaming down the river.--Shilka + scenery.--Tributaries from north and south.--Arrival at + confluence of Shilka and Argun 480 + + + CHAPTER XXXIX. + + _THE HISTORY OF THE AMUR._ + + Divisible into three periods.--Period of Cossack + plunder.--Poyarkof.--Khabarof.--Stepanof.--Discovery and + occupation of Shilka.--Chernigovsky.--Period of conflict with + Chinese.--Russo-Chinese treaty of 1686.--Russian mission at + Peking.--Affairs on the Amur during Russian exclusion.--Third + historic period from 1847.--Preparatory operations on Lower + Amur.--Muravieff’s descent of the river, 1854.--Influence + of the Crimean war.--Colonization of Lower Amur.--Further + colonization, 1857.--Chinese protests.--Influence of + Anglo-Chinese war.--The Sea Coast erected into a Russian + province.--Renewed difficulties with China.--Treaty of + 1860.--Review of Russian occupation 489 + + + CHAPTER XL. + + _THE UPPER AMUR._ + + Formation of the Amur.--Chinese boundary.--Our + steamer.--Captain and passengers.--Natives of Upper + Amur.--Orochons.--Manyargs.--Their hunting year.--Our + journey.--Run aground.--Table provisions.--Notes on + cooking.--Scenery.--Albazin.--Cliff of Tsagayan 503 + + + CHAPTER XLI. + + _BLAGOVESTCHENSK._ + + Blagovestchensk and Russian missions.--Particulars of + orthodox missionary society.--Visit to telegraph + station.--Seminary for training priests.--Salaries of + Russian clergy.--Blagovestchensk prison.--Leafy + barracks.--View of the town.--Molokan inhabitants 518 + + + CHAPTER XLII. + + _THE MIDDLE AMUR._ + + Departure from Blagovestchensk.--The Zeya.--Climate.--A + bath under difficulties.--Occupation of time.--Russian + tea-drinking.--The Bureya river and mountains.--Delightful + scenery.--Ekaterino-Nicolsk.--Distribution of books and + Scriptures.--Reception and recognition of passengers.--Prairie + scenery.--Shooting a dog.--The Sungari.--Chinese + exclusiveness.--Course of the river.--The Amur province.--An + excise officer.--Remarks on alcohol.--Teetotalism in Russia 531 + + + CHAPTER XLIII. + + _THE MANCHURIAN FRONTIER._ + + Manchuria and its aboriginal inhabitants.--Their history.--The + Daurians.--The Manchu.--Visit to Sakhalin-Ula-Hotun.--Manchu + dress.--Music.--Conveyances.--Articles of commerce.--Treatment + of dead.--Boats.--Methods of fishing.--Archery.--Town of + Aigun.--Buildings.--Temples.--Difficulties of access 547 + + + CHAPTER XLIV. + + _THE PRIMORSK OR SEA-COAST PROVINCE._ + + Fuller treatment of this province.--Boundaries and + dimensions.--Mountains, bays, and rivers.--Climate.--Fauna and + flora.--Aboriginal and Russian population.--Government.--Food + products.--Imports.--Taxes.--Civil government.--Health of the + people 560 + + + CHAPTER XLV. + + _THE LOWER AMUR._ + + My plans altered.--A serious alternative.--Khabarofka.--Fur + trade.--Post-office and bank.--A Siberian garden.--Started for + Nikolaefsk.--The Lower Amur.--Its affluents.--Fish.--A Russian + advocate.--Goldi Christians.--Sophiisk.--A procureur.--Lake + Kizi.--Mariinsk.--Snow mountains.--Mikhailofsky.--Hot-springs + of Mukhal.--Beautiful scenery.--Tyr monuments.--The “white + village.”--Mouth of the Amur 574 + + + CHAPTER XLVI. + + _THE GILYAKS._ + + The Gilyaks perfect heathens.--Their habitat, + number, and form.--Diseases, generation, and + character.--Habitations.--Living on fish.--Winter + and summer clothing.--Methods of fishing.--Dirty + habits.--Domestic animals.--Boats.--Marriage customs.--Price + of a wife.--Foreign relations.--Fair at Pul.--Manchu + merchants.--Conversation with Gilyaks.--Gilyak and + Goldi languages.--Education.--Superstitions.--Idols and + charms.--Method of bear catching and killing.--Alleged + worship of the bear.--Shaman rites.--Gilyak treatment of the + dead.--Romanist mission to the Gilyaks.--Martyrdom of the + missionary 593 + + + CHAPTER XLVII. + + _NIKOLAEFSK._ + + My arrival.--Visit to prisons and hospitals.--Health + statistics.--Siberian hospitals in general.--A Sunday + service arranged.--Visits to inhabitants.--Russian customs, + superstitions, and amusements.--Dancing.--Nikolaefsk town, + arsenal, and commerce.--Mr. Emery.--Russian bribery.--Cost of + provisions and labour.--Plans for return 614 + + + CHAPTER XLVIII. + + _KAMCHATKA._ + + The Upper Primorsk.--History of north-eastern maritime + discovery.--Russian navigation of Siberian + ocean.--Explorations in the North Pacific.--Wiggins and + Nordenskiöld.--Exploration of Siberia by land.--Travellers in + Upper Primorsk.--The Sea of Okhotsk and fisheries.--Bush’s + journey.--Okhotsk and its natives.--Kamchatka.--Its + volcanoes, earthquakes, springs.--Garden produce + and animals.--Kamchatdales.--Their number and + character.--The Koriaks.--Their warlike spirit.--Houses + of settled and wandering Koriaks.--Food.--Herds of + deer.--Marriage customs.--Putting sick and aged to + death.--The Chukchees.--Their habitat.--Diminution of fur + animals.--Vegetation.--Intoxicating plants.--Kennan’s + tales of the Chukchees.--Nordenskiöld stranded on Chukchee + coast.--Onkelon antiquities 630 + + + CHAPTER XLIX. + + _THE ISLAND OF SAKHALIN._ + + Geographical description.--Meteorology.--Flora and + fauna.--Population.--Cultivation.--Mineral + products.--Coal-mine at Dui and penal settlement.--Prison + statistics.--Flogging.--Desperate criminals.--Complaints of + prison food.--Prison labour.--Difficulties of escape.--Prison + executive and alleged abuses.--General opinion on Siberian + prisons.--Comparison of Siberian and English convicts 648 + + + CHAPTER L. + + _THE USSURI AND SUNGACHA._ + + Ussuri little known.--From Nikolaefsk to Khabarofka.--Proposal to + move the port.--Military forces in the province.--Departure + for Kamen Ruiboloff.--The Ussuri.--Visit to a parish + priest.--The native Goldi.--Missions of the Russian + Church.--Pay of missionaries.--Head waters of + Ussuri.--The Sungacha.--Cossacks.--Visit to a Cossack + stanitza.--Chinese houses.--Lake Khanka.--Arrival at Kamen + Ruiboloff.--Anticipated wedding 665 + + + CHAPTER LI. + + _LAKE KHANKA TO THE COAST._ + + Difficulties in prospect.--Appearance of the + country.--Vegetation.--Garden produce.--Medicinal + plants.--Ginseng.--Country almost uninhabited.--A serious + loss and its recovery.--Remarkable landscape.--Distribution + of animals in Siberia.--Little-Russian settlers.--Peasant + affairs and taxes.--Travelling by night.--Arrival at + Rasdolnoi.--Clerical functions in request.--War in the + post-house.--Summary of tract distribution.--Russia + as a field for Christian effort.--The Suifun.--Cheap + travelling.--Baptizing children.--Arrival at Vladivostock 688 + + + CHAPTER LII. + + _VLADIVOSTOCK._ + + Situation of town.--Lodged with Captain de Vries.--Chinese + labourers.--Chinese convicts.--Coreans.--Inhabitants of + Vladivostock.--Presented at the Governor’s house.--Admiral + Erdmann’s improvements.--Visit to barracks.--Boys’ + high school.--Education in Russia, its cost and + method.--Vladivostock Girls’ Institute; and Free + School.--Statistics of crime.--Telegraph companies.--Sunday + services.--Protestantism in Siberia.--Village of + exiles.--General remarks on exiles.--Preparations for + departure 711 + + + CHAPTER LIII. + + _RUSSIANS AFLOAT._ + + Reflections on leaving Siberia.--Departure.--The Russian + navy.--The _Djiguitt_.--Seamen’s food, clothing, + work.--Relation between officers and men.--Received as + captain’s guest.--Progress.--Hospital arrangements.--Arrival + at Hakodate.--Divine service.--Religious professions + of seamen.--Inspection of ship.--A “strong + gale.”--Russian sentiments towards Englishmen.--Cause of + dislike.--Misrepresentations by English press.--Russian + writings.--Transhipped to American steamer.--Arrivals at San + Francisco and London 732 + + +APPENDICES. + + A. The History of the Russian Church 751 + + B. The Doctrines of the Russian, Roman, and English Churches 754 + + C. The Schisms of the Russian Church 756 + + D. The Discoveries of Wiggins and Nordenskiöld 761 + + E. The Early Exploration of Siberia by sea and land 766 + + F. The Author’s Itinerary round the World 770 + + G. Bibliography of Siberia, and List of Works consulted 772 + + INDEX 779 + + + + +OBSERVANDA. + + +In proper names the letters should be pronounced as follows:--_A_ as +in f_a_ther; _e_ as in th_e_re; _i_ as in rav_i_ne; _o_ as in g_o_; +_u_ as in l_u_nar; and the diphthongs _ai_ and _ei_ as in h_i_de. The +consonants are pronounced as in English, save that _kh_ is guttural, as +in the Scotch lo_ch_. + +The dates are given according to the English reckoning, being in +advance of the Russian by twelve days. + +All temperatures are expressed according to the scale of Fahrenheit. + +The ordinary paper rouble is reckoned at two shillings, its value at +the time of the Author’s visit; but before the Russo-Turkish war its +value was half-a-crown and upwards. + +English weights and measures are to be understood unless otherwise +stated. + + The Russian Arshin equals 28 inches English + ” Sajen ” 7 feet ” + ” Verst ” ⅔ mile ” + ” Pound ” 14.43 ounces ” + ” Pud (or Pood) ” 36 lbs. ” + ” Rouble (or 100 Kopecks) ” 2 shillings ” + ” _Silver_ rouble ” 3 ” ” + +[Illustration: MAP OF SIBERIA, SHEWING THE AUTHORS ROUTE--3000 MILES BY +LAND AND 5000 BY WATER.] + + + + +THROUGH SIBERIA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +_INTRODUCTORY._ + + Object of the journey.--Interest in prisons.--Visitation of prisons + in 1874.--Distribution of religious literature in Russia.--Tour + round Bothnian Gulf, 1876.--To Russo-Turkish war, 1877.--To + Archangel, 1878.--Origin of Siberian journey.--Alba Hellman + and her correspondence.--The way opened.--Projected efforts of + usefulness.--Books to be distributed.--Final resolve. + + +The object that took me through Siberia was of a philanthropic and +religious character; and before proceeding to a general description +of the country, I should like to acquaint the reader with the +circumstances that led me there. My interest in prisons dates from +a visit to Newgate jail in 1867, followed by others to prisons at +Winchester, Portland, Millbank, Dover, York, Exeter, Geneva, Guernsey, +and Edinburgh: but this interest amounted to little more than +curiosity. Two years later it took a practical turn. My summer holidays +up to that time had been spent on the principle, “Play when you play, +and work when you work,”--a proverb that is doubtless true, but which I +had not found entirely satisfactory. I was minded, therefore, to test +another saying, that “the way to be happy is to be useful,” and in 1874 +was casting about as to how the principle could be applied to a tour of +five weeks through seven countries, not one of whose tongues I could +speak, when the visitation of continental prisons suggested itself, +and the distribution therein and elsewhere of suitable literature. The +Committee of the Religious Tract Society generously placed a supply at +my disposal, and in company with the Rev. J. P. Hobson, then curate of +Greenwich, I started for Russia _viâ_ Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, +intending to return through Poland, Austria, and Prussia. We saw the +prisons of Copenhagen and Stockholm, but they were well supplied with +books, and needed not our help; whereas, in the old castles used as +prisons at Åbo and Wiborg, our papers were thankfully accepted, and +in Russia quite a surprise awaited us. Without reason, I had feared +that perhaps the orthodox Russians would decline to receive books from +Protestants, as do the Romans. We found, however, that they would +accept such books as had been approved by the censor, and accordingly +we sent 2,000 pamphlets into the prisons of Petersburg, reserving a +third thousand for giving away on the railway to Moscow, not knowing +at that time that for such open distribution a permission is needed. +I can never forget the surprise of the people and their desire to get +the books. The peasants came and kissed our hands; the railway guards +directed to us the attention of the station-masters, who came to +receive our gifts. Priests took the books, and approved them; and many +who offered money in return were puzzled to see it declined. Our stock +was soon exhausted, and I determined some day to make a tour in Russia +to distribute on a larger scale. + +In 1876 my holiday weeks were spent in a journey across Norway and +Sweden and round the Gulf of Bothnia. Twelve thousand tracts were +distributed, and visits made to prisons and hospitals, those of Finland +being found inadequately supplied with both Scriptures and other +books. On my return I brought this before the Committee of the Bible +Society, and asked for a copy of the Scriptures for every room in every +prison, and for each bed in every hospital, in all Finland. This they +kindly granted, so far as to offer to bear half the expense with the +Finnish Bible Society; and the plan, after some delay, was carried out. +Scriptures were also to be provided, at my request, for the Finnish +institutions for the deaf and dumb, and for the saloons of the steamers +plying on the Scandinavian coasts. + +In 1877 Roumania and the seat of the Russo-Turkish war was chosen +for my holiday resort, with a view to being useful in the Russian +hospitals. But I was too early, and my vacation too short; so that +after visiting, on the outward trip, some of the prisons of Austria +and Hungary, I returned, doing the like through Servia, Sclavonia, +the Tyrol, Basle, and Paris. The mass of the prisoners were Roman +Catholics, for whom I do not remember a single case in which the +Scriptures were provided. Some of the authorities, however, said they +would accept them if sent, and I therefore asked the Bible Society +again for a liberal grant for the prisoners, the sick, and others of +the countries through which I had passed. They were willing to make the +grant, but the local agents reported many difficulties, and the result +fell short of my expectations. + +In 1878, therefore, I resolved upon a change of tactics, to take my +ammunition with me, and carry out my cherished scheme for Russia. +Considerable difficulties, however, lay in the way. An Englishman, +unable to speak the language, going into the interior of Russia to +distribute books and pamphlets, in the year of the Berlin Congress, +towards the close of the war, would certainly not have been safe. No +amount of official papers and permissions would have kept him out of +the clutches of ignorant officials. It seemed necessary, therefore, to +take an interpreter; and as the transport of heavy luggage in Russia +is slow, and my books would accompany me as personal baggage, it was +clear that the cost would be a great increase to holiday expenses. +A generous friend, however, at this juncture, as also subsequently, +came to my aid; and in the month of June I trotted out of Petersburg +with about two waggonloads of books, a companion, an interpreter, and +a sufficiency of official letters. We went by rail through Moscow and +Jaroslav to Vologda, and thence by steamer on the Suchona and Dwina +to Archangel. We distributed everywhere,--to priests and people, in +prisons, hospitals, and monasteries, and created such a stir in some +of the small towns that people besieged our rooms by day, and even by +night. Our travel was necessarily so quick that we could not always +inform the police beforehand of what we were doing, and more than once +they came (as was their duty) to arrest us; but our encounters always +ended amicably, and we reached home after a happy six weeks’ tour, +extending over 5,500 miles, in the course of which we distributed +25,000 Scriptures and tracts. These experiences in some measure +prepared me for my longer journey in 1879, the origin of which was +somewhat remarkable. + +When travelling round the Gulf of Bothnia in 1876, my steamer +unexpectedly stayed for a day at a town on the coast of Finland. I +was anxious to visit the hospital, and was inquiring about a horse, +when a passenger said she had friends in the town, who, she thought, +could render assistance. I went with her; and that simple incident +may be said to have originated my subsequent tour through the prisons +of Siberia; for it was followed by correspondence with a lady member +of the family to whom I was introduced, Miss Alba Hellman, who began +by modestly asking me, chiefly because I was an Englishman and the +only one she knew, whether I could not do something for the welfare +of the Siberian exiles. I confess that at first I thought this the +most extraordinary request ever put to me, and it seemed too great an +undertaking even to be thought of. Already immersed in work, regular +and self-imposed, I had no time or means for such an undertaking; and +if the money were forthcoming, who would go? Another question, too, +arose: Would the Russian Government allow anything to be done? + +The case of my Finnish correspondent, however, was a touching one. +When in health she had been wont, like Elizabeth Fry, but on a smaller +scale, to spend part of her time in visiting prisoners. Now, acute +heart disease forbade such visits, and even compelled her to sleep in +a sitting posture, so that for 2,068 nights, or nearly seven years, +she never went to bed. My coming to Finland, visiting prisons, had +awakened memories of her former work, and she set herself, after my +departure, to write me a letter in English. She had had only a few +lessons in this language when a girl; but, possessing a Swedish and +English New Testament in parallel columns, and a dictionary, she set +herself, with an industry and patience almost incredible, to find +clauses and expressions that conveyed her meaning in Swedish, and then +to copy their English equivalents, her letter ending, for example, +“Here are many faults, but I pray you have me excused.” The force of +her language, however, was unmistakable, thus: “You (English) have sent +missionarys round the all world, to China, Persia, Palestina, Africa, +the Islands of Sandwich, to many places of the Continent of Europe; but +to the great, great Siberia, where so much is to do, you not have sent +missionarys. Have you not a Morrison, a Moffatt, for Siberia? Pastor +Lansdell, go you yourself to Siberia!” + +What, then, could I say to this? To have spoken the real language of my +thoughts would have been cruel. So I thought to shelve the question by +returning an oracular answer, that “the letter contained much that was +interesting, and that I would think the matter over.” My correspondent, +however, was not to be discouraged, and wrote another letter, giving +further information concerning Siberia, and drawing a gloomy picture +of the religious condition of the natives and exiles. Others followed, +and at last I began to think that, after all, the project was not quite +so unfeasible as it first appeared to be. My generous friend, who +had read the letters and was interested, both urged me on and again +offered help; and when it was determined that I should leave a clerical +appointment I had held for ten easy and happy years, I resolved, in +the absence of another suitable post presenting itself, at once to +“rough it” for a summer in the wilds of Asiatic Russia. + +But what could I do towards the object my friend had at heart? +Ignorance of the Russian language and of the Siberian dialects would +prevent my speaking to the people. I might, however, visit prisons, +hospitals, and mines, and at least provide them with the Scriptures +in various languages, and with books, as in previous holidays. When +travelling in the Russian interior in 1878, persons were met with who +had never seen a complete New Testament, and I reasoned that a general +distribution of such books in Siberia, whether by sale or gift, would +be doubly useful, besides which I meant to be on the look-out for such +other opportunities of usefulness as might present themselves and be +allowed me. + +But what were the books you were to give away? and how is it that you +were allowed to distribute them? are questions that have often been +asked with surprise. An answer to the first will prepare the way for +the second. The Scriptures included the four Gospels, the Book of +Psalms, and the New Testament. These were for the most part in Russian; +but there were a few copies in Polish, French, German, and Tatar, with +certain portions of the Old Testament for the Buriats in Mongolian, and +for the Jews in Hebrew. Besides these Scriptures there were copies of +the _Rooski Rabotchi_, an adapted reprint in Russian of the _British +Workman_, full of pictures, and well suited to the masses; also a large +well-executed engraving, with the story written around, of the parable +of the Prodigal Son, together with broad-sheets suitable for hospital +walls, and thousands of Russian tracts. The Scriptures were printed +for the Bible Society by the Holy Synod, and the tracts had passed +the censor’s hands. All was therefore in order, and before going to +Archangel I had received a permanent legitimation to distribute, duly +endorsed by the police. + +So far, therefore, things in England looked promising for Siberia, but +the way thither was by no means clear. In April, 1879, the plague was +said to be raging in Russia, and towards the end of that month came +one of the attempts on the late Emperor’s life. This led to Petersburg +being placed in a state of siege, and few of my friends felicitated me +on my intention to go thither. Some thought I should not obtain the +required permissions for Siberia, and advised accordingly. But having +always before succeeded through the courtesy of the Russians in getting +what I asked, I resolved to be deaf as an adder to everything short of +a denial at the capital from the lips of the authorities, and, being +thus resolved, I set out on my journey. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_ACROSS EUROPE._ + + Departure for Petersburg.--Official receptions.--Minister of the + Interior.--Metropolitan of Moscow.--Introductions.--Books + forwarded.--Departure for Moscow.--Nijni Novgorod.--Site + of the fair.--Joined by interpreter.--Kasan.--Bulgarian + antiquities.--Neighbouring heathen.--Idolatrous objects + and practices.--Departure from Kasan.--The Volga and the + Kama.--Arrival at Perm. + + +On Wednesday morning, 30th April, 1879, I left London, and reached +Petersburg on the following Saturday evening, to find at my hotel a +pleasant welcome in the shape of an invitation to breakfast with Lord +Dufferin on the Monday morning. This was due to letters with which +I had been favoured from high quarters in England, and one result +of which, thanks to the kindness of the British Ambassador, was an +introductory letter to M. Makoff, the Minister of the Interior, which I +presented to his Excellency on Tuesday. Whilst waiting in the ante-room +with other suitors, there was time for cogitation as to what the +answer might be. My Petersburg friends gave me small hope of success; +on the contrary, one of them, high in authority, who had helped me +before, had gone so far as to say, “Why, it is not likely that, with +so many political prisoners therein, they will allow him to go through +the prisons of Siberia now.” I drew encouragement, however, from the +fact that a ministerial letter had been given me the previous year, +which I thought would be registered in the archives, and, trusting +there was on it nothing against me, I hoped that this would be in my +favour. At length, when I was ushered into the Minister’s presence, he +scarcely looked at the Ambassador’s letter, but referred to my having +had the document the previous year, and said at once that there was no +objection to my having another; upon which, flushed with success, I +bowed and retired. + +This emboldened me to go to another dignitary, and, having a friend to +interpret, I went straight from the Minister to the new Metropolitan +of Moscow, to present a letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury, +addressed “To the Metropolitans of the Church of Russia, or others whom +it may concern.” His Eminence appeared in a brown silk moiré-antique +robe, glittering with jewelled decorations, and wearing as is usual +the white crape hat of a metropolitan, with a diamond cross in front. +He stood on little ceremony, and, almost before I had made my bow, he +shook my hand, gave me a fraternal kiss on either cheek, and motioned +me to a seat beside him. He then entered with zest into my scheme for +distributing the Scriptures, said that the Russians had not the means +to perform all they would, and commended the English for what they were +doing. He asked a few questions relative to Church matters in England, +regretted that we had no language in common in which we could converse, +and then cordially wished me God speed. + +I had thus made an excellent beginning. The next thing to be done +was to get additional introductions, and this I tried to do so as +to find my way amongst various classes of people. A letter from Mr. +Glaisher, the aeronaut, and formerly of the Greenwich Observatory, +opened the way for me to scientific people, more especially those +taking meteorological observations in European and Asiatic Russia; an +introduction from a German pastor brought me into contact with the +educational world through Mr. Maack, the late General-Inspector of +Schools for Eastern Siberia; a third and a fourth introduction procured +letters to the Finns and the German pastors throughout Siberia; and a +fifth to the telegraph officers, most of whom speak English, French, or +German. Messrs. Egerton Hubbard took me under their wing, and kindly +arranged to forward money and letters; and I had various mercantile +introductions, together with several of a social character, to persons +of different standing, from the Governors-General of Siberia downwards. +All told, my introductions, as far as Kiakhta, numbered 133. It is, +however, a traveller’s axiom that, “Of good introductions, store is no +sore,” and many of mine proved to be worth their weight in gold. + +My Petersburg friends were delighted at the Minister’s reply, and, as +the sun was shining, they determined to make their hay. They urged +me to take still more books--5,000 additional pamphlets of one kind, +especially suited for schools; and this notwithstanding that upwards +of 25,000 of a miscellaneous character had already been forwarded by +slow transit to the Urals. My willingness, however, was limited only +by my capabilities of carriage, and, accordingly, as many more books +were taken as, together with my personal baggage and those gone before, +would fill three Russian post waggons; and this I thought would be +about as many as, under the circumstances, it was possible for me to +take. + +After a busy stay of nine days in the Russian capital, I left for +Moscow on the afternoon of Monday, the 12th of May, and arrived the +following morning. The only business that detained me there was to +inquire of some ladies, who devote themselves to work among the +prisoners, how many and what books they were distributing among the +exiles, so that I might not do their work over again. I found, however, +that their labours were directed more especially to the temporal +good of the prisoners--looking after their wives, placing out their +children, finding them clothes, and such like useful works, rather than +seeking directly their spiritual good, though this had to some extent +been attempted by lending and occasionally giving them books to read in +the prison. Accordingly, I left Moscow by rail on Wednesday evening, to +arrive after thirteen hours at Nijni Novgorod, on the Volga. + +May is not a good time to see this famous place. The river overflows +its banks in spring to a depth of several feet, and covers the site +of the wonderful fair, in anticipation of which the lower storeys of +the warehouses and buildings are cleared; and to cleanse them before +July is one of the first things to be done by the owners, who with +their goods arrive yearly from all parts of the world. I was rowed in +a boat through the streets (which are called after the names of the +merchandise sold therein) to see the Chinese quarter, with pagoda-like +buildings; the Persian quarter, the two cathedrals, the theatre, the +Governor’s house, etc., all of which are used only during the fair, +and were now empty. The nearest approach to a fair that I saw was a +gathering near the entrance to the Kremlin, where were men standing +with their stock-in-trade in their hands or slung over their +shoulders--one with a pair of boots, another with a shirt, and a third +with a pair of trousers or other garments, and for which each was ready +to bargain and chaffer. Hitherto I had travelled alone. I now stayed at +Nijni Novgorod to be joined by a young man who was to be my companion +and interpreter, and then, leaving by steamer on Friday at mid-day, we +reached Kasan early on Saturday morning, there to spend Sunday, the +18th of May. + +[Illustration: THE NICHOLAS GATE, MOSCOW.] + +The covered heads and veiled faces of the women, together with the +tawny porters carrying their huge burdens, speedily reminded us that we +had reached an ancient Tatar city. The only tourists’ lion we visited +was Mr. Lichatcheff’s collection of Bulgarian antiquities. He very +kindly and politely showed us through the rooms of his house, which +were crammed with curiosities. Among them were rude implements of the +stone age, ancient oriental lamps, and ancient crosses, one of which, +dating from the eleventh or twelfth century, was without the foot-piece +now found on the Russian cross, which foot-piece, our informant +considered, was not used on Russian crosses in the earliest times. +There were also some stone Byzantine crosses. The Bulgarian antiquities +had been found on the banks of the Volga, showing the location of that +people before their migration further south. + +Another point of interest in Kasan must not be passed over. I had +supposed that heathen rites and practices were now in Europe a thing of +the past. We heard, however, of five nationalities scattered through +Russia, but found more, especially in the Kasan government, who, though +nominally Christian, still resort to idolatrous superstitions. They +are called Tcheremisi, Mordvar, Vodeki, Tchuvashi, and Tatars; and the +Russian Government is adopting means for their enlightenment by taking +peasant boys from among them, and training them for schoolmasters and +priests. A seminary devoted to this purpose, situated near the Tatar +quarter of the town, was shown to us by the principal, Professor +Ilminski.[1] + +In or near the Bishop’s house in the Kremlin we were introduced to +Mr. Zoloneetski, who trains young men to be mission priests to the +nationalities whence they have been brought. In 1878 he had twenty-one +students, some of them from the seminary just mentioned. He gives them +lectures on aboriginal languages, customs, and superstitions, and +shows them how to bring the natives to Christianity. This he does in +part by exposing various idolatrous objects, of which he has a curious +collection. Among them was a Tchuvash idol, consisting of a block of +wood, to which pieces of cloth were brought as offerings. This had +been used less than ten years before. Another piece of superstition +came from the Tcheremisi,[2] and was less than twelve months old. +There was also to be seen a rudely-cut box containing coins. Some of +them were ancient, but were supposed to have been offered recently by +Tatars, nominally Christian. It would seem that a Tatar sometimes makes +a vow to the spirit of the forest to dedicate a horse, cow, or some +other animal; but not having a victim, or not having it to spare at the +time, he leaves money as a pledge of good faith, and then, when able to +fulfil his vow, reclaims his coin. + +Some of these objects had been obtained through friends and some +by fraud, but there was a curious story connected with the boxes. +A missionary priest (a friend of our informant), knowing of their +existence, went to a family in his parish, and asked if he might take +away their idolatrous things. They answered at first in the negative; +but, after he had left the house, a woman came out to draw water, +and told him she thought it would be much better if he would _steal_ +the things, for then they would have less money to bring and fewer +prayers to say. The priest, therefore, returned at night, when the +family pretended to be soundly asleep (so that the spirit might not be +offended with what took place whilst they were unconscious), mounted +the loft, took the things, and subsequently gave them to our informant. + +We quitted Kasan on Monday morning in one of Lubimoff’s steamers, and, +after proceeding two or three hours down the Volga, left that river +to finish its career of 2,200 miles, whilst we turned into one of its +affluents, the Kama, which is no mean river in itself, having a course +of 1,400 miles. The junction of the two streams presents a fine expanse +of water, but the banks are too flat to be pretty. Steamboat travelling +in Russia is not expensive, the first-class fare from Nijni Novgorod to +Perm, a four days’ journey, being only 36_s._ + +After a voyage of three days and a half from Kasan we reached Perm, +where the people were in great excitement consequent on the burning of +two “quartals,” or large blocks of buildings. The roofs and houses of +the town were described as being covered, during the previous night, +with women, watching lest sparks should fall on their property, whilst +their husbands helped to extinguish the fire; and so great was the fear +of a general conflagration, that some sent their wives and families +into the neighbouring villages. Others we saw encamped by the bank of +the river, whilst on a grass plot near a church were others tired out +and fast asleep beside the chattels they had rescued. Not long before, +Orenburg and Irbit had been burnt, and were supposed by some to have +been wilfully set on fire, and so excited were the inhabitants of +Perm, and so ready to snap up persons at all suspected, that we were +cautioned, as being strangers, to walk in the middle of the road. We +then visited the hospital, saw the Governor, and left some books for +the Perm institutions; but I was reserving my strength for Siberia, and +the same evening the train was to carry us to the top of the Urals. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The Government provides support for 150 scholars, half of whom +are Russians, and the remaining half are from the five nationalities +already mentioned. They have no difficulty in procuring the requisite +number of scholars. Such as can say their small Russian catechism +intelligently are received, and kept for three years as pupil-teachers, +at the expiration of which time they serve the Government for six years +by way of return for their education, and receive salaries of from +twelve to thirty pounds a year. A New Testament, we found (but not the +Bible), is provided for each youth in the higher classes. + +[2] Their worship was thus described: The priest takes in one hand a +piece of burning wood, and in the other a branch (such as we saw, and +on which the leaves were still green, though dry), and then walks in +a circle, the area of which is thus, for the time being, consecrated +for worship. Then he fastens round a tree a withe, and sticks therein +a branch with the bark peeled something like a whip, which is supposed +to represent a fir-tree; on this is hung a piece of lead, previously +melted, poured into cold water, and molten so as to form roughly +the figure of a head, which is called an _eeta_. Towards this they +afterwards say their prayers. The priest kills the victim, which may be +a horse, a cow, a chicken, a duck, etc., and sprinkles the blood on the +tree and the withe. (The blood was yet visible on the one we saw.) Then +they proceed to peel or chip pieces of wood, making them fly off in the +direction of the tree; and according as the chips fall, with the bark +or the white side upwards, so they divine an answer to their prayer. +The branch we saw was brought away by a friend of our informant just +after the offering. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +_THE URALS TO TIUMEN._ + + A new railway.--The Ural range.--Outlook into Russia in Asia.--Nijni + Tagil.--The Demidoff mines and hospital.--May weather.--Russian + railways.--Arrival at Ekaterineburg.--An orphanage.--Precious + stones.--Orenburg shawls.--Tarantass and luggage.--Departure for + Tiumen.--The exiles.--Visits to the authorities. + + +Those who have hitherto written of journeys to Siberia have told of +a dismal drive from Perm to Ekaterineburg; but this misfortune did +not fall to our lot, since in the autumn of 1878 a railway was opened +over the mountains, and the journey is now accomplished in about +four-and-twenty hours. The distance is 312 miles, and between the two +termini are about 30 stations.[1] + +From the prominence given in maps of Europe to the Ural chain, one +is apt from childhood to expect in these mountains something grand. +The entire length of the range, including its continuation in Novaia +Zemlia, is about 1,700 miles. Its highest peak, however, does not +attain to more than 6,000 feet, and many parts of the range are not +more than 2,000 feet above the sea level. No part of it is permanently +covered with snow. Travellers by the old route describe, in passing +it, a never-failing object of interest on the frontier in the shape +of a stone, on one side of which is written “Europe” and on the other +“Asia,” across which, of course, an English boy would stride, and +announce that he had stood in two quarters of the globe at once. +Travellers by the new route miss this opportunity; but they have its +equivalent in three border stations, one of which is called “_Europa_,” +the next “_Ural_,” and the third “_Asia_,” through which those who have +journeyed can say what no other travellers can, that they have passed +by rail from one quarter of the globe into another. + +Thus the ease with which one reaches the summit of the Urals is +somewhat disappointing, but no such thoughts are suggested by an +outlook into the immense country that now lies before the traveller. +There stretches far before him a region known as Russia in Asia, the +dimensions of which are very hard for the mind to realize. It measures +4,000 miles from east to west, about 2,000 from north to south, and +covers nearly five and three-quarter millions of square miles. It is +larger by two millions of square miles than the whole of Europe; about +twice as big as Australia, and nearly one hundred times as large as +England. + +The general aspect of the surface may be easily described. The Altai +range of mountains, with its offshoots to the east, forms the general +features of the southern boundary, and from these heights the land +gradually slopes towards the northern _tundras_ or bogs, which extend +to the frozen ocean. The country is intersected by three of the largest +rivers in the world, the Obi, the Yenesei, and the Lena, not one of +which is much less than 3,000 miles long, and all of them, through +great part of the year, flow under masses of ice to the Arctic Ocean. +A fourth river, the Amur, rising in the Yablonoi mountains, which may +be regarded as a part of the eastern slopes of the Altai chain, runs a +course also of more than 2,000 miles, but takes an easterly direction, +forming part of the southern boundary of the country, and empties +itself into the Gulf of Tartary. + +The country largely consists of immense steppes, marshes, and pools. +Lakes, properly so called, are not numerous, but the greatest of them, +the “Baikal,” is in some respects the most remarkable in the world. +No less remarkable is the great variety of the inhabitants. They are +sometimes classified into five typical races: _Sclavonic_ (including +Russians and Poles); _Finnish_ (including Finns, Voguls, Ostjaks, +Samoyedes, Yuraki); _Turkish_ (including Tatars, Kirghese, Kalmuks, +Yakutes); _Mongolian_ (including Manchu, Buriats, and Tunguses--the +last of various denominations); and _Chinese_, with whom may be +classed, though not very accurately, the Gilyaks and Aïnos. In fact, +an ethnographical map of Asiatic Russia I bought at Petersburg shows +therein no less than 30 peoples or nations.[2] + +Many of them, it is true, are but feebly represented, for the entire +population does not number more inhabitants than are to be found in +seven of the counties of England, and they have not enough men and +women in Russian Asia to put one of each in every square mile, whereas +every square mile of the seven English counties alluded to has on an +average 573 inhabitants. It is difficult to give exact statistics, +because, from the wandering life led by many of the aborigines, it +is impossible to ascertain their number, and so authorities differ; +but the total population, including Russians, is estimated at +about 8,000,000. Our attention, however, is to be chiefly confined +to Siberia, and it should not be forgotten that Siberia is not +co-extensive with the whole of Asiatic Russia, and does not begin, +properly speaking, till Ekaterineburg is passed. We have been merely +taking a look, from the government of Perm, out of European into +Asiatic Russia; this government, as also that of Orenburg, lying partly +in Europe and partly in Asia. + +Before descending to the foot of the Urals, we arrive at Nijni Tagilsk. +At this place we halted for a day to look over the famous Demidoff +mines and works. There had been a fire in the town, as at Perm, on the +night preceding our arrival; and in seven hours 78 houses had been +burnt. Pieces of smoking wood were still flying about. The common +people, as before, attributed the fire to incendiaries, such as escaped +prisoners, who hoped to profit by the turmoil, and find an occasion +for plunder; but more thoughtful people traced it to accidental +causes. Demidoff’s workmen had been called out at night to assist as +firemen, and were in consequence resting. We could not, therefore, +see everything in motion, but enough was visible to make it clear +that they were carrying on enormous metallurgical operations. One of +the remarkable things to be noticed was a surface mine of magnetic +iron ore, blasted and dug out in terraces, carted down by horses and +taken to the furnace, where the ore proves so rich that it yields 68 +per cent. of iron. We also descended a copper-mine, the mineral from +which yields 5 per cent. of metal. We were dressed for the occasion +in top-boots, leather hats, and appropriate blouses and trousers, +each carrying a lamp, and thus by ladders we descended one shaft of +600 feet and came up another, the water meanwhile trickling upon us +freely. At the bottom of the mine they were erecting an English machine +for pumping 80 cubic feet of water per minute to the surface. In the +engine-room two men at a time spend eight hours daily, for which they +each receive in money about fifteen pence. We promised ourselves, +as a great feature in the descent of the copper-mine, the seeing of +malachite in its natural state, and we were not disappointed. The +captain took us through long galleries of timber beams, and then to +the spots where the miners had been working. Here, by the light of our +lamps, the pieces of green mineral could be clearly seen, and we had +the pleasure of digging them out with a pick, and bringing them away +as specimens. The price of malachite at the mine is six shillings a +Russian pound, if in moderate-sized pieces; twenty shillings when the +lumps are large, but only two shillings if they are small. + +Besides these copper and magnetic iron mines, they have others of +manganese iron ore, which contains 64 per cent. of binoxide of +manganese, the peroxide being sold at the rate of about eighteen +shillings per hundredweight. Specimens of these and other minerals of +great interest to the geologist are exhibited in a museum not far from +the works. + +Among the remarkable things to be seen at these hives of industry +were--a machine for drawing water by a cord from a copper-mine two +miles off, a steam-hammer of seven tons weight, an iron furnace of +10,000 cubic feet dimensions, said to be the largest high furnace for +_wood_ in the world, and a machine for splitting their fuel wood, of +which they burn annually 100,000 _sajens_--that is to say, a 325 feet +cube, or, roughly speaking, a pile of logs twice as big as St. Paul’s +Cathedral.[3] + +They make steel for Sheffield, and can do castings up to more than 30 +tons in weight. Their iron is excelled in quality, I believe, only +by that of Dannemora. They have 11 _zavods_, or “works,” of which +eight are connected with iron. But perhaps a better idea can be formed +of their vastness by the mention of the number of persons employed, +which amounts to 30,000. I heard also 40,000, and both numbers were +from heads of departments; but probably the latter estimate includes +carters, labourers, and perhaps even women. The Demidoffs pay annually, +by way of rates and taxes--to the Commune, £5,000; the Church, £1,500; +schools, £2,500; poor and aged, £3,000; together with other sums, +amounting in all to about £20,000 a year. Wages, as compared with those +in England, appeared low. Common workmen receive from 7½_d._ to 1_s._ +a day, puddlers 3_s._, and those in the welding furnace 4_s._, whilst +good rollers receive from 3_s._ 6_d._ to 6_s._ It should be observed, +however, that they all have houses rent free, with the piece of land +they formerly occupied as serfs. + +Before the emancipation, the riches of the Demidoffs were counted in +the phrase then usual in Russia as amounting to 56,000 souls.[4] A +small church, built on the crest of a neighbouring hill, was pointed +out as having been built by the serfs in memory of their freedom; and +I was glad to hear from the director, Mr. Wohlstadt (by whom we were +courteously entertained), that since the emancipation the men work +better and better, knowing, I presume, when serfs, that idleness would +be repaid with something not much worse than a beating; whereas now +they know they may be discharged. + +We slept at the club; and in the morning, before leaving, visited the +Demidoff hospital, upon which, and upon institutions of a similar kind, +the proprietors spend nearly £4,000 a year. The dimensions of the rooms +were such as to allow of three cubic _sajens_, or 1,200 cubic feet, of +air for each of the patients, of whom there were 120 at the time of +our visit. Many fractured and amputated limbs were seen dressed with +gypsum, alcohol, and camphor; but the most extraordinary thing was a +machine in the director’s private room, in which he placed frozen human +brains, and for scientific purposes cut them in very thin slices to +photograph. The photographs are to be purchased in Paris. + +On leaving Tagil we found the temperature much colder,[5] and our +journey to Ekaterineburg was somewhat comfortless, from the fact that, +anticipating no more cold weather, the officials had not brought in the +train the apparatus for heating by steam. At Ekaterineburg I finished +railway journeys, amounting to 2,670 miles; and as I was now to bid +farewell to the horse of iron and travel by horses of flesh, it is +only right to say that of the iron horses which took me across Europe +the Russian on the whole was, I think, the best.[6] Our arrival at +Ekaterineburg on Saturday evening was expected, and quarters were +provided for me through the kindness of Messrs. Egerton Hubbard. +Ekaterineburg is a handsome town of 30,000 inhabitants, and has many +fine churches and other buildings. On Sunday I visited the hospital, +and also an orphanage for 100 children, which has been built and is +supported by local voluntary effort. This kind of institution is not +yet very common among the Russians. It was regarded as a novelty, and +was the only one of its precise kind that we saw in Asia. + +Formerly there were several Englishmen living at Ekaterineburg, but +a few only are now left, and so little practice do they have in the +tongue of their fathers that some of them are rapidly forgetting it. +Instances of this were met with further east, and another case in which +English parents were allowing their children to grow up speaking only +Russian, the result of which would be that the son who had been sent +for his education to England would forget Russian, and, on coming back +to Siberia, would not be able to speak to his sister who had not learnt +English. + +Ekaterineburg is a famous place for the cutting of precious stones, in +which Siberia is rich. Near the river Argun are found the jacinth, the +Siberian emerald, the onyx, and beautiful jaspers, of which there are +at least a hundred varieties. Near Lake Baikal are found red garnets +and lapis lazuli, and the Altai mountains furnish the opal. Several +of these are also found near Ekaterineburg, together with the beryl, +the topaz, the chrysolite, the aqua marine, the tourmaline, rhodonite, +nephrite, ophite, selenite, and the recently-discovered Alexandrite, +which exhibits two colors--crimson and green--the one by day and the +other by night. The stone derives its name from the Emperor Alexander, +whose colours it shows. These stones are cut in the Government +workshops and in private houses, and may be purchased at moderate +prices. + +South of Ekaterineburg, towards Orenburg, are villages where may be +purchased uncommon souvenirs in the shape of gentlemen’s scarves and +gloves, together with _kozy pookh_, or, as they are more commonly +called, Orenburg shawls. They are made from the wool of the goats of +the Kirghese, who allow the Cossacks to comb their flocks at the rate +of from eight-pence to a shilling per head. Twice a year the goats +are washed and combed, first with a coarse and then with a fine comb. +To make a good shawl employs a woman six months, and then, if it be a +large one, it sells at first hand for about fifty shillings; but very +much higher prices are asked in Petersburg. + +We stayed three days at Ekaterineburg to lay in provisions and gather +our forces for proceeding by horses. The greater part of my heavy +luggage had been dispatched by slow train to Ekaterineburg fully a +month before me, but it did not reach its destination till the day +after my arrival. The agent said it might have been waiting on the +road for the chance of other goods to make up a load. A tarantass had +been very kindly placed at my disposal by Mr. Oswald Cattley, whose +name, some time since, was before the public in connection with the +opening up of a new trade on the Obi; and in this we packed ourselves +and some of our personal baggage, placing the rest with several boxes +in a second conveyance, and leaving still a third load of boxes to +be forwarded as luggage. In this fashion, after receiving all sorts +of kindness and hospitality from our English friends, we started on +Tuesday evening, May 27th, for Tiumen, a distance of 204 miles, which +was accomplished in 43 continuous hours. + +Tiumen is situated on the Tura, and has a population of from 15,000 to +20,000 inhabitants. Commercially speaking, it is the most important +town in Western Siberia, and through it pass the water carriage of the +Obi, as well as the caravans coming from China and the East. Here we +found an English engineering firm, conducted by Messrs. Wardropper, +who were particularly kind to us. To Tiumen all the exiles are brought +from Europe, and from thence are distributed over Siberia. I needed +not, therefore, the eye of a general to see that, for my purpose of +distributing books over the land, this was the key to a very important +position. It was desirable, therefore, that I should see some of the +magnates of the town who were members of the prison committee, and, if +possible, secure their sympathy and co-operation. + +Accordingly I was taken to visit the Mayor, who was building a large +commercial school for the benefit of the town, at a cost of more than +£20,000, which, when finished, was to be handed over to the Government. +He is a merchant who has made his way to the front, and now entertains +the Governor-General when he passes through, though otherwise he lives +quietly. His house, when we called, was in preparation for one of those +viceregal receptions, and, knowing that his worship was rich, I busied +myself, during the Russian conversation, in scanning what I supposed +might be considered appropriate study furniture for a wealthy Siberian. +The Mayor, I had heard, was fond of good horses, which accounted for +the winner-of-the-Derby-like engravings hanging on the wall, the whole +of which might have been purchased, I judged, in London for twenty +shillings. The room, as is the custom of the country, was not carpeted, +and the furniture consisted of a bare, polished, wooden bench, bored +with holes, in patterns after the fashion of American street cars. The +chairs were of wood, similarly ornamented. The table had about it some +fretwork, and on it various writing materials, and accompaniments more +or less artistic. I mentally appraised the whole as being worth about +£20, and admired the simplicity of a man who could be content with a +study thus furnished, whilst he was giving away a thousand times its +value. My cogitations served to recall what had struck me in Norway and +Sweden, when observing how much simpler, as regards furniture, people +are content to live in these northern countries than in England, though +I did not discern that they were less happy than we are. After leaving +the house, I broached the subject approvingly to my friend who was with +me, upon which I found that I had undervalued the furniture, and that +it was of American manufacture, and the first of the kind imported into +the town. + +I was taken also to call upon a prominent member of the prison +committee, Mr. Ignatoff, of the firm of Kourbatoff and Ignatoff. They +have steamers on the Kama and Obi, and hold the Government contract +for the transport in barges of exiles. He was much interested in my +scheme of visiting prisons, and was so pleased with my account of the +Howard Association in London, of which I said I was a member, and which +had for its object the prevention of crime and promoting the best +methods for the treatment and reformation of prisoners, that he spoke +of asking to be allowed at once to join the Association.[7] He kindly +undertook to do all he could to further the distribution of the books I +engaged to send to him; and I was glad to have called, not only for the +information obtained, but for the interest excited, though I was hardly +prepared for the very practical and generous form which this interest +took, which will be hereafter alluded to. + +We called afterwards on the Ispravnik, or chief man of the district, +and presented my letter, with the view of visiting the prisons. I +heard that in his district there were 24 schools, and, having made +arrangements for providing them with tracts, I went to see the prison. +From statistics given me for the previous year, it appeared that a +total of 20,711 prisoners passed through the hands of the authorities +in 1878.[8] This opens up the whole subject of prisons and exiles, +which is to form a leading feature of these pages, and therefore I +think it will be better to devote separate chapters to both, in which +general ideas can be given. This will save repetition, and it will then +be easy to illustrate general principles by particular incidents as we +meet them from time to time in travelling and visiting prisons from the +Urals to the Pacific. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Of the three divisions, the Northern or barren Ural, as the +Russians call it, beginning at the source of the Pechora, is the most +elevated and the least known. The Southern Ural begins about midway +between Perm and Orenburg, and descends to the banks of the Ural river. +It is a pastoral country, and about 100 miles in width. The range is +here less than 3,000 feet in height. The central Ural may be considered +as a wide undulation, beginning on the west on the banks of the Kama. +Perm, situated on the right bank of the river, is 378 feet above the +sea level, and on the post road to Ekaterineburg the highest point is +1,638 feet, which, if my reckoning is correct, is 40 feet less than the +highest station on the railway. I set my aneroid at Perm, and found +that at the fourth station, Seleenka, a distance of 172 miles, we +had mounted 470 feet; the next 22 miles brought us down again to 120 +feet, after which for 60 miles we continued to ascend to Bisir, which +registered 1,300 feet above Perm, and was the highest station on the +road. Level ground succeeded for about 30 miles to the border station, +after which in 50 miles we descended 750 feet to Shaitanka, 10 miles +beyond which we had remounted 200 feet; and on this level we kept to +Iset, the last station but one. The road then descended about 150 feet +to Ekaterineburg, which is said to be 858 feet above the sea level. + +[2] 1. Slavs. + 2. Zeryani. + 3. Voguls. + 4. Votyaks. + 5. Tatars. + 6. Kirghese of little horde. + 7. Kirghese of middle horde. + 8. Kirghese of great horde. + 9. Buruti Kirghese. + 10. Karakalpaks. + 11. Sarti. + 12. Uzbeki. + 13. Turks. + 14. Altai Kalmuks. + 15. Teleuti. + 16. Ostjaks. + 17. Samoyedes. + 18. Yuraki. + 19. Yakutes. + 20. Tunguse. + 21. Goldi. + 22. Gilyaks. + 23. Yukagirs. + 24. Chukchees. + 25. Koriaks. + 26. Kamchatdales. + 27. Aïnos. + 28. Buriats. + 29. Manchu. + 30. Chinese. + +[3] What extent of land must be cleared to furnish such a quantity of +fuel I know not, but the railways of Central Russia are said to consume +yearly the timber off 90,000 acres of forest--an area, that is, about +the size of Rutlandshire. + +[4] That is, men, or at least _males_; for I am told that male children +are called “souls,” but female children never. An English lady of my +acquaintance informs me that she was told scores of times in Russia +that she was not a _doash_, or soul, but only a woman; and when her son +was born she was congratulated on being the mother of a soul! + +[5] Concerning the weather in crossing Europe, I may say that, from +the Russian frontier to the capital, on the 2nd and 3rd of May, a fire +was provided in the railway carriage, and on approaching Petersburg +there was just a little snow left here and there in drifts. On the 4th +the last of the ice was floating down the Neva. In less than a week it +became positively hot in the middle of the day, and the trees opened +their foliage rapidly. At Nijni Novgorod, on the 15th, the foliage was +all but full. On the banks of the Kama the trees were covered with +leaves, which the captain of the steamer said had come out within the +previous five days; and on the 20th, when stopping for wood, some of +the passengers found strawberry blossoms and violets. Fine weather then +continued up to the 23rd. + +[6] The new first-class carriages running between Petersburg and Moscow +have _fauteuils_, which form couches at night; and one I saw was so +fixed on springs as to furnish almost the softness of a feather-bed. +They have also writing tables, and are more luxurious than anything +I have seen elsewhere in Europe, or even America. The lavatory +arrangements “on board” in all three classes are exceedingly good. +There only lacks the receptacle for iced water provided in Norway, +and, perhaps, the dining cars run in America, to make Russian railway +accommodation perfect. The guards, it is true, are somewhat pompous +as compared with the English, and the speed of the trains is slower; +but, on the other hand, the refreshments are very much better, and the +prices more reasonable. There is time allowed, moreover, to eat them, +though I am thinking more especially of the line between the capital +and Moscow, which is naturally one of the best. + +[7] He had made private notes concerning the exiles, of which it +appeared that, during the last ten years, from 9,500 to 10,500 yearly +had passed through his hands. Of these there were adults about +9,000; under 15, 1,500; and under 2 years of age, 150. About 3,000, +he thought, could read. The professors of various religious beliefs +prevailed, he said in decreasing numbers, in the following order: (1) +Orthodox Russian, (2) Mohammedan, (3) Jewish, (4) Roman Catholic, (5) +Protestant. Drunkenness, he believed, was directly or indirectly the +cause of the crimes of half of the whole number sent to Siberia, and +these were found to be the worst prisoners and the most troublesome. +He looked forward, therefore, with pleasure to the expected and now +long-waited-for prison reforms, one of which, it was said, would be the +sending no more exiles to the western part of Siberia. + +[8] One-fourth of these (4,995) were women, and 215 were _local_ +offenders, of whom 10 were women and 3 were minors. In the course of +the year were located in the Town Prison 157 men and 5 women; in the +Police Prison 4 men, and in the Central Prison for exiles 15,111 men +and 4,985 women. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_THE EXILES._ + + Reasons for and history of deportation to Siberia.--Number + of exiles.--Their education.--Crimes.--Sentences.--Loss + of rights.--Privileges.--Proportion of hard-labour + convicts.--Where located.--Release.--Escapes.--Causes and + methods of flight.--Transport.--A convoy of exiles.--Moscow + charity.--Conveyance to Perm and Tiumen.--Their + distribution.--Order of march.--Sea-borne exiles.--Mistakes of + English newspapers.--Conveyance of political exiles. + + +In dealing with criminals, the Russian Government has to act as best +it can for the good of the community in general. If, in particular +cases, it seems likely that the criminal may be reformed, he is sent +to one of the prisons or houses of correction at home; but if, on the +other hand, the crime of the malefactor demands a severe punishment, +and, after repeated correction, he seems to be incorrigible, then he +is banished to Siberia, the people being thus rid of a corrupting +member of society, whilst another unit is sent to assist in developing +the resources of a large territory of the Russian empire, which has +great need of population. This, I presume, is the theory, or part of +it, of the deportation of prisoners to distant parts of the empire.[1] +The number of ordinary exiles sent to Siberia for several years +past has been from 17,000 to 20,000 per annum; but this includes +wives and children who choose to accompany the prisoners. Of these +nearly 8,000, on their arrival in Siberia, are set free to get their +own living; about 3,000 of them being sent to Eastern and 5,000 to +Western Siberia. The exiles come from all parts of Russia in Europe, +and include about 300 a year from Finland. In 1879 there were 898 +sent from Poland. Some idea may be formed of the education of the +exiles from the fact that on the day we visited Tiumen prison there +were, out of 470 prisoners, 42 who could read and write well, 32 who +could do so a little, and 12 who could sign their names. At Tiumen, +however, we heard from one who had to do with a great many exiles, +and who had several statistics about them, that one-third of those +with whom he had been brought into contact could read. Again, in the +district of Kansk, in Eastern Siberia, in 1877, of 226 criminals, only +two were marked as “well-educated,” whilst in 1878, of 182 prisoners, +none stood high enough, intellectually, to be thus designated. The +figures from Kansk are not quite to the point in speaking of European +Russia, but they help, with others, to give an approximate idea, not +only of the education, but also of the social rank of the Siberian +criminals. Again, for statistical purposes, the Russians are sometimes +marked off into five classes, thus: nobles, merchants, ecclesiastics, +citizens, and peasants; and in prison the higher grades receive better +allowance, and are not mixed with the peasant prisoners, but have rooms +apart. In going through the principal prisons of Siberia, however, we +found the number of rooms thus occupied decidedly small; so that this +observation, taken with the educational state of the prisoners, would +seem to confirm what I was told by one prison official, that probably +not more than 3 or 4 per cent. of the exiles are from the upper classes. + +As to the crimes of the exiles, they are not all political, nor even +chiefly so. A large proportion--4,000 out of 18,000, or say 20 per +cent.--of them are charged with no one particular offence, except that +they have rendered themselves obnoxious to the community among which +they lived. If a man in Russia be incorrigibly bad, and will not pay +his taxes nor support his wife and family, but leaves these things to +be done by his neighbours, his commune--which may consist of one or +more villages--meet in their _mir_, or village parliament, vote the man +a nuisance, and adjudge that he be sent, at their expense, to Siberia. +This judgment is submitted to higher authorities, and, unless just +cause be shown to the contrary, is confirmed. The man is then taken to +Siberia, not to be imprisoned, but to get his living as a colonist. +Those sent thus by the villages, I was told, are chiefly drunkards. We +saw a whole wardful of them at Tiumen, dressed in private clothes, and +not in prison garb; and a second ward, of a similar mixed multitude, +consisting of men, women, and children. The perpetrators of political +crimes, as those of the “black Nihilists,” are, when caught, usually +accommodated with free lodgings in Siberia; and so with revolutionary +offenders, who make insurrection in Poland, Circassia, or elsewhere. +Of offenders such as these I must speak hereafter. Formerly religious +dissenters were largely deported, but this has not been done since the +proclamation of what may, in a fashion, be called religious liberty, +unless in the case of one or two--more especially one sect--whose +practices no enlightened Government could tolerate, and which are so +extraordinary that, if they obtained universal acceptance, there would +be no further increase of population, and the human race would become +extinct. The fact is that the great mass of exiles are nothing more +nor less than ordinary criminals, such as may be found in any of the +prisons of Europe.[2] + +The sentences of the exiles vary widely according as they are condemned +to one or the other of two classes, namely: those who lose all their +rights, and those who lose only partial or political rights, which +deprivations may be thus explained:-- + +Those who lose all their rights are not in an enviable position. These +are some of the things they lose:--If a man have a title or official +rank, he is degraded. An exile’s marriage rights are broken, so that +his wife is free to marry another. Neither his word nor his bond is of +any value. He cannot sign a legal document or serve any office, either +municipal or imperial. He can hold no property, nor do anything legal +in his own name. In prison he must wear convict’s clothes, and have his +head half shaved; and, in the case of a woman, she cannot marry after +her release from prison till by good conduct she has placed herself +in a certain category; and, whether man or woman, they may, for new +crimes, if the authorities see fit, after they have served their time +in prison, and are living as colonists, be sent back again. They may +be thrashed with rods and with the “_plète_,” and, even should they be +murdered, probably little trouble would be taken to find the murderer. +In fact, as the words imply, they lose all their rights, though I +believe they can appeal to the law in case of being grossly wronged. + +I have said that an exile’s marriage rights are broken, and I was +told that it is the same with convicts in America. Were it not so, it +might be very hard upon a young wife whose husband, for instance, had +committed murder, and who, for her husband’s crime and banishment, +should be compelled to remain single for the rest of her life. A +Russian wife with her children, however, may accompany the husband +if she chooses; in which case they go with the exile and receive from +the Government prison food and accommodation. If, on the other hand, a +husband wishes to accompany a convict wife, he travels at his own cost. +To the honour of the Russian women be it said that the proportion of +men accompanied by their wives and families is one in every six. The +proportion of women accompanied by their husbands is, I am told, not +exactly known, though it is very much less. + +Those who suffer the loss of particular rights lose certain of their +privileges (but not family or property rights), and are settled in +Siberia, to get their living in any way they are able. They may, +however, in some cases, have first to serve for a period in prison; +or, again, they may be allowed to live in their own houses and give a +portion of their time to Government work. + +Commonly, they are condemned first to serve a certain time in +confinement, with or without labour. If they behave well they are, +after a while, and in some cases, allowed to live outside the prison +with their families, if they have any, but still to do their allotted +work, until the period arrives for them to be liberated and located +like colonists. Some of the women who are condemned to the far east +have the good fortune to be taken as domestic servants by officers, and +even favoured civilians, who, in a new country where ordinary servants +are not to be had, are allowed for this purpose to take the prisoners, +subject to inspection, of course. Lastly, some exiles, though +comparatively few, I believe, are condemned to prison, or to prison and +labour, for life.[3] + +The localities to which the exiles are sent vary according to their +crimes. Speaking generally, those deprived of partial rights are sent +to Western, and those deprived of all their rights to Eastern, Siberia. +On this point I have no official statistics, but a legal officer gave +me these particulars concerning the location of convicts. Murderers are +sent to Kara. My finding 800 there would seem to confirm this, only +that their presence was manifest in so many of the other prisons also. +Political prisoners go to Kara, to the Trans-Baikal district, and (as +I heard from other sources) to the Yakutsk government; also to this +latter province are sent those who commit fresh crimes in Siberia. +Vagrants or vagabonds are dispatched to the far east, to the government +of the Sea Coast and Sakhalin. On the other hand, Western Siberia +would seem to be reserved for minor offenders, and those deprived +of certain particular rights only. It should be observed, however, +that exiles, wherever they may be, are under police inspection, are +furnished with papers which they have to show at intervals, and which +tie them to a certain place, whence they can move to a distance only +by permission. When at large, and in some cases when in prison, the +exiles may correspond with their friends through the post; but the +letters must of course be read by the authorities. The hardest part of +the lot of those who lose all their rights seems to be that they cannot +look forward to the hope of returning. Not that a release is _never_ +granted even to these; for I am told that political offenders are +sometimes seen hurried out of, as fast as they are hurried into, exile. +The late Emperor, too, when he came to the throne, began his reign by +an act of clemency on a larger scale, and allowed certain exiles whom +his father had banished to return. Again, I have heard of a Polish +exile in good circumstances who was fortunate enough to win the love +of an English young lady connected (by name at all events) with one of +the ducal families of Great Britain, through which it is said the ear +was gained of a member first of the English royal family, then of the +imperial family of Russia, and finally of the Emperor himself.[4] I +have met with another case of a released exile who was liberated under +curious circumstances. He gave me his story thus:--When Alexander II. +visited Paris in the time of Napoleon III., the Tsar asked the Emperor +if there were anything he could do for him. Upon which the Emperor +replied: “You have a Frenchman who, in young and silly days, joined +the Polish insurrection. He was made prisoner, and is now in Siberia. +Will you do me the favour to release him?” The request was granted, +a messenger despatched, the happy prisoner in forty-five days and +nights drove back from the mines to Moscow, not with a couple of horses +merely, but troika fashion, between a couple of gendarmes, and received +his pardon. But such cases, of course, are rare. + +It is well known that many of the exiles escape--some from the prisons, +and others from the districts where they are living free. A Russian +authoress, “O. K.,” in “Russia and England from 1876 to 1880,” says +that in January 1876, out of 51,122 exiles supposed to be in Tobolsk, +only 34,293 could be found, which figures an Englishman living in +the Tobolsk government (speaking offhand) told me he should doubt, +though he thought “O. K.’s” statement _might_ be right regarding the +government of Tomsk, in which the same authoress states that 5,000 +were missing out of 30,000. For my own figures I am indebted to a +prison official very high in position, who told me that nearly 700 +get away yearly, and in 1876 as many as 952 escaped the control of +the police. Thus the mere feat of running away does not seem to be +difficult; but this does not imply that it is equally easy to get away +from the country. A few roubles slipped into the hands of a Cossack or +petty officer have a wonderful effect in blinding his eyes. Again, an +escape is sometimes made from the gold-mines thus:--The convicts work +in gangs, and one lies in a ditch for the others to cover him with +branches and rubbish. The numbers are called on leaving off work, and +one is missing. Search proves fruitless, and, after all have left the +mine, the man rises from his temporary grave and makes for the woods. +The great difficulty is not to get away, but to keep away. The country +is so vast that they cannot travel far before the approach of winter, +and then, if they have escaped in company, they have the choice of +returning to prison food or eating one another. They have, moreover, +another difficulty with the natives. In the Trans-Baikal district, the +Buriats are said to hunt down escaped convicts, and shoot them like +vermin; which is probably explained by what was told me of the Gilyaks +on the Lower Amur, that they receive three roubles a-head for every +escaped convict they bring to the police, whether dead or alive. The +natives argue thus: “If you shoot a squirrel, you get only his skin; +whereas, if you shoot a _varnak_” (which is the nickname they give to +convicts), “you get his skin and his clothing too.” Thus it is very +difficult for them to get out of the country. + +There are several reasons, however, which conduce to their running +away. A long-term prisoner, for instance, condemned to twenty years’ +labour, makes his escape from a penal colony, wanders about the country +during the summer months, and, on the approach of winter, commits a +crime and is caught. He is asked for his name, to which he replies that +it is _Ivan Nepomnoostchi_--that is, “John Know-nothing.” He is asked +where he comes from. He replies that he entirely forgets. What has been +his occupation? His memory fails him. He is asked for his papers. He +says that he has none, or perhaps trumps up a story that he has lost +them--and so on. Accordingly he is tried, and is sentenced, say to +five years’ hard labour, for which he inwardly thanks the Court, and +goes off, it may be, to a new prison, having effected a saving of the +sorrows of eighteen years. Should he not play his game aright, however, +and should he be detected, then his past service goes for nothing; he +is most likely flogged, and sent back to a harder berth than he had +before. Some run away under the influence of drink, and discover their +mistake too late. Again, other reasons which may be supposed to conduce +to flight are--the fear of punishment for new faults committed, the +desire to get back to social and family ties in Europe, or, in the +case of those twice imprisoned, to ties which they have formed whilst +settled in Siberia. + +I am disposed to think that the severance of family and social ties is +with many the really hard pinch of Siberian exile. One lady, who had a +convict for her nurse, told me that she gave her her own clothes, paid +her £1 a month, provided her a home in the best house in the province, +to say nothing of sundry perquisites, and yet she sometimes found her, +when alone, in tears; and, on asking what was the matter, the answer +was--“Oh, if I only knew something of my friends in Russia!” She had +not learnt to write, her friends were in the same position, and the +difficulty of procuring an amanuensis, together with uncertainty as +to address, made communication almost impossible; and so she said she +could not tell whether her friends were dead or alive, or what might +be their fate. I recollect, too, in a prison at Uleaborg, in Finland, +finding a woman who had escaped from exile, of whom I asked how she +liked Siberia; to which she replied that as regards the country she +had nothing to complain of; but, she pathetically added, “I did _so_ +want to see my mother!” And to do this she had taken flight, during +three years had traversed more than 2,000 miles, had reached her old +home, and was then retaken! + +But nothing has yet been said of the transport of the exiles. Of old +they had to walk all the way, and the journey and stoppages occupied a +long time. The woman at Uleaborg said she was eight months going from +Petersburg to Tobolsk. In this matter, however, as in many others, the +lot of the banished was much mitigated during the reign of the late +Emperor, especially after 1867. The introduction of railways and river +steamboats greatly facilitated this. Accordingly, those in Russia who +are condemned to Siberia are now first gathered to a central prison +in Moscow, where they may be seen entering the city in droves. A very +affecting sight was the first of these droves I saw in 1874. The van +consisted of soldiers with fixed bayonets. Behind them marched the +worst of the men prisoners, with chains on their ankles, the clanking +of which as they moved was most unmusical. Then followed men without +fetters, but chained by the hand to what looked like a long iron rod; +and next after them the women convicts; and then the most touching +part of the whole--women, not convicts, but wives who had elected to +be banished with their husbands. Then there were wagons containing +children, the old and infirm, baggage, etc., the rear being brought up +by armed soldiers. As the prisoners moved along the street, passengers +stepped from the pavement to give them presents. To this the guards who +walked at the side made no objection, and in this way, in some of the +towns, the prisoners gather, or used to gather, a considerable sum of +money; for the woman at Uleaborg said that the money given to her drove +of 156 prisoners, during their three days’ stay in Moscow, amounted to +about 30_s._ each.[5] More recently, however, a Pole, who began his +walking in 1871, farther east, at Perm, told me his receipts from the +wayside charity of the people were insignificant. + +Being gathered then at Moscow, the prisoners are sent off in droves of +about 700 each by rail to Nijni Novgorod. This commences in spring, as +soon as the river navigation opens, and two or three parties go off +each week. They began, the year of my visit, on May 8th. On reaching +Nijni Novgorod they are placed in a large barge built for the purpose, +which carries from 600 to 800, and is tugged by steamer to Perm. + +Hence they are taken twice a week by rail to Ekaterineburg; 350 on +Wednesday, and 500 on Saturday. Their walking, however, does not +yet begin; for the 200 miles remaining to Tiumen is got over by +conveyances, each of which, drawn by three horses, carries about six +prisoners; and thus they arrive at the first prison in Siberia proper. + +Now begins their distribution. Those who are condemned to Western +Siberia are assigned to particular towns or villages, whither they +are sent by water, if possible, or, if not, on foot. Those, however, +who are condemned to Eastern Siberia are placed in another barge, and +taken on the Tura, Tobol, Irtish, Obi, and the Tom, to Tomsk, whence +their walking eastward begins. When not hindered by accidental causes, +they usually rest one day and walk two, marching sometimes twenty +miles or more a day. Temporary prisons called _étapes_ are erected +along the road to receive them for the night, and in the towns are +larger buildings called _perisylnie_ prisons, in which they may rest, +if necessary, a longer time, and where there are hospitals, medical +attendants, etc. Thus they go on day after day, week after week, +month after month, to their destined place or prison, to Irkutsk, to +Yakutsk, to Chita, or, if perchance they are destined to Sakhalin, they +continue to Stretinsk on the Shilka, thence by steam on the river Amur +to Nikolaefsk, and so by ship to the island. Two years since, however, +the Russian Government adopted a new and better plan with prisoners +intended for Sakhalin, and, instead of sending them across Asia, +shipped them from Odessa, _viâ_ the Suez Canal, to the Pacific direct. +A large merchant steamer, the _Nijni Novgorod_, was employed for the +purpose, sailing under the Government flag, which made the passage +in about two months, the prisoners arriving in excellent health, and +without one death on the passage. + +I mention this fact the more readily as I heard it in the Admiral’s +house at Vladivostock, where the ship arrived a week or two before I +did, and where it was said that one of the Japanese newspapers had +copied from an English paper to the effect that half the prisoners +had died on the passage, and that the rest were in a terribly sick +condition. As an Englishman I was called to account for this, and +I found that the minds of some of my Russian friends were very +sore with the editors of English newspapers, by reason of alleged +misrepresentations received at their hands. They complained, moreover, +that whereas some of the newspapers were ready enough to publish +against the Russians all they knew that was bad, they were slow to +acknowledge the good, and were not always ready to recall what had +been said, even when proved to have been false. Not having the facts +before me, I could only put in a plea regarding the desire of English +journals to be first in the field with news, and the consequent rapid +manner in which editorial work has to be done. Knowing something of an +editor’s difficulties, I felt justified in expressing the hope that +there had been no intentional departure from fairness, uprightness, and +integrity. I am not sure, however, that I should have been ready with +an answer had I known how the case really stood.[6] + +I have thus described the transport of ordinary exiles to Siberia. +There is another category of prisoners--arch-heretics in political or +revolutionary affairs, Nihilists, etc., of whom the authorities wish +to take special care, who are not sent with the common herd, but are +individually placed between two gendarmes, and sent off to travel alone +direct to their destination. I am of opinion that the popular notion as +to their numbers is exaggerated, and that they are much fewer than is +commonly supposed. I shall offer my reasons for thinking thus later on. +These persons, while travelling, are never allowed, under any pretence, +to be out of sight of their keepers, who are charged to allow no one to +speak to them. This, however, is not always carried out to the letter; +for a friend of mine, coming one day to a swollen river in Siberia, +near Omsk, where a gendarme was also waiting with a young lady prisoner +of seventeen, was allowed to speak to her, and she told him that since +she left Petersburg, a distance of 1,700 miles, she had not once had +a gendarme out of her presence. When there are several prisoners of +this character travelling in a manner together, they are kept separate, +and are not allowed to speak to each other. But even this cannot +always be enforced; for not long before my arrival at Tiumen a batch +of about ten such persons had passed. On arriving at Ekaterineburg, a +separate carriage was taken for each; but when they came at Tiumen to +the riverside, standing and waiting for the steamer, they were able +to snatch a few moments for conversing together. I know of another +instance, in which a young woman had been suspected of a political +offence, and been warned by the authorities to desist; but, not +profiting by the warning, she was arrested, sent off with a gendarme, +and on her way met a gentleman whom she asked to convey a letter to +her friends. This of course was against the gendarme’s orders, but, on +being assured that the letter should be only of a private nature, and +three roubles being put into his hand, he allowed it to be written and +taken. This was in European Russia. Further east they become still more +lax. + +There is yet a third case, in which exiles are permitted to journey +by themselves like ordinary travellers. We met a lady who was forced +to quit Petersburg at twenty-four hours’ notice; but owing to her +position, or through interest, she was allowed to travel alone; and +in this manner, by reason of illness on the way, during which her +money was stolen, she was a twelvemonth reaching her location in +Eastern Siberia. This, however, was the only case we met with of an +exile travelling privately, and I presume similar cases are very +exceptional. Whilst the exiles are on the march, and, in certain +cases, whilst they are living like colonists, they receive clothing and +an allowance for food, either in money or in kind; but this subject +will be best treated under the description of prisons, to which +subsequent chapters will be devoted. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] According to M. Réclus, the first decree of banishment fell +upon the insurrectionists of Uglitch, in 1591; in the days of the +Tsar Boris Godunof, and for a century afterwards Siberia received +scarcely any exiles but State prisoners. At the end of the seventeenth +century, however, some of the vanquished Little Russians of the +Ukraine were deported thither; and they were followed by the religious +dissenters--the first accompanied by their families. The Streltzi +were banished by Peter the Great to garrisons in the most distant +parts of the empire; and after the reign of Peter, the intrigues of +the palace were the cause of exile to some of the Court celebrities, +such as Menchikoff, Dolgoruki, Biron, Munich, Tolstoï, and others, +some of whom, however, were brought back when their friends came into +favour. In 1758 began the deportation of Poles to Siberia, but their +banishment in large numbers dates from the reign of Catherine II., with +the confederates of Bar, and then with the companions of Kosciuzko. +Nine hundred Poles, having served under Napoleon, were exiled to +Siberia, and large numbers of the insurrectionists of 1830 followed. +The exiles whose names awaken perhaps the most sympathy among the +Russians were the Decembrists of 1826, who endeavoured to deprive the +Emperor Nicholas of his throne; but of these, and political prisoners +generally, I shall treat hereafter in a separate chapter. + +[2] There are upwards of thirty crimes for the commission of one or +more of which a man may be sent to Siberia. In fact, I have been told +that all the crimes of the country are reduced to these thirty-three +heads, viz.: insubordination to authorities; stealing or losing +official documents; escape, or abetting the escape, of prisoners; +embezzlement of Government property; forgery while in Government +employ; blasphemy; heresy and dissent; sacrilege; sheltering runaways; +forging coin or paper money; without passport, or passport with term +not renewed; vagrancy; bad conduct and petty crimes; murder, and +suspicion thereof; attempted suicide; wounding with intent to do +grievous bodily harm; rape and seduction; insult; attacking with intent +to wound; holding property falsely; practices of the “Scoptsi”; arson; +robbery and burglary; thieving and roguery; horse-stealing; dishonesty +and false actions; debt; dishonouring the name of the Emperor; assuming +false names or titles; bestiality; usury and extortion; eluding +military service; smuggling and illicit distilling. + +[3] Some idea may be formed of the proportion of the banished who are +condemned to hard labour by observing that, of 17,867 exiles passing +eastwards through Tiumen prison in 1878 (the year before my visit), +2,252, or one-seventh, were transported for hard labour, and the +remainder for “residence for life, or for certain terms in East and +West Siberia.” I was told likewise by Mr. Ignatoff, at Tiumen, that +about 2,500 hard-labour convicts passed yearly through his hands, and +that they spent the first part of their time at Tobolsk. It may be +further noticed from my statistics, that during the same year which +saw the above number of exiles going eastwards, there passed through +the same prison 2,629 persons returning westwards “to their respective +homes in Russia;” which expression I do not understand, since I am +informed from an official source that the number of persons returning +after temporary exile is very small. The law permits those only to +go back who are banished by the communes (and then not without their +permission), and those who are deprived of _particular_ rights. Four +hundred and sixty-two of those condemned to “hard labour,” and 3,488 of +those going into “residence,” are marked as _minors_,--that is to say, +children of exiles, and _offenders_ under twenty-one years of age; of +which last, I am told, the annual total sent to Siberia does not exceed +300. + +[4] I have heard parts of this story in various places--in Hampshire, +in Devon, in Siberia, and on the coast of the Pacific--of the heroic +conduct of a Scotch Professor, who gallantly escorted this young lady +to her lover in Siberia, sat by her side for 3,000 miles, watched over +her, saw her married, and then, returning, gave no rest to friends or +officials till he had obtained the Pole’s release. The incidents would +doubtless suffice for a three-volumed novel, which, however, I will not +begin, as I know only one of the parties concerned, and him only by +correspondence, and I have not had the recital from his own lips. + +[5] M. Andreoli, in the story of his exile, remarks that the Moscow +merchants had established a considerable fund for dividing among +prisoners going to Siberia, and that when a party arrived, the director +of the fund was at once informed. He then divided equally among them +the means at his disposal, which was never less than 14_s._ or 16_s._, +and sometimes as much as 30_s._ or 32_s._ to each person. Men, women, +and children shared alike, so that a man with a family got substantial +help; but this fund, I am told, no longer exists. Both M. Andreoli and +Baron Rosen speak of the kindness of the Siberian peasants to exiles on +their journey. + +[6] On reaching England I was referred to what had appeared in the +_Daily Telegraph_, first, on June 2nd, under the heading, “Reign of +Terror in Russia,” where it was stated that “a large number of convicts +are about to be despatched to Sakhalin from Odessa, the service which +provides for the ordinary transportation of criminals to Siberia +being already overtaxed.” Again, on July 28th, under the same heading +appeared half a column of large print, speaking of “the appalling +evidence of Russian barbarity” which their “own correspondent” had +obtained. The correspondent informant visited the ship, and observed +to the officer in command that the prisoners so badly provided for +would never survive the passage, to which the Russian officer was +said to have replied, “Well, so much the better for all parties if +they do not,” and so on. On the next day, under the heading “Russian +Barbarities,” it appeared that Mr. Joseph Cowen asked in Parliament +whether the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs had received +information that 700 persons, mostly men and women of education, had +been packed in the hold of a small ship--(the _Daily Telegraph_ had +described it the same day as a man-of-war of 4,000 tons)--that 250 +had died on board, and 150 were landed in a dying state, etc. Most of +this appeared in large print, and attention was called thereto. But by +August 5th a change had come over the scene, and all or nearly all the +foregoing was found to be untrue; and then, in their _smallest_ print, +simply headed “Reuter’s Telegram,” the _Daily Telegraph_ informed its +readers in six lines that “the _Novoe Vremya_ of August 4th states that +the steamer _Nijni Novgorod_ arrived at Nagasaki on Friday last, and +that the convicts were well in health.” Now here would appear to have +been ample room for, if not an apology, yet an expression of regret +that the Russians had been so very much misrepresented; but, if such +appeared, it has escaped me. On August 9th, the Russian journals are +alluded to as joining in a chorus of indignation against Messrs. Cowen +and Mundella for their motion in Parliament, but nothing is recalled of +what had been said. I know not how the foregoing extracts may strike +the reader, but the perusal of them did not cause me to plume myself on +the score of English fairness and our supposed love of justice. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_FROM TIUMEN TO TOBOLSK._ + + General remarks on Siberia.--Limits.--Area.--Temperature.-- + Divisions.--Roads.--Ethnography.--Language.--Posting + to Tobolsk.--Floods.--Spring roads.--Villages of + Tatars.--Their history.--Characteristics.--Costumes.-- + Occupation.--Worship.--Language. + + +Between Ekaterineburg and Tiumen, as already intimated, the traveller +passes into Siberia,--concerning which country it may be well here to +make some general observations, with a view to the better understanding +of future chapters. The western boundary of this immense region runs +from the Arctic Ocean along the chain of the Northern Urals to a point +in about the same latitude as Lake Onega; then, leaving the mountains +a little to the left, it comes down in a tolerably straight line to +a point midway between the Sea of Aral and Lake Balkash; thence it +turns eastward to and along the northern shore of the lake, and, going +further east, joins the Altai Mountains. All Russia lying to the west +and south of this line is either in Europe or in Asia; all lying to +the east of it is Siberia, the length and breadth of which are the +same as of Russia in Asia; whilst its area, as given in recent Russian +statistics, is 4,750,000 square miles, or more than three thousand +millions of acres (3,185,510,900), of which nearly one-fifth is arable. +The river Yenesei (roughly speaking) divides the country into east +and west, the surface of the western portion being almost entirely +flat, whilst the eastern portion, especially towards the Pacific, is +mountainous. Siberia extends over nearly 40 degrees of latitude, and +in climate ranges from arctic to semi-tropical. In passing through the +country from west to east, from the end of May to the beginning of +October, between the 50th and 57th parallels, we found the temperature +much the same as during the same period in England. When steaming on +the Obi, at the beginning of June, on the 62nd parallel, my minimum +thermometer fell during the night as low as 35° Fahrenheit, but rose by +9 o’clock to 75°. English winter clothing, therefore, by day was not +too warm. Again, at Vladivostock, lying on the 43rd parallel, the heat +towards the end of September was not too great for clothing suited to +an English summer. All through the journey, however, when sleeping in +the tarantass, it was sufficiently cold in the early morning, whatever +might be the heat of the day, to make an ulster coat acceptable. + +The political divisions of the country are two vice-royalties, called +respectively Western and Eastern Siberia. Each of these is divided into +“governments” and “oblasts.”[1] + +The means of communication in Siberia are more ample than a foreigner +might suppose. There are, indeed, no railways; but when the line, now +in course of construction, from Ekaterineburg to Tiumen is finished, +the English traveller will be able to go by steam from Charing Cross +to Tomsk, a distance of 5,000 miles, and further east than Ceylon. +As it is now, when Tiumen is reached, river communication becomes +possible with each of the four capitals of Western Siberia. Again, +the Amur presents a water passage inland from the Pacific, by which +Nikolaefsk, Blagovestchensk, and almost Chita, may be reached; and +now that Captain Wiggins has led the way through the Kara Gates, and +Professor Nordenskiöld has followed on to Behring’s Strait, Russia +may congratulate herself on having for the commerce of Siberia three +additional outlets--the Obi, the Yenesei, and the Lena--to both Europe +and Japan. + +Again, there is the communication by roads, which is the more important +on account of the many months the rivers are frozen over. There are +two post roads by which Siberia is entered from the west; one through +Orenburg, which is little used, and the other through Ekaterineburg +to Tiumen. There is also a third road, not much used, which crosses +the Urals further north, and connects _Veliki Ustiug_, on the Northern +Dwina, with Irbit. The high road to China leaves Tiumen in an easterly +direction to Omsk, where the routes from Orenburg, Semipolatinsk, and +Central Asia converge. The main road goes east to Tomsk, where it is +joined by roads on the north from Narim, and on the south from Barnaul; +it then continues eastward to Krasnoiarsk, where it is joined by roads, +on the north from Yeneseisk, and on the south from Minusinsk. After +this it takes a south-easterly direction to Irkutsk, whence there go +two ways--one to the north-east, to Yakutsk, and so on to Kamchatka; +the other, and principal one, to the south-east and round the base of +Lake Baikal to Verchne Udinsk. Here it divides into two, that to the +right leading to Kiakhta and China; that to the left running east, +through Chita to Stretinsk. Thence the traveller proceeds on the +Shilka and Amur--by boat in summer, and on the ice in winter--past +Blagovestchensk to Khabarofka, whence, to the left, he continues on +the Amur to Nikolaefsk, or he turns to the right up the Ussuri and the +Sungacha to Vladivostock. Along all these roads there is postal and, +except towards Yakutsk, telegraphic communication also. + +An ethnographical map of Siberia, coloured according to the area which +is occupied by its various nationalities, reveals the fact that only a +very small portion of the country is inhabited by Russians.[2] In fact, +a narrow strip of country suffices to show their _habitat_, if drawn +on either side of the great land and water highways, and somewhat +widened in the mining districts of the Yeneseisk and Tomsk governments; +and as the aborigines do not generally follow agriculture, it will +be inferred that those parts of the land which are under cultivation +lie within this narrow strip. The same observation will also indicate +that, whilst the language of the towns and the highways is Russian, a +knowledge of other tongues is needed for extensive intercourse with the +natives. + +Having made these general remarks concerning Siberia, we proceed on our +journey from Tiumen to Tobolsk, _en route_ for Tomsk, which is best +reached in summer by river, steaming for 1,800 miles, the post road +from Tiumen to Tomsk passing through Omsk, or by a somewhat nearer way, +leaving Omsk to the south, and then crossing the Barabinsky steppe. + +We arrived at Tiumen on Thursday, the 29th May, bringing with us two +loads of luggage, and leaving the rest to follow by “goods’” transport. +There was steam communication between Tiumen and Tobolsk twice a week, +the passage occupying a day and a half; but the steamer that went on to +Tomsk was to leave on the following Monday, by which time the remaining +luggage could not arrive. It became, therefore, a question whether +we should wait for it or go before, in the hope that, whilst we were +making _détours_, our books might overtake us. My Finnish friend, Miss +Alba Hellman, had sent me some pamphlets for distribution amongst a +colony of Finns and others from the Baltic provinces, numbering about +1,800, and located at Ruschkova, not far from the city of Omsk. We at +first thought, therefore, to make this _détour_, and then, instead of +returning to Tiumen, to go “across country” to Tobolsk, and thus see +the prisons, and wait for the next steamer but one, in which we hoped +all our luggage might be forwarded; but this plan our friends at Tiumen +condemned. The question then remained, How could we see Tobolsk? The +steamer in passing would stay but for an hour or two, and another boat +would not follow for a week. The only alternative was to drive. But +terrible accounts were given of the roads, which had not yet dried +after the breaking up of the frost. Not to see Tobolsk, however, was +out of the question, and we therefore determined to make the attempt by +road, hoping to reach the city on Saturday, see the prisons on Monday, +and take steamer the following day. + +Accordingly, on Friday night, late, we left Tiumen in two tarantasses, +with three horses to each. At the first station the post-master gave +us warning that the roads were very bad, and that only one or two +travellers had passed that way since the waters had subsided. On coming +to the first river, it was found to be unapproachable at the usual +place of embarkation. A ferry-boat had, therefore, to be brought to us, +some six miles out of the way, and so we were kept waiting five hours. +Whilst thus delayed, report said that the post-master kept hardly half +the men required by his contract for working the ferry, and, further, +that the men were sometimes extortionate. When, therefore we had rowed +six miles down the stream to the landing-place, and the post-master +could give no satisfactory reason why we had been thus kept, we thought +it right, for the benefit of future travellers, to enter in his “book +for complaints,” bearing the Government seal, our regrets that his +neglect had detained us five hours. + +About eleven o’clock the same night another episode occurred, which +illustrates the pleasures of spring travelling in Siberia. The +post-master gave us, what we never had before or after,--two outriders +to convey us over a bad place on the road. Towards midnight we slept, +when, being awakened by repeated shouting, I peeped out and saw that we +were plunging among willows and mire. The outriders were holding up the +tarantass to keep it from toppling over. Then came more shouting, with +desperate jerking and pulling of the horses, which were up to their +knees in bog, till solid ground was gained, and all stopped for breath. +The next thing was to get the luggage tarantass through. We heard in +the distance a crash, and lo! one of the shafts was broken. A horseman +went back to the village for a new one, but in vain, and the old one +was repaired. Whilst waiting we had time to look around. It was not yet +morning, but the rays of the sun, which in northern countries are seen +above the horizon all the night through at this time of the year, shed +sufficient light on our darkness to give a weird appearance to all that +was visible. + +Silence was broken only by the incessant croaking of frogs, and by the +men, who were relating to each other how they had got through. One +had slipped into water up to his waist. The temperature was anything +but warm; but, poor fellows! they seemed to regard things as in their +normal condition, and uttered repeated thanks when they were dismissed +with a gratuity of a few extra kopecks. Further on we had to wade +through water above the axletrees, and during the last stage to cross +five streams, the last of which was the Irtish. Tobolsk at length was +reached, but not until Sunday night, and after a journey of forty-eight +hours instead of twenty, as we expected. + +[Illustration: TATARS OF KASAN.] + +By posting from Tiumen to Tobolsk, we purchased experience of early +summer roads; and, in so doing, saw things which I should be sorry to +have missed. Among these were several villages peopled exclusively by +Siberian Tatars. These people differ in one important respect from +most of the other nations living with the Russians in Siberia, in that +they have a history and can look back to great princes who have made a +name for themselves in the annals of the world. They are remnants of +those who, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in the days of +Genghis Khan and his descendants, overran Northern Asia, and wrested +the land from its aboriginal inhabitants. They pushed their conquests +to the Volga, and Serai, on that river, became the capital where their +great Khans (known as the Khans of the Golden Horde) lived and reigned, +and whence they long proved formidable antagonists to the Russians. +At length came their disruption. Kasan was founded in the fifteenth +century, and was the capital of a small khanate. A second khanate was +that of Astrakhan, a third that of Krim, a fourth that of Tiumen--all +fragments of the main horde which had collapsed in the fifteenth +century. Towards the close of the sixteenth century, the Russians took +from the Tatars Kasan and all else west of the Urals, and those on the +east of the mountains, in the region of the Irtish, were afterwards +subjugated by Yermak and his followers. Tatar villages may still be +found between Kasan and Tobolsk, beyond which these people inhabit a +district stretching south to the Kirghese hordes, and south-east as far +as the Altai Mountains, and so joining the territory west of Irkutsk +peopled by the Buriats.[3] The Tatars live among and are subject to +their Russian conquerors; but the two races do not blend--one race +being Christian, the other Mohammedan. The traveller is reminded of +this by noticing that the Tatars, when on a journey, carry with them +their wooden basins, for they will not drink from a vessel used by +Russians; and so, in some parts, Russians will not drink from Tatar +cups, though this exclusiveness wears away where Russians are many and +Tatars are few. The Tatars have a good physique: dark eyes, swarthy +skin, black hair, and high cheek-bones. Their strength of body is such +as to make them excellent workmen, as may be seen by the enormous +burdens they carry in loading vessels at Nijni Novgorod and Kasan. +They are much liked in the capitals as coachmen, for they understand +horses well. I heard good accounts of them likewise as servants in the +hotel at Petersburg. They are not drunken, and are therefore valuable +as waiters. Their women are supposed to wear veils, and do so in the +cities. In the villages they content themselves with shawls, which are +drawn nearly over the face when a stranger approaches. Men and boys, +whether in the house or abroad, wear a small skull-cap, sometimes +richly embroidered; and on high days some are seen with white turbans. +These and their long cassock-like coats give the men a decidedly +oriental appearance. Both men and women wear top-boots, and generally +goloshes over them, so that, on entering the house or the mosque, they +have only to slip off the goloshes to secure clean shoes.[4] + +In the Tatar villages the green domes and pinnacles of the Russian +church, surmounted with the cross, were of course wanting; and in their +places were found Mohammedan mosques, with minarets surmounted with the +crescent. These latter reminded one of the shingled steeples of English +village churches. Our first sight of Tatar worship was on the Volga, on +board the steamer at sunset. Three Tatars approached the paddle-box, +on a clean part of which they spread a small carpet. Leaving their +goloshes on the deck, they knelt on the carpet, bowed their heads to +the ground, and, rubbing their hands as if washing, chanted their +prayers. They then appeared to pray silently in deepest reverence with +closed eyes, and as if in total oblivion that a crowd was looking on. +We were told that the pious pray thus at least three times a day, +wherever they may be. At Kasan we had an opportunity of seeing their +congregational worship in a Tatar mosque. Permission was given us to +enter, if at the bottom of the stairs we would take off our goloshes, +or, having none, our boots. The Mohammedan reason for this practice +seemed to be that they did not wish to bring into the place anything +soiled or unclean. + +The building inside had a square room, with the barest of bare white +walls, without attempt at ornament of any sort or kind. The only piece +of furniture even was a high wooden rostrum approached by stairs, from +which exhortations are delivered on Fridays. There were no chairs or +benches, or any resemblance to an altar or table. Those who assembled +early sat on the ground with their legs beneath them, apparently for +private prayer, reading, and meditation; but upon some one beginning to +murmur in a low strain, all jumped up, ran to the front, and arranged +themselves in ranks. They commenced their prayers by placing the thumb +into or on the lower part of the ears, with the palms of the hands +outwards. Then they stood, bowed, knelt, and then lowered the head +to the ground. This is done a certain number of times, according to +the hour of the day, twice at early morning, and increasing till five +or more at the last of the five daily services. At the conclusion of +prayer they passed their hands over their faces. All these external +acts of devotion were done by each rank with the utmost precision, +and the histrionic effect, as some would call it, was excellent; only +that to one in the rear of four or five ranks of men, of each of whom +nothing could be seen but the soles of their feet and the seats of +their trousers, the spectacle was somewhat grotesque. In the less +demonstrative parts of the service, however, there was not an eye that +wandered, with the single exception of a man who bestowed a glance on +us strangers; nor a man who did not behave in a manner becoming the +occupation in which he was engaged. Some few who came in late did not +join those whose service had begun, but commenced a separate one for +themselves. + +The floor was covered with clean matting, on which lay here and there a +common rosary made of date-stones, ninety-nine in number, and divided +by beads into three sections. + +The Tatars objected to give us a translation in Russian of the prayers +they said thereon. We heard elsewhere that they have ninety-nine names +of God; and a Tatar prisoner--apparently a gentleman--told me that +they had a separate prayer for each bead. The uneducated, however, do +not know these many names of the Deity. On the following day we had +the opportunity of asking a monk concerning the Russian rosary, which +differs from both the Mohammedan and the Roman.[5] + +The Tatars can read the Scriptures in Turkish, and are apparently +not indisposed to do so, provided it does not attract attention. A +colporteur at Moscow told me that he sold fifty-seven copies to Tatars +in the villages between Kasan and Perm, though they became angry in +the larger towns if he attempted openly to sell them in the Tatar +quarter. I took with me a few Turkish gospels, and among the prisoners +at Barnaul found three Tatars, one of whom could read. As we repassed +the door of their room, all three were seen sitting with their legs +beneath them, the two illiterate ones listening to their scholarly +friend with eager attention. We met several of this race in prison +and elsewhere, as we proceeded onwards, but I do not remember passing +through whole villages of Tatars after we left the district of Tobolsk. +Hence we were the more glad not to have missed these. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] I am not clearly informed as to the exact difference between a +government and an oblast, but I am under the impression that an oblast +(which means a “province”) is a territory often newly acquired and +under martial law, whereas, in a “government,” things have settled +down, and the civil and military organizations are under separate +control. The word “oblasts” is sometimes translated “territories”; +their relation to “governments” being similar to the relation between +“Territories” and “States” in America. The oblasts in Siberia are +Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk in the west, and Yakutsk and the Sea Coast +in the east; but, to avoid confusion, we will speak of them all as +governments or provinces. Each province has its capital, which ranks as +a “government” town, and each _uyezd_ has likewise its principal town. +Each province is subdivided into districts, called _uyezds_; _uyezds_ +into _vollosts_; and _vollosts_ into villages, called _selo_, if with +a church, or _derevnia_ if without. In the villages the chief man is +called a _starosta_; in the vollosts a _zasidatil_. Over each uyezd +commonly presides an ispravnik; over each province a governor; and over +each vice-royalty a governor-general. Western Siberia is divided into +four provinces, namely: Tobolsk, Tomsk, and Semipolatinsk, each of +which has a capital, bearing the name of the province; and Akmolinsk, +which has Omsk for its capital. Eastern Siberia is divided into six +provinces: Irkutsk and Yakutsk, with capitals of the same names; and +Yeneseisk, Trans-Baikal, Amur, and Sea Coast (or Maritime), with +capitals named Krasnoiarsk, Chita, Blagovestchensk, and Nikolaefsk. + +[2] The total population, Russian and aboriginal, according to the +_Journal de St. Petersbourg_, August 7th, 1881, quoting the most +recent statistics, numbers 1,388,000 souls; but I am not sure whether +“souls” may not mean _males_ only, as it sometimes does in Russia. They +are divided among the provinces as follows: Tobolsk, 463,000; Tomsk, +324,000; Irkutsk, 165,000; Yeneseisk, 164,000; Trans-Baikal, 141,000; +Amur, 3,000; Sea Coast, 13,000; and Yakutsk, 112,000. This says nothing +of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk. + +[3] Mr. Wahl, in his “Land of the Czar,” which contains much valuable +ethnographical information, gives the number of the Siberian Tatars +of the governments of Tobolsk and Tomsk at 40,000. Dr. Latham also, +in his “Native Races of the Russian Empire,” traces their affinities +with many peoples both in Europe and Asia, all of whom he classifies +under the general name of Turks, and points out that the area covered +by the Turkish stock is perhaps larger than that of any other race in +the world. The general name of Turks includes the Tatars of Kasan, of +Siberia, the Caucasus, and several other places; also the Kirghese, +Yakutes, and many smaller tribes, some of which will hereafter be +referred to under the respective provinces which they inhabit. The +Turkish stock are, as to their religion, Christians, Pagans, and +Mohammedans: Christians where they have been won over by the Russians +to the Greek Church; Pagans where they have not been reached even +by Mohammedanism, but have remained in the darkness of aboriginal +Shamanism, as is still the case with a few of the Yakute Turks; and +Mohammedans, which is the case for the most part with those of the +country through which we passed. + +[4] The natural home of the Turk or the Tatar is the steppe, where +they dwell in tents, and are herdsmen, horsemen, and in some cases +camel-drivers. Those we passed gain their livelihood by agriculture, +by the breeding of cattle, and by the transport of goods. Their houses +were neat and cleanly, and compared favourably with those of the +Russians. + +[5] The mention of all three invites a short study in “comparative +religions,” which may be briefly made as follows:--The complete Roman +rosary consists of 150 beads on a string, divided into 15 decades, +between each of which is a large or distinctive bead. Where the two +ends join there are 5 other beads attached, and at the loose end a +crucifix. It is used thus:--On the crucifix is repeated the Creed; +on the first bead the Lord’s Prayer; on each of the next three the +“Hail, Mary!” and on the fifth bead the Lord’s Prayer. This is by way +of introduction. Then on each of the first 10 beads are said these +words: “Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art +thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,--Jesus. Holy +Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our +death. Amen.” When this has been said ten times, the “Pater Noster” +is said on the dividing bead, and this is continued till 150 prayers +have been offered to the Virgin, and 15 to “our Father,” and then the +odd beads are used in inverse order for a conclusion, as before for an +introduction. + +The Russian rosary looks smaller, but has also certain beads larger, +or at least distinguishable from the others. It is not worn or used by +ordinary members of the Russian Church, but only by monks and nuns. +I was told by a nun at Moscow that they say on each bead, “May Jesus +Christ have mercy on sinners!” but a monk at Kasan said (what is not +irreconcilable with the former) that on each ordinary bead they say, +“Lord God of heaven and Jesus Christ, have mercy upon us”; and on the +large and distinctive bead they say a prayer either to Jesus Christ or +the Virgin, the latter beginning something to this effect: “Thou mighty +Mary, hear our prayers, and take away from thine unworthy servants all +sin,” etc. Lastly, we were told that the Mohammedan continues to say on +his rosary, “There is but one God, and Mohammed is His prophet”; and +that if they do not know the ninety-nine names of God they merely count +the beads. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_SIBERIAN PRISONS._ + + Old Finnish prisons.--Model Petersburg prison.--Officers.--Contraband + importations.--Russian prisons of six kinds.--Siberian + prisons of three kinds: their number, location, structure, + furniture.--Prisoners: their classification.--Kansk + statistics.--Method of trial.--Remands.--Exchanging names and + punishments. + + +The prisons of Russia occupy a position midway between the dungeons of +the Middle Ages and the modern cellular abodes for criminals of the +nineteenth century. A few of them, however, approach very near these +extremes on either side. With regard to Finland, it is hardly fair to +hold the Russian Government responsible for the condition of its prison +affairs, because, although the Emperor is Grand Duke of that country, +he allows these liege subjects to make their own laws. Nevertheless, +I can never forget the vividness with which my boyhood’s reading came +back to me or Robin Hood and the dungeons of Nottingham Castle, when I +first visited the old prisons of Åbo and Wiborg. The descent by steps +with candles to prisoners in the lower rooms, the dim light entering by +windows in walls ten feet thick, the clanking of chains, the like to +which I have seen in no other country except perhaps Mongolia--these +things spoke more eloquently than a visit to the former prison of Sir +Walter Raleigh, or even the unused Ratisbon chamber for the torture +of Protestant heretics; and that because these northern prisons +were inhabited by living men. The majority of the Finnish prisons, +however, and certainly all the new ones, are better than the two I +have mentioned; though, unless a change has taken place since 1876, +the Finns still have and use sets of irons nearly ten times the weight +of any others I have seen in Europe. To pass to the other extreme. +One sees in Petersburg a brand-new prison, which may be supposed to +represent the very beau ideal of what a house of detention ought to be. + +It is only right to say, however, before going further, that the +condition of prisons and criminals in Russia is in a transitional +state. The authorities have seen the necessity for reforms for at least +20 years, and great pains have been taken that these reforms should +be made judiciously and effectively. Deputies have been sent to visit +the prisons of other countries and report thereon; a commission has +been appointed to receive the reports, to consider and debate, and +so thoroughly to “shed upon the question the light of science.” All +this has been done, and the reforms are yearly expected to take place, +pecuniary reasons alone delaying the change for the better. Meanwhile a +model prison has been built in the capital, and those who wish to see +what Russia _can_ do should visit this house of detention for persons +awaiting their trial. It is built in the shape of a right angle, having +two long corridors four storeys high. There are 285 separate cells +for men, 32 for women, others for confinement in common, as well as +places for associated and solitary exercise. Into cell No. 227 the +late Emperor once entered, of which they keep up the remembrance by +allowing no one to be confined therein. No expense appears to have +been spared in building the prison. The floors are of asphalte, and +the door of each cell is of solid oak. Within are iron bedsteads, made +to fold and hook up neatly against the wall. The tables and seats are +of sheet iron, with hinges; and, both within the cells and without, +every article and fitting of brass is rubbed to a high degree of +polish. The officers move about noiselessly in felt shoes, so that +they can unexpectedly and at any moment observe a prisoner through the +wire-covered inspection-holes. In the infirmary are 10 cells for those +who are to be kept apart, and 32 beds for those who live in common. +There is likewise a room in which 40 men may mingle by day, and a +general sleeping apartment with 36 bedsteads, across each of which wire +is stretched, making for the prisoner a hard but clean, and, I should +imagine, not uncomfortable bed. There is also a room for bookbinding, +where a few can work. + +The building contains three places of worship, for Russians, Roman +Catholics, and Protestants respectively, the Russian having a very +handsome _ikonostasis_ and chandelier; and I was pleased to find that, +if a man can read, he has always a New Testament in his cell, and +further that, by asking, he can obtain from the library other books in +addition. This is as it should be. + +In the female division we found for warders superior-looking young +women dressed in uniform, the insignia of office on their collars +being a pair of crossed keys. Some of the women prisoners, as with the +men, are placed together in common, and in some cases they have their +choice of solitary or social life. This is true in a sense other than +that which first appears; for one lady prisoner, a criminal condemned +to Siberia, was about to take to herself a husband before proceeding +thither, and the happy event was to be celebrated in the prison on the +morning after my visit. Peeping through the food aperture of one of the +doors was the face of a pretty young woman, a political prisoner, in +whose possession had been found suspicious books. There was a women’s +reception-room, having a bath warmed by gas; but as it was found to +cost about five shillings to heat, it is not surprising that this +particular bath is seldom used. + +Dark cells were shown to us, in which a prisoner may not be put for +more than six successive days. The place where prisoners were allowed +to converse with their friends was dark, which is not usual; and I +observed in it no place for an officer to sit between the parties +whilst they were speaking. + +The attempts of the authorities to keep the prisoners from intercourse +with one another, and with the outer world, do not yet appear to be +perfectly successful. + + ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ + │ A │ B │ C │ D │ E │ + ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ + │ │ │ │ │ │ + ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ + │ │ │ │ │ │ + ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ + │ │ │ │ │ │ + ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ + │ │ │ │ │ │ + └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ + +The Polish prisoners in Warsaw, according to M. Andreoli, had a plan by +which they could pass news in a couple of hours to all the prisoners in +the fortress. A square was divided into 25 spaces for the 25 letters +of the Polish alphabet. One knock was understood to mean A, two knocks +B, and so on; or, again, these signals might be changed by one knock, +signifying V, and so forth; this dumb speech being kept up by tapping +on the walls. This, however, is only one method. + +In the chapel of the model prison at Petersburg are 24 boxes for +prisoners whom they wish to keep from holding communication with each +other, even by a look. But the partitions which separate them are only +of wood, and I observed that those I entered had been furtively bored +with small holes, through which conversation could be held. Again, +the prisoners are allowed to receive food from their friends outside, +and, although it is first examined by the officials, the friends +manage sometimes to introduce for the prisoners some strange culinary +concoctions. There were brought to a man, for instance, one day 230 +roubles in a basin of buttermilk. Again, another man was frequently +found the worse for drink in his cell. Milk was regularly brought to +him, and duly tasted by the authorities; but still the man got drunk. +At last they discovered that the jug in which the milk was brought +had a false bottom with an aperture in the handle, and so the mystery +was solved. What will not topers do to procure drink? On arriving at +Werchne Udinsk, we heard that a drunken woman had just been detected in +trying to smuggle spirits into the prison in a pig’s entrails! + +I saw quite a collection of contraband articles at Petersburg, which +had been found in the possession of prisoners. Among them were +knives (one ingeniously made from a steel pen), playing cards, and +dominoes--all of them of original and unique, if not of artistic, +character; also a file, for which a prisoner had given a warder 50 +shillings. The man, too, had made busy use of his purchase. He set his +mind upon breaking loose, and thought to file through a bar of iron an +inch or more thick that confined him. But he could do his work only +during the time that the warders were at dinner and at supper, and +then not too loudly, giving 200 strokes of the file at dinner and 100 +at supper time. He went on thus for three months, and then managed to +break the iron. But he was detected, and condemned to Siberia, whither +he had already been sent before, and whence he had managed to escape. +There he has probably by this time found less costly and well-built +prisons from which to break loose. + +Before speaking, however, of the prisons of Siberia, it may be well to +observe that in European Russia there are at least six various kinds of +prisons. There is, first, the fortress--such as that at Schlüsselburg, +in which it is generally supposed are confined grave offenders, +especially the political and revolutionary. I have not visited one +of these. Next there are military prisons, in which severity of +discipline is said to be similar to that of the fortress. Then there +are hard-labour prisons, in which long-term convicts work out their +sentences. There are also houses of correction, where short-term +prisoners do the same; likewise houses of detention, in which persons +are kept awaiting their trial. I heard also of “houses of industry,” +which, unless I am mistaken, are somewhat like our reformatories; +and, lastly, there are buildings in which prisoners on their march to +distant places stay temporarily--some only for a few days, others for +weeks. These nice distinctions, however, can be drawn only in large +towns in European Russia. In Siberia, especially in small towns, the +same building serves for all classes of prisoners, the best arrangement +practicable being made for special cases. Speaking generally, and +from my own observation rather than from accurate information upon +the subject, there appeared to me to be in Siberia three classes of +buildings which the English would call by the general name of prisons. +There is, first, the _étape_, in which exiles on the march rest for +a night or two; next, the _perisylnie_ prison, in which, for various +reasons, exiles may have to wait--it may be during the winter, or +until the ice be broken up on the rivers; and, thirdly, the _ostrog_, +which means a stronghold, and is a prison in general, where a man may +be simply confined, work at a trade, or eat and sleep after working +outside in the fields or mines. I have no statistics of the total +number of prisons of all sorts in Siberia, but suppose it cannot be +less than 300, which may be roughly computed thus: Nikolaefsk is more +than 9,000 versts from Tiumen, and, supposing that convicts walk 30 +versts a day, they would require 300 resting-places for that route +alone. Some parts of the way, it is true, are traversed in summer +by river communication; but no notice has been taken in my estimate +of off-lying routes north and south, as, for instance, to Yakutsk, +Barnaul, etc. The expenses, therefore, of building and keeping in +repair this vast number of prisons must be very considerable. + +As to the location of the prisons. The _étapes_ are found all along +the road from Tiumen to the Amur. There will also be found a prison or +lock-up in most of the principal towns. But of the larger buildings +there is one at Tiumen for the reception of all the ordinary exiles +as they come from Russia, and from which, as already stated, they are +distributed over Siberia. At Tobolsk are three hard-labour prisons, +with about 1,000 convicts, in which prisoners often spend part of +their terms before going further east. The next building of similar +dimensions is called the Alexandreffsky central prison, about 50 miles +from Irkutsk, where are some 1,500 hard-labour convicts. Continuing +east, there were formerly some large hard-labour prisons at Chita and +Nertchinsk, tidings from which, in years gone by, have caused many +an ear to tingle; but since the Russians have gained the Amur, and +many of the mines have passed from Government into private hands, the +great bulk of the convicts have been sent further east. At Kara, on +the Shilka, for instance, is a large penal colony, where there are +upwards of 2,000 convicts living in and about six prisons, the men +being supposed to work in the gold-mines. After Kara, the next large +colony is on the island of Sakhalin, which represents the utmost bound +of Russian penal life. I have said nothing of the prisons in the +provinces of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, as I did not go there. There +is or was a large prison at Omsk, through which exiles used formerly +to pass; but, now their route has been changed, it serves only for +local purposes. They have no prisons in these provinces, I believe, of +considerable dimensions. + +Some of the larger prisons in Siberia, especially those of stone, were +not originally built for their present purpose. There are certain +features, however, about the others which are more or less common to +all. The Siberian prison, like the houses of the Siberian people, is +usually built of logs calked with moss to keep out the cold. Near +the principal building, but generally detached, are the kitchen, the +bath-house, exercise-yard, stores for provisions, out-houses, etc., and +enclosing the whole is a high palisade of wooden poles pointed at the +top. From the fact that almost all the new prisons of Europe are built +upon the cellular plan, the detained being kept solitary, it appears +to have been recognised as a principle that the old method of herding +prisoners together is a bad one. The same principle would seem to have +been adopted also by Russia, in that the plan of the new house of +detention in the capital is in the main cellular. In Siberia, however, +the old plan continues, and usually the prisons inside are divided into +large rooms or wards, in each of which the principal feature is an +inclined wooden plane, resembling that of a guard-room bed, upon which +the prisoners sit and lounge by day, and sleep by night. If the room be +square, this divan or platform is placed against three of the walls, +or, if it be oblong, there may be a passage up the centre, from which +the sleeping places ascend to the walls on either side; or, lastly, +if the room be very large, there are two platforms meeting like a low +gable in the centre of the room, and two others against the walls. Thus +space is economised, and as many as 40 or 50 men (once I found 100) are +packed in a room. There are usually a few separate cells for political +or special offenders, and one or two for punishment. + +Connected with the large prisons are usually a hospital, one or more +chapels, sometimes a school-room, and a few workshops. + +The large rooms or wards have little or no furniture. Each is provided +with an _ikon_, or sacred picture, and sometimes with a shelf on which +the inmates may put their spoons, combs, and other table and toilet +requisites with which they provide themselves. + +Concerning the prisoners, it has been already intimated that those +belonging to the upper classes are kept apart. There is a further +classification in some of the large prisons according to the crimes +committed: a room for murderers; a second for forgers and utterers +of base money; a third for thieves, and generally two or three for +“vagabonds”--that is, not merely for vagrants in the English sense of +the word, but generally for persons who have run away from supervision, +who have no papers, and can give no good account of themselves.[1] + +The number of persons in Siberian prisons awaiting their trial, or the +confirmation of their sentences, is very considerable. This leads me +to speak of the courts, the judges, and their mode of trial. Since +November 20th, 1860, law reforms were begun in Petersburg, Moscow, and +Odessa, with their respective districts; and the new method of trial +resembles that of England, with a mixture of certain French elements +and some local introductions from Russia. Under the new _régime_ in +European Russia there are three courts, namely: those of the Judge of +the Peace; the Assizes; and the Senate. A Judge of the Peace tries +civil cases involving interests up to £50, and criminal cases involving +a year’s punishment or less. Appeal from his decision may be made to +a periodical meeting of Judges of the Peace for the district. At the +court of Assizes, which consists of from three to nine persons with +a president, trial is made by jury. The names of persons liable to +serve are put into an urn, from which 36 are drawn by lot. From these +the procureur, who is the public prosecutor, may, without assigning +any reason, strike off eight, and likewise the prisoner’s advocate a +greater number, bringing them down to 14. Then, if this jury decide +that the prisoner be guilty, the opinion is asked of both procureur and +advocate as to what punishment, according to the code, in their opinion +should be inflicted; after which the president gives the decision of +the court. The Senate is simply a court of appeal--does not re-try +cases, but merely judges whether or not in the lower court the law has +been rightly administered. + +Trial by jury is not yet introduced into Siberia, but offenders are +judged by a tribunal consisting of odd numbers, of not more than +seven nor less than three. The tribunal is a standing institution, +the members of which are paid according to their grade--from about +£70 to £100 a year. A procureur (who is an officer of the Government) +prosecutes; and a barrister, retained by the prisoner, defends. +Witnesses are called on both sides, and the tribunal decides by a +majority of votes whether the prisoner be guilty or not. In case of +even numbers being present, or of equal voting, the president has a +vote and a half; but should the president be absent, and there be an +even number for and against the prisoner, then the defendant in this +and all similar cases has the benefit of the doubt. Should a verdict +of guilty be returned, the tribunal decides the punishment according +to the regulation of the code. In capital or important cases, however, +in Siberia, such as murder, the judgment of the tribunal must be +confirmed by the Governor-General; and hence, when the vastness of the +country is considered, it will be seen why prisoners sometimes wait so +long uncondemned. Suppose, for instance, a man commits a murder in a +place which happens to be at a distance from the town where a tribunal +sits. Some one goes to the authorities, deposes that a murder has been +committed, gives evidence in writing, and the culprit is arrested. If +the culprit can find bail he may remain free till wanted (in Russia it +is enough for this purpose to deposit, as a guarantee of returning, +a certain sum of money); but if unable to find bail he must go to +prison till he can be sent, suppose, to Nikolaefsk. If it be winter, +it would be too costly--the Amur being frozen--to send him by horses; +he must therefore wait till the following June for the opening of the +navigation. Then, having proceeded to Nikolaefsk, he is tried, perhaps +within a week, found guilty, and his punishment determined, after +which it is necessary that the papers concerning his case be sent to +the Governor-General at Irkutsk, a distance, there and back, of 5,000 +miles; and so the prisoner must wait till his sentence is confirmed. +Meanwhile he is supplied with a paper, which is, I presume, his ticket +of indictment.[2] + +Whether, when the case is fully ended, the prisoner keeps this or a +similar paper, I am not quite sure. I am under the impression that he +does, at all events whilst he is on the road to his destination; and, +further, that these papers serve as capital on which the prisoners +exercise their ingenuity for their mutual convenience. I mean in this +fashion: Ivan Nepomnoostchi has a ticket condemning him to five years’ +labour in the coal-mines of Sakhalin, whilst the ticket of Augustus +Poniatowski condemns him for a similar time to the gold-mines of Kara. +For reasons best known to themselves, the one prefers country life +and a cottage or prison near a wood, whilst the other inclines to a +residence at the sea-side. So they change their tickets, their names, +and, as far as they can, their beings, and sometimes manage in this way +to effect what they wish. I have even heard of prisoners inducing those +who are free to exchange places with them, the bargain being effected +of course by money, and carried out whilst a gang of several hundreds +is marching on to a steamer, for instance, where heads are counted, +but where they cannot recognize faces. Goryantchikoff represents +the “changing of names” as taking place in the presence of prisoner +witnesses, and when several of the party are more or less intoxicated, +the price given being sometimes as much as 30 or 40 roubles. All are +bound to secrecy by esoteric law, and as the man receiving the money +generally spends it quickly in drink and so cannot restore it, he not +infrequently finds, when too late, that he has sold his liberty, or +exchanged a lighter to receive a heavier punishment for a few glasses +of brandy. This is dangerous work, however, for at some of the jails +they take down a full description of the prisoners, though they do +not usually photograph them, as in England. At Alexandreffsky, for +instance, they have a large book, the pages of which are filled with +columns headed as follows:--Name, age, crime, and punishment; from +whence; appearance; term of punishment; arrival; single or married; +religion; date of sentence; from what prison in Russia; remarks, etc. + +I am not sure that I have given all the process by which they manage +the transfer of tickets, but what is written may perhaps render +intelligible the crime charged upon a roomful of prisoners at Irkutsk, +who, we were told, had been “changing their names.” + +The present state of things, however, as regards prisons and exiles, +must, as already stated, be regarded as temporary, since the reforms +of 1860 have been now extended as far as the Urals, and it is only a +question of money when they shall be spread to Siberia also. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Some statistics with which we were favoured from Kansk for the +previous year, 1878, give interesting facts, showing the ages of +criminals when they committed their crimes, their education, condition +as to marriage, religion, place of birth, and also their repetition of +crimes. It should be borne in mind, however, that the figures refer +only to a small district of Eastern Siberia, an _okrug_ or circle, 200 +miles in diameter, and with a population of 40,000. They are therefore +primarily of local value, though in their general aspects they are +highly suggestive. The number of criminals was 121 male and 61 female: +in all, 182. Of these there were 31 from 17 to 21 years of age; 83 from +21 to 33; 45 from 38 to 45; and 33 from 45 to 70. The figures, too, +show curiously enough that up to the age of 33 the proportion of male +criminals is largely in excess of the females, but that after that +age this order is reversed, and the proportion of female prisoners +preponderates over that of the males. Of the entire number, 182, not +one is marked “well educated,” only 46 could read and write, and 136 +could do neither; 129 out of 182 were married, leaving 53 widows, +bachelors, and spinsters. With respect to religious profession, they +were classified thus: 112 were orthodox Russians, and 19 of other +Christian denominations; 34 were Jews, and 17 of other non-Christian +religions: 180 were born in the province; 22 had offended twice, and 3 +had done so thrice. + +[2] The following is a translation of such a paper, which is divided +into six columns, with a printed heading to each, and filled up as +follows:-- + +1. Surname, patronym, Christian name, and occupation of prisoner. +(_Gregory, son of Nicholas M----, a peasant._) + +2. Age. (39.) + +3. Crime. (_Wrong passport._) + +4. When and by whose order imprisoned. (_On 9 April. Tomsk district +police._) + +5. When the case was tried and how it stands. (_Terminated on 4 May, +1879. Now under revision._) + +6. Remarks. (_He begs it may be quickly ended._) + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_SIBERIAN PRISONS (continued)._ + + Charitable committees.--Prison food.--Clothing.--Work.--Hard + labour.--Exercise.--Amusements.--Privileges.--Intercourse + with friends.--Punishments.--Capital punishment.--Corporal + punishment.--Irons.--Prison discipline.--Flogging.--Exceptional + severities. + + +The Russians introduce or allow the introduction into their prisons +of an ameliorating influence, in the form of local committees, for +furthering the temporal welfare of the prisoners. “You see,” said to +me the president of one of these committees, “we have two elements in +the government of our prisoners. The police strive for the letter of +the law, whilst we strive for kindness to the prisoner.” Thus justice +and mercy go hand in hand; and when they happen to fall out, I fancy +that in Siberia, after their easy-going fashion, mercy not unfrequently +wins the day. Whether all prisons have local committees I do not know; +but we came in contact with the operations of several. The members take +upon themselves to superintend, clothe, and educate the children of +prisoners; and in more than one place we found admirable asylums built +for this purpose. They also lend a helping hand to prisoners’ wives, +and at Irkutsk we found they had supplied the prison with a library. +Their exertions, however, do not stop here; for they look after and in +some cases improve and augment the prisoners’ food. The Government +allows for each prisoner so much money a day. At Ekaterineburg, for +instance, to the common exiles 10 kopecks; to the upper classes 15 +kopecks. At Irkutsk we met an upper-class prisoner who had 17½ kopecks, +which he received in money. The prisoners who remain at Ekaterineburg +are allowed 6 kopecks a day. Instead, however, of each spending his +6 kopecks, the whole is taken and dispensed by the committee in the +purchase for the general caldron of meat, vegetables, etc.; and they +somehow manage out of threehalfpence a head to give to each prisoner +two dishes of food. Whether the committee appeal to the public for +funds I know not. At Tomsk we heard that each director of the prison +committee gave his ten roubles annually, whilst from the neighbouring +villages were brought presents of flour and other kinds of food. Again, +it is common to see, outside prison gates, boxes in which may be placed +offerings for the welfare of the prisoners; and such is the liberality +of the people in this direction, especially on festivals, that in +Petersburg those detained get more Easter eggs than they can eat. All +this speaks of kindness on the part of the public towards prisoners, +in which particular I know no nation that equals the Russian. Further +allusion will be made to this hereafter. + +Apart, however, from these philanthropic efforts, the reader will +perhaps get a better idea of Siberian prison diet from details which +came under our own observation. At Tiumen each man was said to receive +daily 2½ lbs. (Russian) of bread, ½ lb. of meat on ordinary days, and +¾ lb. on holidays, with salt, pepper, etc., also a daily allowance of +quass for drink. The fare in Tobolsk prison was the same, a bucketful +of quass or small-beer being provided for every ten men. At Nikolaefsk +I heard of corned beef and _kash_, or corn, substituted for vegetables. +At the Alexandreffsky prison they had ½ lb. of meat, including the +bone, and 2½ lbs. of bread. At Kara, however, where the men work in the +mines, the allowance is still more liberal. Each receives daily 4 lbs. +of bread, 1 lb. of meat, ¼ lb. of buckwheat, with tea, but no quass.[1] +At Kara, when not working, they receive 3 lbs. of bread, ½ lb. of meat, +and 1/12th of a lb. of buckwheat. We found in some of the prisons +that, if they do not eat all their food, the prisoners may sell the +remainder; or again, the surplus bread may be used for making quass, +which, when given, always comes, I believe, from these “economies.” +The diet, however, is considerably affected by the rigour with which +fast-days are observed in the prisons. Every Wednesday and Friday are +fast-days, and there are four great annual fasts, with an aggregate +of at least a hundred days, so that there are probably quite half the +days in the year when the prisoners get fast diet, which excludes +flesh food. I understood, however, that this does not apply to those +at hard labour; while other prisoners, during some of the long fasts, +receive fish and fish-soup--the latter _ad libitum_. So at least it is +at Tobolsk. If a man happens to be in a position to buy tea or such +luxuries, he may do so, and his friends may, if they please, bring him +food daily. Thus a man ought not to starve in a Siberian prison. + +Nor is he left without clothing. Prisoners awaiting their trial, +also exiles losing partial rights, may, if they choose, wear their +own clothes, or, if they have none suitable, they are supplied by +the Government. Those who lose all their rights, however, must wear +convicts’ clothing. This consists, in summer, of a linen shirt and +pair of trousers, and a peasant’s coat of camel’s hair, a specimen of +which last I bought for five shillings. Those condemned to hard labour +have two yellow diamond-shaped patches sewn on the back; those without +labour have one piece only. Other marks of a similar character indicate +the province from which they come. At Kara a coat of felt is given +yearly. A shirt must last six months, and is washed once a week; whilst +in summer a pair of rough leather shoes or slippers is served out every +22 days. Those working in the mines are provided also with leather +gloves.[2] + +Concerning their labour, I seriously avow my belief that in many cases +the hardest part of a Siberian prisoner’s lot is not the work imposed +upon him, but the _absence_ of it. This appeared to prevail among the +prisoners up to Kara. + +I met at different places two Poles, who came to the east condemned +to hard labour, but who got off exceedingly lightly. What one said +amounted to this: that if he liked to work he worked, but if not he let +it alone. The authorities told me, in one instance, that they cannot +now find enough work for the exiles. Many of the mines have passed from +Government into private hands, and some even of those remaining are +more or less exhausted. Hence a part of the Russian criminals, who of +old would probably have been exiled, are now detained in large prisons +in European Russia, such as at Pskof, Wilna, Kharkhof, Orenburg, +Simbirsk, Perm, etc.; but the plan has only lessened, not removed, +the difficulty of finding useful yet laborious occupation for the +condemned. When, therefore, it is remembered that a large number of the +criminals cannot read, and that for those who can there has hitherto +been, to say the least, but a poor supply of books, the tedium can be +easily imagined of imprisonment without work in Siberia. Accordingly, +it was little matter for surprise that we heard at Alexandreffsky of +prisoners begging for work. In some of the prisons opportunities are +afforded for the detained to work, which gives them employment, and +also enables them to earn a little money with which to buy comforts. +Some, however, are condemned to labour, which labour may be done for +the Government direct, or it may be let out by the Government to +private persons or companies, as at Kara, where some of the convicts +work in private mines belonging to the Emperor, and at Dui in Sakhalin, +where the coal-mines are worked by a commercial company. + +Thus the work of convicts, when they are put to it, is mainly of +three degrees of severity,--that of the fabric, the zavod, and the +mines, which I understand to mean as follows. Fabric work is that of a +manufactory, or the labour of ordinary mechanics, such as carpenters, +blacksmiths, joiners, shoemakers, tailors, etc. The best Russian +prison I have seen of this kind was at Petersburg, on the Wiborg +side of the Neva, which had almost the busy hum of a factory, where +everything seemed well arranged and kept going; but in the prisons +of Tobolsk, which I understood to be of this character, there seemed +an insufficient number of workshops in proportion to the number of +criminals. The word _zavod_ is synonymous with our “works” for the +founding and casting of metals; and for this, I presume, is sometimes +substituted heavy outdoor or indoor work, such as making bricks, +mending roads, or manufacturing salt. But of this class of work we saw +next to none, save a handful of men at Alexandreffsky, returning from +making bricks. Once more, the mines are of at least three sorts--gold, +silver, and coal. The work of the gold-mines resembles the labour of +English navvies in making a cutting, whilst that of silver and coal, +being underground, is more difficult. From reports I heard, however, of +these latter two, it did not appear that the convicts were by any means +overworked; but further details upon this matter will be furnished +hereafter. Those condemned to the hardest labour need, of course, no +special time for exercise. The prisoners without labour are allowed at +Alexandreffsky an hour a day for this purpose, which appeared to me too +little. More generally, however, we found they had a happy-go-lucky +way, especially in the smaller prisons, of opening the doors in +the morning, and letting the prisoners, if they did not misbehave +themselves, go in and out of the yard as they liked--to sleep, talk, or +bask in the sun, and in some cases to smoke. + +I am not aware that the authorities permit the prisoners any +amusements, though it has been already intimated that they find them +for themselves--sometimes in the shape of cards, with which, if report +be true, having nothing else to play for, they gamble away their food. + +But we have not yet exhausted the prisoners’ privileges. Here are some +more of them, though probably they are not the same in all the prisons. +According to a convict’s behaviour he is placed in a certain category; +and the longer he remains therein, and the better he behaves, the more +ameliorations he gets. For instance, if a man condemned to fifteen +years’ hard labour conducts himself well, he serves only thirteen years +and two months, and, towards the end of the time, gains certain other +privileges. If condemned to wear irons four years, he may, in a similar +manner, lessen the time by one-third; if in the higher category, he +receives 15 per cent. of what he earns by working for the Government, +and in his spare time he may work on his own account; if in the lower +category, he earns money, but it is withheld until he advances higher. +At Alexandreffsky prisoners may receive money from their friends, up to +a rouble a week, but not more. At Kara some prisoners are not allowed +thus to receive money, but I heard of others there who receive as much +as £15 a year, and who also receive visits once or twice a week from, +not mere acquaintances--which is not allowed--but their families, who +may also daily, if they please, bring them food. + +I was told at one large prison that, strictly speaking, it was not +permitted to prisoners (except political ones) to write to their +friends, which seemed to confirm what I had heard and what I have +written elsewhere. But unofficial persons denied this, saying that +prisoners are free to write, and this also we heard at some of the +prisons. The two statements may perhaps be reconciled thus: that it +is one of those cases (and there are many such in Siberian prisons) +in which the letter of the law is supposed to be more honoured in the +breach than in the observance. + +Once more, if men are well behaved, they get, before the expiration of +a long sentence, into a position comparatively comfortable. They are +allowed to live outside the prison with their wives and families; they +may have their house and garden, still working a certain number of +hours per day, and obliged to be in their homes by night; but otherwise +they are free to do what they list, and are much in the same position +as that of an ordinary labourer. + +I have yet to speak of punishments, which are of two kinds--those +decreed by the civil courts and courts martial, and those subsequently +incurred in Siberia. Concerning the former two, it is not quite +accurate to say that in Russia there is no capital punishment, since +there are at least three offences for which death is the penalty, +namely: (1) offences against the persons of the Imperial family, +and certain laws concerning them; (2) military crimes, or, what is +equivalent, crimes committed when a place is in a state of siege; (3) +breaking quarantine laws, such as permitting a vessel with infectious +diseases to come into a Russian port. But in these cases culprits are +turned over to a military tribunal, which alone can sentence to death; +in accordance with which I was told of a case happening in 1877 in +Sakhalin, wherein some convicts, with much brutality, killed a whole +family, and were sentenced to be shot; but this is rare, and since the +convicts had already lost all rights, it would perhaps be considered +hardly an exception to the rule that murder in Russia is not followed +by capital punishment. + +Nor, again, does the Russian law inflict upon any _free_ man corporal +punishment. The knout has been abolished for some years. They do, +however, put their prisoners in irons, which for the legs weigh from +about five to nine pounds English; and if a man rebels, he may get them +as heavy as fourteen pounds. I was told, however, that the new chains +weigh only five pounds. Those for the wrists weigh two pounds. + +As to the period for wearing them, accounts differed. At +Alexandreffsky, up to eighteen months usually; at Kara, four years; +whilst, at Tobolsk, it was said that prisoners might be in chains +from two months to eight years. The manner of carrying the fetters +is as follows. Over the leg is worn a coarse woollen stocking, and +over that a piece of thick linen cloth; then come the trousers, over +which is bound on the shins a pad of leather. A stranger might wonder +at first how the trousers could be taken off; and to satisfy our +curiosity, a prisoner in Tiumen showed us how it was done, which gave +me the opportunity to observe, when his leg was bare, that it had no +marks from wearing the irons. On each leg a ring is not locked, but +_riveted_. To these rings is attached a chain of about three feet in +length, which, for convenience in walking, is usually suspended in the +middle by a string from the waist. This may seem severe enough for +English ideas of the present day, but I saw heavier on the legs of two +murderers in America. Russian chains, however, are playthings compared +with some to be seen in Finland, and which I have put on. In bringing +the prisoners in Finland from the country districts to the towns, they +make use of the farmers’ carts; and it sometimes happens that the cart +is waylaid by accomplices, and the prisoner delivered. To prevent this, +therefore, they in some cases put on an extraordinary suit of irons, +which outdo those I saw even in China. First, there is a collar for +the neck and a girdle for the body, which two are connected by means +of chains, the hands likewise being fastened to the girdle. On each +ankle is put an iron stirrup or socket, which projects over the front +of the feet far enough to receive through its holes a heavy iron bar, +weighing thirty-six pounds, the whole weight of which is made to rest +on the prisoner’s insteps and to connect the feet. Then from the middle +of the bar comes another chain, fastening it to the girdle. The whole +is of iron, and weighs about 108 lbs. It should be added that these +are seldom used in Finland, and then only for desperate characters; +but in Russia no such chains exist. The heaviest of the Russian irons +are about the weight, I imagine, of those formerly in use in England, +if one may judge from the pair called “Jack Sheppard’s irons,” which +are kept as a curiosity in Newgate. Moreover, if report be true, there +is a good deal of _hocus-pocus_ connected with Siberian fetters. To +an ordinary observer the fetters look riveted on in such a manner +that without a smith it would appear impossible to get them off. The +largeness of the rings, however, to allow of their fitting over the +stocking, the bandage of linen, the trousers, and then the leather +gaiter, will make it probable that, on the removal of these bandages, +it may be possible in some cases to slip out the naked foot. However +that may be, I heard from another source, not to be doubted, that a +certain governor of a province, on visiting one of his prisons, was +moved with compassion, and ordered that the chains should be struck off +the prisoners; upon which they wriggled and kicked them off with such +alacrity as to leave no doubt on his mind that they had been donned as +uniform in which to receive his Excellency’s visit. A released prisoner +has told me that so dexterous do they become in pressing the thumb +into the palm of the hand, that they used to slip off their handcuffs +and sleep without them. M. Andreoli also mentions in his account that, +whilst on the march, the payment of four roubles to the soldiers in +charge got them free of the chain to which they were attached, on the +understanding, however, that the guard should not be got into trouble +by any one running away, and that the iron should be properly affixed +when approaching the town or their resting-place for the night. He also +mentions that, in a drove of 147 prisoners, there were 21--that is, a +seventh--wearing chains. Throughout Siberia I saw only one man wearing +handcuffs; but, in Western Siberia, chains were seen on the legs of +many--how many I cannot say, but less, I should think, than a seventh; +and this proportion markedly decreased as we proceeded further east. + +[Illustration: A FINNISH MURDERER IN TRAVELLING IRONS.] + +The courts sometimes order a man--generally one who has run away +repeatedly--to be chained, on reaching his destination, to a barrow +or implement, which thus always accompanies him wherever he may go. A +doctor informed me that he had seen a prisoner’s ticket with such a +doom thereon within the previous twelve months; and I heard that at +Sakhalin one or two ferocious characters were thus confined; but I saw +none. There were none, I found on inquiry, among the two thousand at +Kara; and such treatment was said to be exceedingly rare. + +With regard to punishments inflicted for insubordination to prison +authorities, or for subsequent crimes of convicts, the mildest form +is incarceration in a solitary cell. A man is next deprived, in part, +of food and minor comforts, as in England. Then, if not already +in irons, he may have them put on; or, if this do not suffice, he +may be “birched,” after the fashion in which our fathers corrected +us. I witnessed this performance at Nikolaefsk. Having heard on +a Saturday--which is there the day for flogging--that a man was +to receive 60 stripes with the rod, I thought it right, since the +visitation of prisons was my speciality, to go and see it, and thus +shirk no occasion of witnessing with my eyes what I learned through my +ears. The man was a released convict, of horrible countenance, who had +served his time in confinement, and was subsequently taken as a joiner +into a merchant’s establishment, and he had rewarded his employer by +robbing him. Accordingly, in the police station, he was brought from +his room to the presence of the police-master. Behind the culprit stood +a Cossack, and at his side a clerk, who read over his sentence. The +prisoner then signed the paper, to signify that he had heard it read, +and was marched back to another room and placed on the floor, with his +back laid bare, one Cossack holding his head and another his feet. +Two soldiers then inflicted the stripes successively, whilst a third +counted aloud the number administered. The man wriggled and roared, and +the skin became very red, but I saw no blood, and the operation was +soon over. + +I came away, I confess, considerably perturbed; but the Nikolaefsk +folks said that was _nothing_, and further informed me that, for the +commission of other than very serious offences, they frequently deal +in this summary manner with released convicts, both male and female. +The switches composing the rod, according to M. Andreoli, must, by law, +be sufficiently small to allow of three being passed together into the +muzzle of a musket. Those I saw reminded me of a dame’s birch, save +that they were longer, and the switches somewhat stouter than those +formerly seen in schools--indeed, _facsimiles_ of those used in the +prison of Cold Bath Fields in London. A marvellous feature of the case +is that some of the men (ay, and women too) not only receive the rod, +but laugh and are impudent after it. One of my hosts in another town +told me that some years ago, soon after the Amur came into the hands of +the Russians, he was robbed by a soldier of some clothes, upon which +the police-master sentenced the thief to receive 500 stripes with +the birch rod; but the governor hearing of it increased the number +to 1,100. My host was asked if he were willing to see the stripes +inflicted; and, going at five in the morning, he saw 500 administered. +As the man lay on the grass, and as each rod was worn out, it was +replaced by a new one from a heap lying by. The prosecutor begged +that the rest might be remitted, and came away. The whole number, +however, were administered, and the man was kept in the hospital for a +fortnight, at the end of which time he came to his prosecutor to ask +for a glass of grog, and said that for a bottleful of spirits he would +not mind having another 1,100 if it might again be followed by a fine +time in the hospital! + +I heard of others laughing at the birch. But there is yet one thing +they fear, and that is a whip called the “_troichatka_,” or “_plète_.” +I forewarn the reader that the treatment of this subject may harrow +his feelings; yet, if a writer is to present a true picture of what +has come under his observation, he must delineate not only the lights +of his picture but the shadows also. The author of “Tom Brown’s School +Days,” when about to describe a fight at Rugby, recommends any of his +readers who feel particularly sensitive to skip the chapter; and I +venture to give similar advice with regard to the next few paragraphs. + +The knout, as already said, has been abolished for some years, +notwithstanding the persistent introduction of this instrument into the +pages of some of the vindictive class of writers on Russian affairs. I +found it had been discontinued sufficiently long to make it difficult +for me to get an explanation of what it used to be like. M. Pietrowski, +in his “Story of a Siberian Exile,” De Lagny, and one or two other +writers of his class, do their very best to invest the knout with every +horror, and to make it appear that a long strip of flesh was torn off +the culprit’s back at every stroke. A more trustworthy account is +that of M. Andreoli, which I am the more disposed to believe, because +it agrees pretty accurately with the description of the instrument +given me by an old man who had seen it used at Chita. The Russian +post-drivers still use for their horses what they call a “knout,” +which is a short whip like a heavy English hunting-whip, only that the +lash consists of three or four pieces of twisted hide linked together +continuously by metal rings. It makes a formidable instrument even +for driving a horse. But on comparing this with our two descriptions, +I make no doubt that the genuine knout for criminals was a somewhat +similar whip to that now employed sometimes for horses. M. Andreoli +gives it a handle from one to two inches in diameter, and 9 inches in +length. At the top of the handle is a ring, then a lash of raw hide 18 +inches long, with a ring at the end; then a second lash and ring; and +thirdly came the part which is the “knout” proper, namely, a flat lash +of hard leather, 21 inches long, bent to a curve and ending with a +hook something like the beak of a bird--the entire length of handle and +lash being 2½ _arshines_, or nearly 6 feet. The instrument used to be +wielded by a convict, who received his liberty or certain privileges +for doing this work. I heard from a lawyer that the public flagellator +in Moscow was so skilful in the manipulation of his weapon, that he +could with it snip a cigarette off a window without breaking the glass, +or at a single blow break an inch board, and, therefore, the spine of +a man’s back. He was said to have found his profession so lucrative +that, when his daughter married, he gave her a dowry of 60,000 roubles, +at that time equal to, say, £9,000. He made his money from those he +flogged. The law demanded that the person to be beaten should receive +a certain number of stripes, but did not exact that the recipient +should suffer; and thus, when well paid, this hero let the knout fall +lightly--so, at least, the story goes. + +The “_troichatka_,” or “_plète_,” is a whip of twisted hide, fastened +to a handle 10 inches long and an inch thick. The lash, about the same +thickness at the top as the handle, tapers for 12 inches, and then +divides in three smaller lashes, 25 inches long, and about the size of +the little finger, the whole measuring 4 feet in length, and weighing +nearly 15 ounces. M. Pietrowski represents the plète as consisting of +“three thongs weighted at the ends with balls of lead.” The balls of +lead, however, if I mistake not, are a piece of invention to harrow +the feelings. At all events, none of those I saw (and I saw a boxful) +had anything attached to the lashes, nor did they need it, for the +instrument is quite severe enough in itself. From 20 to 50 lashes is +the number usually given, though they may go up to 100. The criminal +is bound to a thick board, wide at the top and narrowed towards the +bottom, called a _kobyla_, or “mare,” which, by means of an iron leg, +is made to incline at an angle of about 30 degrees. At the upper end +of the board are three places hollowed out to receive in the centre +the face and head, and on either side the hands, all which are bound +down with leather thongs. A little lower and at either side are two +iron loops, which confine the arms, whilst the feet are secured at the +bottom. At an execution (for such as described to me by eye-witnesses +it almost amounts to) a medical man and some of the authorities must +be present. The convict executioner takes three or more plètes, and, +having stretched them to render them supple, takes up his position +about 10 yards distant, walks quickly to secure a momentum, and brings +down the lash with full force on the lower part of the culprit’s back. +This he repeats two or three times, letting the lash fall in the same +place. Then he walks from the other side, so as to bring it down in +a different direction, and, after a few strokes, changes his whip +and walks from a third point, the strokes thus falling upon the man +something in the shape of a star or an asterisk. M. Andreoli intimates +that the flagellator is often bribed by the culprit or his friends, in +which case he brings down the first blow with terrible severity, making +the poor creature writhe and scream horribly, but then diminishes the +force of his blows as he proceeds; whereas, if he be not bribed, he +begins gently and gradually increases in severity, which is far worse. +He has, however, to be wary, for if he does not strike hard enough +he is threatened with twenty-five stripes for himself, which were +given the summer before my visit to an executioner in Nikolaefsk. Most +descriptions of this punishment represent the culprit’s back as raw, +and running with blood--and it is better for the man when this is the +case. A skilful flagellator draws little or no blood, and more pain +is caused when the skin simply rises in wales; but, when this is the +case, mortification sometimes sets in, and the prisoner speedily dies. +One thus thrashed in the morning had died at night during the week +preceding that in which I received my information. + +Before passing from this dreadful subject I wish to make quite +clear what was told me: that no man for the first offence can, by +Russian law, be condemned to corporal punishment. Also I was given +to understand, by a legal authority, that the plète exists only at +three places in Siberia--Kara, Nikolaefsk, and Sakhalin, (though I was +informed by a released exile that he saw it, 15 years ago, at Chita, +and nearly everywhere,) so that only the very worst criminals ever +see it at all. If they were moderate offenders they would not be so +far east, and those who get it have usually gone through deportation, +prison, and irons, and yet remain incorrigible. Also it should be +remembered that in these localities the inhabitants are few, and are +surrounded by hundreds of convicts or ex-convicts; that a very large +proportion of the women-servants, and men-servants too, are of the same +class, some of them not having even finished their terms; and that, +in addition to these ex-prisoners, who are supposed to be corrected +and better behaved, a considerable number of the worst characters are +constantly escaping. More than 100 escaped from Sakhalin, I was told, +the winter before my visit. When free, they make for Nikolaefsk to +escape starvation, caring little what they do. In 1877 three convicts, +to get the paltry sum of £12, brutally killed a woman and put her down +a well. Hence the inhabitants say that, were they not defended by some +very strong deterrents, they would not be safe a moment, since, if a +man commit half-a-dozen murders, he knows he is not to be hanged. + +I have thus forced myself to mention all the kinds of punishment, +painful as some of them are, that came under my observation or to my +knowledge in Siberia; and I have done so in part because I desired to +leave no room for uneasy suspicions that aught had been kept back from +the reader. Moreover, I should not think it right to contradict the +many false statements which have appeared from time to time concerning +the punishment of Siberian exiles without giving a picture of things as +I really found them. + +On the whole, my conviction is that, if a Russian exile behaves himself +decently well, he may in Siberia be more comfortable than in many, and +as comfortable as in most, of the prisons of the world. There are yet +other points to be mentioned in connection with Siberian prisons, but +these can be best treated of as we visit, in succession, the various +towns in which they are situated. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] If this highest scale of Siberian diet be compared with the highest +scale in the prisons of England and Wales, as printed in the Reports +of the Commissioners, Inspectors, and others for 1878, it will be +found that the English prisoner gets per week of bread 10 lbs. against +the Russian 25; the Englishman has 8 oz. of cooked meat and 14 pints +of soup against the Russian’s 6 lbs. of meat; whilst the Russian has +besides 1½ lb. of buckwheat and tea against the Englishman’s 5 lbs. of +potatoes, 1½ lb. of suet pudding, 14 pints of porridge and cocoa. In +fact, the Englishman has per week 17½ lbs. of solid food, 3 pints of +soup, 14 pints of porridge and cocoa, whilst the Russian has 33 lbs. of +solid food, and tea. + +[2] The annual cost of provisions for each prisoner at Kara is 65 +roubles and 72¾ kopecks--say £6 10_s._, and for men’s clothing 39 +roubles 8⅜ kopecks, or £4. Women’s clothing is rather less expensive, +so that the annual cost for food and clothing of men is £10 10_s._, and +of women £10. In the new prison at Petersburg my notes give 25 kopecks +a day as the cost for each prisoner, 15 kopecks being spent for food. +This represents for the year 91 roubles 25 kopecks (rather more than +£9), and 54 roubles 75 kopecks (£5 10_s._) respectively, and excludes, +I presume, the item of clothing, since this prison at the capital is +for those awaiting trial, and who consequently wear their own clothes. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_THE OBI._ + + Dimensions of river.--Its tributaries.--Province of Tobolsk.-- + Geographical features.--Population.--Voguls.--Samoyedes.-- + Intemperance.--Commercial prospects of Obi.--Siberian + produce.--Corn land.--Timber.--Cost of provisions.--Carriage.-- + Discoveries of Wiggins.--Followed by Nordenskiöld.--Ship-building + at Tiumen.--Navigation of Kara Sea.--Books on basin of Obi. + + +The Obi is one of the largest rivers of the Old Continent, and seems +destined to play an important part in opening up to commerce the +immense wealth of Western Siberia. Something, therefore, should be said +of this enormous stream, and the province of Tobolsk through which +it flows. The basin of the river contains more than a million and a +quarter of square miles; an area nearly 2,000 miles in length, and, +at the widest part, 1,200 in breadth.[1] This vast area is covered +with a network of streams, navigable from the Arctic Ocean to the +best parts of Western Siberia, the importance of which can hardly be +overestimated, when it is borne in mind that the success of recent +enterprise has demonstrated the possibility of carrying produce by +water to Europe. + +But let us now speak of the province, inhabitants, and aborigines of +Tobolsk, which, though not the largest, is at once the oldest and by +far the most populous of the governments of Siberia. It extends from +the frozen ocean down to the 55th parallel, a distance of 1,200 miles +from north to south, and of 700 miles in its widest part from east to +west, its total area covering 800,000 square miles--a country, that is +to say, seven times as large as Great Britain and Ireland. The surface, +save where the western border approaches the Urals, is flat--so flat, +indeed, that Tobolsk, which is 550 miles from the sea, is only 378 feet +above its level. It has no large lakes, but there are several small +ones, from which salt is obtained.[2] + +Ethnographically considered, the province is not so varied as some +others, the people being for the most part Russians, Tatars, Voguls, +Ostjaks, or Samoyedes; the Tatars belonging to the Turkish, and the +Voguls and Ostjaks to the Finnish stock. Some writers classify the +Samoyedes as Finns, but Mr. Howorth considers they should be treated +as a race apart. Mr. Rae, in his “Land of the North Wind,” and Mr. +Seebohm, in his “Siberia in Europe,” have recently given interesting +information concerning the Samoyedes. + +The Voguls inhabit a district which coincides pretty closely with the +ridge of the Northern Urals, and were estimated in 1876 at 5,000 in +number. Their country makes them hillmen and foresters, for they lie +within the northern limit of the fir and birch, in the country of the +wolf, the bear, the sable, the glutton, the marten, the beaver, and +the elk. They usually dress like the Russians, and live by hunting, +for they have no plains for the breeding of cattle, and no climate for +agriculture. They are said to use no salt. Their villages are scattered +and small, consisting of from four to eight cabins. Obdorsk is their +trading town. To this town, on the Arctic circle at the mouth of the +Obi, come also the Samoyedes and Ostjaks, of which latter I shall speak +as I saw them further east. + +The Samoyedes inhabit a larger tract of country, stretching along +the shore of the frozen ocean from the north-east corner of Europe, +all across the Tobolsk government to the Yenesei, descending to the +region of the Ostjaks, and on some parts of the southern border to +Tomsk. With the Samoyedes I felt already in a measure acquainted, +partly by correspondence from my friend in Finland, and partly by a +near approach to them in 1878, when I travelled to Archangel. Their +numbers were estimated, in 1876, at 5,700. Their riches consist of +herds of reindeer, which they pasture on the mosses of the vast bogs or +_tundras_, from which the animals in winter scrape the snow with their +feet, and thus find their sustenance. To the Samoyede the reindeer is +everything; when alive, the animal draws his sledge, and, when dead, +its flesh is eaten and the skin used for tent and clothing. + +[Illustration: MY SAMOYEDE DRESS.] + +At Archangel I bought a _sovik_ or tunic, a cap, and a wonderful pair +of Samoyede boots; and as the Samoyede manner of dressing resembles +in its main features that of other northern aborigines in Siberia, I +may as well describe it particularly. In winter, then, to be in the +(Samoyede) fashion, one should dress as follows:--First a pair of short +trousers made of softened reindeer skin, fitting tight, and reaching +down to the knee. Then stockings of _peshki_, the skin of young fawns, +with the hair inwards. Next come the boots, called _poumé leepte_, +which means boot-stockings, reaching almost to the thigh, the sole +being made of old and hard reindeer hide, the hair pointing forward +to diminish the possibility of slipping on the ice or snow. Common +boots have the hair only on the outside. Mine are a gay “lady’s” pair, +lined inside with the softest fur, and made of white reindeer skin +without, sewn with stripes of darker skin, and ornamented in front +with pieces of coloured cloth. The clothing of the lower limbs being +completed, one must work one’s way from the bottom to the top of the +tunic, or _sovik_, which has an opening to put the head through, and +is furnished with sleeves. Mine has a high straight collar, but in some +brought by Mr. Seebohm from the Yenesei this collar rises behind above +the top of the head. The costume is completed by a cap of reindeer +skin, with strings on either side ornamented with pieces of cloth. +The hair of the _sovik_ is worn outside in fine weather, and inside +when it rains; but when prolonged exposure to cold is apprehended, a +second garment, called a “_gus_,” is worn, with the hair outside, and +a close-fitting hood, leaving exposed only a small portion of the +face. The Ostjaks are said to have at the end of the sleeve a glove +or mitten, made of the hardest hide of the reindeer, and suitable for +heavy work, and also a slit under the wrist to allow of the fingers +being put through for finer work. A girdle is worn round the loins, +over which the _sovik_ laps a little, and thus forms a pocket for small +articles. + +[Illustration: SAMOYEDES OF ARCHANGEL.] + +I have been told, by one well acquainted with the Samoyedes, that +it is often very difficult to trade with them before giving a glass +of _vodka_, and that, when once given, they are irrepressible in +clamouring for more. Men may sometimes be seen who have brought in +their wares to barter for winter necessaries, and who will exchange the +whole for spirits, and reduce themselves to beggary. This has caused +the Russian Government to forbid the sale of spirits in these northern +regions, but the traders smuggle them in.[3] + +I must not forget to add that some pleasing accounts of the honesty of +the Samoyedes and Ostjaks were related to us. The merchants of Tobolsk, +for instance, when they go north in the summer to purchase fish, take +with them flour and salt, place them in their summer stations, and, +on their return, leave unprotected what remains for the following +year. Should a Samoyede pass by and require it, he does not scruple to +take what he wants, but he leaves in its place an I.O.U., in the form +of a duplicate stick, duly notched, to signify that he is a debtor; +and then, in the fishing season, he comes to his creditor, compares +the duplicate stick he has kept with the one he left behind, and +discharges his obligation. Captain Wiggins also records that when, in +the winter months of 1876-77, his ship the _Thames_ was laid up in the +Kureika, it was surrounded by hundreds of Ostjaks and other natives, +but that nothing was stolen. + +The difficulties of educating and Christianizing these wandering +tribes are very great.[4] I heard, however, that in European Russia +a priest is sent yearly to a town in the far north of the Archangel +province, to baptize the children and marry such among the Samoyedes +of that region as are professedly Christian. Réclus, however, speaks +of the Yurak-Samoyedes as still practising their bloody rites, and +thrusting pieces of raw flesh into the mouths of their idols. In 1877 +the Russians opened a school at Obdorsk for the natives. We may hope, +therefore, that for them better days are coming, both by reason of +what the Russians are doing, and also, possibly and indirectly, by the +efforts which certain Englishmen are making to invade the lands of +these aborigines for the purposes of trade. + +[Illustration: A YURAK-SAMOYEDE.] + +That the commercial value of the basin of the Obi and a large part +of Western Siberia is not yet realized by European capitalists is +the opinion of most of those that I have met who have been there. A +limited demand exists for English merchandise, and the possibility of +an almost unlimited supply of products needed by England. The Altai +mountains, for instance, are rich in silver, copper, and iron, which +last is also abundant in the valley of the Tom. But these are as +nothing compared with grain, for the production of which the country +is admirably fitted. From the southern border of the Tobolsk province, +for 600 miles northward, lies a district of fertile black earth; and +so exclusively is it of this character in the valleys of many of +the rivers, which overflow like the Nile, and leave a rich deposit, +that the geologist finds it difficult to pick up even a few specimen +pebbles. It is like a vast tract of garden land, well suited for the +production of wheat, oats, linseed, barley, and other cereals. Farther +north are prairies for cattle, and a wooded region, inhabited by +various fur-bearing animals, where the pine, fir, and birch abound. +These remarks apply to the valley of the Obi no less than to that of +the Yenesei, where Mr. Seebohm found he could purchase a larch, 60 feet +long, 3 feet diameter at the base, and 18 inches at the apex, for a +sovereign, and that a hundred such could be had to order in a week. In +the city of Tobolsk the cost of provisions, we were told, had advanced +to five times what it was 30 years ago; but even so, the present +price of meat was quoted at 2_d._, and rye flour at a halfpenny, per +pound.[5] Again, north of the wooded region come the _tundras_, over +which roam the reindeer, wild and tame; and about 100 miles up the +Kureika, which flows into the Yenesei, there is a valuable mine of +graphite lying on the surface; besides which the rivers are so full +of fish that the fishermen try not to catch too many, because of the +frequent breaking of their nets. + +These riches have long been known to the Siberians, to whom they were +practically useless for export, by reason of expensive land carriage +over the Urals; and the only other way of transit to Europe was through +the Kara Sea, which was supposed to be ice-blocked perpetually. So far +back as the sixteenth century, the English and the Dutch tried hard +to penetrate the Siberian ocean, but were always stopped at Novaia +Zemlia; so that for two centuries no fresh effort was made. Of late +years, however, Captain Wiggins, of Sunderland, who, from his youth, +appears to have been a bold and adventurous seaman, happened to read +in Wrangell’s “Polar Sea” that, three centuries ago, the Russians were +wont to coast from Archangel, for purposes of trade, to Mangasee, on +the Taz, near the gulf of the Obi; and it occurred to him that, if +they could do it in their wretched “kotchkies,” or boats of planking, +fastened to a frame with thongs of leather, and calked with moss, he +ought much more easily to be able to do so with the aid of steam. +With his characteristic love of adventure, therefore, and at his own +expense, he determined to make the attempt; and on June 3rd, 1874, he +left Dundee in the _Diana_, a small steamer of only 104 tons. In little +more than three weeks the Kara Sea was entered, and found free of ice; +and the _Diana_ entered the gulf of Obi on the 5th of August--the +first sea-going vessel that had ever done so. Circumstances did not +permit of his ascending the river; he returned, therefore, paid off his +crew, and employed the winter in making known the feasibility of the +route. He found great difficulty, however, in persuading the mercantile +world, and applied in vain to the Royal Geographical Society for help +to follow up his discoveries. Whereupon there came forward another +explorer to snatch the rose from the captain’s hand; for Professor +Nordenskiöld, seeing what Wiggins had done,--amply supported by his +Government, by private enterprise, and without cost to himself (as it +should be)--followed next year through the Kara Sea, passed the Obi +gulf, and entered the Yenesei, from whence, having sent back his ship, +he returned overland to Petersburg. The feasibility of the sea-route +was now manifest; and, as I passed through Tiumen, Messrs. Wardropper +were building, at a distance of 700 miles from the ocean, two sea-going +ships, for Messrs. Trapeznikoff and Co., of Moscow, to be floated down +the Obi and round the North Cape to England. + +It is the opinion of both navigators that “a regular sea communication +between Siberia and Northern Europe, during a short season of the +year, ought not to be attended with greater risks and dangers than +seamen encounter on many other waters now visited by thousands of +vessels.” These are the sober words of Professor Nordenskiöld; and +to the same effect are the words spoken publicly by Captain Wiggins, +in whom we have a brave and honest seaman, and concerning whose work +England need only be ashamed that he received so little support. He +has shown, however, by a voyage made in 1878, that steamers of any +size, but of shallow draught, can go some 400 miles up the Obi. On +the 2nd of August he left Liverpool in the _Warkworth_, an ordinary +steamer of 340 tons net register, chartered through Mr. Wm. Byford, +of London, shipbroker, for sole account of Mr. Oswald Cattley, first +guild merchant of Petersburg, with a miscellaneous cargo, and arrived +in 15 days. He was met by lighters from the Barnaul district, with +wheat, flax, etc., to load the steamer, and then convey inland the +cargo from Liverpool. No mishap occurred on the outward voyage; but, +in consequence of the Obi falling so rapidly, the steamer touched the +ground on coming down the river. He arrived safely, however, in London +on the 3rd of October; thus occupying two months on the passage out +and home. Subsequent trading voyages have been attempted, some of +which failed; but the causes of failure were such as may in future be +overcome, the _Neptune_ of Hamburg having made successful voyages in +1878 and 1880. It appears, then, that the trade only awaits further +development,[6] and if, with specially strengthened steamers, the +carriage of produce can thus be arranged between England and Siberia, +both countries will doubtless be gainers thereby.[7] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The principal branch of the Obi is the Irtish, which, rising in +Mongolia, passes through Lake Zaizang, about 1,720 feet above the sea +level. It then passes Ustkammenogorsk, in the Altai region, where it +becomes navigable, and, flowing on to Omsk, is subsequently joined by +the Ishim and the Tobol, which last is made up of the Isset, Tura, +and Tavda, the last three descending from the watershed of the Urals. +The Obi proper rises in Siberia, and runs with a rapid course through +the northern ridges of the Altai mountains, amid scenery resembling +in beauty and grandeur that of the Lake of Lucerne. It is joined +north of Tomsk by the Tom and the Tchulim, and then it flows on in a +westerly course, swelled by many minor streams, to its junction with +the Irtish, on the 60th parallel. Before reaching the Tom the current +becomes gentle, and allows of easy navigation, especially in spring, +when water is abundant; but, in approaching the Irtish, shoals become +numerous. The Obi then takes a northerly course, and frequently divides +as it traverses an alluvial and low plain from 40 to 50 miles wide, the +greater part of which, after winter, is inundated. This enormous river, +having now a course of 2,700 miles, falls into the Obi Gulf, which is +400 miles long, and from 70 to 80 miles wide. For a large part of the +year the water flows under ice, which at Tiumen is from 3 to 4 feet, +and on the gulf is 7 feet, thick. + +[2] There are nine uyezds in the province, and among its prominent +towns are Turinsk and Tiumen, on the Tura; Kurgan and Yalutorofsk on +the Tobol; Ishim, on the river of that name; and Tara, on the Irtish; +together with Surgut, Berezov, and Obdorsk, on the Lower Obi; whilst +the capital town of the government is Tobolsk. Hoppe’s Almanack for +1880 gives the population at 1,102,302, but the Almanack for 1878 +gives a smaller number, which represents an earlier census, and is +mentioned here only for the purpose of giving the reader some idea of +the social position of the inhabitants, who in 1870 were classified +thus: hereditary nobles, 404; personally noble, 3,025; ecclesiastical +persons (which includes not only all grades of clergy, but also their +families), 3,045; a town population of 30,000, and a rural population +of 436,000. To this must be added a military force of 50,000, 25 +foreigners, and an aboriginal and mixed population of 142,000; the +exact total of which then amounted to 666,800. + +[3] We heard from other sources that for brandy these aborigines +will sell everything short of their souls, and even these would +appear sometimes to tremble in the balance, if the following story +be true:--A Russian priest, it seemed, intent upon adding sheep to +his fold, even though by very questionable means, sometimes gave +drink to the Samoyedes and Ostjaks, and, when they were in a muddled +condition, baptized them, put round their necks the cross, and thus +brought them into the fold of the orthodox Russian Church. On coming +to their senses they sometimes objected to what had been done, but, +like the recruit who took the Queen’s shilling, they were caught, and +the only way to escape was to bribe the priest to erase their names +from his register, and let them go. This was told us by a man who had +lived in the Samoyede country. The story presented such a _bathos_ +of proselytizing zeal, that I asked particularly if it were really +true, and was answered in the affirmative. In the time of the Emperor +Nicholas, zealous missionary priests received honours and decorations +in proportion to the number of Pagans and Jews they baptized; but +this, I believe, is not the case now. I heard, further east, of other +questionable means taken by a priest to obtain proselytes from the +aborigines of the Amur. This, however, was done by one who, during my +stay in the town, publicly disgraced his cloth by intemperance. These +enormities, therefore, must be laid to the account, not of the Russian +Church, but to that of certain of its corrupt officials. They are +mentioned here on the principle that not only the truth but the whole +truth should be told; and, further, because I would fain not have to +allude to the subject when I come hereafter to record better things, as +I shall have to do, of the missionary efforts of the Russian Church in +Siberia. + +[4] In 1824 a commencement was made to translate into Samoyede the +Gospel of St. Matthew, but it did not go on after 1826. The same gospel +was translated some years ago into the language of the Ostjaks by the +_protohierea_, or chief priest, at Obdorsk, and was forwarded to the +Russian Bible Society, but not published; and, up to the present time, +neither that nor any other part of the New Testament exists, as far as +I know for the Samoyedes, Ostjaks, or Voguls.--Dr. Latham mentions 11 +dialects in the Samoyede language, and refers to the work of Professor +Castrén, who, about 30 years ago, studied closely the languages of the +Finnish and Samoyede nations, and to whose labours we owe dictionaries +of some of these tongues,--published after his death by Schiefner. + +[5] The surprisingly small cost of provisions on the Obi will be +referred to hereafter; but some idea may be formed, for the purposes of +trade, of the cheapness of provisions, from the fact that a merchant +told me that in 1877 he bought up meat at Tobolsk for less than ½_d._ +per English pound, and that, more recently, he sold for the Petersburg +market ten thousand brace of black grouse, capercailzie, and hazel +grouse at 9_d._ a pair all round. The cost for transporting from +Tiumen to Petersburg is as follows: heavy goods, going by land where +necessary, and floated on the rivers where possible, take 12 months +in transit, and cost about 5_s._ a cwt.; if, however, goods are sent +by road to Nijni Novgorod, and thence forwarded by rail, they take 2½ +months in transit, and cost up to 12_s._ a cwt.; or, again, if goods +are sent “express”--that is, put into large sledges, carrying each from +a ton to a ton and a half, placed under charge of a man, and drawn by +three horses, to Nijni Novgorod, and thence by rail--the transport +costs 18_s._ a cwt. Notwithstanding this heavy cost of carriage, +however, the merchants at Tiumen can bring their fish from the mouth of +the Obi, forward it to Petersburg, sell the sturgeon at 24_s._, and the +_sterlet_, _nelma_, and _moksun_ at 30_s._ the cwt., and then secure a +handsome profit for everybody concerned. + +[6] For further remarks on the commercial prospects of Western Siberia, +see Appendix D. + +[7] There are two books written by scientific explorers of the basin +of the Obi, which it may be useful to mention for the sake of any who +wish to study this part of Siberia. One is that of Adolph Erman, who, +for the purpose of making magnetical observations, travelled in 1828 +to Tobolsk, and then descended the river as far as Obdorsk; the second +is the German work of Dr. Otto Finsch, who, from Tiumen, ascended the +Irtish, in 1876, towards the Altai mountains, and then, turning north +to Barnaul and Tomsk, followed the Obi to its mouth. Another class +of books, written for the most part by returned exiles, throws more +or less light upon Western Siberia, such as “The Exile of Kotzebue,” +published in 1802, and “Revelations of Siberia,” by a banished lady, +who spent a short time on the Lower Obi at Beresov. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_TOBOLSK._ + + Early history of Siberia.--Yermak.--Conquest of the Tatars.--Tobolsk + the first capital.--The exiled bell.--Our visit to the + Governor.--Hard-labour prisons.--Interior arrangements.--“_Travaux + forcés._”--Testimony of prisoners.--Books presented. + + +Tobolsk, for a long period, was the capital of the whole of Siberia. +This will be a suitable place, therefore, in which to treat briefly +the history of the Russian subjugation of the country at large. It can +hardly be said that Siberia was familiar to the Russians before the +middle of the sixteenth century; for, although at an earlier period +an expedition had penetrated as far as the Lower Obi, yet its effects +were not permanent. Later, Ivan Vassilievitch II. sent a number of +troops over the Urals, laid some of the Tatar tribes under tribute, +and in 1558 assumed the title of “Lord of Siberia.” Kutchum Khan, +however, a lineal descendant of Genghis Khan, punished these tribes +for their defection, and regained their fealty, and so ended again +for a while the result of the Russian expedition. A third invasion, +however, was made in a way quite unexpected. Ivan Vassilievitch II. +had extended his conquests to the Caspian Sea, and opened commercial +relations with Persia; but the merchants and caravans were frequently +pillaged by hordes of banditti, called Don Cossacks, whom the Tsar +attacked, killing some and taking prisoner or scattering others. Among +the dispersed were 6,000 freebooters, under the command of a chief +named Yermak Timofeeff, who made their way to the banks of the Kama, +to a settlement at Orel, belonging to one of the Stroganoffs, where +they were entertained during a dreary winter, and where Yermak heard of +an inviting field of adventure, lying on the other side of the Urals. +Thither he determined to try his fortunes, and after an unsuccessful +attempt in the summer of 1578, started again with 5,000 men in June of +the next year. It was eighteen months before he reached the small town +of Tchingi, on the banks of the Tura; by which time his followers had +dwindled down, by skirmishes, privation, and fatigue, to 1,500 men. +But they were all braves. Before them was Kutchum Khan, prince of the +country, already in position, and, with numerous troops, resolved to +defend himself to the last. When at length the two armies stood face +to face, that of Yermak was further reduced to 500 men, nine-tenths +of those who left Orel having perished. A desperate fight ensued, the +Tatars were routed, and Yermak pushed on to Sibir, the residence of +the Tatar princes. It was a small fortress on the banks of the Irtish, +the ruins of which are still standing, and of which I have seen a +photograph, if I mistake not, among Mr. Seebohm’s collection. + +Yermak was now suddenly transformed to a prince, but he had the good +sense to see the precariousness of his grandeur, and it became plain +that he must seek for assistance. He sent, therefore, fifty of his +Cossacks to the Tsar of Muscovy, their chief being adroitly ordered to +represent to the Court the progress which the Russian troops, under +the command of Yermak, had made in Siberia, where an extensive empire +had been conquered in the name of the Tsar. The Tsar took very kindly +to this, pardoned Yermak, and sent him money and assistance. Reinforced +by 500 Russians, Yermak multiplied his expeditions, extended his +conquests, and was enabled to subdue various insurrections fomented by +the conquered Kutchum Khan. In one of these expeditions he laid siege +to the small fortress of Kullara, which still belonged to his foe, and +by whom it was so bravely defended that Yermak had to retreat. Kutchum +Khan stealthily followed the Russians, and, finding them negligently +posted on a small island in the Irtish, he forded the river, attacked +them by night, and came upon them so suddenly as with comparative ease +to cut them to pieces. Yermak perished, but not, it is said, by the +sword of the enemy. Having cut his way to the water’s edge, he tried +to jump into a boat, but, stepping short, he fell into the water, and +the weight of his armour carried him to the bottom. Thus perished +Yermak Timofeeff, and when the news reached Sibir, the remainder of his +followers retired from the fortress, and left the country. + +The Court of Moscow, however, sent a body of 300 men, who before long +made a fresh incursion, and reached Tchingi almost without opposition. +There they built the fort of Tiumen, and re-established the Russian +sovereignty. Being soon afterwards reinforced, they extended their +operations, and built the fortresses of Tobolsk, Sungur, and Tara, and +soon gained for the Tsar all the territory west of the Obi. The stream +of conquest then flowed eastward apace. Tomsk was founded in 1604, +and became the Russian head-quarters, whence the Cossacks organized +new expeditions. Yeneseisk was founded in 1619, and, eight years +afterwards, Krasnoiarsk. Passing the Yenesei, they advanced to the +shores of Lake Baikal, and in 1620 attacked and partly conquered the +populous nation of the Buriats. Then, turning northwards to the basin +of the Lena, they founded Yakutsk in 1632, and made subject, though not +without considerable difficulty, the powerful nation of the Yakutes; +after which they crossed the Aldan mountains, and in 1639 reached the +Sea of Okhotsk. Thus in the span of a single lifetime--70 years--was +added to the Russian crown a territory as large as the whole of Europe, +whose ancient capital, as I have said, was Tobolsk. + +The citadel and upper town stand on a hill, with a precipitous front, +at the foot of which lies the lower town. The two are now connected by +a winding carriage-road, but formerly the only entrance to the citadel +was by a very steep incline through the fortress gates. From the top of +the hill an extensive view is obtained of the Irtish, flowing close by +the town to its junction with the Tobol. The town below is built with +regularity, and contains many churches and monasteries. The houses are +chiefly of wood, and the streets are paved with the same material. But +the glory of Tobolsk has long been waning, and, when this is the case +with a Siberian town, wooden roadways degenerate into a delusion and a +snare. They rot and remain unrepaired, and one is in danger at night +of tumbling into holes. The population of the town consists mainly of +Russians, Tatars, and Germans, and in it are manufactured leather, +tallow, soap, tiles, boats, and firearms. + +In the upper part of the town are some handsome churches, and a +cathedral, near which is the famous bell from Uglitch, that was exiled +by Boris Gudonoff because it gave signal to the insurrectionists. On +their being quelled, the unfortunate bell was deposed, had two of +its ears broken off, was publicly flogged, and sent to Siberia and +forbidden for ever to ring again. But the ban has since been removed, +and it now is hung, not in a belfry, but alone, and assists in calling +the people to church. + +Not far from the fortress are the pleasure-gardens, and also the three +hard-labour prisons, which we wished particularly to see. My letter was +therefore presented to M. Lisagorsky, the Governor, who immediately +sent for the police-master; and we proceeded at once to visit our first +hard-labour prisons in Siberia. For many years Tobolsk was a principal +place of punishment, and even now prisoners condemned to the east +frequently spend here the first portion of their time. On the road we +had heard it spoken of as a place of considerable severity, in which +were kept those condemned to “travaux forcés.” On entering, therefore, +I braced my nerves for such horrors as might present themselves. The +authorities seemed determined that the prisoners should not harm us +(or them?); for, as we moved from ward to ward and section to section, +there followed us four soldiers with fixed bayonets. The buildings +were large and of brick, with double windows to keep out the cold; +and I noticed that, in addition to a pillow and covering, mattresses +stuffed with old clothes were also provided for the prisoners. These, +I presume, were furnished by the local committee. They had a few +books, and as one man only in ten could read, it was usual during the +evenings for these to read aloud to their less instructed fellows. I +saw a copy of the “Lives of the Saints” in one room, but no Bibles. +The guard-room for the military was furnished much the same as the +prisoners’ rooms. There were likewise other wards of various sizes: one +for murderers, having five occupants (most of whom, we were told, had +committed their crimes in fits of drunkenness); another for eight men +without passports; and other rooms for thieves. One was occupied by +a man who had run away, and another by a man who, for selling things +belonging to an altar, had been found guilty of sacrilege. + +In the first prison were nine single cells, in one of which was a +Polish doctor, a political offender, who had surrounded himself with +such small comforts as Polish books, eau-de-Cologne, and cigarettes, +which last _he_ (by way of privilege) was allowed to smoke. One or two +cells were set apart for punishment. + +After marching through room after room, corridor after corridor, now +across yards with prisoners lolling about, and now through sleeping +apartments, where some were not even up, though breakfast-time had long +gone by, I began to wonder where the _work_ was going on, and asked +to be shown the labours of those condemned to “travaux forcés”; upon +which we were taken first into a room for wheelwrights, and next into +a blacksmith’s shop. Then we were introduced to a company of tailors, +and another of shoemakers, and last of all we saw a room fitted for +joiners or cabinet-makers’ work. The amount of labour going on appeared +to be exceedingly small, and the number of men employed (or apparently +that could be employed) to be only a sprinkling of the 732 inmates in +prisons Nos. 1 and 3, and 264 in prison No. 2. I believe some reason +was given why more were not at work, though whether it was a holiday +or bathing-day, or what, I forget; but I came to the conclusion that +they had not appliances enough to find occupation for 1,000 prisoners, +and that one need not have come to Siberia to see the severity of a +hard-labour prison, since the same might just as easily have been +witnessed in Europe. Had I entered with any of the curiosity that takes +people to the chamber of horrors at Madame Tussaud’s, such curiosity +would certainly have remained ungratified. The prisons of Tobolsk +reminded me most of those I had seen in Vienna and Cracow, in which, +however, in some respects, a comparison would result in favour of +Siberia; for at Cracow the convicts had not only to work at the bench +by day, but, if my memory does not fail me, to sleep on it at night. +At Tobolsk a set portion of labour is imposed daily; but when this is +done, the prisoner is at liberty to work for himself. Various specimens +of their handicraft were shown to us. + +Prison No. 2 contained criminals who were sentenced to terms ranging +from one year to the whole of life, and who, when liberated, were to +be sent east to live like colonists. I do not know to whom the credit +of superiority is due, whether to the governor of the province, the +governor of the prison, or the local committee; but I was struck with +the fact when I subsequently asked two prisoners who had been deported +across Siberia, as to which prison west of Irkutsk they thought, from +their point of view, the best, they both mentioned that of Tobolsk. We +left with the governor of this province nearly 500 Scripture portions, +such as copies of the Gospels, Psalms, and the New Testament in +Russian, Polish, German, French, and Tatar, together with 400 copies +of the illustrated _Russian Workman_, and 1,000 tracts, his Excellency +kindly undertaking to distribute the papers and tracts in the schools, +and in the best way he could through the province generally, and +to place the books for permanent use, not in the libraries, but +within reach of each person in every room of every prison, hospital, +poor-house, or similar institution under his administration. Having +made these arrangements, committed them to paper in the form of a +letter, and delivered it to the governor on the Monday evening, we +awaited the arrival of the steamer to take us to Tomsk. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_FROM TOBOLSK TO TOMSK._ + + The steamer _Beljetchenko_.--Fellow-passengers.--Card-playing.--Cost + of provisions.--Inspection of convicts’ barge.--An exile + fellow-passenger.--Obi navigation.--The Ostjaks.--Their + fisheries.--Feats of archery.--Marriage customs. + + +The Siberians are rich in time. Days to them are of little consequence; +hours of no moment. With them “Time is _not_ money.” “What difference,” +said a coachman at Ekaterineburg to a friend of mine for whom he +had lost his train, “what difference one way or other could an hour +make, or for that matter _two_ hours either?” Moreover, the arrival +and departure of steamers are not announced by a.m. and p.m., but +the date simply is given; and of course you are expected to be in +readiness to start at any moment of the twenty-four hours. We deemed +it unsafe, therefore, to sleep at the hotel on Monday night, the 2nd +of June, lest we should be left behind; so, getting our tarantass and +luggage on the pier, I crept inside the vehicle, and there spent the +early part of the night, till, at dawn, the steamer arrived. For a +Siberian steamer, the _Beljetchenko_, belonging to Messrs. Kourbatoff +and Ignatoff, was good, and her dimensions, compared with others upon +which I subsequently travelled, were large. She was a paddle-boat, with +fore-cabins and saloons for first-class passengers, and after-cabins +for those of the second class, whilst the deck was allotted to a +considerable number of third-class passengers and discharged soldiers +who were “homeward bound.” All told, the passengers, I should imagine, +could not have counted less than from 100 to 150. Among those of +the first class were some pleasant people, such as officers of the +army, navy, and gendarmerie, and a few school girls going home for +summer holidays from Petersburg, a distance of 3,000 miles. There +were specimens also of the ubiquitous Russian merchant, travelling on +business. Our first impressions of these travellers were unfavourable. +Some of the gentlemen were taking leave, if I mistake not, at Tobolsk, +of friends, and this event is usually accompanied in Siberia with +the drinking of a great deal of wine; so that, when one of the naval +officers came to take his place in the sleeping saloon, he was in a +condition “unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.” We were spared +further inconvenience of this kind by the captain, who had received +injunctions from one of the proprietors, Mr. Ignatoff, to look after +“Mr. Missionary,” as the captain insisted upon calling me, and on which +I did not undeceive him. For the payment of three second-class fares +he gave us for sleeping the second-class ladies’ cabin--intended for +five persons--in which we were comfortable enough at night, whilst we +sat where we pleased by day. The captain was also instructed to charge +£2 instead of £4 for the carriage of our tarantass, and also to deal +leniently with our heavy excess of baggage and books. As our voyage +lasted several days, it was not a matter for surprise that time hung +heavily upon the hands of some of the passengers, but I was hardly +prepared for the amount of card-playing with which much of it was +killed. In no country that I have visited have I seen a tenth part of +the card-playing that I witnessed in Siberia. The Russian Government +exercises a monopoly in the manufacture of playing-cards, the profits +being applied to the support of the Foundling Hospital at Moscow, +and 110 tons of cards are annually carried on the Petersburg-Moscow +railway. I am told that the amount of card-playing in European Russia +also is very considerable; that there are clubs in Petersburg where +the gambling is frightful. As for our fellow-passengers, there was a +clique who played by day and quarrelled by night, and sometimes did +not leave off their games till seven in the morning. By the time the +journey was five days old, £20 had been lost by a young officer, who +told me that in the small towns of the interior, in which soldiers are +quartered, where there is little congenial society and nothing to do, +card-playing is the daily constant resource of the officers. The habit, +moreover, is not confined to men, but is indulged in, though apparently +in a less degree, by women also. On board the steamer the game was +not accompanied by excessive drinking, and, happily, several of the +passengers--especially the ladies--spoke French, and a few could read +English, so that in their society we passed an agreeable time. + +The fares for travelling and the charges for provisions were low. The +three second-class tickets for the whole journey of 8 days cost only +£4, and for a dinner of 4 or 5 courses--soup, fish, meat, game, and +pastry,--only 2_s._ were charged. I remembered this tariff with a sigh +in California, where the price was double for a meal not half so +good, with wretched attendance into the bargain. It must be confessed, +however, that provisions on the river’s bank were extremely cheap--so +cheap that one almost hesitates to put it on paper. At Surgut I was +offered a pair of ducks for 2½_d._; 10 brace of _riabchiks_, a sort +of grouse about the size of a partridge, cost 1_s._; a couple of fish +called _yass_, weighing, I supposed, 1½ lb. each, were offered for +1½_d._; and 10 large fish, as a lot, for ¼_d._ each. At Juchova I was +offered for 5_d._ a couple of pike, weighing probably 20 lbs., and a +live duck for 1¼_d._; whilst at the villages in the district we passed, +which are not easily accessible, a young calf, I was told, could be +bought for 6_d._ + +[Illustration: THE “IRTISH,” A CONVICT BARGE ON THE OBI.] + +As we ploughed along, there was tugged at our stern a barge laden with +convicts, to which Dr. Johnson’s definition of a ship as “a prison +afloat” would with accuracy apply. The barge was a large floating +hull, called the _Irtish_, 245 feet long, and 30 feet beam, 11 feet +high from the keel to the deck, with a 4-feet water-line. It was made +expressly for the transport of convicts, of whom it was intended to +carry 800, with 22 officers. Below it was fitted with platforms for +sleeping, like those described in the jails, whilst at either end +of the craft were deck-houses eight feet high, containing a small +hospital, an apothecary’s shop, and apartments for the officers and +soldiers in charge. The space between the deck-houses was roofed +over, and the sides closed by bars and wires, painfully suggestive of +a menagerie, or reminding one of the cage-cells in the old jail at +Edinburgh. The vessel had neither masts nor engines, and bore a pretty +close resemblance to a child’s Noah’s ark. At one of our stoppages +I was trying to make a sketch of this unique craft, when the officer +came and invited me to inspect it. We therefore went on board, with +hands and pockets full of reading matter for distribution; and if the +bars were suggestive of a menagerie, so, I must add, was the mode in +which the occupants received our literary food. Not that they were +rude, but so delighted were they with the pictures, and so eager to +get the papers that contained them, that we found it hard work to +hold our own. We had afterwards an opportunity of testing the value +in money of this apparent eagerness for reading material. In former +years I had always _given_ both Scriptures and tracts. This year it +was urged, and I think rightly, that it is better, when possible, to +sell them. To offer them, however, for money to convicts seemed almost +a mockery. Nevertheless we tried it, and requested the officer to let +us know how many prisoners would like to give 2½_d._ for a copy of +the New Testament, or the Book of Psalms. To my surprise he came at a +subsequent stopping-place, bringing the money for 44 copies, and said +that one man was in such haste to get his book that he had been to him +three times to ask for it. As we proceeded on our course, and, looking +back, saw the broad keel of the barge ploughing its way after us, one +could not help feeling for its strange freight, and the many heavy +hearts that were being tugged along further and further from the dear +place called “home.” But such thoughts received little enlargement at +the halting-places, when the barge was drawn up to the bank; for the +hilarity thereon of men, women, and children was much more noisy than +that of the free people on the steamer. One might have thought that +the convicts were having a good time of it; and it had been observed +to us at Tiumen, as a noteworthy remark, that although, of the 800 +prisoners on board, probably 250 would be murderers, nevertheless +20 soldiers would suffice to control them. They had a considerable +amount of freedom on the barge, though they could not go, of course, +indiscriminately to whatever part of the vessel they pleased. + +At one of the halting-places we dropped a Polish exile, a doctor. He +was the same man we had seen with his little comforts in the prison +at Tobolsk. He was not on the barge, but travelled, as such prisoners +usually do, on the steamer, as a second-class passenger, in a cabin +near ours, with a gendarme who kept him, and who, we had opportunities +of observing, never allowed him to go for a moment out of his sight. +We had ingratiated ourselves into the gendarme’s favour by giving +him books, as we had given also to the soldiers, passengers, and all +on board, and we wished to chat with the prisoner; but his guard was +faithful to his duty, and would not suffer him to be spoken to. When +it was time for the prisoner to go on shore, he walked erect out of +his cabin, dressed in private clothes, wearing shaded spectacles, and +smoking a cigar. But he was landed at a miserable place on the 62nd +parallel, where, at the beginning of June, the leaves were not out, and +it had not ceased occasionally to snow; at a village where an educated +man could, I presume, find little agreeable society or congenial +occupation. His hair was already grey, and as he sat upon his little +stock of clothes, with the gendarme standing near, and watching our +ship as it glided away, we felt we had left him in a sorry place in +which to spend his declining years. We heard that he had a second time +incurred punishment, by trying to escape from Nertchinsk. But it was a +melancholy illustration of the meaning of Siberian exile. + +The distance from Tobolsk to Tomsk by water is 1,600 miles, which we +accomplished in 8 days. We overtook more than one freight steamer, but +saw few other vessels, and no timber rafts. The banks were low and +flat, and houses of rare occurrence. On the second day from Tobolsk we +stopped at Samarova, where the Irtish runs into the Obi; and on the +third day we stopped at Surgut, a place of 1,200 inhabitants. Three +days later we touched at Narim, which has a population of 2,000. + +We did not land sufficiently near to any of these towns to allow of a +visit, and the steamer picked up and set down few passengers. Herds +of half-wild horses were seen from time to time on the prairies. They +were not shod, were unfamiliar with the taste of oats, and had in the +summer to find their own living. In the winter they are used for the +transport of dried and frozen fish. The natives have an ingenious way +of catching fish through holes in the ice, especially in the case of +the sturgeon, which in winter congregate in muddy hollows in the bed +of the river, lying motionless in clusters for the sake of warmth. +The Ostjak cuts a hole above them, sets a spring rod, and then forms +a number of balls of clay, which he makes red hot and throws into the +river below his bait. The heat rouses the sturgeon, which rise, swim +up stream, and are caught. There are large fisheries in the gulfs of +the Obi and the Taz, where the Russians pay rent for the sandbanks to +the Samoyedes, and, having caught the fish in summer, they put them in +ponds till the approach of winter. They are then taken out and frozen, +and in this condition sent as _fresh_ fish a journey of 2,000 miles to +Petersburg.[1] A large quantity of dried fish is also forwarded from +the Obi to the great fair of Nijni Novgorod. Furs and hides likewise +are sent there from the northern part of the province, together with +rye, barley, oats, and buckwheat from the south. + +[Illustration] + +Nothing, however, that we saw on the banks was more interesting perhaps +than the aborigines, especially the Ostjaks, some of whom appeared +paddling in their tiny canoes, and stealthily gliding among the bushes +as the steamer approached. The Ostjaks inhabit a tract of country on +either side of the Irtish and Obi, extending as far north as Obdorsk, +on the south to Tobolsk, and nearly as far east as Narim. There is +also a territory over which they roam on the left bank of the Yenesei +below Turukhansk, though Mr. Howorth thinks that these are miscalled +Ostjaks, being really Samoyedes. Their numbers are estimated at 24,000. +They have no towns or villages, though they sometimes settle among the +Russians. We saw on the banks the frames of some of their _yourts_, +or tents, though the people were just then driven by the floods +to higher ground. In the neighbourhood of the Obi they possess no +reindeer; their wealth consists of boats, fishing-tackle, clothes, +and utensils; and a nomad Ostjak who possesses goods to the value of +£10 is deemed a rich man. In this district they have ceased to wear +their native costume; and are become more or less Russianized; but the +Ostjaks of the Yenesei still dress in the costume of their forefathers. +These people are short of stature, with dark hair and eyes, and flat +faces; in complexion and general appearance those we saw were not much +unlike some of the Siberians. They live principally by fishing and +the chase, and are very skilful in the use of the bow. In shooting +squirrels, for instance, they use a blunt arrow, and take care to hit +the animal on the head, so as not to damage the fur.[2] + +[Illustration: OSTJAKS ON THE OBI, IN SUMMER YOURT.] + +I had heard of these aboriginals, before leaving England, from Miss +Alba Hellman in Finland, who thus writes of some of their marriage +customs in expressive English: “The Ostjaks are carrying on the most +shameless commerce with their daughters. A girl is a valuable thing +while she is yet in her parents’ home. She then gets all possible care +and protection. But is it therefore that she may be a good daughter, +wife, or mother? By no means for that cause: an Ostjak father has the +same object in his daughter’s feeding as he has in feeding his animals. +Well fed, she will not long stay at home without the father getting +good payment for her. The price of an ordinary wife was at the river +Irtish (on the Obi the price is higher), first, from £20 to £30 in +money; next, a horse, a cow, and an ox; then from 7 to 10 pieces of +clothing; and lastly, a pood of meal, a few hops, and a measure of +brandy for the wedding feast. And when a man cannot afford to pay all +these things, he often steals the girl. So says Professor Castrén.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The fish of the Obi are generally pike, perch, bleak, and a kind of +red mullet, and are of less importance than the migratory fish from the +sea. These are chiefly the sturgeon, the _nelma_, and _muksum_, several +kinds of salmon, and the herring. In the first weeks of June, when the +ice breaks up, they commence their ascent of the river, avoiding the +rapid parts, the quick swimmers soon getting ahead of the rest: 30 +miles below Obdorsk they form shoals, and have all passed in a week, +by which time, 150 miles higher, the quickest salmon arrive. The nelma +comes two days later, but the sturgeon not till five days afterwards. +Erman reckons this annual migration of fish to be at the lowest +computation 26,000,000. + +[2] Their bows are 6 feet long, with a diameter of an inch and a +quarter in the middle, and are made of a slip of birch joined by +fish-glue to a piece of hard pine-wood. The arrows are 4 feet long, the +head consisting of either a ball for shooting small fur animals, or an +iron spear-like head for killing larger game. The bows are exceedingly +powerful, and the archers wear on the left forearm a strong bent plate +of horn to deaden the blow of the string. We heard of feats of archery +accomplished by them which far outdo the traditional deed of William +Tell. Our captain told a lady on board that on one occasion he saw +an Ostjak mark an arrow in the middle with a piece of charcoal and +discharge it in the air, whilst a second man, before it reached the +ground, shot at the descending shaft and struck it on the mark. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_TOMSK._ + + The province of Tomsk.--The city of Tomsk.--Visit to the + Governor.--The prison.--Institution for prisoners’ children.--A + Lutheran minister.--Finnish colonies in Siberia.--Their pastoral + care.--Dissuaded from visiting Minusinsk.--Distribution of Finnish + books.--_Détour_ to Barnaul. + + +The province of Tomsk is, in some respects, the most favoured in +Siberia. It is not so huge and unwieldy as some of the others, and does +not, like its two neighbours of Tobolsk and Yeneseisk, extend to the +Frozen Sea; but, beginning on the 62nd parallel for its northernmost +boundary, it continues southward as far as the borders of Mongolia, +from which it is separated by the Altai mountains. The climate is +good, and the land is valuable for agricultural purposes, while the +mountainous districts are exceedingly rich in minerals.[1] + +The city of Tomsk is situated on the river Tom, whence it derives +its name, and has a population of 30,000. Its streets are wide but +steep, and in the centre of the town is a good specimen of that +prominent feature in so many Russian towns--a _Gostinnoi Dvor_ (bazaar +or market). It is an aggregation of shops and open spaces, to which +the stranger is constantly sent for anything he may require. If a +countrywoman has butter or milk to sell, she takes up her position +there; so do hucksters with small wares. Larger establishments are to +be found elsewhere, but the _Gostinnoi Dvor_ of a Russian town contains +a concentration of goods that supplies all wants. Many of the houses +at Tomsk are of brick; it boasts of several hotels, two banks, and two +photographers. In a distant part of the town is an imposing building, +the law courts, etc., also a large church or cathedral, which is still +unfinished. + +We called upon M. Sooproonenko, the Governor, who was very obliging, +and sent us at once to see the two prisons, in one of which criminals +are kept, whilst in the other they only stay whilst passing through to +their destinations. The condition of prison affairs in Tomsk showed +that there was an active local committee. The jail in which criminals +are permanently confined is a heavy brick building, with low, vaulted +corridors, in which prisoners may be kept for terms varying from one +month to four years. The authorities complained that in winter it is +damp. This was one of the few prisons where there was a school, which +such prisoners as chose might attend; but out of 640, when we were +there, only 30 did so. Among those confined was an old man who had +been condemned to hard labour further east, but on his way his penalty +had been mitigated, and he allowed to stay at Tomsk. There was some +little show of work going on in the shoemakers’, carpenters’, and +blacksmiths’ shops; but the great mass of the prisoners was herded +in rooms where they had nothing to do. When invited by the Governor +to point out any defects I had noticed, I mentioned, first, that I +thought all should work. He replied that they have no laws to compel +them (I presume he spoke of a certain _class_ of prisoners), and that +the severest punishment they are allowed to inflict is three days’ +solitude with bread and water. We saw so many prisons in Siberia in +which the majority of the prisoners had nothing to do, that the sight +became wearisome; and when the authorities told us that they could +not find them work, I was vain enough inwardly to say, “It strikes +me that _I_ could.” But on reaching San Francisco, I altered my mind +when inspecting a prison managed on modern principles, where they can +manufacture in a day more than a thousand doors, to say nothing of +hundreds of other articles of wood, leather, iron, and I know not what; +and yet, even there, they had men condemned to hard labour twirling +their thumbs for want of a job. The difficulty of employing a large +number of Siberian convicts is vastly enhanced by the difficulty and +the expense of the carriage of raw materials, and the comparatively +small demand for manufactured articles. + +Our distribution of books was highly appreciated at Tomsk, and one +prisoner gave me in return a paper-knife he had made, for which he +would accept no money. In the underground storehouse we saw quass +in huge vats worthy of an abbot’s cellar, and large receptacles for +sour cabbage, of which the Russians make soup. The cabbage is salted +in September and pressed, and in ten days is ready for use. The store +contained also a large number of tongues, which cost on the spot from +2_d._ to 6_d._ each. In one of the wards, the men who formed the +church choir asked permission to sing us a hymn, which they did very +creditably. + +The most pleasing part of our visit, however, was that made to an +adjoining building within the prison grounds--an institution for the +children of prisoners and of the poor, which had been built by the +local committee. The matron apologized that they were not in holiday +trim, but the place was as neat and clean as could be. We called in the +afternoon. The girls had an English sewing-machine, and were busy at +work, whilst some were embroidering elaborate initials in the corners +of handkerchiefs, to the orders of ladies in the town. Some of the +boys were learning shoemaking, whilst others were taught to be of use +in waiting on the doctors in the prisoners’ hospital. Such progress do +some of them make that one boy had recently left the school to go to +help a doctor at the gold-mines, for which he was to receive his board +and lodging, and £30 a year. There are certain funds in connection with +the institution, by means of which the girls, on leaving to go out to +service, receive various gifts up to about £50; and with this, one of +the committee told us, they not unfrequently take away an education +which makes them better informed than their Siberian mistresses. + +Before we had been many hours in Tomsk we discovered an English lady, +with whom and her husband we dined, and who told us that a certain +Finnish pastor--Roshier, who had been named to me in my Finnish +correspondence--was staying in the town. We therefore sought him out to +ask advice concerning the whereabouts and the mode of approach to some +of the Finnish colonies which I was anxious to visit. + +The reader will perhaps wonder how there come to be Finnish colonies +in Siberia at all. Often when a Finnish prisoner is condemned to a +certain term of imprisonment in his own country, he petitions the +Grand Duke, who is the Emperor of Russia, to send him instead to +Siberia as a colonist, and the request is usually granted. I recollect +meeting a young man at Wiborg, in the castle prison, in 1874, who +told me that, rather than serve for three years as a convict in the +town of his birth, he had asked to be allowed to go to Siberia. The +Finns do not usually speak Russian. Consequently, on arriving in +Siberia, they are quasi-foreigners, and, accordingly, are not scattered +hither and thither, but put together in villages with Lithuanian, +Esthonian, Lettish, and other convicts from the Baltic provinces. +Of this nature are the colonies I wished to visit near Omsk, called +Ruschkova and Jelanka, each with 400 inhabitants, and near to which +are four villages, bearing the home-names of Riga, Reval, Narva, and +Helsingfors. Another colony of a similar kind is Werchne Sujetuk, about +50 miles south of Minusinsk.[2] Pastor Roshier had been settled there +for 15 years, and was returning home. The Finnish Government were +looking out for one to fill his place, to whom they offered a stipend +of £150 per annum; but when I heard from Mr. Roshier that he had not +conversed with an educated fellow-countryman for 10 years, that he +could speak no Russian, and that his dwelling had been in the midst of +convicts only, I was not surprised to hear that the Finnish Government +had a difficulty in finding a successor. + +For my own part, it had been my intention certainly to turn aside to +Werchne Sujetuk, thinking to go across country to Minusinsk, return by +raft on the Yenesei, or by road, to Krasnoiarsk, and there await the +arrival of the remainder of our luggage--plans which a better knowledge +of the country afterwards taught me were visionary indeed. When we did +subsequently arrive at Krasnoiarsk, we found persons who, on account +of the floods, had been waiting a fortnight to go to Minusinsk.[3] The +remainder, however, of our baggage was not yet come from Tiumen, and +could not arrive for a week; so we agreed meanwhile to make a _détour_ +to Barnaul. There we should find a prison, and another in the same +direction, at Biisk, to which we could send; priests and people would +be benefited by the way; and we hoped to see the Emperor’s _usine_ +for the smelting of gold and silver. This looked more inviting, even +though it involved a journey of 700 miles, than loitering at Tomsk for +a week. We were now to begin tarantass travelling in earnest, which +I think had better be once for all described, partly for the benefit +of the uninitiated, who may possibly become Siberian travellers, and +partly that the reader may not be wearied hereafter by a too frequent +recurrence to the same topic. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It is the most populous province of Siberia after that of Tobolsk, +and contains 838,000 inhabitants. Another reference to Hoppe’s Almanack +shows the vast preponderance of its rural population over that of other +provinces, and shows also a large population of the upper classes, many +of whom, doubtless, are descendants of noble exiles. In 1875 the number +of hereditary nobles in the province was 2,400; ecclesiastical persons, +4,000; town population, 4,400; and rural population, 725,000; whilst +the military forces numbered 30,000; foreigners, 48; and the mixed +races (chiefly Tatars, Teleuti, and Altai Kalmuks) numbered 130,000, +the population being spread over an area of half a million square +miles--a territory bigger than any two countries in Europe except +Russia. The government is divided into six uyezds. It has seven prisons +and four large hospitals. The principal towns are Barnaul, Kainsk, +Biisk, Kuznetsk, Mariinsk, Narim, and Tomsk, which last is the capital +and residence of the Governor. + +[2] Since 1850, it appeared, 541 persons have been sent there, of whom +142 are dead; 20 for fresh crimes were transported further east, and 80 +have disappeared--probably run away to live by pilfering and plunder. +Some of the last-named possibly have been killed by the Russians +and buried; for when the peasants catch men of this kind doing them +mischief, so far off are the courts, and so difficult is the bringing +of witnesses, that they take the law into their own hands, and put the +malefactors to death. In all, there should be now 547 persons living +at Werchne Sujetuk, including 358 Finns. But about 300 live away at +the gold-mines, and so it comes to pass that not more than 10 or 12 +families reside there regularly. + +[3] Apart from and in addition to these difficulties, however, there +were other considerations that dissuaded me from going--such as the +small number of Finns I should find, my ignorance of their language, +their not being in particular need of books, and the offer of the +pastor to enclose mine in a parcel he was sending to the catechist +he had left in charge. All this caused me to listen to what proved +good advice, and instead of going, I determined to send about a third +of my books by the pastor. When further east, I elected to go home +through America, consequently another third of my books was sent to the +Lutheran pastor at Omsk. Some were left also for the Lutheran pastor at +Irkutsk; and I gave the remainder to various prisons and persons for +the Finns in the east. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_SIBERIAN POSTING._ + + Travelling by post-horses.--The courier, crown, and ordinary + _podorojna_.--The tarantass.--Packing.--Harness.--Horses.-- + Roads.--Pains and penalties.--Crossing rivers.--Cost.--Speed.-- + Post-houses.--Meat and drink. + + +When you purpose to travel “post” in Russia, your first business is to +get a _podorojna_, or permit, of which there are three kinds. The first +is a “courier’s” podorojna, which is used by passengers travelling +in hot haste upon important--generally Government--business. Each +post-master reserves three horses in case a courier should arrive, in +which event only a certain number of minutes is allowed for changing +the horses, and away goes the courier at breathless speed. Not long +before my visit an exile, condemned to the east, had reached the city +of Tomsk, a distance of nearly 3,000 miles from the capital, when, +for some reason, his presence was required by the authorities in +Petersburg. They telegraphed, therefore, that he was to be brought back +_couriersky_; whereupon he was placed between two gendarmes, and then +over the stones they rattled the bones of that unfortunate man, till in +11 days they brought him to his destination. This sort of podorojna is +reserved for special messengers and persons of importance; but, after +hearing the foregoing story, I came to the conclusion that it is not +every one who would appreciate the privilege of travelling couriersky. + +Number 2 is a “crown” podorojna, recognised by post-boys who cannot +read by its having two seals. This is not paid for, and is usually +given to officers and persons on Government service, and sometimes to +favoured private individuals. The bearer crosses bridges and ferries +free, and need not pay for greasing his wheels; but its great advantage +is that, when there is a lack of horses, the owner of a crown podorojna +has a preferential claim. Podorojna number 3 is that used by ordinary +travellers, for which at the outset you have to pay, by way of tax, +a trifling amount per verst, according to the distance you intend to +travel. + +And now, having secured your podorojna, your next concern is for a +vehicle. If you simply take that to which your podorojna entitles +you, it will be a roofless, seatless, springless, semi-cylindrical +tumbril, mounted on poles which connect two wooden axletrees, and out +of this at every station you will have to shift yourself and your +baggage. This is called travelling _pericladnoi_. From such a fate, +gentle reader, may you be delivered! No, better buy a conveyance of +your own. The vehicle I have alluded to is called by the general name +of _tarantass_. The one you will purchase, though in many respects +similar, and by some called also a tarantass, will be dignified by the +post-boys with the appellation of an “equipage.” Like the other, it +will be mounted on poles for springs, but the axles and body of the +carriage will be of iron, and it will have a seat for the driver, and +a hood, with a curtain and apron, under which you may sit by day and +wherein you can sleep by night. The equipage may cost you from £20 to +£30, and, if given to mercantile transactions, you may consider on the +way how much you will gain or lose (for that is possible) by the sale +of your vehicle at the end of the journey. A third way is to get a +vehicle from one who--having come to Tomsk, for instance, to proceed +to Russia--wishes his carriage taken back to Irkutsk. It was our good +fortune to borrow the two we used, one being kindly lent by Mr. Oswald +Cattley. + +The packing of the vehicle requires nothing short of a Siberian +education. Avoid boxes as you would the plague! The edges and corners +will cruelly bruise your back and legs. Choose rather flat portmanteaus +and soft bags, and spread them on a layer of hay at the bottom of the +tarantass. Then put over them a thin mattress, and next a hearth-rug. +When we entered Tiumen, women besieged us with these hearth-rugs, as +I thought them. Not knowing what they were for, I could not conceive +what they meant by such conduct. Had my companion been a lady, I should +have deemed that they thought us on a bridal trip, and about to set +up housekeeping. But I was innocent of all such devices, and chased +the women away. When it was discovered what the carpets were for, I +regretted not having bought one. Next, put at the back of the carriage +two or more pillows of the softest down, for which please send on your +order in advance, because these must be bought as opportunity offers. +If a housewife has finished the manufacture of a down pillow she wishes +to sell, she will bring it into Ekaterineburg to market; but, if you +want such a thing on a given day, you may search the town and not get +one. + +You may now get in, cover your legs with a rug, and watch them +harness the horses. Siberian post-horses are sorry objects to look +at, but splendid creatures to go. A curry-comb probably never touches +their coats; but, under the combined influence of coaxing, scolding, +screaming, and whip, they attain a pace which in England would be +adjudged as nothing short of “furious driving.” They are smaller than +English horses, but much hardier, and are driven two, three, four, +or even five or more, abreast. The Russian harness is a complicated +affair, the most noticeable feature being the _douga_, or arched +bow, over the horse’s neck. To the foreigner this looks a needless +incumbrance, but the Russian declares that it holds the whole concern +together. The rods are fastened to the ends of the bow, and the horse’s +collar in turn to the shafts, so that the collar remains a fixture, +against which the horse is obliged to push. The shafts are supported by +a saddle and pad on the back, and do not touch the horse’s body. The +centre horse only is in rods; those on either side, how many soever +they be, are called a “pair,” and are merely attached by ropes. If you +have been wise, you have bought at the _Gostinnoi Dvor_ about 20 yards +of inch-rope to go all round the back of the vehicle, and to which are +attached the two outer horses. The post-men are supposed to supply +such a rope, but theirs are often thin and rotten. It is well, too, to +take several fathoms of half-inch rope. One of the wheels may become +rickety, and threaten to fall to pieces, in which case the rope will +be needed to interlace the spokes. A third supply should be laid in of +still smaller cord, in case of spraining a pole or the rods. Do not +forget to purchase besides a hatchet. All these we took, and more than +all were wanted. + +When the driver, or _yemstchik_, has taken his seat, the horses will +not stay a minute. Indeed, in some districts, the horses’ heads are +held while the driver mounts, and, when freed, they start with a bound. +And now begin your pains and penalties! + +When, at Nijni Tagilsk, we descended by ladders 600 feet into a +copper-mine, and came up in the same manner, we were warned that on +the following day we should be terribly stiff; but I aver that the +consequences were as nothing compared with those of the first day’s +travelling by tarantass. The roughness of the roads and the lack of +springs combine to cause a shaking up, the very remembrance of which +is painful. Let the reader imagine himself about to descend a hill +at the foot of which is a stream, crossed by a corduroy bridge of +poles. The ordinary tarantass has no brake, the two outer horses are +in loose harness, and the one in rods has no breeching. The whole +weight of the machine, therefore, is thrown on his collar, and the +first half of the hill is descended as slowly as may be. But the speed +soon increases, first because the rod-horse cannot help it, and next +because an impetus is desired to carry you up the opposite hill. All +three horses, therefore, begin to pull, and, long before the bridge is +reached, you are going at a flying pace, and everybody has to “hold +on.” The bridge is approached, and now comes the excruciating moment. +Most likely--almost to a certainty--the rain has washed away the +earth a good six inches below the first timber of the bridge, against +which bump! go your fore-wheels, and thump! go your hind ones; whilst +fare and driver are alike shot up high into the air. I have a lively +recollection of these ascents, some of which were so high that, when +travelling from Archangel to Lake Onega, we had the hood removed, +lest our skulls should strike the top. Happily, all roads are not so +perilously rough, and, briefly to summarize my experience of them, +I should say that those of Tobolsk and Tomsk are muddy, causing the +yemstchiks, when possible, to avoid them--to go into lanes and by-ways, +over hillocks and fallen timber, and down into holes and ditches, all +of which give variety to the route. The Yeneseisk roads deserve nothing +but praise; they are well kept, and would be reckoned good in England. +The Irkutsk ways deteriorate, and those beyond Baikal are worse than +all; for the Buriat yemstchiks drive you furiously over hillocks, +rocks, and stones. + +Nor are roads the only things to be traversed; there are numerous +streams and rivers--some with bridges, but more without. Through some +of these your horses simply walk; on others there is a well-kept ferry, +upon which you and your carriage are drawn or rowed. On one occasion +our vehicle was put on the ferry, and the horses made to swim the +stream. It sometimes happens, however, especially in early spring, +that the ice or floods have carried away or damaged the ferry, and +a flat-bottomed boat is temporarily substituted. In this manner we +crossed the Tom. The tarantass was lifted by degrees into the boat, +one wheel at a time. The boat was only just wide enough to take the +vehicle, and we were advised to let down the hood, lest the wind should +blow us over. This was about the only time I felt nervous, and I +confess being thankful when we safely reached the opposite shore. + +The cost of these pleasures of travel is not so great in Siberia as +might be supposed. In the western division, where pasture is abundant, +the hire of each horse is only about a halfpenny per mile. In Eastern +Siberia the fare is exactly double. Horses are changed about every +ten or fifteen miles, and each new driver looks for a gratuity, +euphemistically called “money for _tea_.” On the amount of the “tip” +depends your speed. Ten kopecks are often given, but we found fifteen +put the boys in better humour, and we made from 100 to 130 miles a +day. Two hundred versts in a day and night, for summer travelling, is +considered good, and we sometimes did it; but given a Russian merchant, +bound for a fair, where his early arrival will give him command of the +market, and then a “tip” of, say, a rouble a stage will in winter get +him over 300 versts, or 200 miles a day. It is common to hear Siberians +boast of quick journeys made thus, but they are usually attained only +at cruel cost to the horses. The reader may judge what speed can be +made from a story told us at Tiumen of a Governor-General of Eastern +Siberia, whom the late Emperor, some 12 winters ago, required on an +emergency at Petersburg, a distance from Irkutsk of 3,700 miles. The +General was put in a bear’s skin, wrapped up like a bundle, placed in +a sledge, and in 11 days was brought to the capital. Several horses +dropped dead on the way, an ear was cut from each as a voucher, and +the journey continued. When governors of provinces travel, they are +supplied with the best horses in the villages, and sometimes have them +changed at the half stage, so as to spare the animals whilst securing +extra speed. + +Having said this much about the vehicles, horses, and roads, the reader +may wonder how it fares with the traveller in the matters of lodging +and board, which brings me to the subject of post-houses. These, like +the post-horses, are the property of the Government, and are of very +varied quality, from the best--which have all the appearance and the +comfort of a roomy, well-established English farm-house or country +inn--to the worst, which are little better than hovels. Certain +features, however, are common to them all. On one side of the door, as +you enter, will be found the room in which the post-folks and their +children live, and on the other will be one or more rooms reserved +for travelling guests. The guests’ room will never contain less than +the following articles: a table, a chair, a candlestick, a bed, or +rather a bench--padded, if in a good house, but of bare boards in the +humbler ones--an _ikon_ or sacred picture, a looking-glass, and sundry +framed notices. One of these notices is a tariff of meat and drink--not +that you are to suppose for a moment that any amount of money would +purchase the luxuries named thereon, but the Government makes every +post-master take out a victualler’s licence, and named thereupon are +the prices which he would charge for the delicacies IF HE HAD THEM! +No--bed and board are the rub of Siberian travel. You may safely rely +upon getting at any station a supply of boiling water, and probably +some black bread; but beyond this all is uncertainty. In Western +Siberia milk and eggs are plentiful and cheap--the latter a farthing +each; and everywhere, if you arrive at dinner-time, there is a chance +of getting some meat, which you may or may not be able to eat. The fact +is, you must take your own provisions, and for this winter is better +than summer, because then you have simply to freeze your meat and chop +off a piece with your hatchet when required. It is easy, moreover, +to start with a stock of frozen meat pies, one of which, thrown in +hot water, is eatable in a few minutes; and so with lumps of frozen +cream. Tea and sugar are carried, of course, by every traveller in +Russia; and to these were added a small quantity of tinned meat, fresh +butter, anchovy paste, and marmalade--the last two as qualifiers in +case we were reduced to black bread. These things, with a stock of +white bread taken from the larger towns, formed a base, for which we +were thankful. If anything better fell in the way, it was so much to +the good; if white bread and butter failed, then we hoped for improved +circumstances. These remarks apply, of course, to the hundreds of miles +of country between the towns. In the towns we fared comparatively well. +Such are some of the features of tarantass travel for which we prepared +ourselves at Tomsk. What occurred will be related in its proper place. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_FROM TOMSK SOUTHWARDS._ + + Application for horses.--Effect of Petersburg letter.--A false + start.--A horse killed.--Attempted cooking.--Siberian + weather.--Meteorology.--Scenery.--Trees, plants, and flowers.--An + elementary school.--Education in Western Siberia. + + +Though our journey to Barnaul took place quite early in our posting +career, it was by no means devoid of incident. On Thursday, June 12th, +we sent for a “troika” of horses at noon, and were coolly told by the +postal authorities that we could have them towards midnight. Now the +chief of their department at Petersburg had favoured me with a special +letter, addressed to the post-masters on our route, enjoining them to +help me, and requesting that I might be delayed as little as possible. +We had been favoured likewise with a crown podorojna. This latter had +been presented, but to no purpose; and it seemed a clear case for +bringing our heavy artillery into action. We presented, therefore, the +postal letter, and the effect was magical. Before the official had half +read it, he sprang to his feet, eyed me respectfully, bustled off to +his chief, and, speedily returning, promised the horses in an hour. +They appeared punctually, and we started “troika” fashion--that is, +three horses driven abreast. Unfortunately, however, the _starosta_, +or man in charge of the postal yard, could not read our podorojna, +and he took it for granted that we wished to go towards Krasnoiarsk, +and told the yemstchik to drive us thither. Nor was it till we had run +some dozen miles or more that it was discovered we were not on the road +to Barnaul. We had, of course, to retrace our steps to Tomsk, and then +we heard that it was not the first time this starosta had sent off +travellers in the wrong direction. The mistake in our case had caused +the extra expenditure of eighteen pennyworth of horse-flesh, and I +thought it right to visit the loss of this sum on the starosta for the +benefit of future travellers as well as our own. I therefore declined +to pay for the privilege of having been taken out of our way, and left +the starosta to settle with the post-master. + +Making a fresh start, we found ourselves by nightfall near the river +Tom. The ordinary road was under water, and the banks of the stream +were so flooded that we were obliged to take a cross-country road +leading some 25 miles out of the way; and as it went over hill and +dale, and almost “hedges and ditches,” we were advised to stay till +morning. But we pushed on, crossed the river at daybreak, and at the +third station, in the direction of the Barabinsky steppe, turned +southwards, and travelled well till Saturday evening, when, on stopping +awhile to rest the horses, one of them dropped and died upon the +spot. We were pulling the creature off the road--one having hold of a +leg, another of her tail, and so on--when the remaining horses, as if +indignant at such conduct, rushed over the bank, and tore away with the +tarantass into the forest. Some of us pursued, and fortunately caught +and brought them back without further harm. The loss of a horse is +more serious in Eastern than in Western Siberia, where people have +herds of horses worthy of patriarchs. One lady told me that her husband +possessed from 4,000 to 5,000 horses, and about as many cows. Pasturage +is abundant, and horse-flesh is cheap. Our horse was reckoned a good +one, and valued at £4 10_s._ The post-master could claim nothing from +us for its loss, and thanked us warmly for 10_s._ towards repairing his +damage. As we went along we saw large herds of mares with their foals, +turned loose for the summer in company with a single horse to guard +them. Should danger approach, in the form of a wild beast for instance, +the stallion drives all the mares within a circle with their heels +outwards, and the foals in the centre, whilst he stamps the ground with +rage and dares the wolf to come within reach of their hoofs. + +When we reached the last river we had to cross, which at ordinary +times was probably not half a mile wide, we found it so flooded that +the ferry-boat had a journey of more than five miles. This took a long +while, and, when returning, we thought to save time by eating a meal on +the water. In my luncheon-basket is a “Rob Roy” cuisine, with a view +to the using of which, before leaving England, I took an evening’s +cooking lesson. I was now anxious to demonstrate to the Russians that +it was possible to make a cup of tea without the aid of a _samovar_. +We therefore commenced operations, there being on board not only our +own three horses, but half-a-dozen others with their drivers and +tarantasses. The great advantage of this cuisine is that, whereas a +puff of wind may extinguish an ordinary spirit-lamp, the “Rob Roy,” by +setting fire to the steam of the spirit, burns so furiously that a +hurricane will not blow it out. It makes, however, a considerable roar; +and when matters reached this stage, not only were all the natives +surprised, but the horses began so to kick and to plunge that we feared +an upset. One of the drivers said his horse was 30 years old, and had +never heard such a noise in his life! So, for the general safety of all +on board, I packed up my kitchen and had to forego the tea. + +Hitherto our Siberian tour had been highly enjoyable. South of Tomsk +the weather was charming, and the new spring vegetation lovely. A +question that has been repeatedly put to me since my return to England +is, “Did you not find it very cold in Siberia?” It may be well, +therefore, that this question should here be answered. Snow fell on +the night we entered the country, and the ground next morning, May +29th, was white; but the snow disappeared after an hour or two, and +we saw no more for some days. By the 5th of June we reached on the +Obi a latitude 100 miles north of Petersburg, where the buds had not +yet opened, nor had the winter floods subsided. I heard subsequently +that the opening of spring had come that year unusually early in +Petersburg, and exceptionally late in Siberia, where the ice usually +breaks up at Tobolsk at the end of April. On the 6th of June we had +snow, and the trees on the banks had little verdure till we reached +Tomsk on the 9th, after which fine weather set in, and was followed by +almost uninterrupted sunshine till the beginning of autumn. The summer +climate, therefore, of those parts of Siberia through which I passed +I consider simply delightful--neither oppressively hot by day nor +unpleasantly cold by night. + +Before leaving England, my neighbour, Mr. Glaisher the meteorologist, +had urged me to take a few instruments for the purpose of making +observations, and had kindly lent me for the journey a valuable +unmounted thermometer. I took, besides, an aneroid barometer, a +compass, an anemometer, maximum and minimum thermometers, and two +others. With these instruments I felt very much like a boy leaving +home on a summer morning with excellent fishing tackle, and bent on +taking nothing less than trout. When returning, I felt that I had +brought back minnows. On my first night out, at Cologne, my apparatus +was duly exposed from the hotel window, and on reaching Petersburg I +climbed daily to the top of the hotel to measure the velocity of the +wind. At the copper-mine at Nijni Tagilsk I was resolved on being very +learned, and took my instruments to test the temperature of springs and +the velocity of air currents. But, alas! I broke my thermometer, and, +having reached the bottom of the mine, had forgotten, when undressing, +to take my watch. On the Obi I was able to take a few observations, but +it was impossible to continue this during posting journeys; and further +on I broke my minimum thermometer, after which I abandoned hope of +attaining meteorological distinction.[1] + +The journey to Barnaul revealed to us beauties of scenery and +vegetation for which we were hardly prepared after the flat and +leafless districts through which we had been passing. The landscape +now became undulating, and the traveller who passes further south to +Biisk, and beyond, approaches the regions of the Altai chain, which are +spoken of as well worth seeing.[2] The grass between Tomsk and Barnaul +was remarkable, and the further south we went the more luxuriant it +became. Much of the flora was familiar, but we were now introduced to +a good many trees, shrubs, plants, and flowers, found more or less in +the country west of Irkutsk, that were new to us. The most prominent of +the trees was the white-barked birch, justly called the “lady of the +forest.” We saw also the cedar-nut tree, the pitch pine, the larch, +the flowering acacia, spruce fir, and alder, the white-pine, willow, +lime, Siberian poplar, laburnum, and white-flowering cheriomkha--the +last a beautiful object when in blossom, and yielding for fruit a small +bird cherry. Among the shrubs appeared the white hawthorn, and an +abundance of wild red currants, which, like bird cherries, are eaten +by the people--the latter being made into bread and cakes, and, in +common with other fruits, put into brandy to make _naliphka_. These +fruits are very sour as compared with the English kinds. Strawberry +and raspberry plants abounded, though we did not get our first plate +of wild strawberries till 11th July. In autumn, numerous berries +are plentiful, such as cranberries (called _klukva_), bilberries, +cowberries, bearberries, stoneberries, the mountain ash berry, and +the Arctic bramble. All these are found, too, in European Russia, +north of Petersburg, the last having a blossom like a single rose, a +strawberry leaf, and a fruit resembling the English blackberry. In +summer, strawberries and raspberries are the best fruits within reach +of the Siberian traveller until he reaches the southern region of the +Amur. Among the spring flowers we missed (or perhaps overlooked) the +pale primrose; but violets are found, also sweet-williams, daisies, +foxgloves, rich camomile flowers, the wild rose, crocus, lily of +the valley, and many others. The fields were actually blue with +forget-me-nots. We noticed also on this journey what was to me a new +plant, bearing an orange flower something like a buttercup, but very +much larger, and of which there were many. Also east of Tomsk we saw +a large red lily, made much of in English gardens, but which here was +growing wild; also, in great abundance, a red flower very much like the +peony. + +On the road to Barnaul, at a place called Medvedsky, is an elementary +school, to which, in returning, we paid a visit, and so were brought +into contact with village education.[3] There were in attendance 32 +boys and girls, of ages varying from 6 to 16, most of whom came from +distant places (some 30 miles off), and lodged in the village. Only +8 were from the immediate neighbourhood. Adults sometimes attend the +school, in which the education is free, the school being supported by +the commune or _mir_. The scholars attend daily from 8 o’clock till 2, +after which hour some of them learn bookbinding. Sundays and saints’ +days are holidays, but the children are required to be every Sunday +at church. There was a priest in the room giving instruction. I asked +the children some Scripture questions, but was poorly answered. Many +of the children, however, jumped at the opportunity of purchasing a +New Testament for 1¼_d._, and we left a supply for them. The master +wished the boys to be examined in arithmetic, whereupon, among other +questions, I asked them, “What two numbers multiplied together make +7?” They knitted their brows as if making a great effort--and even the +master’s countenance seemed to betray that he thought the question too +difficult. All laughed heartily, however, when, on giving it up, I told +them that the factors were 7 and 1. The master lived in an adjoining +part of the house; and in this far-off place I observed on the wall of +the schoolmaster’s room, as I had seen on that of one of the prison +officials at Tiumen, an English engraving of the portrait of Professor +Darwin. The schoolmaster said I was the first Englishman he had seen, +gladly purchased some of our books, and thanked us for our visit. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] My scientific attempts brought me in contact with some pleasant +people; notably Captain Rykatcheff, of the Observatory in Petersburg, +and with others at Moscow, Ekaterineburg, Tomsk, etc.; at all of which +places they have observatories, that near Petersburg being, I was told, +in some respects better than ours at Greenwich. The Russians take +considerable pains in collecting data from 103 stations throughout +the Empire, of which 14 are in Siberia, namely: at Omsk, Akmolinsk, +Semipolatinsk, Tomsk, Barnaul, Kuznetsk, Yeneseisk, Turukhansk, +Irkutsk, Kiakhta, Nertchinsk mines, Blagovestchensk, Nikolaefsk, and +Vladivostock. The Russians have an observatory also in China, at +Peking; and I think I heard of some new ones established on the Obi. +They register thrice daily--at seven, one, and nine--the readings of +the barometer, the dry and wet bulb thermometers giving the temperature +and humidity of the atmosphere, the direction of the wind, and the +amount of clouds, rain, snow, etc.; and these statistics are collected +and published at Petersburg with a fulness which exceeds, I am told, +anything that we do in poor England. I was presented with the Report +for 1877 (the last then published)--a great volume of 600 pages. It +will be from this source that I shall from time to time air before the +reader my meteorological learning. Tomsk was the first of the Siberian +stations at which we arrived, where the maximum temperature of the year +rose, at one o’clock on the 6th August, to 106°.9, and the minimum +temperature, 83°.2 below zero, occurred on Christmas Day. At Barnaul, +some 200 miles south, it was a little hotter and a little colder, the +maximum being 107°.8, and the minimum 84°.8 below zero. On the Sunday +we spent there, June 15th, the temperature was the hottest we had +experienced up to that time in Siberia; and we heard it is so cold in +winter that small birds sometimes drop dead in the streets. + +[2] The entire Altai system extends in a serpentine line, and under +various names, from the Irtish to Behring Strait. The breadth of the +chain varies from 400 to 1,000 miles. Its entire length is about 4,500 +miles, but it is only to the portion west of Lake Baikal that the term +Altai is applied. This part consists of a succession of terraces with +swelling outline, descending in steps from the high tableland, and +terminating in promontories on the Siberian plains. On these terraces +(some of them at great height) are numerous lakes. The ordinary +tablelands are given as not more than 6,000 feet high, and as seldom +covered with perpetual snow, though it is otherwise with the Korgan +tableland, which reaches 9,900 feet; and the two pillars of Katunya, +which are said to attain to nearly 13,000 feet above the sea level. At +the western extremity of the chain are metalliferous veins, in which +several important workings have been established since 1872. + +[3] In the uyezd or district of Tiumen, which is one out of 9 in the +province of Tobolsk, there are 24 schools; at Tobolsk we heard of 12 +schools more. In the villages about Barnaul there are few schools, but +there are some in the district of the mines and the works. In Tomsk +are a few upper-class schools, as also at Tobolsk; and we met at Tomsk +a school inspector. Further, from the _Golos_ of 25th June, 1879 (old +style), it appeared that the Russian Government had lately opened +a classical school, or _gymnase_, at Omsk; a _real_, or commercial +school, at Tomsk; and _pro-gymnases_, or preparatory classical +schools for girls, at Tomsk and Barnaul. It was further stated that +in 1878 there were in Western Siberia 22 upper-class schools, with an +attendance of 3,200 scholars; and that other such schools were asked +for at Semipolatinsk, Petropavlovsk, Kainsk, and Barnaul. In Western +Siberia, in 1878, 546 schools of a lower class existed, numbering +15,000 scholars, of whom, however, the remarkable preponderance of +13,000 boys over 2,000 girls is startling. The Russians have had +schools for some time for Kirghese boys, and they have two also for +Kirghese girls; whilst, as observed before, they opened in 1879 a +school at Obdorsk for the Ostjaks and Samoyedes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_BARNAUL._ + + Situation of town.--Cemetery.--Burial of the dead.--The Emperor’s + usine.--Visit to Mr. Clark.--Visits to hospital and prison.--A + recently-enacted tragedy.--Crime of the district.--Smelting of + silver and gold.--Price of land and provisions.--Return to Tomsk. + + +We reached Barnaul very early on Sunday morning, having traversed, +after leaving the flooded river Obi, a miniature _Sahara_, or desert +of sand. Barnaul, like Tobolsk and Tomsk, lies at the foot of a hill. +It has 13,000 inhabitants. On the top of the hill is a cemetery, which +was the first we had met with; but it did not convey a favourable +impression of Siberian burying-places. Indeed, I have not been greatly +struck by Russian cemeteries, whether in Europe or in Asia, though +on the graves of their emperors the Russians place monuments of +considerable taste, which deserve to be placed in the same category +with memorials of the departed such as those of Frederick William +III. and his Queen at Charlottenburg, or the tomb of Napoleon in the +Hotel des Invalides. But it is otherwise, as I have said, with average +Russian tombs.[1] + +From the cemetery at Barnaul are seen its half-dozen churches and a +large building known as the Emperor’s _usine_, or gold and silver +smelting works. Most of the business of the town is connected with +mining; and many surveyors and engineers live in the adjacent mountains +in summer, and in Barnaul in winter. The discovery of the precious +metals in the Altai regions was made by one of the Demidoffs, who is +said to have been sent there by Peter the Great. His monument in brass +stands in the public square at Barnaul. We had an introduction to the +manager of the usine, Mr. Clark, who is the son of an Englishman, and +who reads but does not speak his father’s language. We found in his +spacious house a good collection of English books, together with copies +of the _Nineteenth Century_, the _Graphic_, _All the Year Round_, and +the weekly edition of the _Times_. On the Sunday afternoon our host +took us to visit the poor-house and the hospital. In this latter were +14 rooms, which had the advantage of being very lofty and airy, though +they struck me as not particularly tidy. + +In the 9 rooms of the prison were 120 criminals, one of whom, a day +or two previously, had within the prison walls enacted a tragedy, +the circumstances of which would furnish material for a sensational +novel. The rooms of the prison are ranged on either side of a wide +corridor, and in one of them was a number of women, one of whom had +murdered her husband and was condemned to Eastern Siberia, to which +she was on her way, though for some reason detained at Barnaul. In one +of the male wards was a young man, formerly under-manager of a shop in +the town, who had been suspected of stealing, and was imprisoned for +three months. He had served out this time within a week; but during +his stay in the prison he made the acquaintance of, and became more +or less attached to, the murderess, holding conversation with her +from the corridor during the time allowed for exercise. Another male +prisoner was by these two taken into council, and the three determined +to attempt an escape, by means of wooden keys which the men were to +make. The plot, however, was discovered, and the woman, finding that +she must proceed to her destination and leave her lover, tried to kill +herself. But she was prevented. She therefore adopted another plan of +ridding herself of life. In the door of the women’s chamber was an +inspection-hole, unusually large. This she cut a little larger, thrust +her head through into the corridor where the man was walking, and +begged him, if he loved her, to take her life; upon which he took a +knife, cut her throat, and so effectually killed her. We saw the stains +of the blood still on the door, for the deed had been done only a day +or two before our visit. Close at hand was the prisoner, placed in a +separate and rather dark cell, and chained hand and foot--the only man +I saw so chained in Siberia. As he walked out of his cell, I walked in, +and found on the floor a quantity of cigarettes and a book of songs. +Upon my pointing to the cigarettes, the officer said that the prisoners +managed to smuggle them in; and then came out the old story, that this +prisoner had managed also to smuggle in drink, under the influence of +which he had committed this horrid murder. On asking what punishment +he would be likely to receive, we were told that he would probably +be condemned to hard labour for about 16 years; and we were further +informed that in the small district of Barnaul, consisting of less than +half the population of Liverpool, there are usually about 10 murders +a year. As we went from room to room, the police-master introduced me +to the prisoners as an Englishman travelling through Siberia who had +brought them books, which usually elicited an expression of thanks. We +left them a New Testament and papers for each room, doing the like also +for the hospital and poor-house, and sending a supply for the prison at +Biisk. + +[Illustration: CONVICT SUMMER CLOTHING AND CHAINS.] + +On Monday we went with Mr. Clark to see the Emperor’s usine, to which +is brought mineral from Smirnagorsk, 200 miles distant, as well as from +other parts of the Altai mountains, where are mines, the ore from which +contains for the more part copper and silver. They find there but very +little lead. Nor is the quantity of iron worked at all large--chiefly, +I believe, for lack of capital and energy. In 1879 only 507 tons of +iron were cast, and 238 tons wrought in the government of Tomsk. Many +thousand _poods_ of copper are obtained annually in the district, but +not smelted at Barnaul. These mines are called the private mines of the +Emperor, and the revenues belong to the Crown. In them are employed +from 1,500 to 2,000 men (not, in this case, convicts), and the ore from +the Altai regions is brought to be smelted to four different works for +silver, and one for copper. + +The smelting of silver is carried on at Barnaul all the year round. +They burn charcoal, which costs 10_s._ a ton. The ore as brought from +the mine is called _mineral_, and 4,000 tons of mineral yield 2 tons of +silver--that is, 2,000 parts of ore yield one part of pure metal.[2] + +We went from the usine to the museum, which could not fail to be +interesting to a mining engineer or a geologist. There was a large and +well-assorted collection of minerals; models of the principal Altai +silver-mines, showing the shafts, adits, and galleries, with their +machinery; models of gold-washing machines, of quartz mills, and of +furnaces and works in various parts of Siberia. Among the natural +curiosities of the museum were the stock of a tree, with branches that +represented pretty accurately a man in a sitting posture; and a piece +of wood, which, when split, had been found to contain a cross inside. +In the ethnological department were some good costumes of the Kirghese +and of a Tunguse _shaman_, or priest and priestess. They had also in +another room an eagle’s nest, and several specimens of the Altai eagle; +but in the zoological department the most remarkable specimen was the +stuffed skin of a tiger killed in the southern part of the district, +where this animal is usually unknown. + +The price of land and provisions at Barnaul was such as might make many +a man sigh to live there. The price for the hire of cleared black soil +was 3½_d._ an English acre. We saw them scratching the surface of it +(for their instrument was so shallow that it was a mockery to call it +ploughing), and yet such farming yields there an abundant crop. They +take just a little of their stable manure for cucumber beds, but burn +the rest to get rid of it, never thinking of putting it on the land; +but when they have used a field for a few years, and it is becoming +exhausted, they take fresh ground. The cost of provisions in this +fertile district is on a level with the prices quoted on the Obi. Black +rye flour costs half-a-farthing per English pound; undressed wheat +flour, such as we use for brown bread, costs 2_s._ per cwt.; whilst +white wheaten flour costs up to 16_s._ for a sack of 180 pounds. The +price of meat is similar. In the summer, when it will not keep and is +dear, beef costs 1¼_d._ per lb.; but in winter, when it can be kept in +a frozen condition, it sells for less than ½_d._ per English pound. +Veal is more expensive, and costs 1½_d._; whilst aristocratic persons, +who live on grouse, have to pay as much as from 2_d._ to 2½_d._ per +brace. In this part of Siberia it is rare to find a peasant without +a stock of horses and cows, and a man with a family to help him can +make an excellent living. When I wrote, in April 1880, some letters to +the _Times_ on Siberian prisons, one gentleman said he thought there +would be a _rush_ thither, because I made things look so comfortable. +In case, therefore, the quotation of these prices should tempt any of +my readers to emigrate, I think it right to point out that in this +district carriage is dear and labour is scarce, a workman earning 1_s._ +3_d._ a day, or, if provided with food, 6_s._ a month. + +We should have liked well to have stayed longer in this part of the +country, and to have made our way among the hordes south and west, +in the provinces of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, which contain a +population of 10,000 and 9,000 respectively.[3] Our time, however, +did not permit of our so doing; and therefore, after a very pleasant +stay at Barnaul, and a final lunch with Mr. Clark, we bade our host +adieu, and on Wednesday, June 18th, we re-entered Tomsk, where we found +our luggage arrived, and for the carriage of which, by steamer, Mr. +Ignatoff--to his liberality be it said--would make no charge. When I +added this concession to the reduced rate we had paid on the Obi for +our tarantass, our berths, and excess luggage--to say nothing of the +personal attention shown on board to “Mr. Missionary,”--and all this +without my having breathed a word as to charges, I thought it very +handsome, and I gladly record this good deed spontaneously emanating +from beneath the double-breasted coat of a Russian merchant. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In the Russian Church there are five offices for the burial of the +dead, namely, two for the laity, and one each for monks, priests, and +children. The priest is sent for immediately after death, and performs +a service. The rich usually have relays of priests to continue praying +so long as the corpse remains in the house. Burials always take place +in the morning. The corpse is taken into the church with the face +uncovered, looking eastward, and before removal is kissed by the priest +and relatives. At the grave the priest casts earth upon it. Further +(though this is not ecclesiastically prescribed), the Russians have +services for the dead at the grave, or at the church, on the third, the +ninth, and the fortieth day, also on the anniversaries of the departed +one’s death and birthday, the last two being continued for some persons +for many years. They do not, however, believe in purgatory. + +[2] The processes of smelting are three. The mineral is first powdered, +and a handful taken to the assaying house. Here we saw a man making +small crucibles of clay, at the rate of 1,000 a day. In two cups, one +having bone in its composition, is put an ascertained quantity of the +mineral: both are placed in the furnace, and the result shows what +proportion of pure metal the mineral will yield. The powdered mineral +is then taken to furnace No. 1, which is like an iron furnace, and from +20 to 30 feet high. Into this the mineral is put with charcoal, and, +after remaining there about 12 hours, there comes out of the furnace +a black compound of lead and silver called _ruststein_. The ruststein +is then placed in furnace No. 2 with lead, and, after remaining there +for a short time (three tons, for instance, for an hour), the silver +is extracted by the lead, and the compound which comes out is called +_werchblei_. This is put into furnace No. 3, where 16 tons would remain +three days, with the result that the lead oxydizes into _glot_, and +is run off, whilst the silver remains and sinks to the bottom of the +furnace. It is then taken out in round cakes from 12 to 15 inches in +diameter, and sent to Petersburg. The cakes we saw had a dull hue, very +much resembling lumps of newly molten lead, and were valued at £3 6_s._ +8_d._ per pound. + +A simpler process is the smelting of gold, carried on in a room about +20 feet square, having a tall furnace in the centre, in which are fires +not much larger than those in a laundry copper. The gold is brought +to the usine in dust and small nuggets, tied up in leather bags, and +begins to arrive from the mines at the end of June. The smelting goes +on to the end of October. Some of the leathern bags were shown to us, +duly sealed, and with particulars written thereon. One, about the size +of a hen’s egg, was worth £36; and another, the size of a blackbird’s +egg, was marked £5. When opened, the gold, just as it comes from the +washings, with borax as a flux, is put into an earthenware pot, and +then placed in the fire, after which it fuses, and is poured out into +an iron mould in the shape of a flat bar. A bar we saw weighed 15 +pounds. + +In the season they sometimes have in the strong-room 250 poods--say +from four to five tons--of gold, which the previous summer had been +worth £2,000 a pood, making a total value of £500,000 for gold alone. +At the end of the season the silver and gold are sent to the capital, +under charge of a military escort. + +[3] Dr. Finsch, who travelled with an exploring party up the Irtish +in 1876, has put on record much information of a scientific character +about this part of Siberia. Mr. Atkinson, an English artist, with his +wife, also spent seven years in Central Asia and the Kirghese steppes. +He gives fuller information than I have met elsewhere of the Kirghese, +who number nearly 1,500,000 souls. They live either in tents or in +caverns resembling rabbit burrows, both of which are filthy beyond +measure. The appearance of the Kirghese, judging by those I saw in the +prisons, is anything but prepossessing--the nose sinks into the face, +and the cheeks are large and bloated. They eat chiefly mutton and +horse-flesh, and drink tea and mare’s milk. The last, when fermented, +is called _koumis_, and is kept in the tent in a large leathern sack, +said to be never washed out. The Kirghese are splendid horsemen; and +their usual occupation is tending sheep, goats, horses, and camels, +of which they possess immense herds. Indeed, I was told that, in the +_aoul_ or encampment of a rich Kirghese chief, one can see in the +present day the principal objects that were witnessed 4,000 years ago, +when the patriarch Abraham was a dweller in tents, and pastured cattle. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_THE SIBERIAN CHURCH._ + + The Russian Church.--Geographical area.--History, doctrines, + schisms.--Ecclesiastical divisions of Siberia.--Church + committees.--Russian Church services.--Picture-worship.-- + Vestments.--Liturgy.--Ordination.--Baptism.--Marriage.--Minor + services. + + +It will be expected, of course, in a journey from the Urals to the +Pacific, that something should be said of the Siberian Church, to treat +of which is to treat of the Russian Church in Siberia. Wherever the +Russians carry their arms, there, like the Romans, they carry their +creed; and consequently all along the great Siberian highways, where +the Russians dwell, they have their ecclesiastical system as in Europe. +I shall therefore speak generally of things concerning the Greek +Church, whether in Russia or Siberia, and illustrate them by what I +have seen. + +Our knowledge of the Russian Church comes to us chiefly from two +sources: from the pens of ecclesiastical authors, and from the writings +of modern travellers. From the latter, it is not too much to say that +the Russians and their religion often receive a scant measure of +justice, not to add misrepresentation; for when the British tourist +looks upon the gorgeous and elaborate ritual of an Eastern Church, +sees the picture-worship of the people, their kissing of relics, and +invocation of saints, he is reminded of like things in the Churches of +Italy and Spain, and he not unfrequently condemns both East and West +as superstitious and corrupt alike. Such a charge, however, is far too +sweeping, and betrays a lack of knowledge of many points which, if +more generally known, would certainly bring English Churchmen nearer, +at least in sympathy, with members of the Church in Russia. On the +other hand, the writings of ecclesiastical authors are usually so +technical as to fail in bringing before us what the traveller sees as +the everyday religious life of a people. It is desirable to avoid these +two extremes, and to distinguish between the recognized standards of a +Church’s teaching, and the correspondence therewith, or otherwise, of +the daily lives of its members.[1] + +I do not propose to enter here upon the history,[2] doctrines,[3] or +schisms[4] of the Russian Church, but proceed to observe that, for +ecclesiastical purposes, Siberia is divided into six dioceses, presided +over by 7 bishops. It contains 1,515 churches and 1,509 clergy; 14 +monasteries containing 147 monks, and 4 nunneries containing 62 nuns. +Russian dioceses are subdivided into rural deaneries, each consisting +of a circle of from ten to thirty parishes, some of which, in Siberia, +must be very extensive, though not necessarily populous. A priest near +Tobolsk, however, told me that he had 5,000 parishioners; another +at Kansk, near Irkutsk, had 2,000, widely scattered; whilst on the +Siberian coast of the Pacific, Nikolaefsk and Vladivostock, towns of +3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants respectively, form only one parish each. +Every _selo_ or town of a certain grade has a church; and in some of +the _derevni_, or villages, churches and small chapels, or oratories, +are built, in which latter, services, other than the liturgy or holy +communion, may be performed. The churches and vestments are furnished +and kept in repair by parochial committees, of not less than five +persons, elected annually, who, on retiring from office, are called +“church elders.” They visit every house in the parish, and determine +what proportion of the expenses should be paid by each householder. +There would seem to be no difficulty in raising the necessary funds; +and I must add that I was agreeably surprised in Siberia to see how +well and how clean the churches were kept, even in the remotest and +most out-of-the-way places.[5] + +We had several opportunities, in passing through Siberia, of attending +the Church services. Picture-worship is an almost universal attendant +of Russian devotion--more so, if possible, than in Roman countries; +and the Russian Church has found it necessary to issue many warnings +against the perils of idolatry.[6] + +Another prominent feature of “orthodox” worship is the plentiful use +of lighted candles bought at the church entrance. In one church in +Petersburg, and that not the largest, I was told that money is taken +yearly for candles up to 10,000 roubles--say £1,000. + +The vestments of the priests and bishops are gorgeous in the extreme. A +metropolitan’s “_sakkos_” is shown at Moscow, which is said to weigh 50 +pounds, by reason of the pearls and gems with which it is embellished. +At the Troitza monastery are fifteen dresses for the Archimandrite, one +of which, for the mere making, cost the Empress Elizabeth £600, the +robe itself being valued at £11,000. This monastery is said to possess +amongst its treasures two bushels of pearls, and, from what I have +twice seen there, I am inclined to add an estimated _pint_ of diamonds, +to say nothing of emeralds, rubies, and sapphires innumerable! + +The Church services are of a monastic character, long and tedious, read +in Sclavonic, “which is to the modern Russian,” it is said, “about what +the language of Chaucer is to us”; so that, what with its ancient form +and the rapidity with which the ecclesiastical language is read, it is +practically unintelligible to many of the people. From time to time +in the services commemorations are made of the Virgin and saints; and +prayers are offered to them, blessings are asked of God through their +intercessions, and the response, _Gospodi Pomilui_, “Lord, have mercy!” +is uttered thirty, forty, fifty times or more, almost at a breath. + +No instrumental music is allowed in the Russian Church; but the singing +in large cathedrals, such as St. Isaac’s at Petersburg (where they have +30 choristers dressed in blue and gold tunics), is exceedingly grand. +I do not remember to have heard elsewhere such extraordinary harmony. +The basses descended to depths almost abyssmal, and the trebles soared +to and were sustained at a height perfectly marvellous, whilst other +voices were so profusely blended that I can compare the effect of +the whole to nothing better than to an exquisite colored window. The +hymn called “The Cherubim,” with music by Bortnyanski, I heard sung +at Petersburg and Kasan; and at the latter place was not surprised to +see tears falling from the eyes of a peasant woman near me, for my own +were uncommonly moist. I made bold to approach and look over the music +of one of the choristers, thereby alarming the Monk director, who, +mistaking my interest, said afterwards he thought I had perchance come +from the Imperial choir to take away some of his best voices. + +The ritual and services of the Russian Church are contained in twenty +volumes folio. The greatest part of the service varies every day in the +year except in the Liturgy, where the greater part is fixed.[7] + +As we passed through Kasan we happened to see the ordination of a +priest and a deacon, which was interesting. Holy orders are regarded by +the Russian Church as a sacrament or mystery, but are not indelible. +If, for instance, a widower priest wishes to marry again, he can do +so by resigning his priest’s orders and taking some inferior place +among the minor orders, or by giving up his ecclesiastical profession +altogether. They have five orders, namely, bishop, priest, deacon, +sub-deacon, and reader; and the episcopal dignitaries consist of +metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops, some of which latter are +suffragans.[8] + +The services connected with baptism in the Russian Church were formerly +very numerous, though now they are frequently more or less combined;[9] +one principal difference in _practice_ between the Greek and English +Churches being that the former _always_ baptizes by immersion. The +child is usually named after one of the saints in the Russian calendar, +the yearly recurrence of whose festival constitutes the person’s +“name’s-day.” This is observed in Russia more than the “birth-day,” +which practice has the advantage that if the Christian name of a +friend is familiar, one always knows when to congratulate him. + +Marriage is counted one of the sacraments or mysteries of the Greek +Church, but virginity is taught to be better than wedlock. Priests are +commanded, under pain of degradation, not to join in wedlock persons +of unsuitable ages, nor those ignorant of the essential articles of +the faith, and in no case without due notice given. The Russian Church +fixes the age of majority for the bridegroom at twenty-one, or, by +permission of parents, as early as eighteen, and sixteen for the bride; +it frowns on second and third marriages, and forbids fourth marriages +altogether.[10] + +There are yet other services, such as the so-called sacrament of +penance, which closely resembles, but differs in two important respects +from, that of the Church of Rome.[11] + +And, again, the Russian sacrament of unction differs in more than one +respect from the Roman.[12] + +For the benediction of water there are two offices: the lesser, which +is used whenever consecrated water is required, and the greater, which +is performed at the Epiphany, in memory of the baptism of Christ, and +is carried out with great ceremony. Another office in the Russian +Church is that of “Orthodox Sunday,” which is in form somewhat similar +to the English “Commination Service,” and in which anathemas are +pronounced against those who impugn various articles of the Russian +faith. Yet another service is “the Office of the Holy Unction,” that +is, for preparing the chrism,[13] and there are other occasional and +curious services, such as for the consecration of a church; for an +icon or picture; washing the feet on Thursday in Holy Week; prayers on +laying the first stone of a house; for seed time; longer offices to +be used in drought, earthquake, plague, incursion of barbarians, for +children when they commence their education, and many more; but I think +that on this head I have said enough. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In connection with this subject, we constantly meet with the +terms “Eastern Church,” “Greek Church,” and “Russian Church.” Let +us distinguish between them. If on a map of Europe a line be drawn +from the White Sea southwards to Petersburg, thence along the western +border of Russia to Cracow, then along the eastern and southern +frontier of Austria to the Adriatic, this line will roughly divide +Christendom between the Churches of the East and of the West. Eastern +Christendom is sometimes divided into three main groups of Churches, +the _first_ group being the Chaldean, the Armenian, the Syrian, the +Egyptian, and the Georgian Churches. The second is the _Greek_ Church, +whose members, speaking the Greek language, are found as far south +as the desert of Mount Sinai, through all the coasts and islands in +the Levant and the Archipelago, and whose centre is Constantinople. +This is the only living representative of the once powerful Church of +Constantine, called the “Orthodox Imperial Church.” The _third_ group +of Eastern Churches consists partly of the Sclavonic peoples, found in +the provinces of the Lower Danube, Bulgaria, Servia, Wallachia, and +Moldavia; and partly, and much more largely, of the Sclavonic people +of Russia. The Russian Church, therefore, is an offshoot of the Greek +Church of Constantinople, once the centre of Eastern Christianity, +which Greek Church, by reason of its former Imperial grandeur, +sometimes gives its name to the other Oriental communions. + +[2] _See_ Appendix A. + +[3] _See_ Appendix B. + +[4] _See_ Appendix C. + +[5] Besides this parish church committee, there was formerly, and may +be now in some instances, in large towns, a “directory,” consisting of +about four members. In each diocese there is a “consistory,” of from +five to seven members, presided over by the bishop, the whole being +under the synod. Appeals, therefore, lie from the directories (where +they exist) to the consistory, from the consistory to the bishop, and +from the bishop to the synod. The synod, which has equal civil rank +with the senate, and the ecclesiastical rank of a patriarch, consists +of bishops and priests, whose nomination, appointment, and length of +membership depend on the will of the Sovereign. There sits also with +them a lay procurator, who is the crown representative, and who has a +_veto_ which can be reversed only by appeal to the Emperor. + +[6] The “orthodox” Church draws a nice distinction between the +unlawfulness of using in church an image proper, and the lawfulness +of using the same image if carved on a flat surface; but the ordinary +observer, who beholds people in an Eastern Church bowing down before +graven images and likenesses of things that are in heaven and in earth, +must find it exceedingly difficult to determine where reverence ends +and idolatry begins. + +[7] This Liturgy (which in the Greek Church always means the office for +the Holy Communion, and is the ordinary morning service) is divided +into three parts, namely, “the offering,” during which the bread and +wine are offered by the people, and prepared by the priest; “the +liturgy of the catechumens,” during which the Epistle and Gospel are +read; and “the liturgy of the faithful,” during which the elements +are administered. The priest and deacon receive the bread and wine +separately, as with us; the laity receive bread and wine mixed +together from a spoon, and standing; whilst to infants wine only is +administered, for fear of ejection. The priest receives daily, the +devout quarterly or oftener, and every one by _law_ yearly. + +[8] Each of the five orders has a separate ordination. At the +ordination of a _reader_, he is clothed with a vestment called a +_sticharion_; and the bishop among other things says to him, “Son, ... +it is your duty daily to study the Holy Scriptures, and to endeavour +to make such proficiency therein that those who hear you may receive +edification.” A _sub-deacon_, on ordination, wears an _orarion_, like +an English stole, girded crosswise over his shoulders. The bishop +puts a towel also on the left shoulder of the newly ordained, and +delivers him a basin and ewer, in which the bishop washes his hands. +A _deacon_, when ordained, kisses the four corners of the holy table, +the bishop’s hands and shoulder, and the part of his garment called the +_epigonation_. He kneels on his right knee, lays his hands crosswise on +the holy table, and puts his forehead between his hands. The bishop’s +_omophorion_, or pall, is placed on his head, the stole on his left +shoulder, and he is presented with sleeves or cuffs, and a fan with +which to fan the sacramental elements. When ordained _priest_, the +stole is exchanged for a similar vestment, called an _epitrachelion_, +and there are also added a _phelonion_ and a girdle. + +The consecration, however, of a _bishop_ is much more elaborate. He +is called upon to confess the Nicene Creed. He anathematizes sundry +heretics in particular, and all of them in general; confesses the +Virgin Mary to be properly and truly the mother of God; and prays +that she may be his helper, his preserver, and protectress all the +days of his life. He promises to preserve his flock from the errors +of the Latin Church; declares that he has not paid money for the +dignity about to be conferred upon him; promises not to go into other +dioceses without permission, nor to ordain more than one priest and one +deacon at the same service; further, that he will yearly, or at least +biennially, visit and inspect his flock; and among other things take +care that the homage due to God be not transferred to holy images. He +puts on his sakkos and other episcopal garments; and there is delivered +to him the _panagion_, or jewel, for the neck; _mantyas_, or ordinary +cloak; the cowl, mitre, rosary, and pastoral staff; after which he +walks to his house attended by two of the superior clergy. + +[9] 1, On the day of delivery the priest goes to the house, and prays +for mother and child; 2, on the eighth day the child should be taken +to church to receive its name; and 3, on the fortieth day it should +be taken by the mother to be received into the Church, according to +the service for the reception of catechumens. In the course of this +service the priest breathes in the catechumen’s face, pronounces +three exorcisms, calls upon the catechumen or his sponsor to blow +and spit upon Satan, which he essays to do, not metaphorically, but +visibly; after which follows, 4, the administration of baptism, when +the candidate is first anointed with oil, then completely immersed +three times, then clothed by the priest with a white garment, and a +cross is suspended on the neck. Immediately after the baptism follows, +5, confirmation, or anointing of the baptized with chrism on the +forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet, with +the words repeated each time, “The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.” +Prayers are offered, an Epistle and Gospel read, and the benediction +pronounced. Eight days after, the candidate is brought again to the +church for, 6, the ablution of the chrism. The priest looses the +candidate’s clothes and girdle, and with a sponge washes the parts that +have been anointed; after which follows the last part of the service, +namely, 7, the tonsure, in which the priest cuts the hair of the newly +baptized in the form of a cross, in the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Ghost. + +[10] The marriage service consists of two distinct offices, which are +performed at the same time. The first is called the “Betrothal,” when +rings are given and exchanged; the second is the “Coronation,” in which +the bride and bridegroom are crowned, and are thrice given wine to +drink from a common cup, and thrice led round a lectern on which lie +the Gospels. Weddings in Russia are usually celebrated in the evening, +and among the friends are persons corresponding to a godfather and +godmother, before whom, previous to coming to church, the happy pair +kneel in the house, and ask a blessing. The godfather holds in his +hand an ikon, usually of Christ, with which he makes the sign of the +cross over the head of the bridegroom, and then gives it him to be his +peculiar treasure. In old-fashioned places the godmother gives the +bride a loaf of bread, symbolical of worldly prosperity, making the +sign of the cross. The godmother also presents the bride with an ikon, +usually of the Virgin Mary; and these two ikons are carried to the +church, figure in the wedding ceremony, and are afterwards taken to the +new home, to be sacredly preserved for life, and afterwards bequeathed +to their children. + +[11] Both Churches require contrition, and also confession. Confession +in both Churches begins at the age of seven years, and is a _secret_, +_periodical_, _compulsory_ acknowledgment of mortal sins to a _priest_; +but it is made less _complete_ in Russia than in Rome--has less of an +inquisitorial character; and hence Dean Stanley says, “The scandals, +the influence, the terrors of the confessional are alike unknown in +the East.” The other important difference between the two Churches is, +that subsequent exercises of piety, commonly called “penance,” when +enjoined upon the penitent in the Russian Church, are not performed as +_satisfaction_ offered to God. This, it will be seen, closes the gate +against a great deal of Roman teaching concerning the meritorious value +of good works. + +[12] In the East the oil is not previously consecrated by the bishop, +but at the time, by seven priests; and, further, whereas extreme +unction is not administered by the Romans until the sick person is +beyond hope of recovery, the Russians call for the elders of the +Church, pray over him, even though the sickness be but slight, and +anoint him with oil, in the hope that he may be healed both spiritually +and bodily. The service is performed by seven priests (or at the least +three), who place a table in the church or house, on which is set a +dish with wheat, a vessel for the oil, and seven twigs with cotton tied +around, one for each of the priests, who first anoint the sick and +subsequently spread the Gospels, with their hands laid thereon, over +his head. + +[13] This ointment, made of 23 ingredients, can be consecrated only +by a bishop, and in Passion Week. It boils three days, with a depth +of five fingers of wine below the oil, and priests and deacons by +turns read the Gospel day and night, without ceasing, from Monday till +Thursday. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_THE SIBERIAN CHURCH (continued)._ + + Parochial clergy.--Their emoluments.--Duties.--Official + registers.--Discipline.--Morality.--Status.--Our + clerical visits.--Monastic clergy.--The Metropolitan + Macarius.--Fasting.--General view of Russian Church.--Compared + with Roman.--Teaching respecting Holy Scripture and salvation by + faith.--Needs of Russian Church. + + +The Russian clergy are of two orders--the parochial and the monastic; +or, as they are sometimes called, the white and the black--the +secular and the regular clergy. Such was the plethora of them in +the time of Peter the Great that they had to restrict the number of +ordinations and of those who should serve.[1] Now, however, there is no +superabundance.[2] Speaking generally, every parish church is under the +control of _prikhod_ or corporation, consisting of the priest, deacon, +and two _dïechoks_, or bell-ringer and reader, and also a widow-woman +to prepare the sacramental bread. + +The parish priest may rise to be a protopope or head priest of an +Episcopal Church, or one who holds a position in which there are other +priests under him; but so long as his wife is living he can go no +higher. Should he become a widower, and take the monk’s habit, he is +then eligible to be made a bishop.[3] + +The pay of the town clergy in Russia is better than of those in the +country, where it is very little. The salaries of the Siberian clergy, +to judge from the district of the Amur, vary from £125 to £180 a +year.[4] Hence those who have families are miserably poor. It is not +uncommon to hear them spoken of as exacting, avaricious, and grasping +(such charges are easily made, all the world over); but due allowance +is not always made for the dire needs of poverty; and they sometimes +are obliged almost, if not quite, to beg their bread.[5] + +It must not be supposed, however, that, because the pay of the priests +is so small, their duties are light. Of their three daily services, the +first often begins between four and five in the morning (fancy that +with a thermometer below zero!), vespers at sunset, and the liturgy +before mid-day. To these must be added occasional services in district +churches or chapels, as well as in houses; at every birth, every death +in the parish; when a building is begun, after it has been repaired, +and when it is supposed to be haunted; together with the blessing of +school-houses and children before they begin work after the holidays; +to say nothing of processions through the streets with miraculous +pictures in times of harvest, pestilence, and danger. In Siberia we saw +one of these processions, with a picture, lanterns, and flags, leaving +a village church at four o’clock in the morning. + +But this is not all. There are the church registers to be kept--all the +more important because in Russia no one can stir hand or foot without +a character paper, which sets forth, with the minutest details, the +particulars of his birth, baptism, marriage, etc. These papers have to +be signed and countersigned by the priest and deacon, and then to be +sent to the bishop’s registry, which, in Siberia, may be 1,000 miles +away--and all this with an expenditure of stamps, and red tape, and +filling up of blank forms that is simply appalling.[6] Again, every +priest has to keep a clerical journal of his official acts as to what +he and his fellows do daily. This is for the bishop’s assistant; and, +should the journal be suddenly found not written up to date, the +priest is liable to be punished. “How would you be punished?” said +I to a protopope. “With a good talking to, perhaps, for the first +offence, and for the second a fine, or, it may be, have the delinquency +inscribed on my character paper”; in other words, to carry a blot on +his escutcheon perhaps for life! + +Verily, ecclesiastical discipline, whether in great things or small, is +not a dead letter in Russia. Perhaps it is not altogether uncalled for. +By it priests are forbidden to find their amusements at the theatre, or +in cards, buffoonery, or dancing; and mention is made of another evil +greater than these, in which we shall recognize an old foe, too well +known in England. It is drink![7] + +It is not matter for surprise, then, that the status of the Russian +clergy is low, as it was in England when Christianity had existed +no longer here than it now has in Russia--say in the fourteenth +century, when Chaucer wrote his “Canterbury Tales.” We have no room +for boasting; nor are these remarks made with any idea of drawing +unfavourable comparisons, but only to give a true picture of a +large class of the Russian ecclesiastics. I called upon some few of +the priests in Siberia, who, like the peasants, seemed decidedly +superior to, and better off than, those in Russia. On arriving at a +post-station, I not unfrequently sent for or called upon the priest, +gave him tracts to circulate in his parish, and offered to sell him, at +a reduced rate, portions of Scripture for distribution, which offer was +almost always accepted. + +Let me now pass to the monastic clergy, who alone fill all the higher +offices in the Russian Church. Among the monastic clergy are many +scholars. The present Metropolitan (Macarius) of Moscow, formerly a +professor at the Academy, may be selected as a bright example. He has +written extensively, and, from the very outset of his literary career, +is said to have resolved to devote all the money derived from his works +to the progress of knowledge. He has founded scholarships and-prizes +at Kieff, Petersburg, and Vilna, and as long ago as 1867 he possessed +a capital of £12,000, the interest of which is distributed yearly in +premiums for the best compositions in the Russian language. It was +this amiable dignitary, as related in my first chapter, whom I had the +honour of visiting when passing through Petersburg. Other things might +be said to the praise of many of the Russian clergy--notably their +simple manner of living. In none of their houses that I entered in +Siberia was there the least approach to luxury, and the library of one +of the best priests I met was all too scanty for the literary work he +had in hand. I remember, too, that I entered the sleeping-room of the +archimandrite (who is also the Metropolitan of Moscow) at the “Skit,” +near the Troitza monastery, and found a chamber that would be thought +not too well furnished for a guest in an average English rectory. +Further, in Russia, both orders of clergy fast at least 226 days in the +year; and the monastic clergy, which includes all the bishops, never +eat flesh at all. I met with a practical illustration of the strictness +with which the clergy abstain from forbidden food. At a post station +where we stopped, and where the priest had come to us, we invited him +to drink tea, and I cut for him a slice of white bread and buttered it. +This he declined, as it was a fast-day, and butter was forbidden. I +then offered him a slice of bread; but another difficulty arose, for, +having to lay in a large stock of white bread at the previous town, we +had requested the baker to put in a little butter to keep it moist. The +good man’s conscience therefore, he felt, would be denied even by this, +and so I was obliged to call for black bread wherewith to entertain our +fasting guest.[8] + +Something must be said of the Russian monasteries for women and men. +They are of three sorts: Lavra, of which there are only three, namely, +at Kieff, Petersburg, and Troitza, near Moscow; next are those called +“Cœnobia”; and, lastly, others called “Stauropegia.” Their general +characteristics are Egyptian rather than Roman.[9] + +[Illustration: A RUSSIAN NUN.] + +One of the monks of the Yuryef Monastery, near Novgorod, gave me the +following outline of their daily life: They rise at half-past two (one +o’clock on festivals), go to church till six, and from six till nine +they sleep. Then they go to church again for an hour and a half, and +afterwards breakfast. This over, they are free to sleep or do as they +please till five in the afternoon, when evening service brings them +together for an hour and a half, after which they sup and go to bed. +They have but two meals a day, never eat flesh, and, when observing the +fasts, eat vegetables only. + +To sum up, then, all that need here be said of the Russian Church--very +different thoughts arise according as one looks at the every-day +religion of the people, or their formularies and theology. The former +may cause pain and grief, the latter excite sympathy and hope; and it +will be my object in the remainder of this chapter to expand these +thoughts in a fair and honest way, without sparing blame or withholding +praise. + +Most persons, who have had the opportunity of observing, allow that the +Russians are a religious people. One sees this not only in the large +numbers both of men and women who attend the churches, but also in the +tens of thousands who yearly go on pilgrimage to sacred places. The +monks of Troitza sometimes have in summer, on a feast day, a thousand +guests. Some, of course, are idle wanderers, going from place to place +to get food; but many walk hundreds--nay, thousands--of miles to +redeem a vow or offer a prayer for something specially desired. Much +of this, no doubt, is eminently unspiritual and superstitious. Much +of their worship is perilously like, if not altogether, idolatry; yet +it should be remembered that the average Russian knows no better; and +what can be expected of the peasant, if the highest authorities of the +land, on arriving at a city, make it their first object to pay their +devotions, if not, as at Ephesus, before “the image which fell down +from Jupiter,” yet before a picture to which is attributed miraculous +powers? We can at least admire, however, the intention in these things; +and if the Russian peasant can only be kept sober, he displays a number +of virtues, some of which are not found so abundantly in other and +more advanced countries. They are a kind, a generous, and a hospitable +people, by no means unmindful of philanthropic effort, and at least, we +may add, intensely ecclesiastical. + +Again, there is much to admire in the formularies of their Church, +although Dean Stanley brings against it, and justly, three weighty +charges--extravagant ritual, excessive dogmatism, and a fatal +division between religion and morality. When, however, the Russian +Church is compared with the Roman, and spoken of as like it, certain +considerations should be borne in mind which make the comparison result +in favour of the former. Russia did not receive the religion of Jesus +Christ in its purity. The merest tyro in Church history knows that when +the stream of Christianity had flowed down to the tenth century, it was +no longer pure as at its source. But follow the stream as it branches +east and west, and observe which of the two remains the purer.[10] +And if this be said to be _negative_, and much of it belonging to the +past, then other considerations may be adduced which seem to bring the +Greek Church nearer to the English than many suppose, and notably so +in two vital points, namely, the attitude of the Russian Church to the +Holy Scriptures,[11] and her doctrine respecting salvation through +Christ alone.[12] She does not forbid or hide the Scriptures from the +people, even if she neglects them, nor has she stereotyped her errors +by the claim to infallibility. There is room, therefore, to hope for a +change for the better, which in my humble opinion should be attempted +from within, by a wider circulation and more general study of the +Scriptures; next, by a vastly increased amount of good and Scriptural +preaching; and, once more, by a powerful attack on the prevailing sin +of intemperance. Would the priests only endeavour to instil into their +people, respecting drink, half the abstemiousness and self-denial that +they teach them to observe concerning forbidden food, they would render +Russia such a service as I have no words to express. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In an Episcopal Church, for instance, there were not to be more +than one protopope, two treasurers, five priests, four deacons, two +readers, and two sacristans, besides thirty-three choristers. In +parishes of large extent there were to be two priests, two deacons, two +choristers, and two sacristans, reckoning one priest for every hundred +houses. + +[2] On the Amur I heard of merchants and, in exceptional cases, even +yemstchiks, being ordained; also of students, for lack of a sufficiency +of priests, being ordered deacons at the age of 20 (instead of 22), and +sometimes made priests seven days after. + +[3] There are, or were, several curious customs and regulations among +the Russian clergy with respect to matrimony. A man cannot join the +ranks of the white clergy unless he be “the husband of one wife.” +Formerly he was obliged, or expected, to marry a priest’s daughter; +and as a priest’s daughter sometimes received her father’s living for +her dowry, a young priest not infrequently found himself, in this +way, settled for life; though, if the father-in-law were old and +merely retired, then the son-in-law was expected to keep him. In these +arrangements the bishop played a part, for knowing, on one hand, the +young men coming forward for ordination, and being kept informed, on +the other, regarding the marriageable daughters of his clergy, he could +frequently make suggestions for the benefit of all parties concerned. +There prevailed, too, in former times in Russia, a pernicious custom, +that every clergyman’s son was obliged to follow the profession of +his father. This is no longer compulsory: and the sons of the clergy, +finding themselves free, choose other callings to such an extent that +there is now a lack of candidates for the priesthood. Candidates, +however, are still drawn for the most part from the homes of the +clergy, and from the lower class of merchants. Quite recently, I am +informed, a few of the Russian nobility have taken Holy Orders. + +[4] Dr. Neale, in his learned work on the Eastern Church, says, “The +Russian clergy never possessed tithes. Their income arises from +Easter offerings, fees, and glebe, the minimum of the glebe being +181½ acres, to be divided between four clergy.” I have heard that the +usual remuneration for a country priest in Russia is from £22 to £25 a +year, and his share of the glebe. To these must be added, I suppose, +his fees. The town priests receive no regular stipend from Government, +but in Petersburg and Moscow the income from some of the parishes +amounts to £600, or more, to be apportioned amongst several clergy. At +a cathedral I attended, I was informed that the protopope, from all +sources, received about £500 a year and a house; two priests from £220 +to £250 each; the deacon about £180; and the psalmist or dïechok from +£90 to £150; the whole available sum for all the parish clergy in this +cathedral being from £1,500 to £1,800 a year. At another cathedral, +in the provinces, I was told that the bishop received £110 from the +Government, and £75 from the monastery, with monks as servants free. +A correspondent further informs me that metropolitans and archbishops +receive “large sums for the maintenance of their house, church, +singers, serving monks, and other comforts, of which they can take or +leave as much as they like”; the “large sums” quoted, with these not +insignificant expenses, being from £625 to £1,250 a year; and this for +men who rank ecclesiastically with English primates! + +[5] The Russian priests labour under great social disadvantages. They +are less instructed than what are called the “educated classes” of +their countrymen, and so do not mingle with them on a social equality; +and in many of the towns of the interior, intellectual affairs are on +so low a level that the priest’s most intelligent companion is the +schoolmaster, lately arrived perhaps from the capital with a smattering +of neology. In one parish of which I know, the old priest said that the +new schoolmaster had been telling him, among other like things, that it +was not God who made the world, etc., etc., till the priest hardly knew +what was right or otherwise. He could not think what a lay person could +possibly find to preach about from a verse out of the Bible. This same +priest, when recommended pastorally to visit his flock, said, “I never +appear among my people except to ask for corn, milk, and eggs, and thus +they hate the sight of me.” He had not even a Bible, and said he never +possessed one. + +[6] One of these blank forms, given me by a protopope, relates to each +of the clergy in a particular church. Here are the headings of some of +the columns:-- + +1. Name; place of birth; from what rank in society; where educated, +and in what subjects; when promoted to last appointment, by whom, and +to what office; whether holding any additional appointment; when and +how rewarded for service; whether having a family, and, if so, of what +number. + +2. What he knows; of what capacity in reading and explaining the +catechism, Scriptures, etc.; whether he be a singer; and how many times +in the year he has composed his own sermons. + +3. His children; their place of education; character; what they are +learning; and their behaviour at home. + +4. His family relations. + +5. Whether he has ever been accused before the court, and how punished; +or whether the trial is still pending. + +[7] The excellent Russian book on the duty of parish priests, speaking +of drunkenness fifty years ago, says, “Yet though drunkenness is +a sin so grievous and deadly, there are very many in our time who +scarcely pass a day without indulging their sottish passion for drink. +Wherefore ... the councils forbid ... all clerks ... so much as to +enter a tavern, under pain of deprivation and excommunication.” This +is a painful and humiliating subject, though the more respectable +amongst the Russians regard the matter in various lights. Some, of +course, condemn such priests unmercifully. One man told me he had not +communicated for several years; “for,” said he, “how can I in the +morning receive the sacrament from the hands of my country priest +when I know that before night he will probably be inebriated?” To +which some, in effect, reply that he should look at the _light_ and +not only at the _lantern_; as a religious general said to me, “If my +priest supplies me properly with the ordinances of the Church, I am +not concerned with his private life--that lies between God and his +own soul.” Others, again, make allowance for their great temptations. +On five festivals in the year, at least, such as Christmas, New Year, +Easter, etc., the priest is supposed to go the round of his parish and +say a prayer in every house; and on these festive occasions refreshment +stands on the sideboard, and _vodka_, or spirits, is offered as +drink--the evil results of which, among clergy and laity, on one of the +festivals, I myself could not but observe. + +[8] There are four great fasts in the year, during which are eaten +only bread, vegetables, and fish: 1. Lent; 2. St. Peter’s fast, from +Whit-Monday to the 29th June; 3. Fast of the Virgin Mary, from August +1st to 15th; and 4. St. Philip’s fast, from November 15th to December +26th. Wednesday and Friday also are fast-days. + +[9] The Lavra of Egypt are supposed to have been collections of tents +in the deserts, where each provided for himself, but joined the rest in +common devotions. Cœnobia were institutions where all lived associated. +The discipline is the same in all three, but the Stauropegia are under +the direct jurisdiction, not of the bishops, but of the Synod. Dr. +Neale gives the numbers of Russian monasteries for men at 435, and for +women, 113. My almanack mentions a gross total of 472. Greek monks +need not be ecclesiastics, and are all of the order of St. Basil. The +head of a large monastery is called an archimandrite (or abbot); of a +smaller monastery, a hegumen (or prior), whilst the lady superior of +a monastery for women is called a hegumena. There are monk priests, +and also monk deacons, and in the churches attached to the nunneries a +large part of the service is performed by the nuns. Among the Russian +monks, according to Dr. King, are three degrees: novices, who should +serve three years; the proficients, who wear the lesser habit; and +the perfect, who wear the greater or angelic habit, which last are +said to be uncommon in Russia. Men are not admitted to be monks till +30 years of age, and nuns do not receive the tonsure till 60, or at +least 50. Younger women may enter as probationers; but they take no +vow, and are at liberty to leave and be married. Probationers, whether +men or women, wear a black velvet hat without a brim, and the men a +black cassock. Proficients have a black veil attached to the hat (with +metropolitans this is white), and monastics of the third degree always +wear the veil or hood down, and never suffer their faces to be seen. +In the time of Peter the Great the monasteries had become homes for +the idle, and he issued many salutary rules concerning them. Monastics +were to confess and receive the communion four times a year, though +they were not compelled to confess to their own superior. They were to +avoid idleness; were not allowed (with the exception of the superior, +the aged, and infirm) to keep servants; were not to receive or pay +visits without permission; and in all monasteries the monks were to +be strictly kept to the study of the Bible, the most learned were to +explain it, and such only were to be promoted to offices and dignities. + +[10] When clerical celibacy, for instance, was imposed in the West, it +was not followed in the East, nor was the cup denied to the Russian +laity when it was withheld from the Roman. The Russian Church never +fabricated a purgatory, and then sold indulgences to get people out +of it. The Eastern Church has never added uncatholic articles to the +Nicene Creed, as in that of Pope Pius the Fourth, and issued the whole +as binding upon all who would be saved. Again, the errors of the East +have at least the stamp of antiquity. They have not added to the +Christian faith novel articles, such as the Immaculate Conception of +the Virgin, or still less claimed a supremacy and infallibility which +in the early Christian councils would need only to have been mentioned +to have been scouted; but in a very real sense it maybe said that +Russia has kept the faith as she received it. + +[11] It may surprise some, as I confess it at first surprised me, to +learn the place the Russian Church gives to the Bible in her “Treatise +on the Duty of Parish Priests,”--a book by two Russian bishops, +which has been adopted by the whole Sclavonian Church, and which all +candidates for orders are required to have read, and to show their +acquaintance with before being ordained. The book begins by saying that +“to teach the people is the priest’s very first duty,” and then (VII.) +that the priest is to teach the faith and the law; that (IX.) “all the +articles of faith are contained in the Word of God--that is, in the +books of the Old and New Testament”; and that (XI.) “none other books +are to be held by us as Divine Scriptures, or called the Word of God, +than the two volumes of the Old and New Testaments.” Again (XIII.), +that “the writings of the Holy Fathers are of great use.... But neither +the writings of the Holy Fathers, nor the traditions of the Church, are +to be confounded or equalled with the Word of God and His commandments; +for the Word of God is one thing, but the writings of the Holy Fathers +and traditions ecclesiastical are another.” And further (XXXII.), “So +great being this work of teaching, etc. ... we cannot fail to see how +needful it is for the priest to abound both in word and in wisdom, in +order to the well-fulfilling of this his vast duty; and the only way +hereto is that he be skilled and nourished up from a child in Holy +Scripture.” + +[12] The “Treatise on the Duty of Parish Priests” reads (XXIX.): “Since +the sole beginner and perfecter of our holy faith and of everlasting +salvation is our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. xii. 2), and there is none +other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, but +only His (Acts iv. 12), ... it is plain that in each of the above +kinds of teaching, the priest ought to instil the knowledge of Christ +Jesus, inculcate His doctrine, dwell on His exceeding compassion, and +possess the soul with this truth, that Christ _alone is made unto us +of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption_ (1 Cor. +i. 30).... In every case, I say, according to circumstances, he can +implant, and is in duty bound to implant, the knowledge of Christ +Jesus; and so all instruction, and every particular instruction, should +be grounded on Christ; for all that can be either written or said in +reference to the faith, and to everlasting happiness, if it be not +grounded on faith in Christ, is unfruitful, and can never save.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_FROM TOMSK TO KRASNOIARSK._ + + Book-distribution in Western Siberia.--Departure from + Tomsk.--Postbells.--How to sit in posting.--Sleeping.--Boundary + of Western Siberia.--Wild and domesticated + animals.--Birds.--Scenery.--Roadside villages.--Peasants’ + houses.--Hammering up “the Prodigal Son.”--Siberian + towns.--Houses of upper classes.--Misadventures.--A hospitable + merchant.--Frontier of Eastern Siberia. + + +I have said that, on returning to Tomsk, we found the remainder of our +books arrived. The reader may like to know how we had prospered in +relation to their distribution through Western Siberia. Our singular +mission greatly puzzled the Russians. I have since heard how it reached +the ears of the worthy Archbishop of Tobolsk that a strange Englishman +had been through the district, leaving thousands of books to be given +away. Like a watchful shepherd, his first anxiety was to see that they +contained no heresy. Having examined the books, however, and perused +a set of the tracts, he found them exceedingly good, and would by no +means put anything in the way of their distribution; but, said his +Eminence, “Those English are a queer lot, and there must surely be +some ulterior motive behind it.” To the same effect were many of the +officials’ cogitations as they oozed out and reached me from time +to time. We met with no opposition, however, or even questioning of +what we were doing. The fact that the revolutionists have sometimes +distributed seditious leaflets inside pamphlets approved by the censor +makes the police on the alert in European Russia; but I have usually +found even there, so long as all was clear and above-board, that the +authorities were willing to forward my endeavours; and I so far availed +myself of this willingness in Siberia as to distribute more through the +authorities than formerly, and less in proportion with our own hands. +Still, we gave an immense number personally, and many also we sold, +on the principle that a man values most what he pays for. At each of +the towns and villages on the Obi we made up parcels and sent them +with a note to the parish priest, asking him to distribute the books +gratuitously. As the periodical--_The Russian Workman_--could be had +post-free for a rouble a year, many said they should get it. One man +intimated that he should write for 50 copies forthwith, and another +that he should get the same number of subscribers in his neighbourhood, +on the Lower Obi, where he had built a little church, and had had his +son instructed to read to the people. Our greatest success, however, in +Western Siberia, and one that would have repaid us for all our trouble, +has since proved to be the plans laid at Tiumen, through which town, +as observed before, some 18,000 exiles pass yearly. From data given me +in the prison, we had calculated that there would be about 2,000 pass +during the summer who could read, and for these I left 1,980 Russian +Scripture portions, 36 Polish, German, French, Tatar, and Mongolian +Scriptures, 546 copies of the _Rooski Rabotchi_, and 2,520 tracts. The +exiles going east are sent away in the barge weekly, and, before the +party starts, a religious service is held by a priest at Tiumen. I have +since heard that after this service, throughout the summer, our books +were distributed; so that I trust they are now to be found not only +among the convicts in prisons, but also with those who have been sent +to live free, but in comparative solitude, in the furthest corners of +the country. + +Some have shaken their heads and said that the men would sell the +books, and make cigarettes of the tracts. This, however, I doubt; but, +even if it be so, it may simply mean, in the case of the Scriptures, +that a book has passed from the hands of one who did not care for it to +those of one who does. But the Russians have great respect, amounting +almost to superstition, for what they call “holy books”; and such books +are a great deal too scarce to allow of their being generally uncared +for. Moreover, in Siberia, books of this character and tracts are +_new_. In European Russia, many, on receiving the books, said they had +no idea there were such publications in existence; and we had cases in +Asia of soldiers giving their last kopeck to get a copy of the Gospels, +the Psalms, or the New Testament. + +Before leaving Tomsk we gave the Governor books for the public +institutions of his government, and left with him boxes to be forwarded +to the residence of the Governor-General Kaznakoff, at Omsk. I had +been made acquainted with this latter officer, both officially and +privately, in Petersburg, and had been invited to call upon him on my +return through Omsk, to be introduced to his family. The general had +told me also to telegraph to him in case I got into prison, or in the +event of any other small casualty, and I looked forward with pleasure +to my visit; but with my subsequent change of plans, I wrote asking +that the books I had sent might be distributed in the provinces of +Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, and thus finished arrangements for the +supply of the public institutions in all the four provinces of Western +Siberia: our total distribution thus far being 4,000 Scriptures and +9,000 pamphlets and tracts. + +We now prepared to drive into Eastern Siberia, and on Thursday evening, +June 19th, galloped out of Tomsk in two troikas, containing ourselves +and baggage--the latter reduced, but still a heavy load. Outside the +town the tongues of our horses’ bells were unloosed, and we jingled +merrily along. The said bells are placed beneath the _douga_, over the +centre horse, and are intended to give notice to the public generally, +and all whom it may concern, that _post_-horses are coming, and, +accordingly, that it is their bounden duty to get out of the way. +If they fail to do this, which is sometimes the case, especially at +night, when the drivers of slow-going vehicles are nodding on their +seats, then “the rule of the road” is that the post-boy may give +them a cut with his whip--a visitation inflicted sometimes upon men, +and sometimes, with caravans, upon the leading horse, which, in his +driver’s absence or sleep, is supposed to know the side of the road he +ought to take. + +We were now becoming accustomed to our jolting mode of travel, and I +had already discovered a secret in connection therewith worth handing +down to posterity. It concerns the position of the body and legs in the +tarantass. If you place your heels against the front of the vehicle, +or against a bag or box, your feet become excessively tired; and if you +lie at full length, flat, you may soon imagine yourself in a ship’s +berth, rolling from side to side. Now, my golden secret is this: First +secure to yourself (in a hole if possible) a soft, springy base upon +which to sit, and then place on that a ribbed circular air-cushion. +Secondly, put your down-pillow behind at an angle of 60 degrees, and, +if you like, an air-pillow, without ribs, in the nape of your neck. +But the next arrangement is the most important. Draw up your legs +till the knees come on a level with your chin; then put beneath the +knee-pits a soft parcel or bag, sufficiently high to leave the feet +dangling above the ground; and the result will be that you will travel +with comparative comfort by night and by day continuously for 1,000 +miles. Being thus fixed before and behind, and kept laterally straight +by the side of the vehicle and your companion, the only direction in +which you can be shot is upwards and heavenwards, to come down, alas! +on the old spot; and this must be accepted as your minimum amount +of local disturbance. The reader may think it utterly impossible to +sleep under such circumstances--and at first it is so. But Nature will +assert her claims. A Siberian priest told us that, when he travelled +from Europe, he could not at first sleep at all in the tarantass; but +that, when at last he did so, he lost no less than three hats whilst +wrapped in slumber. As for myself, I soon learnt to doze; and in my +journal of June 21st I find the entry, “Managed to sleep quite soundly +in the tarantass till 8 o’clock this morning.” It was not always, +however, one could sleep the whole night through; and I recollect on +one occasion awaking from a beautiful dream of pleasant society in an +English drawing-room to find myself, to my disgust, outside a Siberian +post-house. On another occasion I had been sleeping soundly, and, on +looking out early in the morning, found that the driver had followed +my example; and the horses, not feeling the lash, had followed suit, +and so we had come to a standstill, and all were slumbering together. I +gave the man, however (to confess it for once), a dig in the back; his +whip fell on the horses, and they galloped in style to the end of the +stage. + +On the third day after leaving Tomsk, we approached the boundary that +divides Western from Eastern Siberia; but up to this point we had not +met with a large number of wild animals. No wolves came alongside the +tarantass as they did last year in the Caucasus, nor did we so much +as catch sight of a bear, as on my journey from Archangel.[1] As to +domesticated animals, large herds of cows were seen, and milk was +abundant. Strange to say, however, the people make little or no cheese; +and the peasants do not usually butter their bread. Their fresh butter, +when they make it, is without salt, and is generally used for cooking. +The pigs of the country are a long-legged breed, and are frequently +seen running about the village streets. They furnish the long bristles +from their mane which are used for making brooms. + +We saw no lack of birds of prey in Western Siberia, for hawks of +various kinds are seen sailing gracefully over every town. We met with +the largest number of sportsmen’s birds between Tiumen and Tobolsk, +chiefly water-birds, with wild ducks and geese in abundance. I tasted +at Ekaterineburg the _gluchar_, or cock of the wood, the same as our +capercailzie. It was a well-tasted bird, from whose breast ten persons +were helped, and it may be bought in the winter at Ekaterineburg for +8_d._ In the Altai regions is found a magnificent eagle called the +bearcoot, of which specimens are shown in the Barnaul Museum. It is +strong enough to kill a deer with ease; and it not unfrequently happens +that, when wolves have killed and begun to eat their prey, a pair +of bearcoots will attack and kill or drive them away, and eat their +intended meal. The Kirghese tame these birds for the purpose of hunting. + +As we pursued our way towards Eastern Siberia, there was a slight +improvement in the landscape. For a long distance, after leaving Tomsk, +the country was flat; but in the direction of Krasnoiarsk was seen +a range of hills to the south, dotted with pine-trees, the country +looking English-like and fertile, well wooded, and here and there under +cultivation. Hitherto the herbage had been singularly luxuriant; but, +from the station next before Atchinsk, pasture became less plentiful, +and thus, in a measure, explained why henceforth our hire of horses was +to cost us double. The number of towns and villages along the road for +the first 400 miles of the way--that is, from Tomsk to Krasnoiarsk--was +more numerous than might be expected, though, the further east we went, +the further apart they were. The post-houses were rarely more than +from ten to fifteen miles distant from one another, and we frequently +drove through two or three intervening villages. To describe one +village is to describe them all--the chief difference being that whilst +each consists of a single street, with detached houses on either side +of the way, some villages are larger than others. One we passed through +was said to be nearly three miles long. The said street is usually +wide, but never by any chance paved, though now and then a few boards +are laid down for a footway. Nor is the street usually beautified with +anything worthy the name of a garden. Now and then a few trees are +planted in front of a house, but with such a high, clumsy palisade to +keep off the cattle, that the attempted cultivation of beauty becomes +rather a disfigurement than otherwise. The priest’s house is often one +of the best in the place. So, again, the post-house usually stands out +prominently; and if there happen to be any Government official in the +village, an extra coat of paint, or some little ornamentation about +the exterior, may point out the house inhabited by superiors; but +ordinarily the houses of the peasants or farmers are very much alike. +The foundation may perchance be of stone, but all else is of wood. +For the walls, trees are cut and barked, slightly flattened by being +cut away on two opposite sides, and then laid one above the other, +the ends being dovetailed together at the corners. The interstices +between the logs are calked with moss, and the roof is generally of +overlapping boards. So long as the foundation holds good, the houses +look tolerably neat; but when this begins to give, or the logs to rot, +they become strained and warped in so many directions as to present +a very dilapidated appearance. When the houses are intended for the +accommodation of human beings only, they generally have no second +storey; but in the case of farm-houses, where cattle are sheltered, we +frequently found them having an upper storey approached by an outside +staircase. There were usually also out-houses adjoining, and under the +same roof; so that one had but to leave the dwelling-room upstairs, +cross a passage, and open a door, to find oneself looking down upon +beasts and cattle, and other denizens of a farm-yard, which share the +same roof, though not, like the Irish pig, the same apartments as their +owners. The interior of the house is as simple as the outside. In the +centre is a brick stove. The walls are whitewashed or papered, and +adorned with pictures according to the means and taste of the owners. +Portraits of the Imperial family figure largely, so do battle scenes, +pictures of the saints, and family photographs. As already observed, +I took with me a large number of illustrated prints of “The Prodigal +Son,” round which was written the parable in Russ. Having provided +myself with a hammer and tacks, I was wont to go into the guest-room at +the post-houses, and there nail up the picture, to the great admiration +usually of the post-master. I have heard from a gentleman, who has +recently crossed Siberia, that these pictures still adorn the walls +of the post-houses, and that the books given with them are carefully +preserved. My action, however, was not always understood at first, +especially by those who could not read. One woman, who saw only an +early stage of my operations, ran off to her husband as frightened as +if I had been nailing up an Imperial ukase. They usually proceeded at +once to read the parable; some said they should have it framed; and one +post-master, a Jew, said in German, as he finished reading, that it was +“a right good story.” + +What has been said of Siberian houses thus far refers more especially +to the houses of the peasantry and their villages. The traveller, +however, from Tomsk passes certain small towns which have cross +streets, wooden footways, perchance a small hospital, and the residence +of an ispravnik, or a few well-to-do merchants. On entering the +dwelling of one of these classes, one finds large rooms, papered walls, +and painted floors, with perhaps a square of carpet near the sofa and +table. Things look plain but comfortable within; and the out-houses, +such as kitchen and bath-house, are at a convenient distance in the +yard. The liability of the kitchen to catch fire partly accounts for +its being detached; and these out-houses serve as a residence for the +servants. + +Houses occupied by persons highest in position, such as governors of +provinces, and high military officers, are also of wood, and often +without a second storey; but the rooms are more spacious and _en +suite_, enlivened with flowers and creepers, and the tables enriched by +articles of _virtu_ from Europe. It is interesting to an Englishman to +see how many things from London find their way to these remote regions. +Thus, when sitting at a desk, one finds oneself among Cumberland leads +and Perry’s coloured pencils, and a dozen other trifles, reminders of +home. + +Our journey from Tomsk to Krasnoiarsk was not entirely devoid of +incident, our misadventures being connected for the most part with +a limping wheel. Our first misadventure happened in returning from +Barnaul, when, in the middle of the night, in the midst of a field, +one of our shafts broke. But this might have happened anywhere; and +fortunately there happened to be a man resting by the roadside to feed +his horses, who lent us his pole to go to the next station. Early in +the morning, however, it was discovered that our Siberian Jehu had been +driving so furiously that, like Phaëton, his classical ancestor, he had +set the wheels on fire. Matters were made worse for want of a smith at +hand; and when we found a smith, he had no coal. We applied, therefore, +a liberal allowance of grease, and limped on to Tomsk, where the whole +concern was supposed to be put in order and cleaned, with the addition +of new shafts and mended wheels, at a cost of nearly £2. We had not +travelled four-and-twenty hours before the wheel was again on fire, +and we paid several shillings for the repair of the axletree; a little +further on, 24_s._ more; and then, on the evening of the third day, we +arrived at a village where lived a smith. Now this man was well known +in the district as an extortioner. He came to us clad in a pea-green +dressing-gown, and smoked a cigarette as he leisurely walked round the +tarantass, just as a man surveys a horse. He informed us that he would +put us right for £5, which we flatly refused to give. “But you will +certainly break down if you proceed,” urged the extortioner. “Then,” +said I, “if we do, we will not come to _you_ for assistance.” Said some +of the people, “You had better go on to the next station at Bogotol, +where there lives a merchant named So-and-so; and if you ask him he +will recommend you to an honest wheelwright.” With our spokes roped +together, therefore, and wetted, we waddled on, and arrived at Bogotol +between three and four in the morning. + +“Is the merchant So-and-so at home?” was the first question we asked +at the post-house. “Yes,” said they; “but he is asleep, and will get +up for nobody.” “Indeed,” said I to my interpreter, “will you go to +him and say as politely as you can that an Englishman travelling to +Irkutsk has met with an accident, and will be greatly obliged if he can +recommend him an honest wheelwright?” And off went Mr. Interpreter, +with a glum countenance, evidently not liking his job. He knocked at +the merchant’s door, expecting to get roundly abused for his intrusion. +But the merchant, on ascertaining what was the matter, asked the +stranger in, and shouted to his servants, Peter, Timothy, and John, to +bestir themselves. One he sent for the wheelwright, another to heat the +samovar, and a third to prepare some food; and then, said he, “I cannot +think of letting you go till the wheelwright comes, and all is going +well”; after which he plied his visitor with talk, telling him what a +famous place was Siberia; that any one might come in his neighbourhood, +and, without payment, till as much land or cut as much grass as he +liked, no man forbidding him; though labour, he added, was scarce, and +imported goods dear. Thus, after tea and talk, and the arrival of the +workman, the merchant returned to his slumbers. But I thought this +one of the finest examples of hospitality and kindness to strangers I +had ever met with, and I wondered much whether a broken-down Russian +traveller, knocking up an Englishman at four in the morning, and +asking to be recommended to an honest wheelwright, would have received +a kindlier reception. The honest wheelwright mended us up for a few +shillings, and, after calling to thank the merchant, we started, and +about noon reached Krasnorechinska. Here we called upon the priest, who +had 3,000 parishioners, of whom he said 200 could read, for whom we +gave him some pamphlets, and sold him four New Testaments. He possessed +a large Russian Bible, which cost upwards of six shillings, and was, he +said, the cheapest to be had. + +By night we reached Atchinsk, the first station in Eastern Siberia, +and although the roads were perceptibly better immediately we crossed +the border, our poor wheel was out of trim again, and threatened to +detain us far into the morrow. And now came sundry physicians to +administer advice, chiefly, however, in their own favour. One wished +to sell us a new wheel for £1, another to make an exchange of our two +front wheels for £2, and so on; in answer to which I declared that +I would go straight to the Ispravnik and show my grand letter from +Petersburg. “But,” urged Mr. Interpreter, “the Ispravnik has nothing +to do with mending wheels!” “True,” I replied; but--“Let us go!” And +so we did, and were kindly received. “If your axletrees are of iron,” +said the Ispravnik, “I doubt whether there are any persons in the place +capable of mending them; but, even if there are, they will most likely +be drunk, as to-day is a _fête_; and you must therefore wait till +to-morrow.” I pleaded, however that he should do his best, and things +turned out better than he prophesied. A wheelwright was found, who for +half-a-crown enabled us to proceed, and early next morning we reached +Krasnoiarsk. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Mr. Atkinson gives the following list of mammalia as inhabiting +Siberia:--The reindeer, stag, roebuck, elk; the argali, or wild sheep, +and wild boar; the jackal, wolf, tiger, and bear; the Corsac and Arctic +foxes; the lynx, glutton, and polecat; the beaver, otter, badger, +hedgehog, ermine, Arctic hare; sable; flying, striped, and common +squirrels; the Siberian and common marmots; the water and common rats; +the mouse, bat, and mole. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_THE YENESEI._ + + Sources of the river.--Discoveries of Wiggins and + Nordenskiöld.--The Yenesei at Krasnoiarsk.--Current, + width, depth.--Breaking up of ice.--The Yeneseisk + province.--Geography.--Meteorology.--Forests.--Timber.--Fish of + Yenesei.--Birds.--Russian population.--Navigation.--Corn and + cattle.--Towns.--A Scoptsi village.--Salubrity of climate.--The + aborigines.--Ethnology.--Tunguses.--Fur-bearing animals.--Methods + of hunting.--Minerals. + + +The most remarkable of the natural features of the Yeneseisk province +is its wonderful river, the Yenesei,[1] much of our knowledge of which, +below Krasnoiarsk, we owe to the discoveries of Wiggins and Seebohm, +Nordenskiöld and Théel, all of whose information has come to us within +the past seven years.[2] + +As I stood on the banks of the Yenesei at Krasnoiarsk, it appeared to +me the most majestic stream I had ever beheld; and, when looking at +the rush of its waters, I was thankful that we had attempted nothing +so rash as to descend by a raft on its bosom; for, however pleasant a +method of travelling from Minusinsk this might be in summer, it would +be nothing short of madness to attempt it during the spring floods. +Some idea of the swiftness of the current may be gathered from the +report of M. Théel, who says that, including stoppages and without +rowing, they were carried in their boat from Krasnoiarsk to Yeneseisk, +a distance of 300 miles, in 2½ days; that is to say, they floated down +the stream at just about the same speed as we attained with three +horses at our best travelling, namely, 130 miles in a day and night. +Allowing for stoppages, they floated at the rate of seven miles an +hour. Dr. Peacock, who lives at Krasnoiarsk, informed me that the river +in quiet places has a current of five miles an hour; in swifter places +of 10 miles, and in some very rapid parts of 17 miles an hour; but +this last may perchance refer to the two rapids, through one of which +M. Théel’s party had to shoot at Padporoschensk, about 170 miles below +Krasnoiarsk, and the other, of which Mr. Seebohm speaks as remaining +unfrozen all the winter through.[3] + +I imagine that the grandest thing to be witnessed on the Lower Yenesei +is the breaking-up of the ice, which Mr. Seebohm has described as +he saw it in 1877. Proceeding down the river on the ice with Captain +Wiggins, they reached the ship _Thames_ in her winter quarters near the +confluence of the Kureika with the Yenesei, and were quietly waiting +for the opening of the navigation, when on the 1st of June commenced +what Mr. Seebohm calls the “battle of the Yenesei.” The pressure +underneath caused a large field of ice to break away, which, by +collision with an angular point of the bank, resulted in the piling up +of a little range of ice mountains 50 or 60 feet high, and picturesque +in the extreme. Huge blocks of ice, six feet thick and 20 feet long, +were seen standing perpendicularly, whilst others were crushed up in +fragments like broken pottery. Some were white, and some clear as +glass, and blue as an Italian sky. Then the river began to rise, and +in the course of the night the whole crust of the Yenesei, as far as +could be seen, broke up with a tremendous crash, and a dense mass of +ice-floes and pack-ice rushed irresistibly up the Kureika, driving the +poor ship like a toy before it, and leaving it in the evening, amidst +huge hummocks of ice, almost high and dry. The velocity of these masses +of pack-ice on the Yenesei was reckoned on some days to be not less +than 20 miles an hour. This sort of thing continued for a fortnight, +and during two days it was calculated that 50,000 acres of ice passed +the ship up the constantly changing Kureika, which alternately rose +and fell. Many square miles of ice were marched up for some hours, +and then marched back again. Sometimes the pack-ice and floes were +jammed so tightly together that it looked as if one might scramble +across the river without much difficulty. At other times there was +a good deal of open water, and the icebergs “calved” as they went +along, with much commotion and splashing, that could be heard a mile +off. Underlayers of icebergs grounded, and after the velocity of the +enormous mass had caused it to pass on, the “calves,” or pieces left +behind, rose to the surface like whales coming up to breathe. Some of +them must have done so from a good depth, for they rose out of the +water with a considerable splash, and rocked about for some time before +settling down to their floating level. At last took place the final +march past of the beaten winter forces in this great 14 days’ “battle,” +and for seven days more came slowly down the stragglers of the great +Arctic army--worn and weather-beaten little icebergs, dirty ice-floes +looking like mudbanks, and broken pack-ice in the last stage of +destruction--after which the river was found to have risen to a height +of 70 feet. + +To proceed, however, from the river to the basin through which it +flows. The Yenesei gives its name to Yeneseisk, that central Siberian +province which is bounded on the west by the governments of Tobolsk and +Tomsk, and on the east by those of Yakutsk and Irkutsk. It is the only +province that stretches across the country from the Altai range to the +Arctic Ocean, a distance from north to south of nearly 2,000 miles; +or, to put it in another way, it extends from the latitude of London +to that of the most northerly point of Asia, within 14 degrees of the +North Pole.[4] + +The province is divided into six uyezds, with six principal towns, +viz., Krasnoiarsk, Minusinsk, Yeneseisk, Kansk, Atchinsk, and +Turukhansk. The differences of temperature between its various parts +are, of course, very great. The southern portions about Minusinsk we +heard spoken of as the Italy of Siberia; and at Krasnoiarsk, towards +the end of June, we found the temperature like that of an English +summer. Further north, at Yeneseisk, the greatest heat of the year 1877 +(registered in June) was 92·5, whilst the greatest cold sunk to 59·2 +below zero. This cold was exceeded in December of the same year at +Turukhansk, where the thermometer sank to 63·0 below zero. + +The province is covered with magnificent forests up to the Arctic +Circle, but the trees rapidly diminish in size further north, and +disappear soon after lat. 69°. These forests are principally of pine. +In the neighbourhood of Krasnoiarsk the pine and the larch attain to +colossal dimensions. The pine frequently rises to 200 feet in height, +but is never more than six feet in diameter at the base. The larch, +which has the furthest northern range, sometimes attains to the same +height, but its diameter is but four feet on the surface of the +ground.[5] + +The forests abound with animal life, as do the rivers with fish. Fish +forms the principal food of the natives, and in summer almost every +one is a fisherman, using nets and lines, or spearing by torchlight. +In the Yenesei are found pike, ruff, perch, and tench, all which are +little esteemed, and serve as food for the dogs. The more valued are +the sturgeon, salmon, and various species of the genus _Coregonus_. The +common sturgeon is caught along the whole Yenesei, and sometimes weighs +more than 200 lbs. The sterlet usually weighs only three or four lbs., +but occasionally reaches 18. The salmon is most numerous in the upper +course of the river at Minusinsk, where it is caught in great numbers. + +The birds of the Yeneseisk province have received much attention from +Mr. Seebohm. He brought home, in 1877, about 500 eggs, and more than +1,000 skins, but he thinks that he would have had a still larger bag +had he made Yeneseisk his head-quarters instead of the Kureika. He +speaks of a perfect Babel of birds when the ice was breaking up at the +beginning of June. Gulls, geese, and swans were flying about in all +directions, also flocks of redpoles and shore-larks, bramblings and +wagtails; and in the course of the summer were seen the sea-eagle, the +rough-legged buzzard, the sparrow-hawk, and various kinds of owls. In +addition to our species of cuckoo, the Himalayan cuckoo made its way to +these regions, though it had a different note to that of our English +bird--a guttural and hollow-sounding _hoo_, which could be heard at a +great distance. Ravens and carrion-crows were plentiful, and jackdaws, +magpies, and starlings were seen at Yeneseisk, though the jackdaw and +starling did not go much further north, which remark applies also to +the bullfinch. The nut-cracker was found as far north as the Kureika, +where it showed a desire to be sociable, and often perched on the +rigging of the _Thames_. Besides these, Mr. Seebohm, among many other +birds, mentions the thrush, the black, hazel, and willow grouse, the +capercailzie, bittern, crane, lapwing, and golden plover. Towards +the end of summer is to be seen, he says, a curious sight on the +tundras--flocks of geese in full moult and unable to fly. + +The Russian population of the province is settled for the more part +in towns and villages by the side of the river, and along the great +high road crossing it. The natives wander over the remainder. Russian +villages are seen from 10 to 15 miles apart on the rivers’ banks, at +which travellers proceeding north may find oarsmen in summer and horses +in winter,--horses, that is, as far as Turukhansk, beyond which first +dogs and then reindeer are employed. + +Most of the corn that is raised in the province grows about Minusinsk, +where it may be bought at a fabulously low price, and whence it is +brought down the river in barges and flat-bottomed boats.[6] Rye +is not cultivated further north than Antsiferova, 40 miles below +Yeneseisk, and oats not beyond Zotina, on the 60th parallel. Potatoes +are cultivated up to Turukhansk, but they are small. Agriculture, in +fact, practically ceases a little beyond Yeneseisk. The Russians alone +give any attention to it, as the natives are too busy fishing during +their short summers to till the land. Cattle are raised to some small +extent in the valley of the Yenesei, though the people do not appear +to understand how to make the most of them. Cows are found as far as +Dudinsk; but though in some of the villages they may have 40 or 50, it +is almost impossible to get a glass of milk, the calves being allowed +to take it all. An Anglo-Russian lady informs me that, were these cows +treated like English ones, even for a few days, they would lose their +milk; therefore a Russian cow is only partially milked, the rest being +left for her calf. A scientific gentleman told my friend that it is the +peculiarity of all cows only lately redeemed from a wild state to lose +their milk when deprived of their calves. The making of butter is only +half known on the Yenesei, and of cheese not at all. Sheep are found as +far as Vorogova, and goats up to Yeneseisk. + +Of the towns and villages on the Yenesei, Yeneseisk is the oldest, +having been founded in 1618; and the most curious is that of +Silovanoff, near Turukhansk. It is inhabited by exiled _Scoptsi_, a +fanatical sect whose principal doctrine is based on Matt. xix. 12, who +mutilate themselves, and endeavour to persuade others to follow their +example. When these people are caught so acting, they are banished.[7] + +[Illustration: OSTJAK WOMEN OF THE YENESEISK PROVINCE.] + +It has already been intimated that the aborigines wander over the +uninhabited parts of the province. In the south, about Minusinsk, are +Tatars, most of whom have embraced the Christianity of the Russian +Church. In the north, to the west of the river, are the Samoyedes and +Ostjaks. West of the river, at the extreme north, are the Yuraks, and +below them the Tunguses, which latter wander over a far larger area +than any other tribe in Siberia.[8] Those in the Yeneseisk province +give themselves to the care of reindeer and to the chase. M. Théel +speaks of them as the most intelligent of the natives on the Yenesei, +and says that their rich women, probably wives of chiefs, often wear +furs of beaver, sable, and black fox to the value of many hundreds of +pounds sterling. He mentions also, as some proof of their intellectual +taste, that there was presented to him a hexagonal spindle of ivory, +upon which the days, the weeks, and the months were indicated by +different signs. He speaks also of a game they had resembling chess, of +which all the pieces were of ivory. + +[Illustration: YURAK HUNTSMAN.] + +Among the principal animals, objects of their chase, are the sable, +the common fox, the white fox, the elk, the reindeer, the wolf, the +bear, the ermine, and the squirrel. At the beginning of October, and +sometimes also of January, they start on snow-shoes. Alone, or in +company, the hunter goes into the virgin forest, some hundreds of +versts from any habitation, and is followed by a little sledge drawn by +dogs. If he finds the track of a sable, he follows, and, on lighting +upon the animal, he has not much difficulty in killing it. But the +sable often takes refuge in a hole, and then there is nothing to be +done but to await his pleasure in coming out; and as this may be by +night as well as by day, his retreat is covered with fine threads +attached to bells, which give the alarm. The hunter may thus have to +wait two or three days; but, if he happen to kill the much-coveted +animal, his trouble is well rewarded; for a good sable skin fetches +from 50_s._ to £10. In skinning, the coat ought not to be stretched; +but, on the contrary, contracted as much as possible, in order to +render the hairs more bushy, which enhances the value. Hence the skins +one meets with in commerce are all short and wide. + +The common fox is taken with snares and traps. The black fox is very +rare in these parts, and its skin is valued up to £100. The white fox +is taken on the tundra by means of traps placed on the top of little +hills. This animal generally retires south towards the middle of +September; and as it is known that the fox, rather than jump over an +obstacle, however low, goes round it, the hunters, profiting by this +knowledge, set up barriers of branches, leaving openings where they +plant their snares, and catch their prey. The hunting of the elk is +carried on by men on snow-shoes; and such numbers of this animal are +killed that in some years one may buy at Yeneseisk as many as 10,000 +skins. Reindeer are taken in numbers equally large, sometimes in traps, +and sometimes by driving whole herds into an enclosure, from which they +cannot get out.[9] + +One of their modes of capturing the bear in the Yeneseisk province +is by fixing a wooden platform to the trunk of a tree, and at such +a height from the ground that the bear is forced to stand on his +hind-legs at full length to reach the middle. On this platform are +numerous barbed iron spikes, and at the higher part a joint of meat. +The bear arrives, stands up, and puts forward one paw to seize the +bait; but, bringing it down on the spikes, finds it fixed. The furious +animal puts down the second to release the first, which also is +caught, and he thus becomes an easy prey to the huntsman. + +Thus the natives spend their days--fishing in summer and hunting in +winter. They have no towns, no villages, no houses, but live in tents +of skins or of bark, according to the season; and they have little +idea of civilized life, or the mineral wealth with which their country +abounds. Iron ore is found in the valley of the Yenesei, and from +the province, in 1877, 2,700 tons were cast; also from the mine of +graphite, on the Kureika, Captain Wiggins ballasted one of his vessels. +The greatest mineral product of the province, however, is gold, of +which I shall speak in the following chapter. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Its most distant sources rise under another name in Mongolia, on +the eastern side of the Khangai mountains, whence the Selenga and the +Orkhon, flowing together into Lake Baikal, emerge as the Angara, which +flows into the Yenesei proper near the town of Yeneseisk. The stream +that is _called_ the Yenesei, however, rises in the Tannu range of +the Altai mountains, whence it bursts through the Sayansk chain in +cataracts and rapids, and enters Siberia south of Minusinsk; and then, +flowing on beyond Krasnoiarsk, it is joined by the Angara, the Lower +and Upper Tunguska, and the Kureika, all flowing in on the right bank. +The Russians give its length as 3,472 miles, thus making the Yenesei +the fourth longest river in the world, being exceeded only by the Nile, +the Amazon, and the Mississippi. + +[2] _See_ Appendix D. + +[3] The gigantic proportions of the Yenesei will be further realized +from its width, which at Krasnoiarsk, 1,700 miles from the sea, is more +than 1,000 yards, and at Yeneseisk it measures rather more than a mile. +From thence it widens gradually, so that at the Kureika it enlarges to +about three miles; and between Tolstonosovsk and Goltchikha it expands +like a lake with a breadth of more than 40 miles. The delta and lagoon +formed by its waters are about 400 miles in length. The depth of the +river varies, of course, according to the season, but opposite Dudinsk +M. Théel’s sounding-line indicated a depth of 12 fathoms. The river has +a fall of 4,000 feet, and the banks generally are steep and lofty, from +60 to 100 feet above the water. Thus it would seem that comparatively +little land is covered by the summer floods, which is just the reverse +in the case of the Obi. M. Théel observes, however, that it frequently +happens, when one bank is high, the other is low, from which it follows +that the vegetation on either side assumes a somewhat different +character; for where the bank is low, and consequently exposed to +inundations, one sees abundance of willows, whilst the higher bank is +very often covered with fir, pine, and larch. + +[4] The province has an area of nearly a million square miles--that +is to say, is somewhat larger than the aggregate surface covered +by Austria, France, Russia, Spain, and all the British possessions +in Europe. The southern part only is mountainous, all above the +60th parallel being flat and swampy. It has some half-dozen large +and thousands of smaller lakes in the _tundras_ of the north, +and the province is well watered by the Yenesei and its larger +affluents,--namely, the Angara, the Podkamennaia (or stony) Tunguska, +the Nijnaia (or lower) Tunguska, and the Kureika. In 1873 the +population was thus classified: hereditary nobles, 800; personally +noble, 1,600; ecclesiastical persons of all sorts, 4,000; townspeople, +20,000; rural population, 232,000; military, 15,000; foreigners, 42; +and others, probably aborigines, 122,000. The total population in 1880 +was 372,000, or about three-fourths of the population of Liverpool. + +[5] The larch is called in Russ _listvenitsa_ (from _list_, a leaf, +and _venets_, a crown), in allusion to the arrangement of its acicular +leaves. Its wood looks well for the walls and ceilings of the peasants’ +rooms. The larch is highly valued also for its power of resisting the +effects of moisture, besides which, when used as fuel, it is found to +produce a high degree of heat (in which respect the birch comes next), +though it does not produce a brilliant light. For the tile-kilns it is +preferable to all other wood, but it is not used for charcoal, nor does +it serve well for burning in the house, on account of the pungent and +stupefying qualities of its smoke; nor in the furnaces used for the +manufacture of rolled iron plates, for it soils the metal. + +The elegant spruce fir, with its branches almost down to the root +and trailing on the ground, is more abundant, and extends nearly as +far north. The Siberians look upon this tree as very important for +commercial purposes. The wood is white, light, and very elastic. It is +the favourite tree for masts, and is considered the best substitute +for ash for oars, and it makes the best “knees” for shipbuilding. +Snow-shoes also are generally made of this wood. The quality is good +down into the roots. It is, however, subject to very hard knots, which +are said to blunt the edge of any axe not made of Siberian steel. The +Siberian spruce is less abundant, and differs from the common spruce +in having a smooth bark of an ash-grey colour. The leaves are also of +a much darker and bluer green. The wood is soft and liable to crack +and decay, and is consequently of little commercial value; but, being +easy to split, it is largely used for roofing and for fuel. The cost +of firewood in Siberia per _sajen_, or seven-feet cube, is 3_s._, +as compared with 12_s._ in Petersburg, and from 20_s._ to 30_s._ at +Moscow. At Krasnoiarsk a log of building timber, 80 feet long, costs +from 20_d._ to 3_s._, whilst bricks cost from 16_s._ to 20_s._ per +1,000. The Scotch fir, with the upper trunk and branches almost of a +cinnamon yellow, is in many places very abundant. + +The Siberian is proudest, however, of his cedar--a tree very similar in +appearance to the Scotch fir, but more regular in its growth--clothed +with branches nearer to the ground, and with an almost uniform grey +trunk. For furniture and indoor wood it is considered to be the best +timber in the country, and is said never to rot or shrink, warp or +crack. It is soft and easy to work, but has a fine grain, and is almost +free from knots. The Ostjaks use it for building their large boats. +They take a trunk two or three feet in diameter, split it, and of each +half make a wide, thin board. Having no proper saws, they are obliged +to cut the wood away with an axe, and thus the greater part of the tree +is wasted. The Russian peasant is still more prodigal with his timber, +for when I was going through the forest east of the Yenesei, a felled +cedar-tree was pointed out, and the remark made that it was quite usual +that a man who wanted nuts should cut down a fine tree for the sole +purpose of replenishing his bag with the nut-filled cones. + +The birch is common up to the 70th parallel, and still further north, +on the tundra, in suitable localities, the creeping birch and two or +three sorts of willow may be met with. The alder is abundant, and the +juniper. The poplar is found as far north as Turukhansk. The Ostjaks +hollow their canoes from the trunks of this tree. + +[6] In 1876 the number of steamers on the Yenesei was four, all +of which had paddle-wheels, and were used for tugging barges. The +steamers took no cargo on board, and some of the barges were arranged +like floating shops. These last leave Yeneseisk at the end of May, +and return from the lower part of the river at the end of September, +during which period the two largest steamers, with engines of 60 or +70-horse power, make two voyages, the smaller only one. Some of the +barges are of 250 tons burthen. Besides these steamers, there were two +sailing-boats of 50 tons burthen each, and a number of others from 6 to +20 tons. It should also be added that there are large pentagonal boats +or barges, constructed with huge timbers in the corn-growing districts +on the upper part of the river, whence they are towed down each by 15 +or 20 men, and then, arrived at their destination, are broken up for +building or firewood. Such was the fleet of the Yenesei at the time of +the visit of M. Théel. + +[7] Mr. Seebohm tells me that, as regards material comforts, this +village is far in advance of the ordinary Russian villages. He found +the land well cultivated and railed off, the cattle kept out by gates, +and there was a hospital for the sick. The houses were ventilated, +the joining work was good, and there were books. All intoxicants were +forbidden, and likewise tobacco and tea and coffee. Morally, in fact, +it was a model village and without crime. The inhabitants, however, +of whom there were more men than women, had a remarkable appearance. +They were all sallow; the men were beardless, with squeaky voices; and +no inhabitant was less than forty years of age. A “baby’s music” had +never been heard among them. They keep all the festivals of the Russian +Church, but have no priest. They say that every man is a priest, and +that he can perform priestly acts only for himself. They provided +Mr. Seebohm, as a guest, with both tea and butter, but the Scoptsi +themselves eat no animal food but fish, use no butter and drink no +milk. At least this was so originally; but here breaks forth a fact +that should be respectfully dedicated to all who suppose it within the +bounds of possibility to bring every one, or to keep every one, to the +same way of thinking. These people number less than a score, have no +one in the village not of their own persuasion, and yet they have split +into two sects, the difference being that one drinks milk and the other +does not. Originally some 700 or 800 were sent from the government +of Perm; but many on the Yenesei were dying, and they petitioned to +be removed elsewhere, and are now to be found with other Scoptsi in +large numbers in the province of Yakutsk. As to the relative salubrity +of these and other Siberian provinces, the only clue that I have is +that whereas in 1879 the death-rate in the government of Perm, whence +these people came, was 5·07 per cent., it was 4·13 in the province of +Tobolsk, 3·89 in that of Irkutsk, and 3·51 in the province of Yeneseisk. + +[8] Dr. Latham observes that, if we take the principal populations +that are common to the Russian and Chinese Empires, we find them +to be the Turkish, Mongolian, and Tungusian races; the Turk on the +west, the Mongol in the middle, and the Tunguse on the east. The +Tunguse race begins, he says, north of Peking, and stretches through +Manchuria across the district of the Amur, and north-east and west +to the sea of Okhotsk and to the Yenesei. Of the Tunguse family the +Manchu is the most civilized, whilst in Siberia we have them in their +extreme character of rude nomads, unlettered, and still pagan, or but +imperfectly Christianized. The Tungusian approaches the Mongolian, the +Ostjak, or the Eskimo, according as his residence lies north or south; +within the limit of the growth of trees or beyond it, on the champaign, +the steppe, or the tundra. On the tundra the horse ceases to be his +domestic animal, and the reindeer or the dog replaces it. Hence we hear +of three divisions of the Tunguse family called by different names, +according as they possess horses, reindeer, or dogs. + +[9] The horns of these animals are very fine. I was presented with a +pair in Archangel, measuring nearly four feet from the skull to the +extremities, which are a yard apart. The brow antlers are 13 inches +long, and the bes-antlers, or those next above, 16 and 18 inches +respectively, whilst the total measurement of antlers and branches is +upwards of 14 feet. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_A VISIT TO A GOLD-MINE._ + + Gold in Siberia.--Where found.--Gold-hunting.--A + prospecting party.--Thawing the ground.--Subterranean + passages.--Hardships.--Mining calculations.--Building of + barracks.--Preparations for our visit.--Costumes.--Road through + the “forest primeval.”--Luxuriant vegetation.--Crossing + mountains.--Arrival at mine.--Labour of miners.--Gold-washing + machine.--Government inspection.--Wages.--Hours of + labour.--Miners’ food.--Pay-day.--Drink and its follies.--Miners’ + fortunes.--Mines of Eastern Siberia.--Return to Krasnoiarsk. + + +Not many Englishmen, probably, would think of going to Siberia to +seek for _El-dorado_, the fabled land of gems and gold. Many tons of +precious metals, however, are found there yearly; and there are firms, +consisting of only two or three partners, that net an annual income +of more than half-a-million sterling. The Russian empire furnishes +an eighth part of the gold found yearly throughout the world, and +three-fourths of this quantity come from Siberia. It was at the +beginning of the century that gold-washing was commenced in the Urals, +and a period of great prosperity followed from 1825 to about 1850. +Since that time, the number of mines has increased, but the profits +are less, because, whilst the value of gold has diminished, the price +of labour has risen. The sources and affluents of the great Siberian +rivers are rich in gold. The districts on the west of Lake Baikal that +are most worked are those of Yeneseisk, Irkutsk, Kansk, Nijni-Udinsk, +and the sources of the Lena, which last are the richest.[1] + +Accordingly, when we arrived at Krasnoiarsk, the large town of the +Yeneseisk gold-mining district, and made acquaintance with some of the +gold-seekers’ families, it appeared a good opportunity to visit one +of the mines, since they were called “near.” It was rather alarming, +however, to discover what were the Siberians’ notions of the word +_near_, for in that huge country 100 miles or more go for nothing--in +fact, are a mere trifle, and not too long to be travelled for the sake +of a ball or a festive gathering. The gold-seekers’ daughters even +sometimes go out to their fathers’ mines within this distance, and, +when they do so, stride their horses in top-boots and knickerbockers +to save their dresses being torn in the primeval forest, or, as it +is called, the _taiga_. When, therefore, I found that a pair of high +boots would be necessary, and that it would involve a long journey on +horseback, I rather hesitated. We had, however, been introduced to the +Director of the Krasnoiarsk Hospital, Dr. Peacock; and when it appeared +that not only he, but Mrs. Peacock also, would join the party, my +courage rose, and I determined to go. + +But, before we start, let me try to give the reader some idea as to +the localities in which the gold is found, and how it is discovered. +In the mountainous districts of the forest countless brooks unite into +rivulets, which, in accordance with the character of the landscape, +have a strong fall, becoming very rapid in the spring, and still more +so in the summer, after the melting of the snow. The waters uproot +trees, undermine rocks, and sweep along earth, gold, and other metals +with resistless fury, till the lowlands are reached, where the stream, +having no longer the same force, allows the heavy gold to sink to +the bottom, to be covered, perhaps, next season with more gold, or, +perhaps, by earth and rubbish. It will be easy to understand, then, how +a layer of sand containing gold may be thus formed, and subsequently +covered over with beds of earth and stone. + +The professional _tayoshnik_, or gold-hunter, has to discover these +auriferous layers; but this he cannot do alone.[2] There must be a +prospecting party made up, which may consist, say, of an overseer, a +leader, 8 workmen, 10 horses, 18 saddle-bags, provisions, and tools, +the whole of which may be estimated to cost £500, which amount has to +be risked, for the party may go out into the taiga and find nothing, or +what may prove worse than nothing.[3] + +The tayoshnik knows, however, that the Siberian gold deposits are +almost always to be met with on the banks of streams, or in their +beds. Again, gold is often hidden in crevices of the earth that have +evidently once served as channels for running water. Moreover, he knows +that those rivers that wash up gold are always such as have their +sources in ravines, the rocks of which are very much weather-beaten. +Gold is rarely found at precipitous spots, and is most abundant where +the water ages ago had a calmer current, and consequently no longer +possessed the necessary strength to carry the heavy metal along.[4] + +The hunter must, however, dig some depth beneath the surface, the +thickness of the beds of earth covering the gold varying from 2 to 20 +feet, though it increases sometimes to 150 feet. At some spots three or +four gold deposits, or _plasts_, as they are called, lie one over the +other, separated by thick strata of earth and rocks, in which case the +lowest of the plasts is generally the richest.[5] + +With knowledge of this kind, therefore, the gold-hunter proceeds till +he arrives at a valley along which he judges some ancient river ages +ago may have rolled down its golden sands. He then seeks in the bed +of the rivulet for pyrites, iron, slate-clay, or quartz with a thick +coat of crystals; and at length he forms a judgment as to whether or +not he is likely by digging to find a gold deposit. If his verdict be +favourable, then all hands are set to work to cut down trees and build +a rude log hut, in which the party may have to live for months. The +next business is to dig a number of holes or trenches at a distance +from each other, to get down to the auriferous layers--that is, if +there are any; for if there be none, their labour of course is lost, +and they have to try elsewhere. But if there be auriferous layers, it +is no easy matter to get to them, for gold-hunting is usually followed +in the winter, often with the thermometer many degrees below zero, and +when the ground is so hard as not to be pierced even by a pickaxe; they +have, therefore, to make huge bonfires, whereby the earth is softened, +so as to allow trenches of considerable depth to be dug. This manœuvre +has to be repeated until the longed-for gold is found, or unyielding +stone presents an impenetrable obstacle.[6] + +These trenches or holes are made under the superintendence of the +overseer. Samples of the earth are constantly tried, and so guidance +is obtained as to the direction in which other work should be begun, +and some idea formed as to the depth and breadth of the beds of gold. +Often, however, the metal lies so far beneath the surface that it would +scarcely be possible to dig out all the trenches begun. In such cases +the wider ones are sunk into wells or shafts, and subterranean passages +are made.[7] + +Thus the work of testing a locality may take some little time; +meanwhile the workmen and overseer live in their wretched hut, which +often is not well roofed, and heated only by a portable stove. The wind +whistles through the cracks of the moss-calked walls, an insupportable +heat reigns in the vicinity of the stove, while, on the opposite walls, +icicles gleam like brilliants, and melting snow falls from above. The +air is rendered poisonous by the exhalations of the inmates and the +vapour ascending from damp clothing hung near the fire to dry. In fact, +as the workmen say, the atmosphere is thick enough “to hang up an axe +in.” However, in the wilderness, even such a shelter is a longed-for +refuge when a fierce snowstorm is raging and the thermometer has sunk +to far below zero. + +But the climate is not the only hardship the gold-hunter has to +encounter. His provisions consist of black rusks, dried meat, tea, and +a little brandy; and often he does not possess as much as could be +wished even of this meagre fare, for he is obliged to carry with it all +requisite tools and weapons on his beasts of burden, and communication +with civilized centres or depôts is usually difficult, and in spring +sometimes impossible. My interpreter told me he had an uncle, who was +a _tayoshnik_, who made an income of about £1,000 a year, but had +sometimes, for want of better food, to eat bear’s flesh. + +But supposing the overseer to have discovered a promising spot, and to +have tested the earth from several holes, he can then strike an average +as to the amount of gold that may be got from every hundred poods--that +is, every 32 cwt., or say every ton and a half--of sand. If the amount +be five _zolotniks_,--say, ¾ oz., this is thought rich; if less than ⅛ +oz. it is very poor; sometimes, however, ½ lb. of gold even is found to +100 poods of sand. The overseer has next to calculate whether it will +pay to work the mine.[8] + +If, when all things are calculated, the land promises to pay, he +sticks up two posts, one on each end of the area he has chosen, +despatches a courier to his employer, and the place is registered at +once by the commissary of police or other competent authority from +the local Direction of Mines. The area is then thoroughly surveyed by +a Government surveyor, who makes a map of the spot, and, when all is +secured to the finder, the proprietor can at once borrow money on the +security of his mine, paying at the rate of from 20 to 30 per cent., +according as money is scarce or plentiful. Many capitalists, content +with this interest, employ all their money in this way.[9] + +The next thing is to build the necessary houses and barracks for the +future manager of the mine and his workmen, the number of which may +vary from 10 to 2,000. Provisions and fuel provided, then the digging +begins about the middle of February, and the washing about the 1st of +May, the operations being over on the 10th of September, or, if the +weather be unusually fine, on the 1st of November. When a mine has been +registered, it _must_ be worked to some extent, or it is forfeited to +the Crown. The owner, however, may sell it if he pleases, but it must +not remain idle. + +It was to a mine that had been opened the same year that we were to +start from Krasnoiarsk. It was called the Archangel Gabriel mine, and +was situated on the river Slisneva, at a spot nearly 30 miles from the +Yenesei. Our worthy doctor arrayed himself for the occasion in the +costume of a Tyrolese hunter, with a double gun over his shoulders, a +revolver and bowie-knife in his belt, and a huntsman’s horn; for he +hoped, he said, that we might chance to meet with a bear--a hope that +I cannot say was shared by all the party. I know at least of one who +hoped we should _not_ meet with a bear. However, it was by no means +unlikely, and I accordingly armed Mr. Interpreter with our revolver. +Madame Peacock wore a black velvet hat, a magenta chemisette, a brown +tweed tunic, black knickerbockers, and top boots; and thus, with a +few provisions, we started in the afternoon to cross the Yenesei to +the village of Basaïka. The water was more than 20 feet higher than +it had risen for 30 years, the ferry had been washed away, and the +force of the stream carried down our boat a good mile ere we reached +the opposite bank; and then, after wading through a great deal of +mud and water, in doing which we learned to appreciate high boots, +we reached the village, and took refreshment before mounting our +steeds. We then advanced in single file from the village through the +cultivated bottom-land, and afterwards through much grass, that was +very like penetrating a forest of herbs, to which our horses took +kindly, for they had scarcely to stoop their heads to nibble their +fodder. Although the summer was young, there were to be seen the acacia +in blossom, currants, and raspberries; and among flowers, the bitter +vetch, the spiræa, anemones, Flora’s bell, high pæonies, aconite, or +wolf’s bane, and large dragon-mouths; also abundance of ferns, among +them one strongly resembling the _Osmunda regalis_, and the magnificent +_Struthiopteris germanica_, which attains to gigantic growth in +Siberia; and even the trunks of the trees and the granite rocks were +covered with a rich variety of lichens and verdant mosses. + +Thus far, therefore, everything was going well. The evening was +delightful, and all were in excellent spirits. Soon, however, our guide +turned into the forest, and we had before us the first of two mountains +over whose backs we were to climb, thinking to reach our destination +by nightfall. At this point we began to get some idea of what is meant +by “the forest primeval,” for sometimes the way was all but impassable +by reason of masses of shattered-down dry wood; now our horses stepped +over fallen trees, and now waded knee-deep up the beds of rivulets; +in some places we met with snow-white skeletons of dead trees with +branching arms; in others the way, indicated by notches on the trees, +had been cut with an axe. + +As we mounted higher and higher, we had before us a fine, bold, rocky +mountain, lit up with the sinking sun. My companions called to me to +look back, and we had a splendid view of the noble Yenesei at sunset, +of its verdant bottom-lands on either side, its impetuous stream, and +magnificent forests. + +We then prepared for our first descent. But it became dusk, and the +overshadowing trees made our difficulty the greater. My horse, however, +seemed to know so well what he was about, that I was minded to keep +my seat and hope for the best. But when all my companions, including +Madame and the guide, had dismounted, and advised me to do the same if +I valued my neck, I followed suit till the valley was reached. We then +remounted for a short distance, by which time it was quite dark, and +for a short space some of the party were lost to the others. All came +right, however, towards midnight, when we saw afar off the glimmering +of a candle. This we hailed with a lusty blast of the doctor’s horn, +thinking to awake the inhabitants. Our coming had not been expected, +but letters from the owners of the mine secured us attention, and such +hospitality as the place afforded. “Let us have the samovar,” said the +doctor; “and bring a good large one, please, for we shall empty it.” + +And he was true to his word; for although they brought a twenty-glass +samovar, it went out empty. Russians, however, be it remembered, think +nothing of drinking from eight to a dozen glasses of tea, and we were +in need of refreshment! + +Then came the question of sleep. They had but one room to offer us. +Madame, therefore, lay on what might be called by courtesy a sofa. The +bedstead was politely given to me, and the doctor and interpreter lay +on the floor. Thus we managed to rest till about five in the morning, +when we were called. Our toilets had to be speedily arranged, and our +faces washed with a handful or two of water outside the door, for there +was no sort of washing apparatus to be seen. After some tea and rusks, +we started to witness the working of the gold-mine. + +I had seen the Swedish iron-mines of Dannemora, and had gone down a +copper-mine in the Urals; but the gold-mine was something new. There +was no underground work going on, and no digging of holes and sending +up the earth to be washed; but the whole surface had been laid bare. +Hence the work resembled that of English navvies making a cutting. +There were a number of small carts drawn by Siberian horses, and men +with pickaxes and shovels filling them. When full, the carts were drawn +up an incline to a platform, and emptied into one end of a large iron +cylinder, resembling a coffee-roaster, with holes all round it. This +was made to rotate by water-power, and the large stones and pebbles +were, by the formation and turning of the cylinder, tumbled out at +the end. Here they were duly watched, so that no nuggets should be +overlooked. At the same time several streams of water were poured into +the cylinder, and the earth and small pebbles, passing through the +holes, fell into a long wooden apron, inclined at an angle of 35°, with +moveable boxes or “pockets.” + +In order that we might see how the gold was washed, the manager caused +some of these pockets to be emptied on to an inclined plane of clean +wood, raised at either side, and over which ran equably and slowly a +stream of clear water. One of the pockets (called _dundofka_) was then +emptied on the higher part of the plane, and the water soon washed away +the mud, the man who performed the washing having a wooden scraper, +like that of a scavenger, with which he pushed back the descending +grains of gold. This was repeated till six poods, or say 200 lbs., of +washed earth had been placed on the board. After the mud and sand had +been allowed to roll away, a brush was used instead of the scraper, and +there remained behind perhaps a small teaspoonful of gold-dust, or as +much as was roughly valued at from 40_s._ to 50_s._ The gold was then +placed in a miniature frying-pan, and held over a small fire to dry, +after which it was put into what resembled a “poor-box.” This was done +in the presence of a Government official, of whom there is always one +at every mine, and who is usually a Cossack officer.[10] + +The gold thus gained is eventually poured into bags of coarse linen, +which, after having been stamped with the brand of the mine, are sewn +in leather sacks[11] and taken to Irkutsk or Barnaul, where it is +assayed; and afterwards there is deducted the tax of from 5 to 10 per +cent., according to the quantity. Gold assignats are given in exchange, +payable in six months, or they may be cashed at the Government bank at +a discount of 7 per cent. per annum. Thus all the gold found in the +country is claimed by the Government, and it is unlawful for any person +to have gold-dust in his possession unknown to the authorities. + +After we had seen the manner of washing the gold we walked into +the barracks, the hospital, stables, and the houses for the 200 or +300 workmen. I have spoken of the hardships that are endured by a +prospecting party. Yet, despite all their privations and dangers, there +is never a lack of persons who volunteer their services to wealthy +projectors, for they receive large wages. The overseer who discovers +the mine generally stipulates that he shall receive from 1 to 5 per +cent. on the yield; and the percentage given to some of the others on +a lucky find is very liberal. The ordinary labourers, too, such as +we saw, are well paid. Among them, of course, is a great variety of +races and people. There meet at the mines the nobleman and the Siberian +peasant; the former officer of the army and the pardoned convict; the +Pole, the German, the Tatar, and numberless others, who work in common, +now freezing in the icy blasts of winter, and now scorching in the heat +of the summer sun. They work intensely hard (sometimes from 3 a.m. to +7 p.m.), and observe no Sundays or saints’ days, excepting that of the +patron saint of the mine. But in most cases they have wholesome food, +warm quarters, and attention in sickness. + +Some of them, however, run away. It happens occasionally that a man +may have secreted gold, with which he gets off as early as possible; +and some, not reckoning aright the difficulties of travelling so far +alone, have been found starved, the useless gold clutched in the grasp +of lifeless fingers. We found some attention paid to what might be +called the fanaticism of the Mohammedan workmen; the Tatars being +placed alone, and convenience being afforded them to cook their food +in their own way. A separate barrack, too, was assigned to married +men with their wives. Over an outdoor fire hung a large caldron, big +enough to boil a donkey--the largest I had ever seen. This, I presumed, +was for cooking the meat; and in the bake-house we saw abundance +of rye bread, of which some of the men eat 7 lbs. in a day. Their +beverages are tea and quass. It is forbidden by law to sell spirituous +liquors at the mines. Only the managers have the right to keep them in +their possession, though this sensible regulation is often evaded by +contrabandists. + +When the 10th of September arrives, and the workmen receive their pay, +they break forth into the wildest excesses. Before leaving the mine, +each labourer gets a ticket, setting forth what he is to receive, which +may vary from £20 to £50. This ticket he has to present some miles +away at his employer’s office, and there, awaiting him outside, are +merchants and dealers, who manage soon to empty his pockets. He too +frequently begins by drinking; and then the man who has toiled harder +than a slave for months is often at a loss to know upon what objects +and follies to lavish his money. + +Captain Wiggins says that he never witnessed among the Siberian miners, +such scenes of depravity and disorder as may be witnessed among the +Australian and Californian miners, or even, at times, in the low +streets of English seaport towns. Another Englishman, however, has told +me a different story, to the effect that one miner, for instance, will +take a common woman and clothe her in satin and velvet, and then, a +week after, when money is gone, will tear the clothes from her back to +raise capital for drink. Another, of a vain turn of mind, buys bottles +of champagne, and sticks them up in a row to throw stones at; a third +will buy a piece of printed cotton, or other material, lay it down in +the dirty road, and, to indulge his aristocratic tread, will walk on +it; whilst a fourth, despising to be drawn by horses, will yoke to his +_telega_ his fellow-fools who have spent their money, and so be drawn +by human beings. The end of this, of course, is that their money is +speedily gone; and now comes the opportunity of the masters for the +following year, since they know that they shall want the men again, +and labour is scarce. Employers, therefore, advance them money, and +the poor sots start off to walk, perhaps, 500 miles to their homes or +friends, where, having arrived, they must needs return in a few months +to begin the labours of another season. + +The managers of mines, some of whom make £1,000 a year, congregate in +the winter in the towns, where much drinking and card-playing goes on. +If capitalists are fortunate, they can make and keep large fortunes. +Two gold-seekers in Krasnoiarsk are reputed to have found, in about 10 +years, 1,000 poods of gold, of the value, say, of £2,000,000 sterling. +We dined at the house of one of these men.[12] + +But to return to the Archangel Gabriel mine. After we had looked at +the buildings, and seen what else there was of interest, we returned +to a breakfast of beefsteaks, left some books for the workmen, and +then, mounting our steeds, returned towards Krasnoiarsk; and, seeing +that four persons similarly attired might not meet again for awhile, +I proposed that, on reaching the town, we should be photographed in a +group. This was done; and so ended one of the pleasantest _détours_ of +our journey. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] East of Lake Baikal are many mines on various rivers, such as +the Nertcha, the Ingoda, and the Onon. Another famous river is the +Olekma; whilst the Amur produces so much of the precious metal that +the yield of some of its valleys is fabulous. I heard, near Albazin, +concerning the Upper Amur Gold-mining Company, that for the past ten +years they had washed 150 poods of gold annually, which, reckoned at +£2,000 a pood--its price during the year of my visit--gives a product +of £3,000,000. Also on the Vitim, during the summer of 1878, from 300 +to 400 poods, I was told, had been extracted, which represent from +£600,000 to £800,000 sterling. + +[2] Any one, indeed, may go into the uninhabited _taiga_ to seek for +gold (as the hunter may penetrate the same dismal region in search +of game), provided, that is, he have a certificate from the mining +officers, which he may get by giving proofs of good citizenship from +the local authorities among whom he resides. He is then at liberty, +when he has found gold, to hire the land from the Government for the +purposes of mining. + +[3] A party of this kind will go where, perhaps, the foot of man has +never trodden. Fortunate is the _tayoshnik_ if he have by his side a +faithful native who can direct; otherwise he throws himself into a +labyrinth of small valleys and hills, intersected in all directions by +rushing mountain streams. He has no path to guide him save the course +of the rivers, often no compass save the sun, and in this manner he +travels--mounted, perhaps, on a small Siberian pony, or, in the far +north, on the back of a reindeer. In situations where it is impossible +for him to make use of small sledges drawn by reindeer on the frozen +rivers, he has to run on snow-shoes, everywhere encountering hardship +and dangers, with certain death in store for him should he lose his way. + +[4] Large rivers hardly ever carry gold with them, and when in +exceptional cases they do, the treasure cannot be recovered, since to +turn the water from its channel would be too great an expense. The +shape of the gold grains gives some idea of its previous history and +travels. Are the particles flat and thin? Then they have been dragged +over sand and rocks. Are they round like grains? Then they have been in +some whirlpool, participants in a mad circling dance. Or, once more, +are they fine dust particles, with here and there a larger piece, or +with various minerals attached--particularly quartz, their original +home? Then in this last shape the gold has probably had a comfortable +and quiet journey. + +[5] The _plasts_ vary from 3 inches to 15 feet, and their composition +varies considerably. Blue clay, coarse sand, quartz, clay-slate, +limestone, granite, and syenite occur frequently, as well as iron in +the most various combinations; and, more rarely, ferruginous red clay. +This last is very tough, and in the rainy season causes the workmen no +little difficulty. In return, however, it contains a good deal of gold. +In the district of the Olekma the gold deposit rests on a bed of firm +rock. + +[6] In many localities it is in the cold season only that the trenches +can be dug with advantage. In summer they would be quickly flooded. +Even in the winter the water must be fought against, and there are some +places where the earth is dug out from under frozen rivers. + +[7] These are the beginning of the so-called gold-_mines_. The +subterranean work, which is carried on principally during the winter +months, does not differ much from the ordinary work of the miner. +Poisonous vapours do not usually occur, but, when cutting through +clay-slate, the presence of sulphate of cobalt has sometimes an +injurious effect. The passages are nine feet wide and high, and two +labourers generally work from two to three tons of sand per day. The +sand thus accumulated during the winter is thrown up into heaps and +washed in the summer. + +[8] He must reckon the quantity of earth and rubbish to be removed +before he gets to the gold sand, also the number of labourers necessary +to be brought to the place, and food to keep them; and, further, he +must consider what will be the summer level of the stream on which his +claim lies, because without the proper supply of water the machinery +cannot be set in motion, and to put up an artificial water conduit +would be too expensive. + +[9] An area consists of a piece of land about 3½ miles long, the +breadth being determined by the distance between the two mountains in +which the gold-seam lies. This is generally from 500 to 1,000 feet. No +one can occupy more than three consecutive miles; but a wife, a friend, +or partner, having a certificate, may take the adjoining three miles, +and then the three miles below may be taken, and so on to any extent. + +[10] It is his duty to supervise the washing of the gold, which is +placed in a coffer, locked by the proprietor, and sealed by the +Government agent, the quantity of gold washed at each operation being +entered in a register. If they find a quarter of an ounce of gold to a +ton and a half of sand, then 200 men can wash from four to five pounds +of gold a day. I heard, however, of a mine to the south of Yeneseisk, +where they usually found from 15 to 20 lbs., and sometimes even up to +36 lbs. a day. Gold thus found is not always pure, but is frequently +mixed with magnetic iron, which is drawn off by a magnet. Nor is the +metal all of the same colour. In some places it is found very dark, and +often still covered by a crust of oxide of iron; in other places it is +of a very light colour, and contains silver. + +[11] Each bag contains about 50 lbs. of gold. Two of these, further +protected by a covering of thick felt, constitute the load for one +horse. To the two bags are fastened a long cord and a piece of dry +wood, so that, in the event of the horses’ burdens being washed away +while crossing a swollen river, the floating wood would indicate the +whereabouts of the sunken treasure. In the middle of June, or at the +end of the season, the departure of loads of gold from the mine is +accompanied with pistol-firing and the booming of cannon, and cheers +and blessings bid the caravan _bon voyage_. + +[12] There are, or were, some rich gold-mine proprietors at Kiakhta. +One firm there, consisting of three partners, washed in one year enough +gold to give a net profit of £600,000; they expected the year after to +make £1,000,000; and the Government surveyor calculated that at that +rate the mine would last 50 years. Thus many fortunes are realized in +Siberia; but hardly a month passes without chronicling some one’s ruin, +which may often be attributed to the fast life and gaming propensities +of the miners. Hence, although between the years 1833 and 1870 about +30,000 poods of gold were sent out of Eastern Siberia alone, to the +value of £50,000,000, the finding of which gave employment in some +years to upwards of 30,000 workmen, yet it will be seen from the +foregoing that this great wealth has not proved an unmixed blessing, +for the discovery of a gold-mine never brings to it a population +permanently thriving and industrious. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +_FROM KRASNOIARSK TO ALEXANDREFFSKY._ + + Situation of Krasnoiarsk.--Our hotel.--Dr. Peacock.--Visit to + prison, hospital, and madhouse.--Cathedral.--Drive in “Rotten + Row.”--Shoeing horses.--Bible affairs at Krasnoiarsk.--Consignment + to Governor for provinces of Yeneseisk and Yakutsk.--Departure + from Krasnoiarsk.--Change of scenery.--Kansk _Okrug_.--Our + arrival anticipated.--Visit to Ispravnik.--Statistics of + crime.--The Protopope of Kansk.--Parochial information.--Demand + for Scriptures.--A travelling companion.--Further posting + help.--Butterflies and mosquitoes.--Nijni Udinsk.--Telma + factory.--A _détour_.--Alexandreffsky. + + +Siberia, immense as it is, has only 17 towns with a population of more +than 5,000 inhabitants, and of these large towns Krasnoiarsk, with a +population of 13,000, is a fair specimen. It derives its name from +the Russian words _krasnoi_, red, and _yar_, a cliff, in allusion to +the red-coloured marl of the banks on which the town is situated; +its houses being built on the tongue of land at the confluence of +the Yenesei and the Kacha. On the south the plain stretches away for +nine versts, and on the south-west a range of blue hills is descried, +which betray their rocky character by sharp and picturesque outlines. +The opposite bank, too, of the Yenesei has, amidst forest scenery, +some fine rocks, one of which, of curious formation, called the +Tokmak, rises to the dignity of a mount. The Siberians, therefore, are +justified, to a considerable degree, in claiming for Krasnoiarsk that +it is picturesquely situated. It was certainly the prettiest spot we +had thus far seen; and since we made there some pleasant acquaintances, +and received much kindness from the people, it naturally lingers in the +memory as one of the bright spots of our journey.[1] + +Having arrived early on the morning of the 24th June, we drove to what +is called an hotel, kept by one “Shlyaktin,” where we engaged the best +room in the house for two shillings a day, with two bedsteads, for +which, as usual in Russia, we provided our own pillows and linen. Other +things were proportionately cheap: turkeys 3_s._ a pair; a whole calf, +nine months old, from 3_s._ to 4_s._; geese from 1_s._ 8_d._ to 2_s._ +6_d._ a couple; but pheasants, brought hundreds of miles from Tashkend, +cost 6_s._ a brace. + +We had not entered many minutes before several beggars came to the +window to solicit alms, which seemed to be their method of honouring +all newcomers; and if they received anything they crossed themselves, +and no doubt blessed us.[2] + +Krasnoiarsk boasts of a Lutheran chapel, though it is without a +resident pastor. We made it our business to go there first, thinking +to find a catechist, Mr. Adamson, for whom we had a letter. He was +away, however, and was represented by an old German woman. Whether she +recognized in us kindred spirits, I know not, but she cried as she +shook our hands and bade us God-speed. + +We then accompanied Dr. Peacock, who took us first to see the +prison,[3] and afterwards the large hospital, through which pass +annually about 2,500 patients. A part of it serves as a madhouse, in +which were 48 inmates, 42 of whom were exiles, 28 being pronounced +incurable. From inquiries I made, I did not gather that medical opinion +went so far as to say that banishment drove people mad; but it seemed +that many so afflicted were exiled as prisoners who ought rather to +have been in lunatic asylums as idiots; such, for instance, was the +case of one man who had been sent to Siberia for setting houses on +fire, and who, on arriving, repeated his offence, saying that he did it +“for fun.”[4] + +The hospital building had been originally erected as a private +residence by a rich gold-seeker.[5] How far, in its altered condition, +the house suits the purpose of a hospital, I could not judge; for in +Russia they have a habit, in summer, of turning the patients out under +temporary sheds and tents whilst the buildings are being repaired for +the winter; and this was the state of affairs at Krasnoiarsk during +our inspection. But I am afraid the building is not all that could be +desired. At Tomsk we had seen a summer tent-hospital for 20 men with +typhus fever. + +Krasnoiarsk has a cathedral, presided over by the Bishop of Yeneseisk, +and four or five churches, one of which was built at a cost of £70,000 +by a rich gold-seeker, by name, I think, Kusnitzoff, which, be it known +to English readers, means “Smith.” We made the acquaintance of two of +his daughters during our voyage on the Obi. They had been spending the +winter in Petersburg, and were then travelling a distance of 3,000 +miles to spend the summer in Siberia. This was their usual practice. +One of these ladies had travelled to England, had even crossed the +Atlantic to America, and we were glad to renew our acquaintance at +Krasnoiarsk. Theirs was one of the best of the private houses, on +entering which a broad flight of steps led to the upper storey, where +was a drawing-room, or rather a ball-room, containing two grand +pianos, the walls being hung with European oil-paintings, and where, +among other curiosities, we were shown three nuggets of gold, each of +which must have weighed several pounds, but serving no purpose but to +be looked at, save that a natural indentation in one had been used on +certain grand occasions as a cigar-boat. In front of the house was an +enclosure, full of shrubs, dahlias, and flowers; but it was manifest +that horticultural operations were carried on with difficulty. The +Siberians do more with flowers in their rooms, thus adding much to +their beauty. + +We dined at this house, and afterwards were taken for a drive. The +plain running south of the town is the “Rotten Row” of Krasnoiarsk; +and here we saw a fair Amazon, of good position, and the mother, +by-the-bye, of three children, with hair cut short behind, sitting +astride her horse, in knickerbockers and high boots. It was the only +instance we saw of this, however; and further east, on the Amur, I met +with a lady in a riding-habit that would have been becoming enough even +in Hyde Park. + +We drove some distance up the bank of the Yenesei, intending to visit a +monastery a few miles distant, but were stopped by the unusual height +of the floods, and returned to pass through the two handsome squares +in the middle of the town, and the smaller streets which cross the +principal roads at right angles. We passed a public garden, also given +by Mr. Kusnitzoff to the town. We walked there in the evening, leaving +the carriages at the gates, as did several fashionables, and found +inside a place for refreshments, rooms for cards, and a promenade. As +we strolled about among the trees and shrubs I asked how long they +had been there, and found they were self-planted, and that the garden +was an adaptation from nature. Close at hand were blacksmiths’ forges, +where they were shoeing horses in a curious manner.[6] + +Before leaving our lady friends, their hospitality took a very +practical turn, as Siberian hospitality generally does, for they gave +us some excellent fresh butter and a jar of marmalade. Both these were +of great value, and I was particularly thankful to get the latter. +In order to prevent the possibility of being reduced to black bread +between Krasnoiarsk and Irkutsk, we ordered to be baked a pile, three +feet high, of large, flat, white loaves, with a little butter added to +prevent their getting dry; and these lasted us for 600 miles. + +I was anxious to open at Krasnoiarsk a depôt or an agency for the sale +of the Scriptures, and, with that intent, presented an introduction +at the shop of one of the principal tradesmen. We found a large store +full of all manner of wares, among which, however, it was difficult to +see anything small that was particularly Siberian, though I bought a +string of beads, worn round the neck by Russian peasant girls, called +a _gaitan_. Unfortunately the merchant was away, and I could not hear +of another house of business suitable for what I wanted. Dr. Peacock, +however, seemed to feel so strongly the importance of making the most +of an opportunity to get the Scriptures circulated in the neighbourhood +that he purchased 250 copies, intending to dispense them far and near. +I gave him also a supply of reading matter for his hospital patients.[7] + +Having thus spent four agreeable days at the capital of the Yeneseisk +province, we left on the evening of the 27th June, with a journey +before us of 600 miles to Irkutsk.[8] We met with an early adventure on +reaching the opposite bank of the river; for we had omitted to get a +special note from the post-master, without which the post-boys, waiting +with their horses, would not take us on. Mr. Interpreter, therefore, at +a cost of 8_s._, and not without danger, had to spend half the night in +recrossing the river and returning, whilst I “camped out” alone in the +tarantass on the river’s bank. I was so stiff and tired, however, with +the previous night’s journey to the gold-mine, that I slept soundly +till, at early dawn, horses were procured, and we jogged onwards. + +We had now entered a land of valleys and hills instead of a country of +marshes or plains, and the scenery improved vastly. Not so, however, +the roadside fare; for milk was less abundant, and consequently we +could not so easily get curds or such diet, nor even milk to drink. But +we were so anxious to get forward that we became somewhat impatient +of the long time spent in heating the _samovar_ and preparing for a +meal. The consequence was that if, on arriving at a station, horses +were to be had at once, we did as best we could about food, eating in +the tarantass as we went along, and sometimes not having more than one +“square meal” a day. + +For a time we travelled well. We continued to go up and down hills, +some of which we estimated at about 500 feet in height; and though +there was usually a sufficiency of horses, yet for the first two stages +they failed us. We paid a little more than post fares, and hired +private steeds instead. The peasants sometimes took advantage of the +occasion, when post-horses failed, to ask double fares; but as this +exorbitant demand amounted to only about 2_d._ a mile for each horse, +it seemed better to do this for a stage than to be detained, perhaps +for several hours, and then to get tired animals. + +Having left Krasnoiarsk late on Friday night, we reached Kansk +in good time on Sunday morning, where we spent the rest of the +day, considerably fatigued with the combined effect of the recent +horse-riding, tarantass driving, and insufficient rest and food. Kansk +is the chief town of an _okrug_, or district, and the residence of +an intelligent _Ispravnik_; and, as it possessed a small prison and +hospital, we washed, dressed in our “Sunday best,” and called upon this +dignitary to present our letters. He told us, to our surprise, that he +had received a telegram the day before from the acting Governor-General +of Irkutsk, directing him to help us forward as much as possible; +and consequently he had sent east and west to all the stations in his +district--a distance of nearly 200 miles--telling them to let us have +horses quickly. We were rather at a loss to account for such unexpected +kindness, and the more so as the Ispravnik thought the instructions had +originally been sent from Petersburg. It served, however, to remind +us that we were not lost sight of at head-quarters. The Ispravnik +accompanied us to the prison, in which were 146 prisoners in 29 +rooms, which had a Sunday look about them. Things were brushed up and +“settled,” as a housekeeper would say, and we distributed papers to +the prisoners to read. We also gave the Ispravnik some copies of the +New Testament and other reading material for the prison, for the town +hospital, and for the schools of the neighbourhood; after which he +invited us to his house to drink tea. + +His wife was a German, which accounted for certain foreign tastes +visible about the room, and for some of the pictures. We learned that +the Ispravnik holds a similar position in his district or _okrug_, or +circle, that a Governor does in his province,--the pay of an Ispravnik +being from £100 to £150 per annum; that of a Governor from £600 to +£1,000 per annum; and of a Governor-General about £3,000, the latter +two having also furnished houses. The _okrug_ of Kansk was 200 miles +in diameter, and had a population of 40,000, with upwards of 900 miles +of roads. These were kept in order by 9,000 men, each of whom was +responsible for 90 fathoms of way; and it is only fair to say that we +found the roads of Yeneseisk the best in Siberia. Nearly all the crime +in the district, we were told, is traceable to drink; and that which +ended in murder commonly arose from love affairs.[9] + +Prisoners of all sorts were allowed to hold correspondence with their +friends; but the prison chief, or the Ispravnik, might object to any +part of what was written, and send it back to the writer, though even +then the latter might appeal to the Governor-General. Letters usually +came, we found, by every post, so that the prisoners evidently availed +themselves to a considerable extent of their privilege. + +After leaving the Ispravnik, we called on the Protopope, or head +priest of the place. His house had a superior look about it, and so +had the Protopope himself. He gave us a hearty reception, and we asked +a few questions concerning his parish. It appeared that he had 2,000 +parishioners, living in Kansk and four surrounding villages. He thought +about 100 could read, and for these he very readily accepted papers +and tracts. He had an elementary boys’ school, which was supported +by the community, the scholars paying nothing. I asked about his +congregations, and found that from 300 to 400 usually came to church +on Sundays, but that on festivals the number rose to 1,000 or 1,500, +and of these about 300 or 400 in the course of the year received the +Communion.[10] + +This chief pastor of the place told us he had often bestowed books on +the prisoners, but that the books had disappeared. He gave us some idea +of the desire there is for the Scriptures in remote parts of Siberia, +by saying that on one occasion he bought 200 New Testaments and took +them to Minusinsk, where he sold them in a single day at a rouble +each.[11] + +In further illustration of the demand for Scriptures in this part of +the country, I may mention that, on the way from Tomsk, I made it a +practice to go into the post-stations; and whilst my companion was +arranging about the horses, I took some pamphlets and Scriptures, +and, having nailed up an illustration of the “Prodigal Son,” I next +distributed some tracts, saying, as I did so, “_darom_,” which means +“gratis”; and then, showing a New Testament, I said “_dvatzat-piat +kopeck_,” which means 25 kopecks; or I showed a copy of the Gospels, +and said “_dve-natzat kopeck_,” or 12 kopecks. Usually this offer was +jumped at; sometimes three or four were bought by one person; and it +not unfrequently happened that the first purchaser would run off to +tell others of his good fortune, and bid them lose no time in following +his example. This was usually done whilst the horses were being +changed; but if we stopped for a meal, and it was noised abroad in the +village that tracts were being given away, we were taken by storm, and +sometimes could hardly eat in peace for the numbers who came to ask for +our gifts. + +We had barely reached the post-station, after seeing the priest, before +he came driving close on our heels for his return visit. He wore the +violet velvet hat of a protopope, was dressed in a black silk cassock, +with a gold chain and crucifix about his neck, and with a loose white +overcoat to protect him from the dust of the road. He cordially wished +us success in our work, and asked us to call again on our homeward +journey. We then went to the evening service in his church, after +which the Ispravnik and his wife came to return our call, bringing with +them their son, a boy of 13 years of age, who was to go to a military +school at Irkutsk. The father said that he did not like to send him +with just any one, but that he should be thankful to be allowed to +place the boy under my care, offering at the same time to pay the cost +of one horse to Irkutsk, which amounted to 25 roubles. + +It is a common thing in Siberian travel, when one person does not +wish to occupy the whole of his vehicle, to share the expense with +a fellow-passenger. I therefore consented, and stowed the boy away +among the tracts and books in the second tarantass, where he seemed +happy enough. His joining us was rather a help, for his father gave +us an open letter to all the post-masters of his district, requesting +them, if there were not a sufficiency of post-horses, to hire some +immediately from the peasants. He also added a _blanco_ letter, +which enabled us, in case of need, to take those reserved at the +post-stations for the use of the Ispravnik or his police. This is +called, I believe, “_Zemski_” post, applying only to Siberia, and +the horses of which, when not wanted, are sometimes lent to private +travellers. + +The combined result of these letters was that we got on famously, +and occasionally made 200 versts in the 24 hours. This for summer +travelling is good--so good, in fact, that we hardly wished to do +better, as it had now become very hot, and the dust of the way rendered +the journey very fatiguing. + +We were still passing through an undulating country, with delightful +weather; on either side of the way grass, and in it grew a large yellow +flower, similar in form to our common white garden lily. On passing +the frontier from the Yeneseisk to the Irkutsk governments, it soon +became apparent that our new roads were not so good as those we had +left behind. We crossed many rivers, on the banks of one of which we +drove through an extraordinary swarm of white butterflies. The shrubs +in the neighbourhood were evidently eaten bare by their _larvæ_, the +_imagines_, or perfect insects, being assembled in troops on the +ground. We were now drawing near a district famous for a small kind of +mosquito, the bite of which is very virulent, and is so dreaded by the +people that the men working at the roadside protect themselves about +the head with horsehair veils. Another place in Siberia famous for +these insects is the Barabinsky steppe, where horses persecuted by them +sometimes break loose, and do so to certain death. We, however, were +not incommoded by them. + +On the 1st of July the weather was hotter than we had hitherto +experienced it, and very oppressive, though at night it became chilly. +The greatest heat registered in the province of Irkutsk in 1877 was +during the month of August, when it rose to 90·3, the greatest cold +registered being in January, and descending to 40·2 below zero. + +On the second day after leaving Kansk we were somewhat hindered by a +superabundance of fellow-travellers, with whom it was very pleasant to +chat over a cup of tea in the post-house, though matters were not quite +so smooth when it was discovered that less than the required number +of horses were forthcoming, and the question arose as to who should +be first served. At one station we had to stay five hours, yet it is +only fair to add that, thanks to our excellent recommendations, this +was the longest delay of the kind that fell to our lot. Travellers are +sometimes obliged to wait a whole day. + +On the evening of the same day, at dusk, we reached Nijni Udinsk, and, +as there was a small prison in the place, I was anxious to give a few +books to the Ispravnik, and pass on without stopping; the latter, +however, was away, so we went to his assistant. After knocking pretty +lustily at his door, a servant appeared, who informed us that his +master was asleep; and to awaken a man out of sleep is in Russia no +venial sin. An Anglo-Russian friend informs me that she has frequently +been told, on asking for a servant, that he was asleep, and could not +be waked, because _a sleeping man’s soul is before his God_! We told +this servant, however, that we had a letter from Petersburg; and before +we left the town a messenger came to the post-house, giving me the +particulars I desired, and took back a sufficiency of books for the 98 +prisoners under detention. + +We then started off about midnight, and on the afternoon of the +following day reached a station called Telma, which in previous years +has been famous as possessing a factory in which cloth, paper, glass, +and soap were made, besides which they produced rough linen woven from +Yeneseisk hemp, and dark unbleached cloth, spun from the wool of the +Buriat sheep. The peasants generally make a rough cloth of this last +material. Manufactures do not flourish in Siberia, as the raw material +is grown at enormous distances from the establishments, and, when +manufactured, must often be taken enormous distances to be sold; so +it is found cheaper to buy the goods imported from other countries. +A suit of tweed clothes costs, I heard, £6 at Krasnoiarsk, and on the +Amur I met with a gentleman ordering his clothes from Petersburg, and +having them sent by post to Blagovestchensk, a distance of 5,000 miles. +The factory at Telma is still standing, and is not absolutely idle, but +I gathered that it is not in a flourishing condition.[12] + +We were now only about 50 versts from Irkutsk, which, under ordinary +circumstances, we ought to have reached late the same night. Another +project had, however, entered into my mind. About 70 versts north +of Irkutsk is the largest prison in Eastern Siberia, called the +Alexandreffsky Central Prison, the normal way of visiting which would +have been for us to proceed to Irkutsk, present our letters, and so +drive out and return, making a journey of 90 miles. Hearing at Telma +that we could reach the place from thence in two hours by going across +country, spend two hours inspecting the prison, and another two hours +in returning to Telma, I calculated we should get back to the main +road about midnight, and so reach Irkutsk on Saturday afternoon, and +be ready for a quiet Sunday. The first difficulty in the way was that +the law permitted no post-horses to be employed off the high-roads; +but, thanks to the obliging post-master at Telma, this obstacle was +overcome by his providing others, and I determined accordingly to try +and save time by taking the prison on my way. How much was involved in +that decision I little thought at the moment, but it proved afterwards +highly important. + +The first object of interest we passed was a large salt-factory, which, +like that at Telma, had in years gone by been worked by convicts +under the management of the State. This kind of labour is no longer +enforced there, and free workmen are employed instead. These were the +only salt-works we heard of in Siberia, but we were told of some about +40 miles from Orenburg, in the Urals. Leaving the factory behind, we +struck off through the woods, and were enjoying the drive thoroughly +when it occurred to our _yemstchik_ that he had taken the wrong +direction. Accordingly, he went a long way back, but had to retrace his +steps. This caused considerable delay, as did the crossing of the river +Angara. At length, through a forest of pine, we reached the summit of +a hill, and were able to take in at a glance the surroundings of the +large prison, which we reached at dusk. On the road we met some Polish +ladies, wives of officials, to whom I explained in French our object in +coming. The Director, however, was gone to Irkutsk, and his deputy said +it was too late that night, but that we might inspect the prison as +early as we chose in the morning. I therefore named the hour of seven, +and went to the post-house to sleep. + +The keepers of the post-house in this out-of-the-way place appeared +somewhat perturbed at the arrival of visitors who wished to spend the +night under their roof. However, in this matter Siberian post-masters +have no choice, for they are bound to find accommodation for +travellers, and may not charge them for it; their profits are the small +sums paid for the use of the _samovar_, and for such refreshments as +may be provided. Our quarters were better and more comfortable than +usual, as also was our supper, and we lay down for a quiet night. Early +in the morning the officer in charge of the prison came to say that +when he had made us the promise on the previous evening he had intended +to telegraph to Irkutsk for permission, but that there was a fire in +Irkutsk, and telegraphic communication was stopped. He must therefore +ask us to wait until the return of the chief, who was expected hourly. +Accordingly, on his arrival we were conducted to the house of the +Director; and though he had been travelling all night he received us at +once, accorded us a hearty reception, and introduced us to his wife and +friends. He was a Pole--by name Pavolo Schwekofsky--and his house was +elegantly furnished, all his servants, however, being convicts. There +was an appearance of comfort, not to say of luxury, about the place; +and he had in a side room a turning-lathe and English tools. To this +we called attention. “Ah, yes,” said he, “we could not do without the +English.” And then, after drinking a glass of tea, we started to see +the prison. + +[Illustration: THE ALEXANDREFFSKY CENTRAL PRISON NEAR IRKUTSK.] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Owing to the formation of the hills about the town, Krasnoiarsk is +more than ordinarily favoured with abundance of wind, which in winter +blows the snow off the ground and stops sledging. One night during our +stay it rained, and the streets were in a condition next morning such +as I have never seen before or since. To speak of “puddles” would be +a mockery, and “ponds” is barely the word to use; whilst to cross the +street was to run imminent risk of losing one’s boots. Fortunately, +however, there were droshkies at hand, and in these we waded through +water nearly up to the horses’ knees. + +[2] We saw beggars here and at Tomsk, but I do not recollect that they +were numerous or particularly importunate. The Russians are, however, +in this sense, very charitable. It is customary not only to give a +few kopecks to such as these, but also to the old men posted at the +entrances of the villages, who have charge of the gates placed across +the roads to keep cattle from straying in or out. + +[3] It was one of the _perisylnie_ character, having 46 wards, and a +hospital with sixteen rooms. There were 26 murderers in the place, and +the number of persons committing this crime yearly in the district +seemed to me, from the round numbers they gave, to be very high. The +sentences of murderers, they said, varied from five or six to 20 years’ +hard labour, after which time they were free as exiles. The general +arrangements of the prison appeared to be fairly good. I thought it +clean and well ordered; and we were struck, in the bake-house, with the +enormous size of their loaves of bread, some of them weighing from 40 +to 50 lbs. + +[4] In the Tomsk hospital we had seen two persons mad from the effects +of alcoholic drink; and I was sorry to hear it asserted afterwards, +by a Russian medical man, that the proportion of those in Siberia who +went mad from _delirium tremens_ was greater than in England; and he +further remarked of his countrymen, that though for a long time they +indulge in no intoxicating liquor, yet when they once drink they do so +furiously. A friend of mine had more than one man-servant who acted in +this manner. They did _not_ drink for months, and then all of a sudden +did so without ceasing, and would be mad drunk for a week or ten days. +At last, exhausted, they slept for a day or two, and woke up abashed, +promising to do so no more; but, alas! it was only till the next time. + +[5] It is the same, I suspect, as that mentioned by Mr. Hill in his +“Travels in Siberia,” 30 years ago, the dimensions of which he gives as +131 feet long by 98 broad and 52 high. It is of two storeys, and in Mr. +Hill’s time was furnished after the most elegant mode of Petersburg. +The articles brought from that capital alone cost its owner from £6,000 +to £7,000. + +[6] Outside the smithy stood four stout posts, fixed in the ground at +the four corners, as it were, of an oblong figure, which posts were +connected at the top by cross-pieces. Into the midst of these the +horse was led. Girths were then put under him by which he could be all +but lifted off the ground, suspended to the cross-beams. To prevent +his kicking unadvisedly, two of his legs were bound with rope to the +nearest of the posts; and thus rendered helpless, and standing on +tiptoe with his remaining legs he was shod. They said that Siberian +horses are too wild to allow of their being treated in English fashion, +and it may be so, but the animals seemed to be equally averse to the +other plan. + +[7] The Governor was away, but the Vice-Governor informed us that there +were six prisons in the province, for which we left him upwards of 200 +New Testaments and Scripture portions, and about the same number of +tracts, papers, and broad-sheets. We subsequently saw the Governor at +Irkutsk, and I have since heard from him that these Scriptures, etc., +have been distributed as I wished, as also a further quantity I left +with him to be forwarded to the prisons and hospitals of the immense +province of Yakutsk. + +[8] Since this chapter was written, Krasnoiarsk has been almost +entirely destroyed by fire. + +[9] The statistics of crime in the _okrug_, in the year 1878, revealed +that, of 182 criminals, not one was less than 17 years of age; 26 +men and 5 women were between 17 and 21; but the greatest number of +criminals--63 men and 20 women.--were of ages ranging from 21 to 33; +after which the numbers of men became fewer as they grew older, but +there was not a similar decrease in the number of older women. Below +the ages of 45 and 70 there were more women criminals than men. It +appeared, too, that there were 129 married criminals as against 53 +unmarried. Again, 112 were of the Russian Church, 19 of other Christian +denominations, 34 were Jews, and 17 of other non-Christian religions. +Further, 157 were criminals for the first offence, 22 for the same +offence once repeated, and 3 for the same offence twice repeated. This +last fact compares favourably with our English criminal statistics, +which show many who go in and out of prison a hundred times. I have +spoken elsewhere of the long-period prisoners having sometimes to wait +in durance for their trial. This may often be avoided by furnishing +bail. In 1878 there were in Kansk 415 on bail as against 96 under +detention. Of these, 88 were found innocent, 93 were dismissed as +“not proven,” and 147 sent elsewhere for trial; whilst of those found +guilty, 7 only were condemned to the mines, 26 to hard labour in +prison, and the remaining 149 to a “house of detention.” + +[10] A lady on the Obi told me that all were bound to confess and +receive the Communion once a year. If any special reason required it, +they might receive oftener, always confessing, however, beforehand, +in a standing posture at the side of the priest, and then kneeling at +the absolution. The priest said that 200 times in the year, at Kansk, +children were participants in the sacred rite; and in connection with +this remark he made a curious statement, to the effect that, there +being few doctors in the district, it was common for mothers, when +their babies were ill, to bring them to receive the Sacrament, under +the impression that it did them physical as well as spiritual good. He +said, too, that mothers thought it their duty to bring their children +frequently to Communion till they were seven years of age, after which +period they came with them once a year for confession, communion, and +instruction. + +[11] This compared favourably with the sales at the Bible Society’s +depôt at Tomsk, which is the only one in Siberia, though I had hoped +to be able to establish others at Tobolsk, Omsk, Krasnoiarsk, and +especially Irkutsk. The depôt at Tomsk had been opened about three +years, the annual sales having amounted to about 300 Bibles, 200 +New Testaments, and 500 copies of the four Gospels in Sclavonic and +Russian. They had also sold a few Hebrew Bibles and the Psalms, the +latter chiefly in Sclavonic. The Protopope said he would gladly become +a depositary for the Bible Society; and would purchase at once 50 +copies from me of the New Testament, but Kansk had not been mentioned +as one of the places at which a depôt was desired. Moreover, I had +been instructed, in opening a depôt, to require the depositary to sign +an agreement to abide by certain terms, after which I might take an +order to the value of £30. But I did not gather that our friend wished +altogether to turn merchant; and therefore I thought it better to let +him have the 50 copies out of hand, rather than to put him into more +complicated mercantile transactions with Petersburg. + +[12] Manufacturing industry, properly speaking, has no real importance +in Siberia, except in distilling from grain and potatoes the alcohol +which is sold in numberless taverns. Reckoning factories and +distilleries together, there were, in 1876, according to Réclus, 1,100 +factories and 4,000 workmen, which produced manufactures to the value +of £800,000. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +_THE ALEXANDREFFSKY CENTRAL PRISON._ + + Prison wards.--Punishment cells.--Communication with + friends.--Nationalities of prisoners.--Their + work.--Food.--Distribution of books.--Our + reception.--Lunch.--Departure.--Runaway horses.--An + accident.--Left alone.--Return to post-house. + + +We found the prison a huge building, which had been originally erected +for a brandy distillery. Hence it was, and sometimes still is, called +the Alexandreffsky _zavod_, or factory. It contained 57 rooms, in each +of which, according to size, were placed from 25 to 100 prisoners. We +went into several of the ordinary wards, and found them lofty, but +overcrowded. Also, in some of the oblong rooms, the inclined platforms +for sleeping occupied so much space that only a narrow passage was left +for walking about between them. When we entered such wards, therefore, +the order was given that the men should mount the opposite edges of the +platforms, and thus we passed to the end of the room and back. Further +on we came to some small cells, over the doors of which was written +the word “Secret”; and here I thought we might perhaps see something +horrible. But the thing that struck me as worst about them was their +smallness; for I should judge they could not have measured more than +8 ft. by 6 ft., though they were probably more than 12 ft. high. +These were “punishment” cells; but were far more endurable than cells +known by that name in some of our English gaols, where the prisoner +is sometimes below the level of the ground, and in a state of total +darkness, with all sound shut out save the rumbling of carriage-wheels +in the street. In the Alexandreffsky cells there was abundance of +light; there was a Russian _petchka_, or stove, just outside the door, +and it was not difficult to imagine that some prisoners might prefer +solitude under such circumstances to the society of the motley crew +packed into the larger wards. + +There is a room in the building in which prisoners are allowed to see +their friends, who may come on every _maznik_, or fête day, Sundays +included, to converse for five minutes, and then make way for others. +If a prisoner has friends, they may bring him food any day between +11 and 12 o’clock. So, too, a prisoner may write to friends when he +pleases, and receive from them money up to a rouble a week. + +The total number of prisoners in (and I suppose about) this place +was stated as 1,589; and as they were gathered from all parts of the +Russian empire, the walking through the wards was nothing short of an +ethnographical study. + +Besides the ordinary Slavs of Russia in Europe, there were Finns, +Poles, Tatars of Kasan, Tatars of the Crimea, and Tatars of the +Caucasus and Steppes. There were Bashkirs from the province of +Orenburg, where they are breeders of cattle; and the pastoral Kirghese, +who roam over the steppes north of Persia. Tatars were known by their +shaved heads and skullcaps, and Buriats by their unmistakable Mongolian +features. I counted half-a-dozen different nationalities in a single +room. + +One of the worst features in this huge prison I judged to be lack of +work; for, as we went from room to room, we found convicts twirling +their thumbs, and literally begging for employment. All of them, +however, were under “hard-labour” sentences, some to the mines for +twelve years, some to factory-work for eight and ten years, and others +to _zavod_ work for two and six years. + +We were taken, at length, to see such of them as were occupied. We +entered a good-sized room, in which there might have been 50 men +making papers for cigarettes, of which they turned out 100,000 a week. +Prisoners were glad to do this, as they earn a little money thereby. +A man could manipulate 5,000 unfinished cases in a day; and three +men working together very hard could earn 30 kopecks a day, but 20 +kopecks was a fairer average. For a man, however, to earn 2½_d._ a +day necessitated his sitting at work so closely as to make his chest +ache. I am not clear whether the machinery and materials for making +these cigarette-papers belonged to the prisoners, or to a merchant in +Irkutsk who bought the papers. We visited a room or two filled with +shoemakers, and gold-seekers’ top-boots were shown us of their work. +These were for sale at 14 shillings the pair. Outside the prison a +small company of men were seen returning from making bricks, which are +manufactured for the Government, and not for ordinary sale. Each man +makes on an average about 100 a day. Fifty men, they told us, turn out +5,000, between 6 and 11 in the morning and 2 and 6.30 in the afternoon, +for which they get about 10_s._ There seemed, however, to be barely a +tenth of the prisoners employed, at which we expressed astonishment. +The authorities explained it by saying that they had no work to give +them. This comparatively idle life of Siberian prisoners recalled what +had been told me in Russia, that the Government now keep in European +prisons many whom, but for the scarcity of suitable employment, they +would send to Siberia; and I ought, perhaps, to add that a number of +the convicts at Alexandreffsky were there, and had been there a long +time, awaiting the decision of various committees who were considering +how the Government could best dispose of them, so many of the Siberian +mines having passed out of Imperial hands. + +Whether our visit was too early in the day, or whether the prisoners +were kept in their rooms for our inspection, I know not; but we saw +none of them lounging in the yards, as in other places. The time +allowed them for exercise is an hour a day. The number we saw wearing +chains was comparatively small. If the convicts behave well, they +are not usually kept in fetters, I heard, more than 18 months; and I +certainly observed that, the further east I went, the fewer were the +men in irons. We were next conducted to the kitchen, where was to be +seen, in course of preparation for dinner, the uncooked meat, of which +each man was said to have ½ lb. a day, including bone, and a daily +allowance of 2¾ lbs. of bread. Near the prison is a garden, where some +of the prisoners can work, and where they grow cucumbers, water-melons, +and potatoes. A few acres of arable land, cultivated by convicts, were +pointed out to us; and there was a hospital at a short distance, clean +and airy, having 8 rooms, in which we found 73 patients, many of whom +were suffering from _scorbutus_. + +We now entered the office of the prison, and saw the books, in one +of which were entered four categories of punishment, namely, that of +mines, hard labour, factory employment, and no work, of which four +the last seemed by far the most prevalent, and I think the worst; for +not only had the poor fellows nothing to do, but they had nothing to +read. To remedy this was, of course, the chief object of our visit; +and the director readily entered into my plans concerning the books. +The men had been asking for something to read, he said, only a day or +two previously. We were glad, therefore, to leave with him 160 New +Testaments and other portions of Scripture in half-a-dozen languages, +and about 500 tracts and periodicals, so that there might be at least a +New Testament placed in every room. + +We were now anxious to depart, but this was not so easy; for by +this time the officials had begun to realize that we had not come +as spies or intruders, but that we had really a benevolent object +in view, though they asked sundry questions before they could grasp +our motives. What could be our object in coming such a long distance +to visit Siberian prisons, and why should I take notes of what we +saw? I said something about the luxury of doing good to the poor and +unfortunate; and pointed out that, if I did not make notes of what +was said, I should forget. “Besides which,” I added, “perchance I may +some day write about what I have seen.” “Oh! then you are travelling +for literary purposes, that you may bring out a book?” “No,” said I; +“but for all that I may perhaps write of my travels”; after which +there were given me several good-sized and well-executed photographs +of the prison and its surroundings, with the remark, “Who knows? the +English do such extraordinary things, we may, perhaps, see some day an +engraving from these photographs in the English papers.” But, whatever +the motive which had brought us, they said it was very rare for them to +receive such a visit, and they were highly gratified at our coming. + +The director begged us to favour his wife by staying to dinner; +and when for want of time I declined, all sorts of reasonable and +unreasonable inducements were urged why I should do so. I remained +firm, and we were then invited at least to partake of light refreshment +at the house of the secretary of the prison. We there found ourselves +in the midst of a family of Poles, with some good-looking daughters. +The eldest was dressed in _Mala-Russiá_, or “Little Russian” costume, +consisting of a morning dress of washing material, trimmed with +embroidery of variegated colours, and with Russian lace. I admired +this, and inquired where such embroidery could be purchased. The mother +gave me a small piece as a specimen, and also presented me with a +portrait of her daughter photographed in the same costume. + +The photograph was taken by Malmberg of Irkutsk, and I mention it +because it has won the unqualified admiration of two eminent London +photographers, who pronounce that, both technically and artistically, +no better could be seen in any part of the world. It is particularly +choice, and, as an operator would say, “well built up.” The light is +good, and the background well arranged; and as a piece of artistic +workmanship it speaks well for the progress of art in Siberia that a +photograph from Irkutsk should bear comparison with the best the world +can produce. + +After this quasi-lunch, and the exchange of sundry little souvenirs, +we departed, hoping to regain the high road at Telma in about a couple +of hours. We had reached the top of the hill, and begun the descent +through the pine-forest; and the horses were going with a run, when one +of the reins broke, and the right-wheeler began suddenly to run too +wide from the centre horse. Before the yemstchik could stop his team, +we came to a pine-tree at the side of the road, which the outer horse +allowed to come between him and his fellow. We were going at a furious +pace, and the wonder is that the whole concern, including ourselves, +was not dashed to pieces. As it was, in rushing by I thought I saw +the horse’s head strike the tree, with a force that I expected must +have killed it. We ran some distance before the remaining horses could +be stopped, and then the yemstchik went back to find, as we feared, +another horse dead in our service. To our surprise, however, the +creature had run away. The force with which the tarantass was going had +broken the remaining rein, had snapped the traces, and so allowed us to +escape, by a few inches at most, a terrible accident. + +We had first to search for the missing horse, now out of sight; for +which purpose the yemstchik mounted one of our remaining steeds, and, +subsequently, my interpreter the other, I being left alone. Presently a +rough-looking man appeared coming along the road, with an extraordinary +wallet slung at his side. He was curiously ornamented with a profusion +of brass buttons and decorations, some of which would have served for +the dress of a Tunguse _shaman_. He turned out to be a horse-doctor, +and not a robber, though he naïvely said that when he saw us at first +he thought _we_ were highwaymen, until the sight of the tarantass +reassured him. + +At length, after having been left about five hours, the yemstchik and +my companion came back, but without the truant horse; so we determined +to proceed with the two that remained. We accused our yemstchik of +having been drinking, but he denied it. As he went on, however, he grew +inconsolable at his loss of the horse, and fairly bellowed, saying that +he feared he should be turned out of his place and be sent to prison. +He came round gradually, too, to confess that, of the shilling I had +given him for fodder, he had spent twopence in drink; and then to the +interpreter, who sat on the box to drive, or see that we met with no +accident, he expressed the hope that the _barin_, or gentleman, would +“forgive him for being a _little_ drunk.” + +And so it came to pass that by nightfall we got back to Telma, and +found our friendly post-master about to send in search of us, as he +was alarmed at our absence of 30 instead of 6 hours. After a good meal +we left at midnight for Irkutsk, which under ordinary circumstances +we ought to have reached early on the following morning. At one of +the stations, however, there were no horses, and we had to wait four +hours, which afterwards proved a mercy, though at the time I am afraid +I chafed at the delay; so that we did not come in view of the city till +10 a.m. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +_A CITY ON FIRE._ + + Approach to Irkutsk.--The city entered.--Remains of a fire.--A + second fire.--Our flight.--Crossing of the Angara.--A + refuge.--Inhabitants fleeing.--Salvage.--Firemen’s + efforts.--Spread of the catastrophe.--Return to lodging.--A + chapel saved.--Spectacle of fire at night.--Reflections. + + +What a vivid recollection I have of the lovely morning of that 7th of +July! The sun was bright and warm, but the air was not yet hot. The +road lay near the cold and swiftly-flowing Angara, and the plains over +which we passed were stocked with cattle. Before us lay Irkutsk. This +city, or perhaps Kiakhta, I had thought originally to make the eastward +limit of our travels. Many friends had prophesied that we should never +get there. Some said that I was undertaking more than I could carry +out, and others that I should not be permitted by the Russians to go so +far. A subtle feeling of satisfaction, therefore, stole over us as we +posted along, and saw how soon these prophecies were to be falsified. +The town, built on a tongue of land, formed by the confluence of two +rivers, with its dozen churches, domes, and spires pointing to heaven, +looked extremely pretty; and on the hills around, handsome villas, +nestling among the trees, added not a little to the picturesqueness of +the scene. The prospect before us, therefore, the retrospect of what +we had done, the pleasant morning, and the repose to which we were +looking forward, all combined to raise our spirits, and cause us to +hasten onward. Alas! we little knew how speedily the face of things +would change. + +At the ferry was collected a large number of common vehicles, before +which, however, our post-horses took precedence. We speedily crossed, +and drove through a triumphal arch, erected at the time of the +annexation of the Amur, and situated at the entrance of the town. We +did not proceed far before we saw where fire had destroyed two blocks +of buildings, the embers of which were still smoking. But it was only +similar to what we had seen at Perm and Tagil, so that we were not +greatly surprised. Worse was to come. We drove to Decocq’s hotel, +and took apartments, paid and dismissed the yemstchiks, moved our +belongings from the larger of the tarantasses, and arranged them in +our rooms--or, rather, we were doing so, when the alarm was given that +another fire had broken out. I clambered to the roof of the stables, +and there, plainly enough, were flames mounting upwards, not a dozen +houses off, and in the same street, though on the other side of the way. + +The waiter said he thought the fire would not come towards the hotel, +as the wind blew from the opposite direction; but I was disinclined to +wait and see, and so we bundled our things back into the tarantass, and +told the yemstchiks, who fortunately had not left the yard, to put to +their horses, and in a few minutes we were out in the street, witnesses +of a sight that is not easy to describe. Men were running from all +directions, not with the idle curiosity of a London crowd at a fire, +but with the blanched faces and fear-stricken countenances of those who +knew that the devastation might reach to them. They looked terribly in +earnest; women screamed and children cried, and it was hard for me in +the street to get an answer to any ordinary question. + +Meanwhile the yemstchiks asked, Where should they go? I tried to +discover where some of the persons to whom I had introductions lived, +but people were too excited to tell me; and at last my companion +suggested that we should go out of the town across the river. We soon +put nearly a mile between us and the flames, and reached the bank of +the Angara, where was a swinging ferry. The ferry was all but loaded, +and would not take more than one of our two tarantasses. I therefore +went with the first, leaving the interpreter to follow. On landing, +the yemstchik drove along a bridge, at the end of which he motioned to +me as to whether he should turn to the left or the right. To me it was +just the same, but I pointed to the left; and that turning proved to be +of not a little importance. I could say nothing to the yemstchik, and +had therefore to wait till the ferry returned, and then crossed again, +which occupied the greater part of an hour. + +Meanwhile the increased smoke in the distance showed that the fire was +spreading, and the inhabitants of the small suburb called Glasgova, to +which I had come, were looking on in front of their houses. Among the +people I noticed a well-dressed person, whom I addressed, asking if +she spoke English or French. She at once inquired who I was and what +I wanted. I replied that I was an English clergyman travelling, that +I had just arrived in Irkutsk, had run away from the fire, and was +seeking a lodging. She answered that there were no lodgings to be had +in any of the few houses on that side of the river; “but,” said she, +“pray come into my little house, where you are welcome to remain at +least during the day.” I was only too glad to do so; and, seeing that +there was a small yard adjoining, I asked permission to put therein our +two vehicles, in which we might sleep until some better place could be +found. And thus we were a second time landed at Irkutsk, poorly enough, +perhaps the reader may think, but in a far better condition, as will +presently be seen, than before nightfall were many thousands of the +inhabitants. + +We soon found that our hostess was of good family, and an exile, though +not a political, but a criminal one. On arriving at Irkutsk, the +Governor-General had shown her kindness in allowing her to remain in +the city, where she partly supported herself by giving lessons, and was +living for the summer in this quasi country-house with a young man whom +she called her brother, her little girl she had brought from Russia, +and a small servant whom she spoke of as “ma petite femme de chambre.” +There was one tolerably spacious dwelling-room in the house, and in +this were sundry tokens of refinement brought from a better home. On +the wall hung a photograph of herself, as a bride leaning on the arm of +her husband in officer’s uniform, whilst several other photographs and +ornaments spoke also of a better past. + +The occasion, however, was not suited to long conversation, for the +conflagration in the town was increasing. Whilst dining, we bethought +ourselves whether we could be of some service, and the outcome of +our deliberations was that I offered to accompany Madame to her +friends residing in the town, to see if we could be of use, whilst my +interpreter stayed with the tarantasses and the little girl to guard +the premises. + +Madame and I, therefore, set out, accompanied by her maid. At the ferry +we met a crowd of persons fleeing from the city, and carrying with +them what was most valuable or most dear--an old woman tottering under +a heavy load of valuable furs piled on her head; a poor half-blind +nun, hugging an ikon, evidently the most precious of her possessions; +a delicate young lady in tears, with her kitten in her arms; and boys +tugging along that first requisite of a Russian home, the brazen +_samovar_. Terror was written on all countenances. We pushed on to the +principal street, and tried to hire a droshky, but it was in vain to +call--they were engaged in removing valuables from burning houses, as +were the best vehicles and carriages the town possessed. Even costly +sleighs, laden with such things as could be saved from the flames, were +dragged over the stones and grit in the streets. + +Before long we came to the wide street in which were situated the best +shops and warehouses, and where the fire was raging on either side +and spreading. Those who were wise were bringing out their furniture, +their account-books, and their treasures as fast as possible, and +depositing them in the road and on vehicles, to be carried away. A +curious medley these articles presented. Here were costly pier-glasses, +glass chandeliers, and pictures such as one would hardly have expected +to see in Siberia at all; whilst a little further on, perchance, were +goods from a grocer’s or provision merchant’s shop, and all sorts of +delicacies--such as sweets and tins of preserved fruit, to which they +who would helped themselves; and working-men were seen tearing open the +tins to taste, for the first time in their lives, slices of West India +pine-apples or luscious peaches and apricots. Other prominent articles +of salvage were huge family bottles of rye-brandy, some of which people +hugged in their arms, as if for their life, whilst other bottles were +standing about, or being drunk by those who carried them. The effects +of this last proceeding soon became apparent in the grotesque and +foolish antics of men in the incipient stage of drunkenness. + +It was curious to watch the conduct of some of the tradesmen, who +seemed to hope against hope, and kept their shops locked, as if to +shut out thieves, and in the hope that the fire would not reach their +premises. I noticed one man, a grocer, whose doors were barred till +the flames had come within two houses of his own; and then, throwing +open the entrance, he called in the crowd to carry out his wares. They +entered, and brought out loaves of sugar and similar goods, until one +man carried out a glass-case full of _bon-bons_, at which there was a +general onset in the street, every one filling his pockets amid roars +of laughter. With this laughter, however, was mingled the crying of +women, who wrung their hands as they emptied their houses, and saw the +destroying flames only too surely approaching their homes. + +In the street were all sorts of people--soldiers, officers, Cossacks, +civilians, tradesmen, gentlemen, women and children, rich and poor, +young and old--but not gathered in dense crowds; some were making +themselves useful to their neighbours, and a few were looking idly +on. At every door was placed a jug of clean water for those to drink +who were thirsty, and it would have been well if nothing stronger +had been taken. The fire brigade arrangements seemed to me in great +confusion. There were some English engines in the town,--one of them, +of a brilliant red, bore the well-known name of “Merryweather and +Sons,”--but the Siberians had not practised their engines in the time +of prosperity, and the consequence was that the pipes had become +dry and useless, and would not serve them in the day of adversity. +The arrangements, too, for bringing water were of the clumsiest +description. A river was flowing on either side of the city, but the +firemen had no means of conducting the water by hose, but carried it in +large barrels on wheels. + +Now and then one saw a hand-machine in use, about the size of a garden +engine, or a jet such as London tradesmen use to clean their pavements +and their windows. Moreover, no one took command. I noticed in one +case, as the flames approached the corner of a street, it evidently +occurred to some that, if the house at the opposite corner could be +pulled down, the fire might stop there for want of anything further to +burn. They therefore got to the top of the house, and, with crowbars, +unloosed the beams and threw them below; but, before they had gone +on long, they changed their minds, and seemed oblivious of the fact +that the fire would burn the beams equally well on the ground as when +standing in a pile. + +It must be confessed, however, that the fire had everything in its +favour. Nearly all the houses were of wood--so completely so, that, +after the calamity, there was often nothing to mark the spot where +a house had stood save the brickwork of the stove in the centre. +There was a fresh breeze blowing too, and though the houses were in +many cases detached, yet it frequently happened that the intervening +spaces were stacked with piles of firewood, which helped to spread the +conflagration. + +A wooden house burning is of course a spectacle much grander than that +of flames coming through the windows of a brick structure, and the +heat much more intense. At Irkutsk it was sufficient to set fire to a +building on the opposite side of the street, without the contact of +sparks. In one case--that of a handsome shop--I noticed that the first +things that caught were the outside sunblinds, which were so scorched +that they at last ignited, and then set fire to the window-frames, and +so to the whole building. + +It soon became apparent that Madame could not reach her friends, who +lived on the other side of the city, and therefore we made our way +back towards the ferry, calling here and there and offering help. One +friend asked us to take away her little daughter, which we did, and +her husband’s revolver, which I carried, and a bottle of brandy--put +into the arms of the _femme-de-chambre_. Thus laden, we walked towards +the river, whilst on all hands men and women were pressing into their +service every available worker for the removal of their goods. A +religious procession likewise was formed by priests and people with +banners, headed by an ikon, in the hope that the fire would be stayed. +Had such taken place, the ikon would no doubt have acquired the +reputation of having the power, in common with many others, of working +miracles. As it was, there was a small chapel or oratory in the centre +of the town that escaped the flames, though the houses on either side +were burned. I heard this spoken of as something very wonderful, if not +miraculous, and I am under the impression that it was so telegraphed +to Petersburg; but, on looking at the place after the fire, the +preservation of the little sanctuary seemed easily accounted for, by +the fact not only that it was itself built of brick, and left no part +exposed that could well take fire, but that the houses on either side +happened also to be of brick, so that they did not, in burning, give +off the same heat they would have done had they been of wood. One +rejoiced, of course, that the building was saved; but I could not help +suspecting that, half a century hence, the chapel will be pointed out +as having been preserved by a miracle from the great fire of 1879. + +It was evening before we reached our temporary lodging, and as the day +closed the workers grew tired. Many were drunk, and others gave up +in despair. The impression seemed to gain ground that nothing could +be done, but that the devouring element must be left to burn itself +out. Hope therefore fled, and the flames continued to spread till the +darkness showed a line of fire and smoke that was estimated at not +less than a mile and a half in length. It seemed as if nothing would +escape. Now one large building caught, and then another, the churches +not excepted. To add to the vividness of the scene, an alarm of church +bells would suddenly clang out, to intimate that help was needed in +the vicinity. Perhaps shortly afterwards the flames would be seen +playing up the steeple, and fancifully peeping out of the apertures and +windows; then reaching the top, and presenting the strange spectacle +of a tower on fire, with the flames visible only at the top, middle, +and bottom. At last the whole would fall with a crash, and the sky be +lit up with sparks and a lurid glare such as cannot be forgotten. + +Meanwhile the inhabitants continued to flee by thousands--the swinging +ferry near us crossed and recrossed incessantly, bringing each time its +sorrowful load, either bearing away their valuables, or going back to +fetch others. Many of the people brought such of their goods as they +could save to the banks and islands of the two rivers, and there took +up their abode for the night in a condition compared with which ours +was comfortable. + +Towards midnight the town presented a marvellous spectacle. I have +already spoken of the enormous length of the line of fire when looked +at laterally; but, as the darkness deepened, I walked down to a point +on the bank from which could be seen the apex of the triangle, in the +form of which the town was built, and where appeared a mass of flames +estimated as covering an area of not less than half a square mile. + +We were supposed to _sleep_ that night in the tarantass, but I rose +continually to watch the progress of the fire, which towards morning +abated, but only because it had burnt all that came in its way. About +eleven o’clock the last houses standing on the opposite bank caught +fire, and thus, in about four-and-twenty hours, three-fourths of the +town were consumed.[1] + +[Illustration: THE BURNING OF IRKUTSK. + +(_As seen from the Glasgova Suburbs, 7th July, 1879._)] + +As for myself, I had watched the fire with mingled feelings, for we +had narrowly escaped. And then came the recollection of the previous +delays which had contributed to our preservation--the delay in going +to the Alexandreffsky prison, the runaway horse in the wood, and our +subsequent impatient waiting on the road. All these played an important +part in saving us, for, had we arrived ten minutes earlier, our +affairs might have gone very differently. Had we reached the town on +the previous day, we should, in all probability, have been at church +when the fire broke out; and then it is very doubtful whether we could +have saved our effects, such was the difficulty of getting assistance. +Moreover, the hotel was burnt within a very short time of our leaving +it, so that, when looking back upon the chain of mercies by which we +had been saved, I could not feel otherwise than deeply thankful. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The numbers of the buildings destroyed were, of stone more than +100, and of wood about 3,500, including 6 churches, 2 synagogues, and +2 Lutheran and Roman chapels, besides 5 bazaars, the custom-house, +and the meat market. The destruction of property was estimated at +£3,000,000 sterling; and since the town contained about 33,800 +inhabitants, upwards of 20,000 of them probably must have been rendered +houseless and homeless. From calculations made three months afterwards, +it appeared that 8,000 of the inhabitants were in good circumstances; +2,000 were in the military, and 1,000 in Government employ; 6,000 were +in reduced circumstances, to whom bread and corn were sold at a very +low price. There were 2,500 government _employés_ similarly straitened +by the catastrophe, leaving about 14,000 to earn their bread as best +they could. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +_IRKUTSK._ + + Province of Irkutsk.--The capital.--Its markets.--Telegraph + officers.--Visit to the Governor.--Ruins of the city.--Attempt + to establish a Bible depôt.--Supposed incendiarism.--Benevolent + arrangements of authorities.--Wife-beating.--Servility of + Russian peasants.--Visit to a rich merchant.--Ecclesiastical + affairs.--Visit to the acting Governor-General.--The prisons.--A + prisoner’s view of them.--Prison committee.--Distribution of + books.--Visit to inspector of schools.--Change of route. + + +The city of Irkutsk is the capital of a government of the same name,[1] +and was founded in 1680. Its population in 1879 was 33,000. About +4,000 gold-miners spend their winter and their money in the city, +often mentioned as a cheerful place of rest for travellers coming from +China, or proceeding eastward. It is 1,360 feet above the sea, and has +a climate which even in winter is well spoken of, though, in the late +autumn, and previous to the freezing of the Angara, the fogs from the +river bring rheumatism and diseases of the throat and lungs. Little +wind blows, storms are less frequent than at Petersburg or Moscow, and +the snows are not superabundant. Whether in winter or summer, the +panorama of Irkutsk and its surroundings is one of beauty. Of its 20 +churches, several were planned and constructed by two Swedish engineer +officers captured at Pultava, and sent into exile by the great Peter. + +The markets of Irkutsk are well supplied. Fish and game are plentiful. +Beef is abundant and good, and costs about 2_d._ a pound. Pork, veal, +and mutton are also cheap, especially in winter, when everything that +can be frozen succumbs to the frost. Frozen chickens, partridges, and +other game are often thrown together in heaps like bricks or fire-wood. +Butchers’ meat defies the knife, and some of the salesmen place their +animals in fantastic positions before freezing them. Frozen fish are +piled in stacks, and milk is offered for sale in cakes or bricks. A +stick or string is generally congealed into a corner of the mass to +facilitate carrying, so that a wayfarer can swing a quart of milk at +his side, or wrap it in his handkerchief at discretion. Whilst the +products of the country are thus cheap, it should be observed that +everything brought from beyond the Urals is expensive on account of the +long land carriage. Champagne, for example, costs 12_s._ or 14_s._ a +bottle, and porter and ale 7_s._ 6_d._; the lowest price of sugar is +8_d._ a pound, while sometimes it costs 1_s._; and as much as 2_s._ +6_d._ may occasionally be given for a lemon. + +Much of this, however, I had to learn by report or reading; for, at +the time of our visit, the Sunday’s fire had upset everything, and it +became a serious question on Monday morning as to what we should do. +Many of the telegraph clerks in Siberia are Danes, and speak several +languages. We found that we had one of them, Mr. Larsen, for a near +neighbour; for the telegraph office had been burnt, and he had come +to our side of the river to take shelter in the next house, where, +having no electric battery, he had tapped the Verchne Udinsk wire, +and was trying in this way, though without success, to communicate +intelligence. He had had nothing to eat for 24 hours, and possessed +only the clothes in which he stood; so it was quite a charity to take +him a glass of tea to his temporary office in the open air, after +which he dined with us. Mr. Larsen, to whom we had an introduction, +had been a telegraphist in London, and spoke English fluently, so that +we were able to discuss our prospects to advantage. It was of prime +importance for us that we should see the Governor of the province and +the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia as quickly as possible, for +it was not hard to perceive that what provisions had escaped the fire +would be sold at famine prices; lawlessness, it was rumoured, might get +the upper hand; and it seemed better that we should leave the place +without much delay. Our adviser feared, however, and reasonably so, +that we should be able to get no attention from the higher officials +in the present state of excitement, seeing the embers of the city were +still smoking, and the authorities would naturally have more important +business than ours to attend to. Mr. Larsen, however, kindly offered +to accompany me over the river to see if anything could be done. +Accordingly we crossed, and, walking along the broad road by the side +of the Angara, the ashes of the fire scorched our faces. + +We now saw something of the condition of the people who had fled +to the bank of the river on the previous day, with such effects as +they could save. Here were gentlefolks “camped out” under chests of +drawers, tables, and boxes, arranged in the best manner possible in +the open air--sheets being used for walls, and curtains for coverings. +Ikons from churches were lying about; likewise tables, heaped with +philosophical instruments from the high school; and carts filled with +movables. The instruments from the telegraph station were standing by a +post, to which paper streamers were fastened to intimate that this was +the temporary telegraph office. The people’s demeanour, however, was in +strange contrast with their pitiable condition; for many, having saved +their samovars, were drinking afternoon tea, and on all sides were +joking and laughing at their comical situation. + +We found many of his friends among those beside the river, and each +began good-humouredly to ask what the other lost in the fire, and +what had been saved. Nobody seemed inclined to be at all dull over +the matter, and the same thing was apparent with the Deputy-Governor +Ismailoff, upon whom we called. “What have you lost?” said the General +to my companion. He lightly threw open his coat, and intimated that +_that_ was all he had saved. At this the General laughed heartily, and +said that he was not so well off, for that the very shirt on his back +was a borrowed one! Yet the Governor had lost in the fire a brand-new +house, upon which he had spent many thousands of roubles. + +Contrary to our expectation, it was arranged for us to see the acting +Governor-General next morning, and meanwhile we had time to look at +the ruins of the city. People had taken refuge with their effects in +the large squares, as well as on the banks and islands of the river. +Many had fled into the neighbouring villages. The suburbs had escaped +the fire, as well as many of the houses standing in spacious grounds. +A few of the churches also were untouched. The large hospital was +safe, likewise the usine for smelting gold, and the Governor-General’s +house, but many of the public buildings had perished; amongst these the +museum, in which I expected to find a good ethnographical collection. +I should judge about three-fourths of the city were destroyed, and +that the best part of the town; and so complete was the wreck that the +_isvostchiks_ with their droshkies hardly knew their way about the +blackened streets. + +We met a few of the higher class of exiles living free in Irkutsk, +and, on asking them what they would do, received for reply, “We do not +know. We have been earning something by teaching, but now our patrons +will leave us. All sorts of provisions will be frightfully dear, and +yet we dare not leave. So what is to be done?” The same doubts as to +the future pressed heavily upon those tradesmen whose shops were not +burnt.[2] + +Of course there were various rumours afloat during the excitement of +the previous day--one, that the devastation was caused by a wilful act. +Similar rumours were afloat at Perm and Tagil, and at Irkutsk more than +twenty arrests were reported. But, upon asking the Governor, it proved +to be nonsense; for only two men had been arrested, and it was very +doubtful whether even they were guilty. The only origin I heard given +was that a hay-loft ignited, from which the flames spread.[3] + +In Siberian towns the police are represented by the _gendarmerie_; and +in other places are police-masters with their employés. There are, +strictly speaking, no policemen, but Cossacks are usually employed in +their stead; and at the end of their short service are allowed to go +home. They are, however, anything but efficient constables, and I was +told that at Irkutsk the authorities do not employ them. To protect +whatever might be of value among the ruins, and to keep order after the +fire, troops were marched into the city by day, and patrolled the place +at night. + +Great credit was due to the officials for the prompt manner in +which they attempted the relief of distress. The fire was scarcely +extinguished before a committee was formed, and some of the merchants +laid down handsome sums. Proclamations were posted about the place, +saying that officers could be furnished with dinners at the rate of +30 kopecks a plate, that bread might be bought for 2 kopecks--that +is, a halfpenny--a pound; and that for the first week the poor might +have bread for nothing; further, that all persons burnt out might, on +application, receive the sum of 30 kopecks. No serious outbreak of +disorder occurred during our stay, though a good deal of drunkenness +was visible. With two inebriates we were brought palpably into contact. +In the yard we occupied was a small kitchen-house, where lived a woman +cook, her husband, and some children. The husband had been to the fire, +had been drinking, and came home accompanied by a drunken associate. +The companion, referring to the cook, said, “As for that woman, she +ought to be hanged”; whereupon her husband fell to beating mercilessly +both her and her boy of about ten years old; and the child came to us +crying, as if he were half killed. Whereupon we rushed to the rescue, +and one of the party, seizing the drunken man, took him from his wife, +and gave him a thrashing.[4] + +When I got further east, I heard of a third and similar instance of +wife-beating, related to me by a merchant in whose house I stayed. His +servants were convicts, simply because he could get no others; but he +said he was not usually curious to ask for what crimes they had been +sent to Siberia. It happened, however, that he had a woman-cook who +was particularly well-behaved, and an excellent servant; and he asked +her one day why she had been exiled. She said it was for poisoning her +husband; upon which my friend opened his eyes, and said,-- + +“Oh, then, perhaps you will murder me?” + +“Oh, no, master; I should not murder _you_.” + +“Yes, but if you would murder your husband, why not, some day, _me_?” + +“Oh, no, master; you would not do as he did, for he beat me every day +for two years.” + +Thus it was not altogether a meaningless form at a Russian wedding, +that anciently the bridegroom took to church a whip, and in one part of +the ceremony lightly applied it to the bride’s back, in token that she +was to be in subjection. + +It should be remembered, however, that the brutal conduct just +described belongs to a type well known in a certain part of England; +the difference between the two being that the Russian bully beats his +wife with a whip, while the English one kicks her to death. The Russian +wives take very kindly to a moderate amount of such treatment, and +those of the lower class do not murmur or complain, but consider the +“master” has a right to chastise them; and when things do not go so +far as this, they expect, when they do not please their husbands, to +be slapped and corrected accordingly. In fact, the Russian wife among +the lower classes does not take what we think her proper position in +a house. The husband usually goes to market once a week, and buys all +he wants, business of such importance not being entrusted to the wife, +who therefore knows nothing even of the cost of her household articles. +Among the higher classes, also, the master usually sends his chief +servant to market, and pays for all that is consumed in the house. + +There came out of this quarrel between man and wife another +characteristic of the Russian peasantry, which perhaps is a remnant +of serfdom, and betrays their want of manliness in the presence of +their superiors. My merchant friend, just referred to, had a convict +in the house whilst I was there, whom once before he had dismissed for +drunkenness. The man came back entreating that he might be reinstated, +but his master said, “No, I have warned you continually, and done +everything I could to keep you sober, but in vain.” “Yes, sir,” said +the man; “but then, sir, you should have given me a good thrashing.” +So with the fighting husband at Irkutsk: after receiving his stripes +he went away, but soon after came back, thanking the gentleman for +his thrashing, and promising to behave better in future. In the days +of serfdom, it was no uncommon thing for a gentleman to box the ears +of his droshky driver; but this cannot now be done with impunity. My +mercantile friend told me he was one day driving in Petersburg with +a Russian gentleman, when the latter struck the isvostchik for doing +something that displeased him; whereupon the man turned round and said, +“No more of that, sir; those days are gone by, and if you strike me +again I shall return it,”--a threat quite unbearable to a _blagorodni_, +or “noble”; and he was about to go on as of old, when my friend said, +“Look! you had better not; for if you are summoned, and I am called as +a witness, I shall be bound to say that you began it”; whereupon he +desisted. + +We took an early opportunity after the fire to deliver up to General +Khamenoff, its owner, the second tarantass we had borrowed at Tomsk, +and in which my companion and I had driven and slept for a thousand +miles. Our benefactor was in reality a rich merchant, and had given, +if I mistake not, very handsome sums of money for educational purposes +in Irkutsk. This patriotic action had gained him the distinction of +“General.” His buildings had been saved, and we thus had an opportunity +of seeing the house of one well-to-do merchant at Irkutsk. + +The General was getting old, and appeared in a long dressing-gown, +coming out of his beautiful garden, and seating us in a little +secretarial chamber, which had about it sundry marks of foreign +influence and taste. Before joining us, however, he bade adieu to +a previous visitor, and called his footman to open the door. There +was something inexpressibly droll about his manner of doing so, for +he simply gave a prolonged grunt--ugh!!--and as the footman did not +come at grunt number one, it was repeated, and the servant in passing +received from his master a cuff at the back of the head, doing so with +a grin and a duck of the noddle, as a schoolboy receives a blow from +his mother’s palm, knowing that he shall not be hurt. The old gentleman +then heard from us how we had escaped from the hotel, and how we were +making a sleeping chamber of his tarantass, which he said we might +continue to do until we left the town. + +I was anxious to learn something of the state of ecclesiastical affairs +in the province, and to inquire what the Russian Church was doing in +her missions to the Buriats. The chief ecclesiastic of the province is +one Benjamin, Archbishop of Irkutsk and Nertchinsk, under whom is a +suffragan bishop, Meleti of Selenginsk. The Diocese has 347 churches +and chapels, 5 monasteries, and one nunnery. One of the monasteries +is near Lake Baikal, and here lives, if I mistake not, the Bishop of +Selenginsk, who could have given information about the Buriats, but +the monastery lay too far out of our way to allow of our visiting +it. Nor were we successful with the Archbishop; for on going to the +monastery, his official residence, which had narrowly escaped the fire, +we found him gone to his country residence in the suburbs. “When will +he return?” we asked. “God knows,” said our priest informant; thereby +using an expression which I observed to be very common among all +classes of Russians.[5] + +On the Tuesday morning after the fire we were to be presented, as I +have said, to the acting Governor-General of Eastern Siberia. The +supreme Governor-General was Baron Friedrichs, to whom I had two +private letters of introduction, besides my official documents; also +we had made the acquaintance of his son when travelling on the Obi. +The Baron, who was in ill-health, was at some mineral springs on +the Mongolian frontier, and his place was filled at the time of our +visit by M. Lochwitzky, the Governor of Yeneseisk, to whom we were +presented by General Ismailoff. We met at the Governor-General’s house, +the finest in the city, having been originally built and furnished, +regardless of expense, by an enormously rich tea merchant. We +found M. Lochwitzky the first of the Siberian Governors (except the +Governor-General in the West) who could converse in French. He entered +readily into my plans for the distribution of books, thanked me for +those I had left at Krasnoiarsk for his province, and promised to do +for me what was a great boon, namely, to send some books to the town +of Yakutsk, to be distributed throughout that largest province of the +country. We were introduced to a Colonel Solovief, whose brother was in +London, as Secretary to the Grand Duchess of Edinburgh; and after an +assurance from the Governor-General that he would do all he could to +further our wishes, we started to see the prisons, under the conduct of +the Procureur of the town. + +We drove through the ruins of the fire, and then crossed, by a wooden +bridge 300 yards long, the Uska-Kofka, by which one side of Irkutsk +is bounded. This stream divides the town from the prison and the +workshops, where a certain number of convicts are employed.[6] Speaking +generally, the prison seemed to me to resemble others I had seen in +Siberia, and to call for no special remark. Perhaps, however, I ought +to add that before I left the town I had the opportunity of hearing +about the establishment from a prisoner’s point of view. Thus I heard +that, at six o’clock on the morning of our visit, the prisoners were +told to have all in order because some Englishmen were expected, and +that certain objectionable things were hidden away. I thought, however, +that it did not speak much for my informant’s candour when, on pressing +him to say what the objectionable things were, he did not tell me. +Again, my informant tried to make it appear that the officers stole +the prisoners’ food by giving them short quantity, though he said the +_quality_ of the food was good enough. The Procureur said the prisoners +did not eat all the food allowed them; and from the quantity of pieces +of bread which we so often saw lying about in Russian prisons, I should +be disposed to think this true. This seems to be so common, that we +were told at Tiumen the prisoners may _sell_ what they do not eat; but +at Irkutsk my informant said that they did not receive more than half +their allowance, and that a quarter of a pound only of meat was given +for 10 men--a quantity so ridiculously small, that one could not but +think that here exaggeration must have overshot the mark. Moreover, my +informant told me that what he said was not from personal experience, +because he was not one of the peasant prisoners whose circumstances he +professed to relate.[7] + +I was told in the town that to take books to the Irkutsk prison was a +work of supererogation; and I confess to a feeling of disappointment +when, on asking to see the library, I was taken to a cupboard full of +New Testaments and tracts, precisely the same as some of those I was +distributing, but all kept so fresh and in such order that evidently no +one had used them. The committee was reported to have spent as much as +£30 on books for the prison, but the officials had evidently not made +the books accessible to those for whom they were intended. Their excuse +was that the prisoners did not ask for them; but no doubt the officials +were afraid of their being torn, and that trouble would ensue, and so +had kept them locked up. It reminded me of what my Finnish friend had +written, that when she went to the prison, the officials said, “The +books must be arranged in order, in case the inspector should come”; +and thus the books were practically kept from the inmates. When the +Governor asked me what I thought of the prison, I did not fail to +point out the inconsistency of withholding the books; but of this he +was ignorant, and he promised to look into the matter. I endeavoured +also to make clear, in speech and by writing, that wherever my books +or tracts went throughout the province, they were to be placed within +reach at all times of the prisoners, and not to be put away in any of +the libraries. + +Thus we inspected the two prisons, and also saw a school built by the +committee for prisoners’ children; in it were 42 scholars. We visited +likewise a gentleman named Sokoloff, who was the deputy-inspector of +schools for Eastern Siberia. There is also an inspector of schools for +Western Siberia, who lives at Omsk. I was surprised to hear of the many +schools and scholars in the sparsely-populated and, for scholastic +purposes, exceedingly difficult country of Eastern Siberia.[8] Our +object in calling upon the inspector was to ask him to distribute +throughout the schools copies of my tracts and periodicals, and to that +end I began by showing my credentials. But upon hearing my object, he +said that was quite sufficient; and he needed to see no papers, but +would willingly help. He bought, moreover, on his own account, 200 New +Testaments for 40 roubles, to give as prizes to the young schoolmasters +on leaving the institution, by which means the books would be scattered +widely.[9] + +We now considered our next step. My original idea, when leaving +England, as already intimated, was to proceed to Irkutsk; and then, +after running on to Kiakhta for the gratification of seeing a Chinese +town, to return to Europe, and come home by the Caucasus and the +Mediterranean. I had been warned before quitting London that I should +see nothing of the severities of Siberian exile-life if I did not +penetrate the region beyond Lake Baikal; and, travelling on the Obi, +this statement was confirmed by a Russian officer in the prison +service. I feared, however, I could not do this in a single summer, and +that, if I went so far east, I should be unable to return before winter +set in. It never occurred to me that there was any available way of +reaching the Pacific from Irkutsk other than by crossing the Mongolian +desert to China, and this I was not disposed to do. + +But when I learned that there was a service of steamers on the Amur, +this opened the way for other possibilities; and on June 21st, as +we rolled away from Tomsk, there dawned upon my mind a thought, the +conception of which seemed at once to promise the birth of great +things. What, said I to myself, if I could go right across Asia and +leave so many copies of Scripture as would suffice for putting at +least a New Testament or a copy of the Gospels in every room of every +prison, and in every ward of every hospital, throughout the whole of +Siberia! As I look back upon it now as an accomplished fact, the matter +seems ordinary enough; but when the thought came into my mind it looked +like a consummation far beyond anything I had hoped to accomplish, +and a result which, if it might be compassed, would be a cause of +thankfulness for the rest of my life. + +Accordingly I quietly nursed the idea till we reached Irkutsk, thus far +having given a sufficiency of books answerable to the plan for all the +provinces behind me; and there yet remained three before me. Several +boxes of books were unopened, but these could not be sent forward, +because, in the first place, there was no carrier, or, if there were, +the fire had confounded all order; and even if some one could be +persuaded to take the books, it was very doubtful if they would reach +the hands of the prisoners unless I went with them in person and showed +my credentials. + +I determined, therefore, to journey onward and do my best to carry out +the scheme which had taken possession of my mind. But to do this it was +necessary to have supplementary documents, for I had asked the Minister +of the Interior for letters only as far as Kiakhta. M. Lochwitzky, +however, most kindly helped in the matter, and gave me the letters I +needed for my extended plans. We were then free to go forward again +(which the reader may do at once, if he prefers, by missing the next +two chapters); but something must first be said of the routes by which +former travellers have proceeded eastwards. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Compared with some of the enormous provinces of Siberia, that of +Irkutsk is comparatively small, with an area of 300,000 square miles +only; that is, about the size of Sweden and Norway. The surface is +mountainous, and through it flow two rivers of importance, namely, the +Angara, issuing from Lake Baikal, and the Lena, which rises not far +from the capital. The province is divided into five uyezds, and has a +population of 380,000, of whom only 10 per cent. are dwellers in towns. +Marriages 4,600, and 25,000 births are recorded in the province yearly. + +[2] I was specially anxious to open a depôt for the Bible Society in +Irkutsk, and to that end called upon a bookseller and printer named +Sinitzun, of Harlampi Street, and invited him to become a depositary. +He replied that he had the will to do so, but that he must first +consult his partners; for it was doubted whether the city would be +rebuilt, and whether persons having lost their premises would not, +instead of re-erecting them, go and live elsewhere. I have heard, since +my return, however, that the town is rising from its ashes even on a +grander scale than it formerly possessed. + +[3] The Russians have reason, however, for constant suspicion, for they +have a revengeful way of “letting loose the red cock” upon a man, which +means setting his house on fire; and this is only too common among the +peasants of Siberia, as, in fact, generally in all Russia. Thus, of 758 +fires which took place in Siberia in 1876, no less than 99, or more +than one-eighth, were due to incendiaries, to say nothing of nearly +500 more of which the causes could not be traced. Further particulars +relating to these 758 fires are, that 185 were registered as due to +“carelessness,” and 10 to lightning, whilst the estimated loss of the +whole 758 was reckoned at £82,162. With such a number of fires it is +not difficult to understand the dread of destruction in which Siberians +live, nor their practice of having a large chest in the house, in which +they habitually keep their valuables, to be removed, if necessary, at a +moment’s notice. + +[4] This assault by the husband was, as far as I know, quite unprovoked +on the part of his better half, and it serves as an illustration of +the way in which a certain class of the Russians treat their wives. +It also serves to confirm what is written of Akoulka’s husband in +Dostoyeffsky’s “Buried Alive,” where two prisoners are talking in the +night, and one relates: “I had got, somehow or other, in the way of +beating her. Some days I would keep at it from morning till night. I +did not know what to do with myself when I was not beating her. She +used to sit crying, and I could not help feeling sorry for her, and so +I beat her.” Subsequently he murdered her. After which relation, the +other prisoner acquiesces, and says that “wives _must_ be beaten to be +of any service.” + +[5] The chief ecclesiastical shrine of Irkutsk is a large church a +little way out of the city. In it are the remains, gorgeously entombed, +of St. Innokente, said to be preserved as fresh as when he died. +This man is regarded as the apostle of Siberia. He was originally a +missionary, who, in 1721, was sent to China; but the Chinese Government +refusing him admission to their country, he settled six years +afterwards at Irkutsk. + +[6] There were 270 men in the prison, one room holding 21 murderers, +another 28 thieves, a third 20 forgers, a fourth 28 who had been +exchanging their names and punishments, and a fifth 39 who were +“without passports,” and so on. In one room they were making +match-boxes, for which they received for themselves a tenth of their +earnings. Other prisoners were making furniture, of which the materials +were supplied by the prison officers, and for which, of course, they +recouped themselves. + +[7] The citizen prisoners, he said, were allowed in money 17½ kopecks a +day, which they could spend as they pleased, and with which they could +buy a pound of meat (10 kopecks), and 2½ lbs. of bread (7½ kopecks). +They have, however, in Irkutsk, a liberal prison committee, who help +in the matter of food--the cabbage in the soup, for instance, being +provided by them; and my informant, though grumbling about almost +everything else, allowed that the dinners given to the sick, which cost +20 kopecks, and all the arrangements about the prison hospital, were +exceedingly good. There were even books provided for the patients, +but this was through the kindness of the doctor. My non-official +informant also alleged that the prison officials took from the pay +of the workmen, giving them far less than the value of their labour, +and so unrighteously enriched themselves. His tone, however, was so +exceedingly bitter, that had he not allowed that there was _one_ +good thing in connection with the prison, I should have discredited +all he said, especially as he dealt so much in generals, and avoided +particulars. As it was, I thought perhaps he might have spoken the +truth in some respects. I heard subsequently, from another exile, that +the Director of the prison received only £40 a year for salary, whilst +from another I heard £120 or £150; and if either of these figures +are true, it is not difficult to see that a dishonest official may +be strongly tempted to take advantage (as the Russians say) “of his +opportunities.” These “opportunities,” however, are not confined to +matters of food. I heard of a prison director at Nijni Udinsk who had +orders to send 30 prisoners to Nikolaefsk, which for certain reasons +is a favourite place with the convicts; whereupon this director made +his choice to fall upon those whose wives could pay him 25 roubles, +or 50 shillings. This looks a large amount for a prisoner to pay, but +my informant had in possession 50 roubles to be transferred for this +purpose. + +[8] Mr. Sokoloff had under his inspection, in 1878, 13 classical +schools, 1 commercial, 1 industrial, 11 inferior, and 211 elementary +schools, attended by 6,000 boys and 1,500 girls. These figures, +moreover, were exclusive of the Amur district, and parts about the +Sea of Okhotsk. There were also under his inspection two training +institutions, one of them being the house at which we called--a new +building for the training, at one time, of 80 village schoolmasters. +Its furniture and fittings were admirable. It had an excellent museum, +and a room for tutorial practice; and I was particularly struck with +the number of models and apparatus for the teaching of natural science. + +[9] Besides these sent to the inspector, we confided to M. Lochwitzky +for the government of Yakutsk, and for Eastern Siberia generally, about +170 New Testaments and portions of Scripture, and upwards of 3,000 +tracts and periodicals; and with General Ismailoff, for the province +of Irkutsk, about the same number of Scriptures, but rather less of +other papers. We also left with General Ismailoff 500 Finnish tracts +and books for the German pastor, Ratcke; these last I have since +heard from the pastor were specially acceptable, inasmuch as when he +returned to Irkutsk he found all his books burnt. I have heard, too, +since my return, from M. Lochwitzky, that those in his hands have been +distributed according to my directions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +_THE LENA._ + + History of Russian invasion.--Former travellers to Okhotsk.--Cochrane, + Erman, and Hill.--Down the Lena to Yakutsk.--Prevalence + of goitre.--The Upper Lena and its tributaries.--The + Lower Lena.--Discoveries of mammoths.--New Siberian + islands.--Nordenskiöld’s passage. + + +When, at the beginning of the 17th century, the Cossack conquerors +of Siberia had crossed the Yenesei, and had pushed on as far as +Lake Baikal, they were met by the numerous and warlike tribe of +the Buriats, who opposed the invaders with considerable force. Not +waiting, therefore, for their entire subjection (which took 30 years +to accomplish), the Cossacks turned northwards to the basin of the +Lena, and descended the river more than half-way to the Arctic Sea, +where, coming in 1632 to the principal town of the Yakutes, they built +a fort and founded the city of Yakutsk. After this they crossed the +Aldan mountains, and, seven years later, reached the Sea of Okhotsk. +For two centuries this was the route followed by those who would cross +Siberia from the Urals to the Pacific, or _vice versâ_. In the present +day there are two other roads. All must go by the route we travelled +from Tomsk to Irkutsk, but from thence the Pacific can be reached +either by crossing the Mongolian desert to Peking, or by traversing the +Buriat steppe, and so descending the Amur. The second of these routes +is now the best, but not briefly to mention the old route would be to +omit much interesting information concerning the Lena, with its native +population and fossilized remains, as well as to miss the opportunity +of hearing a little of some of the most daring and adventurous journeys +of previous travellers.[1] + +The most remarkable of these was an Englishman named John Dundas +Cochrane, a captain in the Royal Navy, who, in 1820, proposed to the +Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that they should give their +sanction and countenance to his undertaking alone a journey into +the interior of Africa, with a view to ascertaining the course and +determination of the river Niger. This they declined, whereupon he +procured two years’ leave of absence, and resolved to attempt “a +walking tour” round the globe, as nearly as could be done by land, +crossing from Northern Asia to America at Behring’s Straits, his +leading object being to trace the shores of the Polar Sea along +America by land, as Captain Parry was at the time attempting it +by sea. Accordingly he left London with his knapsack, crossed the +Channel to Dieppe, and then set out. This gentleman was endowed with +an unbounded reliance upon his own individual exertions, and his +knowledge of man when unfettered by the frailties and misconduct of +others. One man, he said, might go anywhere he chose, fearlessly and +alone, and as safely trust himself in the hands of savages as among +his own friends. His favourite dictum was that an individual might +travel throughout the Russian empire, except in the _civilized_ parts +between the capitals, so long as his conduct was becoming, without +necessaries failing him. He put his principle rather severely to the +test, and it must be allowed that he did so with very general success, +for he states that in travelling from Moscow to Irkutsk (4,000 miles +by his route) he spent less than a guinea. From Irkutsk he descended +the Lena to Yakutsk, from whence, accompanied by a single Cossack, he +penetrated in a north-easterly direction almost to the shores of the +Ice Sea at Nijni Kolimsk, where, having altered his plans, he turned +back by a most difficult route to Okhotsk. From this place he sailed +to Kamchatka, and married a native, whom he brought by sea back to +Okhotsk, and then in winter crossed the Aldan mountains to Yakutsk, +whence the happy pair proceeded to Irkutsk, and at length reached +England, where Mrs. Cochrane, as I learn from the daughter of one who +knew her, was carefully educated, and passed as a lady in good society. +For enterprise and bravery this captain, I take it, easily bears off +the palm from all Siberian travellers.[2] + +The writer who has added most, perhaps, to our scientific knowledge of +the valley of the Lena is M. Adolph Erman, who crossed Siberia in 1828, +in conjunction, though not in company, with Professor Hansteen, the +first professor at the Magnetic Observatory at Christiania, in Norway, +and famous for his researches in terrestrial magnetism. They both +travelled for the purpose of making magnetic and other observations; +but, on arriving at Irkutsk, Professor Hansteen returned to Europe, +whilst Erman continued down the Lena to Yakutsk, crossed to the Sea of +Okhotsk, and so continued round the world.[3] + +Later on, one more Englishman has reached the Pacific by way of the +Lena, namely, Mr. S. S. Hill, who did so in 1848, and it is not +unlikely that he may, for some time, be the last of the intrepid +travellers who have accomplished this feat, since the Amur is now +open to the Russians, and presents a far easier way of crossing the +continent. + +To follow the older route, the first portion had to be traversed by +post vehicles from Irkutsk, a distance of 160 miles in a north-easterly +direction. The road crosses the water-parting of the Lena basin at or +near the station Khogotskaya, which is about 90 geographical miles from +Irkutsk. The traveller journeys through a hilly country, where there +is abundant pasture, and where the land is to some extent cultivated, +to the village of Kachugskoe, situated on the banks of the Lena. Here +various sorts of merchandise are embarked in large flat-bottomed boats, +which are floated down the river. These goods are exchanged with the +natives for furs, the boats at the end of the journey being broken +up in districts where timber is scarce, and the furs brought back in +smaller craft.[4] + +The descent of the Upper Lena to Yakutsk by water was undertaken by +Mr. Hill in spring, and by Captain Cochrane in autumn, but Mr. Erman +accomplished it on the ice in winter, by a 20 days’ sledge journey +of nearly 1,900 miles. As he passed along he observed, first in the +village of Petrovsk, several of the women largely affected with +goitre, and learned with surprise that this malady, which in Europe +characterises the valleys of the Alps, is frequent on the Lena. As +he proceeded he found goitre in men also, and asking an exile at +Turutsk, who appeared the only healthy person in the place, how he +had protected himself from goitre, was told that adults arriving +from Europe were never attacked by the disease, but that the goitre +was born with the children of the district, and grew up with them. +Medical men in Switzerland say that goitre proceeds from deposits in +chemical combination, washed down by mountain streams that supply the +inhabitants of the neighbourhood with drinking water, and that it +attacks children on account of their mucous membranes being very tender +and easily distended. Mr. Erman inquired carefully, as he went on, +respecting the prevalency of goitre, and having made barometrical and +other observations along the way, he came at length to the conclusion +that the disease was traceable, in part, to the formation and altitude +of various places along the valley of the river, where the air, being +confined, is, in summer, heated to an extraordinary degree, and loaded +with moisture. + +With regard to the stream of the Upper Lena, its head waters have their +sources spread out for 200 geographical miles along the counter slopes +of the hills that form the western bank of Lake Baikal, and the main +stream rises within seven miles of the lake. + +At Kachugskoe, about 60 geographical miles from the Baikal, and not +less than 75 geographical miles in a straight line from its source, +the Lena measures about the width of the Thames in London. The water, +deep and clear, has in spring a very rapid current, though Captain +Cochrane speaks of the rate lower down, in autumn, as only 1½ or 2 +knots per hour. The next station after Kachugskoe is Vercholensk, a +town of 1,000 inhabitants, the first of that size on the north-east +of Irkutsk, and is the chief town of the uyezd. After flowing 500 +miles further through a hilly country, with high banks always on one +and sometimes on both sides, on which are 35 post-stations and more +villages, the river passes Kirensk, which again is the chief town of +an uyezd, and has a population of 800.[5] Here cultivation practically +ceases, except for vegetables. At this point, too, the river receives +on its right the Kirenga, which has run nearly as long a course as +the Lena. The stream thus enlarged now flows on for 300 miles more to +Vitimsk, where it is joined by its second great tributary, the Vitim, +from the mountains east of Lake Baikal. Another stretch of 460 miles, +through a country still hilly, but with villages less frequent, brings +the traveller to Olekminsk, the capital of another uyezd, a town of 500 +inhabitants; there the Lena receives from the south the Olekma, which +rises near the Amur river. It then continues for 400 miles through a +sparsely-populated district, till it reaches Yakutsk, where it is 4 +miles wide in summer, and 2½ in winter, the river being usually frozen +about the 1st October, and not free from ice till about May 25th. + +Hitherto the course of the river has been to the north-east, but at +Yakutsk the stream makes a bend and runs due north, receiving on its +right, 100 miles below Yakutsk, one of its largest tributaries, the +Aldan, which rises in the Stanovoi range bordering on the Sea of +Okhotsk. Yakutsk is only 270 feet above the sea, and the current of the +river henceforth is sluggish. About 50 miles further the Lena receives +its largest tributary from the left, the Vilui, and then proceeds +majestically through a flat country with an enormous body of water to +the Arctic Ocean, into which it enters among a delta of islands formed +of the _débris_ brought down by the river. + +In the region of the Lower Lena, and to the westward, have been found +the remains of a huge rhinoceros, and an elephant larger than that now +existing--the _elephas primigenius_, popularly called the mammoth. It +is so named from the Russian _mamont_, or Tatar _mamma_ (the earth), +because the Yakutes believed that this animal worked its way in the +earth like a mole; and a Chinese story represents the _mamentova_ as +a rat of the size of an elephant which always burrowed underground, +and died on coming in contact with the outer air. The tusks of the +mammoth are remarkable for exhibiting a double curve, first inwards, +then outwards, and then inwards again; and Professor Ramsay gives +it me as the opinion of several able naturalists that the so-called +mammoth is of the same species as the Indian elephant, only much +altered by the change of climatic conditions. The Samoyedes say that +the mammoth still exists wandering upon the shores of the Frozen +Ocean, and subsisting on dead bodies thrown up by the surf. As for the +rhinoceros, they say it was a gigantic bird, and that the horns which +the ivory-merchants purchase were its talons. Their legends tell of +fearful combats between their ancestors and this enormous winged animal. + +A trade in mammoth ivory has been carried on for hundreds of years +between the tribes of Northern Asia and the Chinese; but it was a long +time before European naturalists took a marked interest in the evidence +of an extinct order of animals which these remains undeniably recorded. +The Siberian mammoth agrees exactly with the specimens unearthed in +various parts of England, especially at Ilford in the valley of the +Thames, near London, and on the coast of Norfolk; but whereas on +European soil there remain but fragments of the skeleton, there have +been found in Siberia bones of the rhinoceros and mammoth covered with +pieces of flesh and skin. These discoveries date back more than a +century.[6] + +In 1865 the captain of a Yenesei steamer learnt that some natives had +discovered the preserved remains of a mammoth in latitude 67°, about +100 versts west of the river. Intelligence was sent to Petersburg, +and Dr. Schmidt was commissioned to go and examine into the matter. +Accordingly he proceeded down the Yenesei to Turukhansk, and thence to +the landing-place nearest the mammoth deposit, hoping to obtain the +animal’s stomach, and, from the character of the leaves within, infer +the creature’s _habitat_, since it is known that the beast lived upon +vegetable food, but of what exact character no one has yet determined. +Unfortunately the stomach was wanting. + +In examining, under the microscope, fragments of vegetable food picked +out of the grooves of the molar teeth of the Siberian rhinoceros at +Irkutsk, naturalists have recognised fibres of the pitch-pine, larch, +birch, and willow, resembling those of trees of the same kind which +still grow in Southern Siberia. This seems to confirm the opinion, +expressed long ago, that the rhinoceros and other large pachyderms +found in the alluvial soil of the north used to inhabit Middle +Siberia, south of the extreme northern regions where their skeletons +are now found; but Mr. Knox, who travelled for some distance with +Schmidt on his return journey, says that the doctor estimated that the +beast had been frozen many thousands of years, and that his natural +dwelling-place was in the north, at a period when perhaps the Arctic +regions were warmer than they now are. Covered with long hair, the +animal could certainly resist an Arctic climate; but how on the tundras +of the north could the animal have found the foliage of trees necessary +for its subsistence? Must we conclude that formerly the country was +wooded, or that the mammoth did not live where its skeletons are now +found, but further south, whence its carcase has been carried northward +by rivers, and frozen into the soil? These are questions debated among +geologists, and still awaiting solution. + +The fact, however, remains, that mammoth ivory is still an important +branch of native commerce, and all travellers bear witness to the +quantities of fossil bones found throughout the frozen regions of +Siberia.[7] + +Each year, in early summer, fishermen’s barques direct their course +to the New Siberian group, to the “_isles of bones_”; and, during +winter, caravans drawn by dogs take the same route, and return charged +with tusks of the mammoth, each weighing from 150 lbs. to 200 lbs. The +fossil ivory thus obtained is imported into China and Europe, and is +used for the same purposes as the ordinary ivory of the elephant and +hippopotamus. + +We cannot leave the Lower Lena and the neighbouring shores of the +Arctic Ocean without alluding to the wonderful sight those shores +witnessed in 1878, for the first time in the history of the world. It +was no less a sight than that of two steam vessels that had ploughed +their way from Europe round Cape Cheliuskin. One of them was the +_Vega_, in which was Professor Nordenskiöld, whose intention had been +to anchor off the mouth of the Lena, but a favourable wind and an open +sea offered so splendid an opportunity of continuing his voyage that he +did not neglect it. He sailed away, therefore, on the 28th of August, +direct for Fadievskoi, one of the New Siberian islands, where he +intended to remain some days, and to examine scientifically the remains +of mammoths, rhinoceroses, horses, aurochs, bisons, sheep, etc., with +which these islands are said to be covered. The _Vega_ made excellent +progress, but though, on the 30th, Liakov Island was reached, the +professor was unable to land, owing to the rotten ice which surrounded +it, and the danger to which the vessel would have been exposed in case +of a storm in such shallow water. + +After the _Vega_, with Nordenskiöld on board, had left its sister +ship the _Lena_, the latter vessel, under the command of Captain +Johannesen, started to ascend the river of its own name. A pilot +had been engaged to descend the river and await the arrival of the +_Lena_, but as neither he nor his signals were visible, the captain, +after considerable difficulty, from the shallowness of the water, made +his way through the delta, and on the 7th September reached the main +stream, where the navigation was less difficult. Yakutsk was reached on +the 21st September, dispatches were sent on to Irkutsk, and from thence +it was telegraphed to Europe that the rounding of Cape Cheliuskin and +the navigation of the Lena by a steamer from the Atlantic had been +accomplished. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] I allude to the accounts of Strahlenberg, De Lesseps, Billings, +Ledyard, Dobell, Gordon, Cochrane, Erman, Cotterill, and Hill. + +Strahlenberg was a Swedish officer, who, at the beginning of the 18th +century, was banished for 13 years to Siberia. He collected a vast +amount of information concerning the country generally, and compiled +polyglot tables of aboriginal languages, and amongst them that of the +Yakutes inhabiting the valley of the Lena, of whose Pagan condition he +gives many illustrations. + +M. de Lesseps was French Consul and interpreter to Count de la Perouse, +the well-known circumnavigator. De Lesseps entered the country at +Kamchatka in 1788, and wrote an account of his travels across Siberia +and Europe to Paris. + +Captain Billings was an Englishman, who, after sailing with the +celebrated Captain Cook, was employed by the Empress Katharine II. to +make discoveries on the north-east coast of Siberia, and among the +islands in the Eastern Ocean stretching to the American coast. For this +purpose he proceeded to North-Eastern Siberia in 1785, sailed down the +river Kolima, explored a portion of the country eastward, and then +returned by way of Yakutsk. + +Another of Captain Cook’s officers, John Ledyard, had the most romantic +enthusiasm for adventure, perhaps, of any man of his time. He conceived +the project of travelling across Europe, Asia, and America as far as +possible on foot, and to this end he set out from London with about +£50 only in his pocket. He reached Yakutsk, where he met with Captain +Billings, and with him was hoping to proceed to America, when, by order +of the Russian Court, Ledyard was arrested on suspicion of being a +French spy, and was taken off to Moscow. + +Another journey across Northern Asia was made after the time of +Billings by Peter Dobell, a counsellor of the Court of His Imperial +Majesty the Emperor of Russia. Dobell landed in Kamchatka in 1812, and +from thence proceeded overland to Europe. + +[2] Another journey from Okhotsk up the Lena to Irkutsk and Kiakhta, +and then across Siberia to Europe, was made about 1820 by a merchant +named Peter Gordon; but his notes are very short, and appear only in +his “Fragment of a Tour through Persia.” + +[3] Professor Erman received the Patron’s gold medal of the Royal +Geographical Society of London in 1844, for his scientific researches +in physical geography, meteorology, and magnetism around the globe +in 1828-30. His researches in Northern Asia were of especial value, +particularly in Eastern Siberia and Kamchatka. + +[4] It was in one of these flat-bottomed boats that Mr. Hill descended +the stream, in company with a Russian merchant, accomplishing the +journey to Yakutsk in 21 days, with no worse mishaps by water than +occasionally being driven on sand or mud banks, or into a forest of +trees, all but submerged by the height of the spring floods. + +Captain Cochrane chose a more independent course. Being furnished with +a Cossack, he drove from Irkutsk to the Lena, and, having procured +an open canoe and two men, paddled down the stream. Proceeding day +and night, they usually made from 100 to 120 miles a day, finding +hospitable villages at intervals of from 15 to 18 miles, as far +as Kirensk, and so arrived on the eighth day at Vitimsk. It was +now late in the autumn, and the ice began to come down the river, +which sometimes compelled the natives to strip, and, up to their +waists in water, to track the boat, and this with the thermometer +below freezing-point. At length the captain, in consequence of the +difficulties of boating, was requested at one of the villages to +proceed on horseback, which he did, and, being unable at the next +station to get either horses or boat, he had to shoulder his knapsack +and walk; and so, by means of walking, riding, and paddling, he reached +Olekminsk. From thence to Yakutsk is about 400 miles, which, excepting +the two last stages, the captain completed in a canoe, arriving on the +6th October. The weather was cold, snow was falling, and on approaching +Yakutsk the canoe was caught in the ice, so that he was compelled to +make the remainder of his journey on foot. + +[5] The difference of latitude, as pointed out by Mr. Trelawney +Saunders, between Verko (or upper) Lensk (54° 8′) and Kirensk (57° 47′) +is only 3° 39′, or 219 geographical miles. The latter place is but +little east of north from the former, so that the 500 miles must be +mainly due to the windings of the stream. + +[6] In December, 1771, a party of Yakutes hunting on the Vilui, +near its junction with the Lower Lena, discovered an unknown animal +half-buried in the sand, but still retaining its flesh, covered with a +thick skin. The carcase was too much decomposed to allow of more than +the head and two feet being forwarded to Irkutsk; but they were seen by +the great traveller and naturalist, Peter Simon Pallas, who pronounced +the animal a rhinoceros, not particularly large of its kind, which +might perchance have been born in Central Asia. + +In the year 1799 a bank of frozen earth near the mouth of the Lena +broke away, and revealed to a Tunguse, named Schumachoff, the body of +a mammoth. Hair, skin, flesh and all had been preserved by the frost; +and seven years later Mr. Adams, of the Petersburg Academy, hearing of +the discovery at Yakutsk, visited the spot. He found, however, that +the greater part of the flesh had been eaten by wild animals and the +dogs of the natives, though the eyes and brains remained. The entire +carcase measured 9 ft. 4 in. high, and 16 ft. 4 in. from the point of +the nose to the end of the tail, without including the tusks, which +were 9 ft. 6 in. in length if measured along the curves. The two tusks +weighed 360 lbs., and the head and tusks together 414 lbs. The skin was +of such extraordinary weight that ten persons found great difficulty in +carrying it. About 40 lbs. of hair, too, were collected, though much +more of this was trodden into the sand by the feet of bears which had +eaten the flesh. This skeleton is now in the Museum of the Academy at +Petersburg. + +Again, in 1843, M. Middendorf found a mammoth on the Taz, between the +Obi and the Yenesei, with some of the flesh in so perfect a condition +that it was found possible to remove the ball of the eye, which is +preserved in the Museum at Moscow. + +[7] It has been suggested that the abundant supplies of ivory which +were at the command of the ancient Greek sculptors came by way of +the Black Sea from the Siberian deposits. So far back as the time of +Captain Billings, Martin Sauer, his secretary, tells us of one of the +Arctic islands near the Siberian mainland, that “it is a mixture of +sand and ice, so that when the thaw sets in and its banks begin to +fall, many mammoth bones are found, and that all the isle is formed +of the bones, of this extraordinary animal.” This account is to some +extent corroborated by Figuier, who tells us that New Siberia and the +Isle of Liakov are for the most part only an agglomeration of sand, +ice, and elephants’ teeth; and at every tempest the sea casts ashore +new quantities of mammoths’ tusks. Réclus speaks of an annual find of +15 tons of mammoth ivory, representing about 200 mammoths; and, about +1840, Middendorf estimated the number of mammoths discovered up to that +time at 20,000. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +_YAKUTSK._ + + The province of Yakutsk.--Rivers.--Minerals.--The town of + Yakutsk.--Its temperature.--Inhabitants.--The + Yukaghirs.--The Yakutes.--Their dwellings.--Food.--Dress.-- + Products.--Occupations.--Industries.--Language.--Religion.--Route + from Yakutsk to Okhotsk.--Reindeer riding.--Summer + journey.--Treatment of horses. + + +The province of Yakutsk is the largest in Siberia, and covers an area +of no less than a million and a half of square miles, and is therefore +nearly as large as the whole of Europe, omitting Russia.[1] The total +population of this enormous province is 235,000,--that is to say, +it has about one-seventh part of an inhabitant to each square mile. +The yearly number of marriages is 5,000, and the births 12,000. The +Russian town population in 1876 numbered about 2,000, and the country +population 5,000; of which there were hereditary nobles, 100; personal +nobles, 450; ecclesiastical persons, 600; military, 1,700; and the +rest, upwards of 220,000, were natives--that is to say, Tunguses, +Yukaghirs, and Yakutes. The natives are divided into communities, under +_golovahs_, or mayors, of their own race, who are, however, subject to +the Russian authorities. The province is divided into five uyezds. + +The chief mineral product is gold, which has frequently to be procured +from frozen ground. The valleys of the Vitim and Olekma especially are +rich in this mineral. In the valley of the Vitim, about 200 versts +from its mouth, are quarries of mica, from which the whole of Siberia +was formerly supplied with a substitute for window-glass. Mr. Erman +procured plates of brown mica from one to two feet square. As, however, +I saw glass used everywhere, I presume that the demand for mica must +have diminished greatly. + +In the forests of the Vitim and Olekma are caught the smallest sables, +with the finest, blackest, and hence most valuable furs. The squirrels +of the district are hunted only in winter, when they are sometimes +black and sometimes bright grey, their fur in summer being red, the +hair loose, and skin valueless. The black realize the highest price, +and are frequently met with south of the river, while north of the Lena +none but grey are captured. The hunters think that this difference +depends upon the nature of the forest.[2] + +The town of Yakutsk, which the natives proudly call “the city of +the Yakutes,” presents a curious medley of dwellings; for there are +seen not only the Government buildings, and the wooden houses of +the Russians, but also the less pretentious winter dwellings of the +Yakutes, and even their summer yourts. Oxen here take the place of +horses. Women and girls ride them astride; their sledges also are often +drawn by them, the driver being mounted on one of the animals. The +cathedral is built of stone, and dedicated to St. Nicolas; and there +are in the town some half-dozen churches, in which certain parts of the +service, if not the whole, are performed in the Yakute language. The +chief ecclesiastic is Dionysius, Bishop of Yakutsk and Viluisk, who has +in his hyperborean diocese 49 churches and chapels, and one monastery +containing 13 monks. + +Yakutsk has the credit of being the coldest place upon the face of the +earth. The mean temperature of the air is 18·5 Fahrenheit. A degree +of cold takes place there every year between the 17th December and +18th February, exceeding 58° below zero. During Mr. Erman’s stay the +cold reached even 71·5 below zero. Mercury, therefore, is frozen at +Yakutsk for one-sixth of the year. An exceedingly warm summer follows +this cold winter, and continues from about the 12th May to the 17th +September. The ground is then thawed three feet deep, and though the +crops rest on perpetually frozen strata, yet they produce fifteen-fold +on an average, and in particular places forty-fold.[3] + +Yakutsk has a population of 4,800, some of whom are political exiles, +Scoptsi, etc., who live both here and in the villages along the +river. It would require no great stretch of the imagination, however, +to call all the Russian inhabitants exiles, for they are upwards of +5,000 miles from Petersburg.[4] As we travelled on the Obi we had for +fellow-passengers an official with four children and a woman, bound +for Yakutsk; and when, outside Tomsk, we saw the party stowed into one +tarantass, we pitied them in prospect of the remainder of their 3,000 +miles’ journey. + +The Russian population of the province is confined almost exclusively +to the banks of the Upper Lena, Yakutsk, and its neighbourhood. The +Tunguses are found at the extreme east and west of the province, and +have been already spoken of in a previous chapter. + +Of another race, the Yukaghirs, it may suffice to say that they were +computed, in 1876, at only 1,600 in number, and that very little is +known of them. They roam over a tract on the shores of the Northern +Ocean lying between the Yana and the Kolima. They were once powerful, +and on the rivers Yana and Indigirka tumuli and ancient burial-places +are pointed out, containing corpses armed with bows, arrows, and +spears. With these, too, lies buried the magic drum, well known in +Lapland. At one time there were more hearths of the Yukaghirs on the +banks of the Kolima than stars in the sky--so their legend says. These +people maintain themselves during the whole year on the reindeer they +kill in spring and autumn. At such seasons the mosquitoes drive the +tormented animals to take refuge in the rivers, and not until winter is +coming do they return to the woods, the stags leading the way, followed +by the hinds and their young. Posted under cover, the Yukaghirs +discover the place where the herd will make the passage of a stream, +and conceal their canoes under the banks till the animals take the +water. Then they push out, and, having cut the helpless deer off from +either shore, proceed to slaughter them, whilst swimming, with long +spears, which they use with marvellous skill. + +The Yukaghirs are great smokers; their tobacco--the coarse species of +the Ukraine--they mix with chips to make it go further; and in smoking +not a whiff is allowed to escape into the air, but all is inhaled and +swallowed, producing an effect somewhat similar to a mild dose of +opium. Tobacco is considered their first and greatest luxury. Women +and children all smoke, the latter learning to do so as soon as they +are able to toddle. Any funds remaining after the supply of tobacco +has been laid in are devoted to the purchase of brandy. A Yukaghir, it +is said, never intoxicates himself alone, but calls upon his family to +share the drink, even children in arms being supplied with a portion. + +In the centre of the Yakutsk province, occupying the valley of the +Lena, roam the Yakutes, some of whom I met as far off as Nikolaefsk. +They are of middle height, and of a light copper colour, with black +hair, which the men cut close. The sharp lines of their faces express +indolent and amiable gentleness rather than vigour and passion. They +reminded me of North American Indians; and I agree with Erman, who says +that their appearance is that of a people who have grown wild rather +than of a thoroughly and originally rude race. Those I saw, however, +having been long settled among the Russians, had perhaps become +somewhat more polished than their wandering brethren. As a race they +are good-tempered, orderly, hospitable, and capable of enduring great +privation with patience; but in independence of character they contrast +unfavourably with their Tunguse neighbours. Lay a finger in anger on +one of the Tunguses, and nothing will induce him to forget the insult; +whereas with the Yakutes, the more they are thrashed the better they +work.[5] + +The winter dwellings of the people have doors of raw hides, and log or +wicker walls calked with cow-dung, and flanked with banks of earth to +the height of the windows. The latter are made of sheets of ice, kept +in their place from the outside by a slanting pole, the lower end of +which is fixed in the ground. They are rendered air-tight by pouring +on water, which quickly freezes round the edges; and the fact that it +takes a long time to melt these blocks of ice thus fixed is highly +suggestive of what the temperature must be, both without and within. +The flat roof is covered with earth, and over the door, facing the +east, the boards project, making a covered place in front, like the +natives’ houses in the Caucasus. Under the same roof are the winter +shelters for the cows and for the people, the former being the larger. +The fireplace consists of a wicker frame plastered over with clay, +room being left for a man to pass between the fireplace and the wall. +The hearth is made of beaten earth, and on it there is at all times a +blazing fire, and logs of larch-wood throw up showers of sparks to the +roof. Young calves, like children, are often brought into the house to +the fire, whilst their mothers cast a contented look through the open +door at the back of the fireplace. Behind the fireplace, too, are the +sleeping-places of the people, which in the poorer dwellings consist +only of a continuation of the straw laid in the cow-house. + +In the winter they have but about five hours of daylight, which +penetrates as best it can through the icy windows; and in the evening +all the party sit round the fire on low stools, men and women smoking. +The summer yourts of these people are formed of poles about 20 feet +long, which are united at the top into a roomy cone, covered with +pieces of bright yellow and perfectly flexible birch bark, which are +not merely joined together, but are also handsomely worked along the +seams with horsehair thread. + +The houses are not overstocked with furniture, and the chief cooking +utensil is a large iron pot. At the time of the invasion of the +Russians, this article was deemed such a treasure that the price asked +for a pot was as many sable-skins as would fill it. They use also +in winter a bowl-shaped frame of wicker-work, plastered with frozen +cow-dung, in which they pound their porridge. With regard to their +food, the Yakutes, if they have their choice, love to eat horse-flesh; +and their adage says that to eat much meat, and grow fat upon it, is +the highest destiny of man. They are the greatest gluttons. So far back +as the days of Strahlenberg, it was said that four Yakutes would eat +a horse. They rarely kill their oxen for food; and at a wedding, the +favourite dish served up by the bride to her future lord is a boiled +horse’s head, with horse-flesh sausages. When, however, horse-flesh +or beef is wanting, they are not at all nice as to what they consume, +for they eat the animals they take for fur, and woe to the unfortunate +horse that becomes seriously injured in travel! It is killed and eaten +then and there, the men taking off their girdles to give fair play to +their stomachs, which swell after the fashion of a boa-constrictor. +Thus earnestly do they aspire to their notion of the highest destiny +of man! Milk is in general request among them, whether from cows or +mares; and when they are in the neighbourhood of the Russians, and can +get flour, they do so; but far away in the forests they make a sort of +porridge or bread, not exactly of sawdust, but of the under bark of the +spruce, fir, and larch, which they cut in small pieces, or pound in a +mortar, mixing it with milk, or with dried fish, or boiling it with +glutinous tops of the young sprouts. In spring, when the sap is rising, +they gather their bark harvest. They make also fermented beverages +of milk; and in the height of summer, when the mares foal, an orgie +is held, at which the men drain enormous bowls of this intoxicating +liquor; whilst the women, denied the privilege of intoxication, solace +themselves by getting as near to it as they can by smoking tobacco. +The distillation of sour milk is also practised, producing a coarse +spirit known as _arigui_. They devour likewise enormous quantities of +melted butter. This also can be prepared in such a way as to cause +intoxication when taken in sufficient quantities. + +The dress of the Yakutes resembles in its main features that of +the other natives of Siberia, save, perhaps, that they are fonder +of ornaments. Both sexes riding a good deal on oxen and horses, +a perpendicular slit is made up the back from the bottom of the +_sanayakh_, or upper garment, in order to render the wearer comfortable +in the saddle, and some of the women add behind them a cushion or +pad, to save them from the rough motion of the animals. During the +milder part of the year a robe, made of very pliable leather, stained +yellow, is worn, which indoors is frequently laid aside, and males and +females sit by the fire, leaving the upper part of the body naked. I +bought a pair of women’s Yakute boots of this leather. They fit +tight to the leg, and have at the top a flap of black velvet with red +cloth trimming, which can be turned down and exposed for show in fair +weather, or turned up, bringing the boots to the thighs. On each boot +are two broad leather thongs, five or six feet long, to wind round the +leg. Waterproof boots are here made, called by the Russians _torbasis_. +These are cut from horse-hide, steeped in sour milk, then smoked, and +finally rubbed well with fat and fine soot. They last exceedingly well, +and are an inestimable comfort to the wearer, enabling him to tramp +through snow, water, and mud without inconvenience. + +[Illustration: TUNGUSE GIRLS IN WINTER COSTUME.] + +The Yakute women are clever in making up fur garments. When visiting a +Yakute family, I was looking about for a souvenir, and could at first +see nothing to buy. In the room hung a curious cradle, very nearly +resembling a coal-scuttle, which, when travelling, they suspend at +the side of a reindeer; but this was too large for me to bring away. +At length the materfamilias drew out a box in which she kept her +treasures. Among these were some large pieces of fur, each consisting +of an immense number of the small pieces of white skin that are found +under the squirrel’s neck. No piece was so large as the palm of the +hand, and she had sewn them together with great industry. These I +bought, much to the disgust of her daughter, for whom they were to have +made a dandy garment. I purchased also of the old lady what I prized +more, namely, an “_itti_,” or large cap, coming down with flaps at the +ears. The crown is made of the skins of sables’ feet, and it has a +border all round of the fur of sables’ tails. The sight of this, since +my return, has often excited the admiration of my lady friends. + +The Yakutes who inhabit the inclement region adjacent to the Frozen +Ocean have neither horses nor oxen, but breed large numbers of dogs, +which draw them to and fro on their fishing excursions. Even those +living on the 62nd parallel keep cattle under far greater difficulties +than usual, for they have to make long journeys to collect hay, and do +not always find enough. The cold prevents their breeding sheep, goats, +or poultry. Nevertheless, cattle and hunting are their chief means of +subsistence, for they do not in general cultivate the land, though in +the gardens at Yakutsk are grown potatoes, cabbages, radishes, and +turnips; gherkins, too, are reared in hot-beds. + +Some products of Yakutsk industry are purchased by the Russians, +particularly floor-cloths of white and coloured felts, which are cut +in strips and sewed together like mosaic. From the earliest times they +have been able to procure and work for themselves metals.[6] + +The language of the Yakutes, which is largely spoken by the Russians +who live among them, is one of the principal means by which we are +led to assume their Turkish origin, for Latham says their speech is +intelligible at Constantinople, and their traditions (for literature +they have none) bespeak a southern origin. + +Here are some Yakute words compared with Turkish:-- + + English. Yakute. Turk. + + Yes _Sittee_ Evet + No _Socht_ Yokh + Well _Outchigey_ Peky, Aee + Bad _Thoosahane_ Fené + Bread _Astobitt_ Ek-mek + Water _On_ Soo + Beef _Augauss_ Seyir + Horse _Att_ Att + Road _Coll_ Yol + Man _Kissi_ Kissi, Adami + Woman _Jaiktorr_ Aorat + Tree _Marss_ + Rain _Samirr_ Yaghmoor + One _Bare_ Bir + Two _Akee_ Eekee + Three _Oose_ Ootch + Four _Terte_ Dort + Five _Baiss_ Besh + Six _Alta_ Altee + Seven _Sett_ Yedee + Eight _Agaouss_ Antuz + Nine _Togouss_ Tokuz + Ten _Owni_ On + Eleven _Onordoubis_ On-bir + Twelve _Okorduchi_ On-eekee + Twenty _Surbia_ Igirme + +Strahlenberg calls these people Pagans, but the latest writers call +them Christians; and the method of their conversion was, it is said, +extraordinary, for the Russian priests not making much headway against +their superstitions, an ukase was one day issued setting forth that +the good and loyal nation of the Yakutes were thought worthy to enter, +and were consequently admitted into, the Russian Church, to become a +part of the Tsar’s Christian family, and entitled to all the privileges +of the rest of his children. Such was the tenor of this strange +proclamation, and success attended the measure. The new Christians +showed perfect sincerity in the adoption of their novel faith, and +the Russian priests have established their sway over the Yakute race, +though amongst the outlying portion a lingering belief in Shamanism +still survives, of which travellers from Yakutsk to Okhotsk have been +made aware by their Yakute guides leaving them awhile in foggy weather, +and stealing off into the forest to perform certain mysterious rites. + +The distance from Yakutsk to Okhotsk is 800 miles and the journey, +whether undertaken in summer or winter, is one of the severest. The map +gives one the idea that it might almost be accomplished by ascending +the river Aldan and one of its affluents to the Stanovoi mountains. The +usual plan, however, is to leave Yakutsk on horseback, with all the +luggage on pack-saddles. Some estimate may be formed of the traffic +once passing on this route from the fact that there were formerly +employed in it from 20,000 to 30,000 horses. The postal service is +still continued between Irkutsk and the Sea of Okhotsk; but there is no +telegraph; hence the fact of Professor Nordenskiöld having been frozen +in the ice on the north-east coast of Siberia was brought a long way by +courier before it could be made known by telegram to Europe. + +One of the difficulties of the winter journey is the insufficient +sleeping accommodation on the route. The houses, when they exist, are +very bad, and when they fail, travellers sleep in a tent, or else +upon furs and wraps in the open air. They usually lie, however, by +a roaring fire, and so roast on one side whilst they freeze on the +other--changing their position when need requires. + +After proceeding for some distance the traveller has to exchange +his horse for a novel kind of steed--a reindeer, on which the mere +gaining of one’s seat, to say nothing of keeping it, is by no means +so easy as might be supposed.[7] Having gained his reindeer seat, +the English traveller may keep it--if he can. He will most likely +fall off half-a-dozen times in the first quarter of an hour, until he +discovers that he must poise himself in such a manner that his body +may continually, and with ease, lend itself to a swinging motion.[8] +There is a second lesson to be learned by the uninitiated, which is +usually imparted in a very impressive manner; for should the cavalier +attempt to hold with the knees, and the cushion consequently slip back, +the moment the weight is felt on the animal’s back, he bends under his +haunches and lets the rider slip to the ground, and that perhaps in +ice, snow, or a pool of water. + +As the traveller approaches Okhotsk he has again to change his mode of +conveyance, to be drawn this time by dogs. All three methods of travel +have their delights on this lonely journey, the tedium of which is +sometimes relieved by an extemporary hunting scene.[9] + +The difficulties of the summer journey are somewhat different in +character. A large part of the way lies over swampy ground, on which +the causeways are not kept in repair, and where the horses flounder in +mud and water, into which they occasionally pitch the rider. It is no +uncommon thing for horses to die under the fatigues of the way. The +Yakutes, moreover, have a cruel fashion of giving their horses little +food whilst journeying. A similar custom obtains farther east, among +the Gilyaks, where I found that, though they gave a dog two pieces +of fish daily when at home, yet, when travelling, they gave him only +one, because the dogs immediately after eating are always lazy and +feeble.[10] + +These, then, are some of the difficulties of the old route, from +Irkutsk to the Pacific, which happily it did not fall to my lot to be +obliged to encounter; but I crossed the Baikal instead, and, after +making a _détour_ to the Chinese frontier, continued across the Buriat +steppe to the Amur. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by +the Yeneseisk, and on the east by the Sea-coast provinces; whilst on +its south lie the three provinces of Irkutsk, Trans-Baikal, and the +Amur. The northern and western portions of the province are flat, but +towards the south and south-east are the Yablonoi and Stanovoi mountain +ranges, continuations, in a north-easterly direction, of the mighty +Altai chain. The great river of the province is the Lena, whose waters +are drained from an area of 800,000 square miles. From the slopes on +the western side of Baikal its upper portion runs in a north-easterly +direction as far as Yakutsk, after which the Lower Lena runs due north +to the Arctic Ocean. The total length of the river is about 2,500 +miles, with a fall of 3,000 feet. East of the Lower Lena are the +rivers Yana, Indigirka, and Kolima, all of which are navigable and +of considerable size, though small by comparison with their gigantic +sister. + +[2] There are, says M. Réclus, nearly 50 species of fur animals, and +millions of specimens killed during the hunting season. The annual +export of furs from Siberia, not including those taken from sea +animals, represents a gross value of nearly half a million sterling. +The fur which regulates the price of all others is that of the sable, +which is worth at least from 16_s._ to £1, and sometimes commands, even +in Siberia, as much as £6 a skin. Only the back of the animal is used +for the best garments, one of which may contain 80 skins, and rise +to the value of nearly £500. The fur of the black fox is still more +appreciated, and a single skin sometimes fetches £30. Squirrel skins by +themselves constitute about a third of the Siberian revenue from furs; +ten, twelve, and even fifteen millions of these animals being killed +during their migrations in a single year. China receives a considerable +number of these skins at Kiakhta, but more find their way to Europe. +The furs brought to the fair of Irbit in the Urals in 1876 were as +follows:-- + + Grey squirrels 5,000,000 skins + Ermines 215,000 ” + Hares 300,000 ” + Foxes 82,000 ” + Martens of various kinds 750,000 ” + Sables 12,000 ” + Others 200,000 ” + +[3] It is well known that in the northern parts of Siberia the ground +is always frost-bound, but to what depth is not so easily determined. +During the stay, however, of Mr. Erman at Yakutsk it happened that a +resident was digging a well, down which the man of science went, and +pronounced that he found the soil frozen to a depth of 50 feet below +the surface. So accustomed, however, do the natives become to the +cold, that with the thermometer at unheard-of degrees below freezing +point, the Yakute women, with bare arms, stand in the open-air markets, +chattering and joking as pleasantly as if in genial spring. Inside +their houses, in the heated part of the rooms, they get the temperature +up to 65° or 75°; but one day, when the thermometer stood at 9°, Mr. +Erman found the children of both sexes running about quite naked, not +only in the house, but even in the open air. In fact, the great cold is +not thought a grievance in Siberia, for a man clothed in furs may sleep +at night in an open sledge when the mercury freezes in the thermometer; +and, wrapped up in his pelisse, he can lie without inconvenience on the +snow under a thin tent when the temperature of the air is 30° below +zero. + +[4] I was told by a legal authority that some of the political exiles +are sent to the province of Yakutsk, but, after the figures just +quoted, it would seem that their number cannot be very large; of +hereditary nobles in the province there were said to be, in 1876, only +100, and of personal nobles only 450. If, then, there be deducted from +these the Governor and his staff, military officers, and tchinovniks of +all grades, there would not be left a large margin for the class from +which political exiles are thought to come, supposing, that is, that +they are included in this return. + +[5] Strahlenberg divides them into 10 tribes, and Syboreen’s Almanack +for 1876 gives their number at 210,000. They belong to the great Turk +family, and hence their Siberian locality is remarkable, because the +Turks have ever been the people to displace others, whereas the Yakutes +have been themselves displaced, and driven into this inhospitable +climate, it is supposed, by the stronger Buriats. + +[6] The iron ore of the Vilui was smelted by the Yakutes long before +the advent of the Russians, and the other tribes got from them iron +axes, awls, and tools for stripping and dressing hides. The Yakutes +also make copper ornaments for clothes and harness, and the metal +plates which they sew on their girdles. Even now, although they use +European guns, they still make for themselves the great knife, or +dagger, which is worn at the waist. The Yakutsk steel is more flexible +than the Russian, and yet blades made of it will cut copper or pewter +as easily as European blades. + +[7] To get on the animal’s _back_, as one would mount a donkey, would +probably cripple the deer for life. The saddle is therefore placed on +its shoulder close to the neck, and to mount, the rider, holding the +bridle, stands at the right side of the animal, with his face turned +forwards. He then raises his left foot to the saddle, which he never +touches with his hands, and springing with the right leg, and aided +also by a pole, which he holds in his right hand, he gains his seat. +The native girls and women are as expert in this jumping as the men, +and rarely want assistance in mounting. + +[8] The practised reindeer riders acquire the habit of striking +gently with the heel, alternately right and left, at every step, just +behind the animal’s shoulders. This is done, not for the purpose of +stimulating the deer, but because the motion described is the surest +means of maintaining equilibrium. The staff, too, with which the rider +mounts is carried in his hand, and is used for maintaining an equipoise +in riding; but any attempt of the rider, in the first critical moment, +to support himself by resting the staff on the ground, is sure to end +in his being unseated. + +[9] Mr. Erman describes the killing, during his journey, of a wild +sheep, and the joy of the Yakutes at the prospect of getting fresh +meat for supper. One of them cried out characteristically, “I will +stay awake the whole night, and eat till we set out.” Whilst the +carcase was being prepared, every one cut for himself some thin wooden +skewers, on which he spitted a row of little bits of meat. These were +only appetizers, to be followed by large pieces boiled in the pot. The +hunter, however, who had killed the sheep claimed as his perquisite the +animal’s head; the brains, as a special delicacy, he sucked out raw, +and cut out the eyes to be dressed for his own exclusive benefit. + +[10] It does not appear that the Yakutes are otherwise cruel to their +horses, for Erman relates that, on going up to a horse that had carried +him many miles, to pat his neck by way of saying adieu, the Yakutes +came up and embraced the other horses, putting their arms round their +necks and hugging them like children. Mr. Hill, too, discovered in a +very practical way the regard of the Yakutes for their horses, when, +food having run short, and after a dinner of only cranberries and nuts, +he proposed that one of the animals should be killed and eaten, the +Yakutes replied that they never killed one of their horses until they +had passed five whole days together without any sort of food. It would +be a shame, they said, that while they had tea and a morsel of sugar, +and the prospect before them of getting other food, one of the poor +creatures should be slain. Mr. Hill, therefore, and his merchant friend +had to take their guns and hunt for game, with a keenness which they +had never known before. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +_ACROSS LAKE BAIKAL TO TROITZKOSAVSK._ + + Leaving Irkutsk.--The Angara.--Approach to the Baikal.--Its shores and + fish.--Steaming across.--Seizing post-horses.--Arrival at Verchne + Udinsk.--Smuggling at the prison.--Arrival at Selenginsk.--English + mission to Buriats.--English graves.--Old scholars.--Story of the + mission.--Journey to Troitzkosavsk. + + +We left Irkutsk on Thursday, July 10th, after a stay that could hardly +be called enjoyable, though amid the confusion we met with much more +consideration than could have been expected. For the first night we +slept, as already stated, in our tarantass, and I took my morning bath +in the pantry. What a treat, too, was that bath, deliciously cold from +the Angara, to a man who had not taken his clothes off for more than +a week! During our stay we made the acquaintance of several officers, +of whom there is no lack at Irkutsk, as there are usually in barracks +about 2,000 troops. It was very difficult to procure provisions. On +sending out on the morning of our departure, all the white bread +that could be found was one penny loaf, and that somewhat stale. It +seemed, therefore, that I should have to come down to rye bread; but +some pancakes were made for me, the difficulty was thus surmounted, +and by two o’clock we had fairly begun our 300 miles to Kiakhta. Our +baggage and remaining books were still too heavy to be taken on the +same vehicle, and we therefore stowed away ourselves and our personal +effects in the tarantass, and the boxes followed in a post-conveyance, +out of which they were changed at every station. We wished to make only +40 miles before night, to Lake Baikal, and then wait till morning at +Listvenitznaya for the steamer. + +We had not proceeded far before we drove along the banks of the Angara, +which is, in some respects, the most remarkable river in Siberia. +There are scores of streams and rivulets running into Lake Baikal, of +which the more important are the Upper Angara, the Barguzin, and the +Selenga; but the Angara is the only one that runs out, and it does so +with such impetuosity that the rapid by which the water leaves the +lake never freezes even with the temperature of the air at 24° below +zero; and though the ice is six feet thick on the lake, yet, all the +winter through, ducks float on the bosom of the rapid. I have heard it +suggested that there may be hot-springs just there; but whether this +is so or not, the waters of the lake and the Angara are particularly +cold.[1] + +Shortly after leaving Irkutsk the road enters a wooded part of the +Angara valley, and as the road winds along it, many points are passed +presenting magnificent views. In some parts enormous sandstone cliffs +arise out of the water, crowned with dark pines and cedars; in others +the thick forest descends to the river’s brink, and the broad sheet +of water is seen rushing madly onwards. Afterwards the valley becomes +more rugged, with deep ravines running up into the mountains. Beyond +this the road has been cut along the edge of a cliff at a considerable +height above the river, and, about five miles before reaching the +Baikal, a scene is presented that may well cause the traveller to stop. +The valley becomes wider, and the mountains rise abruptly to a much +greater elevation. The Angara is here more than a mile in width, and +this great body of water is seen rolling down a steep incline, forming +a rapid nearly four miles in length. At the head of this, and in the +centre of the stream, a great mass of rock rises, called the _Shaman +Kamen_, or “Priest,” or “spirit’s stone,” held sacred by the followers +of Shamanism, and not to be passed by them without an act of devotion. +When Shamanism prevailed in this neighbourhood, human sacrifices were +made at the sacred rock, the victim with his hands tied being tossed +into the torrent below. Beyond is the broad expanse of the Baikal, +extending about 50 miles, to where its waves wash the foot of Amar +Daban, whose summit, even in June, is usually covered with snow. The +mighty torrent throwing up its jets of spray, the rugged rocks with +their fringes of pendent birch overtopped by lofty pines, and the +colouring on the mountains, produce a picture of extraordinary beauty +and grandeur. A few miles further, and the Baikal is seen spreading out +like a sea, and its waves are heard beating on the rocky shore. + +The storms on the lake are very severe. They say, at Irkutsk, it is +only upon the Baikal in the autumn that a man learns to pray from his +heart. The most dangerous wind is the north-west. It is called the +mountain wind, whilst that from the south-west is called the “_deep_ +sea-breeze.” Formerly, in crossing, it was no uncommon occurrence +for a boat or barge to be detained three weeks on a voyage of 40 +miles, without being able to land on either shore. This induced an +enterprising merchant to have a hull built on the lake, and engines, +boiler, and machinery brought 4,000 miles overland from Petersburg; +and when the new vessel steamed across in a gale, both Siberians and +Mongols looked on with not a little astonishment.[2] + +The fish of the Baikal are abundant, and are caught in variety, such as +the _omullé_, somewhat like the herring; the _suig_, which resembles +but is smaller than the sturgeon; the _askina_, the pike, the carp, the +_lavaret_, and a white fish called the _tymain_. Travellers also tell +of a remarkable fish called the _golomain_, which is only seen when +thrown on shore during a violent tempest, and is of so oily a nature +that it melts in the sun, or on the approach of heat, leaving only its +skeleton and skin. It is a remarkable fact also that the seal of the +ocean is found in the lake. About 2,000 are killed yearly. + +The natives call the lake _Svyatoe More_, the “Holy Sea,” and aver +that no one was ever lost in its waters; for when a person is drowned +therein, the waves invariably throw his body on shore. It must be a +pleasant sensation to cross this lake in winter. The ice is as clear, +transparent, and as smooth as glass, so that travellers describe +the difficulty of realizing that they are not gliding on water. The +journey across is made in a remarkably short time. Mr. Erman travelled +thus 7 German miles (or 27 English) in 2¼ hours, which for horse +travelling must be allowed to be extraordinary. Formerly there was a +winter station on the ice, half-way across, for changing horses; but +as the ice on one occasion gave way, and allowed the whole concern to +disappear, they now cross the lake at a single stage. There is a road +round the south end of the lake, but in summer the crossing by steamer +is usually preferred. + +We reached the station about six or eight hours after leaving Irkutsk, +and, passing the night at a rough hotel, next morning got our tarantass +on board, among half-a-dozen others, and steamed across. The steamer +was called the _General Korsakoff_. It made a loud grunting, and out of +its tall chimney emitted a cloud of sparks like the tail of a comet. +I went below to see the engines, and found them of the most primitive +kind--a huge boiler simply laid in a wooden hull. I offered for sale on +board some of my books, and gave others away. This soon got me friends, +and the engineer honoured me by playing a tune on his concertina. I +went also into the captain’s cabin, and he was glad to buy some New +Testaments. It was so chilly, however, on deck that I put on my ulster, +and stowed myself away in the tarantass; after doing which, on the 11th +of July, it was not difficult to believe what I had heard, that pigeons +flying across the lake in winter sometimes drop dead from cold. + +As we drew near to the shore, we had the enjoyment of a mild piece of +something like revenge. I have already observed that the traveller who +has a crown podorojna takes precedence; but if two travellers come +to a station, _both_ having crown podorojnas, he who arrives first +takes the horses. Moreover, “the rule of the road” is that one set of +post-horses must not outstrip one that has started before; which rule, +however, an extra tip to the yemstchik will sometimes evade. Now, as +we came towards Irkutsk, we had been outstripped by a military officer +travelling with his wife, who took the fresh horses we should have had; +so that, when we arrived, it was feared we should be without. Whereupon +the officer’s wife, addressing me in French, asked half-triumphantly, +and half in a mischievous joke, whether I did not find myself “without +horses”? She happened, however, to be wrong. We obtained horses, and, +at night, overtook our friends, broken down, with their tarantass +undergoing repairs at another station. We therefore got ahead, till, on +the Baikal, they overtook us again. We saw at a glance that there would +be a rush for horses, and, therefore, immediately the boat touched, I +sprang ashore, presented to the post-master my podorojna, and secured +my team; whereas the officer, not knowing that I had more than an +ordinary civilian’s paper, or relying, perhaps, upon the power of his +crown podorojna, was not so quick, and failed to get his steeds; and as +we rolled away we heard him storming at the post-master for allowing us +to have them before he had been served. + +We drove for some distance on an elevated plateau beside the eastern +shore of the lake, from which we got many good views of its waters, +and where we observed at the roadside red Turk’s-head lilies, similar +to but smaller than those seen in English gardens, and yellow lilies. +There were likewise in the neighbourhood abundance of strawberries, +raspberries, and whortleberries. Among the trees were cedars up to 120 +feet in height; also the balsam poplar, which here attains a growth +sufficiently large to allow the natives of the coast to make their +canoes of a single log; likewise the cherry-tree and the Siberian +apple. A black and white jackdaw, as my companion called it, made its +appearance; and the birds of prey appeared more numerous, as they well +might be in the vicinity of a larger animal population; for in these +Baikal forests are found martens, squirrels, foxes, wolves, the lynx, +the elk, the wild boar, and the bear--the last feeding on berries in +summer, and on cedar-nuts raked up from beneath the snow in winter. + +Having taken the lead on the road from the Baikal, we were anxious to +keep it, though things looked threatening on arriving at the first +station, where the post-master said there were no horses. We brought +our crown podorojna to bear, and then the letter of the Minister at +Petersburg, but to no purpose. There were no post-horses, he said, +though there was a man standing near who would lend us private horses +at double fares. To this we should have had to agree, but we pulled +out lastly our _blanco_ letter, and this gained the day; for the +post-master, on seeing that, said to the would-be extortioner, “You +must let them have the horses”; and so on we trotted through a country +more hilly than anything we had passed, till at six o’clock we arrived +at Verchne Udinsk. This place might very well be called “the Amur and +China Junction,” for to turn to the left brings the traveller to the +Pacific, and to turn to the right leads to Peking. + +It was now Saturday afternoon, and we were anxious to get on, if +possible, a few stations further, to Selenginsk, which was the scene +of the labours of some English missionaries, and there to spend the +Sunday to inquire about their work. The old difficulty of horses, +however, cropped up, for they could let us have none on the instant, +and every one was on tiptoe expecting the passing through of the +Governor-General, Baron Friedrichs. I have already mentioned that his +Excellency was at some mineral springs on the Mongolian frontier, and, +having heard of the fire at Irkutsk, he was now returning. Everything, +therefore, had to be in readiness. The post-house was swept and +garnished, and we were requested not to go into the large guest-room, +where the tables and chairs were arranged for his Excellency’s visit. +Horses, however, were promised quickly as a favour, and meanwhile we +strolled into the town. + +Verchne--that is, Upper--Udinsk is the capital of an uyezd, and has a +population of 3,500. It is a clean little town, and, upon entering the +market square, it was easy to see that we were approaching the borders +of the Celestial Empire--for here was John Chinaman, with open shop, +standing behind the counter selling tea. We found also, to our great +satisfaction, a baker’s shop, where was not only white bread, but all +manner of bake-meats, of which we proceeded to make havoc then and +there. The white bread was 75 per cent. dearer than at Tobolsk, but I +was only too thankful to get a store at any price, my pancakes being +all but gone. For lemonade they asked 6_s._ a bottle, or 6_d._ a glass. +It was like watered lemon syrup. Fresh butter cost a rouble a pound, +and was obtained with difficulty. + +There is a prison in Verchne Udinsk, which we passed at the side +of the road, and the prisoners were looking from the windows. Here +had recently occurred an incident illustrative of Goryantchikoff’s +statement, in his “Buried Alive,” that some of his fellow-prisoners +were spirit-dealers, and frequently smuggled liquor into the prison +in the entrails of cows or oxen. For this purpose the entrails were +washed and filled with water, to keep them damp and ready to receive +the liquor. When filled, they were wound by the smuggler round his body +and thighs, and so brought into the prison. On the afternoon of our +arrival, a drunken woman had been detected thus carrying in _vodka_. We +did not visit the building, but left with the Ispravnik half-a-dozen +New Testaments, and the same number or Gospels for Tatars, and of +Scripture portions in Mongolian. The present was not unappreciated, +for the Ispravnik, learning that I was going to the far east, gave me +an introduction to his son-in-law at Blagovestchensk, which afterwards +proved useful. + +At last we started, and trotted on through the night to Selenginsk, +and spent there the remainder of the following day. We called on the +Ispravnik, who, with his wife, received us politely; and the latter, +finding that we had good books to dispose of, wished to purchase some, +which I allowed her to do to the value of three roubles. We also asked +the Ispravnik’s acceptance of some portions of Scripture in Mongolian +for distribution among the surrounding Buriats. Then conversation +followed about the English mission, of which Selenginsk was for 13 +years the head-quarters, but ceased to be so about 40 years ago. + +The Ispravnik had nothing to say of the missionaries but what was good +and kind,--a repetition of what I had heard elsewhere. A house, he told +us, was still standing on the spot where the missionaries lived, and +he furnished us with the names of persons who could give us further +information. We went, therefore, direct to the site of the mission +station, where we found some out-buildings, very much like those of an +English farmyard, and strongly suggestive of home. There was also a +nice house, which had been built near the spot on which formerly stood +the one inhabited by the Englishmen. The garden remained, and in it we +were taken to a walled enclosure--a little graveyard--in which were +five graves: those of Mrs. Yule, Mrs. Stallybrass, and three children. +The place had been recently renovated, at the expense of a missionary +in China, and we were pleased to see the resting-place of our +compatriots looking so neat and orderly. The garden commanded a pretty +view of the valley of the Selenga, and there was pointed out across +the river the site on which the town stood in the early part of the +century, till, being destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt on the opposite +side. The lady who occupied the house told us that now and then a +traveller turns aside to see the spot, and that the ignorant people say +that the English people come out of their graves at night--a report she +is at no pains to contradict, on the plea that, as the house is in a +lonely position, the idea may conduce to protect her from thieves. + +After having been shown what there was of interest about the place, +we called on an old man--a Russian--named Ivlampi Melnikoff, who, +in his boyhood, had attended the mission school. When he heard that +one of the missionaries, Mr. Stallybrass, was still living, and that +I had seen him just before leaving England, he seemed much pleased, +and spoke with affection of his teachers. He had not opened a book +for 40 years, and so had forgotten how to read, but he remembered, +and inquired particularly for, some of the missionaries’ sons, and +sent to them his respects. The old man had lost sight of his Buriat +schoolfellows, and thought that not one of them became a Christian, +though he afterwards remembered that one was baptized into the Russian +Church. Besides this old Russian we saw the nephew of one who had been +a pupil in the school, and heard of an old man living some 35 versts +distant, still a Buriat, who, as a boy, had been a scholar. We had the +same testimony from both witnesses, that has been repeated by several +travellers, that the missionaries did not baptize a single convert. +None of them, however, said what I did not know until I returned to +England, and spoke to Mr. Stallybrass upon the subject, namely, that +the missionaries were under agreement with the Russian Government _not_ +to baptize any converts.[3] + +We continued our journey from Selenginsk for twelve hours more, through +a country which gave me my first experience of a Russian steppe, a +tract of undulating land with a sandy soil, covered with a little grass +and a reedy-looking herb, but suffering from a lack of humidity, as the +tundra suffers from lack of warmth. Trees were visible only here and +there, but water was abundant, sometimes in large lakes; so that the +hilly roads, the expanse of water, and the treeless waste, reminded me +sometimes of the scenery of our Wiltshire downs, and, in one or two +places, of the English lakes. As we approached our destination the road +became more and more sandy, and very heavy for the horses; but at last, +on Monday, the 14th July, we reached Kiakhta. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] As we approached Telma my thermometer at noon in the shade stood +at 85°, and when crossing a stream called the Ija, the temperature of +the water was 70°; but coming on the same day to the Angara, nearly 100 +miles from Baikal, the temperature of the river was only 50°; and when +crossing the Baikal itself, the atmosphere registered 45° and the water +only 40°. The Angara is the last river in Siberia to close, which it +does about New Year’s Day (sometimes not till the middle of January); +and the first to open, namely, about the 11th April. The lake is 1,200 +feet above the sea level, and the current of the river is remarkably +swift, as the traveller will infer should he overtake a barge being +towed against the stream by perhaps 20 horses. Though the distance is +only 40 miles from Irkutsk, a barge takes three days to be dragged up +to the rapid, and then for the rapid itself it requires another day, +even with double the number of horses. This refers, however, to a large +_soudno_, or vessel, with a bluff bow and broad stern, which might +almost as well sail sideways as speed ahead, and usually carries 600 +chests and 25,000 bricks of tea. + +[2] The basin of the lake is about 400 miles in length and 35 miles in +width, covering an area of 14,000 square miles. It has a circumference +of nearly 1,200 miles. This, therefore, is the _largest fresh-water +lake_ in the Old World; and, next to the Caspian and the Aral, is the +largest inland sheet of water in Asia. Several travellers have crossed +the lake _en route_ from or to Irkutsk, but Mr. Atkinson did more. He +spent several days exploring its coasts, and, turning to the east from +Listvenitznaya, he found the shore became exceedingly abrupt for 20 +miles, with many striking scenes, in which waterfalls played a part. +The north shore is the most lofty. In some parts the precipices rise +900 feet, and, a little beyond the Arga, to 1,200 feet. Basaltic cliffs +also appear rising from deep water to an elevation of 700 feet. A +little more than a boat’s length from shore, soundings have been taken +to the depth of 900 feet. Greater depths than this, however, have been +reached. The captain of the steamer informed Mr. Atkinson that on one +occasion he had run out 2,100 feet of line without finding bottom; +and in 1872 soundings were taken at the south-west end, showing 3,600 +feet: hence the common saying that the Baikal has no bottom. The shore +exhibits, besides the basalt just named, other unquestionable evidences +of volcanic action, and in some of the ravines are great masses of +lava. Hot mineral springs likewise exist in several parts of the +surrounding mountain-chain. + +[3] The story of the mission seemed to be this:--At the beginning of +the present century there were four parties of foreign Protestant +missionaries working in the Russian dominions, namely, (1) the +Presbyterians, in the south of European Russia; (2) the Moravians, on +the Volga; (3) some Swiss missionaries from Basle, who took the place +of the Presbyterians, and worked upon their ground; and (4) the London +Missionary Society, which was allowed to send men to the Buriats in +Siberia. Among the last company were Messrs. Stallybrass, Swan, and +Yule, who saw at once that the first thing to be done was to translate +the Scriptures. Mr. Stallybrass left England in 1817, and lived in +Irkutsk for a year and a half to learn the Mongolian language. In due +time the translation was commenced, from the original Hebrew and Greek, +and with such success did the work go on that they actually printed +the Old Testament in their Siberian wilderness at Verchne Udinsk, +to which place the missionaries removed from Selenginsk, and where +they remained till they were sent home in 1840. The New Testament was +printed in London. Their work was, therefore, of a preparatory and +fundamental, rather than an aggressive, character. Nevertheless, they +had a school, numbering, sometimes, from 15 to 20 scholars; but there +was found a special difficulty in inducing children to attend, for not +only were their parents utterly ignorant of the value of education, +but they wanted the children to help them tend their flocks, grazing, +not on settled pasturage, but as they wandered over the vast extent +of the Trans-Baikal and the Mongolian steppes. Hence the children +were at school to-day and gone to-morrow; and even when parents could +be induced to leave their children with the missionaries during +their own absence with their flocks, these children had to be kept +and fed as boarders, and even then the parents begrudged the loss of +their services. The object, however, of the Englishmen began to be +appreciated, and tokens of success appeared. Then came the difficulty +which all along had loomed in the distance. The Russian Synod, in +its jealousy for its own Church, had expressly stipulated that the +missionaries should receive no converts by baptism, and this had been +agreed to, and, of course, kept. But when certain of the Buriats showed +signs of having received the truth, in the love of it, the missionaries +found themselves in a dilemma. The Russians wished the converts to be +handed over for baptism to their Church, and, on these terms, were +willing that the English should stay and work as hard as they pleased; +but this did not satisfy the men, nor the committee of the London +Missionary Society, and neither party was disposed to give way. About +this time, however, great political changes had taken place. Alexander +I., who favoured Christian missions, had died, and was succeeded by +the iron Nicolas, who does not seem to have been particularly opposed +to missions; but the Synod was jealous of foreign interference, and +an occasion was found for dismissing all foreign missionaries from +the Russian dominions, under the pretext that the Synod wished to do +all its own mission work for its own heathen. The Imperial ukase to +this effect was issued in 1840, and thus a mission was stopped whose +foundations were laid by the English, and which produced a translation +of the whole Bible printed in Buriat Mongolian. It had taught some few +scholars of great promise, one of whom, at least, named Shagder, it was +known (and probably many more did so unknown), was afterwards baptized +into the Russian Church. How far the Russian missionaries among this +people owe any portion of their success to the foundation thus laid I +cannot say. Of the Russian mission I shall speak hereafter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +_THE SIBERIAN FRONTIER AT KIAKHTA._ + + Hospitable reception.--History of Kiakhta.--Treaties between + Russians and Chinese.--Early trading.--Decline of commerce.--The + tea trade.--Troitzkosavsk church.--Miraculous ikons.--Kiakhta + church.--Russian churches in general.--Bells.--Valuable + ikons.--Climate of Kiakhta.--Drive to Ust-Keran. + + +I have said in the previous chapter that we reached Kiakhta. It would +have been more accurate to have said Troitzkosavsk, which is within +sight of and may be called a suburb of Kiakhta, situated on the +Siberian frontier. Here we were lodged, for by the terms of a treaty +between Chinese and Russians, no officer or stranger may sleep in +Kiakhta proper. On arriving, we learned, to our dismay, that there +was no hotel or guest-house in either town. We therefore went to the +office of the Ispravnik, and in his absence showed our documents, +which served so far to establish our respectability, that we were told +we might have accommodation at the police-station. For this offer of +course we were grateful, but, before accepting it, we thought we would +present some of our letters of introduction. One was addressed to Mr. +Tokmakoff, a first-class merchant in the place; but he was away in +Mongolia, and his wife and family were living at their summer house +“in the country.” We had another letter, given me by Mr. Larsen, the +telegraphist at Irkutsk, to Mr. Koecher, the principal of the _real_ +or commercial school, who lived in one of the best houses of the town, +and who, upon our presenting the letter, immediately pressed us to take +up our abode with him. We were only too thankful to do so, and, after a +fortnight’s inconveniences in sleeping, to find ourselves in quarters +with proper and comfortable beds. Our host was living bachelor fashion, +and was expecting to leave shortly for Petersburg; his wife had already +preceded him. He spared no pains to make us comfortable, and, being +thus settled, we had time to look about the place, which, on leaving +England, had been the utmost bound to which my travelling imagination +had carried me. The Mohammedans say, “See Mecca and expire”; the +Italians, “See Naples and die”; and in somewhat of the same spirit I +had fixed upon Kiakhta as the _ultima thule_ of my Siberian wanderings: +not that there is much that is remarkable in the physical aspect of the +place, but from Kiakhta one walks out of Siberia into China and sees +the blue hills of Mongolia. The town, moreover, has a history, and was +the scene of a treaty between the two largest empires in the world. + +So far back as the 17th century, trade was carried on, though not +protected by Government, between the Siberians and their southern +neighbours the Chinese.[1] + +But in 1692 a treaty was made at Nertchinsk, opening the way to regular +and permanent commerce between the two countries, though subject to +certain vexatious forms and restrictions. Subsequently Peter the Great, +seeing the advantage of this treaty, desired that the privilege of +trading with China, then confined to individuals, should be extended +to caravans; and, the Emperor approving, the right of trading thus was +appropriated as a monopoly by the Russian Crown. + +So things went on till 1722, when, the Russians offending their +celestial neighbours, the Chinese Emperor expelled all Muscovites from +his dominions, and brought trading affairs to a standstill. Six years +later the treaty of Kiakhta was concluded, which stipulated that a +caravan of not more than 200 persons should visit Peking every three +years, and that the subjects of each nation, though not allowed to +cross the frontier with their wares, might dispose of them to each +other at two places on the border--Kiakhta, and Tsurukhaitu on the +Argun, about 60 miles from Nertchinsk. This led to the foundation of +the town of Kiakhta; and as there were certain conditions in the treaty +limiting the number of persons, and imposing various restrictions upon +those who should live there, another town was built a mile off, and +called Troitzkosavsk, in which these restrictions were evaded.[2] + +The traveller of to-day does not see Kiakhta as it was in palmy times, +though a considerable trade is still carried on between China and +Eastern Siberia, and large consignments are sent to Nijni Novgorod and +Moscow. The tradition is still kept up that the sea passage injures +the flavour of the herb, and that caravan tea is the best, which +commands, accordingly, prices up to ten shillings per pound. I have +heard quite recently of “yellow” tea, which even at Kiakhta costs this +sum, and which, brought overland, would probably command in Petersburg +16_s._ or 18_s._ per pound. One hears also in Russia of “blossom” tea, +which consists of only the dried flowers of the tea plant, and of +other choice growths, the best of which are not brought to England at +all. There is one kind of yellow tea, I am told, costing as much as +five guineas a pound. The Emperor of China is supposed to enjoy its +monopoly. A friend of mine, who received a few pounds as a present, +tells me she did not think it distinguishable from that sold at 5_s._ a +pound. Blossom tea is well known throughout Russia, and is mixed in the +proportion of two-ounces to one pound of ordinary tea.[3] + +In addition to ordinary and superior sorts, the Russians import, +chiefly for consumption by the military and native populations, immense +quantities of tea pressed into the form of tablets, or bricks, each +of which weighs about 2 lbs. These bricks are made of tea-dust mixed +with a common coarse sort made of twigs, stalks, and tea refuse, the +whole being first submitted for a minute to the action of steam and +then pressed into a mould. Some say that bullocks’ or other blood is +also mixed with brick tea, but I have not heard this corroborated. The +tea-dust used for brick tea costs in China about 5_d._ per pound, the +manufacture about 1½_d._ more, and the article bears a handsome profit. +In 1878 the Russian manufacturers in China were said to have realized +a profit of 75 per cent. This they cannot do, however, all the year +round, for the making of the bricks goes on only from the middle of +June to the end of September, during which season they work at it night +and day. + +Apart, however, from the trade which passes over the Siberian frontier, +there is much in Kiakhta and Troitzkosavsk to interest the western +traveller. Among other novelties are to be seen Mongolian cavalry +dashing about the streets, the soldiers being known mainly by a piece +of ribbon streaming from their hats. The united population of the two +places amounts to nearly 5,000, who are supplied with provisions by +both Russians and Chinese. There may be seen coming from their farms +and gardens numbers of peasant wagons, as well as clumsy Mongolian +carts, the latter on wheels without spokes, formed of large wooden +discs, which oxen cause to wabble along. Common vegetables are to be +had in abundance. A large square in the centre of Troitzkosavsk is used +for a corn and hay market, and is provided in Russian fashion with a +huge pair of scales sanctioned by the authorities. Here the vendors of +agricultural and garden produce assemble, and generally manage to get +rid of their stock and garden produce early in the day. Young chickens +cost 4_d._ each, lemons in winter 1_s._ a-piece, and occasionally even +double that price, and Cognac brandy 9_s._ per bottle. Troitzkosavsk +is also supplied with excellent fish, but we found it difficult to get +good fruit. Besides the market square at Troitzkosavsk, there are two +public gardens at Kiakhta, and also a cemetery. + +We went to the small prison, and found it a poor affair. The +police-master told us he had received a letter concerning our intended +visit long before, and had been expecting us. Where the information +came from he did not say; but it served to remind us again that, though +more than 4,000 miles from the capital, we were not lost sight of. +This was the last place at which I heard of our coming having been +announced beforehand, though a general at Petersburg had told me that +I might usually expect this; for how, said he, are the Governors to +whom your letter is addressed to know that your document is not forged +unless they are advised that a letter has been given you? and then, to +illustrate his remark, he said that, on one occasion, a man, dressed +like a gendarme, presented himself at Irkutsk with a forged letter and +got a prisoner released. + +I may add to the foregoing that Kiakhta was the last, and almost the +only, place other than Petersburg where symptoms of a disaffected or +revolutionary spirit came under my notice; and this in the solitary +instance, that when an educated man in the town was shown in an English +newspaper a portrait of Vera Sassulitch, the would-be murderess of +Trepoff, I heard that he admired and praised her. As for Nihilism, I +heard, in crossing Russia, so little about it that I am ashamed to say +I left the country with very vague ideas as to what it is. I am not +sure that I know much about it now, but an Englishman who has spent +a large portion of his life in Russia and Siberia tells me there are +various kinds of Nihilists. The mildest type, if they can be called +such, simply want free speech and a free press, as do, I am told, all +the “Slavophils”; the next wish for a ministry responsible to the +people; but both these classes (which are supposed to be numerous) +think the time not yet come, and that they must wait for further +enlightenment of the people. With this opinion my friend agreed, +feeling sure that at present the educated Russian and the moujik would +quarrel, he said, if one were dependent on the other. The third class +are the “black” Nihilists, who want the dethronement of the reigning +dynasty and a republic, and who are willing to adopt any means, even +the most criminal, to gain their end. + +Of all this and its like I heard next to nothing after leaving +Petersburg; there, however, great excitement prevailed. I arrived +only a few days after one of the attempts on the late Emperor’s life, +and a friend called to tell me they were at their wits’ end to know +what to do. Turning back his coat collar, he showed me sewn thereon +the certified badge of his calling, so placed that it might be ready +to show the police, if required, at a moment’s notice. The English, +he said, were strongly suspected, and he doubted whether he should be +safe in affording me his usual protection and kindly services. He had +told one of his Russian friends that I had arrived in the country for +the purpose of distributing books and tracts, but the Russian did not +believe that I could be come for such a charitable object, but thought +I must be sent by the English Government. The rumours afloat respecting +the English were both numerous and ridiculous. The authorities had not +then succeeded in finding the press from which were issued the Nihilist +placards and papers, and, as the ambassadors’ residences are privileged +places, supposed to be closed against the police, it was affirmed that +the secret press must be there. My friend told me he heard it said +that “proclamations” against the Russian Government could be bought +at the English Embassy for a rouble each. Another rumour said that +the Russians were persuaded that the centre of the revolution was in +the English Embassy, and that they had even thought of setting fire +thereto, with the hope of securing, in the confusion, the revolutionary +papers. I smiled on hearing this, and concluded that it could be +only the most ignorant of the people who believed such puerilities, +but on repeating it as a joke to a Russian fellow-traveller from +Moscow, he said he quite believed that the forbidden press was in the +Ambassador’s house, and that the revolutionists obtained their money +from the English Government. I heard, too, in Petersburg that it was +thought by the lower orders that the Nihilists obtained a large portion +of their funds from the “International” in England. + +All this smoke and rumour, however, we left behind on quitting Moscow, +and though we may perchance have been watched, I was never conscious +of it. I mention this because as some were surprised at my going to +Russia when in such a disturbed condition, so others may be curious +to know how this disturbance affected me as a traveller; and though I +am far from supposing that my very limited and isolated experience is +worth much, or perhaps anything, in showing the political condition of +Russia and Siberia at the time of my visit, yet I wish to convey the +impression that Russian atrocities and inflamed horrors, as posted on +placards and shouted by London newsboys, shrink into very much smaller +dimensions when the scene of action is reached. Such at least has been +my invariable experience, and to this I shall further allude hereafter. + +They have also at Troitzkosavsk a church in which “a miracle” seemed +about to be recognised during our sojourn; for, on the first night of +our stay, after I had gone to bed, a woman came to the party of friends +with whom I had left Mr. Interpreter, and told them that she could see +a strange halo of light in the church, but whether caused by celestial +radiance or angels’ wings she did not say. The party turned out, +therefore, my interpreter included, and made for the church, into which +they could not gain admittance, and which was apparently empty, though +they managed at last, by looking through a crevice or window, to descry +a lamp burning before a glass ikon, which happened to slant at such an +angle as dimly to reflect through the darkness the rays of light to the +spot where they had been seen by the woman. This took away the sense +of the miraculous, not altogether to the satisfaction of some of the +party, who seemed to think “there was something in it.”[4] + +The great ecclesiastical wonder of Kiakhta is its cathedral, said to +be the finest in Eastern Siberia, and to have cost 1,400,000 roubles, +equal at the time of building to at least £150,000. It was built at the +expense of the Kiakhta merchants, and possesses some excellent bells.[5] + +[Illustration: THE GREAT BELL OF MOSCOW AND IVAN VELIKI TOWER.] + +In bells, the Russian Church is the richest in the world--so far, at +least, as regards their size. The largest we have in England--that of +Christ Church, Oxford, weighing 7 tons--is but a baby compared with +many in Russia. The largest in Petersburg weighs 23 tons; “Great John,” +in the older capital, weighs 96 tons; whilst the old “Tsar Kolokol,” or +the King of Bells, in Moscow, weighed originally nearly 200 tons, or +432,000 lbs. Reckoning their value at 18 silver roubles per pood, we +get a price for our Oxford bell of £1,100; and for that of the largest +one of Moscow of £32,000. This monster bell is 26 ft. high, and 67 ft. +round! + +It was neither its bells, however, nor its architecture that made +Kiakhta cathedral “a fine church,” but rather its costly fittings. It +has two altars, both of silver; a candlestick with numerous rubies and +emeralds, and a large chandelier studded with precious stones. More +striking still, perhaps, was the profusion of objects made of solid +silver, such as the “royal doors,” which are said to weigh 2,000 lbs.; +and, above all, the _ikonostasis_ of gold and glass, or crystal--the +value of the last, no doubt, being considerably enhanced by the cost +of carriage to so remote a spot. There were also several paintings, +executed at great expense in Europe. + +We mounted the tower, and from thence had a view of the surrounding +country and of the three towns of Troitzkosavsk, Kiakhta, and the +Chinese Maimatchin. On a slight elevation, about a mile to the north, +at the head of an open sand-valley between two ranges of moderately +high hills, lay Troitzkosavsk, with its 4,600 inhabitants, its +school, houses, shops, Government buildings, and a number of persons +and officials who could not strictly be called merchants. There is +also a large building which formerly was the Custom House, where the +duties on tea were collected.[6] Below us was Kiakhta, with about 400 +inhabitants, the abode of Russian mercantile aristocrats and their +belongings, making a population, according to Hoppe’s Almanack, of +about 5,000. The town lies snugly in a hollow, between hills of sand +and fir-trees, well sheltered from northerly winds, and opening out +southwards towards Mongolia. A small rivulet, called the Bura, runs +through the hollow, and, turning westward to the sandy plain, makes its +way at last into the Selenga. The country round looks sandy and dry, +which is in keeping with the meteorological conditions of the place. +Southerly winds prevail, and there is a deficiency of moisture in the +atmosphere; hence they have only a slight fall during the year either +of rain or of snow. So much is this the case that wheeled vehicles +are used all through the winter, and goods and travellers at that +season are thus driven some miles out of Troitzkosavsk to the spot +where snow begins, and sledges are usable. Kiakhta is about 2,500 feet +above the sea level. The greatest cold in 1877 was in February, when +the thermometer stood at 42° below zero; whilst the greatest heat that +year, namely 100°·5, was in August. + +On the first morning after our arrival, our host sent us in his +carriage for a drive of 20 miles to Ust-Keran, the summer residence of +Mr. Tokmakoff, where also we expected to find a fellow-countryman, who, +we heard, was Professor of English in the gymnase at Troitzkosavsk. +It was a fine day, and our horses dashed along over a wide extent +of country, somewhat suggestive of Salisbury plain. We saw very +few people, but, happening to meet a vehicle, we pulled up, and my +interpreter, having descended, went to the carriage to know if we +were taking the right road. He called to me that we were right for +Madame Tokmakoff’s, upon which I shouted, “Ask him if the Englishman +is there!” whereupon someone in the carriage replied, “I am the +Englishman.” It was pleasant to hear this spoken in my native +tongue, and I hastened to make the acquaintance of Mr. Frank M----, +who was spending his vacation as tutor, and teaching English, in +the very family to which we were going. He therefore turned back, +and accompanied us to Madame Tokmakoff’s, by whom we were heartily +welcomed, and where we were reminded of home by the sight of +cricket-bats, stumps, and sundry other English things. + +The great event of the afternoon was driving some miles further to a +Buriat lamasery, or monastery, inhabited by priests, for whom I had +taken some Scriptures; but none of them spoke Russian, and as we could +not well make them understand, I left the books with our friend to give +when an interpreter could explain, and this little commission he kindly +performed. I shall have occasion to speak of this lamasery hereafter. +On our way we had to cross a river, the vehicle being put on a raft, +and the horses swam through the stream--not considered extraordinary in +these parts, for the same evening we saw a dozen horses returning from +their work, and when they came to the river, they plunged in of their +own accord, and swam across. + +One of the men on the bank was very much puzzled to make me out, +especially as I asked questions, and made notes of the replies. He +seemed to think there might be “something up,” but said that “I +wore no official clothes, and so he could not tell what sort of a +‘_tchinovnik_’ I was.” His suspicions, however, abated, and his vanity +seemed tickled, when he was told that I had come from a very far +country, that I was anxious to know about their manners and customs, +and made notes of what I heard and saw to tell my countrymen on my +return. After inspecting the monastery, we drove back to Kiakhta the +same evening, having spent a particularly agreeable day. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In 1655 a Russian embassy was sent to Peking, with a view to the +arrangement of a commercial treaty. The route then lay from Tobolsk up +the Irtish to its source, over the Altai mountains, through the vast +domain of the Kalmuks, and across the Mongolian steppes. The Russian +envoy, however, refused to lie down and submit to Chinese etiquette +in approaching the Emperor, and was sent away, partly, perhaps, for +his want of obsequiousness, and more, perhaps, because the Chinese did +not see the need of a treaty, the boundaries of the two empires being +then not so perfectly in contact as now. A second embassy, sent in +1675, proved also a failure; but after this there happened a series +of events which caused the Chinese to realize that the Russians were +nearer neighbours than they had been accustomed to regard them. This +was brought about by the advances of the Siberians in the region of the +Amur, where they had taken up their abode among the Daurians and other +tribes, whom they so far encroached upon as to cause the Daurians to +appeal for aid to the Chinese. This aid was given, and thus the Chinese +and the Russians came first to blows in 1684. + +[2] Kiakhta became the centre of Russo-Chinese commerce, which was +greatly increased after 1762, when Catherine II. abolished the Crown +monopoly of the fur trade, together with the exclusive privilege of +sending caravans to Peking. These concessions increased the traffic +enormously, and the influence of the business transacted on the +frontier extended from Kiakhta all across Siberia and Russia, and +even to the middle of Germany. Thus, from 1728 to 1860, the Kiakhta +merchants enjoyed almost a monopoly of Chinese trade, and made fortunes +estimated by millions of roubles. The treaty of 1860, however, opened +Chinese ports to Russian ships, and thus dealt a severe blow to the +Kiakhta trade; for up to that time only a single cargo of tea was +carried annually into Russia by water. Before 1860, the importation of +tea at Kiakhta was about one million chests annually, without taking +any account of brick tea, and, previous to 1850, all trade done at +Kiakhta was in barter, tea being exchanged for Russian furs and other +goods, because the Russian Government prohibited the export of gold and +silver money. + +[3] When crossing the Pacific I fell in with a tea merchant homeward +bound from China, and from him I gathered that three-fourths of +the Russian trade is done in medium and common teas, such as are +sold in London in bond from 1_s._ 2_d._ down to 8_d._ per English +pound, exclusive of the home duty. The remaining fourth of their +trade includes some of the very best teas grown in the Ning Chow +districts--teas which the Russians will have at any price, and for +which, in a bad year, they may have to pay as much as 3_s._ a pound +in China, though in ordinary years they cost from 2_s._ upwards. The +flowery Pekoe, or blossom tea, costs also about 3_s._ in China. + +[4] In Russia one continually meets with these sacred pictures, said +to work miracles: and sometimes _relics_, though the latter not so +often as in Roman countries. In two places I have been curious enough +to inquire for the evidence that might be given to substantiate the +so-called miracles. Of course, in many cases, the wonderful things +said to have been performed are enveloped in the mist of antiquity, +but one explanation offered at Novgorod, in the Yuryef monastery, +was to the effect that the very man who had shown us the bells, many +years ago, saw two women arrive at the place, who were screaming and +possessed of the devil, but that on coming to the grave of Father +Fochi (the great saint of the place) they were made whole. The second +explanation offered me, at the Spasski monastery in Yaroslaf, was of +a similar character. A certain ikon, before which I was standing, was +alleged to have been placed in the church in 1828. A girl, 17 years +of age, was seized by demoniacal possession, and dreamed that she saw +a certain picture. On waking, she was said to have searched through +the town for the picture, which, on looking through the church window, +she recognized in the ikon before us, and from that day she was made +whole! Such are some of the stories upon which rest the alleged power +of ikons to work miracles. But, as I have said before, the Russians are +by no means “sceptical.” Consequently, if a church or a monastery only +possesses a well-known miracle working ikon, the fortune of the place +is made. Persons come from far and near to pray before it, bringing, +of course, a present, and not unfrequently adding a thank-offering if +the prayer be heard. A poor man, having a diseased leg or a sick cow, +purchases a little silver model of his leg or his cow, and hangs it +upon the ikon (I have seen several such), or, if the offerer be rich, +he brings gems to adorn the wonder-working picture. These pictures, +on special occasions, are taken to the houses of the faithful, being +carried through the streets in procession, the people doffing their +caps; and I have seen the more devout, in the hope of receiving a +blessing, run between the bearers and under the picture carried upon +their shoulders. At Kasan we saw the coffin of Bishop Gregory, from +which chips are cut by sufferers to place on their wounds to be healed. +The monk who accompanied us, and who was, intellectually, superior to +some I have met, said that it was a well-known fact, and believed by +all, that the relics of saints placed upon diseased parts of the body, +and used with faith, are good for healing. The bishop, he said, died +200 years ago, but the wood of the alleged coffin did not appear to +me to have reached the age of 200 weeks, and the whole concern looked +modern. + +[5] This reminds me that, though allusions have often been made to +churches, I have not yet described what a Russian church is like. +It should be premised, then, that the ideas of an Englishman and a +Russian differ widely as to what a grand church should be. Given an +English committee, money in hand, and they say, “Go to; let us build a +church to the praise and glory of--the architect;” whereas a Russian +merchant, his pocket full of roubles, seeks him out a lapidary, to whom +he takes emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and pearls; a smith, to whom he +consigns poods of silver; and a cunning workman, who can emblazon and +embroider priestly robes and ecclesiastical garments. The consequence +is that the English ecclesiologist, standing before “a fine church” in +Russia, finds almost nothing upon which to expend his vocabulary of +architectural terms. He sees merely wood, stone, or brick and plaster +buildings, not too evenly finished, and whitewashed over in such a +fashion that, but for their proportions, they would not be thought too +good for an English homestead. + +The Russian churches are so far alike that they are all modelled on +the Byzantine style of architecture--a Byzantine church having been +described as a “gabled Greek cross, with central dome inscribed in a +square.” On the exterior, besides the central, there is sometimes a +western dome, often there is one at each angle of the square, and, +occasionally, one at each end of the cross. Accordingly, instead +of spires, the eye of a traveller in Russia becomes accustomed to +cross-crowned domes, which, as they are brightly painted and sometimes +covered even with gold, and furnished with bells, affect both eye and +ear not unpleasingly. + +On entering a Russian church from the west, the internal arrangement is +seen to be fourfold: first, the narthex, or porch, which was anciently +for catechumens and penitents; next the nave, or body of the church; +then a narrow platform, raised by steps, answering to the choir; +and, beyond that, the sanctuary. The sanctuary is divided into three +chambers: the central one being called “the altar,” in which stands the +holy table, and behind it the bishop’s throne; the southern chamber +forming the sacristy, where are kept the vestments and treasures; +whilst that on the north is for preparing the sacramental elements. +The sanctuary is parted off from the choir by a high panelled screen, +called the _ikonostasis_, pierced by three doors, the centre opening +being called the “royal gates,” on the north side of which hangs a +gilded sacred picture of the Virgin, and on the south side a picture of +our Saviour, and the patron saint of the church. The remaining parts +of the screen are covered with other pictures, upon the frames and +coverings of which, apart from their artistic value, an almost fabulous +amount is sometimes lavished. The precious stones on the picture of +Our Lady of Kasan, for instance, in Petersburg, are valued at £15,000; +whilst, at Moscow, one emerald on the picture of the Holy Virgin of +Vladimir is valued at £10,000--the value of the whole of those on this +latter ikon being estimated at £45,000. + +[6] All duties are now arranged at Irkutsk, and the annual quantity of +_leaf_-tea (exclusive of brick-tea) that passes through is upwards of +5,000 tons. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +_THE MONGOLIAN FRONTIER AT MAIMATCHIN._ + + Outlook into Mongolia.--Town of Maimatchin without women.--Visit to + a Chinese merchant.--Refreshments.--Attendants.--Purchases.--Tea + bricks for coin.--The town.--Buddhist temple.--Chinese + malefactors.--Their punishments.--Chinese + dinner.--Food.--Intoxicating drinks.--Route to + Peking.--Travellers.--Modes of conveyance.--Manners of the + desert.--Postal service. + + +As we stood on the top of Kiakhta church, we could see, as already +observed, the three towns of Troitzkosavsk, Kiakhta, and Maimatchin. +The former two were like other Siberian towns, but southwards there lay +before us something decidedly new. Just over the border was a veritable +Chinese town; then came a broad plain, covered with sand and herbage, +with the horizon bounded by the hills of Mongolia, beyond which the +imagination was left to picture its capital, Urga, and, further south, +the great wall of China. Before continuing our journey eastwards, +therefore, I shall describe our visit to Maimatchin, and offer a few +observations upon the route over the Mongolian frontier to Peking. + +Mai-ma-tchin signifies, in Chinese, “buy and sell,” and so is applied +to this border town as a “a place of trade.” It has a population, we +were told, of 3,000, and differs in one respect, at all events, from +all the cities upon the face of the earth, in that the inhabitants are +all of the male sex. Not a woman is to be found in the town, a baby’s +music is never heard there, and the streets are void of girls and boys. +Not that the men, however, are all bachelors, for some of them have +wives and families in China proper. Nor are they all woman-haters or +henpecked husbands. We did indeed hear of one man, a British subject, +who so far agreed with Solomon as to the undesirability of living with +a brawling woman, even though it were in a wide house, that he had +fled from his island home, and retired to a house-top in the wilds of +Siberia, where he is living in prosperity, and whither his spouse has +not pursued him. But the fact is, that among the curious arrangements +of the Chinese at the time of their early treaties with the Russians, +and in order that their celestial subjects might not become rooted +to the soil, but consider themselves as sojourners only, they have +forbidden that women should live in Maimatchin. Hence a paterfamilias +of Maimatchin, if he wishes to visit his wife and children, must +undertake a month’s journey across the desert on the back of a camel, +and return by the same means; so that a few such journeys may well give +wings to his desire speedily to make his fortune and return home. + +We took the opportunity of paying an afternoon visit to Maimatchin +on the first day of our arrival at Kiakhta, Mr. Koecher kindly +accompanying us. After passing out of the wooden gate of Kiakhta we +found ourselves on a piece of neutral ground, about 500 yards wide, +between the two empires. On the south side is a palisade pierced +for the principal gate, shielded from view by a high wooden screen +some eight or ten paces from the wall. Behind this screen we entered +Maimatchin, and found ourselves in a new world. The town is built +inside a strong wooden enclosure, about 400 yards square, with four or +five mud-paved streets. They are regular, however, tolerably clean, +and, for China, wide,--wide enough perhaps to allow of a London omnibus +being driven through them. The houses are of one storey, built of +unburnt bricks of mud and wood, and are thus solid and tidy, and are +surrounded by courtyards. At the entrances are screens that shut out +the river from the street, which are painted with diabolical-looking +figures, to frighten away evil spirits. This represents, however, the +houses of the well-to-do merchants. Towards the southern part of the +town are the mean, windowless houses of the poor, which have little of +the neatness and propriety of the above. + +We were taken first to visit one of the Chinese merchants named +Van-Tchan-Taï; and on entering his courtyard we found it surrounded +by a number of doors, some entering the warehouses, the kitchen, +out-houses, etc., and one leading to the shop and dwelling-place +of the merchant. The door consisted of a suspended transparent +screen, admitting the air, and yet keeping out flies and insects. +The window-frames were ornamented and covered with paper. None +looked into the street, but all into the courtyard. Inside the house +were two compartments, an outer and an inner. In the outer chamber +we were seated on a raised platform, or divan, which serves for a +sleeping-place for the clerks and assistants by night, and for a +dining-place by day, when the bedding and cushions are neatly rolled up +and ornamentally arranged. This platform is heated by a flue beneath, +and on the edge in front is kept, always burning, a small charcoal +fire, which serves for lighting pipes and heating grog. Round the wall +hung illuminated texts, from the writings of Confucius, and various +pictures, one of which we were told was a representation of the god of +happiness. And a very stout personage he looked! But this is strictly +in keeping with Chinese notions, for they delight to load their deities +with collops of fat, prosperity and abundance of flesh in their eyes +having great affinity. A number of little birds were in the room, not +in cages, but on perches resembling those on which parrots are kept in +England. + +The merchant invited us to drink tea, and told us that the Chinese +use this beverage without sugar or milk three times a day; namely, at +rising, at noon, and at seven in the evening. They have substantial +meals at nine in the morning and four in the afternoon. When they +discovered I was English, they were curious to know all about us, +making various inquiries, trying to imitate our words and sounds, even +to laughing, and examining carefully such things as were shown them, +as watches, pencils, and knives. We were no less curious to pry into +their affairs, and learn of them all we could. The merchant employed 23 +“clerks,” 18 in Maimatchin, and the remainder at a branch establishment +in some other part of the world. We did not make out, however, whether +this number included shop assistants, warehousemen, servants, cooks, +etc., or whether it consisted only of actual writers. They seemed all +dressed alike, from the master downwards; that is, in a suit of blue +nankeen, and black skull caps. Suspended on the wall, and covered +with paper to keep them from dust, were two or three white straw +hats, of depressed conical shape, with a horsehair tassel on the top, +seemingly reserved for summer use or gala days. One of the attendants +had a black dress edged with white, and on inquiry he was found to be +the coachman in half mourning. Chinese full mourning must not be of +silk, is all white, and worn 100 days after the death of a relative, +during which time the head is not shaved. Black and white is afterwards +worn for three years, one of its features being a small white ball on +the top of the cap. As the servants stood about waiting on us, their +discipline appeared to be very much of the patriarchal character; none +seemed greater or less than another, except it were the chief clerk, +who received, we found, about £30 a year; whilst the “boys” received +from £5 and upwards, their food being in all cases provided. This +chief clerk cultivated a straggling moustache, which is the privilege +of all Chinese men after they arrive at 30 years of age. He had also +very long nails, protruding, perhaps, half an inch, which evidently +were considered beautiful. It is the custom of Chinese gentlemen and +ladies to have long nails, that other persons may be aware of their +rank in society, for with such impediments they could not labour. This +senior also seemed fond of his pipe, which held just so much tobacco as +enabled him to take five good strong whiffs only, and he then blew out +of the pipe, with a peculiar noise, the remainder of the tobacco and +ashes. + +Whilst sipping our tea we proceeded to make purchases. The principal +articles of Chinese export into Russia are teas, cottons, nankeens, +silks, good satins, rhubarb, and many articles of curiosity and +ingenuity. The exports from Siberia are generally furs. As we sat in +the merchant’s shop, it was a matter for conjecture as to where the +merchandise was kept, for it was not visible. A number of articles, +however, were brought forth from mysterious cupboards and drawers, and +we heard that the Chinese allow as little of their property as possible +to be seen by the authorities, lest they should be more highly taxed. +So far, therefore, as appearances go in a Chinese shop, the American +dealer’s window-notice would be eminently appropriate: “If you don’t +see what you want, ask for it.” We did this, and found it successful. +My first purchase was a piece of silk called Chin-chun-cha, supposed to +be of sufficient measure for two suits of clothes. This silk is undyed, +and washes and wears so well that it is a favourite material throughout +Siberia for gentlemen’s summer suits, and sometimes for ladies’ dresses. + +The Chinese are fond of having a couple of balls in the hand, at idle +times, to roll and rub one over the other with the fingers, and so +play with; for the same reason, probably, that the Turks like to have +beads in the hand. Several of these balls were offered to me. One +pair was of Chinese jade, which, on being rubbed together, emitted +flashes of electric light. Gilt buttons, too, were shown as a rarity, +but their marks betrayed that they came from Birmingham. We bought +some embroidered purses of native workmanship, and cups and saucers. +The saucers are of a lozenge-shape, and of metal, with an indentation +fitted to receive the bottom of the cup, which has no handle. Hence, in +drinking the tea, it was not necessary to finger the cup, but merely +to hold the saucer and drink from the cup resting therein. Some of the +drinking vessels were of wood, but lacquered and covered with a varnish +which made them quite capable of holding boiling water. Our most +comical purchase, perhaps, was a pair of furred ear-pockets, connected +by a piece of elastic, for use in frosty weather. + +After taking refreshment, we looked about the house and yard, into +the kitchen, which was clean enough, and into the warehouse, with its +piles of chests of tea, and were amused to see them take a hollow +iron auger, something like a large cheese taster, and drive this into +the corner of a tea-chest to bring thereout a sample handful of the +fragrant herb. I contented myself, however, with buying a brick of tea, +as a greater curiosity. It measures about nine inches by six, and is +three-quarters of an inch thick, and might better be called, as it once +was in Germany, “tile” tea. This article was formerly used for coin in +certain parts of Siberia, and is so still in Mongolia. The owner of a +circus, since my visit, made his way through Kiakhta to Urga. The stud +and its riders greatly delighted the Mongolians, who are excellent +horsemen, and, as the proprietor accepted the “current coin of the +realm,” his cashier’s office presented the unusual appearance of being +filled to overflowing with bricks of tea! We had cause, therefore, +for congratulation, that we had not to carry a quantity of this very +inconvenient form of cash. + +After leaving the house we wandered through the streets, examining the +wares exposed for sale, like those we had seen on the Chinese stalls +in the market-place of Troitzkosavsk, and the looking round at which, +in both places, gave us much amusement. We found all sorts of Chinese +knick-knacks; and the poorest attempts at cutlery, in the shape of +knives, scissors, and razors, that ever I saw. The razors bore a +strong resemblance to miniature hatchets, and, on steaming across the +Pacific, I observed that their use was not confined to men, for the +Chinese women think so much of having the hair cut away smoothly from +the back of the neck, that one female on board was seen thus acting the +barber on behalf of her sister. Beads and hats were likewise exposed +for sale, brushes and combs, pieces of flint and steel, and Buddhist +rosaries; which last, evidently, were considered finely perfumed, but +we thought the smell abominable. A piece of Chinese vanity we saw +consisted of circular felt pads, highly dyed with rouge, with which the +people rub, and so redden, their faces. Several of these curiosities we +bought, bargaining for the price by signs, to the mutual amusement of +buyers and salesmen. + +We were taken to the Buddhist temple, the precincts of which appeared +to comprise the houses of the governor (or, as he is called, the +_zurgutchay_), and the chief priest; also a theatre, and something like +a prison. In the court of the temple were placed two or three cannon, +which are fired daily when the governor is going to sleep. The theatre, +we found, was open only on fête days, and, if the report of travellers +be true, the plays are sometimes grossly obscene. This, however, is +only in keeping with the pictures seen in the houses, and sold openly +in the streets, which are too licentious to bear description. + +We saw in the court of the temple two malefactors, who had iron rings +round their necks, attached to which were chains, about five feet long, +with enormous links, and of great weight, weighing, I should judge, in +all, upwards of 50 lbs. They had chains, too, upon their hands and +legs, and, being exceedingly dirty and ill clad, they looked somewhat +ferocious. One of them had his chain coiled about his shoulders for +more convenient carriage, and when he saw that I was curious he allowed +it to drop towards the ground, showing me the full length of his +punishment. I bought the man’s rosary for a souvenir. We saw, also, +in Maimatchin, another kind of Chinese punishment, in the shape of a +wooden collar, made of 6-inch plank, about 2½ feet square, and put +about a man’s neck. It was said to be more than 100 lbs. in weight, +and the unfortunate wearer was prevented by its size from putting his +hand to his mouth. He used therefore, in feeding himself, a long wooden +spoon, but he looked anything but comfortable. His accusation was +written on the collar, setting forth his name and family, and he was to +wear his collar night and day for a month, and that for _fighting_! but +I am not clear whether it was for an ordinary pugilistic encounter, or +for attempted violence to a superior. + +As we walked about the streets it was plain that, though we were +distinctly in the Chinese empire and not in Russia, yet that the people +of the two border towns were on the most friendly footing. Chinese +merchants visit the Russians freely, drink tea, smoke cigarettes, +and chatter,--not “pigeon English,” but “pigeon Russian.” To this +good feeling I presume it was that we were indebted for an invitation +to dine, two days after, with the merchant upon whom we called. We +were particularly anxious to do this; for to eat a Chinese dinner at +Maimatchin had been one of the curious treats I had promised myself +when thinking of pushing on so far as Kiakhta. At the same time, Mr. +Michie’s declaring that a Chinese dinner, to which Kiakhta merchants +take their friends, was “a feast most Europeans would rather undergo +the incipient stages of starvation than come within the smell of it,” +had rather terrified me as to the horrors one might be expected to +eat. I determined, however, to place bread on one side of my plate +and water on the other, and then martyrise myself for the sake of +gaining experience, to say nothing of showing myself a person of good +breeding in Chinese eyes, by tasting _everything_; and I hoped that, if +anything particularly nasty came into my mouth, it might be neutralized +or speedily swallowed by the aid of a piece of bread or a draught of +water. Things were not so bad, however, as I had feared, and we were +none of us made ill. Calling on our way to dinner at Mr. Tokmakoff’s, +I begged a small loaf of half-white bread; and, thus prepared, we +presented ourselves at the house of Van Tchan Taï. + +There were five in the party, which included Mr. Koecher, our Russian +host; Mr. M----, our fellow-countryman; Mr. Interpreter; myself, and +a Russian friend. We were shown first into the inner compartment, +and seated on the divan, whilst they brought us tea, dried fruits, +and confections, such as candied ginger, dried walnuts and Mandarin +oranges, salted almonds, and sugared ditto, melon seeds, etc., etc. We +then adjourned to the outer chamber, where the dinner was spread on a +table. But what a table! It was just about three feet square, and on +this were placed, as a commencement, no less than 10 dishes, besides +our own plates. These dishes, or saucers, of meats were replaced to +the number of 30. Further east I met a man who told me that when he +dined at Maimatchin they gave him 64 dishes! At this tiny table we +were seated, and each was provided with a small saucer, three inches +in diameter, half filled with dark-looking vinegar, into which we +were supposed to dip everything before carrying it to the mouth. Of +this I soon got tired, and began to eat things _au naturel_, that +is as far as possible; but most of the courses were so disguised by +confectionery and culinary art that we had to ask of almost every +plate, What is this? Happily the plates were so exceedingly small +that to taste of each did not seriously strain one’s eating powers; +and by tasting first, and then asking what it was, all prejudice was +taken away till it was too late to have any. But we discovered that +among the dishes we had eaten were beans, garlic, a kind of sea-weed +cooked like seakale, and a green kind also; likewise radishes cut in +slices, swallows’ eggs boiled, and rissoles of meat; various sorts +of marine vegetables, and, I think, birds’ nests. Towards the end of +the feast appeared a _samovar_, but not like the Russian article of +that name,--the difference resembling that between an “outside” and an +“inside” Dublin car, of which an Irishman said that, with an outside +car the wheels were inside, whereas with an inside car the wheels were +outside. So with the Chinese samovar, the boiling part was exposed +to view, and contained the soup, in which were small pieces of meat, +vermicelli, and rice puddings, the size of tennis balls, for the eating +of which they brought us chop-sticks--I suppose, that we might try our +hands, for at the earlier part of the meal they had given us knives and +forks. Chop-sticks are a pair of cylindrical rods, rather longer, and +not quite so thick as lead pencils, which are both held between the +thumb and fingers of the right hand, and are used as tongs to take the +food and carry it to the mouth--an operation by no means easy to the +unpractised. Our host did not sit at table, or eat with us, but stood +looking on, and giving orders to his boys or “clerks.” Each guest was +provided with a tiny cup about an inch or a little more in diameter, +and perhaps half an inch deep. Into this, at an early stage of the +proceedings, was poured, from a diminutive kettle, hot _mai-ga-lo_, +or Chinese brandy, tasting, it was said, somewhat like whisky. It is +exceedingly strong, though not so potent as another kind of which we +heard, called _khanshin_, and which not only makes a man intoxicated +on the day he drinks it, but if he takes a glass of water only on the +morrow, the intoxicating effect is repeated. When they came to pour +me out brandy I declined, the propriety of which our host recognised +at once; for when my friends told him I was a “lama,” or priest, he +said that “_their_ lamas were not allowed to drink brandy.” It was +comforting, therefore, to find that we had at least one good thing in +common. + +Whilst we were in the house of Van Tchan Taï there came in a Mongolian +lama, to whom I was introduced as an _English_ lama. The Mongolian +lamas do not confine themselves to spiritual functions; for this man +was a contractor for the carriage of goods across the desert to and +from China, which leads me to say something of this curious journey. +The Kiakhta-Peking route was not that followed by the earliest +embassies sent overland from Siberia, nor by Marco Polo in his +marvellous travels in Tartary. In fact, it is remarkable how very +little has been known, until lately, concerning this part of Central +Asia, and how little is known still.[1] + +After the building of Kiakhta and Maimatchin, the route across the +desert was of course extensively used by the caravans, though I am not +aware that it was followed by any Englishman or celebrated traveller +till within the past quarter of a century.[2] + +There are six Englishmen, four of whom I have met, who, as well as +some ladies, have travelled this Mongolian route within the past 18 +years.[3] The traveller, however, who has given us the most solid +and scientific information about the part of Mongolia of which we are +speaking is the Russian Colonel Prejevalsky, who spent three years, +beginning in 1870, by travelling first from Kiakhta to Peking, then +turning northward to Manchuria, and afterwards following in the tracks +of Huc not quite to Lhassa, but as far as the Blue River, or the +Yang-tse-kiang; and then, turning back, did the most daring thing of +all, crossing the desert of Gobi from Ala-shan to Urga and Kiakhta. +This journey had never before been attempted by a European, and was +accomplished in the height of summer, when sometimes the party could +obtain neither pasture nor water. + +The distance between Kiakhta and Peking is a thousand miles, and +Europeans who wish to make the journey have the choice of two modes +of conveyance, either by post-horses or by caravan camels engaged +by special bargain with their owners. So, at least, says Colonel +Prejevalsky, though Mr. Milne tells a different tale, for he had +intended to cross Mongolia in company with a Russian officer by +courier horses; but he found that, according to the agreement between +the Russian and Chinese Governments, it was allowable only for such +couriers as were Russian subjects to take the horse road, and therefore +he was obliged to go the ordinary caravan route by camels. He made an +agreement with some Mongol carriers, that they were to take him from +Kiakhta to Kalgan, near the great wall of China, in 30 days, for which +he was to pay them £15. For every day less than thirty he was to pay +ten shillings extra; for every day beyond that time they were to pay +him ten shillings. There was also a clause that a tent, fire, and water +should be supplied. The ordinary procedure of the caravan in winter is +to be on the move till about seven or eight in the evening, and then +stop for tea, and travel on till midnight or two in the morning. A +halt is then made for sleep, and all start again by eight or ten. They +eat in winter only once a day, and, according to Mr. Milne’s account, +a winter journey across the desert is anything but comfortable. Mr. +Michie, however, and Captain Shepherd, who travelled in milder weather, +give a very different account, and speak in pleasant terms of a nomad +life. It is so utterly different from any European experience of motion +and living that, though it has several drawbacks--and a month is rather +too long to be wholly agreeable--yet those who have passed through +such a phase of travel look back upon it as a pleasant change from the +humdrum life of a homeward voyage in a P. and O. steamer. + +The pace at which the caravan proceeds is provokingly slow, and the +jolting of the rude, clumsy camel-cart makes walking, for a great part +of the day, preferable to driving; but there is game to be shot, and +the solitude of the desert is now and then relieved by arrivals at +Mongolian _yourts_, or tents, where, conversation being the only form +of newspaper they know, there is a general wagging of tongues, and a +shower of questions to be asked. The Mongol’s one notion of wealth is +the number of a man’s flocks and herds; and thus, if the Englishman is +asked what he is worth, he has to translate his riches into thousands +of sheep, horses, and bulls, and then explain his possessions. Again, +the monotony of the way may be relieved occasionally by meeting with +the Russian post.[4] + +The manners and customs of the Mongolians are, in many cases, +exceedingly interesting, as taking one back to the habits of a nomadic +and pastoral people. But it is not necessary to detail them here, as we +shall have before us, in a subsequent chapter, the Buriats, who are a +branch of the Mongolian race; and in treating of the one we shall be in +many respects treating also of the other. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] We owe some of our early geographical information about Eastern +Mongolia to the rupture between the Russians and Chinese on the Amur. +The Chinese took several prisoners, and transported them to Peking, +subsequently allowing Russian priests to be sent to minister to their +spiritual necessities. When, in course of time, the prisoners might +have returned, they had learned so to like their quarters, that +they chose to remain; whereupon “the spiritual mission” was kept +up by sending new priests at intervals of ten years, and thus the +Russians learned something of the unknown country through which these +functionaries travelled. + +[2] Daniel De Foe made his celebrated “Robinson Crusoe” to re-visit +his island, and afterwards land in China, where he met with a Jesuit +missionary who took him to Peking. Then, crossing the desert, he came +to the Argun and Nertchinsk, and so proceeded to Tobolsk and crossed +the Urals to Archangel. This, of course, is fiction; but it may be +that De Foe, who was never abroad in his life, and who published his +“Robinson Crusoe” in 1719, had heard of a route used in his day across +the Mongolian desert. When we come to the interesting writings of the +Roman missionary Huc, we have, of course, a good deal of information +about Mongolia; but his route lay in the south along the great wall of +China towards the Himalayas, and not at all in the north. + +[3] One is Mr. Howell, formerly a British resident in China, who +crossed from Shanghai to Kiakhta; another is Mr. Wylie, who was +connected with the British and Foreign Bible Society, and who crossed +from Kiakhta to Peking; but neither of these gentlemen has favoured the +public, as far as I am aware, with information as to his wanderings. In +1863 Mr. Michie undertook “the Siberian overland route from Peking to +St. Petersburg,” and wrote an account of his Mongolian travels, which +was the first English book that had appeared on that part of Asia. Mr. +Michie has been followed by three other English writers. In 1869, by +Mr. William Athenry Whyte, F.R.G.S., who wrote, “A Land Journey from +Asia to Europe, being an account of a camel and sledge journey from +Canton to St. Petersburg, through the plains of Mongolia and Siberia;” +in 1875-6, by Mr. John Milne, F.G.S., who crossed Europe and Siberia to +Kiakhta, Peking, and Shanghai, and read a paper concerning his journey +before the Asiatic Society of Japan; and, in 1877, by Captain W. +Shepherd, R.E., who returned “homeward through Mongolia and Siberia,” +and wrote a short account in the Royal Engineers’ Journal. I heard +some of these travellers spoken of by the residents in Siberia, and +the Russians seemed mightily surprised that Captain Shepherd should +have taken such a journey alone, and unable to speak a word of their +language. I suppose Messrs. Howell and Wylie did the same, but I have +heard of Captain Shepherd’s exploit as far away as the Crimea, and so +lately as last autumn. + +[4] Postal communication was established by treaty between the Russians +and Chinese in 1858 and 1860. The Russian Government organized, at +its own expense, a regular transmission of both light and heavy mails +between Kiakhta, Peking, and Tien-tsin. The Mongols contract to carry +the post as far as Kalgan, the Chinese the rest of the way. The Russians +have opened post-offices at four places, Urga, Kalgan, Peking, and +Tien-tsin. The light mails leave Kiakhta and Tien-tsin three times a +month, the heavy mails only once a month. The heavy mails are carried +on camels, escorted by two Cossacks from Kiakhta; while the light mails +are accompanied only by Mongols, and are carried on horses. The light +mails are taken from Kiakhta to Peking in two weeks, whilst the heavy +mails take from 20 to 24 days; and the cost of all this to the Russian +Government is about £2,400 a year, the receipts at the four offices +amounting to about £430. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +_FROM KIAKHTA TO CHITA._ + + Farewell ceremonies.--Writing home of changed plans.--Caravans.--An + iron foundry.--Buriat yemstchiks.--Methods of + driving.--Salutations.--Insignificant post-stations.--Visit to + a missionary to the Buriats.--Russian missions in Japan.--A + remarkable meeting.--The Yablonoi mountains.--Chita.--Visit to the + Governor and prison. + + +We had determined, after dining at Maimatchin, to continue our journey +eastwards. Mr. Koecher, however, would not let us go without giving +us a supplementary dinner; for the Chinese spread is looked upon as a +matter of curiosity rather than of genuine gastronomy, and we did not +expect to get another respectable meal for many hundreds of miles. +After this supplementary dinner, therefore, we prepared to start. The +hospitality and kindness of the Siberians to departing friends is +unbounded; and, among other customs, they have one method of doing +honour to a guest at a feast which is considered a mark of great +respect. It is called the _podkeedovate_, and is done by seizing the +unfortunate victim and laying him flat on the extended and clasped +hands of two rows of guests, who toss him up and catch him. When Mr. +Collins, their first American visitor, was at Kiakhta, they tossed him +up in this manner to the ceiling, which he touched, palpably. In our +own case, happily, we were spared this honour, and were dismissed with +the repeated shakings of the hand of which the Russians are so fond; +provided, however, it be not over the threshold. Twice I found myself +transgressing in this respect--once to an American, who had become +half Russianized, and once to a Russian lady. Both of them smiled, and +asked me to come right in before shaking hands. What superstition they +have upon the subject I know not. Another Russian custom with departing +friends is to drive alongside for a few miles, perhaps to the first +post-station, and then take a last farewell. This our host did when we +left Kiakhta on the evening of Wednesday, the 16th July, and we were +then fairly started for a drive of 600 miles. We passed along the road +by which we came as far as Verchne Udinsk, or, as I have called it, +“the Amur and China junction.” Here we took the opportunity to post +letters to England, to say that to return from hence would be to leave +my work half done, and that we were going on to the Amur, from which +Mr. Interpreter was to turn back, whilst I was to continue to the +Pacific, and so reach home by completing the circle of the globe; and +as I thought to finish the journey in person sooner than a letter would +cross Asia and Europe, and I did not know what holes and corners I +might get into, or how be detained, my friends were exhorted not to be +alarmed if they heard nothing of me for many days. And the exhortation +was needed, for I subsequently got into two places from which I could +not stir, nor well communicate my whereabouts, so that, notwithstanding +my warning, serious and anxious doubts were entertained for my safety. + +Whilst travelling eastwards we had frequently met caravans of carts +carrying tea. These caravans sometimes reach to upwards of 100 horses; +and, as they go at walking pace, and when they come to a river are +taken over by ferry, it is not matter for surprise that merchandise +should be three months in coming from Irkutsk to Moscow. In winter the +rivers, of course, present no difficulty, and hence this season is on +some accounts preferred for transport. The number of drivers required +for a large convoy is not numerous, and they lighten their work by +hanging a bundle of hay on the hinder part of every cart, so that a +horse, if hungry, takes good care to keep up with his leader. As we +proceeded, from Verchne Udinsk we met trains of two-wheeled carts with +manufactured iron.[1] There was one driver to every four or five carts, +and this driver had a dormitory on one of his loads, consisting of a +rude frame, two-and-a-half by six feet, with a covering of birch-bark, +and under this, clad in a sheepskin coat, a man contrives to sleep for +many an hour of the night and day. They usually travel about 16 hours +(though not at a stretch) out of the 24, and in the summer graze their +horses at the side of the road. + +We had now left the great highway between China and Europe, and of this +we were sternly reminded by the amount of shaking to which we were +forced to submit. Also we were introduced to a new set of yemstchiks; +for most of our drivers now were Buriats, who tie up their horse’s +mane like a horn between his ears, and who, like the Russians, have a +wonderful knack of sending their horses along without harassing them, +the driving being done by the voice and by threatening with the hand. +Whip-cracking is unheard in Siberia, and the long, slender, snapping +whips of Western Europe are unknown. The Siberian uses a short stock +with a lash of hemp, leather, or other flexible substance, but having +no snapper at its end. The Russian drivers talk a great deal to their +horses, and the speech they use depends much upon the character and +performance of the animals. Do they travel well? Then the driver calls +them his “brothers,” his “doves,” his “beauties,” his “jewels.” On the +contrary, an obstinate or lazy horse is called a variety of names the +reverse of endearing. He may be called a _sabaka_, or dog, and his +maternity disrespectfully ascribed to the race canine. Sometimes the +driver rattles off his words as if the creatures understood all the +praise he is giving them, after which, on proper occasion, he storms +at and scolds them as the veriest hags and jades he ever drove. But +I do not remember that this fashion of talking to the horses was so +observable among the Buriats, though they drove exceedingly well. + +These people have a curious method of salutation, as have several of +the peoples with whom we were brought in contact. The Chinese, for +instance, fold the hands together, and raise them up and down several +times. The Mongols hold up their thumb to salute, and to clench a +bargain one places his hand on the sleeve of the other. The Buriats do +much the same, whilst the Russians shake hands for everything, and if +they are friends they also kiss. + +As we drove along we saw abundance of black and white jackdaws; small +birds, like a cross between a canary and a linnet; and, on the distant +hills, flocks of sheep. Further south, I have been told, herds of +camels are reared, for the sake of their wool, which in these parts +grows to a considerable length. The post-stations we passed were +far apart and poor, and the villages few. In these last live many +Buriats, some Russians, and a few Jews. In one village we saw some very +good-looking Jewish women, whom I saluted with a word or two of Hebrew. +This, and the showing of our podorojna that we were English, attracted +attention to us as strangers. Not long before, some Chinese ambassadors +had passed the same way; and one yemstchik, hearing that we were +foreigners, thought we too must be ambassadors, and inquired whether he +should go and put on his best suit, from which, however, we excused him. + +On the evening of the second day after leaving Verchne Udinsk, we +reached Koordinska, where lives a Russian priest who is a missionary +to the Buriats, and upon whom I wished to call, though, as it was +getting towards midnight, I feared we might find the good man in +bed. But it was “now or never,” and I therefore persisted in going +to the house, notwithstanding the Buriat yemstchik’s remonstrances, +which I afterwards thought, may have proceeded from the fear that he +should be bewitched, or in some way influenced by the missionary, +for I could not get him to stop his horses within many yards of the +house. The missionary did not appear at first particularly amiable on +being visited at such an unusual hour; but, when he found that we had +good books to give him, he began to change his demeanour, and readily +imparted to us information respecting the progress of the mission, +telling us that during the previous year 300 Buriats had been baptized +east of the Baikal, and more than 1,000 on the west. He showed us, +however, that he had already a sufficiency of the Buriat Scriptures--of +the same edition, in fact, as those we were distributing--and he did +not care to accept more, which rather led me to surmise, what was +afterwards confirmed, that the amount of knowledge required by the +Russian priests of their converts before baptism is very slender. I +do not know either how far they press upon the Buriats the study of +the Scriptures, or whether the Buriats are averse to the book. The +old man at Selenginsk, Ivlampi Melnikoff, told us that many copies of +the Scriptures were left in the hands of his father when the English +missionaries took their departure, and that the Buriats would not +receive them. They were therefore handed over to a Russian priest; but +he was speaking of things as they were forty years ago. + +When our missionary friend found that we were really interested in +his work, he pressed us, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, to +drink tea; but this we declined, as we could not keep the post-horses +standing. He was very eager to tell us, before we went, that the +Russians were carrying on a successful mission to the Japanese (the +liturgy being sung in Russian style in the vernacular), under the +directorship of the Archimandrite Nicolai; and the missionary, +dwelling in the Buriat wilderness, was considerably perturbed because +someone in Japan had been writing a book, attempting to show that +Confucius was greater than Jesus Christ; and as I said that I expected +to pass through Japan, he begged that I would get a copy of the life of +Confucius, and consult with the Archimandrite how the heretical book +might be extinguished. This was the first I heard of the Archimandrite, +but, on reaching Nikolaefsk, I found him exceedingly well spoken of by +a Lieutenant Yakimoff, who gave me a letter to him to deliver on my +arrival in Japan.[2] Accordingly I hoped to see the said Archimandrite +Nicolai, but, before I reached Yokohama, he had returned home to be +consecrated bishop. I therefore thought no more of the matter till +last autumn, when my hopes were singularly and unexpectedly fulfilled, +whilst staying at Kieff on my way to the Caucasus. My companion and I +were trying to find someone in the Pechersky monastery who could speak +English or French. At last appeared with the monks a tall man in a +cassock, dressed like the others, save that his cassock was brown. He +said he could speak English, and, after having taken us round to see +the sights, he inquired of me where I was labouring in England, or, as +he put it, “where I was in service.” I told him, and then asked where +_he_ was “in service.” “Oh,” said he, “very far off.” “Well,” I said, +“where?” “In Japan,” he replied. “Then,” said I, “you must be the +Father Nicolai, to whom I had a letter last year from Siberia, and who +has lately been consecrated bishop.” And so it turned out, and thus we +had casually fallen in each other’s way, thousands of miles from the +place of our expected meeting. I dined with him, and we then parted, +he to continue his return journey to Japan, whilst I pushed forward to +Mount Ararat. + +All this, however, was in the unknown future when we were talking to +the Russian missionary at Koordinska, who regretted that our visit +was so short, and whom we left to continue our journey all night to +Chita. In doing so we traversed hilly roads, and on the following day +had some extended views as we approached the _Yablonoi_, or Apple-tree +Mountains. This range runs in a north-easterly direction, right through +the Za-Baikal province; and when, after gradually rising from Verchne +Udinsk, which is 1,500 feet, we reached the summit of the range, 4,000 +feet above the sea, we were then about 20 miles from Chita. Before us +a well-defined range of mountains bounded the horizon to the east, +while to the north and south the valley stretched away for miles. We +had a fine morning for the descent, and bounding along over a rolling +prairie, where herds of cattle were grazing, had a beautiful view +as we approached the town. Moreover, we were at last on the eastern +side of the great Altai chain, and consequently the rivers before us +differed from all that we had yet seen in Siberia. All the others had +been flowing northwards to be emptied into the Arctic Ocean, whereas in +the river Chita, from the left, joining the Ingoda from the right, the +current was flowing eastward, through a delightful valley, to find its +way, 2,000 miles off, into the Pacific. We had before us now, in fact, +one of the valleys of the head waters of the Amur, of which valley +Baron Rosen says that it is remarkable for its flora, and is called the +“garden of Siberia.” + +Chita stands on the left bank of the Ingoda on a height, bounded on two +sides by lofty mountains. To the north lies Lake Onon, on whose shores +Genghis Khan, as he marched westwards, held his court of justice, and +in whose waters he drowned the condemned. Below this point the Ingoda +is navigable for boats and rafts. During the early years of the Amur +occupation, much material was floated down from Chita. The town was +founded in 1851, when it had a population of 2,600; now it has 3,000. +Many of the houses are large and well fitted, and all are of wood. +We found shops, at which, however, we had to pay 1_s._ a pound for +loaf-sugar, and white bread cost just three times what we had paid for +it at Tobolsk. + +The Governor’s house was the best in the place, and there we presented +our letters. His Excellency, M. Pedashenko, gave us a kind reception. +I had met on the road, at a post-station, the father of Madame +Pedashenko, and he had given me an introduction to his daughter; but +Madame was unwell. The Governor, however, spared no pains to do for us +all he could. On learning that I wished to visit the penal colony and +gold-mines of Kara, he telegraphed that arrangements might be made for +my being conveyed thither; and after this we proceeded to inspect the +prison in the town. Outside the building was a black cart, which might +be placed in a similar category with our old-fashioned English stocks. +Formerly prisoners were taken in this cart to the market-place, and +there exposed as outlaws and felons--their accusation being carried on +the breast, and a notification attached that they had “lost all their +rights.” This punishment was said to be abolished now, but I heard of +its having been used at Blagovestchensk as lately as the previous year. + +The prison at Chita contained 169 prisoners, and cannot, I suppose, +be that in which the 30 Decembrists were confined in 1826; for Baron +Rosen speaks of Chita in his day as a little village of 300 people. At +the time of our visit, they were expecting a new place of confinement +to be built--not a day before it was wanted; for the Chita prison was +apparently the oldest, and I thought it the poorest and dirtiest, we +had seen. The prisoners, too, were shabbily clad, and dirty. One of +them was reading a religious book lent him, I think he said, by the +priest; but there was no prison library. Indeed, it was very rare to +find one, though at Ekaterineburg we were told that a prisoner who +wished to read might have a prayer-book. Several of the Chita prisoners +were from Russia, and condemned to hard labour. There was a carpenters’ +shop, in which some were forced to work, and others did so for their +own pleasure. Speaking generally, those in the building appeared to be +enjoying an easy time; for the doors of the wards were open to allow +their going in and out of the yard as they chose, and many were lying +about sleeping in the sun. We were told that they found it difficult +to sleep at night by reason of vermin, and so were sleeping instead by +day. This illustrates a remark of Goryantchikoff in “Buried Alive,” to +the effect that his prison was never free from fleas even in winter, +and that in summer they increased. In the prison kitchen we saw them +cutting up rhubarb leaves to put in the soup (fresh cabbage not being +ready at the time of our visit), which reminds me of another remark of +Goryantchikoff, who writes as if it were a normal thing with him to +have black-beetles swimming in his soup. His remark about fleas I can +readily believe; but by “black-beetles” I presume he refers to little +brown insects, about half an inch long, called “_Tarakans_,” which +swarm in the houses of the Siberian peasants. Happily, however, they +are non-belligerent, and I was told by an Englishman that the people +are not averse to them. Why they should daily walk into the copper +to be boiled in Mr. Goryantchikoff’s soup, I know not; but one thing +about prison soup I do know, that, in the irregular, uncomfortable (I +was going to say half-starved) condition in which I have sometimes +travelled in certain parts of Russia, I have more than once tasted +prison soup, of which, but for appearance sake, I would fain have +eaten, not a mere spoonful to give my opinion thereon, but a plateful +to satisfy my appetite. I should not have chosen that, however, +seasoned with rhubarb leaves. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It is not unlikely that the iron here alluded to had come from +Petrovsky Zavod, which is about 100 miles south-east of Verchne +Udinsk. These ironworks were established during the reign of Peter +the Great, and at one time were worked by convicts; but, so far as +they are in activity now, free labour, I believe, is employed. This +Zavod was formerly of importance to the locality. The engines for the +first steamers that Russia placed on the Amur were made here. Guns, +also, have been cast and bored by Russian workmen. There is plenty of +coal, too, in the neighbourhood, but it is not much used, as wood is +plentiful. I heard very little of the operations carried on at present, +but it seems that in the whole Trans-Baikal province there were +produced, in 1877, of cast iron 482 tons and of wrought iron 280 tons. +Thirty years ago, Petrovski wrought 18 tons of bar iron annually. + +[2] On my voyage I gathered from a Russian captain that there were +in Japan 7 priests, 95 catechists, and 2,000 members, all of whom, +not excepting even the priests, were converts to the orthodox Russian +Church. In 1876, £1,174 were spent on this mission, which is the only +Pagan mission, as far as I know, that the Russians have in foreign +parts; and they think their Japanese work a great success, for in the +_Oriental Church Magazine_ for March 1880, the Russian editor says: “In +1879 the (Russian) Church in Japan numbered a total of 6,000 members, +an increase of 2,000 having taken place during one year”; and he adds, +“Though the other Christian Churches control over 320 missionaries, +and have in their possession enormous pecuniary means, still our +(Russian) missionaries have succeeded in gaining full and exclusive +control over the northern part of the island of Nipouna, and compete +most successfully with their Roman Catholic and Protestant brethren +in the central part of the island.” “This brilliant success is mainly +attributable to the chief of our Japanese mission, Father Nicolai.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +_THE BURIATS._ + + Country of the Buriats.--Their physiognomy + and costume.--Habitations.--Mongol + yourts.--Hospitality.--Fuel.--Possessions in cattle.--Character + of Buriats.--Their religions.--Buddhist Buriats.--The soul + of Buddha.--The lamas.--Their celibacy, classification, + employments, disabilities.--Buddhist doctrines.--A prayer + cylinder.--Christian Buriats.--English missions.--Reports of + English travellers.--Results of Russian missions.--Distribution of + Buriat Scriptures. + + +Soon after leaving Verchne Udinsk, we entered upon the vast steppe +which occupies a large portion of the Trans-Baikal. Here we found +ourselves in the heart of the Buriats’ country. We first met with +these people a few miles on the western side of Irkutsk, and their +physiognomy at once told us they belonged to a different race from any +we had seen. They have very large skulls, square faces, low and flat +foreheads; the cheek-bones are high and wide apart, the nose flat, eyes +elongated, the skin swarthy and yellowish, and the hair jet black. With +the men the hair is allowed to grow upon the crown of the head, and is +plaited into a queue that hangs down their backs. What remains is cut +close, but not shaved, as with the Tatars. The head-dress of the women +is exceedingly rich, and consists of silver, coral, polished beads of +Ural malachite, and mother-of-pearl. They wear their hair in two thick +braids, which fall from the temples below the shoulders, and the +unmarried girls interweave their braids with strings of coral. Several +women had many silver ornaments hanging on their breasts, and in some +cases a straight rod at the back of the head stuck out horizontally for +several inches on either side, and to this the hair was tied. I was +desirous to purchase one of these head-dresses for a curiosity, but +they were not to be had at shops. The stones and metal are purchased, +and made up by household skill. I was, however, somewhat taken aback +on finding that their value frequently amounted to twenty or thirty +pounds sterling. At a post-station we asked a Buriat what he would +take for his hat. To our surprise, he asked the modest price of fifteen +roubles merely for the silver knob at the top. The Buriats are said to +wear no linen, but a wealthy bride’s dowry sometimes consists of 40 +cases of the richest furs. + +[Illustration: MISS BOU-TA-TYO, A BURIAT YOUNG LADY.] + +As for their habitations, the Buriats are such inveterate dwellers in +tents that though they are supposed now to be civilized where they +come in contact with the Russians, yet they make a tent of the house +by piercing a hole in the middle of the roof, and have the fire in +the centre of the floor. When visiting Madame Tokmakoff, she had a +Buriat man-servant, for whom a Russian house was provided, but in which +he could not be happy until he had thus readjusted his dwelling. We +entered a Buriat house at Cheelantoui, although only the woman was at +home. There was within a rude wooden bench, on which we were invited +to sit, and on it was lying a pair of coral ornaments for the head. +These the woman, on our noticing them, immediately put on, and she then +invited us to drink tea. To have declined would have been considered +highly unpolite. Even among the Russians, a general pleasantly told +me that he took a refusal to eat food in his house like a slap in +the face. Moreover, we were anxious to stand well in the good graces +of our Buriat hostess, for we wished to be admitted to the Buddhist +temple, and she was the only person in the place through whom we could +communicate in Russian with the lamas. But to see the tea served, +and have to drink it, was no small trial. Over the fire hung a large +open iron pot, full of a bubbling liquid covered with scum. In this +was a ladle, which our fair hostess filled and refilled, and emptied +back into the pot. Then, scraping the scum away, she took a ladleful +of the decoction, poured it into cups, and gave us to drink. We were +told it was tea flavoured with salt. I only hope it was nothing worse, +but it will hardly be thought matter for surprise if, after tasting +it, I had an accident, upset the beverage, and declined a second cup. +We had a good look, however, at the furniture of the dwelling, the +most interesting item of which was a family altar, something like a +small sideboard with drawers. On it were round bronze cups of liquor, +and other offerings. There were also about the room some objects of +ornamented metal, betokening clever workmanship. + +This represents the Buriat in his civilized condition. One gets a +better idea of his native habits and antecedents by going away from +the haunts of the Russians, or even into the “land of grass,” as +their Mongolian brothers call their desert. There they live in tents, +which, like those of other Siberian aborigines, are constructed with +poles meeting at the top, but covered with felt instead of deerskins. +The hospitality of all Mongol tribes is unvarying. Every stranger is +welcome, and has the best his host can give; and the more he consumes, +the better will all be pleased. The staple dish of the Mongol yourt +is boiled mutton, but it is unaccompanied with capers, or any other +kind of sauce or seasoning. A sheep “goes to pot” immediately on being +killed, and when the meat is cooked, it is lifted out of the hot water +and handed, all dripping and steaming, to the guests. Each man takes +a large lump on his lap, or any convenient support, and then cuts +off little pieces, which he tosses into his mouth. The best piece is +reserved for the guest of honour, and, as a mark of special attention, +is frequently put into his mouth by the greasy fingers of his host. +After the meat is devoured, the broth is drunk, and this concludes the +meal. Knives and cups are the only aids to eating, and as each man +carries his own “outfit,” the dinner-cloth and service does not take +long to arrange. The entire work consists in seating the party around +a pot of cooked meat. The Buriats are famous at drinking brick tea, +infusing with it rye meal, mutton fat, and salt obtained from the lakes +of the steppe. I suspect it was this we had to taste at Cheelantoui. +So important an article of food is this tea to the Buriats, that +they sometimes lay by stores of it as money. In dry situations, this +substance will remain a long time undeteriorated; and consequently on +the steppe an accumulation of it is often thought a better investment +than herds and flocks. + +In the northern parts, the Buriats procure wood for fuel; but in the +southern parts, and with the Mongols in the desert, this article is +scarce, and they use instead sun-dried camels’ dung, which they call +_argols_, from a Tatar word which signifies the droppings of animals +when dried and prepared for fuel.[1] + +The Buriat implements for striking fire used to be preferred to +European, and commanded a high price among the Russians. They are +made of plates of the best tempered steel, from four to six inches +long, stitched to a bag for holding the tinder, the bag being of red +leather, and tastefully ornamented with silver and steel spangles. The +English and Swedish matches have now driven them out of the Russian +market. + +The ordinary occupation of the Buriats is that of tending cattle, +the number of their herds reminding one of the flocks of the Hebrew +patriarchs. Mr. Stallybrass told me that, when he was living at +Selenginsk, he knew rich Buriats to possess as many as 6,000 or 7,000 +sheep, 2,000 head of horned cattle, and 200 horses; and Captain +Cochrane mentions the case of the mother of a Buriat chief who +possessed 40,000 sheep, 10,000 horses, and 3,000 horned cattle, besides +a large property in furs. In a sparsely-populated country, therefore, a +man’s children are very useful in looking after his cattle; and since +it is necessary to be constantly removing to fresh pastures, it will +be understood that this state of things presented to the missionaries +a double educational difficulty, namely, unwillingness on the part +of the parents to lose their children’s services, and their constant +change of residence. The same difficulty besets those still who would +carry on missionary and educational work among other wandering tribes +of Siberia. The Buriats, in 1876, numbered 260,000--the largest of the +native populations of Eastern Siberia. As yemstchiks we thought them +livelier than the Russians, and there was a manly independence in +their bearing, which easily accounted for the difficulty the Russians +had at first in subjugating them. Moreover, they would seem not to be +deficient in intellectual power, for the English missionaries taught +some of them Latin, and had prepared an elementary work on geometry and +trigonometry in the Buriat language. Baron Rosen also mentions that +they play chess, having learnt it from the Chinese, and he says that +the best player among his comrades, who were Russian officers, having +on one occasion challenged a Buriat to a game, was beaten. The speech +of the Buriats is a dialect of Mongol, rough and unsophisticated, +with Manchu, Chinese, and Turkish corruptions. It is distinguished by +its abundance of guttural and nasal sounds. Instead of true Mongolian +letters they employ the Manchu alphabet, which is written in vertical +columns from the top to the bottom of the page, the lines running from +left to right. The only versions of the Scriptures in the Mongolian +language are those of the Calmuck and Buriat dialects. + +The religion of the Buriats is of three kinds: Shamanism, Buddhism, and +Christianity. Shamanism, more or less like that of the other tribes of +Siberia, would appear to have been their old religion; and it still +lingers most, I presume, in the northern parts of their country, which +are farthest from Buddhist influence. Buddhism, however, holds sway +over by far the greater portion of the people, and was originally +imported from Thibet.[2] + +[Illustration: BURIAT LAMAS AND MONGOLIAN INTERPRETER.] + +The lamas, or priests, are treated with great reverence, and every +Buddhist Buriat desires that one of his family should follow the +priestly calling. Hence it comes to pass that the lamas compose a +sixth--some say a fifth--of the population. When in full dress they +are clothed in scarlet, and shave their heads all over, and their +large ears standing off from the skull give them a curious appearance. +They are supposed to observe the strictest celibacy; hence Mr. Michie +observes that it is a tender point with a lama to be asked how his wife +and family are; but Mr. Erman points out that their celibacy has the +most prejudicial consequences. The use of spirits is forbidden to them, +lest excess “should disorder the brain of the student of the divine +oracles, and corrupt the heart by the bad passions it might engender.” +The use of tobacco also is denied them, and that for one of the best +of reasons against smoking, because “it is conducive to indolence, and +tends to waste leisure hours which ought to be devoted to pursuits +affording instruction as well as amusement.”[3] + +Besides their religious employments the lamas engage in various +branches of ordinary industry, especially in the manufacture of +their own wearing apparel and their ecclesiastical furniture. A lama +labours under one inconvenience, in that he is not allowed to kill +anything, through fear that what he slaughters may contain the soul +of a relative, or possibly that of the divine Buddha. Even when he +is annoyed, says Mr. Knox, by fleas or similar creeping things, with +which their bodies are often thickly populated, he must bear his +infliction until patience is thoroughly exhausted. He may then call +in an unsanctified friend, and place himself and his garments under +thorough examination. So again, in connection with this difficulty +about killing, Captain Shepherd relates an instance in which the lamas +did their best to keep the law and yet evade it at the same time. The +captain, in crossing the desert, had bought a sheep, and was somewhat +in difficulty as to how the animal should be slaughtered. There were +four in the party. The late owner was a lama, and could not take life; +so was the guide; the captain was unwilling to turn butcher, and his +Chinese servant did not know how. The captain would have shot the +animal, but the owner protested. One of the lamas, therefore, took the +sheep aside, threw it down, tied its legs, explained to the Chinaman +the trick, and lent his own knife for the deed to be done, after which +he turned and walked quickly to a distance. When the sheep was once +killed, the lamas soon cut it up, had it cooked, and, of course, helped +to eat it. + +The Buddhist books teach the people that they will attain the highest +wisdom if they honour the lama; that the sun itself rises _only_ that +honour may be rendered to the lamas; and that persons obtain pardon for +the most enormous sins by showing them respect. Any offence against +a lama annihilates the merit acquired by a thousand generations. +Whosoever shows any contempt for these personages is said to be +punished by accident, sickness, and all kinds of misfortunes, and +so forth. One of their Siberian monasteries, or lamaseries, with a +temple, is at Turgutu, midway between Verchne Udinsk and Chita; and I +think I heard of schools there. I have said that we visited a lamasery +at Cheelantoui. It was a small one, consisting of about half-a-dozen +houses, one of which was the temple, where, if I mistake not, they +worship daily at sunset, but into which, unfortunately, we could not +enter, as the chief was absent. There were younger lamas present, some +of them mere boys; but they either could not or would not understand +us, and seemed afraid to grant favours. We saw, however, the praying +machine. It consisted of an upright cylinder, from two to three feet +high, and perhaps two feet in diameter. It was fixed on a pivot, and +could be turned by a rope, to be pulled by the devotee, who secured +by each revolution some thousands of invocations to Buddha. Sometimes +these machines are turned by mechanical power, like a wind or water +mill. This, of course, is easier, and as the quantity of prayer is more +important than the quality, the latter method saves much trouble, and +is popular.[4] + +The Buriats, who are Buddhists, have temples, ritual, an order of +priests, and a considerable literature. With a religion so developed, +it will not be difficult to account for its overcoming the older +Shamanistic creed, nor will it be hard to understand what was told us +by the Ispravnik of Selenginsk,--that of the two religions among the +Buriats, with whom the Russian missionaries come in contact, they find +the conversion of the Shaman Buriats tolerably easy, but the Buddhists +are greatly opposed to Christianity. + +We now come to that part of the Buriat people who are Christian. +Perhaps it was an inquiry into the false religion of Buddha, under +which so many millions of the human race are deluded, or perchance +only a timid belief in the power of their own creed, that led our +early travellers in Siberia, with one exception, to look coldly and +unbelievingly on the efforts of the English mission to the Buriats; in +connection with which the thought arises for how little the heathen +world would have to thank the Christianity of England, if there +were not some who take a more believing view than the travellers +who go abroad, looking in a superficial way at what is being done, +or sometimes not looking at all, and then coming home to pronounce +missions a failure or an imposture. Captain Cochrane, for instance, +speaking of the missionaries at Selenginsk, goes so far as to say, “For +my own part, so small are my hopes of their success, that I do not +expect any one Buriat will be really and truly converted.”[5] + +I have shown, however, that the English missionaries laid a solid +foundation, taught several scholars, and translated the Scriptures, +which translation the Russian missionaries have in their hands to-day; +and whatever may have been the success or failures of the English, it +certainly cannot be said of the Russian missionaries that they have no +converts, for, such as they are, they count them by thousands. + +The Ispravnik at Selenginsk told me there were about 40 men engaged in +nine districts in the Russian mission to the Buriats, though I am not +aware whether some of them are not also parish priests. We called upon +a priest at Verchne Udinsk to ask about the matter, and sold him some +New Testaments and Gospels. He informed us that there were 15 mission +stations among them, and that on the eastern side of Lake Baikal there +were baptized annually about 300 Buriats, and on the western side more +than 1,000. This was confirmed by the missionary upon whom we called +further on, and it agrees tolerably with the general almanack of 1878, +in which it is stated that in the Irkutsk diocese there were baptized, +in the previous year, 1,505 of both sexes, including four Buriat lamas; +though the number of converts given for the Trans-Baikal diocese for +that year amounted to only 52, there being one lama to every 20 persons. + +We had brought with us a number of copies of the Buriat Scriptures. +Some of these we left at Irkutsk, some with the Ispravniks of +Selenginsk and Troitzkosavsk, and some for the lamasery of Cheelantoui. +Others we left at Chita with a view to spreading them over the +district, as well as placing them in the prisons. I asked the Ispravnik +at Selenginsk what he thought the lamas would do with the books. He +said he thought they would first read them and then destroy them; but +Mr. Stallybrass, on my return, was of opinion that they were likely +to be deterred from destroying them by a feeling that they were +holy books. In any case we gave the copies we had brought, and thus +endeavoured to do what little we could for this interesting people, +who, I doubt not, will gradually be absorbed into the Russian Church. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The collecting, pounding, moulding, and drying of dung is, further +south, an important branch of commerce. Argols are of four classes. +In the first rank are the argols of goats and sheep, which make so +fierce a fire that a bar of iron placed therein is soon brought to a +white heat. The argols of camels constitute the second class; they burn +easily, and throw out a fine flame, but the heat they give is less +intense than that given by the preceding. The third class comprises +the argols of the bovine species; these, when thoroughly dry, burn +readily, and produce no smoke. Lastly come the argols of horses and +other animals, which, not having undergone the process of rumination, +present nothing but a mass of straw more or less triturated. They are +soon consumed, but are useful for lighting a fire. This fuel is called +_kiseek_ in Russia, and in the southern governments was the only kind +available for the poorer inhabitants, wood being very scarce and dear. +The discovery of coal, and the establishment of manufactories, has +wrought a complete change in the means of heating in Ekaterinoslaf. +Kiseek was made from the dung of cattle and sheep, laboriously trodden +under foot by women, and then sun-dried. + +[2] At Lhassa, the capital of Thibet, dwells the _Dalai Lama_, who is +the head of the Buddhist religion; and though his followers acknowledge +him to be mortal, they believe his soul to be an immediate emanation +from the essence of their supreme deity, Buddha. In places where this +worship prevails are found religious communities gathered round the +temples dedicated to the rites of their faith, and monasteries, or, +as they are called, _lamaseries_, containing the various orders of +priests. It was one of these we visited at Cheelantoui. When the great +lama dies, it is held that his spirit immediately enters the body of +another human being, who thus becomes successor to all the rights and +privileges held by his predecessor, and some little difficulty often +occurs in discovering who may be the favoured individual; but as the +priests are the chief actors in the scene, their search is generally +successful. Commonly the spirit is recognized as having animated some +new-born infant, who is at once taken to the religious establishment +and educated by the lamas in the mysteries of their faith. + +[3] The lamas are divided into four classes. Those of the first are +occupied with the study of doctrine, and with the tenets and mysteries +of their faith; those of the second with the regulation of certain +religious rites and ceremonies; those of the third busy themselves in +the study and direction of their worship; the fourth class study and +practise medicine, in which it would appear that some of them attain +eminence, for when we arrived at Kiakhta we found Mr. Tokmakoff, on +account of his health, was gone to Urga, the Mongolian capital, to be +near a native doctor. + +[4] Inside the cylinder is placed the oft-used prayer of the Buddhist, +“_Om mani padme houm_,” of which a Russian near the monastery said the +meaning was _Gospodi pomilui_,--_i.e._, “Lord, have mercy upon us!” +Its real meaning, however, does not appear to be very clear. Klaproth +understood it to mean, “_O the gem in the lotus. Amen!_” and Huc +paraphrases it into, “_O that I may obtain perfection, and be absorbed +in Buddha. Amen._” The lamas assert that the doctrine contained in +the marvellous words is immense, and that the whole life of man is +insufficient to measure its depth and extent. At Lhassa the formula +is heard from every mouth--is everywhere visible in the streets, in +the interior of the houses, and on every flag and streamer floating +over the buildings, printed in Tatar and Thibetan characters. Certain +rich and zealous Buddhists even entertain, at their own expense, +companies of lamas for the propagation of the _mani_; and these strange +missionaries, chisel and hammer in hand, traverse field, mountain, +and desert to engrave the sacred formula on the stones and rocks they +encounter in their path. There was a stone with inscriptions, in the +temple yard at Cheelantoui; and I found other stones, bearing the +_mani_, on the supposed site of a temple at Tyr, on the Lower Amur. + +[5] He does, indeed, afterwards allow that what is impossible with man +is possible with God; but goes on to insinuate that the missionaries +knew of the uselessness of their work, but that they had “too +comfortable a berth to be given up,” and then he thinks, forsooth, +that justice is not done to the people of England in so squandering +money, etc., etc. Mr. Atkinson contented himself with a passing +compliment to the character of the missionaries, and said that they +were unable to make converts among the Buriats; whilst Mr. Hill, who +visited Selenginsk, records that, “notwithstanding all their labours, +not a single Buriat had been converted by them”; and then he quotes +the testimony of a lady living on the spot, who said, “The missions +only failed because the undertaking was beyond the power of man to +accomplish unaided by more than his own genius. The missionaries +had all the zeal and perseverance of the Apostles, but they wanted +their power of working miracles, or the aid of some such startling +circumstances as the history of religious revolutions has often +presented to us, and without which all efforts at all times to convert +the Buriats will be equally fruitless.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +_SIBERIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS._ + + The Za-Baikal a natural prison.--“Decembrists” of + 1825.--Misapprehensions respecting political prisoners.--The + story of Elizabeth.--Vindictive foreign writers.--Palpable + misstatements.--Misleading information.--Dostoyeffsky’s “Buried + Alive.”--Rosen’s “Russian Conspirators.”--Present condition + of political prisoners.--Testimony of Poles.--Treatment + of an attempted regicide.--The number of “politicals” + exaggerated.--Calculations concerning them.--Their mode of + transport.--Paucity of statistics accounted for. + + +The Trans-Baikal province, east of the “Holy Sea,” was, until within +the past 30 years, a _cul-de-sac_, to which the gravest of political +offenders were commonly deported. It lay outside the two great routes +of Siberian travel. The traveller to the Pacific, by way of the Lena, +left the province on his right; the merchant going to Kiakhta passed it +on his left. There was, indeed, a road running through the province, +but it might be said to lead to nowhere. It was, moreover, a country +from which a prisoner found it difficult to escape. If he went to the +north he came to enormous forests, in which, though he might find +berries in summer, he could not live in winter. Southwards he was +hemmed in by the Mongolian desert. The road eastwards brought him to +a river, down which, if he could float 2,000 miles and escape the +jealous Chinese, he might reach the Pacific; or, again, if he turned +to the west, and rounded or crossed the Baikal lake, he was likely to +be caught in the neighbourhood of Irkutsk; and lastly, in whatever +direction he went, there was a price on his head that could be claimed +by any Buriat who chose to make him his prisoner, and bring him to the +authorities either dead or alive. + +There was also another reason, which, in the eyes of the Government, +made the Za-Baikal a suitable place in which to confine the worst +offenders; for the province is rich in silver and gold, and gems +are found in its mountains. It provided a place, therefore, where +they could segregate disturbing elements of society, exact enforced +labour from their convicts, and to some extent mitigate the cost of +keeping them by the value of the minerals obtained. Consequently “the +silver-mines of Nertchinsk” has long been an expression, at the mention +of which the ears of Russians tingle; and so it was with the prisons of +Chita and Petrovski,--connected in their minds with political exiles, +and especially with certain of them called “Decembrists,” who in +December 1825 tried to raise revolt among the soldiers of Nicolas, and +deprive him of his throne. + +The mines of Nertchinsk and Kara will be treated of in subsequent +chapters. I purpose to speak in this, not of political exiles with +their families and descendants generally, but of the condition of +_political prisoners_, past and present, and of certain buildings in +which some of them have been confined. That there exists a great deal +of exaggeration and misapprehension in England, on the Continent, and +in America respecting the number, misery, and degradation of Russian +political prisoners I am persuaded; nor is this hard to account for +if regard be had to the character of the books which profess to give +information upon the subject. + +Let us begin, for instance, with the touching story of “Elizabeth; or, +the Exiles of Siberia,” by Madame de Cottin, to whose work many English +persons are indebted for nearly all they know of Siberia. The book so +far resembles the truth that, in 1799, a young girl of 18, the only +daughter of a Russian exiled officer, Proscovie Lopouloff, formed the +project of asking forgiveness for her parents, for which purpose she +left Ischim, near Tobolsk, with a few roubles in her pocket, walked +in 18 months 2,000 miles to the capital, was presented, and obtained +her petition, the real account of which is told by Xavier de Maistre +in “La Jeune Sibérienne.” But Madame de Cottin imported a love-match +into the story, and produced one of the most popular books of her day, +depicting, however, a narrative for which she had to rely largely upon +her imagination for many details. She paints a picture of Siberian +exile life very different from anything I ever heard, saw, or read of +in the country itself. Her mistakes, however, were the mistakes such as +any foreign author might easily commit in laying the scene of a story +in a country then almost unknown. + +Less excuse can be made for later writers (some of them escaped or +released convicts), who, trading upon the credulity and ignorance +of the public, have retailed and garnished accounts of horrible +severities, which they neither profess to have witnessed, nor +attempt to support by adequate testimony. In one of these books, by +Alexander Hertzen, published in 1855, the author naïvely says in the +preface that, having written in London a work, entitled “Prison and +Exile,” which met with success, he decided to write another volume. +He accordingly did so, and had the audacity to call it “My Exile in +Siberia”; whereas, on reading the book, we find that he was not exiled +to Siberia at all, but simply banished for awhile to Perm, which is +in Russia in Europe! Again we have, in De Lagny’s “Knout and the +Russians,” published in 1854, a tirade against Russia all through, in +which words bad enough can hardly be found to vilify its army, navy, +nobility, and clergy; whilst in the following year was published +“Recollections of Russia by a German Nobleman,” in which he states +that, for prisoners, water was drawn up green from the filthiest canal +in Petersburg; and, as if that were too little, he adds that, after +being knouted, the prisoners had to drink their own blood! + +The books quoted thus far are mostly foreign productions, which have +been translated into English; but within the past three years has +been published in London a book called “The Russians of To-day,” by +the author of “The Member for Paris,” and dedicated to the Duke of +Sutherland, which gives the following account of a Russian prison (page +86):-- + +“A Russian gaol is not built on any wasteful plan of keeping prisoners +warm and comfortable. A black, mouldy house, situate in one of the +slums of the town, it is guarded by a dozen corp-headed soldiers, and +has a painted escutcheon with the Imperial double-headed eagle over the +gate. There is a whipping-post in the front yard. Thieves, murderers, +boys, lunatics, women, are all huddled together in a room of foul +stenches, warmed by a stove, and the only food served out to them is +a pound of black bread in the morning, and a mess of rancid soup at +mid-day. The sexes are separated at night.” + +Now as there will appear to be a great difference between this account +and what has been stated in my chapters on Siberian prisons, I think it +only right to say that I have visited Russian houses of detention from +the White Sea in the north to the Black Sea and the Persian frontier +in the south, and from Warsaw in the west to the Pacific in the east, +but have never yet seen a Russian prison such as fairly answers to +the description given above. My experience would place prisons in the +suburbs rather than the “slums” of towns; and as for their atmosphere, +I may safely say that the air I breathed in the worst Russian prison +was incomparably better than that I had temporarily to endure in +some of the peasants’ houses, or which may be inhaled in many of the +post-houses. The “one pound of black bread” should be multiplied by +two and a half or three, and in some cases _four_; and as for “the +whipping-post,” I have seen such a thing in English and in American +prisons, but not in Russia. The “_kobyla_,” or “mare,” used in flogging +with the “_plète_” in _Siberia_, will be described further on; and I +do not deny that in Russia there may be _some_ instrument to which +those to be birched are fastened, but I have never seen one, though I +have usually made a point of asking concerning the mode of corporal +punishment. + +Again, the same author says (page 217):-- + +“The convicts are forwarded to Siberia in convoys, which start at the +commencement of spring, just after the snows have melted and left the +ground dry. They perform the _whole_ journey on foot, escorted by +_mounted_ Cossacks, who are armed with pistols, _lances_, and long +_whips_; and behind them jolt a long string of springless tumbrils, +to carry those who fall lame or ill on the way. The start is _always_ +made in the night, and care is taken that the convoys shall only pass +through the towns on their road _after dark_. Each man is dressed in a +grey kaftan, having a _brass numbered plate_ fastened to the _breast_, +_knee_ boots, and a _sheepskin_ bonnet. He carries a _rug_ strapped to +his back, a mess-tin, and a wooden spoon at his girdle. The women have +black cloaks with hoods, and march in gangs by _themselves_, with an +escort of soldiers like the men, and two or three female _warders_, who +travel in carts. + +“In leaving large cities like Petersburg, _all_ the prisoners are +chained with their hands _behind their backs_; but their fetters are +removed outside the city, except in the case of men who have been +marked as dangerous. These have to wear leg-chains of 4 lbs. weight all +the way; and some of the more desperate ones are yoked by threes to +a _beam of wood_, which rests on their shoulders, and is fastened to +their necks by iron collars.” + +The author then goes on to say that “Nihilist conspirators, patriotic +Poles, and young student girls, are all mixed up, and tramp together +with the criminals.” + +The words I have italicised (of which there are 23 in 26 lines) +involve, in many cases, palpable misstatements. In others they are +blunders, or are, at all events, open to serious question. As in the +case of Madame de Cottin (only with less innocence), a very free rein +has been here given to the imagination. The avoiding of towns by day, +the brass plate on the breast (instead of a piece of yellow _cloth_ +on the _back_), the accompanying female warders, and the chaining of +men’s hands behind their backs, are _blunders_ utterly inexcusable; +and as for the mounted Cossacks with whips, and the “beams of wood” +on some of the exiles’ necks--_if_ the Cossacks were _mounted_, they +would naturally have whips as part of their accoutrements, as they do +even when riding behind the carriage of the Emperor, but the “beam +of wood” is a pure invention. I never saw, heard, or read of such an +instrument. Upon these last two points, however, to correct my own +opinion if wrong, I spoke to an Englishman living in a town through +which pass all the Siberian exiles. He has lived there many years, and +has seen exiles from Perm to Kiakhta, and under all conditions. He +tells me, however, that he _never_ saw this wooden collar, and never +saw soldiers with whips to conduct exiles; and he added, further, that +he had never witnessed them using exiles improperly or unfairly. Thus +it will be seen that some of the information offered to the public +respecting Russian exiles is open to more than suspicion of grave +misrepresentation. + +But there is yet a third class of books which, in detailing past +horrors, leads public opinion astray, not so much by saying what is +absolutely untrue, as by omitting to point out that since the horrors +they relate were enacted, the law has been altered, and that they +are now a thing of the past. Englishmen would think themselves very +unfairly dealt with if a foreigner, having seen an old pair of stocks +in an English village, appealed to this as proof that persons are +still exposed therein; or if he hunted up stories of Tyburn, with +accounts of gibbeted felons hung, drawn, and quartered, or pilloried +criminals with slit noses and cropped ears, and then represented this +as the existing state of things, or left his readers so to infer. This +would be very similar to the treatment Russia receives at the hands of +prejudiced and careless writers now-a-days, as will be seen more fully +hereafter when we speak of the mines. + +To keep, however, for the present, to books about prisons, and to +mention one more which has appeared in English dress during the +present year--namely, Dostoyeffsky’s “Buried Alive; or, Ten Years’ +Penal Servitude in Siberia,” to which I naturally turned with interest +as it was written by a Russian. I was struck at the outset with the +significant fact that the reader is not properly informed as to places +and dates. The introduction sets forth that a certain Alexander +Petrovitch Goryantchikoff died, after whose death there was found +among his papers a bundle of manuscripts, which the editor, Feodor +Dostoyeffsky, thought would interest the public. But scarcely a word is +dropped to inform the reader when the events referred to took place, +and he is left to form the very natural conclusion that he is reading +of things as they now exist. My suspicions being aroused, I put on my +best critical spectacles to discover, if possible, _where_ the events +happened, and _when_. The writer mentions having been in Tobolsk, +and says that his prison was near the banks of the Irtish. Now there +was, and perhaps is, a prison on the banks of the Irtish at Tara, the +same from which Rufin Pietrowski made his escape; and at first I was +disposed to think this was the place of Goryantchikoff’s captivity, +but two subsequent allusions gave me additional light: one, that in +the prison was a Jew who went out in the town to a _synagogue_; and +another, that on some prisoners running away the _Governor-General_ +was told of it. Now, assuming that the Governor-General was living in +the town, then the only prison situate on the banks of the Irtish, in +a town with a synagogue and the residence of a Governor-General, would +be Omsk, and here accordingly I adjudged my man as to his _place_. +Then as for the _date_. The writer speaks of prisoners’ chains made of +“four iron rods, the size of the finger, connected by three rings and +worn under the trousers.” I saw none like these. All we saw had small +_links_, and hence I assumed that the chains described must have been +of an old-fashioned pattern of former days, and I have since learnt +that chains such as the man describes were seen on a prisoner going +to the Caucasus in 1842. Next he speaks a good deal of flogging, and +mentions the running of a prisoner down “the green lane,” that is, +between two rows of soldiers, each of whom gave the culprit a stroke +with a stick. But this method of punishment has long been abolished in +Russia; and, finally, the writer, when speaking of his conversation +with a fellow-prisoner, happens to use this sentence: “I explained to +him Napoleon’s position, adding that he might, perhaps, some day become +Emperor of the French.” Taking, therefore, these three _data_, that +Napoleon became Emperor in 1851, that the flogging of the description +mentioned was abolished not later than 1860, and the old pattern of the +chains, I came to the conclusion that the story must represent events +at least 30 years old; and I have since heard that it was about as +long ago the book appeared in Russia. Now, of course, the translation +might not have sold so well had readers been informed that it treats of +a state of things more than a quarter of a century old; yet, no doubt, +so candid a statement would have prevented many from forming false +opinions respecting the present state of Siberian prisons.[1] + +But Goryantchikoff’s, it should be remembered, is a picture of a +convict prison for _criminals_, and not for _political_ prisoners, who +are treated as a class by themselves,--so much so that they are sent +to Siberia, not usually walking, under the charge of Cossacks, but +driving furiously under guard of gendarmes; and if they need to lodge +at an ordinary prison, they are kept in special rooms, and so jealously +watched that frequently I was not allowed to approach the inspection +hole so much as to look at them. It may be that when they reach their +destination they have, in some cases, to work outdoors in company with +criminals. I think I met one case of this at Kara, but even he, in the +prison, was kept apart. + +Probably the best, and, as far as I know, the only book in English +which gives the description by an eye-witness of life in a _political_ +prison is “Russian Conspirators in Siberia,” by Baron R(osen). He +relates his taking part in the attempt to incite the soldiers to revolt +on the accession of Nicolas in 1825, and how he was condemned with +120 comrades, large numbers of whom were counts, barons, princes, and +some of the very flower of the Russian nobility. About 30 were at once +transported to Chita. There they remained until a new prison was built +expressly to contain them all at Petrovski, near Verchne Udinsk, at +which place are the ironworks already alluded to. In these two places +of confinement the Baron spent six years. I do not remember that he +ever speaks of one of his comrades being thrashed. The Russian law, +even in those days, held exempt from corporal punishments every noble, +not only during his trial, but after his condemnation. The wearing of +chains was included among corporal punishments, and it was forbidden to +put them on nobles going into exile; but the law appears to have been +set aside in the case of some of the Decembrists. The Baron describes +their labour as that of digging and grinding corn in hand-mills. One +of their first occupations was to dig the foundations for their new +prison. “Every day,” the Baron writes, “except Sundays and holy days, +the non-commissioned officer on guard entered early in the morning with +the call of ‘Gentlemen, to work!’ In general we set out with songs +on our lips and energy in our hearts; no constraint was used towards +us.” He gives likewise a vivid picture of their amusements and their +studies. Playing-cards they might have had through the warders, but +they wisely passed their word to each other not to allow card-playing, +in order to prevent any cause of unpleasantness or dissension. Chess +was their sole amusement between the time of work and sleep, and they +formed among themselves a company of singers, which cheered many a sad +hour. Some of them endeavoured, by study, further to improve their +minds. One learnt not only Latin and Greek, but also eight modern +languages; and it says much for the high education of the prisoners +that this proficient found an instructor in each of the languages +among his comrades, one of whom was still living, not many years ago, +at Petrovsky Zavod, and lent my informant several books from what was +the Decembrist library. They had, too, a room in which they practised +the piano, the flute, the flageolet, the violin, and guitar. The most +touching part of the book, however, recounts the arrival of some of +the prisoners’ wives. Every effort short of absolute denial had been +employed to prevent these noble ladies from expatriating themselves. +Their heroic determination wrung tears from the eyes of the officials +who had in vain dissuaded them. These ladies were compelled to resign +their titles, and were warned that they would not be permitted to +return. Several of them, notwithstanding, gave up all to be allowed to +join their husbands, and in so doing covered their names with undying +lustre in the annals of Russian history. They were allowed to live with +or near their husbands, and several had children, two of whom--a lady +and a gentleman--I have met in Europe. The Baron’s book nowhere stoops +to invective or misrepresentation; on the contrary, he acknowledges +“there was reason enough for our having been treated thus”; but at +the same time he tells a sad story, which is all the more touching +because told so calmly, of what he and his comrades suffered. He was +at length allowed to return to his home in Esthonia, in 1839, after 14 +years’ imprisonment and exile. About 500 non-commissioned officers and +soldiers, I am told, were sent to Omsk and different places, where they +were by far less well treated than their superior officers under whom +they had rebelled.[2] + +I have thus spoken of the political or State prison at Petrovski, +which, as far as I know, is the only building there has ever been +in Siberia that could with propriety be called a State prison for +political offenders. It was burnt down many years ago, and has not +been rebuilt. Of the prison at Chita, and the accommodation for +political prisoners at Kara, mention will be made hereafter. Meanwhile +it should be borne in mind we have been speaking of events which +happened about half a century ago. + +We now pass from the condition of political prisoners as they _were_ +to treat of political prisoners as they _are_. I shall speak of those +with whom I was brought in contact and with whom I conversed, and will +put the worst case first. It is that of a Pole, who was concerned +in the insurrection of 1863, at which time he was a student for the +Roman priesthood, and, under cover of his clerical garb, had busied +himself in procuring arms and provisions for the Polish rebels. On +the suppression of the insurrection he fled from the country, but was +foolish enough to return, six years afterwards, by permission, he +said, of the Emperor; and within three days was taken, and, without +trial, sent to a prison at Oriel for a year. After this he was sent to +Irkutsk, and there learned that he was condemned for eight years to the +mines, at which he arrived in 1871, having been a year on the route +from Tiumen. He had 20 Polish companion exiles, some of whom were in +irons, though his clerical character saved him from this degradation. +The Polish party travelled by themselves as far as Tobolsk, beyond +which they were sometimes compelled to walk and lodge with criminal +prisoners, who robbed my informant of 300 roubles, which his mother +had sewn at the back of his coat collar. He complained that some of +the prison officers were great despots; in illustration of which he +stated how, whilst they were at Nijni Udinsk, some of the prisoners +having escaped at night, the governor of the jail procured rods from +the neighbouring woods and birched the rest of them, I suppose on the +ground of aiding and abetting the escape of the others. The 21 Poles, +however, were not in the ward from which the escape was made, and this +they urged, but apparently to no purpose, for the governor seemed to +have been enraged beyond bounds, and in some cases to have used, not +only rods, but the plète and clubs. My informant declared that of the +300 Russians and 21 Poles thus treated, 17 subsequently died, though he +could not give me any satisfactory evidence as to how, after leaving +the place, he got this information; but the affair must have been +serious (though abnormal), for, on arriving at Irkutsk they presented +a petition to the governor, an inquiry was instituted (especially as +regards the Poles), and the violent prison official was telegraphed +for, and himself incarcerated, though how punished my informant did not +know. He also complained that one of his companions was badly treated +on the road, being lame, and yet made to hurry along. + +When, however, the Polish cleric arrived at the mines, he did not +appear to have once worked in them, as the chief made him his cook, +exchanged his prison allowance for five roubles a month, and fed and +lodged him thus for six years, after which the remaining two years +were remitted on the score of good conduct. He was afterwards located +in a small village in the Za-Baikal, but had obtained permission to +live elsewhere, and when I met him he was respectably dressed, and +apparently earning a good livelihood. Thus my informant’s _gravamina_, +as regarded himself, were not so heavy as it might have been feared. +He said, indeed, that four or five letters reached him at the mines, +informing him that money was enclosed, which he never received. + +He had more to say of the way in which some of his fellow-prisoners +were treated, to which I shall allude when speaking hereafter of the +mines.[3] + +I did, it is true, meet another Pole who complained, though I do not +know whether he was a political or a criminal offender, but I have +already referred to him and the information he gave me respecting the +prison at Irkutsk. There was a third Pole, also a student, banished +after the insurrection of 1863, whom we met in the streets of Atchinsk, +who looked very gloomy, and spoke in a very dispirited and dissatisfied +manner; but he was free, having his wife and children with him, and he +named no one particular cause of complaint. Still, I have mentioned +these cases fully, though they seem somewhat opposed to the opinion +I have stated, that there exists a great deal of misapprehension +respecting the number, misery, and degradation of Russian political +prisoners. + +The severest case of punishment of a political prisoner I met with +was that of, I think, a Nihilist, at Kara, who had daily to go to +work in the gold-mines; but, on returning, he had a room to himself, +some of his own furniture, fittings, and books, one of which was on +political economy. His wife lived in the neighbourhood, and could see +him lawfully, and bring him food at frequent intervals; and it was +not difficult for her to see him unlawfully, for just in front of his +window passed the public road, where she could stand and talk to him +with ease. + +I met in Siberia one political prisoner whose case was more surprising, +perhaps, than any I have mentioned. It was that of a man who had been +concerned in one of the attempts upon the life of the late Emperor. He +was sentenced to the mines, and no doubt popular imagination pictured +him chained, and tormented to within an inch of his life; whereas I +found him confined indeed, but only to the neighbourhood, and dressed, +if I remember rightly, in a tweed suit, looking highly presentable, +and engaged in a way that I purposely avoid naming, but which did not +necessitate the soiling of his fingers. Again, I had two opportunities +of speaking to upper-class prisoners in French, which the authorities +accompanying me did not understand; therefore these men had no reason +to fear speaking out plainly. One was a political prisoner; concerning +the other I am not sure; but I asked them both whether they had any +cause of complaint in the prison regimen. The first said the only +thing he thought unjust was that he was not allowed to smoke, which +one of my exile informants deems incredible, since at Nertchinsk, +when, for insubordination, they were deprived of meat, milk, and tea, +for weeks, they were still allowed to smoke, as a supposed preventive +against scurvy. The man, moreover, in the neighbouring cell--a fat +man--a defaulting post-master, a drunkard and a gambler, who would have +made an admirable Falstaff, was smoking, and I should not wonder if +by this time the grievance is mended. The second man, a doctor, said +that he had been taken about from place to place, and did not know his +destination, though he thought it would be Irkutsk, but that he had +nothing to complain of. + +Supposing, then, that these instances throw any light upon the misery +and alleged degradation of political prisoners, I have yet to offer +some remarks upon their supposed numbers--that is, the average number +banished annually at the time of my visit--for I do not profess here +to deal with those sent into exile after the Polish insurrection of +1863, with their families and descendants, nor of Nihilists deported +since the assassination of the late Emperor. Mr. Whyte, in his “Land +Journey from Asia to Europe,” says: “It is calculated that in Eastern +Siberia alone there are at least from 30,000 to 40,000 _Polish +political_ exiles, but they are kept in different portions for fear +of disturbances, a great many having to work in the mines.” Now let +us suppose for the moment that these figures are something like the +truth, then let us add to this calculation for Eastern Siberia, whither +are banished the gravest offenders, at least twice as many for Western +Siberia, whither are sent those losing particular rights only; and this +will give, say, 120,000 Polish political exiles in the whole country. +Let us further suppose that they represent the surviving total of 30 +years’ deportations, not including, of course, their families and +descendants. Then this gives a yearly influx to Siberia of 4,000 Polish +_political_ exiles! Now from statistics given me in Warsaw last autumn, +taken from the report sent to the Emperor, it appeared that the total +number of Polish _criminal_ prisoners sent to Siberia in the year I +passed through (1879) was 898; and last year, up to September, the +number, as I had it straight from the prison books, was 270. Supposing, +then, the politicals to number one-tenth of the criminals (which I +judge far too great a proportion), it would give less than one-fortieth +of the numbers quoted by Mr. Whyte respecting Polish political exiles. + +I base my opinion, however, mainly upon other calculations, such +as these: the prisoners must sometimes be lodged, permanently or +temporarily, as they go to their destinations. But it has been already +stated that there is now no building in Siberia answering to a State +prison, and further that political prisoners, when confined, are kept +not only apart from criminals, but as far as possible from one another. +I fail to see, then, where all these multitudes are to be properly +lodged, as at Tiumen, for instance, whilst they wait for the arrival of +the steamer, or at other prisons where they may have to stop, but in +none of which we found more than a very few separate chambers--always +less, I think, than 20. Again, another difficulty is presented by the +possibilities of separate conveyance for so large a number. It is not +very long since that 78 political exiles passed through Tiumen, a town +where, in summer, from 500 to 700 criminals pass through weekly; but +these 78 politicals excited such a commotion that there was a general +“turn out” to look at them; and the manager of the steamboat was at his +wits’ end to know how properly to convey them; for political prisoners +are not now sent, I am informed, in the common prisoners’ barges. +To give each man a cabin was impossible; to put two in a cabin was +unlawful; and so they compromised the matter by putting husbands and +wives together. But, if a batch of 78 made all this commotion, what +would the annual passing through of 4,000 _politicals_ do? + +Again, Kara, I was told, was a special place for political offenders, +and I saw and heard of more there than in any other prison. They had, +at the time of my visit, 2,458 prisoners of all sorts, all of whose +crimes were given me duly tabulated, with the exception of 73, which +came under the heading “_various_.” Now, supposing all these 73 were +political offenders (and I have not the least reason for thinking +they were, but) even then the proportion of politicals would be only +one-thirtieth of the criminals. + +Once more: a recent correspondent of the _Gaulois_ for 30th September, +1881, describing the last occasion on which he saw the exiled +Tchernichewsky at Kadaya, near Nertchinsk, just after the news had been +received of the assassination of President Lincoln, says, “At this time +the number of (Russian?) political prisoners was not great; they might +easily be counted.... I believe there were not 20 of them; if mistaken, +I may certainly affirm there were not 50.” This scrap of information +has come to hand very opportunely, for I have reason to believe that +it may be relied on, and Nertchinsk was the only other district for +political prisoners concerning which, until a few days ago, I did not +feel satisfactorily informed. + +Lastly, the summer of 1879 was supposed to be a very heavy one for the +transport of Nihilists and revolutionary offenders. It was just after +one of the attempts on the late Emperor’s life, and Petersburg was put +under a military governor. The _Daily Telegraph_, on the 2nd June, +informed its readers, as I have said before, that “a large number of +convicts were about to be despatched to Saghalien from Odessa, the +service which provides for the ordinary transportation of criminals to +Siberia being already overtaxed.” We were therefore traversing Siberia +at a time and under circumstances particularly favourable for knowing +the real condition of things; and as we went along the only route by +which these exiles could possibly travel to Eastern Siberia, it might +have been expected that we should see or hear something of them. The +numbers, however, with whom we were brought in contact on the outward +journey could easily have been counted on our fingers; and if it should +seem that, having started early in the season, we had travelled in +advance of them, then my interpreter, who returned from the Amur, had +the opportunity of meeting them, or hearing of them, as he went back. +As a matter of fact, however, he met, between the Amur and the Urals, +three special convoys only. The first contained one prisoner, who said +he was going to Kara; the next consisted of seven vehicles, each of +which contained a soldier on the box, and a gendarme at the side of the +prisoner; and the third convoy consisted of 21 vehicles, each filled in +like manner. Thus, excepting the 78, or the possible 73 just mentioned, +the total number we met or _definitely_ heard of all across Asia, both +in going and returning, did not amount, I should think, to 50. + +I write, then, under correction, and shall be glad to be set right if I +am wrong; but I must now leave it to my readers to judge whether or not +the considerations brought forward are such as to justify my opinion +respecting the number, degradation, and misery of political prisoners. +I have few statistics on the point, from the fact that political +offenders are treated as belonging to a special department, and are +unconnected with the ordinary sources from which I obtained my figures. +This I did not know until I had left European Russia, and hence my +inability to give other than general reasons. My impression, therefore, +is that the greater number of the political exiles either go to prison +only for a short time, or not at all, and are then placed in villages +and towns. They are then expected to get their living. (I have recently +heard that, at the time of the burning of Krasnoiarsk, there were 40 +living free in the town.) + +This they do in a variety of ways. Some are teachers of languages, +some are tradesmen, and some are photographers. We met, for instance, +two exile photographers at Tobolsk. As strangers we had, of course, no +means of identifying exiles from other people, though we were sometimes +brought into contact with them, from the fact that many of the Poles +speak French. Moreover, as the question of prison and exiles was, so +to say, my speciality, I was always glad, when opportunity presented +itself, to converse with them directly rather than get my information +translated. A stranger, however, who believes every exile who calls +himself a “political,” may easily be misled. To be a “political” +prisoner in Siberia is to be more or less of a gentleman, and many try +thus to pass themselves off. Mr. Ashton Dilke, M.P., who travelled some +years ago in Southern Siberia, and spoke Russian, has told me that, +on asking gangs of convicts if they had any politicals or “gentlemen” +prisoners among them, they usually said “No”; and that, in the case +of one man who imposed upon him and tried to palm himself off as a +“political,” the Governor showed Mr. Dilke the man’s papers, which +described him as a criminal, a thief, etc. + +In Irkutsk I met an exile who told me he was a captain, and had been +banished for a duel, which no doubt he thought a respectable crime; +but, upon my repeating it to others who knew the man, they said he was +a forger. Looking, however, at the political prisoners I saw in the +separate rooms of the various prisons, at those with whom I came into +personal contact, those pointed out to me, and those of whom mention +was made as living in the towns through which we passed, I think that, +if I had been commissioned to give a sovereign to each, 50 coins would +have sufficed for the purpose. It is not pretended, of course, that a +lover of statistics can or ought to attempt to build anything definite +upon this statement; but, until proof is brought to the contrary, it +may perhaps tend to modify what I deem the exaggerated and extravagant +notions as to the number of Siberian _political_ prisoners, and to show +at least that they are not as “plentiful as blackberries.”[4] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Let me not fail to add, however, that the whole tone of +Dostoyeffsky’s book is far above that of the vindictive class of +writers, some of whom have been alluded to. It gives an inner view +of prison life, such as no inspector, or philanthropist, or person +visiting prisons as I did, could furnish. Some of this writer’s +statements, indeed, would hardly tally with my own experience, as, +for instance, that they had the bath _seldom_, whereas I found it the +rule once a fortnight, and at Tiumen and Tomsk once a week; above +all, the statement that prisoners were thrashed if found sleeping on +their backs, or the left side instead of the right; also what he says +of thrashing generally, to which I shall allude hereafter. But I have +to thank Alexander Goryantchikoff for his lifelike pictures, many +of which illustrate scraps of information I received concerning the +Siberian prison world--such, for instance, as the various occupations +carried on in secret among the convicts, one being a pawnbroker, +another a _vodka_ seller, others smugglers of spirits into the +prison, the card-playing at night, the exchanging of their names and +punishments, and the horrible language and fighting and quarrelling +of the prisoners. In these things I make no doubt that “Buried Alive” +gives a fairly accurate picture of things as they were, and in some +cases still are, perhaps, among such prisoners as those with whom the +lot of Goryantchikoff (himself a murderer) was cast. Further light also +is thrown upon the interior of prison life in Siberia by the papers +of M. Andreoli in _La Revue Moderne_ for 1868, in which he speaks of +the tricks and vices of both prisoners and officials, and of the evil +effects of the gang system. A great deal of this is inevitable where a +number of the most desperate felons are herded together. + +[2] I have been favoured with a few particulars from an unpublished +manuscript, written by a Decembrist prisoner for the use of his wife +and children. He describes his cell at the fortress in Petersburg +as small, dirty, and dark; and speaks of a poor and scanty diet, +adding, “C’était l’Empereur, qui, sur le rapport du comité d’enquête +prescrivait, le régime diétique ainsi que la dure aggravation d’une +détention penible.” He had to leave Petersburg, and many of his +comrades with him, in the middle of the night, in chains (though a +noble), and was not allowed to bid his mother good-bye, though she was +in the next room to him at the post-station. They left in a _telega_, +travelling _viâ_ Jaroslav, Kostroma, Viatka, Ekaterineburg, Omsk, etc., +and reached Irkutsk in 24 days. At Chita they were kindly treated by +the governor of the prison and attendants, and later on, when allowed +to colonize at Irkutsk and Tobolsk, suffered no hardships, excepting +petty restrictions and vexations. + +[3] Perhaps I ought to add that this information was given me in +French, which the Pole had not conversed in for a long time, and did +not speak readily. It was given, too, with a good deal of bitter +feeling, whilst I made notes of what was told me. As he looked on at my +writing, and knew pretty well who I was, and what I was travelling for, +I felt he might be exaggerating, and I therefore asked him pointedly +whether all he had told me was true. He replied in the affirmative, +and I therefore hand on the account to my readers, though, as will be +seen later on, it was a much severer testimony than I received from +political prisoners in general. + +[4] Since this chapter has been in type my impressions have been +strikingly confirmed by an official, high in the prison administration, +who in reply to my written inquiries as to the number of political +prisoners sent to Siberia during the last few years, replies that +the deportation of political offenders came under the _prison_ +administration only in 1880, but that for the present year, 1881, the +total number of political offenders of _all_ kinds, sent to Siberia, is +72; which number, moreover, includes nearly 40 condemned to the mines +during the years 1875-6-9-80, but who have been detained meanwhile in +the central prisons of the Kharkof district. The year, therefore (up +to November), of the Emperor’s assassination has sent about 30 persons +into exile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +_FROM CHITA TO NERTCHINSK._ + + The Trans-Baikal province.--Books deposited with Governor.--Specimen + letter of consignment.--Prisons and hospitals.--Governor’s + distribution of books.--Satisfactory results.--Journey from + Chita.--Buriat _Obos_.--Russian emigrants.--Salutations.--Approach + to Nertchinsk.--Its mineral treasures. + + +The Trans-Baikal province is bounded on the south and east by Chinese +territory, on the west by Lake Baikal, and on the north by the province +of Yakutsk. It measures 830 miles from east to west, and 460 miles from +north to south; its entire area covering about 240,000 square miles. It +is thus not quite so large as Austria.[1] + +Before leaving the capital, Chita, we deposited with the Governor +enough books for his prisons and hospitals; and since this region +was so important, from my point of view, in regard to its penal +establishments, and our efforts, moreover, here met with such good +success, I shall give the substance of a letter which I wrote to the +Governor (in French), and which is a fair specimen of similar letters +written to the other Governors throughout Siberia:-- + + “TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR OF ----. + + “SIR,-- + + “I have the honour to beg your acceptance of -- boxes of books + containing -- large New Testaments, -- small New Testaments, + -- Gospels, -- Psalms, -- New Testaments in French, German, + Polish, Tatar, and Buriat, -- copies of the _Rooski Rabotchi_, -- + wall-pictures, and -- tracts. Will your Excellency do me the favour + to accept them for the prisons, hospitals, poor-houses, and schools + of the government of ----? I shall be thankful if the copies of the + _Rooski Rabotchi_ (Russian Workman) and the tracts may be given + to the children in schools to be taken to their homes, and thus + distributed as much as possible among the people. As for the books, + I wish that they should remain in the rooms (not in the libraries) + of the prisons, hospitals, etc. If the chief of each room may be + made responsible for the books as for the other property of the + prisons, etc., I shall be glad; but in any case I wish that the books + may be had without asking for them from the library. I hope with + your assistance in the government of ---- to place a New Testament + or a copy of the Gospels in _every_ room of _every_ prison and + hospital throughout Siberia; and I shall be very thankful if I may + hear from you, at my English address, how the distribution has been + made, because I shall probably send an account of my tour to the + authorities at St. Petersburg. + + “I have the honour to be, etc., etc., etc.” + +The Governor of the Trans-Baikal province, M. Pedachenko, spoke of +his four large hospitals and 10 smaller, or occasional hospitals. He +told us also that he had in his government four permanent prisons, +besides those at the mines, namely, at Nertchinsk, Troitzkosavsk, +Verchne Udinsk, and Chita, the last three of which we saw. The number +of prisoners was given us as about 150 each at Chita and Nertchinsk.[2] +M. Pedachenko was good enough to promise that a small shelf should be +put up in each room (under the _ikon_ I suggested), on which the books +might rest when not in use; and this promise he carried out.[3] + +I have dwelt particularly on what we were able to distribute in the +Za-Baikal for two reasons; first, because the letter of the Governor, +together with our own observations, give an insight into the number +of prisons existing in this province, which of all others was that +reserved for the worst of exiles; and, secondly, because of the +satisfaction it afforded me, when looking back upon the work as a +whole, to feel that the Scriptures and other reading material had been +deposited in these out-of-the-way places, especially those of Kara, +Nertchinsk, and Algatche. Had nothing more been effected than this, and +what I subsequently learned was done at Tiumen, these two results would +have well repaid me for the journey. + +Late on the afternoon of Monday, July 21st, the day of our arrival, we +left Chita and proceeded towards Nertchinsk, a distance of 180 miles, +where we intended to make our next stoppage. The road ran within sight +of the river, and as the route was hilly we had pretty views. Some of +the hills I measured as 400 feet above the level of the river, and my +barometer, at the highest point, stood at 2,350 feet above the sea. The +hills were rounded and well wooded, whilst the lower land resembled +English downs. We saw some of the flora of which Baron Rosen speaks so +admiringly, and among them a flower we had not noticed before, like +blue larkspur. On both sides of the Yablonoi range are grown wheat, +rye, oats, hemp, flax, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, lettuce, radishes, +onions, spinach, and horseradish. In the valleys was abundance of +grass, but few cattle to graze it. We saw also buckwheat and barley +growing, but neither the fields under cultivation, nor the Russian +inhabitants, were numerous, nor did we come in contact, after passing +Chita, with many Buriats, though we inspected one of their sacred spots +on a hill not far from that town. It consisted of a few rough stones +piled together, with some dried branches of trees, on which were hung +small flags and strips of calico, having inscribed on them verses in +the Thibetan or Mongolian language. We had passed several of these +south of the Baikal, and the Russian drivers had usually told us that +they were Buriats’ graves. Sometimes there were sweetmeats lying about, +and copper money, which the Russian yemstchiks did not scruple to +collect and pocket. Sometimes, too, we found horse-shoes strewn around, +and almost invariably a quantity of tufts of horse-hair tied to the +bushes, the appearance of the whole reminding one of the so-called holy +wells to which the Romanists of Ireland make pilgrimage. The yemstchiks +said that the flags painted with demons were to frighten devils away, +and that the coins and sweets were given as offerings to their God; but +that if a Buriat had nothing to give, he cut off a piece of his horse’s +tail and tied it to the bush. + +I noticed that these spots were usually on elevated ground, like the +“high places” denounced by the Hebrew prophets, and after reading the +travels of Huc, Erman, and Hill, I make no doubt that they were not +Buriats’ graves at all, but the _obos_ which are erected throughout +Tartary, and at which the people worship the spirits of the mountains, +a superstition of the Shamanist Buriats, which extends, at least +partially, to other aboriginal tribes in Siberia.[4] + +As we passed along the road, we sometimes overtook companies of +emigrants from Russia, or from other parts of Siberia, who were +wandering further east. We heard, at Barnaul, that peasants are +encouraged thus to migrate. Also, we sometimes drove by labourers in +the fields, which gave an opportunity to the passing yemstchik to +salute them in Russian fashion: “_Bogh pomotch_,” “May God be your +help,” to which the reply is, “_Spasibo_,” “Thank you,” or “Save you!” +a very similar custom to that I have observed in the west of Ireland, +where the car-driver accosts his brother Pat, digging potatoes, with +a “Bal o’ ye airth,” “God bless the work,” or, more probably, it will +be, “God and Mary bless the work,” to which Pat replies, “And you too.” +They both remind one of the salutation of the Hebrew, Boaz, “The Lord +be with you!” to which his reapers replied, “The Lord bless thee!” + +I confess to having been sometimes tired of travelling so many days +without being able to read; I managed to get through only two or three +small works, for, notwithstanding my air-cushions and a paper-knife +placed below the line I was looking at, the shaking of the tarantass +rendered study almost impossible. After leaving Chita on Monday, we +travelled all day and all night on Tuesday, and on Wednesday found +ourselves approaching Nertchinsk, a town surrounded by a hilly district +noted for its minerals. The mining region extends over a large area, +and for a long period of years provided employment to vast numbers of +convicts, as also for many Polish exiles after the insurrection of +1863. The mines were worked under the supervision and direction of an +able chief, with a numerous staff of officers; and many distinguished +mineralogists here commenced their career. Up to the year 1847, silver +and lead formed the principal products.[5] Tin and zinc also, and the +aqua marina are found in the neighbourhood of Nertchinsk, and 130 +miles to the south is the mountain of Odon Tchelon, celebrated for +its gems, including the topaz and emerald, which latter Mr. Erman +speaks of as green, yellow, and blue. To these minerals must be added +gold, which is found in large quantities in the bed of the Nertcha and +its tributaries, besides iron, antimony, and arsenic. In Petersburg, +I heard the gold-mines of Nertchinsk spoken of as “large and well +worked”; but other reports went to show that the Government mines +brought in little to the Crown; and we heard that most of them about +Nertchinsk have been sold, so that mining affairs at the time of our +visit were in a transition state. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The surface is mountainous; one range, the Yablonoi, running from +north to south, is the watershed of numerous rivers. The streams from +the western slopes drain into Lake Baikal; the largest one towards +the north, the Vitim, finds its way to the Lena, whilst the remainder +run into the Argun, which flows at the south of the province and +into the Ingoda and Onon, which form the Shilka. The population of +the government is 430,000, of which the town inhabitants number only +4 per cent. In 1867 the population was 380,000, of whom there were +400 hereditary nobles, 1,000 personally noble, 1,700 ecclesiastical +persons, 11,000 townspeople, 109,000 rural inhabitants, 4,000 military, +9 foreigners, and 164,000 natives. The present population is quoted as +10,000 less than that given by the Almanack for 1875, which diminution +probably arises from emigration to the region of the Amur, and from +the Government sending fewer exiles here than formerly. There were +throughout the government, in the year 1875, about 3,000 marriages, +16,000 births, and 12,000 deaths. The province is divided into seven +uyezds; and among its principal towns, besides the capital, are +Verchne Udinsk, Selenginsk, and Troitzkosavsk, on or near the Selenga, +Barguzin, near the Baikal, and Nertchinsk, to all of which we went with +the exception of Barguzin. Barguzin is the chief town of the district, +but is not otherwise remarkable. + +[2] We had deposited with the Ispravniks of Verchne Udinsk and +Troitzkosavsk Russian New Testaments, Tatar Gospels, and Buriat +Scriptures for the prisons and for the Troitzkosavsk poor-house, which +last, as far as I remember, was the only one of this kind we heard of +during our tour, unless it were at Perm, and, perhaps, Barnaul. In +addition to these the Governor at Chita accepted 25 wall-pictures of +the Prodigal Son, 12 Tatar Gospels, 14 large Russian New Testaments, 50 +small ones, 60 Russian Gospels, 20 Psalms, 3 New Testaments in Polish, +French, and German, 38 Buriat portions, 75 copies of the _Russian +Workman_, and 200 tracts. + +[3] At a further stage of my journey I had the opportunity of sending +additional books to M. Pedachenko, and on the following February 4th I +received in England the following letter:-- + + TCHITA, _le 12 Decembre, 1879._ + + MONSIEUR,--Je me fais un plaisir de vous faire savoir, que j’ai reçu + votre lettre du 9 Juillet de même que les livres et les brochures + religieuses, qui ont été tous distribués. + + A _Kara_: Dans les prisons, les hôpitaux, et l’établissement de + charité, d’ Alexandre:-- + + 13 Papiers pour les murailles, + 43 Petits Evangiles, + 7 Grands Evangiles, + 8 Psaumes, + 3 Nouveaux Testaments Polonais, Français, Allemands, + 29 Brochures _Rouski Rabotchi_, + 60 Différentes brochures, + 22 Anciens Testaments Mongols. + + A _Algatche_: Dans les prisons et les hôpitaux:-- + + 3 Papiers pours les murailles, + 2 Psaumes, + 2 Grands Evangiles, + 9 _Rouski Rabotchi_, + 13 Petits Evangiles, + 15 Brochures religieuses. + + A _Nertchinsk_: Dans l’hôpital et la prison:-- + + 2 Papiers pours les murailles, + 2 Psaumes, + 1 Grand Evangile, + 9 _Rouski Rabotchi_, + 13 Petits Evangiles, + 9 Brochures religieuses, + 4 Anciens Testaments Mongols. + + A _Tchita_: Dans la prison:-- + + 2 Papiers pour les murailles, + 13 Psaumes, + 1 Grand Evangile, + 10 _Rouski Rabotchi_, + 14 Petits Evangiles, + 10 Brochures religieuses, + 4 Anciens Testaments Mongols. + + Pour les _Forçats de Nertchinsk_:-- + + 3 Papiers pour les murailles, + 2 Grands Evangiles, + 15 _Rouski Rabotchi_, + 13 Petits Evangiles, + 9 Brochures religieuses, + 2 Psaumes, + 4 Anciens Testaments Mongols. + + A l’hôpital de _Strétinsk_:-- + + 2 Papiers pour les murailles, + 1 Ancien Testament Tatare, + 3 Brochures religieuses. + + D’après votre désir, Monsieur, les livres distribués dans les prisons + et les hôpitaux sont placés sur des tablettes, afin qu’on puisse s’en + servir en tout temps. Les serviteurs sont chargés de les tenir en + ordre. + + Recevez, Monsieur, mes plus sincères remerciements pour votre + précieuse offrande, + + J’ai l’honneur d’être, + Votre très humble serviteur, + (Signed) JEAN PEDACHENKO. + + +[4] The natives believe that their shamans have more power than +other people with the spirits infesting the mountains. Accordingly, +sacrifices are offered to these spirits, and are carried off secretly +by the shamans. Horse-hair seems to hold a conspicuous place in +connection with their superstitions. Mr. Erman speaks of the practice +of the Yakutes in tying knots of it on trees; and Mr. Hill states +that the Yakutes informed him that the rites of their ancient worship +consisted for the most part in sacrifices to invisible spirits, and +that portions of the horses’ tails were attached to trees to notify +to the spirits who might chance to pass by that such rites had been +performed, and that thereabouts they would find the offered sacrifice. +From the oldest times the Buriats have been accustomed about midsummer, +when the cattle are in good condition, to celebrate festivals for the +good spirits, the rites being followed by wrestling matches, and other +popular amusements; and the crafty Buddhist lamas have recognised and +sanctioned these ancient usages, in order that the Buriats may regard +the new religion only as an extension or completion of the old. + +[5] Of the former 4 tons, and of the latter 570 tons, were produced +annually. The discovery of lead was of great importance, as it had been +previously necessary to bring it all the way from England to Barnaul +for the smelting of the ores of the Altai, in which region little or +no lead is found. The lead of Nertchinsk, however, did not find its +way so far as the Russian arsenals, because, by reason of carriage, it +would have cost six times the price of English lead delivered either in +Petersburg or Moscow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +_THE SILVER AND (SO-CALLED) QUICKSILVER MINES OF NERTCHINSK._ + + The supposed quicksilver-mines.--Inadequate evidence of their + existence.--Unsupported statements of writers.--Not known to + Anglo-Siberians.--Silver-mines perhaps intended.--Deleterious + fumes a myth.--Questionable allegations regarding + silver-mines.--Misstatements exposed.--Testimonies of Collins + and other eye-witnesses.--Accounts of ex-prisoners and Lutheran + pastor.--Nertchinsk Zavod and work in the mines.--Condition + of affairs in 1866.--Present state of things.--The Nemesis of + exaggeration. + + +When crossing the Pacific I heard it remarked by an American clergyman +that Mrs. Beecher Stowe, in her exaggerated account, as he thought it, +of American slavery, showed great shrewdness in assigning to her story +a locality that was very remote and unknown to most of her readers. +A similar observation might be made in regard to not a few of the +writers on Siberian exiles and their labours in the mines. How the idea +first came into my mind I know not, but when in 1874 an Englishman, +born in Russia, told me in Petersburg that the worst of Russian +criminals were put down in quicksilver-mines in Siberia, where they +were speedily killed by unhealthy fumes, it seemed to me like an item +of news I had heard before. Since my return from Siberia the question +has been frequently put to me, Did you go to the quicksilver-mines, +where the exiles are so cruelly treated? Baron Rosen also wrote, +“Eight persons of the above-mentioned eleven criminal categories were +dispatched at once to the quicksilver-mines of Nertchinsk; ... they +worked for long years underground in the mines, like the other forced +labourers.” Again, the _Newcastle Daily Chronicle_ for 21st November, +1878, quoting, apparently, Captain Wiggins, says: “Desperate criminals +only are sent to labour in the quicksilver-mines, and for these there +is a specially severe discipline provided, and ‘horrors,’ without +doubt, exist.” And I have somewhere read, if I mistake not, that in the +vicinity of Nertchinsk was a quicksilver-mine, which for a time was +worked, but that the loss of life entailed upon the convict labourers +was so great as to cause it to be given up. + +Now it is somewhat remarkable that I have been unable to learn that +there is a quicksilver-mine in Siberia at all, or to get satisfactory +proof that one ever existed. This may perhaps surprise my readers, but +I proceed to explain myself thus:--The “English Cyclopædia,” under +the article “Mercury,” mentions various places where this mineral is +found, but says nothing of Siberia. Yet surely, if mines exist there, +affording employment for numerous labourers, we ought to hear something +of their output. Again, in “Ure’s Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, +and Mines,” a standard book on mining (p. 120), we find a good deal +concerning the mines of Siberia, of those in the Urals, the Altai, +and Daouria (which last comprise those about Nertchinsk), but nothing +is said of quicksilver-mines in any one of these regions.[1] Again, +Mr. Atkinson, who spent several years in Asiatic Russia, went to the +district of Nertchinsk, and had friends among the mining engineers, +says: “Tin and zinc ores are found, but neither have as yet been much +worked, and I am not aware of the existence of quicksilver, though it +is said to be found in these regions.” Mr. Eden, in his valuable little +compilation on Siberia, speaking of its mineralogy, says, “Quicksilver +also is reported to exist in some of the north-eastern provinces”; but +he gives no authority for the report, says nothing of its being worked, +nor mentions the existence of it at Nertchinsk. I may further add that +recently I have seen the Englishman whom I met at Kiakhta, and who +since has twice passed through Nertchinsk. He asked particularly of an +officer connected with the mines for one of quicksilver, and was told +that, though there was said to be quicksilver in the neighbourhood, it +was not worked. + +To these testimonies I must add my own, that neither in the town of +Nertchinsk, through which we passed, nor in the neighbourhood, nor +indeed throughout Siberia, did we anywhere hear of a quicksilver-mine. +The only testimony I have ever received in the opposite direction +is that of a released political exile, who has told me that he once +heard from some of his fellow-prisoners at Petrovsky Zavod, many miles +distant, that there was a small quicksilver-mine at Nertchinsk, but +so poor an affair that it was not worked. Subsequently my informant +was deported to four places in succession round about Nertchinsk, but +he neither saw nor heard anything more of the said quicksilver-mine. +Accordingly, on meeting, since my return, with an English acquaintance +who has spent a large part of his life in Siberia, and who knows it +well, I said to him, “You have heard, have you not, that there are +quicksilver-mines in Siberia?” to which he replied in the affirmative, +but he did not know where they existed; and when I asked him whether, +if I took upon myself to say that there was no such thing as a +quicksilver-mine in Siberia, he could contradict me, he thought +awhile, and then was obliged to confess he could not. The Englishman +from Kiakhta said the same; and my most recent informant, a released +political exile, who spent some years in the mines about Nertchinsk, +assures me to the same effect. In the face, therefore, of the prevalent +notion to the contrary, and notwithstanding what little evidence I have +been able to collect in their favour, I must express my grave doubts +as to whether mercury has ever been worked, in any sense worthy of the +term, by Russian convicts; and I shall further venture on the assertion +that there does not exist a quicksilver-mine in Siberia at all. + +But perhaps _silver_-mines were intended instead of “quicksilver,” in +which case it should be observed that, if the quicksilver-mines have no +existence, then the slow process of killing convicts by their fumes is +a delusion. That working in quicksilver-mines is destructive to health +is perfectly well known; but working in silver-mines is quite another +matter. When at Barnaul, we heard nothing of any difficulty arising +under this head in the working of the Altai silver-mines. When in the +Rocky Mountains, I heard from a Russian lady, who had been down the +silver-mine near Virginia city, that the heat was very great, but she +said nothing as to the air being otherwise objectionable. Mr. Collins, +also, describing his descent of one of the Nertchinsk mines, the +silver-mine of Zarentunskie, says: “We now passed along another drift, +and found nothing unpleasant in this underground passage.” Moreover, +the two released exiles, to whose information I have already alluded, +have told me that they never perceived any objectionable fumes,--that, +in fact, there were none. + +But, apart from the supposed deadly fumes, there has been a great deal +said and written respecting the Siberian mines in general, and those of +Nertchinsk in particular, which my experience and reading lead me to +question, not to say to contradict. The number of Englishmen who have +visited the great mine of Nertchinsk is represented, I believe, solely +by Captain Cochrane,[2] and great changes have taken place since his +day. In 1848, the Emperor Nicolas decided, with a view to carrying out +his plans in the regions of the Amur, that the whole of the people in +the Trans-Baikal should become Cossacks. Hitherto a large body of the +population had been employed in mining operations, and Mr. Atkinson +speaks of this sudden change as having closed the silver-mines of +Nertchinsk; but I suppose he means relatively, for the mines have been +worked for many years since by convicts, and, if we are to believe +all that is written on the subject, they are full of horrors to the +present day. But I shall venture to examine a few of these writings +which say so, and compare them with the statements of travellers and +eye-witnesses. I shall offer, too, my own experience, and then leave +the reader to judge respecting the truth of the whole. + +The author of “The Russians of To-day” says (p. 216): “The miners are +supposed to be the worst offenders, and their punishment is tantamount +to death by slow torture; for it is certain to kill them in ten years, +and ruins their health long before that time. If the convict have +money or influential friends, he had better use the time between his +sentence and transportation in _buying a warrant_ which consigns him to +the lighter kinds of labour above ground, otherwise he will inevitably +be sent under earth, and _never again see the sky_ until he is hauled +up to die in an infirmary.” This was published in 1878, and I have +italicised the doubtful or erroneous words. + +Again, the _Contemporary Review_ for September 1879, in an article +on “Conspiracies in Russia,” says (p. 143): “Of the treatment of +political exiles in Siberia, as it has been carried on _for a long +time past_, I have before me a thrilling description from the pen of +Mr. Robert Lemke, a German writer, who has visited the various penal +establishments of Russia with an official legitimation. He had been +to Tobolsk, after which he had to make a _long, dreary journey_ in a +wretched car, until a _high mountain_ rose before him. In its torn and +craggy flank the mountain showed a colossal opening similar to the +mouth of a burnt-out crater. Fetid vapours, which almost took away his +breath, ascended from it.” + +Mr. Lemke then walks down with a guide, and-- + +“Entering a room of considerable extent, but which was scarcely a man’s +height, and which was dimly lit by an oil lamp, the visitor asked, +‘Where are we?’ ‘In the sleeping-room of the condemned! Formerly it +was a gallery of the mine; now it serves as a shelter.’ The visitor +shuddered. This subterranean sepulchre, lit by neither sun nor moon, +was called a sleeping-room. Alcove-like cells were hewn into the rock; +here, on a couch of damp, half-rotten straw, covered with a sackcloth, +the unfortunate sufferers were to repose from the day’s work. Over each +cell a _cramp iron_ was fixed, wherewith to lock up the prisoners like +ferocious dogs. No door, no window anywhere. + +“Conducted through another passage, where a few lanterns were placed, +and whose end was also barred by an iron gate, Mr. Lemke came to +a large vault, partly lit. _This was the mine._ A deafening noise +of pickaxes and hammers. Then he saw some _hundreds_ of wretched +figures, with shaggy beards, sickly faces, reddened eyelids, _clad in +tatters_,--some of them _barefoot_, others in sandals, fettered with +heavy foot-chains. No song, no whistling; now and then they _shyly_ +looked at the visitor and his companion.” + +Mr. Lemke leaves the mine and speaks to one of the officers about the +convicts’ rest. “Rest!” said the officer, “convicts must always labour. +There is no rest for them; they are condemned to perpetual forced +labour, and he who once enters the mine _never leaves it_!” And so +on.[3] + +These remarkable extracts may be appropriately followed by reference to +an article in the _Echo_ for May 5th, 1881. It numbered 100 lines, and +on reading it I had the curiosity to mark every line that appeared to +me to contain a misstatement or a blunder. No less than 20 were marked; +that is to say, one line in every five. The article is headed. “On the +Road to Siberia.” The author begins by starting his pedestrian exiles +on the _march_ at the Sparrow Hills at Moscow, and in crossing Russia +he gives them all sorts of difficulties by road to overcome; whereas I +have shown, in an earlier chapter, that for years past the prisoners +are taken by steam across Russia, and that the exile reaches the first +prison in Siberia without walking at all. Then the author places his +pedestrian exiles under the charge of _mounted, long-speared_ guards, +feeds them with bread and _oil_ (which latter I never yet heard of in +a Russian prison), and, what is more amusing, feeds the Cossack horses +with the _meal_ (whatever that may be) eaten by their masters. Then +having got his exiles over the Ural, he says:-- + +“Beyond the Ural, however, with its simple industries and markets, the +region becomes more barbarous; it is less relieved by the softening +aspects of social life; the exile population, clad in sheepskins, +thickens at every step; the cold grows so intense” [this, by-the-bye, +in the “open season,” _i.e._ the summer], “that occasionally the +Cossacks on guard are frozen, lance in hand; and the silver-mines are +now _not far distant_,--_immense caverns_, illuminated by torches of +pine, peopled by men with leaden-hued faces, caused by exhalations from +the copper ore, in which the silver is found imbedded; inhabited too +by _women_ and _children_, who share in the unhealthful labour, and +contribute their quota to the terrible totals of mortality, _living, +dying_, and being buried often _far below the light of day_.” + +Now, when I read this, my first thought was to take Mr. _Punch’s_ +advice, and “write to the _Times_,” but I repressed my feelings till I +could gather these extracts, italicise the questionable words, and then +calmly place before the reader such remarks upon the matter as I have +to offer. Let me, then, observe, in the first place, that neither of +these three authors professes to write from personal experience. Had +the writer in the _Echo_ been to Siberia in the “open season,” he would +not have frozen his mounted guard, lance in hand, but would have made +him trudge on foot at the side of his convoy, sweating beneath the load +of rifle and bayonet; and neither of the three writers, had they been +to Siberia, would have been so vague with regard to its geography. The +author of the “Russians of To-day” (p. 216) informs his readers that +“Siberia is a territory covering about _six_ times the area of England +and Scotland!” Had he written _sixty_ times he would have been not far +from the mark; but--perhaps six was a printer’s error! + +Again, the _Contemporary_ writer says that Mr. Lemke “had been to +Tobolsk, after which he had to make a long dreary journey until a high +mountain was before him;” which sentence, though not expressly saying +so, leaves one to infer that the mountain was at least in the vicinity, +whereas the country about Tobolsk is flat, and there is no mountain +answering to the writer’s description, where convicts are employed, +within 2,000 miles. So, again, the writer for the _Echo_, almost +immediately after getting his exiles over the Urals, informs us that +“the silver-mines are now not far distant,” which is hardly an exact +way of speaking of 3,000 miles. + +But I shall now proceed to give such personal information as I am able +about Nertchinsk, prefacing what I have to say with words from Mr. +Collins’s chapters describing his visit to the mines of the district. +This, I think, should go far to satisfy an ordinary reader as to the +quality of the miners’ food, clothing, and sleeping accommodation. +“This [gold] mine was a convict establishment, like all the mines east +of Lake Baikal. The men were well clad, and in visiting the hospital, +prison, and quarters, I found the arrangements for their health and +sleeping clean and comfortable. Cooks were preparing dinner for the +prisoners. I tasted of the soup, bread, and _kacha_, or grits, made +from buckwheat and milk, and found them good and well prepared. There +were a number on the sick list, mostly those who had recently arrived, +but they were in a warm, clean room, with clean beds and clothing, and +with a separate kitchen, where proper diet was prepared for them.” + +This was published in 1860. Before leaving Asia I had an opportunity of +asking an American, who had visited the Nertchinsk mines, as to what he +saw, but he told of no such barbarities as those quoted above. Again, +I asked an Englishman living in Siberia about women working _in_ the +silver-mines, but he had never heard of such a thing, nor have I; and +my second exile informant denies it; so that I trust the women and the +children with “leaden-hued faces,” inhabiting the mines and “sharing in +the unhealthful labour,” exist only in the imagination of the writer +for the _Echo_. Had the article said that there were women and children +_at_ the mines, it would have been less difficult to believe, because I +found them at the gold-mines--the women employed in scrubbing, washing, +or hard female labour, and their children taken care of, clothed and +fed in a school; but this will be alluded to hereafter. Again, I met +a naval officer, who had seen the coal-mines at Dui, in Sakhalin, and +who spoke of the prison abuses there in no measured terms. He had +visited the mines at Nertchinsk five years before we met, and had +descended into one of them; but though he said the men looked sickly, +and sometimes had to “go on all fours” to get the mineral (which, I +suppose, all miners occasionally have to do), yet he had no barbarities +of which to speak, and did not confirm any of the notions with which +I entered the country, as to the prisoners being kept underground +by night and by day. He said they worked twelve hours a day, six on +and six off. I questioned, too, the chief of the gold-mines at Kara +concerning the silver-mines at Nertchinsk, which are not far off. He +denied that the prisoners were kept underground, and _thought_ they +worked in three sections of eight hours each. + +I have three testimonies besides, not from prison officials, +travellers, or amateur philanthropists, but from men, two of whom +themselves worked in the mines of Nertchinsk; whilst the third, a +Lutheran pastor, told me of what he had heard direct from prisoners at +the mines, where it was his business periodically to visit. He said +that old convicts at Nertchinsk and Kara had told him of Rozguildieff, +a director, 20 years before, who gave them only 4 lbs. of bread a day, +and who used to go about with four Cossacks behind him, armed with the +knout, to thrash those who did not do the prescribed quantity of work. +He afterwards became blind. I have heard from another quarter that this +man used sometimes to condemn his prisoners, not to so many stripes, +but so many “lbs.” of the birch--to 10 or 15 lbs., for instance--which +meant that the man should be flogged until a certain weight of rods +had been used up. But a military officer was sent to inspect the +mines, and Rozguildieff was removed; since which time the pastor said +that all seemed going on well, and that he had heard no complaints of +abuse. I have also heard of this Rozguildieff and his cruelty from +a third person, who was at Petrovsky Zavod in 1866, with about 500 +prisoners, many of them Polish insurgents. Another testimony respecting +the mines is from a Pole whom I met, engaged as a clerk at one of the +post-houses. He had been sent to Nertchinsk as a political prisoner, +condemned to hard labour, but he said he was not compelled to work. +Perhaps he had the good fortune to be taken as a servant, or employed +as a clerk; this he did not explain, but he said that the officers +were not cruel, and that of the prison treatment he had no complaint +to make. He had, he said, 3 lbs. of bread, and ½ lb. of meat a day. He +might write a letter every three months; and so well satisfied did he +seem with his present lot, that he said if the Emperor were to allow +his return to Poland he would certainly go; but if he were offered +permission to return only to Russia, he would prefer to stay where he +was. One reason for this, it has been suggested, might be that police +supervision is more irksome in Russia than in Siberia. + +The last testimony I would offer is perhaps the most satisfactory of +all, because it came to me direct in English from one who, implicated +in the Polish insurrection of 1863, was sent as a political exile to +Nertchinsk, with several like offenders from the Russian and Polish +aristocracy, he himself being a man who had received a university +education. The accounts he gave me relate to the condition of things +in 1866 and 1867. The principal centre of the mining district, he +said, was called Nertchinsky Zavod, or Bolshoi Zavod, “the great +works,” at which, however, the _mines_ were abandoned before 1865, +and the prison was afterwards used for a hospital. Round about were +various mines, works, hospitals, and prisons, such as Kadaya, Akatuya, +Klitchka, Alexandreffsky, Algatche (the last a smelting place), and +some others. At Stretinsk and Sivakoff, on the Shilka, were ship-yards, +where prisoners were employed. There would seem to be labour going on +still at Nertchinsk and at Algatche, since, from the Governor’s letter +to me, it appears that some of my books have been sent to these two +places, and to the hospital at Stretinsk; but the greater part of the +mines just mentioned have now passed out of Government into private +hands. I am speaking, however, of things as they were in the time of +my informant, who laboured at Kadaya, Akatuya, Alexandreffsky, and +Nertchinsky Zavod. Kadaya was only two or three versts from the Chinese +frontier,[4] Alexandreffsky was about six versts from the frontier, +and 35 from head-quarters. At most of the places there were prisons +built: at Alexandreffsky, of stone; at Kadaya, of wood; and at Akatuya, +partly of wood and partly of stone. At Nertchinsky Zavod the prison +was very old, and was empty. The commandant, General Chitoff, living +there, he preferred to house the convicts at a convenient distance. +At Alexandreffsky there were not less than 700 prisoners in three +buildings. Of these, 30 or 40 were Russian political offenders; the +remainder were Polish insurgents of 1863. At Akatuya there were 110 +prisoners, 60 of whom were Polish priests, together with 22 other +prisoners sent to join them for extra punishment. + +Akatuya, by reason of its isolation and loneliness, was regarded as +the worst place of all, there being no village around it. There was +reported to have been a Tatar in this prison, before 1866, chained +to the wall, but this was an exceptional case, and such things, it +was said, were not done to the political prisoners, some of whom +had friends who could bring influence to bear in their favour. My +informant, being counted “noble,” was exempted from wearing chains +during the journey, but on his arrival he had irons, he said, of 7 +lbs. (Russian) on the feet, and the same weight on the hands. If so, +these handcuffs must have been heavier than any I have seen in Russia +or Siberia. There were sometimes cases in which criminal prisoners +burst into fits of ferocity, and were guilty of such insubordination +as to call for special punishment. At Sivakoff, for instance, he had +known men suspended for a time by the armpits, but none were chained +to barrows or tools, as has been sometimes done. In the case of my +informant himself, who insulted the Governor-General Korsakoff, and +also joined others in a league to refuse to work on Sundays (the cruel +and unjust regulation to this effect was enforced on these exiles in +1866), he, with many more, and for a considerable time, was put first +on half rations, then deprived of meat, then of milk, and then was not +permitted to lounge in the yard, but had to go straight from work to +his ward. The priests had joined in this resistance to Sunday labour, +and there were also Protestants and a Jew among the league. Some of +the priests, however, were the first to give in, and all at length +followed, so that they had afterwards only four holidays in the course +of the year, though this was exclusive of bath-day, which recurred once +a fortnight, and was a holiday as at Kara. + +I asked as to the formation of the mines, and found that some of +them had shafts and galleries; one shaft in particular, by reason of +its construction, being dangerous to descend. In some cases it seems +that the granite was dug from the side of a hill, and the work of the +prisoners consisted largely of boring holes for blasting, which were +charged with powder by Cossacks or labourers, and, in the absence of +the prisoners, were fired. From an engineering point of view, the +mines, as far as I could understand, were worked badly enough; and +this agreed with what I had heard elsewhere. The mineral was brought +to the surface in baskets, but they had no steam or horse-power. There +were veins of silver, but often the galleries did not follow them, and +the mines seemed to subserve the purpose of providing hard labour for +malefactors, rather than that of bringing gain to the Emperor. Whilst +my informant was talking to me, he had in his hand some pins, and, +holding up one of them, he said, “I did not see a piece of silver as +big as that all the time I was at Akatuya.” + +I inquired carefully respecting the hours of labour, and heard that +in 1866 it was 13 hours a day, which agrees with the hours I found +at Kara in the gold-mines. At noon they came out of the mines to +dinner--unless, that is, a man had arranged his hours otherwise; for +it seemed that so long as they did not worry the Cossacks or prevent +their lounging about and smoking, the prisoners might do their allotted +number of hours when they pleased. There was, moreover, no definite +amount of mineral required of every man daily, and hence he might work +hard or not, pretty much as he liked. + +This, then, appears to have been the condition of things at Nertchinsk +15 years ago;[5] and from what I heard in Siberia, matters since seem +to have improved rather than otherwise, though it must not be supposed +that the lot of the convicts is an easy one. I am far from attempting +to make it appear so. No doubt the corporal punishment inflicted in +many cases is very severe. I shall have more to say of this hereafter. +The period of an exile’s life spent at the mines, before being set +free to colonize, cannot but be hard. Whatever laxity of discipline +may prevail, as compared with the prisons of other countries, the +herding together of the worst of characters, the deprivation of social, +intellectual, and religious privileges, to speak of nothing else, +must to many make life in the mines, from the nature of things, a +burden. But this is very different from killing exiles by inches in +quicksilver fumes, or keeping men, women, and children underground by +night and by day, with insufficient clothing, food, and sleep. Such +gross misstatements must in time be refuted, and the revulsion caused +by their exposure often makes people too easily believe less severity +than really exists. The treatment of prisoners necessarily depends +greatly upon those who are set over them, and the study of human nature +about us renders it quite needless to go to Siberia to discover that +among prison officials there are both bad and good. That there have +been instances of cruelty in the mines I do not doubt, but I believe +far less have occurred than some writers would have us believe; and I +trust that what has here been written may tend to throw some light upon +a matter of which many are desirous to know the truth. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Speaking, however (p. 56), of “Mercury or Quicksilver,” the author +says: “Argental Mercury, or native silver amalgam, has been found +at ... Kolyvan, in Siberia.” But Kolyvan is thousands of miles from +Nertchinsk, and on the Obi, where there are no quicksilver-mines. +Further (on page 66 of “Ure’s Dictionary”), the imports of quicksilver +are given as coming from Spain, the United States, Chili, Australia, +Hanse towns, Hanover, Austria, Italy, Mexico, and other parts, but +nothing is said of any from Siberia. + +[2] Perhaps this is not to be wondered at, if the inaccessibility of +the place be considered. It is 5,250 miles east of Petersburg, 700 +miles nearly due north of Peking, about 480 north of the Chinese wall, +and 1,000 miles west of the Pacific. Captain Cochrane went there half +a century ago, at which time there were 1,600 convicts in the mines, +and he speaks sternly of their treatment, their miserable huts, and +of their haggard, worn-down, wretched, half-starved appearance. But +he stayed at the place only a day, and his book does not say that he +entered the mines at all. + +[3] On my reading this description to one who knows from painful +experience what the mines were like, he laughed outright at its +absurdity. + +[4] This is the place to which the Russian poet Mikhaïloff was banished +for writing his proclamation or manifesto, _Molodom pokoleniou_, “To +the rising generation,” as was also his literary friend Tchernichewsky, +who is called the intellectual chief and founder of Nihilism. +Mikhaïloff died and was buried at Kadaya; Tchernichewsky, who it seems +is feeble and delicate in constitution, was not compelled to work, nor +did he carry chains; and after spending a certain time at Kadaya, he +was removed to Viluisk, in the province of Yakutsk. + +[5] I have quite unexpectedly had the opportunity of submitting this +chapter, in manuscript, to a second released exile, who was at the +Nertchinsk mines at the time alluded to, and who, after expressing his +great surprise at the accuracy of my account, confirmed it almost to +the letter, adding, however, that he thought I underrated the number +of political exiles; but he referred to the numbers deported in 1863 +and during the present year, rather than to the average number for the +intervening years. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +_FROM NERTCHINSK TO STRETINSK._ + + Nertchinsk.--Its climate and history.--Scene of a Russo-Chinese + treaty.--Appearance of the town.--Visits to authorities.--Dinner + with a rich merchant.--Siberian table customs.--Poverty + of travelling fare.--Fine arts in Siberia.--Painting and + photography.--Journey from Nertchinsk. + + +Before passing from Nertchinsk, a few words should be said respecting +its history, and as at Nertchinsky Zavod, 2,230 feet above the sea, +there is a meteorological observatory--its climate, also. Mr. Atkinson +writes: “The climate is not so horrible as many have supposed, nor is +the earth a perpetual mass of ice at a few feet below the surface, +as I have seen it stated. The summers are not so long as in Europe, +but they are very hot, and the country produces a magnificent flora. +Both agriculture and horticulture are carried on successfully, +and vegetables of almost every kind can be grown here. Tobacco is +extensively cultivated, for which the people find a sale among the +Buriats and Tunguses.” + +Again, Baron Rosen, speaking of Chita, which is on the same parallel +and within 200 miles of Nertchinsk, says: “The high situation of Chita +considerably increases the cold in winter, but it is healthy, with a +fresh bracing climate. The sky is almost always clear, excepting in +August, when the thunder is incessant for days together, and then +follows a shower, beginning with enormously large single drops, which +in a few hours floods all the roads; for the water falls rapidly down +the slopes, digging deep trenches as it runs. The great electricity +of the air is remarkable: the slightest movement of cloth or wool +produces sparks or crackling. The rapidity of the vegetation is most +extraordinary; for both corn and vegetables ripen within the five weeks +in which the frosts cease, _i.e._, from the middle of June to the end +of July. One of my comrades first introduced the growing of cucumbers +in the open air, and melons in hot-beds.” And the Baron afterwards +adds: “When I was chosen senior of the prison, I salted down in brandy +casks 60,000 cucumbers out of our garden.” Whether the Baron is +accurate in speaking of five weeks only during which there is no frost, +seems doubtful. I observe in the meteorological report from Nertchinsky +Zavod, that in 1877 the lowest temperature was, in June, 36°·8; in +July, 47°·8; and in August, 41°. If, therefore, frost occurred in these +months, it must have been ground-frost caused by radiation; which +would not affect the crops. The lowest temperature of the year, which +occurred in January, was 45°·5 below zero; the highest temperature, +95°·3, occurring in August. + +It should be observed that the Trans-Baikal province has a climate +almost peculiar to itself. From the north, the Polar Sea, immense +tracts of swamp, lakes, and rivers supply the atmosphere with moisture, +a great deal of which is precipitated, in passing southwards, over a +region more than 1,000 miles in breadth; and as the clouds approach the +Altai, in process of elevating themselves to pass the mountains, they +part with their last drops, which fall along the northern, southern, +and eastern sides of the range. But this happens, of course, only when +the prevailing winds are from the north. Upon the south there are few +lakes or rivers; while the land in general is dry, and remote from +the sea. The winter clouds from the Indian Ocean in the south, and +the Caspian on the west, discharging themselves upon the mountains of +Thibet and Bucharia, rarely pass the desert of Gobi. Accordingly, the +winds blowing so regularly from this direction bring no water; and +thus, rain clouds coming for the most part from the Pacific only, it +comes to pass that the fall of rain and snow about Chita and Nertchinsk +is exceedingly small, and the winter passenger, for lack of snow upon +which to drive, has frequently in this region to mount his sledge on +wheels.[1] As summer travellers, however, we had no difficulties of +this kind, and the absence of rain we regarded as a blessing. The +weather was delightful, and I was looking forward, after passing a few +more stations, to bid farewell to tarantass and horses, and by steamer +to descend the Amur. + +The town of Nertchinsk is one of the oldest in Eastern Siberia, having +been founded in 1658. After about 10 years it began to rise into a +place of importance, and 20 years later was the birthplace of a famous +treaty between the Russians and the Chinese.[2] + +The question in dispute was the boundary of the two empires; the +Russians first proposing, and the Chinese refusing, that the Amur +should be the boundary; after which the Chinese proposed, and the +Russians refused, that Albazin, Nertchinsk, and Selenginsk should +be surrendered. After several conferences neither party showed a +disposition to yield, and both prepared for battle; but this was +averted, and a treaty was at length drawn up fixing the boundary +between the empires, but by no means in accordance with Russian wishes, +for they were completely shut out from the Amur. + +After this, Nertchinsk remained for a long time the most easterly of +the large towns in the Trans-Baikal region. The discovery of metals in +the surrounding mountains increased its importance, and the continued +arrival there of exiles, and the stories connected with them, caused +the place to be only too well known--at least by name--throughout the +empire. + +The town is charmingly situated, 1,845 feet above the sea. The +surrounding country is picturesque, and the soil rich. Hill, valley, +river, mountain, all combine to make it an interesting spot, apart +from its legendary and historic associations. Mr. Knox entered the +town from the east, and speaks of the view as especially pleasing, +because it was the first Russian town where he saw evidences of age +and wealth. The domes of its churches glistened in the sunlight that +had broken through the fog and warmed the tints of the whole picture! +It struck me, however, very differently. The natural beauties of the +place, of course, one could not but admire, but I had left behind the +handsome cities of European Russia, and had passed through many cleanly +and newly-built towns in Siberia, in comparison with which Nertchinsk +struck me as being black with age and decay. There was a woebegone look +about the place, and the streets seemed deplorably neglected. Many of +the houses were falling to pieces, and gave the town a most untidy +appearance. + +We reached Nertchinsk on Wednesday morning, July 23rd, and made it our +first business to seek the Ispravnik, from whom I wished to get general +information respecting prisons and mines, and permission, perhaps, to +visit some of them within reasonable distance, though I hardly hoped +to see the great mines, as I knew they were more than 100 miles away +from the town, and if I attempted to reach them I should either miss +the penal colony of Kara, or lose the steamer which was shortly to +leave Stretinsk. We had thought it just possible, moreover, that the +Ispravnik might provide some one who could speak English, French, or +German, to accompany me to Stretinsk, and thus leave my interpreter +free to return. + +Nertchinsk formerly stood at the junction of the Nertcha, which flows +from the north, and the Shilka. The repeated damage to the houses from +floods caused its removal, though even on its present site the lower +part of the town has been more than once under water. It was to this +lower part we drove in search of the authorities, but the Ispravnik was +away “in the country,” and his representative was asleep. + +We went next to present a letter of introduction to Mr. Bootyn, of whom +we had heard at the Alexandreffsky Central Prison, and subsequently +at Irkutsk. On approaching his house, it proved to be not only the +most remarkable in the town, but, I might add, the grandest we had +seen in Siberia. The houses of Nertchinsk have already been alluded +to as old, black, and rotten; but Mr. Bootyn is a merchant, miner, +and millionaire, who has been to England and round the world, and +he was building himself a house, in the construction of which were +manifest sundry foreign ideas. It was a huge erection, part of which +was executed in Byzantine and castellated styles; and the establishment +comprised dwelling-houses, gardens, conservatories, and shops--all +in one. The Mr. Bootyn to whom our letter was addressed was from +home, but we were received by his brother, and invited to dine in the +verandah conservatory. + +This gave us an insight into the social habits of another class of +Russians, and I was now beginning to know pretty well what to expect +when invited by a Siberian to dinner. Their hospitality is unbounded, +though, of course, its manifestation differs according to the means +of the host. Our first dinner in Siberia was at a merchant’s house, +where brother-merchants in travelling put up, and hence it was called +a hotel. We were asked if we would have our dinner in our own room, +or _en famille_. I was rash enough to choose the latter, and we +found ourselves seated at the table with mine host and a queer lot +of male guests (there were no females), who appeared to be clerks +or fellow-lodgers. We were first requested to help ourselves from a +tureen, in the centre of the table, to _stchee_, or soup, on the top +of which the fat floated like oil; and for the next course we had +bones of veal, followed by game and sour berries. Our fellow-guests +ate ravenously, tearing the bones to pieces with their teeth. Nothing +was placed on the table to drink, but towards the close of the meal +a glass of milk, as is common in Western Siberia, was given to each. +The foregoing represents, I should think, the dinner of the well-to-do +Siberian tradesman. There is nothing like display, and things are +sometimes served in a rough fashion. If any one wishes to be brushed +clean of over-fastidiousness in the arrangements of the table, I can +conscientiously recommend a tour across Siberia. In one house where +I was entertained--and entertained most kindly--the fish was brought +in in the frying-pan, and thus placed in the middle of the table, +which, if it did not minister to the delights of the eye, gave us food +admirably hot. On one occasion we dined with a teacher of languages in +a classical school, and he gave us stchee, roast meat with sour wild +cherries, then preserved maroshka berries and pudding. We dined in a +similar fashion with a medical doctor, but fared more sumptuously in +the house of a gold-seeker, where salt-spoons reminded us of England. + +At Nertchinsk we had fallen on pleasant places. The number of plants +and flowers (I had almost said shrubs) on the table went far to hide +the guests from one another, but there was abundance of excellent +food. Had we been bibbers of wine, there was no lack of the choicest +vintages; but, upon our declining alcohol, we were offered some +excellent cherry syrup, which, in so remote a region, was a great +luxury. Further east, I was invited to dinner by the acting governor +of a town, where the first course was provided, they said, for my +special benefit. It was a salmon pie. Fish pie is a grand dish with +peasants, and their betters too, throughout Russia. If well prepared +it is excellent. The crust is not made with butter, but with yeast, as +it is commonly eaten in Lent, when butter is forbidden. I dined most +sumptuously, however, in Siberia, at Vladivostock, with the officers +of a Russian man-of-war, at the house of the Governor. Here everything +was served with the elegance and refinement of an English mansion; and +the customs observed were much the same, except that the hostess (in +the absence of her husband, the Governor) gave a toast standing, and +left her seat to come round and do the honours by touching glasses +with several of her guests. Thus I saw something of the table customs +of nearly all classes. Grace was sung before meals in the house of +a devoutly orthodox general in Petersburg, and now and then I saw a +peasant, before or after a meal, turn to the ikon and cross himself; +but grace before meat did not appear to obtain as a custom in Siberia. +I partook, too, of all sorts of Siberian food, from sumptuous dinners +down to what was often very humble fare indeed. I think the _best_ +dinner we got at a post-station consisted of chicken soup, then the +newly-killed chicken that made it, and pancakes. This, perhaps, was +due in part to our not usually caring to wait until a meal could be +cooked, and we could not always eat what the post-people had prepared +for themselves, even when it was ready. Our provision basket, however, +supplied us with a few relishes to bread and butter, and thus we made +shift from town to town. I never travelled with anything like such +bodily fatigue as during the drive across Siberia; and never, that I +can remember, ate so little animal food during a corresponding period +of time; but I have no hesitation in saying that my health was better +after the journey than before it. + +Before we left Mr. Bootyn’s, we were shown some of the best rooms in +the house, elegantly furnished. In one of them was a fair collection of +European paintings, some of which I recognized as Swiss scenes. I do +not remember seeing any other paintings in Siberia worth naming, nor do +I remember being shown any statuary. Both would, of course, be carried +safely with difficulty over such immense distances and such uneven +roads. + +The Siberians are, however, by no means behind in photography. When +preparing for my tour, I had serious thoughts of taking with me a +camera and dry plates, thinking thereby to secure some novel pictures, +to the surprise, perhaps, of the people. It proved well that I +attempted nothing of the kind, for much trouble was thereby saved to +me, and instead of my astonishing the natives, I found that the natives +astonished me. I visited parts of Siberia of which no English author +has written, but discovered that photography had everywhere preceded +me; and though there were many villages in which we could not procure +white bread, there were few towns in which the same could be said of +photographs.[3] + +In Siberia, some of the photographers are Polish exiles; some are +Germans; one I met was a Frenchman, and another a Finn. Their +landscapes are not particularly good, and their productions are +dear. Landscapes of the size of views which may be purchased in Rome +for sixpence cost in Siberia at least six shillings; and when, at +Krasnoiarsk, our party went to be photographed, we paid for cabinet +groups at the rate of sixteen shillings the half-dozen copies. It +should be remembered, however, that the demand is limited. + +After taking leave of Mr. Bootyn, we prepared for a journey of 150 +miles, which was to bring us to Stretinsk. The upper town of Nertchinsk +is built at the end of a long sweeping prairie, exposed to all the +winds that blow up through the valley, or down from the cold summits +of the Yablonoi Mountains. We came towards night to a solitary house +in the midst of the steppe, the poorest station we had seen. The outer +roof was off, and the building divided into two compartments--one for +travellers and the other for horses--the one being not much better +than the other; whilst on the opposite side of the road was the only +building in sight--a roofless shed. The only food to be obtained was +black bread, salt, and water, and in this place it looked at first as +if we should be compelled to stay; for they had not six--that is, two +“pairs” of--horses; they had four; and I suggested that the difficulty +should be overcome by putting two horses to each vehicle. But this they +said was illegal, because their four horses would make only one “pair,” +and these they were willing to attach to our tarantass, if we would +pile on the rest of our boxes before and behind. By what mathematical +process they explained this reasoning about pairs I have never yet +fathomed, but we were only too thankful to get on at any price, and +early next morning we drove into Stretinsk. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The following table gives for 1875 the number of days of rain and +snow, the mean temperature of winter, spring, summer, autumn, and the +whole year, and the difference between the mean temperatures of summer +and winter, for London and four Siberian towns:-- + + | WINTER. | SPRING. | SUMMER. | AUTUMN. | YEAR. |Diff. + |Days Temp.|Days Temp.|Days Temp.|Days Temp.|Days Temp.|betw. + Nikolaefsk| 28 1·27 | 36 25·70| 28 59·05| 39 32·23|131 29·56|57·78 + Barnaul | 22 6·60 | 26 42·93| 30 61·83| 30 29·10|108 35·11|55·23 + Irkutsk | 10 -1·27 | 17 2·14| 25 61·54| 11 30·65| 63 23·27|62·81 + Nertchinsk| 5 -1·40 | 17 2·81| 26 60·70| 12 24·90| 60 21·75|62·10 + London | 47 40·0 | 34 53·70| 42 60·40| 44 43·50|167 49·40|20·40 + +The precipitation (rain and snow) in inches stands as follows at +Barnaul, Nertchinsk, and London:-- + + | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. + Barnaul | 0·92 | 1·77 | 6·39 | 2·93 | 12·01 + Nertchinsk | 0·75 | 0·60 | 8·77 | 7·42 | 17·54 + London | 4·76 | 5·13 | 9·94 | 8·21 | 28·04 + + +[2] Mr. Ravenstein gives an interesting account of this. The two +nations were represented by the envoy extraordinary Fedor Alexevitch +Golovin, and the celestial ambassadors So-fan-lan-ya and Kiw-Kijew, +with two Jesuit fathers as interpreters. The Russian envoy was +accompanied by a regiment of Regular Militia (Strelzi) 1,500 strong, +and two regiments raised in Siberia; but the Chinese ambassadors were +accompanied by a force of 9,000 or 10,000 persons, consisting of +soldiers, mandarins, servants, and camp followers. They had from 3,000 +to 4,000 camels, and at least 15,000 horses; and as they came to the +river’s bank opposite Nertchinsk, before the arrival of the Russian +envoy, the Governor of the town not unnaturally felt uneasy at the +presence of so large a company. + +At length, however, Golovin arrived, and a large tent was pitched, +midway between the fortress and the river, one-half appropriated to the +Russians, the other to the Chinese. The Russian portion was covered +with a handsome Turkey carpet. Golovin and the Governor of Nertchinsk +occupied arm-chairs, placed behind a table, which was spread with a +Persian silk embroidered in gold. The Chinese portion was devoid of +all ornament. The chiefs of the embassy, seven in number, sat upon +pillows placed upon a low bench. The remainder of the mandarins and +Russian officers were ranged along both sides of the tent. The Chinese +had crossed the river with 40 mandarins and 760 soldiers, 500 of whom +remained on the bank of the river, and 260 advanced half-way to the +tent. In a similar manner, 500 Russians were placed close to the fort, +and 40 officers and 260 soldiers followed the envoy. + +[3] It is interesting to know that in certain departments of +photography, Russia stands well to the front. In theoretical, +scientific, and landscape photography, I am informed England takes +place in the foremost rank; but in portrait photography, Russia is +before us. Among first-class photographic artists in Petersburg, the +names might be mentioned of Levitzky, Bergamasco, and Dinier; and in +Moscow that of Eichenwald; but the most remarkable photographer in all +Russia, probably, is one Karelin, at Nijni Novgorod. A small view of +Kasan, which I purchased in the city of that name, and which is printed +by the phototype process, seemed to indicate that this branch of the +art had extended more widely, and made further progress eastward, than +might have been expected at the time of my visit. There are to be +had in Petersburg and Moscow some magnificent photographic panoramas +of the two capitals; and in descending the Urals, on the Asiatic +side, I procured what can rarely be had elsewhere--a photograph of a +surface iron-mine; whilst further east was added one of a gold-mine. A +photographic view of Ekaterineburg, given me there, shows how thin and +light is the air in Russia, for purposes of photography, as compared +with ours in England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +_FROM STRETINSK TO UST-KARA._ + + Arrival at Stretinsk.--Recorded distances from Petersburg.--Taking + in a passenger.--Travelling allowance to officers.--Parting with + interpreter.--Farewell to tarantass.--Starting to Kara.--The + world before me.--Previous writers on the Amur.--Gliding down + the Shilka.--Talking by signs.--My Cossack attendant.--Taking an + oar.--How Russians sleep.--Arrival at Ust-Kara. + + +On reaching Stretinsk, we were on the same meridian as Nanking. We +had been reminded of our increasing distance from Petersburg by the +verst-posts which kept us company all the way. At every station, too, +there is a post setting forth how many versts distant are Petersburg, +Moscow, and the government towns on either side. The verst-posts recur +at every two-thirds of an English mile. At the top they are shaped +square, being so turned that the approaching traveller sees at a glance +how many versts it is to the station which he has left, or to which +he is journeying. When we entered Siberia at Tiumen, the distance +was 2,543 versts from Petersburg; at Tomsk it increased to 4,052; at +Krasnoiarsk to 4,606; and at Irkutsk to 5,611; whilst on arrival at +Stretinsk it was almost 7,000 versts, or 4,600 miles. + +It has already been stated that, after leaving Nertchinsk, the number +of our horses was reduced. On reaching the last station but one, we +had to take in a passenger. We overtook an officer, his wife and +family, whose acquaintance we had made in the Obi steamer, and whom we +subsequently met several times on our journey eastward. His wife spoke +French, and their three or four children were exceedingly well-behaved. +We could not help pitying this party of six, all of whom were stowed +away in a single tarantass, not much, if any, bigger than ours, +which was not excessively large for two. One of the children, if I +mistake not, was a baby, and if to the discomforts I have described as +accompanying us two be added the crowding of all these children and an +untold quantity of baggage into a single vehicle, then one may picture +some of the difficulties with which Russian officers and their families +travel in Siberia. + +This party having arrived before us had secured one “pair” of horses, +and the question arose as to whether the remaining pair should be +given to us or to a telegraph officer, who had also arrived before us, +but who was proceeding in our direction. He proposed that we should +have the horses and take him carriage free, which, rather than wait, +we were glad to do, and he thereby was able to pocket his travelling +allowance.[1] + +On arriving at Stretinsk we found it a good-sized town, with hospital, +sundry factories, barracks, and other buildings, befitting the chief +port of the Upper Amur. We were reminded, however, of its distance +from civilized centres almost before our horses stopped, for a youth +rushed up to inquire whether our tarantass was for sale. They make no +axletrees of iron in these parts, and hence, when a traveller arrives +who has a tarantass thus furnished, he has a good chance, after having +had the use of it all across the country, to sell it at Stretinsk for +as much or more than it cost in Europe. White bread was at famine +prices here, costing 6_d._ a lb.--five times as much as we paid at +Tobolsk--because the American flour deposited at Nikolaefsk ascends +the river a distance of nearly 2,000 miles, and the Russian flour, +from Irkutsk, travels 900 miles by land. So between the two, delicate +persons “brought up on white bread,” as the Russians say, fare badly. + +We called first at the telegraph office, and presented a letter of +introduction to Mr. Koch, who was ready at once to help, and from +whom I learned that my coming had been announced to the Commandant, +Colonel Merkasin, a worthy officer, of whom I heard a good account +from a released political exile, who said that prisoners received much +kindness at his hands, and that, if the colonel used their labour, +he paid them fairly for their work. We were favoured with his ready +attention, and, on going to his house, found that the Governor of +Chita, according to his promise, had requested him to make arrangements +whereby I might visit the mines of Kara. They were 80 miles distant, +and could be approached in summer by land only by a bridle-path. The +other method was to row down the Shilka in an open boat. + +But I was first to part with my interpreter, who was to return from +this place, a day or two afterwards, in our poor old tarantass.[2] +Before parting, there were sundry arrangements to make, and various +things to send back with him, instead of my taking them round the +remainder of the globe; but some of these I never saw again, for at +one of the stations Mr. Interpreter’s portmanteau was stolen, with my +property in it. The only place at Stretinsk in which we could put up +was a small building, dignified with the name of an hotel, consisting +of a central chamber with a billiard table, and a room on either +side--one set apart for women and the other for men. The sleeping +accommodation in the latter was a wooden seat running round the +room--a very common arrangement still in many parts of Russia. They +provided us food, however, and the place sufficed for unpacking and +arranging our effects, of which I intended to take the light baggage +with me, and leave my trunk, “hold-all,” and boxes of books to follow +by the steamer. + +I was anxious to get forward as quickly as possible, for it was already +Thursday morning, the 24th of July, and on Sunday evening the steamer +was due to pick me up at Ust-Kara, and take me to the Amur. The colonel +spared no pains to make things go smoothly. He had provided a boat +used by the police, which I was to keep all the way, and not change at +every station. He had also provided a Cossack who was to be my guard, +servant, and attendant, and whom I asked the colonel positively to +order not to leave me till he had delivered me safe into the hands of +Colonel Kononovitch, the Commandant at Kara. The colonel smiled at my +request, and undertook to see that my luggage was properly put on board +the steamer, as also did Mr. Koch; and then, bidding farewell to the +officer and to Mr. Interpreter, I embarked at three o’clock to float +down the waters of the Shilka. + +And now the world was before me, and that in a sense in which it had +never been before. I was not only a stranger in a strange land, but +penetrating a region where no English author had preceded me;[3] but +I was far from disliking my new position. The weather was delightful, +save that I rather feared sunstroke, and would fain have had a +cabbage-leaf to put in my hat. The colonel had recommended some other +antidote, but it was rendered unnecessary by the rising of clouds, from +which there fell a few drops of rain. The Cossack had provided two +oarsmen, so that I had nothing to do but to lean back in the boat, and +enjoy the delightful way in which we glided down the stream. It was +so pleasant, too, to miss the dust of the road and the jolting of the +tarantass! + +I could ask no questions, from the simple fact that none of my crew +spoke anything but Russ, of which I had hardly learned a dozen words. +I purposely did not spend time in mastering even the elements of the +language, thinking that I should have an interpreter with me all the +way, and not supposing that I should have any further use for my +smatter after leaving the country. Moreover, the Russian alphabet of +36 letters is different from others used in Europe, and is certainly +not inviting. I had very commonly found, among the upper classes of +Russians, that I could get on by some means in French, German, or +English. The post-masters, who happened to be Jews, spoke German; and +when this triglot mode of communication failed, I took to signs and +dumb show--not always, however, with entire success. + +At Tomsk, for instance, while Mr. Interpreter was “blowing up” +the officials for allowing us to be sent on the wrong road, I was +peacefully engaged in ordering the samovar and preparing for tea at +the post-house. I wanted some eggs, for which, even if I had learned +it, I had quite forgotten the Russian word, “_yaitsi_.” The Russian +who wanted an egg in England cleverly clucked like a hen, and was +instantly understood; but this did not occur to me. I therefore walked +into the back room, and, to the woman’s astonishment, peeped into the +cupboards and drawers, and examined the shelves; but to no purpose. +I then bethought me of my artistic acquirements, and, taking out a +pencil, drew on the wall an oval the size of an egg, and bade the +woman look at _that_; but she was too dense to catch my meaning. At +this juncture her husband entered, and I appealed to his masculine +intelligence by pointing to the oval on the wall; but he could not +“see” it. A happy thought then struck me, and I remembered that I had +in my provision-basket an egg-cup. I took him accordingly into the +guest-room, and showed it in triumph. But the man mistook it for a +brandy-glass, and said to his wife, “Oh! it is _vodka_ he wants.” I had +therefore to return to the charge, and took him into the yard, thinking +to see a hen walking about; but they were gone to roost. So I pointed +to a pigeon instead, but he perceived no connection between that +and a hen’s egg; nor, on second thoughts, did I. At last I saw in a +corner some broken egg-shells, and, picking them up, showed them, and +effected my object. Further east, I lost a pocket-book containing some +of my most important documents, and was compelled to go through a very +serious conversation all in dumb show; but this I must not anticipate. + +On the Shilka I experienced no inconvenience through not knowing +Russ; for, on arriving at the first station, the Cossack went off for +fresh oarsmen, and I aired my dozen words in ordering the _samovar_, +which important word, together with _tarelka_, a plate; _chai_, tea; +_voda_, water; _stakan_, a glass; _sakhar_, sugar; _khleb_, bread; and +_maslo_, butter, I had thoroughly mastered. It was no part of my duty, +I suppose, to feed my Cossack; for I observed he had brought with him +black bread, but of course I offered him tea and other fare, to which +he took very kindly, even to preserved meat, though he fought shy of +anchovy paste, which probably he had never seen before. + +Tea over, we left our first station, 17 miles from Stretinsk, for +station number two, 14 miles distant. But on this stage one of our +oarsmen was old and feeble, and I had insisted (by signs and motions) +that an extra hand should be hired, and that the Cossack should be +allowed to rest, which he did by curling himself up in the prow of the +boat and going to sleep. In this state of things darkness came on, and +eight o’clock, nine o’clock, and ten o’clock passed, and still we made +only slow progress. At last, in spite of the remonstrances of the men, +I took an oar myself, pulled away lustily till I had a warm jacket, and +at eleven o’clock we arrived at the post-house of Uktich. + +On entering the room a practical illustration was afforded us of the +Oriental custom, “Take up thy bed and walk.” The people of the house, +not expecting travellers, had occupied the guest-chamber,--one on the +bedstead, another on the floor, and so on; but, upon my entering, they +snatched up the rugs or cloths upon which they were lying, and decamped +with alacrity. In crossing Siberia we rarely saw a genuine bed in the +houses of the peasantry, and the people do not usually, I believe, +undress before going to sleep.[4] + +Soon after five the next morning, I roused the Cossack, who had taken +up his quarters on the floor of the guest-room, and by six we started +for Botti and Shilkinsk, the third and fourth stations from Stretinsk; +and, after sundry stoppages, at seven in the evening we finished our +day’s pull of 44 miles, and reached Ust-Kara, where Colonel Kononovitch +was awaiting my arrival. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The Russian Government, when sending officers overland from +Petersburg to the Amur province, say, for instance, to Nikolaefsk, +grants them money according to their rank, and the number of horses +they are supposed to drive. Thus, a lieutenant is allowed 2 horses, +a captain of the third rank 3, captain of the second rank 4, captain +of first rank 5, rear-admiral 6, vice-admiral 7, full admiral 8; and +the sum for horses in each case is doubled; in addition to which, for +outfit, single officers receive on the outgoing journey half a year’s +pay, and married officers a year’s; but when they are returning, +three-fourths of a year’s pay is allowed to married and single alike. +The distance from Petersburg to Nikolaefsk is 9,848 versts, and the +cost of a horse for this distance, at the time of my visit, was 277 +roubles--say £28. An officer, therefore, going to this privileged part, +or returning on furlough, might multiply £28 by the number of horses +to which his rank entitled him, double the product, and add 6, 9, or +12 months’ pay, and so realize a heavy purse. Out of this he might +save considerably by hiring less horses than his dignity was supposed +to require, by sharing expenses with another traveller, or, lastly, in +the case of one already in the Amur province, and entitled to leave +on furlough, by giving up his holiday and pocketing the travelling +expenses, which last, I found, was not unfrequently done at Nikolaefsk, +by officers who had got into debt, and looked forward to furlough money +as the means of getting them out of their difficulties. + +[2] He left it at Tiumen, where it still may be, for aught I know +to the contrary; in danger, perhaps, of being immortalized, like +another old “equipage,” of which the following story is told. The +Russians apply the term “equipage” to any vehicle, whether on wheels +or runners, and whether drawn by horses, dogs, deer, or camels. The +same word “equipage” is used in Russian, as in French, to denote a +ship’s crew. Accordingly, a few years after the disappearance of Sir +John Franklin, the English Admiralty requested the Russian Government +to make inquiries for the lost navigator along the coasts and islands +of the Arctic Ocean. An order to that effect was sent to the Siberian +authorities, and they in turn commanded all subordinates to inquire and +report; whereupon a petty officer, somewhere in Western Siberia, was +puzzled at the order to inquire concerning the English Captain, John +Franklin, and his equipage. In due time, however, he reported, “I have +made the proper inquiries. I can learn nothing about Captain Franklin, +but in one of my villages there is an old sleigh that no one claims, +which may be his equipage.” + +[3] The names of several have been mentioned who crossed Siberia +turning northwards to the Sea of Okhotsk, or southwards to China; some, +too, as Captain Cochrane and Mr. Atkinson, reached Nertchinsk and the +surrounding neighbourhood; but none went on to the Amur. Mr. Atkinson +wrote a book of “Travels in the Region of the Upper and Lower Amur,” +but he did not see the goodly land; he only described it, getting his +information, probably, from the Russian officers who took part in the +annexation of the country; and some of his illustrations, if I mistake +not, from the Russian book of Maack, which has proved a storehouse also +for subsequent writers. + +Two American authors, however, had passed this way--Mr. Collins, +who, in 1858, from Chita, floated down the Shilka, continuing the +whole length of the Amur to Nikolaefsk; and Mr. Knox, who, bent on +journalistic enterprise, made his way up the Amur from Nikolaefsk to +Stretinsk. Unfortunately, I had neither of their works with me, nor had +I the more scholarly volume of Mr. Ravenstein, whose production, though +not that of an eye-witness, is far the best English work on the Amur, +being largely compiled from the information given by those Russians who +were the first scientific explorers of the country. + +[4] Their favourite place for spending the night is on the top of the +stove, which is sometimes raised at one end by brickwork to form a rest +for the head. Before mounting this, they may perhaps take off their +boots and an upper garment; but an Anglo-Russian lady has told me that, +when living at Kertch, though she made it a condition, before a woman +entered her service, that she should undress before going to bed, yet +servants frequently transgressed; and that, as far as the men were +concerned, they never took off their clothes but for the bath or to +change them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +_THE PENAL COLONY OF KARA._ + + Evil reputation of Kara.--Testimony from Siberians and exiles.--My + own experience.--The Commandant.--Our evening drive.--Hospitable + reception.--Statistics respecting prisoners, their crimes, + sentences, and settlement as “exiles.”--The Amurski + prison.--Cossack barracks.--The upper prison.--Convicts’ + food.--Prisoners’ private laws.--Middle Kara prison.--Mohammedan + forçats.--Sunday labour.--Convict clothing.--Guard-house.--A + genuine political prisoner.--The church.--Lack of + preaching.--House of the Commandant. + + +In the penal colony of Kara I found more than 2,000 convicts, and a few +political prisoners, together with some of their wives and families, +a military staff, and some peasants. The penal institutions of this +place are not so old as those of Nertchinsk; but, like them, they +inherit a bad reputation. Mr. Atkinson appears to have been the first +author to bring the place under the notice of English readers, doing +so in no favourable terms, though he does not profess to speak as +an eye-witness. Before I left England I was told that, if I did not +intend to go east of the Baikal, I should see nothing but what might +be witnessed in the prisons of London, and that I should get no idea +of the real horrors of Siberian exile. This was said by a man who had +worked in the mines of Nertchinsk, and he urged me by all means to see +Kara. + +Again, when we reached Siberia, and were travelling on the Obi, my +interpreter conversed with an officer in the prison service, whom he +told that I had come to Siberia for the purpose of seeing its prisons. +The officer expressed his doubts (as numbers of my English friends +had done before) as to whether I should succeed in getting at the +real state of the convicts in the mines and prisons; and he further +mentioned three places where they had to work specially hard, namely, +Alexandreffsky and Nertchinsk (about which I have spoken), and the +third was Kara. + +We met further east a gentleman who told me that his brother-in-law, +a colonel, had given him sad accounts of the dreadful state of some +of the prisons in Eastern Siberia. I was introduced to the said +colonel, but a lengthy inquiry was productive of little more, on his +part, than general statements, and I obtained only five lines for my +note-book, the gist of them being that, when I asked for the very worst +places--those in which I should find most horrors--one of the four +places mentioned was Kara. + +It is curious to notice that, of the four persons who spoke against +Kara, not one of them (so far as I know) ever went there; and, with +regard to Nertchinsk also, it is observable that the language of +ear-witnesses respecting its mines is far stronger than the language of +eye-witnesses, or even of those who suffered as prisoners. But I need +dwell no longer upon what others have said, and may proceed to write of +what I saw at Kara, where I was, if I mistake not, the first English +visitor. + +It was towards evening when our boat reached Ust-Kara. Pacing the +river’s bank was Colonel Kononovitch, the Commandant of the colony. I +had been delayed on the way, and he had been for some hours awaiting +me, but a few words of explanation sufficed to make matters clear. My +tongue, after an enforced silence of nearly 30 hours, was now released. +We talked in French, and I soon discovered that I was addressing +an officer of more than average intelligence. He took me into the +police-master’s house for some light refreshment, and to leave my heavy +baggage, and then suggested that we should start on a drive of eight +miles, so as to reach our destination before dark. + +Our way lay over a stony road, through a wild valley, which, in the +shades of evening, had a weird and out-of-the-world appearance. +The ridges of the hills were irregular, and partially covered with +conifers, while lower were deciduous shrubs and trees, though not of +considerable dimensions. Among the rank and tall herbage were some +late flowers, and an orange tiger-lily, about two feet high, that was +strange to me. After we had driven a few miles, we came to a _détour_ +in the route, where the colonel proposed that we should clamber up a +bank, and walk down to the road on the other side. From this elevation +the landscape appeared wilder than ever, and the place looked like +a natural prison, from which escape was impossible. There was not +a habitation to be seen, and the consciousness that we were in the +neighbourhood of so many “unfortunates,” as they are called, gave me +similar feelings to those with which I looked down on the forest-bound +prison at Alexandreffsky. + +As we drove along, and darkness crept on, there passed us labouring +men returning from work, who saluted us. “Who,” said I, “are they?” +“They are convicts,” said the colonel. “Convicts!” said I; “how, +then, are they loose?” “Oh,” said he, “a large proportion of the +condemned--perhaps half--live out of the prisons in their houses _en +famille_.[1] But they ought not to be out after dark.” I then began +to inquire respecting the crimes of the prisoners, and was informed +that there were in the place about 800 murderers, 400 robbers, and 700 +vagrants or “_brodiagi_”; and having been told what proportion of these +were loose, I was not surprised to hear the colonel say that he usually +avoided, if possible, being out at night. I approved his caution. Being +very tired, moreover, and seeing that it was now dark, and that neither +of us was armed, I was heartily glad to reach Middle Kara, the end of +our drive. + +Where I was to be quartered I did not know. There was no hotel in the +place, or even a post-house, and I doubt if they could have offered me +lodgings, as at Troitskosavsk, in the police-station. The commandant, +however, had arranged everything for me, and I found that I was to +occupy his own study. There he had prepared a neat, clean little bed; +and as I looked around at the European comforts on the table, in the +shape of writing materials and ornaments, it seemed like an arrival in +the library of an English gentleman rather than the private bureau of +the director of a penal colony. + +I wanted to get a thorough rest against the morrow, for we had a stiff +programme before us. Moreover, the last bed I had occupied was nearly +600 miles away; and, with the exception of two nights, I had not taken +off my clothes to sleep for exactly a month. But the colonel insisted +first on giving me food, of which my prominent recollection is that +it was tastefully served, and consisted of delicacies that had been +out of reach for many a day, with tinned fruits, including pears that +had made their way from America up the Amur. When at last I undressed, +and stretched my limbs between a pair of sheets, I felt on excellent +terms with my surroundings in general, and the colonel in particular. +He was a fine-looking man, with intellectual tastes and an intelligent +forehead, and neither smoked, drank, nor played cards,--a trio of +virtues by no means always found in a Siberian official. The room was +clean and sweet; quietness reigned around; and, uninterrupted by the +rumbling of the tarantass or the noise of a post-house, I was left to +sleep in peace. + +I had been asked overnight whether next morning I should like a bath. +Of course I jumped at the offer, having been able to get such a luxury +but twice in Siberia. Accordingly, on waking, the colonel brought me +a Turkish dressing-gown and bade me follow him. I thought, perhaps, +he would lead the way to a bath-room, instead of which he opened the +front door and marched me down the middle of his garden to a summer +bathing-shed. Here I splashed about, then returned to my toilet and to +breakfast. + +Of course I asked all sorts of questions about the convicts, or, as +they are called, “forçats,” or _katorjniki_--prisoners condemned to +forced labour. Their number at Kara for four preceding years had been +as follows:-- + + 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879[2] + 2,600 2,722 2,635 2,543 2,458. + +Their classification according to crime is important, as throwing some +light on the number of political prisoners, for whom, I was told, Kara +is a special place of deportation, and I have heard that it has become +more so since my visit. The only class where they could be included +was under the heading “various,” of whom there were 73; and this would +suffice to include the politicals, respecting whose number I asked, and +was told that it was 13 Russians and 28 Poles. I did not hear of any of +the sects of dissenters in prison at Kara.[3] + +As regards the sentences of the convicts, they were all, I believe, +condemned to hard labour, either of the fabric or the mines--one year +of work in the mines counting for a year and a half in the fabric. +There were a few, chiefly “vagabonds,” sentenced to Kara for life; +but for such grave offenders even as parricides, fratricides, etc., +20 years was the extreme limit of their terms. The convicts are able +to shorten their time, to some extent, by good conduct, and are set +free to live as colonists, or, as they are then technically called, +“exiles,” or “_poselenetsi_.”[4] + +Not all of the forçats at Kara, as already observed, were in prison, +nor were those in close confinement placed all in one building, but +in six, distributed over a distance about 15 miles long. Thus we left +one behind at Ust-Kara, another about midway between the river and +Middle Kara. At Middle Kara were one or two prison buildings, and in +the opposite direction from the river were two more, the High Prison +and the Amurski Prison, which last was eight miles distant from the +commandant’s house. To this last the colonel proposed to drive first, +and then work back, taking the others in order; and this, after +breakfast, we proceeded to do. + +It was a beautiful morning when we started, and the bright sun and +the clear air gave a very different aspect to the valley from that of +the preceding night. The dark hues of the conifers stood out well in +contrast with foliage of lighter green, a stream was visible here and +there, and immense forests bounded the horizon. We drove a pair of +splendid horses that would have attracted attention in Rotten Row; and +as we dashed along the road I perceived at its side wild currants and +strawberries, raspberries, and wild peas, the apple, and the vine. The +colonel pointed out a gold-mine as we proceeded, but I do not remember +seeing any one there at work. + +When we reached the Amurski prison, it proved to be a log building, +of good pitch, and of a single storey. Most of the prisoners were +out at work, but a few were engaged in whitewashing the rooms, which +the colonel said was done at least four times a year. The wards were +large sleeping-rooms, occupied for the greater part of the year only +by night. There were no bedsteads, but a wide shelf, like that of a +guard-room, ran round three of the walls; and on this they placed their +large bags, for the making of which sacking was supplied to them, to +serve the double purpose of clothes-bag and bed. + +Near the prison were the summer barracks of a company of 150 Cossacks, +a fourth of whom were replaced yearly. The barracks consisted of large +canvas booths, with rows of beds arranged in the fashion of the summer +hospitals. A school is provided in winter for the Cossacks, of whom +rather more than a half read. + +We next drove back to the _Verchne_ (or upper) prison, a building much +older than the one we had left, having in the rooms an upper sleeping +shelf resembling a loft, on which the prisoners sleeping would have +the full benefit of the breathed air of their comrades below. The +commandant saw this, and pointed out that it was an old and doomed +building, and that in the new erections they were avoiding a repetition +of the evil. In this prison were two solitary punishment cells, one of +them being occupied on the morning of our visit for the first time in +the colonel’s experience. + +Some prisoners, it seemed, might receive money, and some not. There was +in this prison a Jew to whom 150 roubles a year were sent by friends. +His family were living outside. They might bring him food, and were +allowed to pay him at least a weekly visit. + +We went into the kitchen, and I looked attentively at the scale of +diet hung on the wall as in prisons in England.[5] The weight of the +highest allowance in Siberia, as observed before, is far in excess +(nearly double) of the highest English convicts’ allowance, though +for non-working prisoners in Siberia an abatement must be made for +fast-days. The annual cost of provisions for each prisoner at Kara is +65 roubles 72¾ kopecks, or say £6 10_s._ The soup appeared somewhat +roughly served in small wooden tubs or bowls, but I presume that the +place is too distant to allow of crockeryware being easily procured. +Every prisoner provided his own spoon. Knives, as in most prisons, were +forbidden. + +We saw, lounging about this building, two or three men who seemed +to have very little to do. They were called “_starostas_,” that +is, seniors or elders. Each ward of men in prison, and each gang +of exiles on the march, chooses a starosta, who is their ruler and +representative, the middle-man between them and the authorities. He +receives the charities given them on the road, and pays and bribes the +petty officers for little favours. He is, in fact, banker, purveyor, +and general factotum to the body by whom he is elected. The authorities +recognise this arrangement, exempt the starostas from labour, and +through them deal with the prisoners rather than give their small +orders direct. On behalf of the prisoners it is the starosta’s duty to +befriend them, and see that they have the proper amount of food, and +whatever else may be their due; whilst, on behalf of the authorities, +should anything go wrong with the prisoners, the starosta is held +responsible.[6] The office, however, at Kara, notwithstanding its +privileges and exemptions, is by no means coveted; and the men, rather +than be unoccupied, though it be to rule, prefer to work and to serve. + +In the prison at Middle Kara was a considerable number of Tatars. Why +they were unoccupied I know not, unless it happened to be a bath-day, +which is a holiday, and recurs twice a month; or, again, it may have +been one of the Mohammedan festivals, some of the greater of which they +are allowed to observe, though not the Friday in every week. Nor are +the Jewish prisoners allowed to rest on their Sabbath, nor Christians +on the Sunday. It might possibly be argued, in justification of this, +that Sunday is not usually observed at any of the Siberian gold-mines; +but, however that may be, I thought this robbing the hard-labour +prisoners of their day of rest the most cruel and unjust thing in their +lot. A greater than a Russian Tsar gave to man the Sabbath, and to take +it away from him is, to my mind, nothing less than a sin and a shame.[7] + +Near the prison at Middle Kara was a storehouse, to which we mounted +by a flight of outside steps. It contained a quantity of material for +prisoners’ clothing--coarse linen for shirts and summer trousers, felt +for coats, and leather for shoes and gloves; also a number of made-up +garments. A pair of summer shoes or slippers was valued at 3_s._, and +a coat of felt at 12_s._ A pair of gloves, such as the prisoners use +in the mines, was given me as a keepsake. I have added them to my +prison curiosities, collected in various parts of the world, comprising +fetters, whip, handcuffs, specimens of prison labour, and a variety of +other lugubrious objects. + +There was likewise a guard-house at Middle Kara. In it I observed, +as I had done at Tobolsk, that the furniture and arrangements for +the soldiers were not at all better than for the prisoners. From +information respecting soldiers’ food received later, I make no +doubt the rations of the Cossack guards are less ample than those +provided for the labouring convicts; and I am persuaded that under +some circumstances, dear liberty excepted, the Cossacks are more to be +pitied than their prisoners. Thus, when a gang of exiles comes at night +to an étape, they can lie down and rest, whereas the Cossacks have to +mount guard. + +In this building, opening out of the central room guarded by soldiers, +were a few (perhaps half-a-dozen) separate cells, through the doors of +which no one could pass without being seen by the Cossacks. These cells +were evidently inner prisons, in which were kept those whose escape was +especially to be prevented. I entered two of them. The first was not +quite so wide, but about the length and rather higher than the cell +of an English prison, measuring perhaps five feet wide by eight long +and ten high, and occupied by a Tatar gentleman, with his rosary of a +hundred beads in hand, with nothing to do. + +[Illustration: TATAR GENTLEMAN EXILE IN WINTER DRESS.] + +On entering the second cell, occupied by a political prisoner, +just then at work in the mines, I had at last lighted upon the +dwelling-place of one of a class about whom such harrowing stories +have been told--a genuine political prisoner of high calibre, and a +Jew to wit, undergoing the full sentence of punishment in the mines +of Siberia. This meant, in his case, that he had to labour in summer +very much like a navvy, from six in the morning till seven in the +evening, with certain hours for rest and meals; but in the winter he +frequently had nothing to do. His wife was living near, and might see +him twice a week. But his cell was that which struck me most. Compared +to the criminal wards in the other prisons, this was a little parlour. +It was clean, and in a manner garnished--not, indeed, in the fashion +of a cell at San Francisco, where I found a “boss” painter condemned +for life, and who had decorated his cell from floor to ceiling, as if +intending to remain there for the rest of his days (this would have +been out of keeping with Russian ideas); but the Kara prisoner had +certain articles of furniture and eating requisites, the placing and +arrangement of which indicated familiarity with the habits of decent +society, and showed the prisoner to be above the common herd. One of +his books I found was a treatise on political economy, which may be +noted in connection with the remark of Goryantchikoff in his “Buried +Alive,” who asserts that in his prison no book was allowed but the New +Testament. The room certainly was not large, but there was abundance +of light, the outlook from the long window being not on a prison wall +surrounded by chevaux-de-frise, but commanding a view of the Kara +valley such as a Londoner might envy; whilst just outside was the +public road, along which could be seen everything that passed. I speak +only truth when I say that, if I had the misfortune to be condemned to +prison for life, and had my choice between Millbank in London or this +political’s cell at Kara, I would certainly choose the latter. + +Between the guard-house and the residence of the colonel was a +collection of buildings and store-houses, called “Middle” Kara. Among +these was the church, the priest of which was the only chaplain I +could hear of for the prisoners. He practised photography in addition +to his ecclesiastical calling, and although he probably needed every +rouble he gained thereby--and I certainly ought not to revile him, +since by his means the colonel was able to present me with some +views of the colony--yet it would have rejoiced me to hear that he +was doing something worthy of his position for the spiritual good of +the convicts. The pastoral superintendence, frequent services, and +preaching to prisoners, as carried on in English prisons, is unheard of +at Kara, and I gathered that the convicts attended church only twice a +year.[8] + +[Illustration: RUSSIAN VILLAGE CHURCH.] + +I may here mention that the religious scruples of Siberian exiles are +to some extent respected. Thus, for the Jewish prisoners to be obliged +to eat food prepared by Gentiles would be an abomination. In the prison +at Tiumen we were informed that 42 Jews, who had been confined there +during the previous winter, had been placed together in a ward, with a +separate cooking-place, in which they prepared their food canonically. +So, too, a similar arrangement had been observed with 71 Mohammedans; +and I have just remarked that there were many of this religion +together, in the prison at Middle Kara, who were allowed, within +certain limitations, the exercise of their religious observances. I +have already said that we met a Protestant pastor who made periodical +visits to the prisons and mines; and on the Amur I travelled with +a Roman Catholic priest, from Nikolaefsk, who was returning from a +lengthened tour along the river, which doubtless included visits to his +co-religionists in confinement. + +After seeing Middle Kara our morning’s inspection was over. We had +driven 15 miles, and as there were prisons in the opposite direction, +extending over the same length of country, it will be seen that for +the colonel to pay a visit to all his Kara prisons involved a drive, +in all, of 30 miles, which I understood he accomplished at least once +a week; and he had also, I believe, another penal institution to +inspect, called Alexandreffsky Zavod, at a still greater distance. His +salary was £330 per annum, and an unpretentious house, his perquisites, +perhaps, making up his income to £400. In his yard was a good +bath-house and offices, and an enclosure with a couple of wild deer, +caught and kept for his children. + +At dinner I was introduced to Madame Kononovitch, who was considerably +younger than her husband. They had married at Irkutsk, which to a +Siberian is Paris. It was not greatly to be wondered at, therefore, +if she found Kara somewhat dull. The society of the place was very +limited. There were the families of the officers and the wives of a few +gentle or noble prisoners, but these latter of course could be received +into the colonel’s house only with a certain amount of reserve. The +servants were, I suppose, all of them exiles, but the dinner was well +served. I remember nothing of the food, save that the colonel had made +a successful effort to get me a plate of wild strawberries. The season +(July 26th) was now late, and they were the last I ate in Siberia. +Madame spoke French well, and, as their children were growing up, she +and her husband were interested in their education, and made many +inquiries concerning our methods of teaching in England. The colonel +then requested me to send him some English books; and soon after dinner +we started for the hospital, the orphanage, and one of the mines. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This is permitted after the expiration of two, four, six, or eight +years (or nearly one-third of the punishment), to those who by good +behaviour attain to a certain class. They still live on the spot and +must work, and after a second period of this half-liberty, they are +sent to a better place as exiles. Whilst in the former class they may +be re-imprisoned for bad conduct, but not, I find, after they are set +free to colonize (except for fresh crimes), as I have stated in my +chapter on the exiles, vol. i., p. 35. + +[2] The colonel had not quite all the statistics to hand for 1879. +Their number, therefore, at the time of my visit, was given me as +2,144, classified, according to their crimes, as follows:-- + + Men. Women. Total. + Murderers 668 125 793 + Robbers with violence 404 5 409 + Incendiaries 29 9 38 + For rape 22 22 + Forgers 45 1 46 + Offenders against discipline, and + defaulters in public service 86 86 + Vagabonds 665 12 677 + Various 71 2 73 + ----- ----- ----- + 1,990 154 2,144 + +[3] The only place where I met any of these in confinement was in +the prison hospital at Tomsk, in which were three _Subbotniki_,--one +of them a priest, and the others descendants of priests,--who were +suffering from scorbutic disease, and who were in prison, I _think_ +I understood, for trying to propagate their creed; though, as this +would seem to be contrary to what I understood were now the laws +respecting dissenters, it may be that I did not understand the whole +case. Subbotniki are so called because they believe that we ought to +keep _Subbota_, or Saturday, as the day of rest. They are said also to +consider circumcision a binding ordinance, because it was to Abraham, +the father of the faithful, that the Lord gave it, and Moses wrote, “in +your generations _for ever_.” In some other respects, perhaps, such as +purifications, they may further Judaize. + +[4] The number of forçats who, after finishing their terms, were, by +special order of the Government, distributed, as exiled colonists among +the inhabitants of the provinces of Eastern Siberia, for the seven +years preceding my visit, was as follows:-- + + 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 + 176 193 134 167 290 472 672 + +--the last year thus showing a release of a third of the whole number I +found under detention. + +[5] It appeared that, when a man was working in the mines, he received +daily 4 lbs. (Russian) of bread, 1 lb. of meat, ¼ lb. of buckwheat, +and a small piece of brick-tea (_kirpichny chai_; _kirpich_ meaning a +brick), amounting to a quarter of a brick per month. In winter they are +given cabbage and potatoes. When a man was not working, he received 3 +lbs. of bread, ½ lb. of meat, and 1/12 lb. of buckwheat. No _kvas_ was +provided at Kara except in the hospital. These allowances are given to +the prisoners at Kara in kind, and not, as at Irkutsk, their value in +money, which would not be so suitable, as I saw no shops at Kara, nor +did I hear of any local committee to-eke out the prisoners’ money. + +[6] Thus the prisoners make laws for themselves and invest their +seniors with a good deal of power. In this matter there is “honour +among thieves.” I was told, for instance, that east of Tomsk the +sentinels ask an oath of the prisoners that they will not attempt to +escape, and then give them certain liberties. My informant said that +he had sometimes met gangs of prisoners alone, their sentinels having +stayed behind to drink at a public-house. When a general promise +has been thus given, should one dare to run away, he is pursued by +the others, and when caught is thrashed, or loaded, according to M. +Andreoli, with a sack of earth tied on his back. I have even heard of a +gang of exiles sentencing one of their number to death for the breach +of some law of their own making, the sentence being carried out of +course unknown to the authorities--such cases, I presume, being very +rare. + +[7] The only days at Kara on which men are supposed not to work are +three days at Christmas, New Year’s Day, three days before Lent, three +days at Easter, and certain imperial birthdays, making in all 15 days +in the year, and the first and fifteenth day of each month for the +bath. There are other days when, as a matter of fact, for various +reasons, they do not work; but I am speaking of the rule. + +[8] This may be noticed in connection with a statement of the +author of “The Russians of To-day” (p. 231), who says: “Once a +week a pope--himself an exile--goes down into the mines to bear +the consolations of religion, under the form of a sermon enjoining +patience.” I suspect that the poor fellows would be only too thankful +to have the opportunity once a week of listening to a sermon upon +patience or any other subject! Moreover, the number of sermons given by +our author to his prisoners is exceedingly liberal (52 in the course of +the year), seeing that in an ordinary church in Petersburg or Moscow +the number does not usually exceed half-a-dozen. I have seen it stated +that properly there should be 12, but, in Siberia, on my asking the +grandson of a metropolitan how often his father preached, he told me +“five or six times a year,” and after many inquiries I never heard of +but one priest in the empire, though, of course, there may be others, +who preached, or rather read, a sermon every week. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +_THE CONVICT MINES OF KARA._ + + Gold-mines not underground.--Hours of labour.--Visit to a + mine.--Punishments.--Branding abolished.--Miners marching + off.--Statistics respecting runaways.--Women criminals at + mines.--A new building for expected politicals.--Superannuated + forçats.--The hospitals.--“Birching” and its effects.--Kara in + 1859.--Improvements effected by Colonel Kononovitch.--A children’s + home.--Return to the gold-mine.--Comparison of Siberian and + English convicts.--Distribution of books. + + +As I had visited the mine of the Archangel Gabriel near Krasnoiarsk, I +was in some measure prepared what to expect in the gold-mines of Kara. +It was not easy, however, to get rid of a preconceived notion attaching +to Siberian mines, that the convicts _must_ be working underground, for +I had entered the country with ideas such as those expressed by the +author of “The Russians of To-day.”[1] + +But now that I have been to the convict gold-mines, I have, happily, no +such horrors to relate. All the gold-mining is done aboveground. The +season begins on the 15th February, and ends on the 15th November, +and they work 13 hours a day, excepting certain hours for refreshment +and rest. I suppose, however, both the length of the season and of +their daily labour must be to some extent modified by the rigour of the +frost and the duration of the light. During the three winter months the +ground is frozen, and they are mostly unemployed. + +The visiting of the mine at Kara was far from pleasant. It was like +walking into a large gravel-pit, from 20 to 30 feet deep. In this +pit 198 men were at work, some removing the roots, stones, and +surface-earth, and others carting off the gold-bearing sand to the +washing machine. The miners were surrounded with a cordon of armed +sentries, as at Portland prison. A large number of the convicts +had irons on their legs; this, however, was something special to a +particular prison, and was inflicted for two months as a punishment for +aiding and abetting the escape of four comrades.[2] + +A certain measure of earth was allotted to the men as each day’s +labour. A released Pole, who had been at Kara, though he did not work +in the mines, told me it was a 7-feet cube to three men. This he +allowed to be less than the quantity worked by free labourers. He said +these latter had the help of horses and were better fed, but there were +70 horses in the mine I visited at Kara, and the reader may judge, from +what has been said, whether or not the miners’ food was sufficient. So +far, therefore, the Siberian convicts at Kara did not appear to be +worked harder than--I should think not so hard as--our own at Portland. + +I asked what was done to them if they did not fulfil their tasks, and +was told that they were punished first by privation, and, if that +did not suffice, by corporal chastisement with rods. Kara, I heard +subsequently, is one of three places in Siberia where the _troichatka_ +or “plète” is in use. The colonel described it as a whip with three +ends, of which, for serious offences, any number up to 20 stripes might +be given; but, he said, he rarely used it, cases of insubordination +being usually met by seclusion, irons, less food, or delay of removal +to a higher class, which last might mean, in some cases, the virtual +prolongation of a sentence for a couple of years. + +The branding of prisoners is no longer practised. There were two or +three veterans at Kara, one of whom, at my request, was brought to +me, and whose cheeks and forehead were marked with the letters K A T, +an abbreviation of _Katorjnik_, a convict. This man had been marked +in 1863, and the letters presented a tattooed appearance, though the +operation of tattooing must be the more severe, since it is slowly done +by hand, whereas, in the case of the prisoners, the brand was done by +a kind of cupping instrument, or stamp, furnished with small points, +which, on being tapped, pierced the skin. A liquid was then rubbed on, +and so the convict was tattooed for life. I just missed seeing one of +these instruments at Nikolaefsk, where it had been recently sold as a +curiosity. + +It was late in the afternoon when we reached the mine at Kara; and +by the time we had looked round, and gone among the miners, the hour +arrived for leaving off work; the drum sounded, and the convicts +formed in line, some of them shouldering tools, and what looked like +stretchers for carrying loads of earth between two bearers. Their heavy +tools were put in carts to be drawn by horses, and all marched under +guard to their prison, five miles off. This walk, therefore, to and fro +must in this instance be added to their day’s labour; but I noticed +that, when the convicts walked out of the mine, the free labourers +continued working, and did so for some hours afterwards. + +Before the miners started, their numbers were called, for prisoners +sometimes attempt to remain in the mine all night for the purpose, it +may be, of washing earth secretly to secure a little gold, or, more +frequently, with a view to escape. If it be spring-time, a runaway may +succeed, during the summer, in getting a long way off, and, as winter +comes on, give himself up, be imprisoned as a vagrant or vagabond, +and, the following spring, be fortunate enough, perchance, to make +his escape again, and so get towards Europe. Sometimes they manage to +obtain forged passports, and travel as free men. At other times the +escaped gather in bands, and roam about the country. It is, in fact, +by no means uncommon to meet escaped prisoners on the roads, but they +are not spoken of as malicious. They are not like banditti. They will +sometimes steal a chest of tea from the hindmost vehicle of a caravan, +or, indeed, run off with horse, cart, and all; but they do not usually +attack travellers. The runaways beg food of the peasantry, who, of +course, by law, ought not to aid them; so they compromise matters +by placing food on their window-sills at night, ostensibly with the +charitable purpose of helping passers-by in distress. They thus avoid +conflict with the authorities, and do not anger the convicts, who might +otherwise do them mischief, especially by setting the house on fire. + +The half-liberty given to convicts after a period of good behaviour +presents a loophole for escape, of which many hundreds avail +themselves.[3] These escaped convicts are known as “_Brodiagi_,” or +“roaming gentry.” They wander about, guided through the forests by +marks left by the natives and preceding runaways. There are some +places, it is said, where they can live without fear. M. Réclus goes so +far as to say that sometimes the authorities, in times of difficulty, +or when ordinary labourers fail, call in the help of “vagabonds,” with +the tacit understanding that they will not ask for their passports, +whereupon hundreds emerge from the surrounding forests and present +themselves for employment. I am not able to confirm this from my own +experience as regards the authorities, but I met with a private firm +who had in their employ several men without their “papers.” + +When marched out of the Kara mine, those in the higher category are +free to go to their families. I saw, too, near the Cossack barracks, a +dwelling in course of erection for those who were living half-free, but +in which they were to sleep at night. Those in the lower category are +taken to their respective prisons, and may sleep, if they choose, in +summer from nine o’clock till five, and in winter from seven till seven. + +I looked in at a prison, near the colonel’s house, just before the men +were going to rest. I do not remember that there were any lights, and +the place was gloomy enough; but I suspect that it must be more so +during the long nights of winter. At Tiumen I observed but one small +candlestick in a room for 65 prisoners,--light enough to make the +darkness visible. In this respect my testimony is of limited value, as +my visits were paid by day, but I can readily believe Goryantchikoff’s +dismal description of the foul air and gloom of a Siberian prison by +night. Whether the majority of prisoners, however, would wish for a +constant and plentiful supply of oxygen I am not sure. They certainly +do not provide for it in their own houses, any more than do some of the +poorer classes in England. + +I have said nothing yet of the female prisoners at the mines of Kara. +Russian women look upon prison life from very different points of view. +I met a lady in Petersburg who visited the female wards in the prisons, +and she told me that on one occasion a woman, on being brought back to +her cell for the fourth or fifth time, found the arrangement of its +furniture altered, whereupon she asked that her bed might be put “in +the place where she always slept”; whilst another, a worthy old soul, +on entering her cell, turned to the ikon and thanked God that her old +age was so well provided for! This, of course, is very different from +the picture of Siberian female prison life represented in “The Russians +of To-day” (p. 230):-- + +“Women are employed in the mines as sifters, and get no better +treatment than the men. Polish ladies by the dozen have been sent +down to rot and die, while the St. Petersburg journals were declaring +that they were living as free colonists; and, more recently, ladies +connected with Nihilist conspiracies have been consigned to the mines +in pursuance of a sentence of hard labour.” I neither heard nor saw +anything of women labouring _in_ the mines, and one of my released +exile informants, from Nertchinsk, says that it is not true that women +work _in_ the mines in getting the mineral. At Kara there were 154 +female prisoners to more than 2,000 men; and since the latter have +a clean shirt every week, it would seem likely that the women may +be employed in laundries and work-rooms, only that I am under the +impression the prisoners wash their own linen. Five out of every six +of the women convicts at Kara, dismal to relate, were murderesses, +and walking between 58 of them in their prison at Ust-Kara was not +pleasant. Some had babies, and most of the mothers had murdered their +husbands. Husband-murder seemed to me painfully frequent in Russia, for +which, in the fifteenth century, they had a barbarous punishment: the +murderess was buried alive up to the neck, and left to the hungry dogs! + +Near this women’s department was a new cellular building of +wood, recently erected. I notice this particularly because of its +bearing upon the number of political exiles that are supposed to be +_imprisoned_ in Siberia. The spring of 1879, it will be remembered, +was a time of great excitement in Russia. An attempt was made upon the +life of the Tsar, the great cities of the empire were placed under +military command, and the journals talked of troops of prisoners being +sent off to Siberia. And this was true, only they were not troops of +_political_ prisoners. A telegram, however, was sent from Petersburg +to the telegraph office at Kara, enjoining the commandant to prepare +places for a certain number of prisoners about to be dispatched. But +the number prepared for was not very great after all, for, as far as I +remember, it did not exceed 20 or 30 at most; so that if the convoys of +29 prisoners, whom my interpreter met in returning, were all destined +for Kara, as he heard they were, then this small prison would be +filled, and it might, in a sense, be called “a State prison.” When, +therefore, in a previous chapter, I ventured to say there was, with one +exception, no prison in Siberia that could be called a political or +State prison, this was the exception in my mind.[4] + +Of course I entered this little prison and looked at the cells. They +were ranged on either side of a roomy oblong space, in which were two +stoves. The chief fault I had to find with the cells was that they were +very small, and lighted, I think, only from the lobby within, the area +of each cell being certainly smaller than that of the cells in Coldbath +Fields, though I am not sure that they were smaller than those at +Portland, nor do I remember how they compared with ours for height. If, +therefore, the prisoners were to work by day, as do ours at Portland, +perhaps the cells at Kara were not too small. For my own part, I would +rather inhabit one of them in solitude by night than be turned in among +the motley crew of the larger prisons. + +There were convicts at Ust-Kara, however, in a plight more pitiable +than those confined in the political cells, or who had to work in +the mines. I allude to the occupants of two or three wards in an old +weather-beaten, smoke-dried, low-pitched building, in which were +confined a number of old men, perhaps from 30 to 50 in number, who were +not ill in such sense as to be patients in the hospital, but who were +condemned to prison for life, or who, though too old to work, had not +served their time. + +I do not remember any sight in Siberia that so touched me as this. To +see scores of able-bodied men pent up in wards with nothing to do was +bad, to hear the clanking of their chains was worse, though many of +them were burly fellows who could carry them well. More touching still +were the convoys of exiles with faithful and innocent women following +their husbands; but to see these old men thus waiting for death was +a most melancholy picture. The doctor inspects the convicts once a +month, and determines upon those who are past work, who, in the absence +of any specific disease, are then brought into these wards for the +remainder of their lives. To release them, the colonel pointed out, +would be no charity, because, being too old to work, and being out +of the near range of poor-houses or similar institutions, they would +simply starve. And thus they were left in confinement for a Higher +Power to set them free. They lounged in the prison and in the yard, and +some sat near a fire, though it was a sunny day in July. One old man +was pointed out who had attained to fourscore years, and another had +reached the age of ninety, and so on. The difficult breathing of one, +however, the wheezing lungs of a second, and the hacking cough of a +third, proclaimed in prophetic tones that their time was short; and one +wished them a softer pillow for a dying head than a convict’s shelf in +a prison ward. Their building was one of the oldest in the place, and +was doomed to be pulled down within a month. + +There were two hospitals at Kara; one near the house of the commandant, +at Middle Kara, containing, at the time of my visit, 43 patients; and +the other at Ust-Kara, with 93 patients.[5] By the time the exiles +have reached Kara they have trudged nearly 1,000 miles, and have been +lodged, after leaving Moscow, in about 200 étapes and prisons. Many, of +course, die on the route, but I have no official statistics upon this +point. A released exile told me that, as far as he remembered, it was +in his day about 16 per cent. With the survivors the fatigue of the +march, together with deficiencies or irregularities of nourishment, and +the bad atmosphere in some of the prisons, often induces scorbutus or +scurvy. The colonel said that with bathing twice a day, and with good +food, they are soon cured; and, though many arrive sick in April, they +are commonly well before autumn. In winter they have fewer patients +generally, and commonly no cases of scorbutus at all. + +We visited the hospital at Middle Kara on the Saturday afternoon. It +was a fine building, with large, lofty, and airy rooms, which were +clean, and decked with boughs of birch and coniferous trees, placed +in the corners, not merely for ornament, but with the idea that the +odour given off by them is salubrious. I saw the same thing on a large +scale in the prison hospital at Tomsk; and upon my asking in one of the +prisons at Ust-Kara why a large branch of cypress was placed there, +they said it was for the sake of the smell. + +In the Siberian hospitals, at the head of every bed, was hung a board, +with the occupant’s name written in Russian, and the name of the +disease, written in Roman letters, in Latin; and as this was the only +part of the writing I could read, I used generally to run my eye over +the diseases in the wards. A remark made thereon caused the doctors +sometimes to ask if I had studied medicine, which unfortunately I had +not. Hence I was nonplussed at the word “costegcetis,” written over a +man’s bed, and of which I asked an explanation; whereupon I was told +that the man, who had been a ringleader in aiding the recent escape of +the runaways, had been birched with 100 stripes of the rod, and that +he was consequently in hospital for recovery. Whether the effects of +a birching are very serious I do not clearly make out, but I met at +least two cases in which the recipients of the rod made fun of it. One +was that of a servant in a house where I stayed. She was a convict, and +therefore liable, in case of misconduct, to be sent by her mistress to +the police to be birched, as in bygone days had been more than once +done with her; but she did not fear the switches, saying they would not +_kill_ her: “they did indeed make one a little sore, but that was of no +consequence!” + +I saw only one suffering in this way at Kara; and the colonel told me, +as already stated, that though he rarely used the whip, yet that he +did not choose to be trifled with. It was manifest that he could not +maintain discipline among 2,000 convicts if he did, yet I met with +no prison official in Siberia who seemed so judiciously to line with +velvet the glove of steel as did Colonel Kononovitch. The whole place +bore about it marks of the superintendence of a man who conscientiously +acted from a high sense of duty. + +I have already mentioned what an unenviable reputation Kara had in +former days. An old sea captain, with whom I stayed, told me he paid a +visit to Kara in 1859, when there were 2,000 men branded, and chained +to their barrows by night and by day. The overseer of the gold-mines, +a German, told him that he had shot four men who had killed others +when at work; and I have heard, since my return, that some of the +predecessors of Colonel Kononovitch were so cruel that the mention +of their names made convicts tremble. It is not, then, greatly to be +wondered at that this evil reputation has descended to later days. + +But Colonel Kononovitch had effected great improvements. It has +already been pointed out that many of the Siberian prisons were old +and dilapidated, but that reforms were expected yearly to take place; +and, there being no money forthcoming, things were allowed to go on +as best they could. It was under this condition of affairs that the +colonel was appointed to Kara, with its crazy buildings, some of which +had been pulled down only a few days before my arrival. I saw one or +two that were yet standing. Of course he applied for funds to meet the +expenses of new buildings so urgently needed, but received only the +stock answer with a polite bow that there were insufficient funds, and +that they could not expend money on prisons whilst waiting for reforms; +whereupon the average Siberian official might have allowed things to +drift, but not so the colonel! The reforms he knew had been talked of +for 15 years, and he commenced a number of “economies,” by which, if +money were not forthcoming from one quarter, it might be obtained from +another.[6] + +In this way he might quietly have pocketed £1,200 a year, and if in +Russian fashion he had handed round hush money, all might probably +have been smooth enough. But so did not the colonel, and he pointed +out some of the improvements he had been able to effect by these +economies.[7] + +The subordinate officials at Kara are very scantily paid, the chief of +each prison receiving £70 a year, and his inferior officer £24. When +at Tomsk, we heard of prison officials still lower, under each of whom +were placed 30 prisoners, but who received only £6 a year and their +food and accommodation, which were similar to those of the prisoners. +It is not, therefore, greatly to be wondered at if these petty officers +are not above misappropriating some of the prisoners’ food, or taking +bribes. Colonel Kononovitch encouraged these men to engage in trade, +or to keep horses, in which case he employed them in carrying or other +ways, so long as they did not rob the prisoners. + +But other substantial good was effected; for during the previous two +years and a half the colonel, chiefly, I understood, by his economies, +had erected no less than 18 buildings, for which the governor of the +province complimented him highly.[8] + +The colonel, moreover, did not spend his savings wholly on prisoners, +or restrict his efforts to what might be strictly called his duty. He +exceeded that, and allowed his justice to enlarge into benevolence. +After seeing the hospital he took me to a children’s home which he had +built for boys whose fathers were in prison.[9] + +The building was simple, but prettily situated within an enclosure, +where was the best kitchen-garden I had seen in Siberia. In a +green-house and a hot-house were growing melons, and I know not what. +These the colonel said he sold for the good of the concern, and the +money obtained for vegetables helped to pay the expenses of the +school. The schoolmaster was an exile, and had been, I suspect, of +good position from what I heard about him after I had left the place. +The children were assembled for me to see, and I was tempted to act +the schoolmaster and put to them some questions, but it was under +difficulties of a polyglot character; and by the time my ideas had +filtered twice through Russian, French, and English, the children’s +answers were not very clear. Everything looked clean and orderly, +and, what was better, there were about the place tokens of care and +sympathy. Behind the house was a natural shrubbery, enclosed from the +forest. In this a pavilion was erected, in which, from time to time, +the commandant brought his wife and family to drink tea with the +children, when the boys who had sisters in the colony might meet them, +and where the humanizing influence of kindness was allowed to flow +forth. + +By the time we had seen the school the day was far spent, and I was +desirous to return to the mine to witness the final washing of the +sand. During the day there had been worked (I presume by convicts +and freemen together) 30 sajens, or, as they put it, 30,000 poods of +sand. The produce of the first half of the day had been taken out of +the machine; and after the convicts had left the mine, a few workmen +remained washing the sand, in which at length the gold was found +together with black dust of iron.[10] + +The number of men who had stayed for the last of the washing was less +than a dozen, and there was a certain gravity manifested by the little +group as they took their places round the wooden apron on which was +pushed up and down the few handfuls of mineral that remained of 240 +tons that had passed through the cylinder. Darkness came on, so that +they had to light torches of pine. There stood the colonel, looking +on with dignity. The Cossack, too, was there, with loaded rifle, to +protect the gold. The wooden scraper pushed away at the sand, and +then the brush, and there was left only the gold and iron, less than +half a pint. This was put in the miniature frying-pan, dried over an +extempore fire, and then placed in a tin can. It was given into my hand +that I might feel its weight, which I judged to be about a pound, and, +if so, worth £40. The can was then given to the Cossack, who mounted +his horse, and, accompanied by an escort, took it off to the treasury. + +And thus ended the day. That the men who worked in the mines had no +easy task was plain, but it was equally plain that their labour, +as compared with that of an English navvy or convict, was nothing +extraordinary. The tread-wheel is unknown to them. Foreigners speak +with horror of Siberian punishments, to which, as a set-off, I may +mention that a Russian lady asked me, with a shudder, whether it could +possibly be true that in England we placed prisoners on a wheel, on +which, if they did not continue to step, it broke their legs! Comparing +Siberian convicts with English,[11] the Siberian has the advantage in +more food (which perhaps the climate may require), more intercourse +with his fellows, and far more permissions to receive visits from +his family. The Kara convict, when in the higher category, receives +besides 15 per cent. of what he earns for the Government; and even in +the lower category he is credited with the money, though its payment +is deferred till he mounts higher. Political prisoners also may write +to their friends; and though by strict right, I believe, criminals in +Siberia cannot do so, yet this rule is not carried out, or is as often +honoured in the breach as in the observance. + +The following day was Sunday, and happened to be the colonel’s +name’s-day. This kept him at home for the morning to receive visitors. +A telegram came to felicitate him from Madame’s father, from +Ekaterineburg, a distance of 3,000 miles, taking 30 hours in transit. +As the visitors did not speak French, I was not introduced, and had a +comparatively quiet time to arrange and digest the information I had +received. Later, I unfolded to the colonel my plan of distributing the +Scriptures throughout Siberia. With this work he sympathized heartily, +and promised to do what I wished. He subsequently received a lion’s +share of the books, etc., I left with the governor of the province. +I gave him some for the children’s home, and afterwards sent him a +considerable number for his soldiers. All these reached Kara safely, +and I have since had the great satisfaction of hearing that they were +properly distributed throughout the colony. According to my latest +news, the colonel is said to have left Kara; and if this be so, I can +only hope that he has been replaced by as good a man. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] He says (p. 229): “They never see the light of day, but work and +sleep all the year round in the depths of the earth, extracting silver +or quicksilver under the eyes of taskmasters, who have orders not to +spare them. Iron gates guarded by sentries close the lodes, or streets, +at the bottom of the shafts, and the miners are railed off from one +another in gangs of twenty. They sleep within recesses hewn out of the +rock--very kennels--into which they must creep on all fours.” + +[2] According to the law of 1857 (Article 569), it appears that irons +are worn during the time a prisoner is in the lowest category (or +during probation time), after which they are continued as follows: for +one condemned for life, 8 years: from 15 to 20 years, 4 years: from 12 +to 15 years, 2 years: from 6 to 8 years, 18 months; and from 4 to 6 +years, 12 months. + +[3] The number of “forçats” who, living free, ran away from Kara and +escaped the control of the authorities for 15 years preceding my visit, +is as follows: 1864, 327; 1865, 448; 1866, 369; 1867, 402; 1868, 354; +1869, 266; 1870, 483; 1871, 326; 1872, 368; 1873, 585; 1874, 321; 1875, +242; 1876, 175; 1877, 256; 1878, 194. + +Thus it will be seen that in 1869 there ran away a smaller number +than in any preceding year, namely, 266, whereas in the following +year, 1870, there ran away 483. This great difference was accounted +for by the fact that up to 1869 the prisoners were under the +“administration of the mines,” and when they were passed over to the +new administration of the Minister of the Interior, this at first gave +much dissatisfaction. Again, in 1873, the number of escapes rose to the +highest, namely, 585, during which year it appeared the quantity of +provisions was lessened; whilst, on the other hand, in 1875, the number +of escapes being so low, less than in any preceding year, namely, +175, was accounted for by there having been in that year a building +committee, which gave wages to certain of the convicts for their work. +Up to 1st July of the year of my visit, 155 had escaped. + +[4] After leaving Kara I heard that the number of political prisoners +to be transported there was considerably augmented; but I have it +on good authority that even then the number expected did not exceed +60. The most recent information I have received, since the Emperor’s +assassination, goes on to say that as Nertchinsk was made the special +place of deportation for the Poles after 1863, so Kara has been made +the special place for Nihilists; but I have no official information to +that effect. + +[5] This gave a sick-list of 136 to a population of upwards of 2,000 +exiles and 1,000 Cossacks; besides, I suppose, the surrounding +peasants. The number of convicts who died in the Kara hospitals from +1872 was as follows:-- + + 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 + 108 287 152 55 118 117 90, + +and the number for 1879, up to the 1st July, was 65. + +At Tiumen the number on the sick-list was 19 out of 1,113 prisoners +on the day of our visit. The number of sick prisoners, out of 20,711 +passing through Tiumen in 1878, was 1,562, of whom 1,246 were cured, +280 died, and 44 remained in hospital. + +[6] Thus the Government allowed him 4_s._ 6_d._ per sajen for 8,000 +sajens of wood for fuel, which, instead of buying, he procured by +sending his unemployed miners into the forest to cut, giving them, to +their great satisfaction, a small payment, and effecting a saving of +1_s._ per sajen. A year’s economy, therefore, in wood brought him £400. +He found, too, by being his own timber-merchant, he could procure a +log from 20 ft. to 30 ft. long for 7½_d._, for which dealers would +have made him pay 2_s._ Then, again, the Government allowed him 7½_d._ +per pood for 7,000 poods of hay, instead of buying which he sent his +prisoners into the neighbouring valleys to cut three times the normal +quantity. Part of this was for feeding the horses he had already, and +the rest for feeding others he added in order that he might be his own +carrier, and so save the contract for carriage. + +[7] He paid each of the convicts, as perquisites, 4_d._ per sajen +for the wood they cut, increased their allowance, and if, at the end +of a job, all had gone well, he gave them each 1½_d._ a day extra. +This helped the poor fellows to get sundry little extras, especially +tobacco, which was encouraged; for the colonel, though he did not smoke +himself, yet had imbibed the notion that it was good for the health of +the prisoners. + +[8] I understood at the time that these buildings had been erected +entirely out of savings; but I have since been told that, from 1877 to +1879 there was granted, for the erection of prisons in Nertchinsk, the +sum of £17,500, a part of which was destined for Kara. + +[9] The house had cost £200; and he informed me that for another £100 +he could put up a house for girls, of whom there were 20 about the +place, whose fathers were prisoners. About £4 10_s._ per year was +allowed by Government for each child, and to educate, clothe, and care +for them as the colonel was doing costs about £5 a year extra for each; +and this money he raised, I understood, among his friends. + +[10] The Government determines how much gold is to be washed in the +season. In 1878 it was 25 poods, or 900 lbs. They told me that the +average they were finding for the season of 1879 was ¾ of a zolotnik +of gold to every 100 poods of sand, and that none of the mines about +Kara yield more than one zolotnik to the 100 poods; also that the +strata of gold sand are never more than seven feet, but usually less +in thickness. I have already stated in an earlier chapter, only +in different figures, that whilst 5 zolotniks to the 100 poods is +considered good, 1 zolotnik to the same quantity is poor. Hence it is +apparent that no private company would work the mines of Kara, and the +Government do so only to provide penal employment at a reduced cost +to the State. There are at Kara certain mines spoken of as belonging +to the Emperor’s private purse. When the convicts work in these, +the Minister of the Interior is paid for their labour according to +the amount of work they do. This I understood to be an economical +arrangement in favour of the Emperor. + +[11] Unfortunately my Siberian statistics are not sufficiently complete +to allow a comparison between the _numbers_ of English and Russian +convicts. “O. K.” points out that since 1860, out of a population of +84,000,000, Russia has had on an average 20,000 criminals a year; +whilst England and Wales, out of little more than a quarter of that +population, has annually 12,000 criminal convictions. I am afraid that +it is not satisfactory to _compare_ these figures, because the 20,000 +Russian criminals does not include, I presume, those left in prisons +west of the Urals, but only those sent to Siberia; and, again, 12,000 +does not nearly cover the total number of criminals in England and +Wales. In the borough and county jails of England and Wales there was, +in 1878, a daily average of 19,818 prisoners, besides 10,208 in convict +prisons. I think, however, I am right in estimating that there is not a +daily average of 10,000 convicts in the _prisons_ of Siberia. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +_THE SHILKA._ + + Departure from Kara.--Parting hospitality.--Ust-Kara + police-master.--Head waters of the Shilka.--Collins’s descent + of Ingoda.--The Onon.--Formation of Shilka.--Scenery below + Stretinsk.--Shilkinsk.--Hospitality of police-master.--Non-arrival + of steamer.--Efforts at conversation.--Steaming down + the river.--Shilka scenery.--Tributaries from north and + south.--Arrival at confluence of Shilka and Argun. + + +My steamer was due at Ust-Kara on Sunday evening. It was arranged, +therefore, that my host should drive me to the river and see me off; +or, if the steamer did not come, then leave me to wait its arrival in +the house of the police-master. The colonel was pleased to say that he +regretted my departure. He seldom received visits of the kind I had +paid, which naturally had been more pleasant, he said, than inspection +visits of officials. He alluded, however, to a visit to Kara of the +Grand Duke Alexei-Alexeivitch as having done much good, and he was +desirous of gathering all the information he could respecting our +treatment of criminals in England. + +The colonel’s farewell did not end in words, for, like a true Russian, +he made ample provision for his parting guest. Some Tunguses had +passed a few days previously, of whom he had bought a box, of native +manufacture, both curious and useful, and this he proceeded to fill +for me with the good things of Kara. These included roast chickens +and a piece of boiled ham. Preserves, too, my host had discovered that +I liked, and I must therefore take some pots of jam recently made. +Did I like cheese? Well--at home, half a pound would suffice me for +a twelvemonth; but in Siberia, where good butter was scarce, and a +cheese cost ten shillings, I had learned to regard it as a delicacy. +The colonel therefore insisted on my taking the greater part of a Dutch +bowler, and he regretted that he could not offer me the only piece he +had of what looked like Cheddar, because he was expecting a visit from +his Excellency the Governor of the province, and wanted a delicacy +to set before him. The extreme kindness with which this was done was +almost embarrassing. In England it would appear strange, but in the +district of the Amur these were presents not to be despised, for some +of them I could have otherwise obtained neither for love nor money. + +At last we set out duly laden, intending to call on our way at the +prisons I had not yet seen. Packing, however, had taken rather long; +and when we came to the first prison, where the officer was standing +ready to receive us, I was afraid we should not have time, and that our +staying might involve the missing of the steamer. I therefore begged +that we might push on, which we did, to Ust-Kara. Here I looked over +various buildings, which have been already referred to, as the summer +hospital, with 93 patients, the women’s wards, and the wards for the +old and superannuated men, also the new cellular prison for politicals, +and a prison in which they manufacture various requisites for the use +of the convicts. In this last, five men wished to sing to us a piece of +Church music, which they did, and thus ended my visits to five of the +six prisons of Kara. Evening was now drawing on, and as the boat had +not come, I was consigned to the care of the police-master, and bade +adieu to Colonel Kononovitch with feelings of regret. + +From Ust-Kara the steamer was to bear me to the Amur. This will be a +convenient place, therefore, from which to say something further about +the head waters of that river, namely, of the Ingoda and Onon, which +form the Shilka; and the Argun, which, with the Shilka, forms the Amur. + +The Argun, Onon, and Ingoda all rise in the Kentai (or Khangai) and +Yablonoi mountains. From the summit of this latter range the traveller +approaching Chita from the west first sees the Ingoda at the foot of +the range. From Chita to Stretinsk the journey can be made by water, +and Mr. Collins, the first American traveller in this region, in 1858, +so accomplished it.[1] On the fourth day he passed the river Onon, +coming in from the south. This stream rises in the same district, but +somewhat further south than the Ingoda, and in its upper course its +banks are wooded. It is navigable all the summer. + +By the union of the Ingoda with the Onon is formed the Shilka, and at +the junction the two rivers have each run a course of some 400 miles. +The stream now increases in breadth and slightly in depth, so that, +when not frozen, the river can be navigated at all seasons in small +boats, though with some risk from the numerous sandbanks and rapids. +About 40 miles below the Onon, the Nertcha enters from the north, and +here stands the old city of Nertchinsk, not far from which the floating +traveller passes the monastery of Nertchinsky, and subsequently arrives +at Stretinsk. + +It was from this spot I commenced the descent of the Shilka with my +Cossack attendant. As we glided along, hour after hour, the shifting +scenes reminded one of some grand spectacle in a fairy tale, for bend +after bend, and point after point, opened to view landscapes and vistas +of surpassing beauty. Now and then we had to beware of rapids, and +in one place of a sunken rock called the “Devil’s Elbow.” The depth +sufficed for our boat, but we met a steamer coming up stream, whose +captain had a hard task to find and keep the channel. + +Between Stretinsk and Shilkinsk the left bank is fairly populated, +most of the necessaries of life are easily attainable, and fish and +game are abundant. Granite predominates on both banks of the river as +far as the third station, Botti, beyond which limestone prevails. The +cliffs become lofty, some of them about 1,000 feet, and their summits +are riven into numerous picturesque turrets, while beneath are openings +leading into caverns. A few miles further the valley of the Shilka +opens out, and the rocks recede for a considerable distance till they +reach the valley of Tchalbu-tchenskoi, down the centre of which flows +the river Tchal-bu-tche. + +On the space formed by the receding rocks stands Shilkinskoi Zavod, a +town stretching two miles along the river on a plateau 30 feet high. +This was the seat of an old convict silver-mining establishment, the +working of which has ceased long since.[2] The river here has a breadth +of 600 yards, with a current of four knots, and in the spring a depth +of seven feet on the shallows, but in the summer and autumn the depth +is much less. + +On the second day we came in sight of a large house on the left bank, +where I landed, thinking perhaps to find some one to speak to. At the +various stations I had given tracts, and, in a small way, found a ready +sale for New Testaments. I offered the same at this large house, which +proved to be that of a doctor, but he was not at home. His wife was +in the house, but we had no language in common, and therefore my sale +had to be conducted here, as at the post-houses, by dumb motions, one +question about the hour being put and answered, I remember, by drawing +a clock and marking the hands. Ten miles further was Ust-Kara, whence +I digressed into a description of the headwaters of the Amur. + +After bidding adieu to Colonel Kononovitch, on Sunday evening the 27th +July, I was waiting in the house of the police-master for the arrival +of the steamer. This worthy official was several degrees lower in +position and intelligence than my late host, but he had a good house, +and spared no pains to make me comfortable. He was living bachelor +fashion, his wife and daughters having gone on a tour to Irkutsk. This +he regretted, and so did I, for I was given to understand that they +spoke French; and it was not particularly lively to be in a house in +which you could speak a word to no one, especially with a host who +would insist upon talking, whether you understood or not. One hour +passed by, and two, and three, and the expected whistle was not heard, +till, night having fairly set in, my host made me understand that the +steamer had run aground. + +It seemed best, therefore, to go to bed, hoping for its appearance in +the morning. A bed was made for me on the floor of the best room in the +house, but no washing apparatus provided. The maid was to be called in +the morning to do the part of a Levite, and pour water on my hands. +I was not, however, to retire supperless, and whilst food was being +prepared the police-master begged me to try his piano. Accordingly, +I strummed three tunes, which represent my stock-in-trade in this +department, and my host nodded satisfaction. At supper he rattled away, +and it was in vain that I shook my head and replied, “_Ne govoriu po +Russki_” (I do not speak Russ). He returned to the charge afresh, until +I was glad to retire. + +Morning came, but not the steamer, and after breakfast I was writing, +when it occurred to me that if the steamer were aground, it might +be days or even weeks before it arrived, and at last I thought it +desirable to inquire for particulars. A military officer came in, but +I could extract from him no language I knew. Presently, however, the +police-master brought a piece of paper that gave me hope. It was a +polyglot letter to this effect: “Respected Sir, I should be glad to +be allowed to teach your children French, which language I know. Your +obedient servant, So-and-So.” And this was written in Russian, French, +German, and English, and, as a finale, was added, “Sic transit gloria +mundi.” I saw at once there was a genius in the place,--perhaps a +released exile, or the wife of one, and I requested my host by signs to +bring us together at once. But I think the said genius must have been +away, for the police-master was holding a discussion with the officer +as if there were some difficulty in the matter, when, as they were +talking, the steamer’s whistle was heard. + +The effect was magical. I rushed to make ready. The carriage was +before the door in a very few minutes, and the police-master, who was +expecting his family by the boat, was speedily with me, my baggage on +the vehicle, and we dashed off to the station. Here I was introduced to +the wife and family, and also to a lady who I fancy was the authoress +of the polyglot paper,[3] after which I embarked. + +The weather was beautiful, and we steamed down the lovely Shilka +150 miles to its junction with the Argun. The first station beyond +Ust-Kara was Ust-Chorney. Here the Chorney, or Black river, falls into +the Shilka by two channels. This river is so rapid, and sometimes +so violent, as to dash the passing boat or raft a wreck against the +opposite rock-bound shore. Further on the scenery changes on the south +side. Perpendicular cliffs of limestone appear with groups of birch +and larch on their tops, and in the small ravines. Over these rounded +summits appear, and a long chain of hills stretches southwards towards +the Argun. + +The next station is Gorbitza, near the mouth of the Gorbitza river. +Until 1854 this was the boundary of the Russian and Chinese empires. At +Bogdoi, not far distant, is a mineral spring where annually a fair was +held, at which a few Russian merchants and Cossacks used to assemble to +meet the Manchu who came to barter. The Manchu ascended the Amur from +Aigun in large boats, bringing printed cotton goods, silk, tobacco, +and Chinese brandy, which they exchanged for glassware, soap, and +deer-horns. + +Below Gorbitza the river enters a region where the cliffs rise +considerably higher than in the limestone. Here granite is heaved up +in huge masses, which time, frost, and sun have riven and shattered +into curious forms. Ravines are also rent far into the mountains, and +down them clear streams descend. A little further on the shores become +wooded, pine-trees grow along the banks, and on the upper slopes are +black and white birches, with occasional clumps of larch, while the +dwarf elm grows from the clefts in the rocks. + +Mineral springs are frequently met with on the banks of the Shilka. To +some the natives resort. Further down are several islands, upon one of +which, named “Sable” island, are pine, larch, and birch. At the river +Bankova, having its source in the mining district near the Argun, and +falling into the Shilka from the south, there is another place where +a fair was held by the Cossacks of the Argun and the Tunguses of the +Yablonoi, the latter bringing skins, deer-horns, and a few sable and +fox skins. These they bartered with the Cossacks for flour, _vodka_, +powder, and lead. Further on, and not far from the confluence of the +Shilka and Argun, the Son-ghe-noi enters the Shilka to the south, and +at a short distance is a lake from which the natives and Cossacks +obtain their supplies of salt. A few miles below Son-ghe-noi are two +islands in the Shilka, and a little beyond these the sandstone rocks +rise abruptly in picturesque forms from the water. The rocks recede to +the southward, and a small delta has formed extending to the mouth of +the Argun. Near it is the village of Ust-Strelka,[4] or Arrow mouth, +situated at the junction of the two rivers which form the Amur, and +here I arrived on Wednesday evening, the 30th of July. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The Russians at that time were engaged in the annexation of the +Amur territory, and the Governor, General Korsakoff, willingly lent +him aid. He embarked at Atalan, about eight miles below Chita, in a +flat-bottomed barge. Here the river is 200 yards wide, and the shores +are well timbered and mountainous. The river proved easy to navigate, +and Mr. Collins, his provisions, and 18 persons proceeded down the +stream at the rate of nearly five miles an hour. The country on the +third day became more open, with extensive high-rolling prairies, and +the banks of the stream afforded much beautiful scenery. On the 21st +May the forests were still leafless, though flowers were making their +appearance, and the willows were budding. The rocks of the river are in +many parts covered with mosses and a beautiful fern, and in sheltered +spots appears in summer the rhubarb plant. + +[2] At Shilkinsk were built several of the barges for the first great +expedition on the Amur in 1854, and here the expedition was fitted +out with military stores and other necessaries. The Government had, +too, in the place a glass factory and a very large tan-yard, but I +have a suspicion that these factories were much more important in the +days when Messrs. Atkinson, Collins, and Ravenstein wrote, than a +quarter of a century later, at the time of my visit. Up to this point +at least I could hear of no factories in Siberia, other than those I +have mentioned. At Ekaterineburg there was a paper-mill, belonging to +Mr. Yates, at whose house I dined; and there were the soap and candle +works, near which I stayed, and where, through difficulty of getting a +sufficiency of fuel, they were burning wood and rubbish, and with the +gas produced therefrom, through a two-feet tube, were heating some of +the boilers. + +[3] “Une sage femme,” she called herself, who had been acting in her +capacity as midwife, and had returned by the boat. Women alone, I +understand, act in this capacity in Russia,--a doctor being called in +only in case of difficulty. + +[4] Here the Shilka ends its course of 700 miles, and is joined by the +Argun, after a course of 1,000 miles. The Argun proper rises among the +Nertchinsk ore mountains, at an elevation of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, +and very near to the source of the Onon, the two streams running down +the northern and southern slopes respectively of the mountain-range. +The upper part of the Argun, however, rises as the Kerulen to the +south-east of Kiakhta, in the Kentai (or Khangai) mountains. For 550 +miles the Kerulen traverses one of the most inhospitable tracts of the +Gobi. It then runs through the Dalai Nor or Lake, and flows into the +Argun proper, by which name the lower course of the river is known; +and then, after flowing 420 miles further, it joins the Shilka at +Ust-Strelka. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +_THE HISTORY OF THE AMUR._ + + Divisible into three periods.--Period of Cossack + plunder.--Poyarkof.--Khabarof.--Stepanof.--Discovery and + occupation of Shilka.--Chernigovsky.--Period of conflict with + Chinese.--Russo-Chinese treaty of 1686.--Russian mission at + Peking.--Affairs on the Amur during Russian exclusion.--Third + historic period from 1847.--Preparatory operations on Lower + Amur.--Muravieff’s descent of the river, 1854.--Influence of the + Crimean war.--Colonization of Lower Amur.--Further colonization, + 1857.--Chinese protests.--Influence of Anglo-Chinese war.--The Sea + Coast erected into a Russian province.--Renewed difficulties with + China.--Treaty of 1860.--Review of Russian occupation. + + +The history of the Amur, or so much of it as need here be mentioned +in connection with the Russians, may be divided into three periods. +We have first the period of Cossack pillage and plunder of the native +tribes, beginning in 1636, and extending over a period of 50 years to +1682. This was followed in 1683 by a period of warfare with China, +lasting for half-a-dozen years, and succeeded by uninterrupted Chinese +possession for (roughly) 150 years, to 1848; after which comes the +period of Russian annexation, beginning in 1848, completed in 1860, and +continuing to the present day.[1] + +I have already stated that, within about 20 years after the founding +of Yeneseisk, the Russians pushed on their conquests to the Sea of +Okhotsk, on the shores of which, in 1639, they built a winter station +for the collection of tribute. It was here first they heard from the +Tunguses of tribes to the south, dwelling along the Zeya and Shilka.[2] + +These reports attracted attention in Yakutsk, and an expedition of 132 +men, most of them _promyshlenie_, was placed under Poyarkof, who left +Yakutsk in 1643, ascended the river Aldan, and built winter quarters +for 40 of his men, and stores, in the mountains. Pushing on himself +with 92 men, he crossed the Stanovoi range, and, after suffering great +hardships, reached the head waters of the Zeya, where he met the first +reindeer Tunguses. Further on he came to a Daurian village, in which he +was kindly received, but his extortionate conduct provoked the natives +to hostility; and one of his officers, having attacked a village and +been repulsed, Poyarkof, with the loss of many Cossacks through hunger, +retired down the Zeya, descended the Amur to its mouth, and, crossing +the Sea of Okhotsk, reached Yakutsk in 1646. + +The next prominent traveller was Khabarof, from 1647 to 1652. A +shorter route to the river had been heard of by way of the Olekma; and +Khabarof, at the head of a band of adventurers, took this route to +the Upper Amur. The natives, having heard of the conduct of Poyarkof, +fled before the Russians; and Khabarof marched on, slaughtering his +opponents, or putting them to flight. Strengthened by reinforcements, +he descended the river to the Lower Amur, wintered at Achansk (which +no longer exists), and was vainly attacked by the natives and the +Manchu. In the following spring he turned back, and ascended the +river to the Zeya, where some of his men mutinied. He sent messengers +to Yakutsk asking for 6,000 men, and, there being no such force in +Siberia, the _voivod_ dispatched the messengers to Moscow, where the +conquest of the Amur had been for some time under consideration. +Khabarof returned in 1652, and thus ended the first nine years of +Russian adventure on the Amur, during which some of the leaders had +shown great perseverance; but the natives had been badly treated, +exposed to all sorts of extortion, and their tilled lands reduced to +deserts. + +We come now to Stepanof (1652-1661). Reports of the excesses committed +by the adventurers already mentioned had reached Moscow, and it was +determined to send a force of 3,000 men to occupy the newly-explored +territories. The command was given to Stepanof, and he was accompanied +by hundreds of adventurers, who were attracted by the reported riches +of the country. Stepanof was not able to carry out his instructions +to found settlements, and spent his time in roving along the Amur and +up the Sungari. At Kamarskoi he was besieged, in the spring of 1655 +by a large Manchu force; but with a garrison of 500 men he put 10,000 +foes to flight. Subsequently he was joined by Feodor Puschkin and +50 Cossacks, by whom he sent the tribute he had extorted to Moscow. +Puschkin’s party lost their way, and 41 of them perished. Stepanof +continued his predatory expeditions till 1658, when, at the mouth of +the Zeya, 180 of his men deserted, and he was met by a Manchu force, +and himself and nearly all his band slain or made prisoners. This for +a time practically cleared the Amur of the Russians, and what few +remained evacuated the district in 1661. + +All the expeditions above mentioned reached the Amur from the +north-west, striking the river some miles below the confluence of the +Shilka, at what is now Ust-Strelka. We proceed to say a few words +respecting the discovery and occupation of that tributary, 1652-58. +Cossacks from Yeneseisk had pushed their explorations beyond the +Baikal, and, in consequence of their reports, Pashkof the Voivod, in +1652, sent out a party to cross the lake, under command of Beketof, +who, two years later, built a fort on the Nertcha; but the expedition +came to nothing. Other adventurers went out in 1654 and 1655. At length +Pashkof was entrusted with a force of 566 men to found a town on the +Shilka, whence the surrounding territories might be subjugated. He left +Yeneseisk in 1656, and on his way founded Nertchinsk. Whilst so doing, +he sent a number of his men down the Amur to look for Stepanof, but +they were met by his deserters, and robbed of their provisions, after +which, in 1662, Pashkof returned to Yeneseisk, his mission unattained. + +What Government troops had failed to effect, however, was soon after +accomplished by a runaway exile--Nikitao Chernigovsky--who, at the head +of a lawless band, murdered the Voivod of Ilimsk, and in 1665 fled to +the banks of the Amur, where he built a fort on the site of Albaza’s +village, opposite the river Albazikha. He was joined by others as +lawless as himself; villages were founded near the fort, and Albazin +became a place of importance. A petition was forwarded to Moscow, +representing what had been done as done for the Tsar, and praying for +Chernigovsky’s pardon, in consideration of his recent services. It +was granted; and Chernigovsky made tributary many of the surrounding +tribes near Albazin. The Chinese complained of Russian encroachments, +and conciliatory embassies proceeded to Peking, in 1670 and 1675. The +people of Albazin, however, determined to do as they pleased, and, in +spite of orders to the contrary, they navigated the Lower Amur, and +founded settlements, so that at the close of 1682 the Russians had +established themselves at Albazin, on the Zeya, and on the Amgun. + +This finishes the first period in the history of the Amur--that of +Cossack pillage and plunder. + +The oppression of the Russians naturally caused the tribes on the Amur +to apply for help to their neighbours and nominal masters, the Chinese, +who made large preparations to expel the intruders. They destroyed the +Russian settlements on the Zeya and Amgun, took some of the garrisons +prisoners, and advanced upon Albazin in June 1685. After a blockade +of 18 days the garrison surrendered, and were allowed to retire to +Nertchinsk. The Chinese then destroyed the fort, and withdrew down +the river to Aigun; but the Russians followed in the wake of their +conquerors and rebuilt their town. The Chinese, therefore, returned +in July of the following year, again surrounded the fort, where the +Russians held out bravely till November, in which month the siege was +raised, in consequence of orders from the Chinese Government, to whom +the Russians had sent ambassadors desiring conditions of peace. + +The ever-recurring complications with the Chinese made the Russian +Government desirous to come to some arrangement regarding the frontier +of the two empires. Venyukoff accordingly was sent on a mission to +Peking to arrange preliminaries, and he brought back with him a letter +in Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol, translated into Latin, which supplies a +good idea of Chinese views on the Amur question.[3] + +If this letter be anything like a true statement of the case, which +there seems to be no just cause to doubt, then the moderation and +forbearance of the Chinese stands out in striking contrast to the +conduct of the Russians. I have described (Chapter XXXV.) how the +conference was conducted, and how it ended in a treaty, by which +Albazin and the whole of the Amur were confirmed to the Chinese.[4] + +This settlement practically closed the district to Europeans for about +160 years--that is, till 1848. A few encroaching hunters were from +time to time caught and punished. Some convicts also escaped from the +mines of Nertchinsk to Chinese territory, and others went down the +whole length of the Amur, one of them getting away from Nikolaefsk to +America; but very little is known of the Amur basin during these years, +though Russia kept up the supply of priests who crossed the desert to +sustain the Russian mission at Peking. + +After the treaty of Nertchinsk, the town of Aigun was removed to the +right or southern bank of the river, and in keeping with the jealous +policy of exclusion peculiar to the celestials, the Chinese were +forbidden to emigrate northward to the thinly-populated Manchuria, and +the Manchu were forbidden to pass northward of the town of San-sin on +the Sungari, whilst the privilege of trading on the Amur was restricted +to ten merchants, who obtained for that purpose a licence at Peking. +Besides these particulars of the Amur during the period of the Russian +exclusion, we learn something from the letters of Roman Catholic +missionaries in Manchuria, one of whom, M. De La Brunière, descended +the Amur to the country of the Gilyaks, where he was killed. But I +shall speak of this when I come to the people and place of his murder. +This finishes our second period--that of war with China. It remains to +treat of the recent history of the Amur, and of the annexation of all +its left and part of its right bank by Russia. This will bring before +us the events occurring between 1847 and 1861. + +The recent history of the Amur may be said to date from the time that +Count Nicolas Muravieff became Governor of Eastern Siberia in 1847. +The Russians had long seen the desirability of acquiring the right +of navigating the Amur, if only for the purpose of sending down it +provisions for their settlements in Kamchatka, the land carriage of +which annually required 14,000 to 15,000 pack-horses. With a view +to this, they had sent Golovkin to Peking at the beginning of the +present century to treat for the free navigation of the river, or, at +all events, to gain permission to send a few ships once a year with +provisions. But the Chinese were unwilling to make any concession +whatever. + +Muravieff became Governor of Eastern Siberia in 1848, and one of his +first acts was to send an officer with four Cossacks down the Amur, who +were never heard of again. Admiral Nevilskoi, in the same year, left +Cronstadt for the Pacific to explore the mouth of the Amur; and, in +1851, founded Nikolaefsk and Mariinsk as trading ports. Two years later +were founded Alexandrovsk, in Castries Bay; and other posts in the +island of Sakhalin at Aniva Bay and Dui. + +The next year, 1854-5, was important in the history of the Amur, as +that in which the first Russian military expedition descended the river +from the Trans-Baikal provinces. Russia had at the time three frigates +in or near the Sea of Okhotsk, and, owing to the breaking out of the +Crimean War and the presence of an English fleet in the Pacific, it +was feared that these might be left in want of supplies, and that +the Russian settlements on the Pacific, which at that time depended +on shipments from home, might be seriously straitened. The Black Sea +and the Baltic were blockaded, and the only feasible plan was to send +provisions from Siberia down the Amur. The nearest Chinese authorities +at Kiakhta and Urga professed themselves unable to give permission; but +as no time was to be lost, Muravieff’s necessity knew no law, and he +started down the river. + +He had a steamer, 50 barges, and numerous rafts, 1,000 men, and guns. +Several men of science, to whom we owe much of the solid information +given us by Mr. Ravenstein, accompanied him. His journey down the river +to Mariinsk was uneventful, and he returned by way of Ayan to Irkutsk. + +The continuation of hostilities between Russia and the English and +French allies naturally made the Russians prepare for an attack on +their eastern settlements,[5] and considerable activity was displayed +by them on the Amur in 1855-6. Three more expeditions left Shilkinsk +in the course of the year, and conveyed down the river 3,000 soldiers +and 500 colonists, with cattle, horses, provisions, agricultural +implements, and military stores.[6] Accordingly, the places founded on +the river grew fast. Villages were built by the colonists at Irkutskoi, +Bogorodskoi, and Mikhailovsk. Great progress also was visible at +Nikolaefsk, which from a village of 10 houses grew to one of 150. + +The operations of the allied fleets in the Pacific in 1855 were on a +larger scale than in the preceding year; but the results were equally +insignificant, and the peace of 1856 left the Russians free to carry +on their plans of annexation. General Muravieff now went to Petersburg +to advocate the granting of large means for colonizing the river, and +during his absence the direction of affairs was left in the hands of +General Korsakoff.[7] + +But the year 1857-8 will ever be one of the most memorable in the +history of the river. Muravieff had succeeded at Petersburg in securing +large grants of men and money. Troops descended and formed numerous +stations along the left bank, and colonists and provisions were +conveyed to the possessions of the Russo-American Company. A Captain +Furruhelm conducted down the river 100 emigrants and 1,000 tons of +provisions, and with him travelled Mr. Collins, already referred to, +as “commercial agent of the United States for the Amur river.” Count +Putiatin, also bound on a mission to Japan and China, availed himself +of the newly-opened way. Putiatin received orders to induce the +Chinese to come to some definite arrangement regarding the frontier +of the Amur, but he was not successful. This result was felt on the +river; for the mandarins now again protested against the occupation +of the territory, and in some instances molested the Russian traders. +Accordingly, Muravieff hastened to Petersburg for fresh reinforcements, +and more troops were sent east; whilst the territory in dispute, +together with Kamchatka and the coast of the Okhotsk Sea, was erected +into a separate province, called “the Maritime province of Eastern +Siberia.” A squadron of seven screw steamers was dispatched from +Cronstadt in the summer, and two European-built steamers, the _Lena_ +and the _Amur_, ascended the river with merchandise and troops. + +When Muravieff got back to the Amur, in 1858, the Chinese were in a +very different humour, for they were then at war with the English and +French, and Russia found no difficulty in concluding an amicable treaty +at Aigun on 28th of May. China ceded to Russia the left bank of the +Amur down to the Ussuri, and both banks below that river, and opened +the Sungari and Ussuri to Russian merchants and travellers. + +On the 21st May, Muravieff laid the foundation of Blagovestchensk, +at the mouth of the Zeya; he then descended the Amur, and founded +Khabarofka, at the mouth of the Ussuri, and subsequently selected the +site of Sophiisk; after which, in August, he was created “Count of +the Amur.” On the last day of the year this territory received a new +organization, and was divided into the “Maritime province of Eastern +Siberia,” and the “Amur province,” the latter denoting a district along +the river, above the mouth of the Ussuri.[8] + +We now come to 1859-60, during which time several measures were taken +to favour colonization. Political exiles were to have passports granted +them for three years, to enable them to proceed to the east; and if +deserving, their term was to be extended permanently. The sailors +stationed at the Lower Amur were allowed to retire after 15 years’ +service, received a plot of ground, and might send for their families +to come to them at the Government expense. The colonists, too, were +to be maintained by Government for two years, after which time they +were to provide for themselves. Government also renounced its monopoly +of the mineral treasures of Siberia; and in future any one, except +convicts, was to be allowed to search for precious stones or metals. +This attracted many emigrants, and on the arrival from Western Siberia +of 10,000 of them at Irkutsk, Cossack stations were founded along the +banks of the Ussuri and the Sungacha, with a view to the settlement of +the frontier. + +Difficulties, however, with China again arose. The Chinese had repelled +the advance of the allied French and English forces in 1859, and, being +elated for the moment with the power of their arms, imagined that it +was no longer necessary to conciliate the Russians, and told them that +China had never ceded the Amur, that they had no right there, and +must immediately quit. Things, therefore, looked gloomy towards the +south;[9] but the relative positions of China and Russia were suddenly +transposed by the successes of the English and French, who thoroughly +humbled China; and Russia, availing herself of the opportunity, was +able to conclude, on the 14th of November, 1860, a most advantageous +treaty, much more comprehensive than any ever concluded by China with +a foreign power, which gave Russia a right to the country north of +the Amur and east of the Ussuri, together with the entire coast of +Manchuria, down to the frontiers of Corea. + +I have thus traced the history of the Amur from the time that the +Russians first heard of the river, in 1639, down to 1860, when they +obtained possession of it.[10] It remains for me now to give the +reader, as best I can, an idea of the condition of things as I found +them at the time of my visit. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] I am specially indebted to Mr. Ravenstein’s excellent work, “The +Russians on the Amur,” for the substance of the following pages. + +[2] This report, so far as the Shilka is concerned, was confirmed in +the same year by what a party of Cossacks heard, who had been sent from +Yeneseisk to the Vitim, about a prince of the Daurians named Lavkai, +who inhabited a stronghold at the mouth of the Urka rivulet, and whose +people kept cattle and tilled the soil. + +[3] It was dated 20th November, 1686, and ran in part thus: “The +officers to whom I have entrusted the supervision of the sable hunt, +have frequently complained of the injury which the people of Siberia +do to our hunters on the Amur. My subjects have never provoked yours, +nor done them any injury; yet the people at Albazin, armed with cannon, +guns, and other firearms, have frequently attacked my people, who had +no firearms, and were peaceably hunting. + +“They also roved about the Lower Amur, and troubled and injured the +small town of Genquen and other places. As soon as I heard of this I +ordered my officers to take up arms, and act as occasion might require. +They accordingly made prisoners some of the Russians who were roving +about the Lower Amur; no one was put to death, but all were provided +with food. + +“When our people arrived before Albazin, and called upon it to +surrender, Alexei and others, without deigning a reply, treated us in +a hostile manner, and fired off muskets and cannon. We therefore took +possession of Albazin by force; but even then we did not put any one to +death. We liberated our prisoners, but more than 40 Russians, of their +own free choice, preferred remaining amongst my people. The others were +exhorted earnestly to return to their own side of the frontier, where +they might hunt at pleasure. My officers, however, had scarcely left, +when 460 Russians returned, rebuilt Albazin, killed our hunters, and +laid waste their fields; thus compelling my officers to have recourse +to arms again. + +“Albazin consequently was beleagured a second time; but orders were +nevertheless given to spare the prisoners and restore them to their +own country. Since then, Venyukoff and others have arrived at Peking +to announce the approach of an ambassador, and to propose a friendly +conference to settle the boundary question, and induce the Chinese +to raise the siege of Albazin. On this a courier was sent at once to +Albazin to put a stop to further hostilities.” + +[4] The treaty began as follows:--“In order to suppress the insolence +of certain scoundrels, who cross the frontier to hunt, plunder, and +kill, and who give rise to much trouble and disturbance, to determine +clearly and distinctly the boundaries between the empires of China and +Russia, and lastly to re-establish peace and good understanding for +the future, the following articles are by mutual consent agreed upon.” +After defining the boundaries, the treaty went on to provide that +hunters of either empire should under no pretence cross the frontier. +Also that neither party should receive fugitives or deserters; and the +third article states, “Everything which has occurred hitherto is to be +buried in eternal oblivion.” + +[5] Their strength on the Amur at the time was very inconsiderable, +and the allies, having mustered their forces on the American coast, +came down upon a comparatively feeble folk in Siberia. Petropavlovsk in +Kamchatka was attacked, but the Russians managed to hold their own till +orders arrived from Petersburg to abandon the place, which they did +on 17th April, 1855, taking with them the inhabitants, with whom they +safely reached Castries Bay. + +[6] The Chinese were either unwilling or unable to oppose the passage. +Up to this time no attempt had been made to found any settlement on +the Upper or Middle Amur, and the presence of the allied fleets in the +Pacific ostensibly justified the assembling of a force on the Lower +Amur. The Chinese did send to Nikolaefsk certain mandarins to treat; +but these not being of sufficient rank, Muravieff refused to receive +them. + +[7] In the course of the 12 months 697 barges and rafts descended the +river, conveying 1,500 head of cattle, and the provisions required +by the forces on the Lower Amur. Cossack stations were built on the +Upper and Middle Amur, and another settlement made on the lower part +of the river. Postal communication by horses was established between +Nikolaefsk and Mariinsk, which until then had been carried on by dog +sledges. The Russian colonists agreed to supply the necessary horses +during winter at the rate of £22 a “pair,” and during the summer they +were to supply the steamers on the river with the requisite fuel. + +[8] Admiral Kazakevich remained military governor of the Maritime +province, and resided at Nikolaefsk; and General Busse was appointed +military governor of the Amur, with a salary of £1000 a year, and +a residence at Blagovestchensk. Shortly after the ukase of the +31st December, the Cossack forces on the Amur received a separate +organization. Up to the end of 1858, 20,000 persons of both sexes had +been settled along the river, and these were to furnish two regiments +of cavalry and two battalions of infantry, as well as two battalions +of Ussuri infantry from the Maritime province. Commercial enterprise +was promised a fresh impulse by the foundation of the Amur Company, the +object of which was the development of trade on the river. It started +with a capital of £150,000, and was privileged to open establishments +on the Amur and Shilka, but proved unsuccessful, and after a few years +was dissolved. + +[9] The newly-acquired territory, moreover, was not fulfilling the +anticipations of those who thought to find at once the country +turned into the granary of Siberia, and supplying with its produce +and manufactures the navies of the world. The Amur was a source of +continual expenditure, and the Cossacks were not proving the best of +colonists. To remedy this, German colonists had been sent for. My +old host, with whom I stayed at Vladivostock, Captain De Vries, was +to bring 40 German families from California, who were to be settled +at the mouth of the Bureya; but, as he told me, he found the thing +impracticable. + +[10] At that date they had brought to the region about 40,000 +colonists, most of them from the Trans-Baikal and Irkutsk governments, +who walked with their cattle to the Shilka, and then proceeded on huge +rafts, like floating farm-yards. The cattle were turned on shore to +feed at night, and marched back in the morning to travel by day. By +these means the banks of the river became populated, though scantily, +this region covering an area of 361,000 square miles, or twice as large +as that of Spain. The Russians, by 1861, had established military posts +along the whole course of the Amur, on the Ussuri, and at various +harbours on the sea-coast, the whole military force, up to 1859, being +about 15,000 men. Simultaneously while strengthening her forces on the +Amur, Russia reinforced her navy in the Pacific; and in 1860 she had +there 19 steamers, mounting 380 guns, and manned by between 4,000 and +5,000 sailors and marines. There were also, in 1861, 12 steamers on the +river, nine of which belonged to the Government. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +_THE UPPER AMUR._ + + Formation of the Amur.--Chinese boundary.--Our steamer.--Captain and + passengers.--Natives of Upper Amur.--Orochons.--Manyargs.--Their + hunting year.--Our journey.--Run aground.--Table + provisions.--Scenery.--Albazin.--Cliff of Tsagayan. + + +We glided into the Amur about sunset on the 30th July, when, happening +to come on deck, I found the passengers gazing over the stern of the +vessel. Before us were the two rivers of which the Amur is formed. +To the right was the defile of the Shilka, to the left the Argun; +and between the streams the mountains narrowed, and came to a point +a mile above the meeting of the waters. On the tongue of land below +was the Russian village and Cossack post of Ust-Strelka. The soft +light of evening threw a charm over the well-wooded landscape. We +had, moreover, reached at last a point out of range of the ubiquitous +English traveller, and to which even comparatively few Russians make +their way from Europe. The Shilka we had travelled, and it was given to +us to peep a little way up the Argun, and remember that in its valley +the great Genghis Khan fought some of his early battles, and from hence +started to subdue China, and begin that wonderful career of Mongol +conquest that extended to Central Europe. + +Looking to the north-east and down stream, the view was exceedingly +pretty. On the right, heavily-wooded mountains abut upon the river +for two miles, while on the left is a strip of bottom-land backed by +gentle slopes. To the front we see the river sparkling in the sun, and +rejoicing in its new and beautiful birth. + +We were now fairly launched upon a river which, including its numerous +tributaries, is said to drain a territory of 766,000 square miles--an +area as large, that is, as any three countries of Europe except +Russia. The length of the stream from this point to the sea is 1,780 +miles, with a fall of 2,000 feet; but if the Argun be regarded as +the main stream, then the total length of the Amur is 3,066 miles, +with a fall of 6,000 feet. It will be best, I think, to treat of so +huge a river in sections, seeing it passes through such varieties of +climate and population. The first section, extending from Ust-Strelka +to Blagovestchensk, at the mouth of the Zeya, we will call the Upper +Amur; from Blagovestchensk to Khabarofka, at the mouth of the Ussuri, +the Middle Amur; and from Khabarofka to the Pacific at Nikolaefsk, the +Lower Amur. The Russians have made a fine atlas, in 46 sheets, of the +river below the confluence of the Shilka and Argun. + +Up to the point we had now reached, Russian territory lay on both +sides. Henceforth to Khabarofka we were to have Chinese soil on the +right. The boundary then descends along the bank of the Ussuri, and +continues in a tolerably straight line southwards through Lake Khanka +to the Bay of Peter the Great, in the Sea of Japan. My intention was, +therefore, roughly speaking, to keep along this boundary, and embark +for Yokohama. + +But I have said nothing as yet of the steamer in which the first part +of my journey was to be accomplished, namely, from Kara to Khabarofka, +a distance of 1,270 miles. It was a paddle-boat called the _Zeya_. +As I walked on board at Ust-Kara, Captain Paskevitch met me, told me +in French that my cabin was not quite ready, and asked me to occupy +meanwhile his room on deck. He had heard of my mission from Colonel +Merkasin, at Stretinsk, and had most kindly set apart for me, on a full +steamer, a first-class cabin intended for two persons. This he reserved +so tenaciously as to refuse a first-class place to a passenger rather +than cause inconvenience by giving me a companion, though I was asked +to pay only a single fare. + +As compared with the steamer on which I traversed the Obi, the _Zeya_ +was small, and it was not new. There were first and second-class cabins +fore and aft, but third-class passengers lived on deck. All three +grades were well represented. Among the first-class passengers was M. +Kokcharoff, a Government officer connected with the gold-mines, whom +we had met at Nertchinsk at dinner, and who was the father of one of +the young officers we saw at Irkutsk. There were also an officer and +his wife whom we had seen on the road at Verchne Udinsk. Among the +second-class passengers were several naval and military officers, +proceeding to their stations on the Pacific, and with them the lady and +gentleman of whom we got the start with the horses from the Baikal. +Several of the ladies spoke French, and a naval captain, Baron de +Fitingoff, spoke a little English also. Thus I needed not to be silent, +and soon found myself at home. + +It speedily became manifest that our captain was a man of +determination, and that he had a rough-and-ready way of enforcing +his orders. The cook, an oily-looking man, had smuggled _vodka_ on +board, and made himself so far drunk as to spoil the passengers’ +dinner; whereupon the captain seized him and tied him to the capstan. +He had not been there long, however, before the capstan was required +for some one else. The ship had got into difficulties, the number of +the crew being insufficient for the occasion; and the captain ordered +a man-of-war’s-man, travelling as a third-class passenger, to lend a +hand. He did not choose to do so, whereupon the captain collared him, +and, having released the cook, bound him to the capstan. Our chief, I +found, was only a young man--less than 25--and had served for a time in +the Imperial navy. He had fallen in love, and wished to marry before +the age allowed in the service. Just then the Amur Company made him +a good offer to take charge of one of their vessels, and he had thus +left the Government service, and accepted a stipend which enabled him +to forsake a bachelor’s life. He thought, however, that in giving up +the navy he had made a mistake, and sent his papers by some of our +passengers to be presented to the Governor at Vladivostock, asking to +return. + +As we proceeded we found the population on the Chinese bank was +exceedingly small, and but few houses appeared on the Russian side. +The natives of the Upper and Middle Amur belong, all of them, to +the Tungusian stock, though they differ somewhat among themselves, +according to the manner of life they pursue, and their nearness or +otherwise to Chinese influence. Thus, on the Upper Amur, on the Russian +territory, are the Orochons, or reindeer Tunguses; whilst further +east, north of the Middle Amur, are their brethren the Manyargs, +or horse Tunguses. On the southern bank of the Upper Amur are the +Daurians, who to some extent cultivate the soil; whilst further east, +and to the south of the Middle Amur, is the region of the Manchu, the +most civilized of all the Tunguse tribes. This division is somewhat +arbitrary, and does not notice subdivisions of some of the tribes; +but it may suffice for the present to indicate their territories, and +we can enter into further particulars as we approach their respective +localities. + +The Orochons numbered, in 1856, 206 individuals of both sexes, roving +over an area of 28,000 square miles--a country, that is, as large +as Bavaria or the island of Sardinia. They originally lived in the +province of Yakutsk, whence they emigrated to the banks of the Amur in +1825, and occupied a part of the territory of the Manyargs, whom they +compelled to withdraw farther down the river.[1] + +The Manyargs occupy the north bank of the Middle Amur below the +Orochons, but in summer they ascend the river for the purpose of +fishing. As the needs of the reindeer drive the Orochons to the moss +tracts of the mountains, so the needs of the horses send the Manyargs +to the grassy valleys of the Zeya, and to the prairie region eastwards +to the Bureya mountains. + +Apart, however, from their differences as to habitation, and the +domestic animals they use (the Orochons keeping deer and the Manyargs +horses), we may speak of the Orochons and Manyargs together. In +appearance they are rather small, and of a spare build. Their arms and +legs are thin, the face flat, but the nose, in many instances, is large +and pointed. The cheeks are broad, the mouth large, the eyes small +and sleepy-looking. The hair is black and smooth, the beard short, +and the eyebrows very thin. Old men allow the beard and moustache to +grow, but carefully pull out the whiskers. They cut the hair short on +the forehead and temples, and plait it behind into a tail, ornamented +with ribbons and leather straps. This fashion was no doubt copied from +the Manchu, but since they have come under Russian influence it has +gradually waned. In the case of the women the hair is parted down the +middle, the plaits are worn round the head, and fastened with ribbons +above the forehead. During summer the women wear a conical hat made of +cotton, somewhat like an extinguisher. Unmarried girls are recognized +by their head-band, embroidered with beads. + +The Orochons and Manyargs lead a wandering life. In spring and summer +they live on the banks of the river to fish; in autumn they retire to +the interior to hunt. In these migrations the deer or the horses carry +the scanty property of their owners. The horses are small but strong, +of great endurance, and find food in winter by scraping away the snow +with their feet. + +[Illustration: REINDEER TUNGUSES WITH BIRCH-BARK TENT.] + +Wild animals in the region of the Upper and Middle Amur are +numerous. The Orochons disperse in small parties to hunt them, +returning from time to time to their yourts.[2] They hunt squirrels, +sables, reindeer, elks, foxes, and sometimes bears. Squirrels they +find in great numbers. A good sportsman may kill 1,000 in a season, +and 500 is an average bag.[3] In December they take their furs to the +localities fixed upon for paying the _yassak_, or tax, where also they +barter with merchants assembled for that purpose. Each male between the +ages of 15 and 50 pays annually two silver roubles, or their equivalent +in furs. No other taxes are levied upon them, and this brings in to +the Government an enormous quantity of skins. + +My journey on the Upper Amur, or, more accurately, from Ust-Kara to +Blagovestchensk, occupied eight days. The distance was 700 miles, and +the first-class fare three guineas. Under ordinary circumstances, +however, the time ought not to have been so long, but there was less +water in the river, the captain said, than he had ever known before. It +was by reason of this that the boat had run aground at Shilkinsk on the +Sunday I was to have started, and on Monday evening a sister-boat, the +_Ingoda_, having done the same, and knocked three holes in her hull, +the _Zeya_ had stayed alongside to render assistance. This caused the +loss to us of the whole of Tuesday. Both boats belonged to the same +company, and it was an act of policy, as well as kindness, that the +damaged boat should not be left in so lonely a region, whilst a further +reason for submitting to the delay, and keeping the boats together, was +that our own vessel might run aground and so need assistance from the +_Ingoda_. + +I was curious to hear from the captain what was the thickness of iron +on the _Zeya_, and what distance we should have to sink, supposing we +went to the bottom. The iron, I learned, was three-sixteenths of an +inch thick, which was somewhat alarming, but it was a comfort to know +that the water in some parts of the river was not much more than 30 +inches deep. Our steamer drew only two feet and a half, consequently +we were often gliding along within a few inches of the ground. One of +the crew was placed in the bow of the boat, holding a measuring rod, +with the feet marked in black and white, and secured to a string. This +in shallow places he constantly threw, as if harpooning fish, and +then noticing the depth when it struck the bottom, he called out in a +sing-song fashion, “_Chetiri-s’polovenoi! chetiri! tri-s’polovenoi! +tri!_”--four-and-a-half! four! three-and-a-half! three! and so on; the +speed of the vessel being slackened when the small numbers were called. + +After reaching the Amur on Wednesday, we travelled safely for that +evening and on Thursday, but on Friday morning, coming to a turn in +the channel, the boat ran aground on a bank, with her whole length +turned sideways to the current--going at the rate of about four miles +an hour. The shallowness of the stream now became apparent, for when +the men jumped overboard the water rose hardly up to their waists.[4] +Every effort was made to float the craft with anchors and levers, +and digging away the beach, until, as evening came on and brought +no success, we hoped the _Ingoda_ would overtake us and return the +compliment of rendering assistance, especially as we had once put back +to look after her welfare. The _Ingoda_ did come, but was not powerful +enough to get us off, and we had therefore to lie aground till Saturday +morning. The greater part of the passengers were then shifted from the +_Zeya_ to the _Ingoda_, and there they were compelled to remain from +breakfast-time till evening, and that, too, with very little food, for +the _Ingoda_ was not carrying passengers, and so was not provisioned. +Whilst this shifting was going on, I was in my cabin writing, and so +had not to change. Meanwhile the sailors had hard work, for they were +in the water nearly all day. About two o’clock, however, the _Zeya_ was +once more afloat, after which it took three or four hours to get up +the anchors, and then, for the rest of our journey, we had no lack of +water. The boat did not usually travel at night. + +These delays had put a considerable strain on the resources of our +cook, whose arrangements were not of a high order. I had rather +anticipated this; and, having become so accustomed to see Russians +travelling with their own provisions, had prepared accordingly. +Some loaves of white bread had been brought for me by the ship from +Stretinsk, and fresh butter; besides which, Colonel Kononovitch, as +already stated, had loaded me with good things, and I had not parted +with my provision basket and its cooking apparatus.[5] + +They had different arrangements on the Amur from those we had on the +Obi. The steward undertook to provide every one with four meals a +day. The first was tea and bread on getting up. Next, about 11 a.m., +came “_déjeuner à la fourchette_,” consisting of two courses. At five +o’clock came bread and tea again, and dinner, of three or four courses, +followed at seven. The provisions were decidedly inferior to those +of the Obi, but acquaintance with certain Russian dishes was thereby +forced upon me, which I might otherwise not have known. One of them was +“_gretchnevaya kasha_,” or buckwheat gruel, with melted butter like oil +poured over it. I imagined it might be given us as a last resource, +all other provisions having failed; but the passengers seemed to think +it good though humble fare, and said it was what they provide largely +for the soldiers. It is a daily dish, I am told, among peasants and +servants in Russia. Further on we bought and slaughtered an ox. And as +we approached Blagovestchensk, our table improved to clear soup, with +minced patties, meat from the joint, and stewed fruit. + +The service, too, was inferior to that on the Obi, for on the Amur the +steward was represented by a couple of boys, not too tidily dressed, +and with rough heads, who knew more of play than of waiting. It should +be added, however, that the price charged for the four meals a day +was not exorbitant, namely, three shillings; and after having the +samovar frequently into my own cabin, and other extras, though to a +considerable extent providing myself, my steward’s bill for the eight +days came only to 17 shillings. + +We were highly favoured in the weather, which, with the exception of +one day, was fine, and added much to the enjoyment of the journey. +Between Stretinsk and Blagovestchensk were 42 stations. Many of them +were named after the Russian officers who took part in the annexation +of the country, such as Orloff, Beketoff, Korsakoff, etc. + +At Ust-Strelka the river is 1,100 yards wide, and sometimes 10 feet +deep. At Albazin, 160 miles lower, it contracts to 500 yards, but +increases to 20 feet in depth. After leaving the Shilka, the scenery +of the Amur at first deteriorated. Soon, however, the river stretched +across the valley, and the banks rose in precipitous cliffs, or steep +rocky slopes. Many brooks entered the stream on both banks. When rain +falls on the mountains, the river rises sometimes 12 feet and more in +the course of a few days, the greatest rise being 24 feet. Our captain +of the _Zeya_ was hoping that the Thursday’s rain would thus aid him in +getting out of the shallows. Five streams join the Amur on the Russian +side, between Ust-Strelka and Albazin, of which the Amazar is the +first and most considerable. At their mouths are small alluvial plains +overgrown with grass, sometimes 18 inches high, though on higher spots +in this district the herbage is not luxuriant. + +Below the Amazar the banks were alternately rocky bluffs and wooded +bottoms, the river sweeping along in great picturesque bends. At +Sverbeef the river increases in breadth. The mountains are not so high, +and sandbanks are frequent. These appear at low water as islands. The +forests are thin, and there is little underwood. On the mountains +larch and firs prevail. In the valleys the white birch predominates, +with bird-cherry and aspen. The trees, however, are small; and among +them, further on, are apple-trees with tiny fruit, willows, and the +hoar-leaved alder.[6] + +On the rocky mountain slopes are the service-tree, alder, aspen, +poplar, and hawthorn, together with the Daurian rhododendron. On loose +soil Indian wormwood frequently covers a whole mountain slope. + +As we approached Albazin the mountains retired, and below them were +extensive prairies, affording excellent pasturage. Opposite the town, +on the Chinese bank, the Albazikha, or Emuri, falls into the Amur +behind a large island, with an area of several thousand acres. Oaks and +black birch now begin to take the place of the larch, and at the foot +of the mountains are seen elms, ashes, hazels, willows, the Daurian +buckthorn, wild roses, and bird-cherries--the last sometimes reaching +to a height of 50 feet. + +Albazin is the most important of the towns we passed between +Ust-Strelka and Blagovestchensk. It is finely situated on a plateau +50 feet high, and extends some distance backwards to the mountains. +We arrived there early on Friday morning, August 1st. Albazin was +important to the early adventurers, by reason of the fine sables taken +in its vicinity.[7] + +The Albazin sable is said to be the best on the Amur, that of the +Bureya Mountains next, and, thirdly, that of Blagovestchensk; but none +of them are so good as those obtained further north. + +I was much struck, below the town, with the brilliant red of the +sandstone cliffs. On the right bank the mountains approach again close +to the river; but on the left the plain continues for 70 miles, ending +in a rock or promontory, called _Malaya Nadejda_, or Little Hope. +This lofty mass of rock projects into the river in the shape of a +semicircular tower. After passing the station Tolbuzin, 240 miles from +Ust-Strelka, the river takes a more southerly direction, and lower down +has numerous islands. These are covered with poplar, ash, and willow; +and among the flowers are seen the rhododendron, the lily of the +valley, pink, primrose, violet, white poppy, forget-me-not, and white +pæony; also garlic, chickweed, asparagus, cinquefoil, and thyme. + +A few miles lower is a remarkably steep sandstone cliff, of yellowish +grey colour, bounding one of the reaches of the river for a distance of +three miles. It is called Tsagayan, and is 302 miles from Ust-Strelka. +It is about 250 feet high, and has in it two seams of coal, of which +there is said to be plenty on the Amur, though it has not been worked, +I believe, owing to the abundance of wood. The natives look upon +Tsagayan as the abode of evil spirits. At its foot are found agates, +carnelians, and chalcedonies. + +Beyond the Tsagayan the valleys descending to the river are wider, the +steep mountains recede, and the meadows are richer in grass. Small +groves of poplars, elms, ashes, and wild apples alternate with bushes +of red-berried elder, sand willows, self-heal, and wild briar. At the +station Kazakevich, however, the mountains approach the river, and a +dark granite rock, 300 feet high, overhangs the water. Eight miles +south is the rock Korsakoff, a promontory of semicircular shape; and +40 miles more bring the traveller to the mouth of the Komar, which is +the second considerable stream flowing into the Amur from the right +bank after leaving Albazin, the other being the Panza. The course of +the Amur here becomes very tortuous, and, about 50 miles below, the +Komar almost describes a circle, leaving but a neck of land half a mile +in width. The Komar is the greatest affluent of the Upper Amur from +the Chinese side. It is a little short of 600 miles in length, more +than one-half of which is navigable. The upper part of the valley is +populated by Daurians. + +Travelling thus amidst beautiful scenery, we reached Blagovestchensk on +the eighth day, being now 560 miles from Ust-Strelka, and the width of +the river having considerably increased. Here, however, we may leave +the water for awhile, for the steamer stayed a whole day, and thus gave +me the opportunity of spending some hours ashore. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] There are two tribes of them, one called Ninagai, which, in 1856, +mustered 68 males and 66 females; 27 of the males paid annually 5_s._ +5_d._ of tribute each, or instead thereof 12 squirrel skins, to the +Russian officer commanding the post at Gorbitza. The other tribe, the +Shologon, numbered 72, including 40 females, of whom 17 had to pay +to the commandant of Ust-Strelka a tribute of 6_s._ 4_d._ each. They +owned 82 reindeer. There is also a tribe along the sea coast, called +Orochons, or Orochi, amongst whom it is customary for women to suckle +their children till they are three or four years old. The men are +recognized by their wide-brimmed hats. I saw one of them in prison at +Nikolaefsk, and was struck with his manly bearing. This agrees with +what Mr. Ravenstein says of the Orochons of the Upper Amur, that they +are not so submissive as the Manyargs, whose spirits have been broken +by the oppression of the Mandarins. + +[2] These yourts, or tents, are easily built and quickly removed. About +20 poles are stuck into the ground, to form a circle from 10 to 14 feet +in diameter, and are tied about 10 feet above the centre. The frame is +covered with birch bark, and overlaid with skins of reindeer and moose. +An opening is left in front to serve as a door, and a hole in the top +for the chimney. During winter the door is closed by furs or skins. In +case of temporary removal, the skins and bark are taken away, and the +poles are left standing. + +[3] Mr. Ravenstein gives, from Russian sources, an interesting account +of the manner in which these natives spend their hunting year. In +March they go on snow-shoes over snow, into which, at that season, +cloven-footed animals sink, and shoot elks, roe, and musk deer, wild +deer and goats; the tent being fixed in valleys and defiles, where the +snow lies deepest. In April the ice on the rivers begins to move, and +the huntsman, now turned fisher, hastens to the small rivulets to net +his fish. Those not required for immediate use are dried against the +next month, which is one of the least plentiful in the year. In May +they shoot deer and other game, which they have decoyed to certain +spots by burning down the high grass in the valleys, so that the young +sprouts may attract the deer and goats. June supplies the hunter with +antlers of the roe. These they sell at a high price to the Chinese for +medicinal purposes. The Chinese merchants come north in this month, +bringing tea, tobacco, salt, powder, lead, grain, butter, and so forth, +so that a successful huntsman is then able to provide himself with +necessaries for half the year. In July the natives spend a large part +of the month catching fish, taken with nets or speared with harpoons. +They are able also to spear the elk, which likes a water-plant growing +in the lakes. He comes down at night, wades into the water, and, whilst +engaged in tearing at the plant with his teeth, is killed by the +huntsman. In August they catch birds, speared at night in the retired +creeks and bays of the river and lakes. Their flesh, except that of the +swan, is eaten, and the down is exchanged for ear and finger rings, +bracelets, beads, and the like. Thus they spend the summer months, +afterwards retiring again to the mountains for game. In the beginning +of September they prepare for winter pursuits. The leaves are falling, +and it is the season when the roebuck and the doe are courting. The +natives avail themselves of this, and, by cleverly imitating the call +of the doe on a wooden horn, entice the buck near enough to shoot him. +Generally speaking, this is the plentiful season of the year, so far as +flesh is concerned; but, should the hunters not be fortunate, they live +upon service-berries and bilberries, which they mix with reindeer milk. +They also eat the nuts of the Manchu cedar and of the dwarf-like Cembra +pine. The latter part of September and beginning of October are again +employed in fishing, for the fish then ascend the river to spawn. About +the middle of October begins the hunting of fur-bearing animals, the +most profitable of all game; and this goes on till the end of the year. + +[4] For steamers to run aground in the Volga is so common a thing +that the captains take a number of third-class passengers free, on +the understanding that, if the ship gets on a bank, they shall jump +overboard and endeavour to get her off. Bold captains there, moreover, +have a plan, when coming to a shallow place, of putting on steam, in +the hope that the impetus and extra commotion made in the water by +the paddles may tide them over the difficulty. The banks of the Volga +being of mud, such experiments are not very dangerous, but our boat had +grounded upon stones. + +[5] After having taken with me my cuisine several times, I am +disposed briefly to advise any who may care to be counselled, by +saying “don’t.” It certainly does not pay in Russia, for hot water +may almost everywhere be had, and the people well understand the +speedy preparation of the samovar. A lunch basket, however, is a great +comfort, and I should not think of taking a long journey without one. +The cuisine may occasionally be needed; but in going round the globe I +used it only once, and when travelling last year over the Caucasus to +Armenia not at all. + +[6] The white birch is the most important. In spring the natives peel +off the bark in strips from two to four yards in length. The coarse +outside of the bark, and the ligneous layers on the inside, are scraped +off. It is then rolled up, and softened by steam, which makes it +pliable. Several of these are sewn together, and supply the native with +a waterproof blanket or mat, forming a wind screen in winter, and a +covering for the hut in summer. The bark thus prepared is used also for +wrapping merchandise, making small canoes, baskets, platters, cups, and +household utensils. + +[7] Albazin, as already stated, is noted in Siberian annals for the +sieges it stood, and one of the Russian stories connected therewith is, +that when the garrison was greatly distressed for food, Chernigoffsky +sent a pie, weighing 40 or 50 lbs., to the Chinese commander, to +convince him that the fort was well provisioned. This present was so +well appreciated, that the Chinaman sent for more, but in vain. History +does not say whether the pie was of beef, mutton, pork, or puppies! +The remains of walls, moats, ditches, and mounds, showing the site and +extent of the town, may still be traced; and, by digging, the curious +may still find there bricks, shreds of pottery, arms, etc. In Maack’s +celebrated work on the Amur, his plan represents Albazin as a square of +240 feet, and the Chinese camp as a parallelogram of 670 feet long and +140 wide. The Amur measures here 580 yards wide. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +_BLAGOVESTCHENSK._ + + Russian orthodox missions.--Particulars of Orthodox Missionary + Society.--Visit to telegraph station.--Seminary for training + priests.--Salaries of Russian clergy.--Blagovestchensk + prison.--Leafy barracks.--View of the town.--Molokan inhabitants. + + +“Blagovestchensk,”--I hope that the tongue of the reader curls round +the syllables of this word more easily than did mine on the first +occasion I attempted to pronounce it. The _g_ should be guttural, +and the first _e_ like the French _é_. The meaning of the name is +“Annunciation,” or, as some put it, “glad tidings.” I know not whether +this has anything to do with the fact that Blagovestchensk is the +head-quarters of Oriental Siberian missionary effort, about which it +will here be a rest to say a few words by way of change from the waters +of the river. + +As Russia ranges under her standards many nations, so she is brought +into contact with many religions; with Lutheranism in the Baltic +provinces and Finland, Buddhism in Mongolia, Mohammedanism along her +southern frontier, Paganism in the Caucasus and Armenia, and, we may +add, Shamanism and other ’_isms_ among the aboriginal inhabitants of +both her European and Asiatic territories. The Russians have long made +persistent efforts to win back their own dissenters, whether from the +various bodies of Raskolniks, or the Uniats, which latter were seduced +from them by the Church of Rome.[1] Besides this reclaiming work of +her own people, foreign missionaries were, in the time of Alexander +I., allowed to work among the heathen within the empire, and I have +already noticed the London mission to the Buriats. The Synod, however, +put a stop to this foreign work; and that their jealousy in this matter +continues, I learnt from a Lutheran pastor, who, when he was taking up +his residence near some of the native tribes, was bidden “not to busy +himself as a missionary.” + +Compared with the Western Churches, whether Roman or Reformed, the +Eastern Church has never been remarkable for missionary zeal, and I +was therefore not a little surprised and pleased in Siberia to stumble +unexpectedly upon the latest report (for 1876) of the “Orthodox +Missionary Society,” published at Moscow the year before my visit. The +book is of respectable size, extends to 100 pages, and the statistics +are displayed with considerable fulness. At present it is with the +Russians only the day of small things; but it should be borne in mind +that 1876 was only the seventh year of the Society’s existence. + +Some particulars of this young Society will be interesting, the more +so as I am able to supplement what I learned in Siberia by extracts +from the report for 1879, quoted in the _Journal de St. Petersbourg_, +September 7th, 1881. The Society has a central council, and branches in +29 dioceses, with 7,560 members, which means, I suppose, subscribers. +Its capital in 1879 amounted to 660,000 roubles, of which 121,000 were +spent during the year.[2] Among the remittances sent to the central +council from associations is £77 from “the army and navy.” Again, +there appears what I imagine to be a special fund for “propagating the +orthodox faith among the heathen.” This is apart from their efforts +among Mohammedans and Romanists; but the Russian Church has missions to +the adherents of all religions within her empire, except Protestants. + +As for the spending of the money, it appears that the council and 27 +associations distributed, among 19 missions, funds to the amount of +£11,580. The 21 mission stations are, with one exception, within the +bounds of the empire. The other mission, to which I have alluded in +a previous chapter, is in Japan. I heard at Kasan that they have a +missionary also in Jerusalem, New York, and San Francisco; but these, I +presume, are chaplains. Their chief European pagan missions are in the +governments of Astrakhan, Riazan, Perm, and Kasan, in which last are +several semi-heathen tribes.[3] + +It is in Asiatic Russia, however, that most of the Society’s money is +expended, and the conversion of 5,000 Pagans is reported to have taken +place in 1879. They have opened a school among the Samoyedes. They +have also missions in Kamchatka (including probably, the Sea-coast +province), upon which, in 1876, they expended £300, and from whence +the following year, according to the Almanack, they obtained 606 +converts. The provinces, however, in which most money is spent are +those of Tomsk, Irkutsk, and the Trans-Baikal. In the latter two are +the Buriats, amongst whom the Russians have 30 mission stations and +68 missionaries.[4] The province of Tomsk includes the region of the +western chain of the Altai mountains, where schools and missions have +been established for the Kirghese of the Steppes. In the Altai mission, +during the first half of the year 1877, they enrolled 195 converts. +Further east they have missionaries, some of whom I met, among the +Goldi and Gilyaks; but I shall speak of them when we come to their +districts. At Blagovestchensk lives the Bishop of the diocese, who had +been described to me as “a good missionary.” + +We stopped at Blagovestchensk on Tuesday, August 5th, and I made my +way to the telegraph station, where, as in other towns, thanks to +good introductions, I received much kindness from the officials. When +travelling to Barnaul, I chanced to light on a telegraph officer, +Mr. Friis, whose name was on my list, and he told me of a brother +officer in Tomsk who spoke English. At Irkutsk Mr. Larsen gave +considerable linguistic help; so did Mr. Koch at Stretinsk; and now, +at Blagovestchensk, I found a Mr. Niellsen, who had worked in London, +and spoke English; and Mr. Peko, who spoke French and English too. Mr. +Peko, I found, was the director of this station of first rank.[5] When +dining with the manager, Mr. Peko, and Mr. Niellsen, in the garden, I +was interested to hear, among other scraps of professional information, +that English is the best of languages for telegraphy, for that in it +they can express more in few words than in any other. The Russians, +they said, prefer to use English rather than their own language for +telegrams. My nationality was further flattered in the town by a +doctor’s wife telling me that to speak English was now in Siberia +and Russia more fashionable than to speak French. Said she, “_On peut +oublier maintenant le Français pour apprendre l’Anglais._” + +Blagovestchensk has a seminary for the training of priests, similar to +those established in Russia by Peter the Great. He found his clergy +exceedingly ignorant, and established these institutions for their +sons, enjoining the bishops to support them with a twentieth part of +the income from the monasteries. In these establishments, and others +which have been added, are educated the rank and file of the Russian +clergy.[6] + +I did not once meet in Russia with a priest who could speak French, +German, or English. Perhaps they throw their strength into patristic +and ecclesiastical learning, since the parochial clergy are usually +said to be not well instructed in secular studies. An instance was +given me by an Englishman, who travelled in Siberia with a Russian +archbishop, who one day asked the Englishman which had the greater +population, London or San Francisco. Whereupon my wicked friend said, +“Well, you see, London has a population of two hundred thousand, +and San Francisco four millions.” “Ah!” said the archbishop with +satisfaction, “I thought so; I thought San Francisco was the larger!” + +Those students who wish to attain to the higher degrees of learning, on +leaving the seminary, proceed to one of the ecclesiastical academies +which correspond to our universities, and where they can take the +degrees of student, candidate, master, and doctor of theology. There +is no theological faculty in the Russian universities, but it is now +required that all who are to be consecrated bishops shall have passed +through the academy. + +To return, however, to the seminary: the students enter at the age +of eight, and remain normally till twenty-two, when they receive a +diploma, which is accepted by the bishop, and the candidate without +further examination is ordained. + +The case of one of these students presented a curious instance of the +working of the inconsistent requirement of the Russian Church, that the +parochial clergy at the time of their ordination _must_ be married. “Do +you see that boy running about on the deck?” said a fellow-passenger +to me, pointing to one of the seminary students. “He is nineteen years +old, and is returning to the seminary for the last time. In the course +of a few months his mother is to find him a wife, and next year he will +return to be married, and then immediately ordained!”[7] This would be +before the canonical age for ordination, but was owing to the lack of +clergy in the Primorsk, in which there are about 50 congregations with +churches or chapels. Between Nikolaefsk and Vladivostock, a distance of +1,300 miles, are only 14 priests and 2 deacons; and so pressing was the +need of clergy a few years since that tradesmen, letter carriers, and +even yemstchiks in some few instances were ordained. + +Mr. Peko accompanied me at Blagovestchensk to call upon Mr. Petroff, +the deputy-governor, from whom I learned that there was only one +prison in the province, having 26 rooms. We visited it, but the only +notes I have are “dirty and overcrowded,” and “punishment cells all +full,” some having two men in a place not too large for one. What +made the prison so full I know not, nor am I able to say whether they +were local offenders from the province or exiles temporarily there on +their way eastwards. There were none lounging about in the yard, so I +suppose they had all been gathered for our inspection. The punishment +cells being occupied was not, as far as I know, because the men had +misbehaved, but because they were compelled to use all available space. +Moreover, since the prison authorities seem to look upon solitary +confinement as so great a punishment, it may be that two were put in +some of the cells for the sake of company. I remember that when I spoke +to the president of the Tomsk prison approving the separate as opposed +to the gang system, he thought it was decidedly bad to put a _moujik_, +or simple peasant, in a cell alone; for “having nothing to think +about,” he said, “he might go mad!” This good man informed me, too, in +connection with my self-imposed mission, that the prisoners did not +want so much religion, but liked also books of history, travels, etc. +This I knew, but since three wagonloads did not more than suffice for +the little I attempted, and my means were limited both as to carriage +and in other ways, I was only too thankful to take so many books as +we did, and leave it to other philanthropists to complete the work. I +left 50 New Testaments and 12 wall pictures at Blagovestchensk with +Mr. Petroff for the prison, for the 20 rooms of his two hospitals and +a school in the course of erection, with four rooms for prisoners’ +children. + +Near the hospital were summer Cossack barracks, put together in the +most primitive fashion. The ordinary barracks needing repair, they +had cut branches of trees and leafy underwood, tied them in fagots, +and stood them up so as to form walls and roof, which gave tolerable +shelter for hot weather, but served as poor protection from wind and +rain. They were intended, however, to last only for a few weeks. + +[Illustration: A STAROVERS OR OLD BELIEVERS’ COUNTRY CHURCH.] + +From these summer barracks there was a fine view of the river and +town. The houses are situated on a plain 15 feet or 20 feet above +the water. The Government establishments and merchants’ stores are +large and well built, each having plenty of space around it. Some +of them have gardens, and stretching along the bank from the wharf +to the roomy telegraph office is a green sward planted with trees +for a park. Blagovestchensk has a population of only 3,400, but its +long river front and its cross streets give it the appearance of an +important town. Some of the shops were excellent, and well supplied +with merchandise. The town was founded in 1858, and the Amur Company +kept there one of its principal stores. On the winding up of its +affairs, this store was bought by the company’s clerk. Mr. Knox says, +in 1866, that the Russian officers complained of the combinations among +the merchants to maintain prices at an exorbitant scale. I heard, +too, that this is still done. If, for instance, in the middle of the +winter a merchant discovers that his brother tradesmen have sold all +their sugar or any other article, and that his stock is all the town +possesses, then, knowing that no more can arrive till the ice goes and +the navigation opens, he can demand higher prices for goods of which he +has a monopoly. Candles were quoted to me as costing usually 11_d._ or +1_s._ per lb., but as rising sometimes to 2_s._ 6_d._ Cheese costs from +2_s._ to 2_s._ 6_d._ per lb., but I suppose that these articles must +be of European or American manufacture. Chickens at Blagovestchensk +vary from 6_d._ to 2_s._ each, veal from 4_d._ to 5_d._, and beef from +2½_d._ to 4_d._ per lb. Milk costs 2_d._ per pint in summer, and 4_d._ +in winter; live geese, bought from the Manchu, cost from 2_s._ 6_d._ to +4_s._; but in winter, from the Molokans, 5_s._ In connection with these +prices should be quoted the cost of land, which may be purchased from +the Government for 2_s._ an acre. + +I was told that the town is full of dissenters. I did not hear of any +Starovers or Old Believers, nor observe on any church the _three_ +transverse beams of their form of the cross; but there were many +Molokans,--colonists, I suppose, or descendants of exiles. Their +presence, doubtless, accounts for a good deal of the prosperity of the +town, for they are “honest, sober, and industrious.” + +The _Molokans_ are so called because they drink milk on the usual +fasting days. Their origin is involved in obscurity, and by some is +dated back to the middle of the last century. Early in the present +century many were living in the south of Russia. An English gentleman, +residing at Berdiansk in 1848, visited their villages, and from his +wife I learn that Salamatin, the Molokan chief, and his family were +pious, but very simple, uneducated people. My friend used sometimes +to invite them to her table. She tells me that their enlightenment +came, to all appearance, simply from reading the Bible. They found +there the worship of images forbidden, and accordingly declined to +bow down before them, on which account some were persecuted, even +to bodily pain, but to no purpose; they would not give way. Blunt’s +“Dictionary of Sects” says that a Baron Haxthausen, in 1843, visited +a colony of 3,000 Molokans in the Crimea, and found that they denied +the necessity of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With Blunt’s statement +partly agrees what my friend told me, namely, that some important +official came to visit the Molokans in her neighbourhood (not, however, +in the Crimea, but in the government of Ekaterinoslav, which was then +their habitation, their villages being situated on the banks of the +Moloshna), and found so little objectionable among them, and so much +that was good, that the official gave them an excellent character, +and they were afterwards left unmolested. Also their alleged disuse +of baptism and the Lord’s Supper seems to agree with what I heard of +them from a fellow-traveller, who lodged in the house of a Molokan; for +he told me that on Sundays they hold meetings, read the Scriptures, +pray, sing, expound the Bible, and ask questions, but he thought +they did not baptize nor receive the Lord’s Supper. But I remember my +lady friend telling me that when the Molokans separated from, or were +turned out of, the Russian Church, they had no priests nor any person +of education to guide them, nor have they priests now, but only elders; +hence, if they are without sacraments, I am not clear whether it is +from choice or necessity.[8] My fellow-passenger spoke in high terms +of the Molokans of Blagovestchensk. He said he never saw any of them +intoxicated, or even enter a tavern; that he rarely or never saw them +out of temper, or heard them use bad language; and that they spent +their spare time in reading the Scriptures. + +But this does not save them from annoyance. Their manner of living at +Blagovestchensk has enabled many of the Molokans to become rich, so +that they can hire servants. An old Russian law, however, forbids a +Molokan to employ an orthodox Russian. The Russians, notwithstanding, +like to serve the Molokans, because they are good masters, and pay +well. Hence the law has become practically obsolete; but the summer +before my visit, the police-master (a man of anything but exemplary +moral character), having a grudge against a principal Molokan, and, +Haman-like, thinking scorn to lay hands on one only, began doing his +best to annoy the whole of them in the town. How the matter ended I did +not hear. + +I saw, before I left Siberia, an official confirmation of the good +opinion I was led to form of the Molokans. The governor of a province +wrote officially to Petersburg thus: “We have 105 Molokans, most of +them living in the South Ussuri district. They are living quietly, +and are very laborious, and amenable to authority. They are civil in +their bearing towards the members of the orthodox Church, and are not +fanatical.” Looking, therefore, at this triple testimony, and comparing +the lives of the Molokans with the lives of the orthodox, I felt that +to bring the orthodox into contact with the Molokans would be likely +to improve the orthodox rather than otherwise, and that the Tsar would +have more good subjects than he now has if he had more Molokans. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The number of dissenters is duly tabulated in the official reports +sent to the Emperor. Thus, in one of them I was permitted to see was +written, “No case has occurred during the year of dissenters being +reclaimed, but we have in the province, as last year, 140 of both sexes +of Bezpopoftschins, and 105 Molokans.” + +[2] The amount collected in boxes at church doors in 1876 was +30,100 roubles 37½ kopecks, and from other sources 111,598 roubles +28¼ kopecks, making a total of 141,698 roubles 65¾ kopecks--say +£17,712 (reckoning the rouble _in this chapter_ at half-a-crown, its +approximate value at the date of the report), besides £1,537 paid to +the council by local committees. A comparison is drawn between 1876 and +the previous six years, and shows an advance over 1875 of 890 members +and £500. The Society has six associations in Siberia, of which Irkutsk +has the largest number of members--490, and raises the largest amount +of money--£3,470. There is also a list of “special donations” in 1876, +which were invested; one donation of 40 roubles, or £5; two of 50 +roubles; one of 60; six of 100; one of 200; and one, the largest, of +300 roubles, or £37. + +[3] The results obtained by the Society in 1879 in the region of the +Volga, inhabited chiefly by Mohammedans, are much less than in Asia, +the opposition being so great that for the present the missionaries +can only prepare the way. To this end, schools might become a powerful +auxiliary. Some tribes, such as the Tcheremisses and the Votyaks, for +example, show an inclination for instruction; but the want of funds +prevents the extension of the Russian school system to the Mohammedan +villages. The same is seen with the Kalmuks of Astrakhan, who would +welcome schools, and gladly abandon their nomad and heathen congeners +to settle upon lands assigned to them. At Noire-Cherinsk, 12 families +began the construction of houses, but for lack of money failed to +complete them, and asked the Government for an advance of £3 for each +family. At Oulane-Ergansk, certain families have come to settle, and +already are giving themselves to agriculture. + +[4] One of their triumphs in 1879 was the conversion of the learned +lama, Taptchine-Nagbou-Mangolaiew, who was first impressed by the +Russian Church services he attended from the preceding year at Chita +and Verchne Udinsk, where, after the manner of the missionaries, the +service and singing is, I believe, in the vernacular. This man was +baptized in the waters of the Baikal, from which he takes his present +name of Vladimir Baikalsky. He understands seven languages--Manchu, +Chinese, Mongolian, Thibetan, Sanscrit, Latin, and Russ, and has +accepted the post of Professor of Mongolian in one of the missionary +colleges. + +[5] The Government authorized, so far back as 1861, the construction +of a telegraphic line from Nikolaefsk, up the Amur, to Khabarofka, +which was to continue thence to the southernmost point of the Russian +territories on the Sea of Japan. The telegraph line from Kasan to Omsk +was to be opened in the same year; from Omsk to Irkutsk in 1862, and +thence undertaken in 1863 to Kiakhta and Khabarofka, the Amur Company +agreeing to do the work and the Minister of Marine to provide the +funds, the Government guaranteeing 5 per cent. on the outlay. The rates +for telegrams in Russia and Siberia are:-- + + Within a radius of 66 miles, 1 shilling for 20 words. + ” ” 660 ” 2 shillings ” ” + ” ” 1,000 ” 4 ” ” ” + Beyond ” ” ” 6 ” ” ” + + +[6] Upon my return journey on the Amur, I met on the boat some of the +students going back to Blagovestchensk after their holidays, and from +them and their teacher I got the following information respecting their +place of education. Priests’ sons are provided with education, food, +and clothing free; other scholars pay for food and clothing. They are +at the seminary ten months and a half during the year, and have the +remaining six weeks for holidays. They have six classes, and stay two +years in each, with four lectures daily, and read from eight till two. +At the seminary at Blagovestchensk, in 1878, there were 50 students +and nine professors, namely, of Latin, mathematics, Greek (no Hebrew), +theology, philosophy, the Bible, Russ, Manchu, physics, music, etc. +The students, I was told, on leaving, usually know a little Latin and +Greek, and may learn modern languages; but this last, in Russia, is not +compulsory. + +[7] I have called this requirement of the Russian Church inconsistent +because they interpret St. Paul’s words, that a deacon should be the +husband of one wife, so literally as not to ordain a bachelor as +parish clergyman; and yet, though St. Paul gives the same injunction +concerning a bishop, they will not consecrate a priest to the +episcopate so long as he is married. + +[8] The Molokans of Ekaterinoslav were not indifferent to the +sacraments, for Salamatin, their then chief, was wont to baptize by +immersion; and as for the Lord’s Supper, they celebrated it sitting +round a table, each communicant receiving a piece of bread broken from +one loaf, and the cup was afterwards passed round to each member. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +_THE MIDDLE AMUR._ + + Departure from Blagovestchensk.--The Zeya.--Climate.--Employment + of time.--Russian tea-drinking.--The Bureya river and + mountains.--Delightful scenery.--Ekaterino-Nicolsk.--Distribution + of books and Scriptures.--Recognized by a passenger.--Prairie + scenery.--Shooting a dog.--The Sungari.--Chinese + exclusiveness.--Course of the river.--The Amur province.--An + excise officer.--Remarks on alcohol.--Teetotalism in Russia. + + +We left Blagovestchensk on the morning of the 6th of August, and soon +found the river widened. A short distance below the town is the mouth +of the Zeya, the largest affluent of the Amur we had yet seen.[1] + +It was along the Zeya that the first Russians reached the Amur in +1643. Since the Russian occupation, 5,000 peasants have been settled +along the river, which is said to be navigable for steam three or four +hundred miles from its mouth. It is, I believe, owing to the immense +volume of water at times discharged by this river that Blagovestchensk +is liable to serious inundations. At the time of my visit the town +stood from 20 to 30 feet above the river, but in the course of a few +weeks, news reached the Lower Amur that Blagovestchensk was so deeply +flooded that the water had risen to the telegraph wires, and that +there were several feet of water in the houses of the town. I heard, +subsequently, of a flood higher by five feet that took place in 1872. + +Beyond Blagovestchensk we experienced a decided rise in the +thermometer. This town is on about the same parallel as London, and has +a summer temperature not very different; but its winter climate is much +more severe.[2] So far as my own experience is concerned, I was highly +favoured in the weather, for the only day on which any rain worth +noticing fell was the last of July, on the Shilka. At the commencement +of the voyage, at night, I put my maximum and minimum thermometers +out of the cabin window; but, having broken the latter on the 2nd of +August, I am unable to say more than that the nights became very much +warmer. On August 6th I noted that the heat was very great, and was +doubly thankful in the morning for a cold bath. My cabin was about the +size of an old-fashioned oblong church pew, with seats on the longer +sides. These were too narrow to sleep upon, so I inflated my air bed +and placed it on the floor; then in the morning it was necessary merely +to remove the bed and unfold my bath previous to calling for water. +I nowhere found in Russia or Siberia the use of “the tub” as English +people now use it; and when on one occasion in Moscow I asked the +landlord whether in the morning I could have a _cold_ bath, he said he +had never been asked for such a thing in his life! + +Time on board hung by no means heavily upon my hands; for, having +received several papers of statistics and official information written +in Russ, I was glad to get them translated by some of the ladies who +spoke French. I thus had opportunities of receiving explanations upon +points not quite clear, and of correcting wrong impressions. With +this writing-up books I alternated letter-writing, both private and +official, though it seemed to be not much use writing to England, +since I expected to get there by crossing the Pacific in less time +than a letter could do so by crossing Siberia. The captain, however, +expected to meet a steamer that would take mails to Stretinsk, and +I therefore wrote a number of “open letters,” as the Russians call +them, if only that my friends might receive a penny post-card from the +land of my temporary exile. Among them, I remember, was one to Miss +Frances Ridley Havergal, to whom I had written the previous year during +my Archangel tour. I little thought at the time I was writing she +had passed away, and that when crossing America I should read of her +death.[3] + +Thus, what with translating and writing, reading some small manuals +I had brought on botany and geology, and gathering information on +Russian affairs, the days passed happily enough. My fellow-voyagers +were pleasant, and, after being thrown together for nearly a +fortnight, we became quite sociable. The afternoon samovar was a great +rallying-point, for Russians dearly love their tea--and not a little +of it either. When two Moscow merchants have concluded a satisfactory +bargain, they retire to a _traktir_, or tea-shop, where they call for a +samovar, drink so many potations and make themselves so hot, that they +call for a towel to wipe off the perspiration, and then--“begin again.” +Our cook replenished his pantry at Blagovestchensk, and so did I, for +I bought up all the white bread I could find, and Mr. Peko kindly gave +his parting guest both butter and cheese. On the first day we travelled +340 miles, to Ekaterino-Nicolsk. When we started, the river was 1,200 +yards in width, with soundings of 15 feet. At Aigun, 14 miles lower, +it had increased to 1,866 yards wide, and to 30 feet deep. The scenery +during the early part of the day displayed an extensive plain, with no +visible limit on the left hand, and bounded on the right by low ranges +of hills. The soil of this prairie is clayey, with an upper stratum of +rich black mould, which is covered with luxuriant grasses, attaining +often the height of a man. Among them may be seen Manchurian panic +grass, and succulent, broad-bladed kinds of which I do not know the +names; also grape and pea vines, and many varieties of flowers, among +which the lily of the valley is so abundant as to fill the air with its +fragrance. Small shrubs of cinnamon-rose are hidden everywhere by the +grass, and, with vetches and other climbing plants, render travelling +over these prairies, as Mr. Collins testifies, extremely difficult. + +[Illustration: RUSSIAN PEASANT, WITH SAMOVAR.] + +Below Aigun, the country on the north continues flat, and is covered +with a rich black soil, in places fourteen inches thick. About 30 +miles below Aigun, the river divides into many channels, and the +right bank in several places is scooped out and steep. On the left +are extensive shallows and sandbanks--some barren, others covered +with grasses and willows. Of this last there are nine species on the +river. The natives use the bark for making ropes. At Skobeltsina, +160 miles below Blagovestchensk, the Bureya comes in from the north, +after a course of 703 miles. This river flows through a level prairie +country, diversified by clumps of oaks and maples. At its mouth it has +a breadth of half a mile. Beyond this stream the south bank rises, +and toward the latter part of the day we found ourselves not far from +the Bureya mountains, where the hills approached close to the river. +Coal seams from three to four inches thick, resembling cannel coal, +have been discovered in this district. The lower portions of the hills +were wooded with small oaks, and on more elevated parts were denser +forests of young oak and black birch. In shady ravines are found groves +of white birch and aspen, and in open situations, and on the islands, +various kinds of willows, limes, bird-cherry trees, small Tatar apples, +elms, the Manchu ash, the Mongol oak, and a few cork trees of small +size. Hazels also grow here, and at the skirt of the forest may be +found the vine climbing the trees to the height of 15 feet. The most +characteristic shrub of these forests is the Manchurian virgin’s bower, +the numerous white blossoms of which contribute not a little to its +beauty. + +We were favoured with a delightful evening for our journey through the +Bureya mountains, the scenery of which reminded me forcibly of some +parts of the Danube.[4] + +The Bureya, or Little Khingan, mountains cross the valley of the Amur +at nearly right angles. They are of mica schist, clay slate, and +granite. Porphyry has been found in one locality, and there are said +to exist indications of gold. As we journeyed down the stream in the +evening light, the tortuous course of the river added much to the +beauty of the scene. Almost every minute the picture changed, hill, +forest, and cliff giving variety to the prospect as we wound our way +through the defile. Here and there were tiny cascades breaking over +the steep rocks to the edge of the river, and occasionally a little +meadow nestled in a ravine. At times one seemed completely enclosed in +a lake, from which there was no escape visible save by climbing the +hills, and it was impossible to discover any trace of an opening half a +mile ahead. And thus we travelled on, till at dusk we arrived for the +night at Ekaterino-Nicolsk, a settlement of 300 houses, standing on +a plateau 40 feet above the river. Here I found a church, which was +approached through an avenue of trees in a public garden. I afterwards +learned that specimens of all the trees in the region were planted +there; but when I entered it, the light was too far gone to allow of my +seeing more than that we had come to beauties of vegetation superior to +anything I had yet beheld in Siberia. + +The arrival of a steamer at Ekaterino-Nicolsk is not an event that +takes place daily throughout the year, and the whistle draws a large +proportion of the population to the river’s bank--some to sell garden +produce, some to meet friends, and some to look on. These little +crowds afforded me excellent opportunities for distributing my tracts, +and selling or giving away the Scriptures. A large proportion of the +Russian colonists get their living by supplying fuel for the steamers. +In 1866 the Government used wood to the value of £6,000, and private +firms £1,200; and as we had frequently to stop at these wood stations, +I was able to go on shore, and leave my printed messengers in the most +out-of-the-way places, where they were always thankfully received, and +often gladly purchased.[5] + +This attracted the attention of the passengers, who wished also to +purchase. One day, on the Shilka, I sold more than 30 copies, some +of them to very poor-looking persons. A merchant on board wished to +invest largely, but I was unwilling to sell wholesale, preferring +rather to scatter my stock over as wide an area as possible. I +found, moreover, that travelling merchants in Siberia ask a shilling +for the books I was selling at sixpence; and though, considering +the difficulties of carriage from Petersburg, this was not perhaps +exorbitant, yet I wished rather to bring my wares directly within +reach of as many purchasers as possible, and even to _give_ them, if +necessary, in lonely and far-off places. We reached some out-of-the-way +spots on the Obi by sending parcels of books to the priests, with a +letter, but this I was unable to do on the Upper and Middle Amur. + +The curiosity of my fellow-passengers was of course aroused by what +appeared to them my strange proceedings, and they hit upon various +conjectures as to who and what I might be. It has not unfrequently +been my experience to find, after curiosity has subsided, that my +distributing religious literature has secured for me many attentions +and acts of kindness from those who, before reading the tracts, +were disposed to be prejudiced and perhaps opposed. I found this +particularly the case in Siberia, though I was hardly prepared to +learn that the intelligence of what I had done three years before +in Finland had reached the Amur. On the second day, however, between +Blagovestchensk and Khabarofka, a passenger, who had come on board +the previous day, espied my name on my luggage, and, coming on deck, +he asked if I had travelled round the Gulf of Bothnia. On receiving +a reply in the affirmative, he said he had read of my tour, which +had been translated by my Finnish friend for a paper called the +_Helsingfors Dagblad_. He thus remembered what I had done, and was +abundantly willing to be of service if he could. His name was M. Emil +Kruskopf, an inspector in the telegraph service, and he performed +several kindnesses for me unasked. He had been flattered as a Finn by +the way I had spoken of the Scandinavian steamers, and thus I found +that a kind word was bearing its fruit after many days, and far from +the place where it was spoken. + +Among the crowd who came to look on at Nicolsk was the priest, to whom +I gave some pamphlets and some copies of the _Russian Workman_. Next +morning we departed, hoping by nightfall to reach Khabarofka. After +proceeding a short distance the mountains receded on the left, and, a +little lower, on the right also. Then appeared two islands, the one on +the right being about half a mile long and a few yards high, covered +with birches and elms, in the shade of which grasses grow to the height +of six feet. The second island is a steep rock. The depth of the river +continued to be 70 feet.[6] + +The country in this part is the most desolate along the whole course of +the Amur; though, with us, the monotony of the afternoon was enlivened +by a cry that a bear was swimming across the river. And, surely enough, +there was the head of _some_ animal above the water, not very far from +the steamer, though I confess it did not appear to me to be that of a +bear. Some of the passengers went below for their revolvers and rifles, +and began to fire, much to the excitement of every one on board. The +captain stopped the ship, and as the animal came nearer, the shot +entered the water so close to his nose that he raised himself to see +what was the matter. At last a bullet struck him in the head, and the +discolored water proclaimed a fatal shot. A boat was lowered, and some +of the crew put off, but only to find that all the excitement had been +bestowed upon an unfortunate dog! + +We passed the mouth of the Sungari, on the southern bank of the Amur, +992 miles below Ust-Strelka.[7] The Sungari, with its affluents, drains +the larger portion of Manchuria. Very little is known about it, though +its valley is said to be tolerably well peopled and fertile.[8] + +We had now reached the most southerly bend of the Amur, and had entered +a somewhat different climate from that of the Bureya range, for these +mountains are cooler than either of the prairies above or below them.[9] + +Below the Sungari the level prairie continues along the left bank of +the Amur. On the right bank a range of hills accompanies the river for +a distance of 20 miles, and at the villages of Dyrki, Etu, and Kinneli +are bold cliffs. The hills are covered with an open forest. Underneath +them a luxuriant herbage shoots up to the height of five feet, and +in July are seen the numerous red flowers of the Lespedeza, the blue +blossoms of vetches, large white umbels of the Biotia, and catkins of +the Sanguisorba. On the shores of the islands in the river are heaped +up the bleached trunks of fallen trees and driftwood. + +As we drew towards the end of our voyage, we were approaching likewise +the confines of the Amur province, which is at once the smallest and +least populous of the provinces of Siberia.[10] There are 31 stations +between Blagovestchensk and Khabarofka, the distance is 560 miles, and +I paid for first-class fare £2 10_s._ The largest of the stations and +the most important is Michael Semenovsk, about 17 miles below the mouth +of the Sungari, so named in honour of a Governor-General of Eastern +Siberia. It is a military post, and rejoices in the possession of two +iron guns pointing over the river in the direction of China, though +they are said to be utterly useless for purposes of war, and can only +be employed for firing salutes. + +At this place we put off some of our passengers, and among them the +wife of the artillery officer whom we had first seen as far back as +Kansk, and with whom we had been brought in contact on the Baikal, and +again on the Shilka. It looked as if our acquaintance was now to cease, +but it was not so; for when I reached Vladivostock this lady appeared +again, at a distance of more than 3,000 miles from where we first met. +I had made another acquaintance also since leaving Blagovestchensk, +one Baron Stackelberg. This gentleman had been sent to the Amur to +put the screw on in the matter of excise. At the annexation of the +country, the Government was so anxious to people it that they promised +emigrants immunity from taxes for 20 years, and this time was nearly +up. The Baron had, therefore, to put things in order, and had been +doing so since 1875, when he crossed Siberia by land and happened to +fall in and travel with Mr. Milne, to whose journey across Europe and +Asia I have alluded in a previous chapter. The Baron spoke pleasingly +of his journey with his English friend, as he called him, and he was +evidently disposed to give a second Englishman a welcome. He spoke +French fluently, and gave me some interesting statistics about alcohol, +which is the principal source of the Government revenue both in Russia +and Siberia.[11] I hesitate, from my own experience, to endorse the +opinion sometimes expressed, that the Russians, as a people, are more +intemperate than the English. Among them, it is true, the vice seems +to pass for less sin and for less shame than with us; but England has +the unenviable notoriety of arresting in one year 203,989 persons +for crimes in which drunkenness is entered as part of the charges! I +can present no statistics on the number of drunkards in Russia. One +does see a great many, certainly, on a festival. I was lamenting this +to a Russian lady, when she acknowledged its truth, but reminded me +that with them the evil is confined chiefly to men; and without doubt, +whatever comparison may be instituted between the two countries with +regard to drunkenness among the male sex, they have no town in Russia +which has more drunken women than men--that apprehends in a single +year 6,276 females to 5,537 males, or 32 drunkards a day! For this, +alas! we must look to England--to Liverpool. Still, drunkenness is a +most fruitful cause of crime in Russia, as witnessed by what I saw and +heard in the prisons at Tiumen, Tobolsk, and Barnaul; and it may very +well be questioned whether the evil habits among Russians of gambling, +drunkenness, and idleness are not in part to be traced to the very +large number of holy days in their calendar, on many of which they +abstain from work more completely than on Sundays. They fast rigorously +and long, and then, at the close, break out in excess. + +Teetotalism has not yet made much way among the Russian people or +clergy. I chanced, indeed, to be dining in Petersburg in company with +a gentleman, who said that the priest of his country parish was an +abstainer, whom he sometimes invited to dinner; and when he would give +him a little red wine for his stomach’s sake, the priest declined, +saying that if he did not abstain altogether he might soon become a +drunkard, because invited so often to drink by his parishioners. +This case, however, was sufficiently uncommon to cause a lady present +to observe that she had never heard of an abstaining priest before. +Accordingly, it is with great satisfaction I have observed from the +newspapers that the matter has been under the consideration of the +present Emperor, and that his Majesty has called in certain experts to +advise on the subject. God send them help against this national curse, +the demon of intemperance! + +My meeting with Baron Stackelberg had an important bearing on my +wanderings; for I had intended, on arriving at Khabarofka, to leave the +Amur, and proceed direct up the Ussuri to Vladivostock. But so it was +not to be, and in less than 24 hours I found myself going 1,250 miles +out of my way, and in the opposite direction. But before leaving the +Chinese border I must say something of the southern bank of the Amur, +concerning which and its inhabitants I have hitherto been almost silent. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This river rises in the Yablonoi range, and pursues a course of +700 miles to the south-east, receiving several affluents from the east +before it flows into the main stream. At its mouth it is nearly a mile +wide, and in some places 35 feet deep. Its swift, turbid, yellowish +waters are no mean addition to the black waters of the Sak-hah-lin, as +the natives call the Amur. For some distance below the junction the two +colors are distinctly visible; but finally the black dragon swallows up +his yellow neighbour, and flows on majestically towards the ocean. + +[2] The greatest heat, in July 1877, at Blagovestchensk was 89°·2, +and at Greenwich 88°·2; but the greatest cold, in December, at +Blagovestchensk was 32° below zero, as compared with 28°·7, the +greatest cold at Greenwich. Speaking generally of the weather at +Blagovestchensk, Mr. Ravenstein remarks that in the winter of 1859-60 +it was fine until the middle of October. On the 4th November snow fell, +and soon after the river was frozen. During December and January it was +fine though cold, the temperature falling occasionally to 45° below +zero, and at one time to 49°, and never rising more than 9°·5 above +it. Violent storms occurred during November, and again in February. On +the 2nd of April was the first thaw. Between the 6th and 9th of May +the river became free of ice, and the last snow fell on the 12th, but +without remaining on the ground. The greatest heat during the summer +was 99°. The district of the Middle Amur enjoys a more favourable +climate than the Upper Amur, though only so far as the summer months +are concerned. These are free from hoar-frost, which, on the upper +part of the river, is often destructive to the harvest. The winter is +quite as long, and the Amur at Blagovestchensk is frozen over from the +beginning of November to the commencement of May; and the Zeya some +three weeks longer. The quantity of snow, however, is not too great +to allow of the Manyargs keeping their horses throughout the winter +pasturing in the open air. + +[3] I wrote also to General Kaznakoff, the Governor-General of Western +Siberia, at Omsk, requesting that the Scriptures, which I had arranged +for the interpreter to take to Tiumen to be forwarded thence, might be +distributed through the provinces of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk; so +that, with what I hoped to do in the Sea-coast province, I began to +look upon my plans for the supply of the Siberian prisons as all but +completed. The boxes containing these books did not reach Tiumen till +the autumn; they were some time on the road to Omsk; but when I last +heard of them, they had reached their destination, and were about to be +distributed. + +[4] At the entrance of the defile, 783 miles below Ust-Strelka, and on +the north bank, is situated the station Pashkof. On the opposite bank +rises the bold promontory of Sverbeef, projecting far into the river. +From a breadth of two miles the Amur suddenly decreases to 700 yards, +the depth in many places reaching to 70 feet, and thus it flows for 100 +miles to Ekaterino-Nicolsk. The current sweeps along at the rate of +three miles, and in some places attains as much as 5½ miles an hour. + +[5] Another opportunity had occurred on the Upper Amur, on our meeting +a steamer lugging an immense two-decked barge laden with seamen, who +had finished their term of service in the Pacific, and were returning +homewards with their wives and children. Their barge had the appearance +of a huge Mississippi steamer loaded with passengers above and below, +and as we approached they hailed us. Our captain was not then out of +shallow water, and as he knew the commander of the approaching steamer +he deemed it advisable to drop alongside and ask about the condition +of the river, exchange a few kindly words, and perhaps drink with his +brother navigator a glass of tea, or something stronger. I, too, went +on board, and sold 20 New Testaments in as many minutes, distributing +also several papers and books. I wished to make the captain a present +of some New Testaments for the use of the crews of his two boats, but +he preferred to buy them, and gave me 3½ roubles for 14 copies, to +which I added some placards, etc. The captains, too, of the _Zeya_ and +the _Ingoda_ bought some for their crews in preference to my giving +them. I had, however, already nailed up some of my pictures in both +cabins of the two boats, and placed in each a copy of the New Testament +for the use of the passengers, as was done also for the boats by which +we travelled on the Obi and the Kama. + +[6] From this part to the mouth of the Sungari the prairie extends as +far as the eye can reach, and the banks of the river are in many places +swampy. The stream increases in breadth, and has numerous islands +covered with willows and other trees. The islands do not interfere with +the navigation, as they are ranged along the two banks of the river, +and leave an open channel between. + +[7] The color of the Sungari is lighter than the Amur, and Mr. Collins, +who tasted the water, pronounces it insipid and warm, as coming from +a southern source. The force of the current is about two knots, that +of the Amur here being four knots. The Sungari is a mile and one-third +in breadth at the mouth. It rises on the eastern slopes of the great +Khingan, or Shan-alin, or White Mountains, and, being joined by many +tributaries, runs in a southerly direction, till, meeting another +affluent from the mountains which border on the Corea, it turns to the +north-east, and, after a course of 1,000 miles, falls into the Amur. + +[8] The first large town up the river is San-sin, which Mr. Maximowicz +the naturalist, in 1859, endeavoured to reach, but he was compelled to +return on account of his hostile reception by the jealous and exclusive +Chinese villagers. I met at Khabarofka a Russian merchant, who had +proceeded up the river some distance to purchase corn; an attempt, +however, in which he only partially succeeded,--and that little, I +understood, through the mediation of a Roman Catholic missionary. By +the Chinese treaty with Russia the Sungari is declared to be open for +the purposes of commerce. It thus presents an unoccupied field for some +enterprising pioneer who will thus push his way into Manchuria. + +[9] In the Bureya district in August thick fogs rest on the river in +the morning, and the nights are cold. The amount of snow throughout the +winter is about 4½ feet or more. The climate, however, on the Amur, +which is most favourable, is that found between the mouths of the +Sungari and Ussuri, though even here the river is ice-bound during five +or six months. At Khabarofka it freezes about the end of November and +opens in the beginning of May. Snow covers the ground to the depth of +a foot or a foot and a half, and even 2½ feet in exceptional winters. +Below the mouth of the Sungari the Amur divides into several streams, +and many islands have been formed in its bed. The river, too, changes +its course, and runs to the north-east, which seems to be a direct +continuation of the Sungari. In fact, this river has been claimed by +some as the parent river. The Russians, however, could well afford to +allow the Chinese to establish this relationship, for then the Tsar +would be entitled to the greater part of Manchuria, the treaty giving +Russia all the land “north of the Amur,” to which John Chinaman would +probably object. + +[10] It has an area of 173,000 square miles, and is about the size of +Spain, its population amounting to only 22,000 persons. In this last +respect it contrasts favourably with the neighbouring province of +Yakutsk, which is eight times as large, but has only about 1,200 more +inhabitants. The one town of the province is Blagovestchensk, where the +Governor resides. The other habitations form mere villages situated on +the banks of the river. + +[11] “Alcohol” is spirit obtained from corn and potatoes, and has 95 +degrees of strength; “vodka” is the same spirit weakened by water to +40 degrees, and filtered. A bottle of alcohol costs at Vladivostock +2_s._ 6_d._; a bottle of vodka 1_s._ 3_d._ The Baron was an Esthonian +by birth, and he pointed out the remarkable fact that, whilst Esthonia +relatively produced more brandy than did other Russian provinces, yet +it had the smallest number of shops for its sale. Whether any moral +could be drawn from this tale I know not; but I subsequently find on +the same opening of my journal two noteworthy entries respecting the +Amur. One is that the excise taxes for the Sea-coast province amounted +in 1878 to rather more than 20 times the amount realized by all the +remaining taxes put together; and the other is the official return +to the Emperor, that “the chief causes of crime in the province are +gambling and drunkenness.” Comment is needless, and I do not here stay +to make any, except to observe how humiliating it is that any country +which calls itself Christian, be it Russia or England, should derive +its largest revenue from that which most demoralizes its subjects. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +_THE MANCHURIAN FRONTIER._ + + Manchuria and its aboriginal inhabitants.--Their history.--The + Daurians.--The Manchu.--Visit to Sakhalin-Ula-Hotun.--Manchu + dress.--Music.--Conveyances.--Articles of commerce.--Treatment + of dead.--Boats.--Methods of fishing.--Archery.--Town of + Aigun.--Buildings.--Temples.--Difficulties of access. + + +I have said very little on what we saw in descending the Amur of the +Daurians and Manchu, because I thought it better to reserve a separate +chapter for these extra-Siberian people. Manchuria is bounded on the +north by the Amur, on the east by the Ussuri, on the west by Dauria and +Mongolia, and on the south by Corea and the Yellow Sea. It is, in fact, +the country north of Peking, from which city the territory is governed, +and with which its history is closely connected.[1] + +A few words should be said, perhaps, first of the Daurians, whose +territory we passed whilst on the Upper Amur. Of old they were settled +along both banks of the river, and doubtless may here and there be +found still on the northern bank; but for the sake of clearness I have +preferred to treat of them on the southern bank in their proximity to +the Manchu, from whom they can scarcely be distinguished in appearance, +and with whom they have more in common than with the natives of the +north. The Daurians and Manchu, Mr. Howorth says, are of the same +stock in every way. The division is a political one only. The Daurians +probably represent the section who paid tribute to the Chinese Court, +and the Manchu those who were free. Mr. Wahl says that “Daours” is a +name given to the Tunguses of the Amur by the Buriats. The Daurians +are taller and stronger than the Orochons, the countenance is oval +and more intellectual, and the cheeks are less broad. The nose is +rather prominent, and the eyebrows straight. The skin is tawny, the +hair brown. The lower classes do not shave the head, and their hair +resembles an ill-constructed haystack, around which they twist their +pigtail. The higher classes shave the head in front and over the +temples, but wear a tail. + +The Daurians carry on agriculture successfully, and cultivate +vegetables and tobacco. They live in houses made of earth, thatched +with reeds or thin bamboos, and have the walls whitewashed inside. The +houses are not divided into compartments, and the fireplace is outside, +near the door, the smoke from it passing through a pipe into the house. +Two iron kettles always form part of the household utensils, one of +them for heating water for tea, the other for cooking the food. The +windows are large and square, of paper soaked in oil. They are hinged +at the top, and are propped open for ventilation. The religion of the +Daurians is Shamanism. We saw their canoes from time to time when +stopping at wood stations on the Upper Amur, but recognized few of the +people themselves. + +We saw many Manchu from the Zeya to the Khingan mountains. The southern +shores of the Amur are inhabited by Manchu and Chinese, the latter +being either exiles or their descendants.[2] On the south bank of +the Amur, opposite Blagovestchensk, is a small Manchu town, called +_Sakhalin-Ula-Hotun_ (City of the Black River). The Manchu and Chinese +formerly called the river above the Sungari “Sakhalin-Ula.” The Goldi +called the Amur “Mongo,” and the Gilyaks “Mamoo.” The name Amur was +given by the Russians, and is considered a corruption of the Gilyak +word. I paid a visit to Sakhalin-Ula on the evening our steamer stayed +in the vicinity. It is said to have less than 2,000 inhabitants. +I was accompanied by Mr. Niellsen, from the telegraph office at +Blagovestchensk, who was slightly known to one of the Manchu merchants. +The town stretches a mile along the bank, but extends only a few paces +back from the river. It consists of a single street, and is anything +but picturesque; for the fences, made of log-frames and covered with +board, shut out the view of the gardens, in which are grown millet, +maize, radishes, onions, leeks, garlic, Spanish pepper, and cabbages. +The walls of the houses are of log plastered with mud, and the windows +usually of paper, but occasionally of glass. + +The roofs of the buildings are covered with thatch of wheaten straw, +and the town is embowered in elms, birches, maples, poplars, and wild +apple-trees. This contrasts favourably with the Russian town, where +there are few trees except those in the park. Timber, for use of both +Russians and Manchu, is cut in the forests 60 miles up the river, and +rafted down. They keep plenty of fowls and pigs, and a few horned +cattle used for ploughing. Sakhalin-Ula abounds in gardens, which +supply the market of Blagovestchensk. Once a month, during the full +moon, the Manchu cross the river and open a fair, which lasts seven +days. They sell the Russians wheaten and buckwheat flour, barley, +beans, oats, eggs, walnuts, vegetables, Ussuri apples, fowls, pigs, +cows, and horses. Thus the Russians usually lay in a month’s supply; +but should they require anything out of fair-time, the Manchu are not +only ready to supply it, but do so at lower prices than the sums asked +by the Russian merchants. + +As we walked along the street we met a solitary woman, who ran quickly +out of the way, as if afraid of us; and having made a long _détour_ +from the road, regained it, and continued her journey behind us. The +Manchu women dress like the Chinese, in a blue cotton gown, with short +loose sleeves, above which the well-to-do wear a cape or mantle of +silk, reaching to the waist. The hair is brushed up, fastened on the +top of the head in a bunch, and is secured by a comb ornamented with +beads and hair-needles, and decked with gay ribbons, with real or +artificial flowers. The earrings, finger-rings, and bracelets exhibit +much taste. The women are in the habit of carrying their youngest +children about with them, tied on the back. The girls, on being +released from swaddling-clothes, are dressed like their mothers; but +the boys, up to six or seven years of age, wear only a pair of loose +pantaloons. + +The costume of the men is a long blue coat of cotton, loose linen +trousers fastened at the knee or made into leggings, and Chinese boots +of skin. They wear also a kind of vest and a belt, to which is attached +a case containing a knife, Chinese chopsticks, tinder, a small copper +pipe, and tobacco. Both sexes are fond of smoking, and, as in China, +constantly carry a fan. + +As we passed one of the houses, we saw a Manchu, sitting out in the +cool of the evening, enjoying his music, which he produced by scraping +a stringed instrument of the violin order, though it is no compliment +to the fiddle to mention the two together. At Khabarofka I saw other +musical instruments, coming nearer to the shape of the banjo. One, with +three strings, had a long handle of rosewood, and a drum about six +inches in diameter. The drum was covered on either side with serpents’ +skin, but if its sound was no more pleasing than that of the instrument +at Sakhalin-Ula, I fear it would generally be thought trying to English +ears. + +By dint of inquiry, we found the merchant to whom my companion was +known, and, on entering his yard, saw some Mongolian sheep, with their +enormous tails. It was not difficult to understand particularly fat +Thibetan sheep needing a little carriage upon which to support this +appendage. One could wish them better conveyances, however, than the +Manchu carts, which are of a very clumsy description. They have two +wheels fixed to the axletree, all turning together. They are drawn by +oxen, and move slowly, creaking along. The Manchu have besides a rough +kind of travelling carriage for persons of distinction, a two-wheeled +affair, not long enough to allow one to lie at full length, nor with +covering high enough to permit one to sit upright. It has no springs, +the frame resting on the axle. The sides are curtained with cloth, +having little windows or peep-holes. A few cushions and hard pillows +inside serve to diminish the effect of jolting. The shafts are like +those of a common dray, with a sort of shelf to support the driver +sitting sideways about ten inches behind the horse. The wheel tires +are of surprising breadth and thickness, and cogged as if made for use +in a machine. In fact, a “machine” is exactly the word for the whole +concern; and on coming out of the said machine after a long journey, +and its accompanying jolting over execrable roads, it may well be +doubted whether one would not feel bruised “all over alike.” + +Our merchant friend gave us a hearty welcome, and bade us be seated in +his house, which closely resembled the house of the merchant with whom +we dined at Maimatchin. Usually, when a guest enters a Manchu dwelling, +one of the women fills and lights a pipe, and having taken a few puffs +herself, and wiped the mouthpiece with her hand or apron, presents it. +The people in the house we visited were perfectly ready to show us +anything and everything we desired to see. One of them was writing, +with Indian ink and pen of split reed, or pencil of squirrel’s hair, +when, upon observing that I watched him closely, he wrote my name in +Chinese on a piece of paper, and gave it me as a souvenir, whilst I did +the same in English, and so returned the compliment. They presented me +also a bundle of joss-sticks for making a perfume, and which they burn +before their idols. + +Adjoining the room in which we sat was the shop, where they arrayed +me in silk dressing-gowns of splendid quality. Among the articles +the Manchu sell to the Russians are silk stuffs, peltry, artificial +flowers, felt shoes, matting, etc.; but I saw nothing that so tempted +me as the silk dressing-gowns. I forbore to purchase one only because +my companion told me that I should get them better and find a larger +selection in Japan. We contented ourselves, therefore, with admiring +them, to the amusement, apparently, of the Manchu, for they repeatedly +imitated not only our speaking but our words and exclamations of +surprise, and even our manner of laughing. + +I heard in this town of a strange method of treatment of the dead, for +Mr. Niellsen told me they were kept in the house for several days; they +are then half buried in a funereal hut in the garden or field. The +corpse is daily visited by the relatives, who bring all sorts of food +and drink. The food is put to the mouth of the deceased with a spoon, +and the drink is placed in small cups outside the hut. A few weeks pass +in this manner, and then the decomposed corpse is buried deeper. + +Steaming away from Sakhalin-Ula, we passed several kinds of Manchu +boats, which present a lively appearance on the river. The junks for +heavy merchandise are about 60 feet long, from 12 to 14 feet wide, +with high bows and sterns, and a large mast, 40 feet high, amidships. +Most of them are built on the Sungari, and have a small hut-like +construction at the stern. They draw from three to four feet of water, +and are manned by a crew of ten,--eight for pushing at the poles, one +to steer, and a pilot on the bows to sound and announce the depth of +water. Smaller than the junks are the merchants’ boats, with an awning +over the state-room, in which the merchant lives, whilst his crew and +cargo are stowed in the forepart of the craft. A good deal of valuable +merchandise is sometimes carried on board. I remember going to one of +them at a stopping-place where the owner showed me a gold watch, said +to be of English make, about which, however, when asked for an opinion, +I was bound to express my doubts. I thought perhaps the man of business +might be disposed to purchase my revolver, for which I had had no use, +and found it somewhat in the way. I offered it, therefore, to him for +what it cost me. He was accustomed only to the prices of the common +Russian revolvers, whereas mine was of good English make. The figure, +therefore, alarmed him, though, perhaps, after an hour’s patience, we +might have come to terms; but the whistle sounded, and I had abruptly +to close our negotiations and make for the steamer. + +A Manchu fishing-boat is made of the trunk of a hollowed-out tree, cut +in two pieces, fastened with wooden pegs, and secured from leaking with +pitch. The small ones are propelled by one man, with a double-bladed +paddle. They also make flat-bottomed boats of planks. Most of them +carry flags or streamers, and some have dragons’ heads on their bows. + +The traveller sometimes sees a novel method of fishing by the Manchu, +who sit perched on a tripod of tent-poles, ten feet high, placed at the +edge of the river. Here the fisherman waits, like a heron, watching +for fish, which he catches with pole, net, or spear, according to +circumstances. One would suppose the seat must be very uncomfortable, +but these tripods, tied at the top, are seen on many sandbars and +shoals, showing it to be one of the recognized methods of fishing. I +saw also, below Sakhalin, another curious fishing machine, something +like a hand-cart, with two small wheels and long handles. A frame over +the axle sustained a long pole, from which was suspended a net about +the size of a shrimp net. The machine could thus be wheeled into the +water, and the snare lowered, after which the net was lifted again +with its catch. During winter, when the river is covered with ice, the +Daurians practise a third method of fishing, known to the Cossacks as +_chekacheni_, or “malleting.” Where the ice is transparent, the fish +may be seen almost immovable near the surface of the water beneath +it. A few blows on the ice with a mallet stun the fish, a hole is then +made, and they are taken out with the hand or a small net. + +The Manchu are excellent archers. At the military stations trials of +skill take place periodically in the presence of the Mandarins and +others.[3] “To know how to shoot an arrow,” writes a Manchu author, +“is the first and most important knowledge for a Tatar to acquire.” +I presume, however, this was written before the introduction of the +clumsy Manchu matchlock. + +Fourteen miles below the Zeya, and a few hours after leaving +Blagovestchensk, our steamer arrived at Aigun, the chief town of the +Manchu on the Amur, and once possessing considerable strength. It was +formerly the capital of the Chinese province of the Amur, but the seat +of government was transferred, some five-and-thirty years ago, to +Tsi-tsi-har. It has now a population estimated at 15,000. The town is +built on a bank some 8 or 10 feet above high-water mark. The tableland +behind the town extends to mountains in a serrated chain, which show +themselves as a background to the picture upon the southern horizon. + +The Government buildings and several temples are surrounded by a +double row of palisades, in the form of a square; and outside this +are several hundred mud houses. The town has a gloomy appearance. The +houses are nearly all of but one storey, and stand in square yards +surrounded by fences of stakes or wickerwork. The only relief to the +eye is produced by the gaily-painted temples, which are surrounded with +trees, apparently sacred groves, the more noticeable as growing timber +is scarce in this region. The temples are square buildings erected +with rather more care than private houses. The walls are made of thin +poles set up side by side, with the interstices filled with clay, and +smoothened. The sloping roof is thatched with straw. As you enter you +find yourself in an ante-room, separated from the inner compartment by +a curtain running along the width of the temple, and suspended from +slender pillars. The curtain being drawn aside, there is seen a table +against the wall, upon or over which is a picture of a deity; and on +the table lie dried stems and leaves of Artemisia, and some Chinese +coins. There is also a semi-globular vessel of metal, with three holes +on each side, which is struck by the worshipper, after he has made his +obeisance, to attract the notice of the god.[4] + +I observed at Aigun, as at Maimatchin, the proximity of the temple +and the theatre, and noticed poles standing in front of the +Government houses and temples. But I am not clear whether they are +merely flag-poles or whether they are for a purpose mentioned by Mr. +Ravenstein, who alludes to poles fixed on the screens facing the doors +of private houses, the upper parts of which poles are ornamented by the +Manchu with the skulls of beasts of prey, small flags, and horsehair, +and during prayer are hoisted whilst the worshippers lie prostrate. + +Very few foreigners have succeeded in gaining admittance to Aigun. Mr. +Collins, with Captain Fulyhelm, made a resolute but fruitless endeavour +to do so.[5] + +This exclusiveness, however, appears to have abated in after years; for +in 1866 Mr. Knox had no difficulty in visiting the town, even when the +Governor happened to be absent. He speaks of the streets as having some +dry spots, but that otherwise, by reason of the mud, he should describe +the measurement of the “broadway” of Aigun as about two miles long, +50 feet wide, and “two feet deep.” The shops in one of the principal +streets have open fronts. Here the merchandise is exposed, and the +merchant, attired in silks, gravely smokes his pipe till a purchaser +enters. Dragons and other figures, cut in paper, are fixed to poles +surmounting the shops, and paper lanterns hang across the street. The +town has a guard-house and military quarters, and there was pointed out +to me, from the deck of the steamer, the fortress and gateway leading +to the Government quarter. Over the gateway was a small room, like the +drawbridge room in a castle of the middle ages. Twenty men could be +lodged there to shoot arrows or throw hot water on an invading foe. + +I was not fortunate in getting into the city--not, however, through +any difficulty with the authorities (as Baron Stackelberg offered to +telegraph to the Chinese Governor to give permission for me to enter), +but, owing to delays, our boat was so behind time that the captain +could not be induced to lose a couple of hours for the purpose. We +stopped, therefore, only a few minutes to take in passengers. Crowds +of Manchu and Chinese came to the bank, some of the women having very +remarkable head-gear. Men with a cloth about the waist were washing +their plump little Manchu horses in the river; and we saw a number +of junks drawn up on the banks. These represent some of the Chinese +naval force on the Amur,--but only _some_, I suppose--because, when +the Russians obtained the river, the Chinese transferred their navy to +the Sungari. Towards this river we proceeded, after leaving Aigun, and +arrived, as I have said, on the following day at Khabarofka, which may +now be called the military capital of the Sea-coast province. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The Chinese applied to the eastern Mongols the name of _Dun-Khu_, +whence the name _Tunguses_. And wild they must have been in early +times, if the account be true that during the winter they lived in +subterraneous dwellings, and smeared their bodies with pigs’ fat to +protect themselves from cold. The first amelioration in their condition +is said to have been due to the conquests of the Coreans, who, in +their wars with China, made use of these northern neighbours. When, +however, the Coreans fell under the sway of the Chinese, in 677 A.D., +the Tungusians, who were subsequently known as the Manchu, retired +northwards to the Shan-alin mountains. With the help of many Coreans, +they founded the empire of the Bokhai, and the country became one of +the most flourishing kingdoms on the eastern sea. The heirs of the +power of the Bokhai were the Jurjis, who founded the empire of Kin, +and were known as Kin, or Golden Tatars. They dominated over Northern +China in the 12th century, and were the ancestors of the Manchu. It is +not necessary to follow the vicissitudes of this kingdom through the +centuries that followed; but in 1618 the power of the Manchu was so +well established, that their king made war with China, and repeatedly +defeated the emperor. Some years later, a revolution broke out in +China, in the midst of which, in 1643, the emperor committed suicide; +whereupon the imperial party called in the aid of the Manchu, who +drove the rebels out of Peking. The Chinese general was then left to +pursue them further south, whilst the Manchu chief, finding the throne +vacant, took it for himself and kept it, and the Manchu dynasty reigns +in China to this day. These events were followed by very remarkable +consequences to the Manchu country and people; for though by conquest +they had gained a neighbouring throne, yet the Chinese managed so to +fuse their conquerors with themselves, and to get possession of their +country, that the Manchu, during the two centuries they have reigned +in China, may be said to have been working out their own annihilation. +Their manners, language, their very country has become Chinese, and +some maintain that the Manchu proper are now extinct. + +[2] This part of the Amur was erected into a penal colony by the +Chinese Government soon after the evacuation of Albazin by the +Russians in 1680. Above and below Aigun are 25 or 30 clusters of +Manchu dwellings, some of the villages having from 10 to 50 or even +100 houses. In other cases the houses stand solitary, like the Cossack +picket-posts I afterwards passed on the Ussuri; and I presume they +serve the Chinese for the same purpose in watching the frontier. A +noticeable feature about these pickets is that, if there be only +a single habitation, there is in the corner of the garden a small +building like a sentry-box, which is a temple containing an idol or +picture, and where worship is offered. + +[3] Three straw men of life-size are placed in a straight line, at +distances of 20 or 30 paces the one from the other. The mounted archer +is on a line with them about 15 feet from the first figure, his bow +bent, and his shaft upon the string. The signal being given, he puts +his horse to a gallop, and discharges his arrow at the first figure; +without checking his horse’s speed, he then takes a second arrow from +his quiver, places it to the bow, and discharges it at the second +figure, and so with the third; and all this while the horse is going at +full speed. From the first figure to the second the archer has barely +time for drawing his arrow, fixing, and discharging it; so that when +he shoots he has generally to turn somewhat on his saddle, and as to +the third shot he discharges it altogether in the old Parthian fashion. +Yet for a competitor to be deemed a good archer, says M. Huc, it is +essential that he should fire an arrow into every one of the three +figures. + +[4] Mr. Knox was shown one of the temples of Aigun, which he describes +as a building 15 feet by 30 feet, with a red curtain at the door, +and a thick carpet of matting over a brick pavement. The altar being +veiled, the covering was lifted to allow him to see the inscription. +Several pictures adorned the walls, and there were lanterns painted in +gaudy colors. Outside also were paintings over the door, representing +Chinese landscapes. The windows were of lattice work, the roof had a +dragon’s head at each end of the ridge, and a Mosaic pavement extended +round the interior of the building. On the exterior of the Buddhist +temple we visited near Kiakhta, I observed a symbol in the form of two +deer standing on either side of a tree, but I did not notice it again +elsewhere. + +[5] Their landing caused a great sensation, and the people gathered +in crowds. The Governor received them in a pavilion, and was dressed +in richly-figured silk robes, with the cap surmounted by a crystal +ball and peacocks’ feather. Refreshments were offered, and among them +small cups of samchoo or rice wine, and all they said was taken down by +scribes; but they were not permitted to visit the city. Previously to +this, Admiral Putiatin, of the Russian navy, defied the authorities, +and entered the city, as it were, sword in hand; for, permission having +been denied him on the pretence that he would not be safe against the +insults of the people, the admiral took with him four armed men, and +went through the streets. It was on a similar pretence that Mr. Collins +was diverted from his purpose. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +_THE PRIMORSK OR SEA-COAST PROVINCE._ + + Fuller treatment of this province.--Boundaries and + dimensions.--Mountains, bays, and rivers.--Climate.--Fauna and + flora.--Aboriginal and Russian population.--Government.--Food + products.--Imports.--Taxes.--Civil government.--Health of the + people. + + +A story is told of a certain preacher who, on mounting his afternoon +pulpit, discovered he had brought again the manuscript from which +he preached in the morning, whereupon, rising to the occasion, he +announced his intention to redeliver the morning’s discourse; and, +said he, “_I have a particular reason for doing so._” History does not +relate what followed; but I would advertise the reader that I purpose +to treat more fully of the Primorsk than of the other provinces of +Siberia, and “I have a particular reason for doing so”; the “particular +reason” in my case being that I know, personally, a great deal more +of this province than of the rest. Through other regions I passed as +rapidly as possible, never continuing long in one place; but on the +sea-coast I lived, moved, and had my habitation for several weeks. I +was stationary simply because I could not get forward, and used my +leisure to read up Siberia and arrange notes. Moreover, I had the great +advantage of staying with persons who spoke English, who had lived in +Asiatic Russia for many years, who knew the country well, and could +therefore inform me upon Russian affairs. Nor was this all, for I +was brought in frequent contact with military and naval officers who +spoke French and English, and during my stay at Vladivostock was almost +a daily guest at the Governor’s house, and so was enabled to gather +information respecting the condition of the province from official +sources. + +The Littoral, or Sea-coast province, which the Russians call “The +Primorsk,” is a strip of seaboard, beginning on the frontier of Corea, +and continuing northwards along the coast of Manchuria, round the Sea +of Okhotsk and Kamchatka, and terminating at the Chaunskaia Bay in +the Arctic Ocean, about 700 miles west of Behring’s Straits.[1] The +general aspect of the country is mountainous throughout. Along the +Manchurian coast, at a distance of from 25 to 80 miles of the sea, runs +the Sikhota-Alin range, a continuation of the Shangan-Alin mountains. +The western slope is the birthplace of many streams, which run into the +Lower Amur and Ussuri. The eastern slopes drain into the channel of +Tartary, those rivers entering the sea having a short course, and being +navigable only near the mouth. These mountains attain an elevation of +from 4,000 to 6,000 feet. West of the Okhotsk Sea runs the Stanovoi +range, which is a continuation of the tableland lying to the north of +the Amur, and is estimated, according to Mr. Ravenstein, as having +an elevation of from 1,000 to 2,000 feet, the highest peaks reaching +perhaps to 5,000 or 6,000 feet. Besides these ranges, there are in the +peninsula of Kamchatka nearly 40 mountains, evidently volcanic, though +not more than a dozen volcanoes now throw out scoria. + +On the sea-coast are several bays suitable for harbours, which might +become of commercial importance if the district were sufficiently +colonized, and good means of communication opened over the mountains +and forests of the Littoral.[2] + +The principal rivers of the province are the Ussuri, the Lower Amur, +with its largest tributary the Amgun, and in the far north the Anadir, +which runs into Behring’s Sea. The Primorsk has one or two lakes on the +Arctic Circle, also Lake Kizi, which almost connects the Lower Amur +with the Gulf of Tartary at Castries Bay, and Lake Khanka, the largest +of them all, out of which flows the Sungacha, an important affluent of +the Ussuri. What marshes there are in the province are found on the +left bank of the Amur. + +The variations of climate must of course be very considerable over +a tract of country which in the north lies within the Arctic Circle +to the 70th parallel, whilst its most southerly point is nearer the +equator than the Pole, being situated in latitude 43°, as far south, +that is, as the Pyrenees. Of the 14 meteorological observatories +in Siberia, two are situated in the Primorsk, at Nikolaefsk and +Vladivostock. For meteorological information from further north we +are indebted to travellers, especially to Baron Nordenskiöld.[3] The +climate of Nikolaefsk cannot be recommended to those in search of a +mild one.[4] During the eight months of winter keen winds prevail, +bringing snowstorms of such violence and density that I heard of a +man losing himself in crossing the street from the club to his own +house. The snow lies frequently from four to five feet deep. I stayed +at Nikolaefsk from the 13th to the 30th August, during which time the +summer was unusually cold. On several days it rained, and, when taking +an evening stroll, I did not feel an Ulster coat too warm.[5] + +Descending ten degrees further south to Vladivostock, we find the +summer extending to six and a half months, but with an annual +temperature about ten degrees lower than at Marseilles, which is on the +same parallel.[6] + +Thus it will be seen that even in the most southerly portion of the +Primorsk the winter climate is severe. The Bay of Peter the Great, it +is true, is not frozen at a certain distance from the shore at any +period of the year; yet ice is formed upon its creeks and inlets at +the beginning of December, and for more than a hundred days ships are +locked in the port of Vladivostock. On the other hand, the summer heat +on the Manchurian coast is very great, and rises in the port of Olga to +more than 96°. + +The climate of the Lower Primorsk is more than commonly dependent on +two influences: that of the prevailing winds, and of the temperature +of the neighbouring seas. The warm Kuro Scivo, or Japan current, soon +after it passes the Loo Choo islands, divides, and a small part enters +the Sea of Japan, and, skirting its eastern shore, passes out through +La Perouse Strait to reunite itself with the main stream that has kept +to the eastward of the Japan archipelago. Under the name of “the North +Pacific drift,” this Japan current afterwards passes a little south +of the Kurile and Aleutian Isles, and then turns southward along the +western coast of North America. From the north-east corner of the Sea +of Okhotsk two cold currents start and run--the one along the coast of +the mainland of Siberia, the other down the west side of Kamchatka. +Sakhalin is thus on both shores washed by these cold waters, which +continue their course southward along the western shore of the Sea of +Japan, round the Corea, past the entrance of the Yellow-Sea, until, +near the island of Formosa, they mingle with the monsoon drifts of the +China Sea. The effect of this body of cold water along the Siberian +coast is obvious, and we find the winter climate far more severe +than in corresponding latitudes on the western side of the Pacific +or in the Niphon, and the southern islands of Japan. The prevailing +winds in winter are from the north and east, and, passing as they +do over this same cold sea-water, they get chilled, and add to the +rigour of the season. In summer the winds are generally from the west +and south-west, and in July the south-west monsoon even extends to +the Sea of Okhotsk; and the temperature is abnormally above that of +corresponding latitudes. If, however, the climate of the Lower Primorsk +and of Eastern Siberia is remarkable for its extremes of cold and heat, +drought and humidity, it has at least the advantage of regularity in +its yearly progress, and has none of the abrupt changes of temperature +met with in Western Siberia. The dry cold of winter, the humid heat of +summer, are maintained without sudden changes.[7] + +To the phenomena of the particular climate of the sea-coast correspond +naturally the distinctive features of its fauna and flora. The forests +one passes through in the basin of the Amur are not, like the _taigas_, +sloping towards the Frozen Ocean, composed uniformly of the same +species of conifers; but the kinds of trees are very diverse, though +their distribution is little varied. With the fir, pitch pine, cedar, +and larch are mixed not only the Russian birch, but also the oak, +elm, hornbeam, ash, maple, lime, and poplar, some of which grow to +the height of 100 feet, with trunks more than a yard in diameter. +The bark of the larch is almost as valuable to the tanner as that of +oak, and also produces the substance called Venice turpentine, which +flows abundantly when the lower parts of the trunks of old trees are +wounded. A kind of marrow also exudes from its leaves in the shape +of white flakes, which are ultimately converted into small lumps. +In the southern parts of the Ussuri country, and on the slopes of +the Sikhota Alin, deciduous trees outnumber the conifers. The forest +pines are often draped with wild vines, whose grapes ripen, though +the cultivation of the vine has not yet been successful. On the Upper +Ussuri the Chinese have plantations of ginseng. In the woods grow +hazels, peach trees, and wild pears; and what orchards there yet are +about the villages show that the Ussuri district might become, for the +product of fruits, one of the richest countries in the world. + +But the glory of the Lower Primorsk is the wealth of herbaceous plants +which grow on the alluvial soils on the banks and the islands of its +rivers. Umbelliferous plants, mugwort, roses, cereals of various kinds, +form a mass of vegetation to the height of 8 or 9 feet, penetrable only +axe in hand, or along the track of some wild animal. The wild boar, the +stag, the roebuck hide themselves in these tall herbs better even than +in the forest. The tiger as well as the panther inhabit the bushy +herbage of the Ussuri, and there meet also the bear and the sable. Thus +the representatives of the south mingle with those from the north in +this rich fauna, belonging at once to Siberia and to China. + +[Illustration: THE SIBERIAN LARCH.] + +As regards the inhabitants of the Sea-coast province, in the south are +Chinese, Manzas, Tazas, and Coreans, who are constantly travelling, +and so cannot well be counted; but, calculating from the registers +of births and deaths, their number is estimated at 62,000. North of +these, on the Ussuri, are the Goldi, and, on the Lower Amur, another +race called Gilyaks, of whom I shall hereafter speak particularly. +Proceeding round the Sea of Okhotsk, we come to the territories of the +Lamuti, Tunguses, and Yakutes; and then reaching the north-east corner +of Siberia, we have three other peoples--the Kamchatdales to the south +of the peninsula, with the Koriaks above them, and furthest north the +Chukchees. Besides these might be mentioned a few Orochi about the +mouth of the Amur, and the Aïnos of Sakhalin and the Kurile islands. +Owing to the wandering habits of these tribes, no census can be +obtained, but from the church books their number, including both sexes, +is estimated at 44,000.[8] + +The province is divided into seven uyezds, and the principal towns, +beginning from the south, are Vladivostock, Khabarofka, Sophiisk, +Nikolaefsk, Ayan, Okhotsk, and Petropavlovsk. The Littoral was erected +into a province in 1857, and placed under a Governor who was at once +Admiral of the Fleet, Commander of the military forces, and Head of +Civil Affairs; and this was the condition of things in 1879--Admiral +Erdmann being Governor, and residing at Vladivostock. The military +command, however, has since been separated, and given to General +Tichmeneff, who resides, I am told, at Khabarofka. + +Proceeding now to the natural products of the Primorsk, and the sources +of sustenance to its population, we find that agriculture holds a very +different place in the upper, middle, and lower parts of the country. +The Upper Primorsk extends from Behring’s Straits down to Nikolaefsk, +and produces no corn. The inhabitants live by hunting, the fur trade, +or on grain supplied by the Government. + +The Middle Primorsk extends from Nikolaefsk to Khabarofka, which means +virtually the basin of the Lower Amur. Only the Russian subjects till +the ground, the total cereal produce for the year 1878 being 327 tons, +together with 811 tons of potatoes. The cost of meat in this district +is from 5_d._ to 9_d._ per English pound, according to the season. +The Lower or Southern Primorsk is populated by Ussuri Cossacks, and +by voluntary and involuntary settlers. This is the most productive +part of the province, the yield for 1878 being more than 1,000 tons of +corn and 800 tons of potatoes. Meat costs from 4_d._ to 6_d._ per lb. +Three qualities of wheaten flour are used throughout the Primorsk--the +first and second of which are imported from America. About 15,000 +fifty-pound bags (say 330 tons) are sold yearly in Nikolaefsk, the best +costing from 4_d._ to 6_d._ per lb., the second from 3_d._ to 3½_d._, +and the third quality, grown at home, from 1½_d._ to 2½_d._ per lb. +The price of rye-flour at Nikolaefsk and Sophiisk varies from 1½_d._ +to 2_d._ per lb. On the Ussuri it costs rather less, and north of +Nikolaefsk 2_d._ per lb. is asked. + +[Illustration: A DVORNIK, OR RUSSIAN HOUSE-PORTER.] + +Throughout the province the price of fish is from 9_s._ to 24_s._ per +cwt.; butter (not fresh) costs from 10_d._ to 1_s._ 1½_d._ per lb.; +black tea from 2_s._ to 4_s._ the Russian pound, and brick tea from +10_d._ to 1_s._ 2_d._ The price of sugar varies from 6_d._ to 8_d._ +per lb. Labour throughout the Littoral is scarce. The cost for a man +and horse in summer is 6_s._ per day, but in winter 30_s._ a month and +hay for the horse. At Nikolaefsk a man earns 3_s._ as a day’s wage; +a _dvornik_, or night-watchman, gets as much as £3 10_s._ a month +without board, and a man-servant £2 10_s._ a month and his food. At +Vladivostock, convict women for domestic servants are paid from 16_s._ +to 30_s._ a month board wages; mechanics earn from 3_s._ to 4_s._ a +day, and common labourers 2_s._ This last is a decided advance on the +18_s._ or 20_s._ a month paid to the wharf-porters at Nijni Novgorod, +who live, however, on 8_s._ a month, eating little but bread and +_stchee_, the latter being made of good beef, with an allowance of one +pound of meat for each person. A half-drunken man at Nijni told me +boastfully that in good times he could earn nearly 2_s._ a day; but +just then he could get no regular work, and so he said he had taken to +drink! + +In addition to the home produce of the Primorsk, the Government also +imports largely in anticipation of bad seasons and famine, and for the +military.[9] They have, too, in this province a fund for loan to the +aborigines to the annual amount of nearly £3,000, and rather more than +this sum as a reserve fund for famine purposes. + +I gathered from an official report in manuscript, which I was +courteously permitted to see, some account of the taxes of the +province. Personal taxes are paid in the north in money or in furs. In +money, in 1878, was paid £28, and in furs the value of nearly £800. +The whole of the settlers in the Amur district were to be free from +personal taxes, land taxes, and recruiting up to 1881. Hence the land +taxes of the province amounted to only £90.[10] + +The report above quoted also treated of the health of the people, from +which I noticed that vaccination throughout the province had not been +wholly successful, partly for want of good vaccine, and partly from the +lack of persons qualified to perform the operation. This latter was not +greatly to be wondered at, seeing that the yearly remuneration attached +to the appointment of district vaccinator was only two guineas, while +the work involved much and difficult travelling. In the _towns_ from +which reports had come, it appeared that of 375 persons vaccinated, +only seven cases had failed. + +The total number of (I presume _civil_) patients through the province +in 1878 was 319 (215 males and 104 females), of whom 247 recovered, +40 died, 32 were still under treatment; the average time spent in the +hospital by each completed case being 31⅓ days.[11] + +The Siberians generally are said to be remarkably strong and robust, +for which the reason has been suggested that all the weakly babies are +killed by the climate. What truth there may be in this I know not, but +in a table given me by the priest of Vladivostock, showing at what ages +had occurred the 102 deaths in his parish, for 1878, it was seen that +58, or more than one-half, died under five years of age; and of these, +37 attained to less than the age of 12 months. Further, 24 died between +the ages of 25 and 40, and only four exceeded the age of 50. + +The report went on to speak of the civil affairs of the province, its +public institutions and communications, the morality of the people and +their religious dissensions, the prisons[12] and statistics concerning +fire[13] and floods; but I need enlarge no further upon the Primorsk +as a whole. It has been already pointed out that the country can be +best described in three sections,--the Upper or Northern portion, the +Lower or Southern portion, and the Middle Primorsk, corresponding +roughly to the basin of the Lower Amur, to the description of which +last I shall now proceed. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] From this point its inland border runs along the crests of +the Stanovoi range to the 55th degree of latitude, then continues +southwards to the Little Khingan mountains, thence in a line to the +Ussuri and Sungacha, through Lake Khanka, and so to Corea. The length +of the province from north to south exceeds 2,300 miles. Its widest +part, taken at right angles from the shore, does not exceed 400 miles, +whilst at its narrowest, on the Sea of Okhotsk, the western border in +some places is not more than 30 miles inland. The area of the province +is 733,000 square miles, or about six times as large as the British +possessions in Europe. + +[2] Thus there are, beginning in the south, Vladivostock and +Paseat, and continuing up the Manchurian coast past Olga, Vladimir, +and Barracouta Bays, we have De Castries Bay, 135 miles south of +Nikolaefsk. De Castries was discovered and surveyed by La Perouse in +1787. It affords good and safe anchorage, and is a kind of ocean port +to Nikolaefsk. Other ports further north are Ayan and Okhotsk, and +Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, Olga, Vladivostock, and Paseat are called +“open ports,” but all of them in winter are ice-bound, unless it be +Paseat, which is not much frozen, nor for long. + +[3] Where the Vega was frozen in, west of Behring’s Straits, the +temperature sank before the 28th November to 14°·8 below zero, and +the newly-formed ice was already two feet thick. On Christmas Day the +temperature fell to 31°, and in January to 50°·8, both below zero; +whilst the average temperatures for October, November, December, +and January were 22°·6 and 2°·1 above, and 9° and 13°·2 below zero +respectively. + +[4] At Nikolaefsk, in August 1877, the temperature reached no higher +than 82°·8, and sank to 45°·5, the mean temperature of the month being +61°·9. The greatest heat of the year was 88°·2, and occurred in July, +and the greatest cold registered was in February, when the thermometer +fell to 26°·9 below zero. The mean temperature for the year was only +30·2. + +[5] On the night of August 19th, the thermometer registered 45°·5, and +during the preceding day had not risen above 50°. At Greenwich, on the +same date, the thermometer registered 49°·7 in the night, and 70° on +the preceding day. + +[6] The maximum temperature at Vladivostock, in August 1877, was 89°·1 +(the highest of the year); and the minimum was 57°, the mean for the +month being 68°·7. In January the degrees of cold registered were 10°·8 +below zero, and the mean temperature for the year was 41°·5. + +[7] In the least rainy month, for instance, February, the +precipitation, whether of snow or rain, represents at Nertchinsk Zavod +only one fifty-eighth part of the rainfall of the wet season. So again +at Vladivostock the difference between the snowfall of winter and the +rainfall of summer is still greater, the snow representing a quantity +about 840 times less than the rain. In 1858, Venyukoff experienced +on the Ussuri 45 consecutive wet days, and the annual rains drench +the harvests of the Cossacks of the Ussuri, who have not yet learned +to imitate the Chinese in accommodating their agriculture to the +alternations of the seasons. + +[8] These statistics are taken from the Government books, and they +refer to the native population. The Almanack for 1880 gives to the +province 76 populated places, and the number of the Russian inhabitants +was handed to me at Nikolaefsk, from Government sources, as 20,000, +made up of 10,000 naval and military, 1,200 Government officials, +1,800 townspeople, and 7,000 peasants. In the whole province in +1878 the number of (Russian) marriages was 223, excluding those of +soldiers and convicts. The number of births was 1,322, of which 96 were +illegitimate; and the number of deaths 545 males and 447 females, in +all 992, giving a net increase of 330 to the Russian population. + +[9] In 1878, salt, rice, and millet were imported to the value of +£25,000. To the southern part of the province salt comes from China. +The northern part is supplied by a Government contract with a merchant +who has a monopoly up to 1887 for rye, salt, gunpowder, and lead. For +the supply of the soldiers, the Government imported also overland 636 +tons of rye; of oatmeal, 285 tons; and by sea 1,400 tons of rye, and +280 tons of oatmeal. The average cost of flour to the Government is at +Sakhalin 4_s._ 3_d._ and at Vladivostock 3_s._ 9_d._ the pood. + +[10] For municipal taxes, police, roads, etc., were paid at Nikolaefsk, +£1,582; Vladivostock, £1,500; Sophiisk, £140; Petropavlovsk, £70; +Okhotsk, £15; and Ghijiga, £11; that is, about £3,320 together. The +excise taxes, however, were far higher--namely, for imported liquors, +£9,500; home-made beer, etc., £37; home-made liquors, £569; licences, +£1,569; fines, £52; duty for _growing_ tobacco, 6_s._, and for selling +it, £269; and tobacco fines, £20. This shows an excise income from the +province of £12,000, being a decrease on foreign liquors, compared with +the previous year, of £4,600, and an increase on home-made liquors of +£439; but an increase for licences of £150, and £15 for fines. + +[11] The most frequent maladies were inflammation of the lungs, bowels, +and womb, and heart disease. Under the head of epidemics it seemed that +during the year typhoid fever broke out at Nikolaefsk and carried off +21 men. A like visitation, lasting for 18 days, in the Khanka district +caused about the same number of deaths. At Sophiisk and Udskoi 248 +men were struck down, of whom, however, 244 recovered. The deaths by +accident and suicide in the province amounted to 21, ten more than in +the preceding year. + +[12] Criminals and their crimes in the Sea-coast Province for five +years, 1874-1878. + + 1874. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. Total. + Male. Fm. Totl. + + Sacrilege or ecclesiastical + offences 1 2 3 3 + + Offences against the Government + and insubordination to + authorities 4 2 6 1 13 24 2 26 + + Breaking prison bounds, running + away, and liberating others 9 8 38 43 13 109 2 111 + + Offences against excise laws 12 3 1 2 2 20 20 + + Offences against mercantile + laws 4 4 5 11 2 13 + + Vagrancy, harbouring vagabonds, + and offences against passport + laws 13 10 80 22 38 157 6 163 + + Murder 3 8 14 7 12 37 7 44 + + Wounding and other kinds of + violence 2 2 15 3 11 30 3 33 + + Personal insult and assault 10 2 5 8 12 35 2 37 + + Robbery 8 6 62 28 28 127 5 132 + + Rascality 3 3 11 6 16 36 3 39 + + Embezzlement and fraud 1 1 4 1 7 7 + + Forgery, or counterfeiting notes 8 7 1 8 + + Bigamy 5 3 2 5 + + Offences against marriage laws 2 1 1 2 + + Arson 1 1 1 + ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- + Totals 64 50 239 129 162 608 36 644 + +[13] The three fire-engine establishments, maintained at a cost of £534 +per annum, are situated at Petropavlovsk, Nikolaefsk, and Vladivostock, +their plant consisting of three steam and three manual engines, 26 +horses, and 13 water-carts. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +_THE LOWER AMUR._ + + My plans altered.--A serious alternative.--Khabarofka.--Fur + trade.--Post-office and bank.--A Siberian garden.--Started for + Nikolaefsk.--The Lower Amur.--Its affluents.--Fish.--A Russian + advocate.--Goldi Christians.--Sophiisk.--A procureur.--Lake + Kizi.--Mariinsk.--Snow mountains.--Mikhailofsky.--Hot-springs + of Mukhal.--Beautiful scenery.--Tyr monuments.--The “white + village.”--Mouth of the Amur. + + +Approaching Khabarofka on the evening of August 8th, I thought that my +journeys on the Amur were ended. I had refused advice that I should +go on to Nikolaefsk, my great object being to reach Vladivostock as +quickly as possible, there embark for Japan, and thence proceed to +America. As to how this could be accomplished no definite information +was forthcoming. Something was said at Blagovestchensk about a +steamer called the _Dragon_, and her periodical trips between China, +Japan, Vladivostock, Sakhalin, and Nikolaefsk. Merchant ships also +were reported to leave the Siberian ports from time to time, as also +men-of-war, returning southwards after spending the summer months out +of the heat of the tropics. My friends, therefore, at the telegraph +station promised to inquire what ships were to leave Vladivostock, +and I was to learn the reply on arriving at Khabarofka. A new factor, +however, was added to my calculations by Baron Stackelberg, my +fellow-passenger, who understood that his friend, Professor Milne, +was staying at Vladivostock. The Baron had telegraphed thither to his +agent to inquire of the professor if he were “_plein de voyage_,” and +if so, whether he would proceed by sea to meet him at Nikolaefsk for a +pleasure tour, and then accompany him to Kamchatka. The Baron expected +to find a telegram at Khabarofka, and then, said he, “If Mr. Milne come +by the _Dragon_ to Nikolaefsk, it will be better for you to go there +with me, and take the boat on its return to Sakhalin, Vladivostock, +and Japan, or you may otherwise have to wait at Vladivostock until the +_Dragon_ returns.” + +Such were our thoughts as we approached Khabarofka, where, on arriving, +I found, to my dismay, that the Ussuri boat had grown tired of waiting +for us, and had gone, and that another would not start for three +days.[1] No message awaited me at Khabarofka, and from the Baron’s +telegram it seemed that Mr. Milne was not at Vladivostock, but that the +_Dragon_ had just left, or was about to leave, for Nikolaefsk, to which +port, however, there was no steamer proceeding from Khabarofka for +several days. I was, therefore, in a dilemma. If I went south, I might +have to wait a month for the _Dragon_; and if I stayed for the river +steamer to Nikolaefsk, I might lose the _Dragon_, and thus go 1,250 +miles out of my way. I fell asleep that night not knowing what to do, +hoping that with morning light the way might be clearer. On waking, I +learned that the Baron had been to the agents and taken them to task +because the steamer going north to Nikolaefsk had also not waited the +arrival of our boat as announced. So successfully had he stormed, +according to his own account, that the agent had ordered the _Zeya_, +instead of going back, to go forward to Nikolaefsk. + +At no previous point in my journey had I felt it so hard to decide +what to do for the best. On leaving England, my tour had been planned +to last three months, a period I had already exceeded, while more +than half the globe remained to be traversed. I had, moreover, left +in the hands of others editorial duties that called for my return, +and now there seemed the possibility of prolonged delay. I looked up +most earnestly for wisdom, and determined to be guided by the Baron’s +advice. Gloomy rumours had reached me of the sad condition of the +Sakhalin prisoners, and I asked the Baron whether he thought it at +all likely that if I went to the island, and afterwards sent a report +to the authorities, it might tend to better the prisoners’ condition. +He first asked me gravely, though somewhat to my amusement, whether +what I was doing was likely to bring the governments of our respective +countries into collision, and then, on being assured that I was acting +simply as a private individual, he told me that at Vladivostock I +should get no information or statistics respecting Sakhalin, since +the books were kept at Nikolaefsk, to which place, therefore, he +recommended me to go. Accordingly, fortified with the hope of being +useful, I decided to do this; but it was not without many misgivings, +though out of that decision sprang results for which afterwards I was +deeply grateful. I did not find the _Dragon_, and had ultimately to +retrace my steps to Khabarofka; but my going to Nikolaefsk led to the +better distribution of more than 12,000 tracts and several Scriptures, +and afforded me glimpses of heathen life for which I shall ever be +thankful. + +The boat was not to start till noon, and this gave me leisure to see +something of our stopping-place. Khabarofka stands on a promontory, at +the junction of the Amur with the Ussuri, and overlooks both streams +from the top of the bluff, in which, in this direction, the Khoekhtsi +hills, running at right angles from the coast, terminate. The position +is well chosen for a military post, and the town is not without +importance commercially. There are several stores, and the merchants +trade with the aborigines of the north in furs to the value of £30,000 +a year. Whilst calling on a merchant with whom I had travelled, there +entered a Chinaman with what looked like a number of dried rabbit-skins +hung on his arm. They proved to be sable-skins, almost as they come +from the animals’ backs, turned inside out. In this condition the +natives barter them to the Chinese, who, in turn, sell them to the +merchants, some of whom are agents for large firms in Petersburg and +Moscow. On this occasion the Chinaman asked seven silver roubles, +or a guinea, for each skin, which showed that they were not of high +quality.[2] + +Besides the stores in Khabarofka there is an establishment where +they employ 50 men and build steamers, etc., to the value of £10,000 +yearly. One of the principal agents of the Steamboat Company lives in +the place, drawing a salary of £500 a year, which is thought there a +handsome income; but he told me he could not remain, since there was +no school near for the education of his children. On entering the +post-office, there were to be seen in a large chest, bags, not to say +sacks, full of silver roubles, the guardianship of which seemed fully +to justify the presence of an armed Cossack, one of whose cloth is +always found keeping watch in the post-office and over the mail-bags in +transit. The post-office, in fact, is a quasi bank, for on arriving at +Nikolaefsk I found that my host kept his banking account 6,000 miles +distant, at Petersburg. He paid in his money at the local post-office, +and then telegraphed to the capital, upon which his bankers gave him +credit for the deposit. There are State banks in Siberia, at Tomsk, +Krasnoiarsk, and Irkutsk; but, from the narrow escape I had at Tomsk of +being delayed in getting my cash, I was thankful for having exchanged +my money in Petersburg for a number of hundred-rouble notes, which I +carried in a pocket-girdle.[3] + +At Khabarofka I visited the garden of one of the merchants, said to +be the best in the place. It was 10 years old, full of apple and pear +trees, but they were wild ones, transplanted eight years before. None +of the apples were so large as a good English crab, and the “Bergamot” +pears were as small. The latter tasted something like the quince, and +were useless except to preserve for eating with roast meat. Among +other trees were the walnut, the acacia, the bird-cherry, a thorn with +a berry larger than is commonly seen in England, called _résan_; the +_boyarka_ or service tree, with bunches of berries like grapes (called +_calina_), and the beech. Among the shrubs, plants, and flowers were +maize, wild white lilac, raspberries, currants, and strawberries, +dahlias, verbenas, wild pæonies, stocks, carnations, and pinks; and +among climbers the wild pea, and the Siberian vinegar plant. These, +with other flowers, of which I did not know the names, made a fair show +for Khabarofka, where the cold winds begin in the middle of September, +and snow covers the ground from November to March. In the neighbourhood +were abundance of trees common to a temperate region, such as the oak, +maple, alder, larch, pine, poplar, willow, and lime. Some prettily +overhung the river’s bank, which was enlivened with boats drawn up by +Manchu and Chinese, some of whom were selling excellent French beans, +whilst others were engaged in making and mending shoes. + +Having thus made the most of my time at Khabarofka, I once more boarded +the _Zeya_, on Saturday noon, for a voyage of 626 miles to Nikolaefsk, +in the course of which we were to pass, though not necessarily to stop +at, 52 stations. Some were native villages, the names of which had been +adopted by the Russians; others were Russian settlements with Sclavonic +names; whilst other stations bore double titles, both Russian and +native. + +The basin of the Lower Amur is bounded on the west by the Bureya +mountains, between which and the river lies a flat and partially +swampy country; whilst on the east its limit is the coast range +already referred to as the Sikhota Alin. The course of the river is +north-east. Its principal tributaries flowing in on the left or western +bank are the Kur, Girin, and Amgun; on the right bank, the Dondon and +the Khungar. The largest of these on the left bank is the Amgun; the +largest on the right is the Dondon, which is 500 yards wide at its +mouth. At Khabarofka, the Amur has a width of 900 yards; and as we +steamed away, the right bank stood out in contrast to the left, which +was flat; but after proceeding 20 miles, the character of the scenery +changed. Both banks became flat, islands were numerous, and the stream +widened to five miles. This kind of scenery continued for the rest of +the day, and our evening progress was highly enjoyable, varied now and +then by the appearance of the summer yourts of the natives, or the +lonely post-stations, deserted in summer, where horses are kept in +winter, when the river is frozen and transformed into a road. At the +confluence of the Dondon, the river has soundings up to 37 feet, and +the channel measures three miles in breadth. This is the widest part +of the river without intervening islands, though 17 miles lower, where +the left bank is marshy and dotted with lakes, the entire width extends +to 12 miles.[4] + +At Viatskoy, 50 miles from Khabarofka, I stayed on my return journey, +and was offered a sturgeon a yard long, which a man had caught, and +was keeping in the river tied by a string beneath the gills. Of the +fish caught on the Lower Amur, the Russians think very highly of +the sterlet, and the sturgeon is costly. For this small specimen at +Viatskoy was asked 2_s._ 6_d._, but in Moscow they said it would fetch +£1. They sometimes catch sturgeon weighing from 200 to 300 lbs., and +the dried bones and cleansed gelatinous entrails of this fish form a +prominent article of commerce between the natives and the Manchu. The +bones cost in Manchuria, for culinary purposes, nearly 4_s._ per lb., +and the gelatine in Moscow 7_s._ per lb. + +In latitude 50° N., the Amur receives on the left bank, from Lake +Bolan, an affluent 900 yards wide and 30 feet deep. Hills now rise on +both banks, and at Perm (or Milku) the depth of the river increases +to between 50 and 60 feet. At Tambofsk, 280 miles from Khabarofka, +the banks become mountainous on either side, the river contracts to +an average width of a mile and a third, and soundings often reach to +90 feet; and thus the river continues, for a distance of 60 miles, +to Zherebtsofsk. From Zherebtsofsk to Sophiisk, the scenery changes +again, the river enlarges, runs between numerous islands and several +sandbanks, and at Sophiisk its depth is nearly 50 feet. + +Our company on board was small in number, which was to be expected, +seeing that the boat was a “special.” In the first-class there were +only three persons besides the Baron and myself, namely, M. Kruskopf, +the telegraph inspector, an advocate, and with him a young man dressed +like a Russian shopkeeper. The last two I had observed among the +second-class passengers from Kara. We were now brought into closer +contact. The advocate spoke French, and I gathered from him that the +young man was his client, whose father had recently died, leaving him +£20,000. They were come from Central Russia to realize the money, for +which the advocate, since he would be occupied at least all the summer, +was to have the modest fee of £3,000.[5] + +On the morning after leaving Khabarofka, M. Kruskopf left the boat to +visit the station at Troitzkoy, but he did not forget me; for, unasked, +he telegraphed to Nikolaefsk to his friends, told them I was coming, +and requested them to look after my welfare. The day was Sunday, and +I enjoyed a quiet morning in my cabin; and in the afternoon we had +steamed 170 miles--to Malmejskoy. Here we saw on the bank some Goldi, +who called to my mind pictures I had seen of North American Indians. +Some of them had a cross suspended from the neck, which in their +case had a meaning; for those who wore it thus were baptized, and so +distinguished from the pagan Goldi. I gave a few tracts among these +people, and in return received, in one of the villages, a curious +salutation. Offering an illuminated text to a little girl, her mother +directed her to express her thanks by crossing her hands with the palms +uppermost, and then go down on all-fours at my feet with her head to +the ground. + +At Tambofsk, or Girin, 280 miles further, was a village where, on the +return journey in the beginning of September, I bought melons and ripe +black currants, the latter good, but with less taste than those grown +in England. Other berries, tart but juicy, were offered for sale. +Here, too, were lying on the bank some drunken gold-miners, whom the +captain refused to take on board in that condition, leaving them till +he should call again three weeks later, by which time possibly they +might be sober and wiser. I met gold capitalists both at Nikolaefsk and +at Vladivostock; but from the report sent to the Emperor concerning the +Primorsk, it appeared that in 1878 only 600 lbs. of gold were washed +throughout the province, the small quantity being set down to the lack +of workmen. At Tambofsk we passed out of the district inhabited by the +Goldi, and entered that of a distinct though somewhat similar tribe, +called the Gilyaks, of both of whom I shall speak hereafter. + +The next place of note to which we came, 412 miles from Khabarofka, was +Sofiisk, from which there is a road 33 miles long by the shore of Kizi +Lake to the coast at De Castries Bay. Light draught steamboats can go +within 12 miles or less of De Castries; and as the navigation of the +mouth of the Amur is difficult, it was at one time proposed to make a +canal, or a railway, to connect the lake with the sea. Surveys were +made by Mr. Romanoff, but the plan is not likely to be carried out. +The steamer passed Sofiisk on my first journey, but in returning we +stayed for a couple of hours; and as there was a prison in the place, +I presented my letters, and requested to be allowed to see it. Also +I gave to the Commandant of the 5th East Siberian battalion, Colonel +Ussofovitch, who was stationed there, a box of books and tracts, +with a letter in French, asking that they might be distributed among +his soldiers. The colonel did not know French, and a young officer, +who called himself the “procureur” of the battalion, was called in +to interpret. What this gentleman’s precise office was, I could not +exactly make out, but it seemed to be something between that of a judge +and a military head police-master. He took me to see the building, +where, to my surprise, were 150 prisoners, many of whom, however, were +on their way to Sakhalin. The wooden planking of the footways in the +town was miserably out of order, and I hinted to the procureur that +since they had insufficient work for the prisoners, it would be well to +employ them in repairing the pavements. This idea seemed never to have +struck him, and he replied at once that he would consider the matter. +The procureur spoke French fluently, though with a Russian accent, +and he knew something also of the dead languages, Hebrew among them. +He said that he had studied this language in prospect of becoming a +priest; but that, when he could not see his way to £200 a year in the +church, he had entered the army, which, he said, “paid” better. In this +case, it seemed to me, the Russian Church, by reason of its miserable +emoluments, had lost to her clergy a youth of greater intellectual +culture than the majority of her priests. The population of Sofiisk +was given me as 700 military and 300 civilians, amongst whom I found +a ready sale for the Scriptures. At the telegraph office complaints +reached me, as at Khabarofka, that they had no means of educating their +children, there being no local school. + +The Amur at Sofiisk is nearly two miles wide; seven miles lower it +expands to upwards of four miles. Thirteen miles beyond, the banks +are low, flat, and marshy; but the land is good, and is cultivated +by Russian settlers. Here, too, is the town of Mariinsk, the oldest +Russian settlement, next to Nikolaefsk, on the Lower Amur, and situated +on the right bank of the river, at the entrance to the Kizi Lake.[6] + +[Illustration: A RUSSIAN PRIEST IN WINTER DRESS.] + +Mariinsk was founded by the Russian-American company in the same +year with Nikolaefsk, and was a trading post until the military +occupation of the river. Difficulties of navigation diminished its +military importance, and the post was transferred to Sofiisk, founded +in 1858. On an island opposite Mariinsk is the trace of a fort, +built by Stepanof, the Cossack adventurer, who descended the Amur in +1654. During the winter he remained here he collected nearly 5,000 +sable-skins as tribute. On our return journey we took in at this place, +as passengers, a priest, his wife, and son; the lady being the daughter +of the late Metropolitan Innokente of Moscow, the wonderful priest who, +travelling 8,000 miles, crossed Siberia with his translations of a +portion of the New Testament into the language of the Kuriles, and then +took them back in print. This lady seems to have inherited something +of her father’s enterprise, for I have heard recently from a friend +that he met her travelling in Western Siberia. + +Mr. Collins mentions that from Mariinsk is seen, to the south-west, +a very high mountain, with much snow upon it; and Mr. Ravenstein +observes that a few miles below Tambofsk, or Girin, may be seen the +craggy summits of mountain ranges, at greater or less distance from +the river, covered, in places, as late as June with snow. It was +after June when I passed down the stream, but I saw mountains to the +left with what looked like snow-drifts, or corries filled with snow. +My fellow-passengers, however, and especially the Baron, stoutly +maintained that I was mistaken, and that what we saw was either chalk +or an effect of light. The formation of the rocks on some of the +mountain crests was very remarkable, and they were arrayed in such +straight lines, here and there, that they looked like the building of +Titans rather than Nature’s handiwork. + +Passing Mariinsk we reached Mikhailofsky, a distance of 526 miles from +Khabarofka, on Monday afternoon,--that is to say, in about 48 hours, +which was more rapid travelling than the captain had accomplished on +the Shilka and Upper Amur. A merchant afterwards whispered to me, +however, that it was reckless navigation. The captain had not made the +passage before; so, placing a man in the bows with the measuring-rod, +and rising above all questions as to where the channel lay, he just +shot ahead, suspecting no ill where no ill seemed. Fortunately we ran +on neither rocks nor shoals, but I was exhorted to be thankful that +we had not come to grief. Had we been allowed to proceed at this rate +we should have reached Nikolaefsk in another 24 hours, but a telegram +awaited the captain at Mikhailofsky to say that another boat of the +company was coming up from Nikolaefsk, for which he was to wait, then +exchange cargoes and passengers, and return. This involved a delay of +30 hours, which gave me an opportunity of visiting a settlers’ village, +the priest of which informed me that he had in his parish 400 persons, +of whom only 15 could read. The forest in the neighbourhood has been +cleared, and rye, barley, and oats are successfully cultivated. So, +too, are vegetables on the river’s bank, for the market at Nikolaefsk. +Cucumbers were just coming in, and the people were eating them like +apples. When the Baron and I made a morning call at one of the houses, +they simply brought forth cucumbers and salt wherewith to regale us. +I saw, too, in this village a curious specimen of Russian economy. +Not able to purchase whole panes of window-glass, the peasants had +used fragments of any form they could get, and fixed them with pieces +of birch bark, cut to the shape. Mikhailofsky, however, was not a +flourishing village, and it must be added that the colonies of the +Lower Amur are generally the least prosperous in the country. + +Late on Tuesday evening the promised steamship _Onon_ arrived, and +I left the _Zeya_, in which I had spent the previous 16 days, and +travelled 1,900 miles. Next morning we arrived at a Gilyak village, +called Mukhal, near to some hot springs which are said to be beneficial +in cases of rheumatism, syphilis, diarrhœa, and goitre. The Polish +exile, in whose charge they are, is allowed their monopoly, and the +Government gives him a grant of £50 a year. About mid-day we passed +another Gilyak village called Tyr. The Amur here contracts to 900 +yards, and from a bold cliff, 100 feet high on the right bank, a fine +view is obtained up stream. The river’s banks spread to a width of +five miles, and well-wooded islands lie between. To the south are +dark forests and mountain ridges, and at the back of the cliff is a +tableland several miles broad. On the opposite bank enters the river +Amgun, which rises in the Bureya mountains, and, after a course of not +less than 700 miles, flows into the Amur through a delta covered with +forest. + +The cliff at Tyr is interesting to the archæologist by reason of +its Tatar monuments with inscriptions, the history of which appears +somewhat doubtful.[7] + +I went ashore to examine these monuments, of which Mr. Ravenstein +mentions four--one with a granite base, and the upper portion of grey, +fine-grained marble, and another of porphyry resting on an octagonal +pedestal. Unfortunately, I could stay only a very short time, as the +steamer did not wait. I found two monuments near the edge of the cliff, +with characters cut thereon. A third is about 400 yards to the east, +on a more elevated point, and on a bare rock foundation. The principal +one, which I examined most, resembles a thick upright tombstone, about +five feet high. The Archimandrite Avvakum says everything proves +that the spot where the monument is standing was once the site of +a temple devoted to the worship of Buddha, and in Chinese language +was called “_Youn-nen-se_”--that is, the “Temple of Eternal Repose.” +The two inscriptions on either side--one in Chinese and the other in +Mongolian--were written, he thinks, by some illiterate Mongol lama, not +thoroughly acquainted with Chinese grammar. On the left-hand side are +the Sanscrit words, “_Om-mani-badme-houm_” in Thibetan letters; and +beneath, in Chinese, “_Dai Yuan shouch hi-li-gun-bu_”--that is, “The +great Yuan spreads the hands of force everywhere.” In a second line on +the same side the words, “_Om-mani-badme-houm_” are written in Chinese +and Nigurian. The inscriptions on the right side contain the same in +Chinese, Thibetan, and Nigurian. “And then,” says the Archimandrite, +“there is nothing more”; about which statement, however, with all +deference, I venture to express my doubts; for although I do not read +Chinese, and could only examine the monuments for a very few moments, +yet I came to the conclusion that whether the interpretation first +given be correct or not, it is inadequate, and far from exhaustive. +I saw clearly on the stone some large Chinese characters, perhaps two +inches high, and some of the Chinese passengers were able partially to +decipher them; but the general appearance of the stone reminded me of a +palimpsest manuscript which had been, in the first place, covered with +small characters, about half an inch square or less, over which the +larger characters had been written. Beside the monumental stone, which +was mounted on a pedestal, there were lying near five flat stones, cut +across the centres from side to side with transverse grooves, about an +inch wide and deep. Mr. Collins says they are supposed to have been +altars of sacrifice, once elevated and within the temple, and that +the grooves served to conduct the blood of the victim into the proper +vessel. Whether this be so or not I cannot say, but they looked to me +much more like the capitals or bases of pillars, with the grooves for +keeping them in place.[8] It is much to be wished that the spot should +be visited, and the monuments examined by a competent scholar. + +Towards evening we passed another Gilyak habitation called the +“white village,” and afterwards found the banks of the Amur becoming +abrupt, the islands low and to a great extent exposed to inundation. +We had long been passing out of the region of foliferous trees, and +in approaching Nikolaefsk they were almost entirely supplanted by +conifers, fir-trees prevailing, birches and some few other leafy trees +occurring only in favoured localities. The Amur at Nikolaefsk reaches +in some places to a depth of 15 feet, is a mile and three-quarters +wide, with a current of from four to five knots. The river enters +the sea at a distance of 26 miles from the town, the Liman, or gulf, +measuring more than nine miles at its widest.[9] + +Thus, on Tuesday evening, the 13th of August, I arrived at Nikolaefsk, +having completed the passage of the Lower Amur. I have said almost +nothing, however, of its curious heathen inhabitants, whose +acquaintance I am so glad to have made, and to whose description I +shall now proceed. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This was bad enough, but not all. There was no inn, post-house, +or hotel in the place; the only lodging that offered was a room +constructed on a floating barge, without beds or bedsteads, and in +which might sleep, on the seats or the floor, Russians, Chinese, +Manchu, or anyone else that chose. Here, however, my Finnish friend, +M. Kruskopf, came to my aid, and volunteered to get me a bed at the +telegraph station, an offer I should thankfully have accepted, but the +captain of the _Zeya_ consented to my sleeping on board till morning, +when he expected to go back. + +[2] On returning to Khabarofka I found one of my fellow-passengers had +bought eight skins, for which he had paid 50_s._ each, and for one for +his wife’s hat £4. I heard subsequently that the best sable-skins are +from the neighbourhood of the Okhotsk sea, and are worth £4 each. My +informant, an old sea captain, said that in 1857 he bought 2,000 in +Kamchatka at 30_s._, and that they commanded in New York from £5 to £6 +each. Among them were 22 skins for a lady’s set of trimmings, which, +when made up, cost her £200. The skins of the younger sables, he said, +were blacker than those of the older, which are apt to be more or less +grey. The former sell better in Berlin, and the latter are highly +esteemed in Paris. + +[3] Besides these hundred-rouble notes I took, to pay for horses, £30 +in one-rouble notes, the same amount in three and five-rouble notes, +small silver coin to the value of 100 roubles, and a bag of copper +kopecks, for at the post-houses they are not bound to give change, +and the clerks gladly pocket the difference when smaller money is not +forthcoming. In the peopled parts of the Sea-coast government there +is a postal delivery once a week, at Okhotsk once a month, and at one +happy place in the far north, I was told, the postman arrives but once +a year! They have a “parcel post” in Siberia, by which packets must not +exceed £500 in value, nor weigh more than 1 cwt. The rates are, for 200 +miles, ¾_d._ per Russian pound, and ¼_d._ per pound extra for every 60 +miles up to 1,600, Beyond that distance it costs ¼_d._ per pound for +every 160 miles. + +[4] Mr. Ravenstein, in his admirable and generally accurate work (page +187), gives the Amur below the Dondon a breadth in one bed of six +miles, and further on a width of 15 miles, including the islands; but +I have been unable to confirm these figures from either the chart of +the captain of the steamer, or from a well-executed Russian survey of +the Amur river at the India Office, which was politely shown me by Mr. +Trelawney Saunders. + +[5] After this I thought the profession of an advocate profitable, +and readily believed him when he told me that he possessed in Russia +on the Volga nearly 8,000 acres of land, which cost about £1 an acre. +It was the best land, he said, in all Russia; 600 acres he used for +growing wheat, and the rest for rye, selling his corn to the merchants +of Samara. He told me that in forensic matters things are reversed as +between Russia and England, that whereas in England a barrister looks +forward to being a judge, in Russia a judge (who is paid only £300 to +£400 a year) looks forward to being an advocate, which he can become +only after spending five years in court. + +[6] This lake seems to be an overflow from the river, which here +divides into several channels, and looks as if one day in the remote +past it would fain have ended its wanderings, and turned off eastwards +through the sea-coast range into Castries Bay. The distance from the +head of the Kizi Lake to Castries Bay is only 8½ miles. The lake +occupies an area of 93 square miles, being 25 miles long and 12 broad. +Of the two islets in the lake, one is a rock about 50 feet in diameter. +The crevices are full of fox-holes, and the Gilyaks regard it as +sacred, assembling there from time to time for their Shaman rites. + +[7] Réclus quotes Von Middendorf to the effect that on the map of +Remezov, which appeared in the seventeenth century, a town is marked +on this spot as the limits of the conquests of the Tsar Alexander of +Macedon, who hid his arms and left there a bell. Such was the tradition +of the Cossacks. Again, Ravenstein quotes Witsen to the effect that +Russian warriors, 30 or 40 years ago, found a bell weighing 660 lbs. +at a place which seems to have been dug round, and near which stood +several stones bearing Chinese inscriptions; and he adds that a +manuscript of 1678, in the library of the Siberian department, mentions +the same facts. My fellow-passengers spoke of the monuments as dating +back to the time of Ghengis Khan, and erected to mark the limit of his +conquests. Once more, Mr. Ravenstein asserts that one of the emperors +of the Yuen dynasty (which flourished in China from 1234 to 1368, +A.D.) went by sea to the mouth of the Amur, in commemoration of which +he built at Tyr the monastery of “Eternal Repose.” To come to our own +times, Mr. Collins relates that the inscriptions on the monuments were +translated by the Archimandrite Avvakum, who for several years was +connected with the Russian Mission at Peking, and who descended the +Amur about 1857 as interpreter to Count Putiatin’s embassy, then on its +way to China. Mr. Collins obtained from an officer a translation from +the Russian into English of the Archimandrite’s interpretation. + +[8] Mr. Collins speaks of excavations, or pits, within and without +the remains of a wall, and mentions also his finding the monuments +decorated with wreathed garlands of finely-worked splint, or the +stripping of a tree, bound together at intervals with willow twigs. +The bases of the monuments also were dressed with shavings of wood, +worked to represent flowers, thickly planted around in the earth. +These he conjectured to have been, as they probably were, offerings of +the natives, who still use the place, I understood, for Shamanistic +practices. + +[9] A mile below the town there are sandbanks, and a bar which prevents +the entrance of ships drawing more than 13 feet of water. In fact, from +the Continent to the Island of Sakhalin are sandbanks, among which +wind the navigable channels, which are liable to change during heavy +tempests, so that the pilots are obliged to trace them, sounding-rod in +hand. I heard, too, that for strategic purposes some of these channels +at the mouth of the river could be filled up, or diverted. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +_THE GILYAKS._ + + The Gilyaks perfect heathens.--Their habitat, number, and + form.--Diseases, generation, and character.--Habitations.--Living + on fish.--Winter and summer clothing.--Methods of fishing.--Dirty + habits.--Domestic animals.--Boats.--Marriage customs.--Price + of a wife.--Foreign relations.--Fair at Pul.--Manchu + merchants.--Conversation with Gilyaks.--Gilyak and Goldi + languages.--Education.--Superstitions.--Idols and charms.--Method + of bear catching and killing.--Alleged worship of the + bear.--Shaman rites.--Gilyak treatment of the dead.--Romanist + mission to the Gilyaks.--Martyrdom of the missionary. + + +The Gilyaks were the most thorough heathens I saw in Siberia.[1] I +visited two of their villages--Mukhul and Tyr--saw some of them at +Nikolaefsk almost daily, and met a former starosta of the “white” +village. I conversed also with an American and an Englishman who had +known them for many years; with a French trader among them; with a +telegraph engineer whose business took him through the Gilyak country +and into their houses; and, further, with three Russian priests, who +as missionaries labour among them and the Goldi. From all of these I +gathered more or less information, which has since been supplemented +by reading; yet it must be owned that, as to all save what meets the +eye, we are still very little informed in regard to this people; whilst +of their religion (if they have any) next to nothing is known. Few +Russians learn the Gilyak language, and few Gilyaks learn Russ. + +The Gilyak country extends from Tambofsk (or Girin), about 350 miles +south of Nikolaefsk, to the sea-shore near the mouth of the Amur, +as well as over the northern half of the island of Sakhalin. The +subdivisions of the people on the island are, on the west coast the +Smerenkur, and on the east the Tro. To state accurately their numbers +is not easy. When I asked a former starosta of the white village what +was its population, he replied, “We have 60 men and more women, but the +children are not counted.” Mr. Collins passed on the Amur 39 Gilyak +villages, the population of which he estimated at 1,680. + +In stature these aborigines are diminutive, usually below rather than +above five feet; their eyes are elongated; the color of the skin tawny, +like that of the Chinese; the hair black, and not luxuriant.[2] The +Gilyaks tie up the hair in a thick tail, but do not, like the Manchu +and Goldi, shave or cut it; hence they were called by the Chinese “long +hairs.” + +They do not cause malformations of body by pressure, mutilation, or +incision. Their diseases, in common with the Goldi, are rheumatism, +ophthalmia (produced by hunting in the snow), and syphilis, the last +having been originally introduced by Manchu merchants. In hereditary +cases it is no doubt aggravated by their filthy manner of living. The +Gilyaks resort for cure to the hot springs at Mukhul; but the Goldi, +having no such springs, frequently die of the disease. Insanity is +rare among them. Their women have few children; six is thought a very +large family. They strap their babies in wooden cradles very much like +a butcher’s tray, and suspend them from the roof, as I saw at Mukhul, +where the poor little creature was unable to move hand or foot. I +gathered from a Russian missionary that the Goldi are thought to be +slightly on the increase; but the Gilyaks, from the time the Russians +first knew them, have been dying out.[3] + +The winter habitations of the Gilyaks and Goldi are erected in clusters +of from two or three to perhaps a dozen. In the 39 villages mentioned +by Collins he counted 140 houses. The first Gilyak dwelling I entered +was at Mukhul. It was about 40 feet square, built of small posts or +stakes, and plastered with mud. The roof was supported by heavier +posts at the corners, with cross-pieces on which the rafters rested, +and upright timbers supported the covering of larch bark, kept in its +place and from warping in the sun by stones and heavy poles. Among the +cross-beams and joists were nets, skins, dog-sledges, light canoes, +hunting implements, fish-baskets of birch or willow twigs, dried fish, +herbs, and, in fact, the wealth and working tools of the half-dozen +families to whom the house was evidently a comfortable home during a +long and severe winter. Around three sides of the interior was a raised +divan for a seat and dining and sleeping place, with a flue running +underneath, and a fireplace at either end. At the vacant side of the +interior were cooking utensils, pots, kettles, knives, and wooden pans; +and there were hung to dry various skins and fish, entrails, etc. The +house had only this one room, and in the centre was a raised platform, +under which in winter are tied the dogs, and sometimes the family bear. +The windows were of fish-skin, or thin paper, over a lattice. Besides +this kind of dwelling-house for winter, I entered at Tyr a thatched log +building, supported and raised on posts several feet above the ground, +and out of the reach of floods, dogs, and vermin. The verandah was +approached by climbing a notched log. The floor consisted of poles, +between which daylight was visible; and in the centre was a box full of +earth for the fireplace. The building was used probably in winter for +a storehouse; but I found it inhabited as a summer residence. The most +prominent objects, both indoors and out, were large racks and poles, +on which fish were hung to dry; and the combined odour of fish and +fish-oil made it little short of an act of heroism to stay long in a +Gilyak’s house. + +These people do not cultivate the land, but subsist almost entirely on +fish. Occasionally they eat the animals taken in the chase, and their +dogs, when they die; while pork and other flesh, with a little millet, +are reserved for festivals.[4] + +The favourite winter dress of both Gilyaks and Goldi is made of +dogs’ skins, or of fox or wolf, as being the next warmest. In summer +they wear fish-skin, hence the Chinese called them “Yupitatze,” or +“fish-skin strangers,” though the well-to-do among the Goldi get from +the merchants cotton goods, and sometimes even silk. The fish-skin +is prepared from two kinds of salmon. They strip it off with great +dexterity, and, by beating with a mallet, remove the scales, and so +render it supple. Clothes thus made are waterproof. I saw a travelling +bag, and even the sail of a boat, made of this material. I had hoped, +when leaving Kara, to have found at Ignashina the dress of a Tunguse +shaman, but I was disappointed. I succeeded, however, in purchasing at +Tyr a fish-skin coat. It is handsomely embroidered, and colored on the +back.[5] The Gilyak hats are made of fur for the winter with lappets; +and the Goldi, by sewing together squirrels’ tails, make a round fur +like a “boa,” about five inches in diameter, which, being joined at +the ends, serves either for the neck or to encircle the head like a +coronet. Their summer hat, of depressed conical shape, is made of +birch-tree bark, ornamented on the top by strips of colored wood sewn +in patterns. It has inside a wooden ridge, and is kept in place by a +string under the chin. + +[Illustration: SALMON-SKIN COAT AND BIRCH-BARK HAT.] + +The occupations of the Gilyaks and Goldi are fishing and hunting. They +use _gill_-nets and seines in some localities, and _scoop_-nets in +others. I more than once saw a fence of poles built at right angles +to the shore, extending 20 or 30 yards into the Amur. This fence is +fish-proof, except in a few places where holes are purposely left +for the salmon, which the natives lie in wait to catch with spears +or hand-nets. When the fish are running well, a canoe can soon be +filled.[6] Ropes and nets they make from hemp and from the common +stinging-nettle, the stalks of which are treated like flax. This +latter material is preferred, and makes cordage equal to that of +civilized manufacture, though sometimes not quite so smooth. I obtained +a specimen of very fine sewing-thread of native manufacture, and +exceedingly strong; but colored threads for embroidery are purchased +from the Russians or the Manchu. + +The habits of the Gilyaks are dirty beyond description. They are said +never to wash. A telegraphic engineer told me that he one day gave a +Gilyak a piece of soap, which he put in his mouth, and, after chewing +it to a lather, pronounced “very good.” Both Gilyaks and Goldi have +a liking, reverence, or fear for animals. They formerly domesticated +ermines for catching rats, the high price of cats confining their +possession to the wealthy. On the Lower Amur they find, besides +those mentioned elsewhere, the elk, roebuck, reindeer, and fox; the +racoon-dog, wild boar, and lynx; the polecat, hedgehog, ermine, sable, +and striped squirrel.[7] They are fond also of seeing swallows build +in their houses, and to induce them to do so they fasten small boards +under the roof, by which these birds have access to the house. The +Goldi keep the horned owl (for catching rats), the jay, the hawk, and +the kite--the last for no particular use, unless it be for the sake +of their feathers for arrows.[8] The eagle is sometimes seen fastened +near their houses, and so are the dogs, which, in winter, are their +principal means of locomotion. I saw a large number of them at Mukhul. +A team may consist of any odd number from 7 to 17, a good leader being +worth 50_s._ and an ordinary dog from 8_s._ to 10_s._ The sledge is +made of thin boards five or six feet long, and 18 inches wide, convex +below, but straight on the upper edge. A team of nine dogs draws a man +and 200 pounds of luggage an entire day, each dog receiving a piece +of fish a foot long, and about two inches square, the same in size as +suffices for his master. The mode of summer communication is by boats +made of pitch-fir or cedar. Besides these the Goldi make canoes of +birch-bark. The native sits in the centre, and propels himself with a +double-bladed paddle. The canoes are flat-bottomed, and very easily +upset. When a native sitting in one of them spears a fish, he moves +only his arm, and keeps his body motionless. The larger boats are +usually rowed by women, the lords of creation sitting in the stern to +steer and smoke their long-stemmed, amber-tipped, Chinese pipes. There +is one marked difference, however, between the rowing of the Gilyaks +and Goldi, for whereas the latter, taking two oars, pull them together, +the former pull them alternately--a seemingly clumsy way, but in +practice efficient. + +Women occupy a low position among the Gilyaks and Goldi, who are +polygamists. Mr. Ravenstein quotes a statement of Rinso, a Japanese +traveller, that among the Smerenkur Gilyaks polyandry prevails. +Betrothal dates from childhood. The father chooses the bride for his +infant son, a rich Gold paying from £5 to £20 for a girl five years +old. At Mukhul the price of a wife was given me as from £10 to £50, +often paid in silk stuffs and other materials, whilst a telegraph +engineer named as the selling price for a Gilyak bride, from eight to +ten dogs, a sledge, and two cases of brandy, though, if she have “a +good nose,” she fetches rather more. The bride elect is brought into +the house of her future father-in-law, and when the girl is 12 or 13, +and the boy 18, they are married.[9] Should a Gold who has many wives +desire to be baptized the Russian missionaries compel him to elect one, +and be canonically married to the object of his choice; the rest being +sold, or, by a happy arrangement, returned to their respective fathers +at half price. Notwithstanding such matrimonial drawbacks, I heard that +among these interesting people there are no unmarried ladies. + +The amusements of the Gilyaks are of the nature of gymnastics, such as +throwing heavy irons and fencing. They begin early to shoot with bow +and arrow, and are good archers. Their foreign relationships are of a +very limited character.[10] + +There was formerly at Pul an annual fair, which lasted for 10 days, and +was like that of Nijni Novgorod in miniature.[11] The navigation of the +Amur by the Russians has caused this fair to be discontinued, but the +Manchu merchants still descend the river, though not in such numbers +as formerly, when one voyage sufficed to realize enough for the wants +of a year. I was informed that they fleece the natives sadly, giving +the Gilyaks, for instance, a pint of millet or half a pint of brandy +for a sable-skin; and when the natives are made drunk, then, of course, +skins are bartered for very much less. The Russian barges, fitted like +floating stores, and towed on the river, must have interfered greatly +with the Manchu traders, whose sway, it is to be hoped, is nearly +at an end. The Gilyaks now come to the Russian towns, especially to +Nikolaefsk, and not only sell their fish, but begin to purchase Russian +articles; whereas, for a long time, they gave the preference to goods +of Chinese make. + +I met a family of Gilyaks in a shop at Nikolaefsk, with whom I +endeavoured to exchange ideas, through one who spoke a little Russian, +and I thought they seemed a people the lowest in intellect of any I had +met. The company consisted of a father, mother, two daughters, and a +deaf and dumb boy. The man did not know his daughters’ age, nor even +his own, saying that they kept no account. When asked whether he would +sell me his daughter to wife, he replied at first that they did not +sell their girls to Russians, not approving the alliance. When pressed +further, however, he said that she was already sold (she was about 10 +years old, and was smoking a pipe), and he added, “I sold her dearly!” +It was difficult, however, in Russ to convey to their minds any but +the simplest ideas. Neither Gilyaks nor Goldi have any written signs. +The missionary living at Khabarofka has translated into Goldi parts of +the Scriptures and the Greek liturgy, using, if I mistake not, Russian +characters. The Goldi language, he told me, was much like the Manchu, +and that, speaking the former, he could make himself understood in +the latter. Both, Mr. Howorth says, are Tunguse languages. M. de la +Brunière writes that Goldi stands to Manchu much as Provençal does to +French or Italian.[12] + +The Russians have made some attempts to educate the Gilyaks. When Mr. +Knox visited Mikhailofsky, he found a merchant farmer who was acting +as superintendent of a school opened at the cost of the Government for +the education of Gilyak boys. The copy-books exhibited fair specimens +of penmanship, and on the desks were Æsop’s fables translated into +Russ. Close at hand was a forge, where the boys learned to work, and +a carpenter’s shop, with tools and turning lathe. The school at that +time was in operation ten months a year, and the teacher belonged to +one of the inferior ranks of the Russian clergy. I called on the priest +at Mikhailofsky and inquired about the Gilyaks, but heard nothing of +the existence of the school, and I am under the impression that it is +discontinued. The Russians have two mission schools, however, on the +Lower Amur, attended by 30 children--one at Troitzka for the Goldi, +and another for the Gilyaks at Bolan, near Malmuish. I heard of one +Gilyak boy who had made sufficient progress to qualify him to become a +psalmist, or _dïechok_, in the Russian Church. + +Like other heathen tribes, the Gilyaks have many superstitions. They do +not allow fire to be carried in or out of a house, not even in a pipe, +fearing such an act may bring ill luck in hunting or fishing. The same +superstition is found in many parts of Russia. They appear, too, to be +fatalists; for an Englishman at Nikolaefsk told me that if one falls +into the water, the others will not help him out, on the plea that they +would thus be opposing a higher power, who wills that he should perish. +A Russian officer and his family were drowned some time since near the +town, within easy reach of the boats of the Gilyaks, who could have +saved them, but they did not attempt to do so.[13] + +The Gilyaks believe in wooden idols or charms as antidotes to disease. +I had practical illustration of this at Tyr, where I wished to buy some +of the little amulets belonging to the head of a household; but he was +at first unwilling to sell them, saying that he had found the wearing +of them very efficacious in sickness. The offer of a silver piece, +however, changed his mind;[14] and he afterwards sold me not only +his own, but those of his baby, one of them like a doll in a sitting +posture; and after I had left the house, he sent after me a fish rudely +cut in wood, and meant for a sturgeon, with a little god seated on his +back. This had been used, apparently, not long before, on a fishing +expedition, for there was gelatine and fresh blood in the mouth of the +fish and the god. Sometimes poles shaped like idols are placed before +the houses. Another kind is carried as companion to the native on his +journeys, whilst some are placed upon the summits of the mountains. + +[Illustration: GILYAK IDOLS OR CHARMS] + +Other idols are in the form of the tiger, bear, etc., which animals +are closely connected with their superstition, if not their religion. +The tiger is said to be feared much more among the Gilyaks than the +Goldi, and its appearance portends evil. If the remains are found of a +man killed by a tiger, they are buried on the spot without ceremony. +On the other hand, if a cow is found killed by a bear, it is eaten +with great glee and rejoicing. It is said that neither Gilyaks nor +Goldi attempt to kill the tiger. Neither do they hunt the wolf, to +which they attribute an evil influence. With the bear, however, things +are very different. There is in each Gilyak village a bear cage. I +saw them at both Mukhul and Tyr. They speak of the captive as _Mafa_, +that is, “Chief Elder,” and to distinguish him from the tiger, who is +_Mafa sakhle_, that is, “Black Chief.” In hunting the bear they exhibit +great intrepidity. In order not to excite his posthumous revenge, they +do not surprise him, but have a fair stand-up fight. When it is not +desired to secure the animal alive, the natives use a spear, such as I +saw at Krasnoiarsk, the head of which is covered with spikes. It lies +upon the ground, having cord attached to the centre, and held by a +man, the spear-point being towards the bear. As Bruin advances to the +man, the spear-head is raised from the ground, and the beast throws +himself upon it, but finds the chevaux-de-frize a disagreeable object +to embrace. He is then set upon by the huntsmen and killed. It is much +more interesting sport to catch a bear alive. A party of ten men or +more enter the forest provided with straps, muzzle, and a collar with +chain attached. Having discovered the whereabouts of the bear, he is +surrounded, and one of them, jumping upon his back in the twinkling +of an eye, seizes hold of his ears. Another quickly fastens a running +knot round the neck of the beast, and almost suffocates him. He is then +muzzled, the collar passed round his neck, and he is led in triumph to +the village to be put in the cage, and fattened on fish.[15] Bruin is +not imprisoned, however, to be treated like the sacred bulls of Egypt. +On festivals he is brought out, his paws tied, an iron chain put in his +mouth, and he is bound between two fixed poles, an involuntary witness +of the natives frolicking around him. On very grand occasions he takes +a more direct share in the festival by being killed with superstitious +ceremonies.[16] The people then go home, their chiefs staying to cut up +the bear, the flesh of which is distributed to every house, and eaten +with great zest, as food calculated to inspire and bring courage and +luck. The head and paws, however, are treated with great reverence.[17] +These ursine ceremonies have, no doubt, given rise to the statement +that the Gilyaks worship the bear. Mr. Collins goes so far as to +say that they consider the bear an incarnated evil spirit; and the +missionary at Mikhailofsky, in answer to my question, was not sure, +but he thought it quite likely that they worshipped the animal. It is +only proper to say, however, that when I met at Nikolaefsk the former +elder of the White village, and asked him whether it was true that they +worshipped the bear, he denied it, and said that they killed it as we +should do any other animal for a feast; and that each village was bound +in turn to provide a bear, on which occasion other villages assembled +and joined in the banquet. I then inquired what was the religion of +the Gilyaks. He said they had none, but upon being asked to whom they +prayed, he looked up to the skies. He acknowledged that they practised +Shamanism, but added that that was a mystery. + +[Illustration: GILYAK FISH-GOD OR IDOL.] + +Thus far I have frequently used the word Shamanism, but have deferred +explaining it till I treated of the Gilyaks, some of whose Shamanistic +practices were described to me by an eye-witness--the telegraph +engineer, to whom I have before alluded. The Gilyaks and the Siberian +natives generally believe in the existence of good and bad spirits; but +as the former perform only good, it is not thought necessary to pay +them any attention.[18] + +The shamans, or priests, who may be male or female, are regarded as +powerful mediators between the people and the evil spirits. The shaman, +in fact, combines the double functions of doctor and priest. When +a man falls sick, he is supposed to be attacked by an evil spirit, +and the shaman is called to practise exorcism. There is a distinct +spirit for every disease, who must be propitiated in a particular +manner. The performance was thus described to me. The shaman puts +on a huge bearskin cloak, which jingles with bells, pieces of iron, +brass, or anything which will help, when shaken, to make a noise; the +whole sometimes weighing as much as 100 lbs. He begins by singing +in a monotonous murmur, and drinks brandy. Both patient and doctor +are usually decorated with strips of wood or shavings, hanging round +the waist and head. By the side of the patient are placed idols and +brandy. The shaman sits on one side and the audience on the other. He +approaches, drinks more brandy, begins to sing and jingle his bells, +and gives brandy to the spectators. On the table are placed idols, +fish, a squirrel’s skin, millet and brandy, and a dog is tied under +the table. The eatables are offered to the idols, and then distributed +to be consumed by all present. Meanwhile the shaman contorts his +body, and dances like one possessed, and howls to such an extent that +Chinese merchants, who have come out of curiosity, have been known to +flee in very terror. He also beats a tambourine, and sometimes falls +prostrate, as if holding communion with the spirits; and this kind of +thing sometimes goes on for three days and nights, as long, probably, +as provisions and spirits hold out, after which the patient is left to +believe that he will get well; and the shaman receives his fee, which +may be a reindeer, a dog, fish, brandy, or whatever the patient can +afford. The shamans possess great power over their deluded subjects, +though they are said to be somewhat held in check by the belief that, +should they abuse their authority over evil spirits, to the detriment +of a fellow human being, they will hereafter be long and severely +punished. Their punishment is supposed to await them in a nether hell, +dark and damp, filled with gnawing reptiles. A good shaman, however, +who has performed wonderful cures receives, after death, a magnificent +tomb to his memory. + +The treatment of the dead among the Gilyaks would seem to vary. Réclus +and Collins say that some tribes burn the dead on funereal pyres, and +build a low frame over the ashes, and that others hang the coffins +on trees, or place them on a scaffolding near the houses. The French +trader at Nikolaefsk told me that in winter they wrap up the dead and +put them in the forked branches of trees, out of the reach of animals, +till the ground is thawed, and then, he supposed, the corpse was +buried. The soul of the Gilyak is supposed to pass at death into his +favourite dog, which is accordingly fed with choice food; and when the +spirit has been prayed by the shamans out of the dog, the animal is +sacrificed upon his master’s grave. The soul is then represented as +passing underground, lighted and guided there by its own sun and moon, +and continuing to lead there, in its spiritual abode, the same manner +of life and pursuits as in the flesh. + +The Russians have missionaries among the Gilyaks, but the Greek Church +cannot claim the honour of bringing Christianity first among them. +This belongs to a Roman missionary, M. de la Brunière, who perished +in his endeavour.[19] On April 5th, 1846, he addressed a letter to +the directors of the Seminary for Foreign Missions, telling them of +his plans, and how strongly a Chinese friend tried to dissuade him, +“representing to me the troops of tigers and bears which filled these +deserts; and, whilst relating these things, he sometimes uttered such +vehement cries that my two guides grew pale with horror. Being already +a little accustomed to the figures of Chinese eloquence, I thanked him +for his solicitude, assuring him that the flesh of Europeans had such +a particular flavour that the tigers of Manchuria would not attempt to +fasten their teeth in it.”[20] + +Then follows a touching portion, in which he writes:-- “About the 13th +or 15th of May, I will buy, if it please God, a small bark, in which I +may descend the Amur to the sea to visit the ‘long hairs.’ I shall go +alone, because no one dare conduct me. I am well aware how difficult +it will be to avoid the barges of the mandarins who descend the river +from San-sin; but if it is the will of God that I arrive where I design +going, His arm can smooth every obstacle, and guide me there in safety; +and if it please Him that I return, He knows well how to bring me back.” + +He went, and at the White village was murdered.[21] I passed the spot a +few hours before reaching Nikolaefsk, and the bay was pointed out where +the missionary was put to death. My fellow-passengers said that De la +Brunière reached the place with a baptized Mongol, whom he sent back on +the day of his arrival, after which he proceeded to show the Gilyaks +his watch, crucifix, spoons, etc.; and that two days after his arrival, +they killed him on a small island where he had taken up his abode. +One of my fellow-passengers was the Russian Lieutenant Yakimoff, who +in 1857, with the Governor of the province, visited the village, and +found the Gilyaks who had committed the murder. They had still in their +possession the watch, crucifix, and spoons, which the Russians bought. +During my stay at Nikolaefsk I met, as I have said, a former starosta +of the White village, who told me that he had heard from his father the +story of the missionary. Thus perished the first man who attempted to +carry Christianity to the Gilyaks. What the Russians are doing among +them I shall refer to when speaking hereafter of their missions to the +neighbouring Goldi. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Their name is variously spelt Gee-laks, Giliaks, Ghiliaks, and +Gilyaks. Living near and resembling in many points the Goldi, the two +tribes, for ethnographical purposes, are sometimes classed together as +branches of the Tunguse family. But M. Réclus is right when, speaking +of the “Giliaks” or “Kilé,” he calls them “frères de ceux qui vivent +dans l’île de Sakhalin et parents de ces mystérieux Aïnos qui sont +l’objet de tant de discussion entre les ethnologistes”; and Mr. Howorth +says that the Ghiliaks, called “Fish-skin Tata” by the Chinese, are no +doubt sophisticated Aïnos, while the Goldi are Tunguses. + +[2] As Réclus observes, they have not the open and clear physiognomy of +the majority of the Tunguses, and their little eyes sparkle with a dull +brilliance; they have squat noses, thick lips, prominent cheekbones, +and, he adds, “thick beards”; which last I can hardly confirm, but +would rather say, with Mr. Ravenstein, that the beard is stronger with +them than with the Tunguses, which is not saying much. + +[3] Dwelling further from the Manchu than the Amur Tunguses, they are +wilder; and Réclus observes that they have a greater idea of liberty, +acknowledge no master, and are governed only by custom, which regulates +their festivals, and determines their hunting and fishing affairs, +their marriages and burials. They are certainly courageous in the way +they catch and kill the bear, though oddly enough they never willingly +get into water, and do not swim. + +[4] They are beginning now to use tea, salt, sugar, and bread; but all +of these seem to have been unknown to them before the advent of the +Russians. I heard it mentioned, as a good trait in their character, +that if a Gilyak receives a piece of bread, after eating a portion he +takes home the remainder as a treat for his family. During my stay at +Mikhailofsky the natives came to barter wild fruit for bread. They +are said to have no stated hours for meals, and knives and forks are +of course unknown to them. Noticing one day some Manchu and Goldi +at a meal, I observed they had boiled millet in basins, which they +raised to the lips, and then whipped the millet into their mouths with +chop-sticks. + +[5] The men and women dress very much alike. A number of small metal +pendants about the size of a sixpence round the bottom of the blouse +distinguishes the gentler sex. I purchased, too, at Mukhul some pieces +of embroidery on fish-skin, the workmanship of which is thought good +in England; whilst at Tyr was given me a kind of fish-skin open work +or lace. The blouse of the men is fastened in front, and confined +round the waist by a belt, to which is suspended a number of articles +of daily use. They consist of a large knife, a Chinese pipe, an +iron instrument for cleaning it, steel for striking a light, a bone +for smoothing fish-skins and loosening knots, a bag of fish-skin +for tinder, and a tobacco pouch, a specimen of which last, somewhat +tastefully made of sturgeon’s skin, was given me at Nikolaefsk by the +chief civil authority. + +[6] In places I saw square pens of wicker-work fixed, to enclose the +fish after they pass the holes in the fence. For catching sturgeon +they use a circular net, of 5-feet diameter, and shaped like a shallow +bag. One part of the mouth is fitted with corks, and the opposite +with weights of lead or iron. Two canoes in mid-stream hold this net +vertically between them across the current. The sturgeon descending the +river enter the trap, and the fishermen divide the “net proceeds.” + +[7] “Cats,” says Mr. Knox, “have a half-religious character, and are +treated with great respect. Since the advent of the Russians, the +supply is very good. Before they came, the Manchu merchants used to +bring only male cats, and those mutilated. The price was sometimes a +hundred roubles for a single mouser, and by curtailing the supply, the +Manchu kept up the market.” + +[8] The birds known to them belong generally to the species found in +the same latitudes of Europe and America, but there are some birds +of passage that are natives of Southern Asia, Japan, the Philippine +Islands, and even South Africa and Australia. Seven-tenths of the birds +of the Amur are found in Europe, two-tenths in Siberia, and one-tenth +in regions further south. Some birds belong more properly to America, +such as the Canadian woodcock and the water-ouzel, and there are +several birds common to the east and west coasts of the Pacific. The +number of stationary birds is not great. Maack enumerates 39 species +that dwell here the entire year. The birds of passage generally arrive +in April or May, and leave in September or October. It is a curious +fact that they come later to Nikolaefsk than to the town of Yakutsk, +nine degrees further north. This is due to difference of climate. + +[9] Weddings, however, are expensive, for all the relatives expect +to be invited, and they sometimes drink several gallons of Chinese +_khanshin_. The drinking of this, I am told, causes not only +intoxication, but among these people violence akin to madness. It +is sold by weight, and costs tenpence per Russian pound, but its +importation is strictly forbidden by Russian law. + +[10] Before the Russian occupation the Manchu came down the river to +collect tribute and dispose of their merchandise. These Mandarins are +charged with abuse of power, and with having made extortionate demands +upon the natives, who hailed the Russians as their liberators. On +the other hand, the Mandarin was supposed to make a small present of +tobacco or silk to every one paying him tribute; and among the Gilyaks +this present appeared to be reckoned of greater value than the tribute +demanded. The Gilyaks, however, living so far off from the Manchu, do +not seem to have been much oppressed by them, nor indeed to have been +very frequently visited. Sakhalin was visited still less often, but I +heard among the Goldi that they decidedly preferred the Russian to the +Manchu rule. + +[11] Manchu and Chinese merchants met Japanese from Sakhalin, Tunguses +from the Okhotsk coast, and from the head waters of the Zeya and Amgun. +Besides these were the Orochi, or Orochons, from the mountains east +of the Lower Amur, and Manguns; to say nothing of smaller tribes, +speaking nearly a dozen languages, and conducting business in a +_patois_ of all the dialects. The goods imported were coarsely printed +calicoes, Chinese silk materials, rice and millet, also bracelets, +earrings, tobacco and brandy, cloth, powder, lead, and knives. These +were exchanged for furs, isinglass, and the dried backbones of the +sturgeon--the last being highly prized in Chinese cookery. + +[12] I found that the priest was compiling a Goldi lexicon and grammar, +and that, for his linguistic labours, he has received a medal from the +Imperial Geographical Society. I am indebted to him for some of the +words in the following short vocabulary, which will give an idea of +the Manyarg, Manchu, Orochon, and Goldi tongues (which are Tunguse) +compared with the Gilyak and Aïno dialects, which seem to belong to +another family. + + _English._ _Manyarg._ _Manchu._ _Orochon._ _Goldi._ _Gilyak._ _Aïno._ + + One omun emu omu omu niun chine + Two zur juo dhjou dhjour morsh tu + Three ilan ilan ulla ellan chiorch che + Four digin duin dii duyin murch yne + Five sunja tungha tongha torch ashne + Dog inda inda kan sheta + Sable nossa seppha + Fox solaki solli + + +[13] These aborigines do not bear a favourable character. Schrenk +says that the Gilyaks of the mainland are avaricious and covetous in +their commercial transactions, but that among those of Sakhalin this +propensity seeks satisfaction in theft and robbery. I shall presently +relate a case in which they murdered a missionary apparently for the +sake of getting the little merchandise he possessed. + +[14] Sometimes they wear amulets fashioned like the part afflicted. A +lame or injured person carries a small leg of wood, an arm, a hand, +reminding one of the wax and silver arms, legs, hands, and hearts seen +in churches on Roman images, and on the pictures of Russian saints. The +missionary at Tyr gave me, in exchange for tracts, a charm to which is +attached a stone, and also two rough wooden fish gods--one with a tail, +the other without. The Gilyaks use these images or idols also in their +Shaman worship. + +[15] When secured as a cub, he is frequently kept for three or four +years. The natives are often seriously wounded in these encounters, +but to this they do not object, since such wounds are thought to be +marks of prowess, and to be killed by a bear is deemed a very happy +death. Most of the writers on the Gilyaks mention this extraordinary +procedure; and I heard it confirmed at Mikhailofsky by the missionary. + +[16] The day falls in January of each year, and an Englishman at +Nikolaefsk, who had been an eye-witness of the spectacle, described it +to me thus: “The bear is led from his cage, dragged along and beaten +with sticks, and presented at every house in the village; thus he gets +exasperated to a high degree. He is then led to the river to a hole in +the ice, where they try to make him drink water, and from a platter to +eat food, though only a spoonful, both of which in his excited state he +refuses, and which is precisely what they desire. He is then dragged +back with shouts to the place of sacrifice, where, having been fastened +to a post and allowed to repose awhile, he is shot through the heart +with an arrow.” + +[17] Among the Gilyaks the head is kept by the patriarch of the +village, and prayers are said to be offered to it for the space of a +week. I was told at Nikolaefsk that the Gilyaks often bring bears’ +skins to sell; but by no chance do they bring, or can they be induced +to bring, a hide with the head or paws attached. The ears, jaw-bones, +skull, and paws are sometimes hung upon trees to ward off evil spirits. +Occasionally the skull is split, and suspended in their houses; and Mr. +Knox observed in a Goldi house that part of one wall was covered with +bear skulls and bones, horse-hair, wooden idols, and pieces of colored +cloth. + +[18] Mr. Collins does indeed say that the true God is adored without +the shamans in autumn, and then by the whole community in mass, but I +am unable to confirm this from anything I have read or heard. It would +seem rather that all their efforts are directed to induce the evil +spirits not to act; for these evil spirits are supposed to have power +over hunting, fishing, household affairs, and the health and well-being +of animals and men. Accordingly I inferred that Shamanism, so far as it +can be called a religion, is one of fear, and not of love; that it is +something for times of sorrow, such as death, sickness, and calamity, +and not for occasions of joy or thanksgiving, as a birth or a wedding. + +[19] Mr. Ravenstein states that the efforts of the Roman Catholic +missionaries in Manchuria may be said to date from 1838; and in May +1845 M. de la Brunière left Kai Cheu with the intention of seeking +the conversion of the “long-haired” people--that is, the Gilyaks of +the Amur. This was before the Russian occupation of the river, and +at a time when thus to wander, without permission, was contrary to +Chinese law and full of danger, to say nothing of the difficulties of +locomotion. + +[20] M. de la Brunière then describes his fatigues, his only food being +millet boiled in water. “You must cut and drag trees, light fires +(necessary against the cold and tigers), prepare your victuals in +wind and rain, and all this in the midst of a swarm of mosquitoes and +gad-flies, who do not suspend their attacks till about 10 or 12 in the +evening. Water and wood were abundant at first, ... but 30 leagues from +the Ussuri, the springs became so scarce that we were compelled to do +like the birds of heaven, and eat the millet raw.” + +[21] Four years after, M. Venault was sent to the Lower Amur partly, if +possible, to clear up the fate of De la Brunière. On arriving at what +is now called the White village, he found no difficulty in ascertaining +how matters had gone. M. de la Brunière, it seemed, was preparing his +meal in a small bay, when ten men, attracted by the prospect of booty +from the strange priest, went towards him, armed with bows and pikes. +Having hit him with several arrows, seven of them struck him with their +pikes, and the last stroke fractured his skull and proved mortal. This +act consummated, the assassins divided the spoil. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +_NIKOLAEFSK._ + + My arrival.--Visit to prisons and hospitals.--Health + statistics.--Siberian hospitals in general.--A Sunday service + arranged.--Visits to inhabitants.--Russian customs, superstitions, + and amusements.--Dancing.--Nikolaefsk town, arsenal, and + commerce.--Mr. Emery.--Russian bribery.--Cost of provisions and + labour. + + +Nikolaefsk, founded in 1853, rapidly grew into importance, but +gradually waned after the removal of the “port”; and as our steamer +approached on a cloudy evening, I seemed to have arrived at a very +dismal and out-of-the-way part of the world. My spirits, however, +had risen appreciably during the day. The perplexity in which I left +Khabarofka, and my uncertainty as to how to reach San Francisco, have +been alluded to; but on boarding the _Onon_ I met Mr. Enoch Emery, an +American merchant of Nikolaefsk. After almost disusing my native tongue +for three weeks, I was able to speak again in English, and I now learnt +that for £90 a first-class ticket might be taken from Yokohama in Japan +to Euston Square in London, including food whilst traversing the two +oceans, an allowance of 250 lbs. of luggage, and railway tickets for +America and England. It was not so clear, however, how Japan was to be +reached. The _Dragon_ was not expected at Nikolaefsk, I heard, nor was +there any regular means of getting away other than by retracing my +steps to the Ussuri and Vladivostock. A Russian gunboat had been lying +at the mouth of the Amur, the previous day, with provisions for Dui in +Sakhalin, by which it was suggested that I might get a passage to the +island, and perhaps be trans-shipped to Japan or China on some chance +vessel calling for coal. But when we reached Nikolaefsk this gunboat +had started a few hours before; and thus I landed--with regard to my +future movements--as full of uncertainty as ever. + +I had fallen, nevertheless, into good hands; for, in talking to Mr. +Emery, it transpired that we had common friends in Petersburg, one +of whom had spoken to me of the Amur, and would gladly have given me +introductions, had I not persisted in saying that I did not intend to +go so far. Mr. Emery invited me to be his guest--an invitation doubly +welcome in a place where was no better hotel than a beershop, and +because with him I should have the advantage of conversing in English. + +Baron Stackelberg was lodged near me, and in the morning we went to +the chief civil authority, M. Andreyeff, to whom I was introduced as a +person desirous of information about the prisons of Sakhalin, and of a +passage, if possible, to the island. To my surprise M. Andreyeff also +was acquainted with some of my friends in Petersburg, and he at once +promised the information; but it was uncertain, he said, when a ship +would leave again with provisions. + +The police-master was sent for to take me to see the prisons of +the town. The police-station was the first building we entered; it +contained a few rooms for temporary accommodation. In one of them +were flogging instruments I had heard of at Kara and elsewhere, and +had vainly inquired for more than once. I have no reason to suppose, +however, they were hidden from me in other places, a lawyer having told +me that the troichatka, or plète, was used only at Kara, Nikolaefsk, +and Dui. What they were like shall be told hereafter. I will only say +for the present they were the most terrible things of the kind I had +ever seen. There was a guard-room in the station where Cossacks were +sitting on the floor, eating with wooden spoons from a common saucepan, +and other rooms occupied by clerks and officials. I was then taken +to the town prison, containing 68 prisoners in half-a-dozen rooms. +Some of the men had just come from the bath, the advantages of which +were patent. But I do not recollect seeing accommodation in any of +the Siberian prisons for washing the hands and face except at Tomsk, +where was a sort of caldron mounted on a tripod, and from which, +through four tiny pipes, water was forced, in Russian fashion, to +trickle on the hands. I fancy, however, that not only with prisoners, +but among the lower classes generally, minor ablutions between the +weekly or fortnightly steaming of the bath are regarded more or less as +supererogatory. + +In the western suburb of the town was the _étape_, a prison in which +150 persons could be lodged on their way to Sakhalin. Detached, but not +far distant, was the kitchen, in which were convicts of good behaviour, +allowed the run of the town by day, though compelled to sleep in the +building at night. They could thus earn money if they chose.[1] Both +prisons in the town were reported to the Emperor as “old, and built +of bad material, wanting proper sanitary arrangements, and inconvenient +for their purpose.” + +[Illustration: THE ÉTAPE PRISON, NIKOLAEFSK.] + +A similar description would have been not far wrong of the Nikolaefsk +hospitals, of which there were three--two military and one civil. In +the civil hospital, partly supported by voluntary contributions, they +were sadly cramped for room--so much so that, in one chamber, alongside +of other patients was a boy suffering from small-pox. The chief doctor +had, on his own account, opened an extra room for the blind and the +infirm.[2] In the hospital of the 6th East Siberian battalion were 24 +beds only, whereas by law there should have been 48. Happily only five +beds were occupied at the time of my visit, and the list of diseases +treated in the hospital during the preceding 18 months appeared to show +that the medical staff were doing their work successfully. The chief +physician was a German, as are many of the doctors in Russia, and he +took great pains to acquaint me with all I wished to know.[3] I found +some large hospitals for the navy at Vladivostock, with 108 patients +at the time of my visit; but the hospital that pleased me most in the +province, not to say in all Siberia, was that at Khabarofka, built on +the newest principles, and leaving nothing to be desired.[4] + +They have in the Sea-coast province no madhouses, properly so called; +but lunatics are treated in a ward of the Nikolaefsk hospital. Of +eight cases during 1878, four recovered, two remained, and two died. +Besides these hospitals I have named, there is in the province one +each at Petropavlovsk, Ghijiga, and Okhotsk. Looking at the Siberian +hospitals with an unprofessional eye, I may say that they struck me as +fairly good. I have twice met Englishmen in Russian hospitals,--one at +Archangel, and the other in the Urals,--and they both said they had +every attention. The hospitals of the country are supported by the +Government, by the army, navy, and civil departments respectively. None +are supported entirely by voluntary contributions. Government servants, +being poor, pay nothing. Civilians pay, and one of the good features of +the Russian hospitals is that persons of the middle classes may enter, +and by a small extra payment receive medical attendance and superior +accommodation.[5] The Siberian towns seemed fairly well supplied with +medical men; but it was rather appalling on the Ussuri to hear from a +telegraph official that he had no medical man within 200 miles to the +south, and 300 to the north.[6] + +My coming to Nikolaefsk did not long remain unknown, for it was +suggested that on the Sunday I should conduct a service, there being +no resident Protestant minister, though they had a Roman chapel in +the town. The pro-Governor, Mr. Andreyeff, readily gave his sanction, +offered his house for a place of meeting, and sent round by the police +a notice requesting all to sign who purposed to attend. More than 30 +signed, and before Sunday several called on me. I was invited to a +dinner on my first Friday in Nikolaefsk. It happened to be the birthday +of Mr. Schenk, the worthy manager of the principal store. The shop was +closed, and his friends called in the morning to felicitate him, and +to drink and eat nick-nacks from a sideboard. In the evening a capital +dinner was served with asparagus and preserved fruits, which it was +hard to realize we were eating in one of the most dreary parts of +Siberia, where they have seven months’ winter, and where the navigation +does not open till the end of May. Several at table spoke English, +and near me sat a merchant who had lived in the Sandwich Islands and +in Kamchatka. Mr. Emery the same week had a party to lunch; and Mr. +Andreyeff gave a dinner in his garden to some of my fellow-passengers, +myself, and the military commandant. The dinner began with “schnapps,” +and among the dishes was a salmon pie, with rice on the top, the dinner +ending with cream and wild raspberries, of which last there were +bushels growing outside the town. + +I made the acquaintance also of some of the naval officers, such +as the captain of the _Ermak_, to whom I gave books for his men, +and Lieutenant Wechman, the captain of the port. The latter was a +Protestant, who invited me on the second Sunday to hold the service +in his house, which I did, and sent books for the barracks of the men +under his command. These social occasions gave me opportunities to +see something of Russians at home, their customs, superstitions, and +amusements. Tea was usually offered whenever a call was made; and as +lemons were not to be had so far away in summer, a spoonful of jam +was often put in the glass instead. They have a custom in Russia of +addressing friends, or those to whom they wish to be polite, by their +Christian name plus their patronymic, or Christian name of their +father, which in the case of Mr. Emery sounded odd to me to hear a lady +ask, “Enoch, son of Simeon, may I give you a glass of tea?”[7] + +Among the superstitions of the Russians may be mentioned the not liking +to begin a journey on a Monday. The Governor-General of Western +Siberia told me he usually chose that day expressly, in order to avoid +the crowd of fellow-passengers. Nor do they like to take edge-tools +from another person’s hand, nor to pass the salt, or, if it be done, +the person who receives must smile blandly to break the spell. Again, +when a man is starting upon some special business, he thinks it very +unlucky if the first person he meets in the street should be a priest; +and if the eyes of one dying are not closed by a friend, it is imagined +that there will soon be another death in the family. + +The Russians struck me as a people exceedingly ill-provided with manly +amusements. They have nothing to correspond to our cricket, boating, +or football. Their young men seem incapable of rising to any greater +exertion of mind or body than that demanded for billiards, cards, +drinking, and smoking. I saw some soldiers, however, playing with a +large, heavy steel pin, like a tenpenny nail with a heavy head.[8] An +outdoor game played by girls is called “_skaka_” (to jump), something +like the English game of see-saw, only that the two parties do not +sit but stand on the plank, which is only some four feet long, and is +jumped upon with sufficient force that when one person reaches the +ground the other springs into the air, and so on alternately. Swings, +too, are in great demand at fairs and such gatherings. I was treated +to one on the Sukhona, suspended from a cross-beam not less, I should +judge, than 40 feet high. + +Dancing is one of the most popular of indoor amusements, and I had +a good opportunity of witnessing the peasants’ performance of it at +Mikhailofsky; for on the evening of our enforced stay a _soirée_ was +extemporized. The dancers were the young men and girls of the village, +dressed in their heavy boots and cotton gowns, but washed and brushed +up for the occasion. The manner in which the girls sat in a row at +the commencement, and the men hung together in an outer room, struck +me very much like a piece of human nature which is seen all the world +over. The music consisted of a fiddle, accordion, and tiny bells; +and in the first dance, two youths having nodded condescendingly to +partners, the four stood up and figured before us, one feature of the +dance being that the men from time to time stamped heavily with their +feet.[9] At an early stage of the proceedings cigarettes were handed +round, and men, girls, and old women all began to smoke--a sure sign +that they were not Starovers, or Old Believers, for they turn out their +sons if they smoke, and call them “pogani,” or “nasty,”--the practice +having been introduced into some parts of Siberia, I was told, within +the last quarter of a century.[10] After dance No. 3, which was by four +girls only, two plates were handed round--one of sweets, the other of +cedar nuts. The latter, from the monotonous gaps they so often fill +at parties, are called by a word which means “Siberian conversation.” +Other refreshments followed in the shape of black bread and cucumbers, +the whole affair looking very formal and solemn; but I am not sure +whether this was normal, or whether the peasants were overawed by the +strange company. I heard that at Nikolaefsk, in winter, they have +frequent balls at the club, but in the summer the evenings are given to +the promenade. + +[Illustration: RUSSIAN PEASANT GIRL.] + +At this time of day I usually took my constitutional, and searched +about into every hole and corner of the town. Its population stands in +the Almanack at 5,350, which probably was right some years ago, but it +was estimated to me as having decreased to 3,500. The houses extend a +mile and a half along the left bank of the river on a wooded plateau +about fifty feet high. The landing-place is available only for small +craft. Larger vessels lie in the middle of the river, and there is +a wooden pier from which stairs lead to the plateau. The visitor is +then opposite the church, built of wood, having one large cupola and +four small ones. Behind the church stands what was the “Admiralty,” +but is now the police-station, having a flagstaff with semaphore +for signalling vessels in the harbour. To the west of the church is +the officers’ club, and a few minutes’ walk to the east is situated +the admiral’s house, the palace of the town, having around it a few +flowers struggling for existence. In 1866 Mr. Knox found at Nikolaefsk +machine-shops, foundries, and dockyard, into which last I wandered +one evening, and thought of the time when nations are to learn war no +more; for whereas there had been 800 men employed in the place a dozen +years before, I found it covered with weeds, the workshops closed, and +rusty iron lying about in all directions. Here and there were heaps of +bombshells and cannon-balls, with a few grape-shot. Except the sentinel +at the entrance, I met not a soul in the place, from which the glory +had plainly departed. So it was, in fact, with the town generally. +The boarded pavements are fast rotting, and allow the unwary +foot-passenger to step through into the drains. There is sufficient +grass in the streets for cows to graze, and pigs are occasionally seen +there looking about for food. The Governor’s house is falling into +decay, and its grand rooms are looking and smelling dusty, musty, and +old. Again, the buildings erected for the higher Government officials +are inhabited by smaller and feebler folk, and some of the shops are +closed. + +Nikolaefsk, nevertheless, from its position at the mouth of a river +which is navigable so far into Asia, will probably continue its present +commercial standing.[11] + +There was a medical officer at Nikolaefsk, whose duty it was to examine +the articles sold for food, and who during my stay lodged a complaint +against a merchant for selling damaged flour, although he sold it as +such, and at a reduced price. I heard Russia and Siberia spoken of +as a country where capital can be placed out to great advantage. One +merchant said he could easily get 6 per cent. for his money in Russia, +on security which he deemed satisfactory. I have quoted in an earlier +chapter the 30 or 40 per cent. given for capital at the gold-mines, and +one man I met told me that in Western Siberia he made as much as 100 +per cent. on a considerable portion of his capital. + +My host, Mr. Emery, had come to the Amur as a boy, and began at the +bottom of the ladder; but at the age of 20 he was able to count his +gains by thousands. He was but 27 when we met, but was looking forward +in a year or two to retire.[12] + +One of the drawbacks to honest trading in Russia is the bribery which +officials expect when purchasing Government supplies. An instance of +bribery practised on the rivers was described to me thus: A shipping +agent, for example, carries 5,000 poods of freight, for which the +sender pays him at a certain rate for Government duty. At the +custom-house the agent makes out his bill as having only one-tenth the +real freight, and gives ten roubles each to the officers, who make out +a false bill to correspond with his own. It is then signed by the head +official, who receives no bribe on the spot, but occasionally drives +to the agent’s office, says that he is short of money, and asks for +the loan of 300 roubles or more. The agent “lends” them, not dreaming, +however, to see them again. At the end of the year the agent finds +himself several thousands of roubles in pocket, the higher official +drives his carriage on a surprisingly small stipend, and the lower +officials, having been put into their office by the higher, do not even +ask for their salary, and yet manage to live in houses of their own +procuring.[13] + +Again, gambling and drunkenness are two principal snares besetting +foreign traders in Siberia, whose time in winter hangs heavily, and +where, in seaport towns, officers and large consumers expect to be +frequently _fêted_ and invited to drink. Immorality is the third snare, +which leads many astray who are removed from the restraints of home, +and who otherwise hold their heads above gambling and insobriety. + +The trade customs of Nikolaefsk were, in some respects, superior to +those in the interior,--due, no doubt, to the influence of the Germans +and Americans. In the bazaars of Petersburg one has to bargain for +everything. A shopman asked me, for instance, 10_s._ for a box, for +which he afterwards “touted” to me, and took 7_s._ At Nikolaefsk +business is done at fixed prices, and I was glad to find that, though +compelled to close their stores for many hours on the greater Russian +festivals, the foreign merchants, for the most part, did not open at +all on Sunday. + +The weather during my stay on the Lower Amur was chilly and +disagreeable, and the season for garden produce was about a fortnight +late. On August 19th we ate new potatoes. They cost 2½_d._ per lb., +but eight days later they cost but 1_d._ per lb. Cucumbers were ready +on the 10th of August, and on the 27th they were selling for 3_s._ +per hundred. Eggs cost 5_s._ per hundred, fresh butter 2_s._ 3_d._ per +pound, and beef from 7_d._ to 8½_d._ On August 27th we had our first +spring cabbage made into little pies and eaten with soup. The price of +these cabbages, to a “friend,” was 5_d._ each, but they were expected +shortly to fall to 16_s._ or 20_s._ per hundred. I do not remember +tasting mutton, but was informed that a good sheep weighs about half a +cwt., and costs alive, at Nikolaefsk, from 22_s._ to 30_s._ + +In Western Siberia, about Tomsk, a sheep can be bought for 2_s._ I +am told that Russians in general abhor mutton, and my informant’s +housekeeper wonders the English can eat it, for _she_ would as +willingly eat cat, dog, or rat as such “garbage.” Game and fish were +surprisingly plentiful. I bought in the streets at Nikolaefsk a +capercailzie (called _glukhar_, or deaf bird) for 10_d._, which was +thought by no means cheap; and a blackcock was offered for a similar +price. The cost of salmon, however, was most surprising. Up to the 20th +August, salmon trout, weighing from 10 to 12 lbs., cost as much as +5_d._ each, but they were then said to be _dear_. On the 15th August +a large salmon, the first fish of the season, and weighing perhaps 15 +lbs., was offered to me for 7½_d._, but this was considered quite “a +fancy price.” From the 1st September to the 17th, during which period +the large fish are caught, weighing from 15 lbs. to 25 lbs., they may +be bought for 10_s._ per hundred, or 1_d._ each![14] + +I was fortunate in finding at Nikolaefsk some English books, and among +them the travels of Collins, Knox, and Ravenstein, on the Amur. The +reading of these occupied much of my time, and I sometimes wandered +down to the river-side--especially in the morning--to the pier, to +watch the Gilyaks sell their fish.[15] Moored alongside the pier were +some lighters of English build, which were failures for the particular +purpose for which they had been constructed, though they made admirable +landing-places. There were also several barges converted into floating +shops, one of which was the property of a Frenchman, who had been a +tutor in England. He dealt largely with the Gilyaks, and offered me a +live eagle, obtained from them, for 6_s._; a fish-skin coat for 8_s._, +and a tiger’s skin for £3 10_s._ For bear-skins he asked from 10_s._ +upwards, whereas in Krasnoiarsk they sell from 10_s._ down to 3_s._ +each. + +Thus passed by my enforced stay at Nikolaefsk, and, after trying in +vain to get a passage to Japan, I determined to retrace my steps by the +post-boat, which I started to do on Saturday, 30th of August. Before +proceeding southwards, however, I must give some account, in the next +two chapters, of what I have been able to learn concerning Kamchatka +and the island of Sakhalin. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] So rare is it for them to see a visitor to the prison in these +parts, that some of the men supposed I was sent by some foreign +Government to inquire into their condition; and I heard that they +subsequently came to seek me with a written paper, but I was not in the +house when they called. My position having been explained to them, they +declined to leave the paper, and so I heard no more of the matter. + +[2] They received from Government only £15 per annum for a clerk, +paper, and ink, and so were unable, they said, to get books for the +patients. I was glad therefore to send, and they were thankful to +accept, 50 copies of the New Testament--two for every room, and the +remainder to be given to departing convalescents who could read. + +[3] In 1878 there entered the hospital 347 cases, suffering from 39 +diseases, of which the principal were: bronchitis, 46; syphilis, 42; +fevers, 39; pleuritis, 26; internal cold, 18; rheumatism, 14; and so +on in diminishing numbers. During the six months immediately preceding +my visit they had received but 83 patients, whilst for the entire year +and a half 13 patients only had died. Besides these they had treated a +large number of slight ailments of out-patients, and given advice to +promiscuous applicants to the number of nearly 3,000. + +[4] It was fitted for 100 male and five female patients, with superior +rooms for officers, and a separate apartment for syphilitic diseases, +in which last was a mad Russian soldier, who in early life had been +a travelling acrobat, and who inveighed to me in French against the +doctor, who, he said, kept him there in confinement. Hereditary +syphilis was reported to the Emperor to be the most dangerous disease +in the province, for an inquiry into which a commission of four +persons, with the whole medical staff, had been appointed. In a +hospital in Ekaterineburg I found half the patients, at Vladivostock +one-third, and in Krasnoiarsk one-fifth, suffering from syphilis, and +in Kamchatka they have a barrack for the treatment of this disease only. + +[5] Thus at Perm, whilst a poor patient was received into the hospital +at the rate of ten days for 5_s._, better accommodation could be +secured for 1_s._ 4_d._ a day. At Vladivostock civilians paid 1_s._ +9_d._ a day, the price being fixed on a three years’ average. + +[6] This probably is worse towards Kamchatka; for in 1878 there were +four medical posts vacant--that of chemist at Nikolaefsk, and doctor +at Sofiisk, Ghijiga, and Okhotsk respectively--not a matter for much +wonder, seeing that the salary at the best was but £40 a year! + +[7] This is a Semitic custom which has been retained by the Russians. +Even the Emperor and all members of the Imperial family are so +addressed--one reason given for the preference of the Christian to the +family name being, that to be a Christian is a greater honour than to +be an earthly noble. + +[8] They raised it above the shoulders, holding the head of the nail +in the palm, and threw it down, making the point pass through a ring, +about an inch and a half in diameter, lying on the ground. The person +throwing it sometimes buried it to the head in the soil, whence another +had to unearth it, or it was driven through a piece of wood, from which +it was another’s business to extricate it. The feat appeared very easy, +but in the few attempts I made I did not succeed in sticking the pin in +the ground. + +[9] Perhaps it was akin to the Mazourka, which had its birthplace +in Poland, for I remember witnessing a similar performance in the +salt-mines of Cracow. The second dance was a national one, by a single +pair, and something like a Scottish hornpipe, the man occasionally +sinking down almost to the ground. Then the pair waved handkerchiefs +to each other. I was told that this dance is made to represent the +various stages of courtship, and that a good dancer does not go through +the same figure twice. Another dance was by four couples, in which the +ship’s machinist figured prominently in his heavy boots. One man also +crawled on all fours, and twice passed through the extended legs of +another, and so they continued till the cotton shirts of the men showed +they were getting wet, and the company were growing tired. + +[10] The Starovers object to smoking upon the literal meaning of the +text, “That which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” +According to Dr. Pinkerton, an ukase was issued in 1634 condemning +those who took snuff, or sold or even possessed tobacco, to be knouted, +to have their nostrils torn open, or ears cut off, and to be sent into +exile. + +[11] There came to it, in 1878, 12 merchant vessels, bringing +manufactured goods to the value of £52,781; alcohol, £4,705; and +wines, beer, and porter, £1,604. I was told by one of the merchants +that Hamburg is the cheapest market for goods for a new country, there +being more imitations made there than elsewhere, which perhaps accounts +for the complaint made to the Russian Government that the imported +manufactures are of the lowest quality. The same merchant told me, +however, that when he imported good articles, the Russians merely +admired them; but that when he imported cheap ones, they _bought_ them. + +[12] He had, indeed, already retired in a fashion; for the winter +season at Nikolaefsk had become to him so insupportably dull, that +for the last few years he had posted off in autumn to Petersburg and +other European markets, and then, chartering a schooner of 350 tons +with merchandise, he had either accompanied it round the remainder of +the globe, or crossed the Atlantic to America to see his parents, and +then sailed over the Pacific by the following spring. In this way he +had several times made the circuit of the world, going west or east, +as business or inclination decided. He allowed 18 days in winter for a +sledge journey of 3,300 miles, from Moscow to Irkutsk. + +[13] These and similar practices are not confined to merchants, but go +down even to the isvostchiks, who come to Petersburg from the country +and hire themselves to their masters by the month, having to bring in +5_s._ a day. At the end of their term the master is said to do his best +to swindle the cabmen, whilst they, taking their food and scanty wages, +do their best to make a picking from their fares. Sometimes, however, +the biter is bitten; for driving in the capital one day my isvostchik +pointed to a large building, and said that he had just brought there +a well-dressed woman, who had asked him to drive at the side of the +pavement, because the road was better there, she said; and then, when +opposite the door, she had sprung off the low vehicle, and run in +without paying. + +[14] About 500 tons of them are salted yearly at Nikolaefsk, for winter +use, the Government having, annually, two contracts for 16 tons, and +others besides. For the most part, however, the fish of the province +is consumed where it is caught, and it is only quite recently that +exportation in small quantities has commenced. + +[15] The plentiful season commenced on August 25th, and salmon were +sold for five roubles per hundred. These were commonly used for +salting, but I found that they sold pieces of dried salmon and other +fish a foot long, at the rate of 1_s._ per hundred, as winter food for +dogs. Among the less valued fish of the Amur are the dolphin, trout, +and others, known by the name of _sazan_, _karass_, and a white fish +called _suig_--the last being esteemed in Petersburg a delicacy. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +_KAMCHATKA._ + + The Upper Primorsk.--History of north-eastern maritime + discovery.--Travellers in the Upper Primorsk.--The Sea of + Okhotsk and fisheries.--Bush’s journey.--Okhotsk and its + natives.--Kamchatka.--Its volcanoes, earthquakes, springs.--Garden + produce and animals.--Kamchatdales.--Their number and + character.--The Koriaks.--Their warlike spirit.--Houses of + settled and wandering Koriaks.--Food.--Herds of deer.--Marriage + customs.--Putting sick and aged to death.--The Chukchees.--Their + habitat.--Diminution of fur animals.--Vegetation.--Intoxicating + plants.--Nordenskiöld on the Chukchee coast.--Onkelon antiquities. + + +North-eastern Siberia, or the Upper Primorsk, is to be the subject +of this chapter, for which I have chosen the title of Kamchatka as +best recalling the locality. Unlike the Amur, of which we have been +treating, this portion of the Sea-coast province cannot be spoken of +as new; for its discovery dates back more than a century. Of late +years, all eyes have been turned in this direction by the maritime +achievements of Professor Nordenskiöld, who, having completed his +wonderful travel by water, was being fêted at Yokohama, whilst I was +lying weather-bound off the coast.[1] + +During my stay at Nikolaefsk, I was further north than the capital +of Kamchatka, and Petropavlovsk was distant only a few days’ sail. +Intervening, however, was the Sea of Okhotsk, the mention of which so +often recurs in connection with the north-eastern parts of Siberia.[2] +Formerly it was much frequented by whales. The captain of the _Tunguse_ +told me at Nikolaefsk that, as a young man, he used to go to the +Okhotsk Sea in a whaler; but so many of these animals had been killed, +he said, that during one season they caught only three of them, which +he thought poor. At Vladivostock, however, I met with Mr. Lindholm, +who has a steamer and a sailing-ship engaged in the whale trade, and +from him I gathered that at the present high price of whalebone, it +answers well if, during a season, a boat takes two large whales.[3] +The whales feed on the molluscs of the Okhotsk Sea, some of which +Erman mentions as being eaten by the Chinese.[4] Whether the molluscs +are less abundant than of yore, or whether so many whales have been +killed that few remain, the diminution of the trade was impressed on my +mind by meeting in the Primorsk several Finlanders who had left their +fatherland in the expectation of speedily making their fortunes by +whaling in the Okhotsk Sea; but their project proved a bubble.[5] + +The only man, I believe, other than an aboriginal, who has travelled +round the Okhotsk Sea, starting from Nikolaefsk, by land, is Mr. +Bush, the author of “Reindeer, Dogs, and Snow-shoes,” all three of +which he certainly had ample opportunity of becoming acquainted with. +Nothing, perhaps, in his journey would appear more remarkable to those +unacquainted with the records of Arctic travel than his sleeping, +night after night, in the open air of a Siberian winter, between a +couple of ordinary blankets, lined with deerskin, between which, on +awaking, he sometimes found himself buried, as were his dogs, beneath +recently-fallen snow. Proceeding round the coast, the first village we +approach after leaving the Amur is Udskoi, with 150 inhabitants. It is +situated on the river Ud, and was one of the earliest Cossack stations. +Further north is Port Ayan, to which, in 1844, the American Company +transferred their station for trading in fish and furs. + +On the Okhota, further north, is the town of Okhotsk, which has given +its name to the adjoining sea. Its population was never large, though +it had a certain amount of activity before 1807, when the burdens of +many thousands of horses passed through to the Russian settlements on +the Pacific. It is a sorry-looking place of 200 inhabitants, though +many a traveller has been glad to reach it after a severe journey from +Yakutsk. The only animals kept at Okhotsk, says Mr. Knox, are cows +and dogs. In summer the dogs are shrewd enough to go into the water +and catch their own salmon, wading into the stream and standing, like +storks, till the fish appear. The natives living on this western coast +are the Lamuti, a seafaring Tunguse tribe, said to be uncorrupted +from their primitive simplicity, either by the tricks of the Russian +merchants or those of the aboriginal Yakutes. From Okhotsk to +Nikolaefsk is a voyage of 400 miles, but there is no road by land: +hence the remarkable nature of Bush’s journey. + +The traveller who, from Okhotsk, wishes to visit Kamchatka may reach +Petropavlovsk by sea through the Kuriles, or continue round the coast +by road. The latter course takes him through Yamsk to Ghijiga, at the +north of the bay, a distance of 1,100 miles. He then descends along +the western coast of Kamchatka to Tigil, 760 miles further, at which +point he strikes inland to a valley lying below active volcanoes, and +so reaches Petropavlovsk, on the shore of the North Pacific, a land +journey from Okhotsk of 2,540 miles, accomplished by deer, horses, and +dogs. + +Kamchatka is so called after the name of its principal river. The +peninsula is 800 miles long, and from 30 to 120 miles wide; its total +area being about 80,000 square miles, or five times the size of +Switzerland. The southern extremity, called Cape Lopatka, is a low, +narrow tongue of land, which, as it proceeds northwards, widens and +rises into rocky and barren hills, with small valleys timbered with +willow and stunted birch. Two degrees north the range divides, one +portion running nearly due north and the other taking a north-easterly +direction. In the fork formed by these two chains lies the valley of +the river Kamchatka. The western chain rarely rises above 3,000 feet, +but the eastern chain has many high volcanoes, among them Kluchevsky, +which is somewhat higher than Mont Blanc, and not far from the sea.[6] + +Earthquakes are more frequent, perhaps, in Kamchatka than in any other +country. The number of shocks felt at Petropavlovsk averages eight +annually.[7] + +The climate of Kamchatka is much milder than in the eastern parts of +the mainland. The frost sets in about the middle of October, but up to +December the temperature rarely falls 10° below the freezing point of +Fahrenheit, though in severe winters the thermometer sometimes sinks to +25° below zero. Snow-storms with wind, called _poorgas_, are prevalent +in February and March. They sometimes take up whole masses of snow, and +form drifts several feet deep in a few minutes, burying, it may be, +travellers, dogs, and sledges, who remain thus till the storm is over. +Dogs begin to howl at the approach of a poorga, and try to burrow in +the snow if the wind is cold or violent. + +About 50 miles west of Petropavlovsk is a remarkable warm spring, into +which when you enter, says Mr. Collins, the sensation is as if the skin +would be removed, whilst the stones and mud on the bottom fairly burn +the feet, added to which the steam and gas, ascending from this natural +caldron, fairly take away the breath. In a short time, however, bathers +become red like lobsters, and find the temperature enjoyable. The water +is very buoyant. It is used by the natives for all sorts of diseases. + +The valley watered by the Kamchatka is composed of fine mould, and +has abundant natural productions--fir, birch, larch, poplar, willow, +cedar, and juniper, and that of larger size than in the same latitude +elsewhere in Asia. Raspberries, strawberries, whortleberries, currants, +and cranberries abound; and flowers are seen in spring in almost +tropical luxuriance. There is much grass in the lower lands, and +Mr. Hill records an extraordinary phenomenon in a place he visited +respecting the growth and preservation of potatoes.[8] There grows, +likewise, a plant in the country called by the natives _krapeva_, from +which they make a coarse but very durable cloth. It resembles our +stinging-nettle, but is of larger growth and stronger fibre. + +Among the animals of Kamchatka there is none with which the traveller +becomes more familiar than the dog, which is found wild on the hills. +The color is usually buff or silver-grey, and in nature and disposition +he resembles the mastiff and the wolf, sleeping, like the latter, more +by day than by night. He is intelligent as regards his work, but not +affectionate, as may be said of the steppe dogs, and has to be ruled +by the rod. It is not usually safe to leave these dogs loose, for they +kill fowls, deer, smaller dogs, and sometimes even children.[9] As +on the Amur, they are usually fed on fish, particularly the salmon, +besides which there are caught in Kamchatka, or off its coasts, the +cod, herring, smelt, as also whales, walruses, and seals. The country +abounds with geese, ducks, and a variety of wild fowl. + +The southern part of the peninsula is inhabited by the Kamchatdales, +which is the name the Russians give them; but they are called +_Konchalo_ by their neighbours the Koriaks. They have large round +faces, prominent cheek-bones, small sunken eyes, flattened noses, +black hair, and tawny complexions. Their language, very guttural, is +largely inflexional, or composed of invariable root forms modified by +prefixes. The poverty of the language may be inferred from their having +but one word for the sun and moon (_khiht_), but still more from the +circumstance that it has scarcely any names for fish or birds, which +are merely distinguished by the moon in which they are most plentiful. +The language is spoken in the south among the Kuriles, and in the +extreme north about Penjinsk. Otherwise it is fast dying out, as is +also the race. In certain parts the people are almost Russified. When +Captain Cochrane travelled in Siberia, he surprised his friends by +taking home a Kamchatdale wife, but this did not surprise me after +meeting at Nikolaefsk, at dinner, a Kamchatdale lady who had married a +Russian officer. I saw, too, at Khabarofka, and on the steamer, another +Kamchatdale, of less presentable appearance--a cleric, wearing his +hair in a queue, perhaps for convenience in travel. He was taken, as a +boy of 10 years old, to Irkutsk to be educated; afterwards sent to be +minister in a church in Russian America, and subsequently became priest +of Okhotsk. He is now near Blagovestchensk, and when I saw him was +sick. He looked a poor miserable creature, and was pointed out to me by +Baron Stackelberg, of whom he had openly asked an alms, as “_ce pauvre +diable_.” He appeared much pleased with some books I gave him, but was +altogether about the poorest specimen of a priest I saw in Russia. + +The number of the Kamchatdales, strictly so called, is estimated at +3,000. Their capital is Petropavlovsk, the only town on the eastern +coast of the peninsula.[10] The little town points with pride to its +two monuments, erected, one to Behring and the other to La Perouse, and +its old fortifications, now covered with grass and flowers, serve to +recall the defeat of the English and French allies, who attacked this +village during the Crimean War. + +The Kamchatdales are a people of much amiability and honesty. Their +houses are always open to the stranger, whom they never weary of +waiting upon, and from whom they soon forget an injury.[11] They have +given up, to a large extent, their Shamanism, though they still take +care, when hunting an animal, not to pronounce its name, lest they +should be visited by ill luck. The Kamchatdales have not the heroic +character of their neighbours the Koriaks. Their plaintive songs do not +celebrate battles, but love, sledge travels, fishing, and hunting. In +their dances they mimic admirably the movements of animals, bounding +like the deer, running like the fox, and even entering the water to +swim like the seal. + +The northern half of the peninsula, and the mainland up to the 65th +parallel, are inhabited by the Koriaks, their district extending +laterally from the 130th meridian to Behring’s Sea, and north of this +region to the Frozen Ocean live the Chukchees.[12] + +The Anadir is the one river of this region worth mentioning; but +flowing as it does on the polar circle, and near the limit where +trees cease to grow, it traverses only solitudes without towns. The +Russian garrison was obliged to abandon the small fort of Anadirsk, +constructed on its banks for a fur depôt, at the beginning of the +eighteenth century, and the Chukchees set it on fire. It is now +replaced by four little villages, with a united population of about +200, consisting of aborigines and Cossacks living a half-savage life, +though speaking Russ. The Anadir, like the rest of the rivers in the +Chukchee and Kamchatdale countries, is so full of fish at the breeding +season that the water seems alive with them. When the shoals of salmon +mount the river, the water rises like a bank, and the fish are so +pressed together that they can be taken by hand. The water ceases to be +drinkable, and its smell and taste become intolerable, by reason of the +millions of its inhabitants in a state of decomposition. + +The Koriaks seem to be related to the Chukchees, and speak a dialect +approaching theirs. They are divided into settled and wandering +Koriaks, the former occupying themselves in fishing, the latter as +reindeer keepers and hunters. Their southern limit in Kamchatka is +the village of Tigil, whither they go once a year to exchange their +commodities. Travellers do not speak well of the settled Koriaks. +Deprived of their herds of reindeer, they have no resource but fishing +and traffic with foreign sailors and Russian dealers. The first are +said to have taught them drinking and debauchery, and the second lying +and stealing. They are eaten up with misery and vice, and are the most +degraded of the Siberian tribes. Only the women tattoo their faces, +thinking thereby to arrest the ravages of time. Their winter yourts +may be classed among the most extraordinary of human habitations. +They are built somewhat like a huge wooden hour-glass, 20 feet high, +in the shape of the letter X, and are entered by climbing a pole on +the outside, and then sliding down another through the “waist” of the +hour-glass, which waist serves for door, window, and chimney. Holes +are cut in the logs for climbing, but they are too small for the +heavily-clad fur boots of a novice, who has, therefore, amid sparks +and smoke, to hug the pole, slide down, and as best he can avoid +the fire at the bottom. The interior presents a strange appearance, +lighted only from above. The beams, rafters, and logs are smoked to +a glossy blackness. A wooden platform, raised about a foot from the +earth, extends out from the walls on three sides, to a width of six +feet, leaving an open spot 8 or 10 feet in diameter in the centre +for the fire, and a huge copper kettle of melting snow, in which is +usually simmering fish, reindeer meat, dried salmon, or seals’ blubber +with rancid oil; these make up the Koriaks’ bill of fare. When any +one enters the yourt, the inmates are apprised of the fact by a total +eclipse of the chimney hole. Among the wandering Koriaks an entrance +to the tent is effected by creeping on the ground through a hole into +a large open circle, which forms the interior. A fire burns upon the +ground in the centre, and round the inner circumference of the yourt +are constructed apartments called _pologs_, which are separated one +from another by skin curtains, and combine the advantages of privacy +with warmth and fugginess! These pologs are about four feet high and +eight feet square. They are warmed and lighted by a burning fragment of +moss floating in a wooden bowl of seal oil, which vitiates the air and +creates an intolerable stench. + +Mr. Kennan gives a humorous description of his first supper among the +wandering Koriaks, and their substitute for bread, called _manyalla_, +of which the original elements are clotted blood, tallow, and +half-digested moss taken from the stomach of the reindeer, where it +is supposed to have undergone some change fitting it for second-hand +consumption. These curious ingredients are boiled with a few handfuls +of dried grass, and the dark mass is then moulded into small loaves and +frozen for future use. As a mark of special attention, the host bites +off a choice morsel from a large cube of venison in his greasy hand, +and then, taking it from his mouth, offers it to his guest. + +The wandering Koriaks necessarily move their habitation frequently; +for a herd of 4,000 or 5,000 deer (Mr. Bush mentions one Koriak as +possessing 15,000 of them) paw up the snow, and in a very few days eat +all the moss within a mile of the encampment. This independent kind of +life has given to the Koriaks the impatience of restraint, independence +of civilization, and perfect self-reliance, which distinguish them +from the Kamchatdales and other settled inhabitants of Siberia. They +are most hospitable, and the best of husbands and fathers. Mr. Kennan, +during his sojourn of 2½ years among them, never saw a Koriak strike +any of his belongings. They treat their animals with kindness, and will +on no account sell a deer alive. A slain deer may be had for a pound +of tobacco. Among the Koriaks the animal costs 10_s._, at Okhotsk from +20_s._ to 30_s._, and on the Amur £5. + +Like the Kamchatdales, the Chukchees are obliged to earn their +wives by working a year or more in the service of the prospective +father-in-law, and even then the lover may be refused. In any case, +at the wedding ceremony he has to pursue the object of his devotion +through the pologs of a tent, the bridesmaids doing all they can +to facilitate the passage of the bride, and, by keeping down the +curtains and whipping him with switches, to hinder the progress of the +bridegroom. The lover usually overtakes the maiden, however, in the +last polog but one, and there they remain together for seven days and +seven nights. + +The treatment of the sick and aged in these regions is remarkable, +for they put them to death to avoid protracted suffering. I heard the +same alleged of the Gilyaks, but it was afterwards contradicted. The +Koriaks look upon this as the natural end of their existence; and when +they think the time come, they choose in what manner the last office +of affection shall be rendered. Some ask to be stoned, and some to be +killed by the hatchet or knife. All the young Koriaks learn the art of +giving the fatal _coup de grace_ as painlessly as possible. + +Sometimes the younger request the old to wait a bit; but in any case +immediately after death the corpse is burnt, to allow the spirit to +escape into the air. Formerly, infanticide was common among them, and +of twins one was always sacrificed. None of the Siberian tribes have +shown such bravery in resisting the Russians as have the Koriaks and +Chukchees, and some of these still retain their independence. + +The Chukchee coast extends from Chaunskaia Bay, round Behring’s +peninsula, to the Anadir river. The fauna of this part of Siberia is +richer than in the west. Probably some of the American animals have +crossed the ice of Behring’s Straits, and are mingled with those of +Asia. The Alpine hare, the bear, the marmot, the weasel, the otter, +are common, and wild deer roam in herds of thousands. Snakes, frogs, +and toads are not found in North-Eastern Siberia nor in Kamchatka. In +the latter country, however, are lizards, which are regarded as of +evil omen, and when found are cut up in pieces, that they may tell +no one who killed them. The country teems with lemmings, which from +time to time migrate in myriads, crossing in a straight line rivers, +lakes, even arms of the sea, though decimated on the way by shoals of +hungry fish. Travellers are sometimes stayed for hours, waiting the +marching-past of these huge armies.[13] + +Many fur-bearing animals in Kamchatka and the Chukchee country have +greatly diminished in number since the advent of the Russian hunters, +as is the case in the neighbouring seas, where some of the species have +altogether disappeared.[14] + +The aspect on the two sides of Behring’s Straits is very different. +America is wooded, whilst the Chukchee country has no vegetation but +lichens and mosses, and from a distance looks completely bare. Among +the flora, however, of North-Eastern Siberia is a peculiar mushroom +spotted like a leopard, and surmounted with a small hood--the fly +agaric, which here has the top scarlet, flecked with white points. +In other parts of Russia it is poisonous. Among the Koriaks it is +intoxicating, and a mushroom of this kind sells for three or four +reindeer. So powerful is the fungus that the native who eats it +remains drunk for several days, and by a process too disgusting to be +described, half-a-dozen individuals may be successively intoxicated +by the effects of a single mushroom, each in a less degree than his +predecessor. The natives dig for roots and tubers, which serve for food +or making intoxicating drinks. They eat also the green bark of the +birch mixed with caviar. + +In certain valleys, especially in those of Kamchatka, the grass exceeds +the height of a man, and the Russian settlers make hay three times a +year. The culture of cereals is of little profit; oats thrive best. +Hemp has been grown, but not in sufficient quantities to replace the +nettle as a textile thread. In fact, gardening has succeeded better +than agriculture, and now the natives cultivate in hundreds of gardens +cabbages, potatoes, beetroot, turnips, carrots, and other vegetables +introduced by the Russians in the last century. All these, however, +added to their other kinds of food, barely give sustenance enough to +the Kamchatdales and their dogs, without which it would be almost +impossible for them to leave their huts at certain times of the year. +During the four months of summer they must lay up dry fish to provide +for eight months of winter, and the normal amount of winter food for +a pack of half-a-dozen Kamchatdale dogs is 100,000 herrings. Besides +this the owner’s family must be nourished, and hence, if a bad season +comes, and the fishing or hunting fails, death is certain; for to the +greater part of the natives who have no deer, winter and want are +synonymous terms. + +It was on the Chukchee coast that the vessel of Professor +Nordenskiöld--the _Vega_--was frozen in. The ship had continued her +eastward course to the 28th September, and had arrived to within a few +miles of the open water of Behring’s Straits. New ice had, however, +begun to form, and the ship had passed into a narrow and shallow +channel, where the crew made fast for the night, hoping to disentangle +themselves in the morning without difficulty, especially as whalers +had sometimes remained in these parts till the middle of October. +They were disappointed, however. For at least a month the wind blew +from the north, and by the 25th of November the new ice was two feet +thick, so that there was no hope of getting free till the following +summer. The _Vega’s_ winter harbour was at the northernmost part of +Behring’s Straits, a mile from land, and only about two miles from +the point where the straits open into the Pacific, for the passage of +which a single hour’s steam at full speed would have sufficed. This +was disappointing to the professor’s party, but they built a magnetic +observatory, made what discoveries they could in the interest of +science, and formed acquaintance with the Chukchees. They describe +the natives’ tents as kept at so great a heat that the children were +usually naked. The women wore only a girdle, and the children sometimes +ran from one tent to another without shoes or clothing in a temperature +below freezing point. + +Some of the party made excavations in the neighbourhood of +dwelling-places of a race that was driven by the Chukchees hundreds of +years ago to islands in the Polar Sea. The people were called Onkelon. +Their houses were in groups, and built, or at least partly so, of +whale-bones and driftwood, covered with earth, and connected by long +passages with the open air and with one another. The kitchen middens +contained bones of whale, walrus, seal, reindeer, etc., together with +stone and bone implements, fastened by leather thongs to wooden handles. + +The language of the Chukchees and Koriaks has not been reduced to +writing, nor do these people attempt to express ideas by signs or +pictures. The Russians, however, have attempted something towards +Christianizing them, and the first missionary arrived so far back as +1704, though baptism did not become general among them till 1800. +Some of the Chukchees, notwithstanding their savage and independent +spirit (which has become somewhat softened in the few who have received +baptism), are just and honest; and though implacable to an enemy, are +staunch and true to a friend. They are only nominal subjects of Russia, +and it will apparently take long before the Russian Government can hope +to Christianize and civilize them. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Among early sources of information concerning voyages to the +north-eastern seas, we have the “History of Kamchatka and the Kurile +Islands,” translated from the Russian by Dr. Grieve in 1764. In 1802 +Martin Sauer wrote an account of a geographical and astronomical +expedition to the north parts of Russia, the mouth of the Kolima, to +East Cape, and islands in the Eastern Ocean, performed by Commodore +Joseph Billings from 1785 to 1794; and within 20 years afterwards +Captain Burney published a chronological history of north-eastern +voyages of discovery, and of the early eastern navigation of the +Russians; but these brought us no further than 1819. The admirable +“Géographie Universelle” of M. Réclus (by far the best geographical +work on Siberia I have met with) gives a map showing the routes not +only of the principal travellers by land, but also furnishes an +excellent account of Siberian maritime discoveries down to the present +day. + +To confine ourselves more particularly to Kamchatka, we have the +travels in 1787-8 of M. de Lesseps, Consul of France, and interpreter +to the Count de la Perouse, who landed in the peninsula, and thence +made his way by land round the northern coast of the Okhotsk Sea, +and crossed Asia and Europe to Paris. A quarter of a century later, +Peter Dobell followed the same route, and was deserted by his Tunguse +guides in the vicinity of Okhotsk, which town, however, he at length +reached, and crossed Siberia to Europe. Accounts of remarkable travels +in this part of the country have been written by two Americans--Messrs. +Bush and Kennan--who went, in 1865, to make preliminary surveys for +a proposed route for telegraph wires intended to traverse Behring’s +Straits from America, continue across the peninsula, and round the +Sea of Okhotsk to Nikolaefsk, and thence to the Chinese frontier. The +enterprise was ultimately abandoned, but not till the country had +been surveyed from the straits to the mouth of the Amur, in doing +which these authors passed through portions of country untravelled by +foreigners before. + +For a short account of the early exploration of Siberia by sea and +land, _see_ Appendix E. + +[2] It is a great gulf shut in from the North Pacific Ocean by the +promontory of Kamchatka, and a chain of islands reaching down to Japan +It measures from 1,200 to 1,400 miles from north to south, and from 700 +to 800 miles from east to west, the greatest depth being 700 yards. + +[3] It was curious to hear that whales are now more shy than formerly, +and that the whalers dare not row their boats, but must sail them to +the monsters, who are then sometimes frightened away even by the baling +out of water. I learned, too, that in the Sea-coast province they have +great difficulty in procuring a sufficiency of suitable sailors for the +trade; for although ordinary seamen will do for a part of the crew, +there ought to be about eight of the officers and men who are experts. + +[4] I saw a considerable number of dried _trepangs_, or sea-snails, at +Vladivostock, worth in China 30 dollars the pickle of 133 lbs., say +1_s._ a lb. The Chinese employ them in the preparation of a nutritious +soup in common with sharks’ fins, edible birds’ nests, and an esculent +seaweed, or cabbage, of which last 3,000 tons are taken yearly from the +bays of the Sea-coast province. + +[5] They sailed round Cape Horn to Siberia, but met with foul weather, +which delayed them for a whole season, and initiated their failure. Not +having the means to return to Finland, they were getting their living +as best they could. The commander of the _Onon_, Captain Stjerncreutz, +was one of them. I discovered that he was a cousin of Miss Heijkel, +my fellow-passenger in Finland in 1876, who, to help me in procuring +a horse, introduced me to the family I have mentioned at Wasa. This +was the third Finlander I chanced to meet in Siberia with whom I could +claim a sort of acquaintance. + +[6] Many ranges of terraces and secondary summits surround the mountain +as with an enormous pedestal, so that its base has a circumference +of not less than 200 miles. The fissured summit constantly smokes, +and twice or thrice a year throws out cinders. Ashes and dust have +sometimes been carried to a distance of 180 miles, and covered the +ground many inches deep, preventing the Kamchatdales from sledging. An +eruption in 1737 ejected much lava, and this, dissolving the glaciers, +poured into the neighbouring valleys a deluge of waters. In 1854 +another stream of fire descended from Mount Kluchevsky. From the crater +of the Avasha, immediately behind Petropavlovsk, have been thrown at +the same time stones, lava, and water. The following are some of the +active volcanoes: Korakovsky, 11,200 feet; Chevelutch, 10,529; Jupanof, +8,478; Avatcha, 8,344; and the Great Tolbach, 7,618; whilst, of the +extinct volcanoes, Uchkin is the highest, with an elevation of 10,977 +feet. + +[7] Mr. Hill describes one lasting no less than eight minutes. During +the whole of this time rumbling and loud noises were heard beneath the +ground, and the earth trembled violently. Some of those who experienced +it said they thought at one moment that the earth was sinking beneath +them, and the sea about to rush in upon the land, and the next that +they were rising upon the crust of the crater of a volcano in terrible +eruption beneath the ground. + +[8] Admiral Ricord, a former governor of Kamchatka, imported potatoes +for seed, and they were planted, but not taken up the following autumn. +The next year, being found abundant and good, they were allowed to +remain, where, dying and propagating continually, they yielded more +than were locally required. Mr. Hill accounts for the phenomenon by the +fact that neither damp nor frost could reach the potatoes; for though +in winter the snow covers the surface of the frozen ground, yet so +great in this vicinity is the internal volcanic heat that the earth is +quite dry, and never frozen below a few inches from the surface. + +[9] They love sledging, and upon a journey of four or five days will +work from 14 to 16 hours out of the 24 without tasting food, the idea +of their masters being that, when travelling, the less food the dogs +receive, short of starvation, the better. The travelling sledge weighs +about 25 lbs. (a freight sledge is heavier), and a good team will +travel from 40 to 60 miles a day. When running, they must be paired +with dogs known to each other from puppies; and, should they happen +to cross the scent of a deer, so fond are they of its flesh that they +sometimes become utterly unmanageable, upset the sledge (or _nartee_, +as it is called), and leave the driver, it may be, to perish in the +snow. + +[10] It is situated on the right shore of the splendid Bay of Avatcha, +which may claim with Rio Janeiro and San Francisco to be one of the +finest harbours in the world. It is perfectly protected from the winds, +and, transplanted to a more favourable position, it might be one of +the greatest of markets; but since the fishery of the whale in the +surrounding seas has lost its importance, Petropavlovsk has sunk from a +place of 1,000 inhabitants to one of 500. Mr. Dobell, who lived in the +peninsula five years, says that he found there many dykes and mounds, +from the existence of which he argues that the country was once thickly +populated. + +[11] Their hospitality is carried even to excess. They visit one +another, for instance, during a month or six weeks, until the generous +host, finding his stock exhausted, gives the hint by serving up a +dish called “_tolkootha_,” a hodge-podge, composed of meat, fish, and +vegetables; upon which the guests depart the following day. + +[12] The Russian calendar gives the following numbers to these peoples: +Kamchatdales, 4,360; Koriaks, 5,250; and Chukchees, 12,000. Mr. +Kennan, however, doubts this, and thinks that they do not exceed 5,000 +altogether. + +[13] The industrious little creatures store up their grain and roots +underground, covering them, _it is said_, before their migration, +with poisonous plants, to hinder other animals from eating them. The +Kamchatdales, in times of necessity, help themselves to these stores, +but do not fail to replace what they take by _caviar_, or remains of +fish, that they may not alarm such benevolent purveyors. + +[14] Whalers have now to go much further north for their prey; the +sea-otter, with its precious skin, and the sea-lion are rarely seen on +the strand and rocks of Behring’s isle, and the sea-cow is completely +exterminated. The sea-bear, as Réclus calls it, but which I suspect +is that we know as the seal, was threatened also with extermination, +until the Americans purchased the monopoly of taking them on Russian +territory. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +_THE ISLAND OF SAKHALIN._ + + Geographical description.--Meteorology.--Flora and + fauna.--Population.--Cultivation.--Mineral + products.--Coal-mine at Dui and penal settlement.--Prison + statistics.--Flogging.--Desperate criminals.--Complaints of + prison food.--Prison labour.--Difficulties of escape.--Prison + executive and alleged abuses.--General opinion on Siberian + prisons.--Comparison of Siberian and English convicts. + + +Sakhalin (or Saghalien), an island nearly as large as Portugal, was +not generally known to be an island until a century ago.[1] A gloomy +interest now attaches to it, because of late years the Russians have +been deporting thither a large proportion of their criminal convicts, +so that it promises to be the Siberian prison of the future. + +As Sakhalin extends over eight degrees of latitude, the climate varies +considerably; but at the best, in Aniva Bay, it cannot be called other +than severe, for while the latitude is the same as that of Lombardy, +the average temperature is that of Archangel. Besides this low +temperature, the climate is one of great humidity. At Kusunai, in the +south of the island, 250 days in the year are foggy or rainy, and the +east coast is worse. + +The vegetation of the island resembles that of the neighbouring Manchu +mainland, with the addition of some of the species common to the +Japanese archipelago, and among them a sort of bamboo, which, attaining +to the height of a man, covers whole mountains. Certain American +species also mingle with the Asiatic flora, so that out of 700 kinds of +phanerogamous plants, not more than 20 belong specially to Sakhalin. +The plants on the lowest grounds resemble those of the opposite +continent. The mountain slopes to the height of 500 yards are clothed +with conifers, and higher are birches and willows, above which are the +thick dark branches of creeping shrubs. The animals found on the island +resemble those of the continent, and the tiger at times crosses the ice +on the Mamia Strait to the northern portions; though no specimen has +been seen in the south, nor did the Aïnos at the advent of the Russians +know that animal even by name. + +The population of the island is reckoned at 15,000. To the north are +about 2,000 Gilyaks. In the centre are the Oroks, or Orochi--Tunguses +of the same stock as the Manguns and Orochons of the Lower Amur; and +in the south are the Aïnos. These last are thought to have been the +aboriginal population, not only of Sakhalin and of the Kuriles, but +of the Japanese islands also. They have been driven to their present +locality by the Gilyaks and Oroks from the north, and by the Japanese +from the south, and the slavery to which the Japanese fishermen have +reduced them has contributed alike to their diminution and their moral +degradation.[2] + +Judging from a photograph I chanced to procure of an Aïno, they have +large and wide cheeks, a narrow forehead, and eyes not so elongated +as with the Chinese races, and their appearance is more European. The +Aïno’s ample beard and moustache are worthy of a Russian. The Japanese, +representing, with the Russians, the “upper classes” in Sakhalin, have +established fishing-stations along the southern coast of the island, +managed by a population who live there for the season without their +families. On the south-eastern shore live 700 Chinese, engaged in +gathering trepangs and sea-cabbage. Réclus mentions a trade in this +last from the Bay of Paseat, in the south of the province, of £400 in +1864, £13,500 in 1865, £40,000 in 1866. The natives subsist on fish, +and eat no bread. I was told at Khabarofka that the Aïnos contrive to +make an intoxicating drink called _sakhe_--probably that described +by Miss Bird as obtained from the root of a tree--which, to attain +their highest notion of happiness, they drink to beastly intoxication. +As for the Russians in Sakhalin, nearly all are in the military or +prison service, and are supplied with provisions by the Government, the +resources of the island being utterly inadequate. I heard that a large +proportion of the convicts are employed in farming on a considerable +scale, but the cultivation of cereals and vegetables, and the raising +of cattle, have not yet, I think, made much progress. Whether they +can ever thrive in more than a certain number of sheltered valleys is +doubtful. + +[Illustration: THE MILITARY POST AND PENAL COLONY AT PORT DUI IN +SAKHALIN.] + +The Russian military posts are all by the sea. Dui is the principal, +situated about the middle of the western coast. On the shores of Aniva +Bay are the Korsakoff barracks, with a garrison of 500 soldiers. +Muravieff, near this, is a military post, and its port is perhaps the +best, or rather the least bad, in the island; for along a coast of +1,200 miles Sakhalin has not a single harbour where vessels can anchor +in real safety. + +The island was held for a time jointly by Russia and Japan, and the +latter was not altogether disposed to give up her portion; but the +importation of convicts soon brought the Japanese to terms, and the +Russians are now sole masters. I am not aware that it has any metals, +though I heard of a surface iron-mine on the opposite coast near to +Nikolaefsk, belonging to Mr. Boutyn of Nertchinsk, which it was said +might be worked for scores of years without exhaustion, the mine being +similar in character to that which I saw in the Urals. The one mineral +production of Sakhalin is coal, of which 70,000 tons were raised in +1878. I heard the coal spoken of as good, but small. Recently it has +been described as “dusty nut-coal, suitable for smithy work, but not +for steaming.” Coal at Sakhalin costs more than in Japan or Australia. +The mines are let out by the Government to a company, which from the +first has seen small prosperity.[3] + +The mention of the mines, and of those who work them, leads me to +speak of the prisons, about which I have official statistics. I +obtained information from several military and naval officers; also +from a soldier, a prison officer, and a civilian, all of whom had +been to Sakhalin, and most of whom spoke as eye-witnesses. At Dui, it +would seem, there are four large prisons. I heard of them, from one +who had lived in the island, as insufficiently heated in winter, and +over-crowded. Another report, sent secretly by a prisoner to my exile +informant, corroborated the alleged want of space. They said, however, +that additional buildings were in course of erection.[4] + +The number of prisoners in the island in 1879 was about 2,600; half +were reported to be in prison, the remainder comparatively free. The +Sakhalin convicts are for the most part murderers, vagabonds, and +runaways, there being no “politicals” among them.[5] + +Dui is one of the three places where the authorities may use, in +addition to the birch, the troichatka or plète, which I have described +(vol. i., p. 92). I have no trustworthy information as to the frequency +with which flogging is inflicted. At Tiumen the prison director said +that, of 80,000 exiles who had passed through his hands in four +years, he had flogged only one. This, perhaps, is an extreme in one +direction. An exile, purporting to give information he had received +from a prisoner at Dui, and also translating into French what was +supposed to be addressed to me by a Russian soldier from Sakhalin, +said that Tuesday and Saturday were flogging days at Dui, and that +they flogged from 40 to 50 a week. This, I afterwards learned, was +very much exaggerated; and I had strong suspicions at the time that +my interpreter was making up a story for my note-book, which he saw +me writing. It is, in fact, difficult to know what is the truth, as +so much exaggeration has been used concerning the flogging of Russian +prisoners.[6] + +I saw at Nikolaefsk the wooden _kobyla_, or “mare,” on which the +culprit is laid; it is preferable, I should think, to the birching +“horse” in the Middlesex prison, Coldbath Fields, though, of course, +there can be no comparison between the birch and the plète. The latter +is a truly fearful instrument, but it is right to remember that the +Russians use it for the more part on such as we should hang outright. +Corporal punishment cannot be inflicted in Russia on a free man for a +first offence. Only the worst offenders are sent so far east as the +localities where the plète exists; and according to the law (Article +808) this punishment is reserved for those who, condemned to hard +labour, have committed further crime in Siberia, where it would seem +there are not wanting some desperate characters. + +When we passed through Ekaterineburg, for instance, a horrible incident +had occurred only four days previously. A man had entered brandy-shops, +ordered drink, and then presented a revolver to the salesmen if they +dared to require payment, and had treated isvostchiks in a similar +manner. He was summoned before the court, but through some technicality +got off, and subsequently told one of his prosecutors that he would +kill the lot of them; whereupon a number of isvostchiks set upon him, +and wounded him with 30 stabs. Some four or five were awaiting trial +at the time of my visit. Again, a murder took place during my stay at +Nikolaefsk, at a small drinking-shop in the town, kept by a man and +his wife. Two soldiers were in the habit of going there, and at night +one said, “Let us go and kill those two and get what brandy we want.” +Accordingly, very early in the morning, they went, knocked at the door, +and, on the man opening it, one of the soldiers stabbed him. The other, +after some difficulty, killed the wife, and all but cut off her head. A +serving woman narrowly escaped stabbing, but rushed out of the window +and told the police. The soldiers were called out, and the two men +identified, whereupon they both confessed their crime, and were taken +to the guard-house to await legal proceedings, which would consign +them, not to death, but to hard labour, it was supposed, in Sakhalin, +for 15 or 20 years. + +I think the worst thing I heard of Dui was about the prisoners’ food. +From two or three independent sources I was told that they did not +get enough. For some weeks one year they were reduced to a pound and +a half of bread a day, in consequence of an insufficient quantity of +flour having been sent to the island,--or, rather, by reason of the +ice breaking up that season so late that a fresh supply could not +be forwarded. Again, a naval officer told me that he had seen the +convicts, when bringing coal to his vessel, pick up and eat the scraps +which the seamen had thrown away. I should not think much of this, +however, for when I was on board a Russian man-of-war I saw fragments +of seamen’s biscuit tossed overboard such as any hungry man might well +be thankful for, and which, being of superior flour, a convict would +naturally relish in preference to his ordinary rye bread. + +The soldier who came from Sakhalin told me that the prison fare +consisted, on four days a week, of 3 lbs. (Russian) of bread and ¼ lb. +of meat, and on three days, of 3 lbs. of bread and 1 lb. of fish, which +is the quantity of bread allowed to the soldiers there, and exceeds the +weight of bread given to English prisoners. It should be added that +one of my informants said the prisoners gambled. Cards, with brandy +at an exorbitant price, they manage to smuggle into the prison, and +then play for their food. Goryantchikoff draws a vivid picture of this +practice carried on at night. When all are supposed to be asleep, a +piece of carpet is spread, a candle lighted, and a sentinel posted. +The card-playing then begins, and often does not cease till morning; +and the prisoners, having no money, stake their food and clothes. +It is not matter for surprise, therefore, if some of the prisoners +find themselves with insufficient or very bad clothing, the frequent +cause of which should be borne in mind in connection with the reckless +statements sometimes published respecting the clothing of Russian +prisoners. + +Making due allowance for exaggeration, however, I am disposed to think +that there is real cause for complaint regarding the food at Dui, as +to quality, if not quantity.[7] There are certain local circumstances +which would render it likely that the prisoners’ food in the Sea-coast +province, and especially Sakhalin, would not be so satisfactory as in +Western Siberia. The cost of provisions is very much higher in the +east, and the Government does not appear to allow proportionately +increased payment.[8] + +Testimony went in the opposite direction as regards the prisoners’ +labour, and all seemed of opinion that they were not overworked. The +agricultural convicts, from the great length and severity of the +winter, are idle the greater part of the year. The Polish exile said, +indeed, that the work was harder than at Kara, and that if the allotted +amount of work were unfinished, the miners were flogged; but when the +yearly output amounts to only 70,000 tons, it speaks for itself that +the getting of this quantity and loading the ships therewith is a mere +trifle for 1,000 or 1,500 men; and as in the other penal colonies of +Siberia, convicts suffer more, I judge, from inactivity than from +overwork. The miners spend 11 hours a day in the mine, from eight to +noon and one till eight; and then return to their barracks or houses, +not working, a German told me, so hard as English miners. One officer, +who had been much in Dui, said that the daily task of a prisoner was +not more than he himself could do in a couple of hours of really hard +work, and that the men are idle and spin out the work. + +Another, in answer to my question, replied that there was no difference +perceptible in the general health of the convict miners and farmers; +and the traveller I have quoted from the _North China Herald_ goes so +far as to say, “The conclusion we arrived at was, that contentment +prevailed throughout, even the convicts giving no evidence of +discontent.” + +To escape from the prisons of Dui has been comparatively easy, but +it is almost impossible to get far away, owing to the scarcity of +provisions and the nature of the country; and the difficulty will no +doubt be increased when the cable is laid[9] from De Castries Bay +to Dui. From this spot the runaway must first walk 200 miles along +the coast, and this through a country where he can get no provisions. +He dare not show himself to the natives, since there is a price on +his head, and they receive 6_s._ for taking him to the police, dead +or alive; and even if he should succeed in crossing the six miles of +ice to the continent, he is often compelled to give himself up to get +food. Thus, out of 100 who were reported to have run away the winter +before my journey, 32 were caught by the Gilyaks, and one case of +cannibalism was said to have taken place among the starving fugitives. +A terrible instance of the difficulty of procuring food in the Amur +region occurred in 1856, when a battalion of soldiers was dispatched +in September from Nikolaefsk up the river to Shilkinsk Zavod. They +were overtaken by winter, and were compelled to draw lots as to who +should be eaten. The survivors walked on the ice and arrived in safety. +Mr. Emery told me he had more than once seen hungry runaways give +themselves up to the authorities. Runaways when caught are flogged; but +this does not prevent others from making the attempt to escape. During +my stay at Nikolaefsk a rumour spread that a third of the prisoners +landed by the _Nijni Novgorod_ had escaped, having in their possession +30 revolvers; and as the small Cossack station on the island opposite +the mouth of the Amur had only 15 men, it was feared they would be in +a plight. Within a day or two the reported numbers sank to one-half, +and I have since learned that 40 was the number--some newly arrived and +others older convicts, and that 27 were caught. + +With regard to the prison executive, there is a resident priest +in Sakhalin; and since my visit a schoolmistress has been sent for +the convicts’ children, who are kept in prison. I sent a supply of +Scriptures and tracts for the prisoners and soldiers at Dui and Aniva +Bay. In the _Nijni Novgorod_, too, there came out a priest and an +assistant bringing with them a number of ecclesiastical books. The +assistant and books had been sent, I believe, by the Consistorium, +from which the priest at Vladivostock, at the time of my visit, +was expecting £40 worth of ecclesiastical literature. To every 100 +prisoners in Dui there are one superior and two under officers, all +of whom are miserably paid. The usual charges of peculation and using +for their own advantage the prisoners’ work are brought against them; +but with what amount of truth I cannot say. The most shameful abuse I +heard of concerning Sakhalin was that formerly the female prisoners +were allowed clandestinely to go on board the ships whilst coaling, +and were expected, on their return, to share with the warders their +licentious gains. This came from a prison official, but I cannot answer +for its truth; though when I asked a Russian doctor if it was at all +likely to be true, he thought it not improbable, and said that he had +no doubt female prisoners could, by payment to under officers, get +release for an occasional promenade. To what depths of rascality some +of the prison authorities may descend, I know not; but one officer, of +whom I thought highly, told me that he had been sometimes appointed to +inspect Siberian prisons, and in one of them, which he named, he found +the director had committed such frauds that, could he have hanged him, +he would have done so. As it was, he reported him to his chief, and +the man was removed. On the sea coast they say the heaven is high and +the Tsar is far off; and a bribe goes a long way in diverting the hand +of justice. For instance, one merchant declared that released convicts +had sometimes stolen his goods, but that he could not get them punished +because the offenders bribed the police. At Nikolaefsk they testified +that one convict, a murderer, who ought to have been fast in prison, +was allowed, for handsome payment, the run of the streets; though, +like John Bunyan in Bedford Gaol, he was obliged to be in prison when +inspectors came. This may be sufficiently shocking to English readers, +but not less so, perhaps, the following from nearer home. When visiting +one of the largest and best-managed prisons of England, and pointing to +the warders in broadcloth, I said to the gentleman conducting me, “Do +you think these men can be reached by a bribe?” To which he replied, “I +have not the smallest doubt of it; they bring in tobacco and eatables +to the cells, and we are powerless to prevent it. A prisoner, for +instance, informs his warder as to the whereabouts of his friends, and +perhaps asks him to call. On doing so the warder can inquire, ‘What +would you like me to do for your friend who is under my charge? and +what will you give me for doing it?’” A simple-minded woman, in her +innocence, came one day to the chaplain of a prison I know, complaining +that it “cost her so much to get little comforts to her incarcerated +husband”; and then came out the story of the warder’s exactions, which +at last had exhausted her means and patience! + +The reader will have observed that, in speaking of Sakhalin, I have +only given the testimony of others, as I did not go to the island. I +entered one prison only after leaving Nikolaefsk--that of Vladivostock, +and I may here, therefore, sum up my personal experience of Siberian +prisons. + +I have met with a deep and almost universal conviction that the prisons +of Siberia, compared with those of other countries, are intolerably +bad. This I cannot endorse. A proper comparison would be between the +Russian sent to Siberia and the English convict as formerly transported +to Botany Bay; but, comparing the convicts of the two nations as they +now are, and taking the three primary needs of life--clothing, food, +and shelter--the Russian convict proves to be fed more abundantly, if +not better, than the English convict; and the clothing of the two, +having regard to the dress of their respective countries, is very +similar. The floors of Siberian cells are not of polished oak, as in +Paris, nor are the walls of stone slabs, as in York. Siberian prisons +have not fittings of burnished brass, with everything neat and trim, +as at Petersburg; but then, neither have the houses of the Siberian +people. The average peasant, taken from his _izba_ to prison, need +experience no greater shock than does the average English criminal when +confined in jail. A convict’s labour in Siberia is certainly lighter +than in England; he has more privileges; friends may see him oftener, +and bring him food;[10] and he passes his time, not in the seclusion of +a cell, nor under imposed silence, but among his fellows, with whom he +may lounge, talk, and smoke. + +I am now looking at things from a prisoner’s point of view, and +referring more especially to his animal requirements. When we look at +his intellectual, moral, and religious nature, then it must be allowed +my former comparison, as between Russian and English prisons, no +longer holds good. The English convict, if unlettered, is compelled to +attend school; the Siberian is left in ignorance. In the case of the +English prisoner, some attempt, at all events, is made at his moral +reformation. When he enters the prison, and on subsequent occasions, +it is the chaplain’s duty to see him privately; and having learned, +if possible, his moral condition, to point out the cause of his fall, +and to show him the way to rise; and these efforts are attended with +more success than is known to the general public. Once more, the +English prisoner has opportunity of daily religious worship--in some +establishments twice a day, religious instruction twice a week or +oftener, and this sometimes ends in the happy result that going to +prison proves the turning-point of a life. + +But I can hardly conceive this happening to a Siberian prisoner. +Chaplains, in our sense of the word, are unknown; and even if the +criminal be softened at the thought of leaving home or friends, or +otherwise, he is turned loose among a herd of sinners more wicked +perhaps than himself, with the imminent probability that he will +speedily become as abandoned as they. If condemned to hard labour, he +is robbed of the Sunday and attendance at church; there is none to +point him to higher and better things, and hence he too often becomes +a wreck both for this world and the next. Once more, there are in +England voluntary agencies meeting the prisoner on his release with +an endeavour to minister to his temporal and spiritual good, so that, +if he desire to lead a reformed life, he is helped to do so; and +there are hundreds of former inhabitants of our prisons who to-day +are respectable members of society. But in regard to the spiritual +good of the Siberian prisoner, the Russian system is sadly deficient. +The exile, it is true, is settled in a village, in possession of land +where, if he chooses to work, he may satisfy his wants, and, as regards +material things, begin life anew; but he is known as a convict, and +too often does not care to retrieve his character. A doctor, holding a +high position in Siberia, told me that he thought the convicts, when +released, did not as a rule become reformed. They find difficulty, +he said, in persuading peasants to give them their daughters in +marriage; and if they marry released female convicts, these have +almost always been women of bad character, who bear no children. Hence +the men, having no home, often work during the week only to supply +immediate wants, and to save enough for a drink on Sunday. Such was his +testimony, from which it would appear that Siberia furnishes another +illustration of the truth that reformation, to be worthy of the name, +except on a religious basis, is impossible. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This is to some extent indicated by its name, “_Sahalin ula hota_,” +that is, “Rocks at the mouth of the Black River,” in keeping with which +idea, on Cook’s map of 1784. Sakhalin is but a small islet near the +Gulf of the Amur. Other maps, published later, represent Sakhalin as a +peninsula. It was left to the Russian Admiral Nevilskoy, 30 years ago, +to lay down with accuracy the shores of the island and the Strait of +Mamia Rinso, by which it is separated from the continent. Sakhalin is +about 600 miles long, with an estimated area of 32,000 square miles, +and traversed length-wise by a mountain chain with craggy summits. +The coast is for the most part rocky and steep, but opposite the mouth +of the Amur it consists of sandy downs. Similar downs are found, too, +on the eastern side of the island. None of the mountains reach the +line of perpetual snow, but several lift their bare grey summits above +the limit of vegetation. The island has two large indentations--one +on the eastern coast, called the Bay of Patience, and another at the +south, called Aniva Bay; also two rivers, each about the length of the +Thames, and some smaller streams flowing through arable valleys. It has +likewise three lakes, the largest of which is 50 miles long. + +[2] I am not aware that any efforts have been made for the educational +or spiritual improvement of the Aïnos of Sakhalin. Veniaminoff reduced +to writing the language of the neighbouring Kuriles, published a +grammar, and translated the Gospel of St. Matthew, which was printed at +Moscow in 1840. When at Hakodate I was informed that the missionaries +contemplated work among the Aïnos in Yesso, the northern island of +Japan, and I found this, on my return, to be desired by the late Henry +Wright, Honorary Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, but I am +not aware that any efforts have yet been put forth for the Aïnos of +Sakhalin. + +[3] It has the right to employ 400 convicts, for which they pay to the +Government, says Mr. Réclus, from 9_d._ to 1_s._ 6_d._ per man per day; +but I heard that it was at a certain rate per pood of coal obtained. +The company are supposed to supply the Government ships with 5,000 tons +yearly, if required, at 18_s._ a ton; but in 1878 less than 700 tons +were so disposed of. + +[4] A traveller writing in the _North China Herald_ of August 5th last, +describing what he saw of the convicts in Sakhalin, says: “They lived +in barracks which from the outside appeared to be large, airy, and +commodious. One evening we went to one of them, in which about 1,000 +convicts were ranged in the courtyard. We passed round the building +and saw that, for ventilation and comfort, arrangements of the most +complete kind had been made.” But I think he speaks of Korsakovsk, +south of Dui, where there were in 1881, as I learn from official +sources, 450 male and female convicts with their families. + +[5] The following list gives, for the five years preceding my visit, +the number of persons condemned to hard labour and sent from European +Russia by road to the Sea-coast government and Sakhalin, and who, on +their arrival, were distributed to Nikolaefsk, Dui coal-mines, Dui +farm, and in small numbers to Aniva Bay. It shows the number remaining +over annually from the previous year, the number of additions, of +departures by death, finished terms, or removal elsewhere, and the +number remaining:-- + + | From | | | + | last year.| Arrivals.| Departures. | Remaining. + 1874 | 962 | 759 | 1,011 | 710 + 1875 | 710 | 1,919 | 1,503 | 1,126 + 1876 | 1,126 | 2,412 | 2,039 | 1,499 + 1877 | 1,499 | 1,494 | 1,429 | 1,564 + 1878 | 1,564 | 1,116 | 988 | 1,692 + +Taking a rough average, I find a proportion of 18 women convicts to +100 men. Further details respecting these convicts for 1878 will give +some idea as to their crimes. There were sent to Nikolaefsk 476 men and +62 women. Of the men, 98 were removed to Dui, and 378 remained on the +continent--300 on the Upper Amur, and 70 in the Primorsk province. + +These 378 men were convicted of the following crimes:-- + + Murder 155 + Vagrancy and assuming false names 55 + Running away 52 + Highway robbery 39 + Theft 17 + Robbery with violence 9 + Arson 4 + Insubordination to authorities 13 + Counterfeiting money 3 + Seduction 3 + Incest 3 + Removing railway irons 1 + Crimes not mentioned 24 + +The crimes of the 62 women were as follows:-- + + Murdering husbands 28 + Murdering illegitimate children 6 + Murdering other persons 17 + Arson 7 + Theft 1 + Highway Robbery 1 + Counterfeiting money 1 + Vagrancy 1 + +[6] Goryantchikoff, in “Buried Alive,” says a good deal about flogging, +but some of his writing refers to the condition of things 50 years ago, +and some of it is, to say the least, questionable; as, for instance, he +_had heard_ a story of an executioner giving 50 strokes or so more than +was decreed, because the culprit was stubborn and did not ask pity. +When I witnessed a birching at Nikolaefsk, a Cossack stood by, counting +aloud every stroke; and when the plète is administered, a medical +officer and others are obliged to be present. It is very unlikely, +therefore, that a lictor would dare to give 50 extra strokes, even if +he wished to do so. But, further, Goryantchikoff says, “400 or 500 +strokes of a birch rod are almost sure to kill a man, and 1,000 strokes +will kill the strongest man; but the same number of strokes with a cane +will hardly injure a man of moderate constitution.” And yet I have +quoted the case of a soldier at Nikolaefsk birched with 1,100 strokes, +who, a fortnight afterwards, saucily declared that he would receive +them again for a bottle of brandy! + +[7] A civil officer, whom I know, was told of complaints about the +food, to which he replied, “What can I do? They now get the supply of +fish by contract, and allow so small a sum that I know it cannot be +good. I can only bring the matter before my superiors, and, if they +do nothing, I am powerless. I cannot pay it out of my own pocket!” +Again, a naval officer told me that, in taking across provisions to the +island, the smell of the fish on board was almost insupportable. The +fish, he said, were bad, and the salt meat bad, though the bread was +good. + +[8] Thus I met with a gentleman who was elected director of the local +committee for the prison at Nikolaefsk, to whom, for many years, +the Government allowed only 13 kopecks per day to provide food for +each prisoner. The committee petitioned for 25 kopecks a day, and it +received 17, at which rate he believed it now stands. At that time 17 +kopecks represented about 6_d._ a day, now they represent only 4½_d._ +But three pounds of rye bread at Nikolaefsk cost 15 kopecks, and thus +there was less than 1_d._ left for other kinds of food. The result, in +the case of my informant, was that he often put his hand in his own +pocket to the extent of £20 or £30 a year; but it is not likely that +many can be found thus to act, especially in such a place as Sakhalin, +where there is no colony, and the free inhabitants are very few. There +is no philanthropic committee there at all, so that the management +of the exiles is left solely to the administrative authorities. My +informant said that the corn sent to Dui was good, but that the meat +and fish were always bad, and that, in fact, the convicts scarcely ever +got meat at all. + +[9] Alluded to in the _North China Herald_ of August 5th, 1881. + +[10] The best conduct of an English convict would not entitle him to a +visit from friends oftener than once in three months, and they may not +bring him anything. + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +_THE USSURI AND SUNGACHA._ + + From Nikolaefsk to Khabarofka.--Proposal to move the port.--Military + forces in the province.--Departure for Kamen Ruiboloff.--The + Ussuri.--Visit to a parish priest.--The native Goldi.--Missions + of the Russian Church.--Pay of missionaries.--Head waters + of Ussuri.--The Sungacha.--Cossacks.--Visit to a Cossack + stanitza.--Chinese houses.--Lake Khanka.--Arrival at Kamen + Ruiboloff. + + +On Saturday night, August 30th, I left Nikolaefsk for Khabarofka, +pleased with the prospect of travelling 700 miles where no English or +American author had gone before. By Sunday morning we reached Tyr, and +Mariinsk and Sophiisk were passed on Monday.[1] + +As we approached Khabarofka, on Thursday evening, summer appeared to +have returned. The small steamer bound for the Ussuri did not start for +24 hours after our arrival, and so I had another day in Khabarofka, +which just then was in a state of excitement. General Tichmeneff was +there, with a commission sent to the Sea-coast government, to consider +whether or not it was desirable to move the port from Vladivostock. +In early years Ayan, and next Petropavlovsk, was the Russian port +in the Pacific; then it was removed to Nijni Kamchatka, afterwards +to Nikolaefsk, and from thence, in 1865, to Vladivostock. From a +strategic point of view the situation of Vladivostock was considered +unsatisfactory, and when it looked possible, in 1878, that England +and Russia might go to war, the apprehensions of the authorities were +aroused, and some of the foreign merchants of the port, preferring not +to run the chance of a siege, decamped to Japan. The question then +was whether the Government should spend some £300,000 or £400,000 in +the defence of Vladivostock, to make it a military as well as a naval +stronghold, or move to another harbour that could be more easily +fortified. This was the talk of the province during my stay, and steam, +telegraph, and postal services seemed busy in doing the behests of the +commission. I caught sight of the general as he and his staff embarked +on the _Onon_ for Nikolaefsk; and I have since heard that he has been +appointed military governor of the province, to live at Khabarofka, +whilst Vladivostock continues as the head-quarters of the fleet, and +Admiral Erdmann has been recalled to Russia, and is now Governor of the +Port of Reval. + +I made it my business to call upon Major Evfanoff, the commandant, +as I wished to place Scriptures in the barracks, and to give other +reading material for distribution among soldiers and Cossacks. At +Nikolaefsk I had entrusted upwards of 1,200 books and tracts to Colonel +Ossipoff, which he distributed during my stay; also at Sophiisk I left +a parcel of 500 with Colonel Ussufovitch.[2] The major expressed his +willingness to carry out my wishes at Khabarofka, though he did not +see how the books could be allowed to lie safely in the barrack-rooms +for every one’s use. I was therefore obliged to ask him to carry out +my intentions in the way that was most feasible, and he subsequently +told me that the soldiers were highly pleased, and thankful for the +distribution. + +Besides the books left for the barracks and hospital, I did a stroke +of business with the merchant Plusnin, selling him a bundle of 250 +tracts, hoping thereby to get them distributed; and had not my stock +failed, I would gladly have sold to him, or sent to Blagovestchensk, +some copies of the Scriptures for the Molokans, who, I heard, are the +largest purchasers, as I suppose they are the greatest readers, of the +Scriptures on the Amur. Thus, having done what I could for Khabarofka, +I prepared to leave it on Friday night, September 5th. + +The steamboat agents and officials were exceedingly kind to me, +apparently out of regard to what I was doing. A man said at Nikolaefsk +that the chief director had been staying with him, and had he known +that I was coming on such an errand, he should certainly have asked +for me a free passage. As it was, the clerk would not hear of taking +anything for the carriage of “the holy books,” and a first-class +cabin was given for my sole use at a second-class fare, and this was +repeated on the Ussuri.[3] The great General Tichmeneff had been the +last occupant of my cabin, and it was draped with Brussels carpet, +apparently new, the stately proportions of the room being 6 feet long +by 4 broad and 7 high, which I feared his Excellency, who was bigger +than I in more senses than one, must have found exceedingly small. + +The Ussuri, after the Sungari, is the most considerable of the rivers +which join the Amur from the south. It flows from the south-west to the +north-east in the valley that separates the two parallel ridges of the +Shan-alin and the Sikhota-Alin mountains. At Khabarofka it measures +nearly two miles wide, having at its mouth three islands and two +sandbanks, with an ordinary depth of 10 feet, though after the summer +rains it rises to 19 feet. Ascending 25 miles, the width diminishes to +a mile and a half, the depth never exceeding 20 feet. The Ussuri was +chosen in 1860 for a frontier, so that we now had Russian territory on +the left, and Chinese territory on the right. The Chinese bank is for +the most part flat, but the horizon is bounded by low mountain peaks. +The Russian bank is mountainous and richly wooded, being formed of +the western slopes of the coast range, which give birth to a number +of streams, the Chirka, Bikin, Por, and others, which flow in on the +eastern bank of the Ussuri. The largest of the streams flowing in on +the western bank are the Nor, Muren, and Sungacha. At the confluence +of the Chirka the river is a mile and a quarter wide. For 30 miles +further the mountains retire, and the bottom land thus left is richly, +though not thickly, wooded with aspens, willows, oaks, and elms. +Opposite the mouth of the Por, which flows in on the Russian bank, were +a few Chinese houses called Sunchui. We had passed a similar group on +the first day’s travel, and subsequently came to three others, one +of which, opposite Graphskaya, was called Vikul Uima. The right bank +was almost uninhabited. Within 70 miles from Khabarofka we passed, +on the Russian bank, six stations, and among them Kazakevich (where +was a military post, at which I gave some books to Colonel Glen); +Dyachenkova, a village of seven houses; and Trëkh-svyateeteley, or the +“station of three saints.” Another euphonious name was given further on +to a collection of houses called Vidnaya, or “the beautiful,” where the +Ussuri divides into three channels. + +On Sunday morning we arrived at Kozloffskaya, or the Goat station, +having a telegraph office and a church. Service was over, and I called +on the priest, John Voskresenskie (which means resurrection), a man +who, if not-- + + “To all the country dear, + Was passing rich on _sixty_ pounds a year!” + +His parish extended along the river’s bank, 30 miles to the north and +50 to the south, and he ministered to 10 villages. To the most distant +he goes eight times a year, to the others once a month.[4] + +Most of the houses at Kozloffskaya had gardens, in some of which maize +was growing. There was also a private chapel, erected by one of the +tradesmen. At the next station, Vasilyeva, the Bekin flows in on the +Russian bank, and the mountains here reach their highest. + +On Sunday evening we passed a deserted village of 10 log houses, +called Pashkova, from which the inhabitants had migrated in a body +further south. On the Chinese bank the hills, well wooded to the top, +approached the river. In the course of Sunday night we were delayed +nine hours by fog, and during the next day stopped for a chat with a +steam launch, used, if I mistake not, for the telegraph service. This +was the only craft, excepting the canoes of the natives, that we met. +Seven stations more were passed, and on Monday evening we arrived at +Krasnoiarskaia, having completed half our voyage. + +The principal natives of the Ussuri are the Goldi. In addition to what +I read and saw of these people, I acquired a great deal of information +from Alexander Protodiakonoff, the priest of Khabarofka, who has been +a missionary hereabouts for 23 years. At Malmuish a missionary, who +had 3,000 Goldi in his district, came on board the _Onon_, from whom I +gathered that he had been a priest only a year, during which time he +had baptized 50 persons. This man called one of the Goldi passengers to +explain to me the use of my Gilyak idols. + +The Goldi are of the Tunguse family, and belong to the Mongolian race. +Their number was estimated by Collins at 2,560, but a missionary gave +it me as about 6,000. Their habitat extends along the Amur to the +country of the Gilyaks on the north, and on the south to the Upper +Ussuri, whilst laterally it extends from the mouth of the Sungari to +the sea coast. The mortality among them, as among the Gilyaks, is +great, but they are, nevertheless, thought to be on the increase. Their +physiognomy is distinctly Mongolian. They imitate some of the customs +of the neighbouring Manchu, amongst others that of shaving off the +hair, with the exception of a tail, which they wear on the top of the +head. They do not, as a rule, cultivate the ground, even for garden +produce; and such vegetable food as they use, millet or rice, they +get in exchange for furs. We did, however, pass two or three Goldi +huts where millet was under cultivation, and where the natives looked +unusually dirty. Their houses and clothing I have already spoken of as +resembling those of the Gilyaks. + +Their communications with the outside world are extremely limited. The +only foreigners they know are Russians and Chinese. When, therefore, +the natives asked who I was, it was exceedingly difficult to make +them understand, as they had never seen an Englishman before.[5] The +Goldi, long used to dealing with the Manchu, still use their money, +weights, and measures, also their musical instruments. I was told they +do not sing. Each village has its chief or elder, as formerly, under +Manchu rule, but they are gradually becoming Russianized. Twenty years +ago they used to have drunken fights, village with village, but this +practice is now abandoned, and their treatment of the dead is growing +more decent; not that they used, like their Mongolian congeners, the +interior of their dogs for burying-places, the corpse being cut up +and eaten, but they had in each village a house for the dead, which, +in summer, stank so horribly as fairly to drive the people away. In +these buildings the clothes and arms were placed with the corpse, and +children and friends entered from time to time to mourn. A missionary +told me he had seen one of these houses within the past 10 years, but +that now the Goldi bury their dead, as do the Russians. + +[Illustration: GOLDI IN WINTER DRESS.] + +I spent part of my last evening at Khabarofka at the house of Peter +Alexander, protodiakonoff, or arch deacon, of that town and two +neighbouring villages, with a population of 260. He told me that the +missionary district he superintended, in addition to his parish, +extended from Orlofsk to Ekaterin-Nicolsk on the Amur, and from Busse +on the Ussuri to Khabarofka, a river line of about 700 miles. At +the time of my visit the priest and his brother were engaged on a +translation of the Gospels, and as he did not appear to know how to +get it printed, I recommended him to apply to the British and Foreign +Bible Society, whose obliging and energetic agent in Petersburg, +Mr. Nicolson, had desired me to be on the look-out for new Siberian +translations. The Russian liturgy had been already translated into +Goldi. The priest gave me a photograph of a group of Goldi Christians, +wearing ear and nose rings, and embroidered garments of fish-skin. I +set great store by the picture, for it is a rarity. The natives have +not yet become vain of their faces, and do not like to be photographed. +This group had been taken for the priest who baptized them. In the +background is the village starosta, and in front the patriarch of the +group, whilst a large number of the other figures are women. I know +not whether many of them were the patriarch’s wives, of whom, before +baptism, he intended to have a sale. If so, he must have been rich, +for one of the Goldi, of whom I inquired the price of wives, said that +if paid in money they cost from £50 to £70; and if in goods, then from +four to seven pieces of “stuff,” but he did not say whether it was to +be silk, linen, or blue nankeen. + +Peter Alexander, the archdeacon, in 23 years up to October 1878, had +baptized 2,000 natives; 403 were Orochons (he computed them at 3,000 in +his district), and 1,501 were Goldi.[6] + +I had heard it stated that the Russian missionaries _pay_ the heathen +to be baptized. One of the missionaries told me that he believed there +were priests who gave rewards to their converts, though he had not done +so, and he thought it possible that a few natives presented themselves +more than once to different priests for baptism, hoping to gain +thereby. Another allegation, that of a nobleman, was that the converts +were “bribed.” But this kind of statement is so frequently made by +those who look coldly on mission work that I did not regard it as +proven. My informant said that he had seen at Irkutsk that they gave to +the Buriats shirts, crosses, and a few roubles; and that often the same +Buriats came again for baptism the following year. Also an Ispravnik, +interested in the Buriat missions, told me they sometimes gave converts +five roubles or so when poor and privately persecuted. Accordingly, I +inquired concerning this of the archdeacon, and he explained by telling +me that the last 400 he had baptized had received nothing, but that +previously each candidate had been supplied, at the expense of the +Missionary Society at Blagovestchensk, with a new shirt, a cross to +hang on the neck, and an ikon. The reason for this would be evident +to any one who knows Siberia. There would be no towns near, where the +Gilyaks, for instance, could buy crosses or ikons, and without the +possession of these I suppose it is doubtful whether a Russian could be +persuaded that he was a Christian at all. Again, the new shirt might +represent the chrisom, or baptismal robe; and even if not, the people’s +ordinary garments (of fish-skin and dog-skin) are so filthy that it +would be only becoming that for once in their lives, at their baptism, +they should look decently clean. The Protodiakonoff told me that on his +journeys he used to take two or three hundred shirts and crosses, stay +in a village for two or three days, and then sometimes baptize as many +as 40 at once, especially when he could bring over a rich man, for then +the poorer ones followed. + +I came, therefore, to the conclusion that the charge of bribery on +the part of the missionaries was not well founded; but, on the other +hand, it was equally plain, upon their own showing, that the Russian +missionaries differ widely from the English as to what constitutes +proper qualification for baptism.[7] I asked the priest at Khabarofka +concerning the pay of missionaries, to which he replied that he to +whom I had spoken from Malmuish received £25 per annum, and he himself +received £30 as a missionary, and 241 roubles 62 kopecks, or about +£24, from another source--say £55 in all. Others had represented to +me that he received £250 a year; so perhaps this was exclusive of his +offerings, which I heard might vary from 6_d._ to £1 for baptisms, +and from 6_s._ to £5 for a wedding. Also it is usual to call in the +priest after a death to say a “panychid,” or office, the name of which +suggests a prayer all night long, but which lasts an hour, and for +which it is usual to give from 6_d._ up to £1. Offertories, too, are +collected each Sunday for the priest, orphans, church, etc., according +to the object, for which each of several plates is carried. I gathered +that the support given by the natives to their pastors and the church +consists of the purchase of candles to the extent of a few pence and +an occasional sable-skin. The house and library of the Protodiakonoff +did not look as if its owner had an income of £250 a year; but his home +was neat and clean, though simply furnished, and his wife and daughters +were becomingly dressed. I was glad to hear an excellent report of +this missionary, who was said to be a good man and learned. It was his +custom actually to preach or read a sermon every Sunday, and he had a +crowded church in consequence. I suppose he did not profess that his +sermons were all original; for when, on board the _Onon_, he caught +sight of a tract I had given to the steward’s boy, he immediately +seized it, and wrote thereon “for a sermon.” + +I thought this missionary the most hard-working priest I met in +Siberia, and I was very glad to have obtained from him what I +consider such trustworthy information concerning the Goldi. The +last representatives of this race I saw at the little village of +Krasnoiarskaia, 260 miles from Khabarofka, where a man and woman were +standing on the banks. The man had a Manchu matchlock with no butt, but +having a handle something like that of a pistol. It had a flint and +hammer, pulled by a very clumsy trigger. Of the woman I bought her ear- +or nose-ring. + +On the fourth day, Tuesday, we arrived early in the morning at Busse, +where was another telegraph station. Up to this point we had passed +on the river 10 tributaries on the right bank, and 17 on the left. +About an hour before noon, we changed our course from the Ussuri to the +Sungacha; but, before leaving the Ussuri, I would observe that its head +waters are formed by the confluence of the Daibecha and the Ulache, +together with several smaller streams. One of them, the Sandugu, rises +only about 50 miles from the coast at Olga Bay, and on the banks of +the Daibecha gold has been found. I learn, too, from the _North China +Herald_, that a few miles from Vladivostock (in what direction is not +stated) coal-mines on a large scale are being opened up by Mr. S. +Morris, whom I met, if I mistake not, and that they promise to yield +well. The Ussuri is navigable several miles higher than Busse, and +could a railway be constructed (to which the country offers, I am told, +no special obstacle) from Vladivostock to the most southern navigable +point of the Ussuri, a means of communication would be made for the +carriage of merchandise and passengers, which would be of the utmost +importance to the Ussuri valley, the only military and commercial route +leading from the Amur to the southern parts of Russian Manchuria.[8] + +On the morning of Tuesday, the 9th of September, we entered the +Sungacha. It enters at right angles on the western bank of the Ussuri. +The Sungacha, flowing out of Lake Khanka, is the largest of the +Ussuri tributaries, and the most tortuous river on which I have been. +A straight line from its source to its mouth measures but 60 miles, +whereas along its channel it measures nearly 180 miles, and I do not +think we traversed a single half mile without a bend. Great skill, +therefore, was required in steering both steamer and barge. So sharp +were some of the curves that, when the former had turned the bend, +the two crafts appeared to be proceeding in opposite directions. The +steamer at such times slackened speed, but even then, on the first day, +the barge twice ran into the muddy bank, and temporarily stuck fast. +The Sungacha is from 20 to 60 feet deep, from 100 to 110 feet wide, +with a current of two knots. In some parts it is barely 100 feet wide, +and in two places only from 8 to 12 feet deep. + +Black and turbid as was the water of the Ussuri, it was limpid compared +with that of the Sungacha, which was unusable for cooking. A supply +of Ussuri water was therefore taken on board, and this implies a good +deal, since the Siberians are not too nice in this respect, and are +accustomed to the use of river and surface water only. I saw turtles in +the Sungacha, and learned that this river, as well as Lake Khanka and +the Ussuri, abounds with all kinds of fish, especially carp, sterlet, +and salmon.[9] + +There joined us at Busse a telegraph officer named Adamson, who spoke +German, and with whom I was able to employ my smattering of that tongue +to good effect. Hitherto I had not exchanged many ideas with my four +fellow first-class passengers, one of whom was a veterinary surgeon, +and two others Russian and Polish officers. The horse-doctor and the +Pole seemed to have no mental resources whatever; and regarding them +as types of Siberian “society,” it was not difficult to understand +the dismal complaint of a physician I met, that he had no congenial +companions, there being nothing cared for in the town above the level +of wine or cards. These two passengers played incessantly, and, +excepting at meals and during sleep, I doubt if cards were out of their +hands for a couple of hours during the passage. One night the Pole, +even after he had gone to bed, got up to play another game. The captain +was very obliging, and gave me a chart he had made of the Ussuri, +which is valuable, there being only two original writers, as far as I +know, on any considerable portion of this river--namely, Venyukoff and +Prejevalsky.[10] + +On the day we entered the Sungacha, we came to one station +only--Markova, which was the last collection of houses that could be +dignified with the name of a village. All the stations beyond were +Cossack pickets, and consisted of one or perhaps two houses, at which +horses are kept for the postal service in winter. There were six of +these pickets beyond Markova, making a total of 36 stations between +Khabarofka and Kamen Ruiboloff. Among them are four villages only with +a church--namely, Kazakevich, Ilyinska, Kozloffski, and Venyukova, with +a resident priest to each of the first three. Among the stations were +likewise 21 Cossack stanitzas or settlements, containing from one to a +hundred houses each. Also, between Kamen Ruiboloff and Vladivostock are +ten stanitzas and three churches. Markova was a Cossack stanitza, and +as we stayed there for an hour or two, I enlisted the services of Mr. +Adamson, and peeped at Cossack life. + +Cossacks of old were warlike people, who lived a free-and-easy life +on the border, frequently ravaging their neighbours’ herds, whom the +Russians reduced to subjection, but left them many privileges. When +the Amur came into the hands of the Tsar, it became necessary that the +Russian frontier should be guarded, and, if possible, settled. General +Muravieff therefore took many of the children of convicts, called them +Cossacks, and placed them, together with voluntary emigrants from the +Trans-Baikal province, in stations, about 10 miles apart, along the +Amur and the Ussuri. Land was allotted to them, and they were supplied +with cows, horses, farming-stock, and provisions for a year, after +which time they were expected to take care of themselves.[11] The +mounted Cossacks are employed to keep the boundaries, and many of the +foot Cossacks act as police. When not engaged in service they are free +to farm, rear cattle, hunt, or, in fact, turn their hands to what they +please, though they are liable to be called up in time of war, almost +to the depopulation of a whole neighbourhood.[12] This accounted for +the deserted village of Pashkova, and I learned that the service is not +unpopular; for when the Government wanted 800 men wherewith to found a +colony on the shores of Lake Khanka, there was no lack of volunteers--a +circumstance sufficiently explained by the fact that in such cases they +get new farming stock and provisions.[13] + +On the Ussuri the Cossacks are expected to keep off the Chinese +smugglers, and even traders, who are not allowed to settle on the +Russian bank except under proper restrictions. Cossack habitations, +therefore, represent the utmost bounds of Russian life. + +Markova consisted of rather more than a dozen houses, of which only +seven were inhabited. I entered some of them, and was struck with their +cleanly and orderly arrangement, as compared with the houses of the +Russian peasantry. In the first the floor was strewn with hay, the +walls were whitewashed, and on one of them was displayed a quantity +of table ware, consisting of seven forks, four spoons, and a ladle. +On a plate-shelf stood a teapot, slop-basin, two dishes, and four +plates, a mug, cup, and two glasses. Near the door hung two bundles +of squirrel-skins, and a sheepskin coat, whilst in the corner was a +well-known feature in every Cossack’s house,--a handmill for grinding +corn, worked by the Cossack’s wife. A larger mill in the village was +turned by horse-power, but with the slender result of grinding only +3 cwt. of meal a day. I saw, too, rope made of lime-tree bark, good +for use in the water, and large fish-hooks on which the fish of the +Sungacha hook themselves whilst playing with the float. In another +house was a Cossack’s hunting gun, with a two-legged rest and a flint +lock, which is said still to be preferred to more modern kinds. In a +third house I bought some hazel-nuts. I had been unable to procure any +fruit since leaving Khabarofka, nor could I succeed at Krasnoiarskaya +in getting cucumbers. + +After leaving Markova the banks of the Sungacha continued flat, and +were all but uninhabited. Our ceaseless windings on the river continued +till Wednesday evening, when we arrived at Lon Mayo, on the edge of +Lake Khanka, where, on the Chinese bank, were two small houses. They +were inhabited, apparently, by men only, and those very dirty. Within +the house I entered there was an inner compartment, where, among other +objects, I observed a heavy stone for grinding corn, a well-made wicker +shovel, and a huge brandy bottle, or cask, made of a sort of coarse +_papier-maché_. The building was thatched, and at a distance of two +or three yards stood the chimney, constructed of the hollowed trunk +of a tree, and plastered with mud at the bottom. In the yard was a +cart, with clumsy Chinese wheels, and troughs for cattle, hollowed, +like canoes, from the trunks of trees. Bricks, made of mud and rushes, +were drying in the sun, and men were busy pulling hemp into threads. +In the garden was a small heathen temple, the size of a sentry-box, +into which they did not object to my looking. Two poles stood in front, +and inside, a table, with a picture over it, a pan and vase, with +joss-sticks and some fish-hooks. Not far distant I noticed a field of +“buddha” or millet growing, and attempted to approach it by crossing a +boggy plot, but was compelled by mosquitoes to beat a speedy retreat. +The Ussuri and Sungacha are famous for these insects, as was suggested +by the mosquito blinds of the steamer; but a slight breeze and the +comparative lateness of the season delivered us. + +The Khanka Lake might be called a “Mediterranean,” for such is the +meaning of the Chinese word “Khan-Kaï,” which the Russians have changed +into Khanka, spelt also Khinka, Hinka, and Kenka.[14] Its superficial +extent is more than 1,200 square miles, but, notwithstanding its size +and high-sounding name, it is little more than a huge inundation, for +its depth is in no part more than seven feet. In early summer one +can sometimes walk into the lake, half a mile from the bank, without +finding more than 10 inches of water. Hence I had been warned that the +steamer might possibly not be able to cross, in which case it would +be necessary to proceed 40 miles through Chinese territory, round the +north of the lake, by a road on which there is but one post-station, +and so to re-enter Russian territory at a point on the north-west +shore; for the frontier does not skirt the lake, but crosses it from +Lon Mayo, at an angle of 45 degrees. My host at Nikolaefsk on one +occasion was obliged to accomplish this journey on the back of a cow. +This, however, I was spared, for the thunderstorms of June and July, +with the south-east winds, had brought their usual supply of rain, and +caused the lake to enlarge, so that it assumed the proportions of an +inland sea. At ordinary times the Khanka is divided into two parts, +the “great lake” and the “little lake,” which latter is also called +“the Dobuka.” From the captain’s chart I calculated it to be 20 miles +long by three wide. The two lakes are separated by a sandy strand, +of regular proportions, bending towards the north in such a manner +as to continue with exactness the curves of the banks from the east +and west. This strand, developing its arc with geometrical precision, +is only like many others found on the shores of the ocean; but few +similar cases occur on the banks of a lake of such comparatively small +extent. Such strands, for the most part, are formed when the locality +is sheltered from the winds, which do not come regularly from the same +quarter.[15] + +I suppose that the water is sometimes rough, for the good-natured +captain kindly inquired whether I should be afraid if the boat rocked +about. I had not at that time traversed two oceans, but was able to +assure him, nevertheless, that I hoped for the best. The windows were +as solemnly closed and battened as if we were about to cross the +Atlantic; and towards night we steamed into the lake, to find it as +calm as a mill-pond. After steering south-east for about 50 miles we +arrived, at dawn, at Kamen Ruiboloff, or the Fisherman’s Stone, thus +finishing a voyage from Khabarofka of 466 miles, or 510 if we had gone +to the stations on the shores of the lake. + +We had made a quicker passage than was expected; perhaps partly to +be accounted for by an “attraction” which no doubt influenced the +captain. He spoke a little French, and communicated to me that on the +day after our arrival he was to be married to the niece of the merchant +Plusnin, of Khabarofka. They have certain domestic and semi-religious +preliminaries to a Russian wedding, as I have stated, which I was +anxious to see, for we have nothing corresponding to them in England; +but unfortunately I missed the opportunity at Kamen Ruiboloff, for +although I rose soon after daylight, the captain had fled, and I +hastened to proceed, remembering well that the foremost traveller at +the post-house gets the untired horses. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] At all of these places I distributed tracts or sold my books, +some of the latter at a shilling each; but the people purchased them +so readily that I had not a sufficient supply. In this work I had a +willing helper in Captain Stjerncreutz, who in his university days +had learned a little English from a lady at Helsingfors. At our +stopping-places he usually became the medium through whom I gave a +bundle of books to the local priest, to be distributed to the Russians. +Some of these priests worked also as missionaries to the Gilyaks. I met +one at Tyr, and another, Peter Logimof, at Mikhailofsk. The last told +me he had baptized 200 aborigines in seven years. + +[2] I learned that in the Primorsk were 6 battalions of infantry, +namely, at Nikolaefsk, Sophiisk, Khabarofka, Sakhalin, Kamen-Ruiboloff, +and Vladivostock; and 8 batteries of horse-artillery, namely, at +Nikolaefsk, Khabarofka, Sakhalin, Nicolsk, and Paseat. From the +“Russian Officers’ Handbook,” published at Petersburg by the Ministry +of War, it appeared that the number of soldiers in East Siberia, +in 1878, was 17,610, with 130 guns; namely, 10,640 infantry, 1,300 +artillery, 270 sappers and miners, and 5,400 irregular cavalry. More +particularly they read as follows:-- + +Infantry.--Blagovestchensk, 400; Irkutsk, 900; Chita, 300; Stretinsk, +240; Yakutsk, 700; Kara, 470; Kiakhta, 470; Nertchinsk, 470; Sakhalin, +1,100; Olga Bay, 180; Paseat, 340; Vladivostock, 1,000; Kamen +Ruiboloff, 1,000; Sophiisk, 1,000; Khabarofka, 800; Nikolaefsk, 800; De +Castries Bay, 400; Barracouta Bay, 70. + +Heavy artillery.--Chita, 250; Khabarofka, 250; Nikolaefsk, 800. + +Field artillery.--16 batteries, of which 8 were in the Primorsk, of 8 +guns, having 12 horses to each gun, and 2 mountain batteries. + +Sappers and miners.--30 torpedo men and 240 engineers. + +Irregular cavalry.--9 Cossack regiments of 600 each. + +In war time the Cossacks of the Amur and Ussuri send 6 mounted +regiments, of 560 each; 9 foot regiments, of 920 each; and 2 batteries +of horse artillery. Of these, 500 are in constant service. + +On the frontier service were 2 regiments, each of 400 mounted Cossacks; +and 15 companies, of 133 each, of foot. + +For the service of the Étape prisons of Eastern Siberia were employed, +from the Yakutsk regiment, 400, and the Kamchatka regiment, 200. It +is from these last two, I suppose, are supplied the Cossack posts I +heard of from Behring’s Strait round the Sea of Okhotsk, serving as +police, and distributed thus: Anadir, 13; Petropavlovsk, 59; Tigil, 17; +Ghijiga, 42; Yamsk, 7; Okhotsk, 32; Ayan, 12; Udskoi, 10. + +The following is the constitution of an infantry _regiment_, which is +divided into 3 or sometimes 4 battalions, of 1,000 men each, in war +time or on the frontier. Superior officers: 1 commander, 1 adjutant, +1 treasurer, and 1 commissariat. To each battalion 1 commandant, 1 +adjutant, 1 treasurer. Each battalion has 4 companies, No. 1 being +called “skirmishers,” and consisting of a fixed number of 240 men, +1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 2 sub-lieutenants and non-commissioned +officers, 1 field assistant, and 1 under officer to every 5 men. +Companies 2, 3, and 4 have not a fixed number of men, and there is an +under officer to every 10 men only. + +In the book quoted above appeared the military officers’ pay; but they +get several additional allowances, everything being provided for them +except food. The pay of officers is:-- + + Generals from £152 to £254 per annum. + Colonels ” 58 ” 103 ” ” + Captains ” 54 ” 66 ” ” + Staff Captains ” 50 ” 68 ” ” + Lieutenants ” 40 ” 60 ” ” + Sub-Lieutenants ” 37 ” 54 ” ” + Cornets ” 34 ” 51 ” ” + +[3] The _Onon_, from Nikolaefsk, was smaller than the _Zeya_, in which +I travelled from Kara, but cleaner and better managed. She was about +20 years old, had Belgian engines of 30 horse-power, and carried 5 +machinists and 8 sailors. My fare and steward’s bill to Khabarofka cost +3 guineas. The _Sungacha_, about to ascend the Ussuri to Lake Khanka, +was a still smaller boat, 90 feet long, and drawing 3 feet of water. +Her engines were of 40 horse-power, and 15 years old. Towing a barge +with third-class passengers and cattle, she could make 5 or 6 miles an +hour against the stream, and 8 with it; but without the barge she could +go 10 miles against the stream, and 16 with it. I hoped accordingly to +accomplish the 500 miles to Kamen Ruiboloff in 5 days, for which I paid +as fare 35_s._ + +[4] Help came to me once more from the telegraph station--this time +in the person of the wife of the manager, and through her I gave the +priest some tracts, but he declined to purchase New Testaments, even +at a reduced price; at which I was not surprised when he subsequently +told me that he occasionally preached to the people for five minutes +on Sunday, but that they complained of the sermons as “too long.” What +he would not buy, however, the third-class passengers on the barge +speedily did, and I then gave some copies to the captain for the use of +the passengers of the _Sungacha_, as I had done to Captain Stjerncreutz +for the _Onon_. + +[5] Perhaps it was as well that I had no malformation or physical +peculiarity about me, for Prejevalsky relates his meeting a Mongolian +who had seen but one Englishman in his life, who lived at Kiakhta, and +who had, unfortunately, lost one of his legs, whereupon the man of the +desert had come to the conclusion that all the English had wooden legs! + +[6] Since the previous October he had baptized an additional 50 Goldi, +and he thought that what Gilyaks there were in his district were all +baptized. Formerly, he said, natives when willing were baptized, though +they understood nothing of what was being done, but in his own case he +required them to know certain prayers. After baptism they were expected +to attend church when there was one near, and to come to communion +once a year. I learned that some of the native Christians, as might +be expected, relapse into heathenism, especially in time of sickness, +when, having perhaps no doctor near, they send for the shaman. It did +not appear, however, that the profession of Christianity exposed them +to persecution. + +[7] Their work seemed very nearly a repetition of the wholesale +baptism at Kieff by command of Vladimir, or of the baptisms by Roman +missionaries of whole villages at a time. The first missionary whom +I questioned thought it enough if, before baptism, the candidates +could say the short prayers of the Russian Church; the second appeared +content with less than this. Further south, however, I met a parish +priest who was not a missionary proper, but who in ten years had +baptized ten persons; and in his case he said he had usually kept his +candidates under instruction for a year or more. + +[8] The entire length of the Ussuri, between 43½° and 48½° N. Lat., is +497 miles. The upper part of the river has a rapid current, and it is +swift below the confluence of the Sungacha to the Muren; but for its +remaining 300 miles it has a current of two miles an hour only, which +is slow compared with the three miles of the Amur, and the four miles +of the Shilka. The stream, frequently divided by islands, presents no +peculiar difficulties to navigation. Its scenery has a quiet English +park-like beauty that never wearies, though it cannot boast the +grandeur of the Amur, which combines the beauties of the Rhine and the +Danube, and is, taken all in all, the finest river I have travelled. + +[9] It is said that during the floods, when the Ussuri becomes a series +of lakes connected by shallows, the traveller can with his hands, in +spawning time, lift off salmon by the dozen from the banks, and in +certain confined places may even hear the rippling of the water caused +by their fins. The turtles in the Sungacha are eaten by the natives, +but not by the Russians. They lay their eggs on the margins of the +stream, and one of our crew amused himself by shooting the animals as +they basked in the sun. + +[10] I learned that the three steamers by which I had travelled on the +Amur and Ussuri belonged to the same Company, the managing director of +which receives £1,200 a year. The captain of the _Sungacha_ received +£21 per month, the second captain £10, the steersman £4, the other +sailors £3, and the machinists from £4 to £5 per month each; but during +a large part of the year, when the river is frozen, they have little or +nothing to do. + +[11] It not infrequently happened, however, that they came at the end +of the year begging for further assistance, which was given, and the +result has been in many cases to make them idle. Captain De Vries told +me that he had seen grass and weeds growing six inches high in their +corn, which, owing to bad cultivation, stood only six inches higher. +Cossacks enjoy to a certain degree the privilege of self-government. +They elect, for instance, their own officers, who, after a service of +35 years, receive rank as if in the regular army. On the other hand, +they have to supply a certain number of fighting men, of whom 10 per +cent. must be engaged in active service continually each for two years, +and all are drilled for one month in every year. + +[12] When settled in a locality they cannot leave it at will, though, +if they can raise themselves to the position of merchants, they acquire +greater liberty. Sometimes a whole village is moved to a new colony, +and the inhabitants find themselves in a strange district, but with +their old comrades and neighbours. + +[13] A Cossack’s pay ranges from 10_s._ 6_d._ to 13_s._ a year, which +is less than that of infantry soldiers, whose monthly pay I learned +at Vladivostock was for recruits, 1_s._ 6_d._; soldiers, 4_s._; under +officers, 10_s._ 9_d._; and field assistants, 30_s._; whilst cooks, +tailors, bootmakers, and barbers each receive about 1_d._ a month from +every soldier in the company. Every soldier also subscribes 6_d._ a +year for religious purposes. Whether Cossacks, when called up, have the +same food as soldiers of the line I know not, but the latter in time +of peace have as follows:--Per day 3 lbs (Russian) of rye bread, ¾ lb. +meat, vegetables 1½ lb. in summer and 1 lb. in winter; also, per month, +37 lbs. oatmeal, 4 lbs. peas, 2 lbs. butter, ⅓ lb. sugar, ⅙ lb. each of +brick tea and salt, and ½ pint of vinegar. These, too, are the rations +of Russian sailors on shore. The clothing for soldiers I learned was +as follows:--Yearly, 2 caps, 2 pairs of cloth trousers, and 2 of +linen, 2 linen shirts for gymnastics, and 3 for ordinary use, 3 pairs +linen drawers, 2 pairs high boots, 1 pair shoes, and 2 pairs of cloth +gloves. Every other year, a thick cloth coat, long overcoat, hood, and +skull-cap. A belt is expected to last 3 and a set of buttons 5 years. +What proportion of this clothing is supplied to Cossacks I do not know. +It may very well be that they receive less, seeing that they give to +the Government less time and less labour than the ordinary soldiers. + +[14] It measures, according to Réclus, 62 miles long, 46 in the widest +and 31 in the narrowest part; but the Russian captain gave me its +measurement as 67 miles long by 21 miles at the narrowest and 26 at the +widest parts. + +[15] The Khanka is completely exposed to the winds on the south, which +blow during a great part of the year, rushing in through an open gap +in the Sikhota-Alin chain. Thus there is found on the surface of its +water a regular swell, which is carried from the south to the north, +and which delineates with nicety the circular outline of the shore. +This is the theory of M. Réclus, and he usually writes very carefully +and correctly; but I ought perhaps to add that in the chart given me +by the captain this regularity of outline of the north shore is not so +observable as in the map of M. Réclus. + +For five months of the year ice covers the lake to the thickness of a +yard. The north-east and north-west shores are level and wooded. The +south-west shore is also wooded, but not so the shores in the south and +south-east. Swampy tracts exist at the mouths of the eight rivulets +which enter the lake; the Toor-balenkhe flowing in from the north-west, +and the largest, the Lifu, from the south. About ten villages and +post-stations are dispersed along the shores, and roads lead away to +the Manchu towns Ninguta, Hun-chun, and Furden. + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +_LAKE KHANKA TO THE COAST._ + + Difficulties in prospect.--Appearance of the + country.--Vegetation.--Garden produce.--Medicinal + plants.--Ginseng.--Country almost uninhabited.--A serious + loss.--Remarkable landscape.--Distribution of animals in + Siberia.--Little-Russian settlers.--Peasant affairs and + taxes.--Travelling by night.--Arrival at Rasdolnoi.--Clerical + functions in request.--War in the post-house.--Summary of tract + distribution.--Russia as a field for Christian effort.--The + Suifun.--Cheap travelling.--Baptizing children.--Arrival at + Vladivostock. + + +From Kamen Ruiboloff I had before me a drive of nearly 100 miles to +Rasdolnoi, on the river Suifun, and this comparatively short journey I +feared might present greater difficulties than any I had encountered +since leaving my interpreter. In towns, or on the steamer, some +one could be found with whom to exchange ideas in one of the three +principal languages of Europe; but now I was to go alone through a +district where even Russians are comparatively strangers, and where, +if my half-dozen words of Sclavonic failed, I expected to be quite +at a loss in communicating with the Manchu. Besides this I had heard +uncomfortable accounts of the Manzas, Coreans, and other congeners +of the Chinese, many of whose culprits had been expatriated to these +regions as to a Botany Bay, and were giving the authorities trouble, +not from political causes, but by forming themselves into banditti and +plundering Russians and Chinese alike. At Khabarofka Major Evfanoff +informed me that quite recently a number of these robbers had committed +depredations on the Russians, and that Cossacks were gone in search of +them. I also heard further on that they had entered an officer’s house, +murdered his wife, hung her up by the heels, and carried away her +child. Again, tigers were said to infest the district.[1] + +I was so delighted, however, with the thought of reaching the coast, +and with the hope of getting from thence to Japan, that I hastened to +depart notwithstanding. A letter of introduction had been given me from +Nikolaefsk to Colonel Vinikoff, stationed at Kamen Ruiboloff, and the +prospect held out that he would perhaps show me the wonderful manœuvres +of his cavalry Cossacks; but, hearing that he was away, I contented +myself with sending to him by the captain of the steamer a letter, and +a box of books for his men, and by 8 o’clock I was ready to start. The +weather was charming, like that of a sunny English September--a morning +without clouds. + +The district through which I was to travel, south of Lake Khanka, is +about 100 miles from north to south, and the Chinese frontier is a few +miles west of the post-road. Extensive plains constitute a prominent +feature of the country, which is sufficiently hilly, however, to +render the landscape pleasing. The soil, loamy and black, is covered +with rich vegetation. These Manchurian plains are like enormous +limitless meadows and heaths, from which the herbage has never been +cut, and where pasture is ready for cattle by thousands. The country +was fairly but not thickly wooded until I crossed the hills, south +of which flows the Suifun. Water in some places was scarce, and I +had to wait at one station at least an hour whilst a man fetched a +supply. The climate resembles that of the Ussuri. On the 5th and 6th +of September, at Khabarofka, I found it decidedly hot. The mean annual +temperature is 48°, which allows of the cultivation of the cereals of +Northern Europe, and of some of the hardier fruit-trees. Wild grapes +I saw in abundance, but none cultivated. On the coast the Governor +had recently planted some fruit-trees, and Madame one day, during my +visit, brought to table her fruit harvest, which consisted of less +than a dozen apples. Vegetables, however, thrive well. My host told me +that near Vladivostock, on his island, he had raised potatoes twice +from the same ground, between the middle of April and October.[2] He +had grown cart-loads of tomatoes, but, being unable to sell them to +his satisfaction, salted them for his cows. Carrots and parsnips grow +wild, and in the market at Vladivostock I observed, in addition to +what have been mentioned, pumpkins, celery, turnips, beetroot, the egg +plant, and Chinese onions and radishes. The missionary Huc mentions +three treasures of Manchuria. One is the sable, another a grass called +_oula_, the peculiar property of which is that, when put into the +boots, it communicates to the feet a soothing warmth even in the depth +of winter.[3] The third treasure is “Ginseng.” The Chinese call it +_Orhota_, that is, “the first of all plants.” They consider it the most +costly produce of the earth, diamonds excepted, and ascribe to it the +most wonderful healing properties. It is said to be a specific in all +kinds of bodily ailments, to cure consumption when half the lungs are +gone, and to restore to dotards the fire of youth. Huc says the Chinese +physicians think it too heating for the European temperament, already +in their opinion too hot.[4] + +Other medicinal plants of the district are the yellow rhododendron +and marsh wild-rosemary, of which the natives use an infusion against +stomach-ache; also the root of the _tokose_ herb is used for diarrhœa, +produced by feeding on fish. The burnt heads of burdock are laid +on ulcers as in Peking, wounds are covered with agaric, the root of +“Solomon’s seal” is applied for pains in the throat, and that of the +hand-shaped bulb of an orchid for ulcers. The Goldi, however, as I have +said, often attempt another method of cure, by making a wooden model +of the part afflicted, which they carry about; but authorities do not +record the comparative values of the two modes of treatment. It is said +that the enlightened portion of the native community despise vegetable +medicine, and more frequently resort to the services of the shaman and +his brandy-drinking performances, which no doubt are popular with all +parties concerned. + +[Illustration: CHINESE MERCHANTS IN THE PRIMORSK IN WINTER COSTUME.] + +On leaving Kamen Ruiboloff the country was almost uninhabited. On the +first stage I met one vehicle and three men, but passed not a single +house. On the second stage two men only were seen.[5] On arriving +at the fourth station--Dubininskaya--I discovered that I had lost a +large pocket-book, or paper wallet, in which were my most valuable +documents, including the letter from the Minister of the Interior, my +podorojna, and other official papers. This alarmed me, for without +the podorojna I could not claim post-horses to go either backwards or +forwards; and the situation was the more serious because none of the +post-people could speak anything but Russian. I made them understand +by signs that I had lost my letter-case, and that I must go back with +the yemstchik to see if I had left it at the previous station. Giving +my heavy luggage in charge to the post-mistress at Dubininskaya, I +mounted the returning vehicle. It was now nine o’clock, and quite dark, +and I journeyed in anything but a pleasant mood. I remembered, too, +with appreciation, the luxury I had had further west, in Mr. Cattley’s +tarantass, for here I had nothing but a wretched post-tumbril, without +springs, seat, or hood. One of the horses went lame, which retarded +progress, and I lay on my bear-skin, with only a shawl to cover me, +for six hours of the night, gazing up into the heavens. The moon arose +in her beauty, and the number of stars visible might have delighted +the eye of an astronomer, but I could think of nothing but my loss. At +three o’clock in the morning we reached the station, where they knew +nothing of the pocket-book, and where the guest-room was occupied by a +Chinese packman and his assistant, with whom I did not at first relish +passing the remainder of the night. One, however, got off the bedstead +and offered it me, and the other wished to give me tea, which, to say +the least, was civil. So I spread my bearskin on the wooden couch, and +the candle was extinguished. In less than two minutes I had kicked +out the tester-board of the rickety bedstead, and it came down with a +clatter, causing my room-fellows to start. “_Ladna! ladna!_” said I, +thinking this was the Russian for “all right”; and then we recomposed +ourselves. On awaking, and after further search, I ascertained that +my difficulties were increased, for I now discovered, to my dismay, +that beside the important papers alluded to in the wallet, there were +also two volumes of manuscript notes, taken in coming across Siberia. +I was now in an agony; and if crying would have availed I could well +have done it, so distressed was I at the thought of losing information +that had cost so much. It occurred to me that I might have left the +wallet at the station still further back, and, seeing a Cossack saddle +in the post-house, I pointed at it, intimating that the yemstchik +should mount, and ride courier to inquire for the lost treasure. But +he did not welcome the task, though he intimated I might have the +saddle if I chose to go myself. Thinking to quicken the post-master +into further exertion I offered a reward of five roubles if the book +could be found. Meanwhile the two Chinamen evinced great kindness and +sympathy with me in my loss, and the more so when they discovered I +was an Englishman. At breakfast they offered me rice and onions, and I +returned the compliment by inviting them to partake of bread and jam. +They were travelling to Kamen Ruiboloff, and offered me a place for two +stages in their vehicle. I resolved at first to go back, but afterwards +determined to send a note by the Chinamen to Colonel Vinikoff, asking +him to make inquiries for the wallet, and then continue my way, and to +look very narrowly on the road for what I had lost. The yemstchik was +not a good specimen of his profession, being fonder, if I mistake not, +of drink than of work, and my slender knowledge of Russian led me to +suspect that he was congratulating himself on the extra money he was +exacting from me, which, in my suppliant condition, I was ready enough +to pay if only the books could be found. At last we started, and I was +scanning the road with the eyes of a lynx when about a mile from the +station we met a post-vehicle, in which was a lady traveller whom I +had seen the previous evening at Dubininskaya. We pulled up, and she +placed her hands at distances apart, showing the length and breadth of +something that had been found, and spoke to the yemstchik, from which +I was able to make out that my troubles were over. I clapped my hands, +and pushed forward with a light heart to the station, and there was my +wallet, well hauled over, but with nothing missing. The yemstchik had +told a peasant of my loss, and of the promised reward, and he had found +the article lying in the road. I then remembered that, in the cool of +the evening, I had put on my ulster, standing up in the conveyance, +without stopping the horses, and so had jerked the wallet out of my +pocket. Never did I pay ten shillings with greater pleasure than to the +finder, after which I set forward, truly grateful, and prepared with +reanimated spirits to enjoy the prospect before me. + +Leaving Dubininskaya, the post-road lay over a range of low hills, the +top commanding a view such as I had never before seen. The distant +horizon was bounded by pointed hills, and between were enormous plains +of tall, brown, luxuriant pasture, waving like fields of corn--a land +of plenty, at all events, if not flowing with milk and honey. No cities +were visible, nor a human being, nor a habitation. There were just one +or two spots where the grass had been cut and piled in heaps, but the +abundance that remained seemed to mock such puny efforts. The hills +were wooded with oak, and the plains with aspens, elms, lime trees, +ashes, black and white birches, maples, and walnuts.[6] In young +forests of this district are vines, roses, and a great many lilies. In +the grass land there is much wormwood and pulse, the marsh ranunculus, +and field-pink-clover. This last I saw in such abundance as to remind +one of an English clover-field. There were also wild sun-flowers, and, +growing at the roadside, wild millet, and what looked like bastard +wheat or darnel. + +Nor is this richness confined to the vegetable kingdom. To the 20,000 +sable-skins sold annually at Khabarofka, Southern Manchuria contributes +its quota; but I heard more of its abundance of deer, the flesh of +which sells in Vladivostock in winter from 1½_d._ to 2_d._ per lb.[7] +Wild turkeys are found in the district. Ducks and water-fowl we caused +to fly up without number on the Ussuri, and pheasants, like those in +England, rose before me as I drove to the south. At the station I was +now approaching, woodcocks cost from 10_d._ to 1_s._ each, riabchiks +or black grouse 5_d._ each, and pheasants 6_d._ each. So plentiful +were pheasants in 1875, that they could be bought for 7½_d._ a brace, +and at Paseat for 2½_d._ each.[8] This was in strong contrast to what +the telegraph inspector told me of the prices of butchers’ meat at +Vladivostock. He had been asked nearly £3 for the half of a calf, and +beef, he said, cost 5_d._ per lb. + +I now and then saw large herds of cows grazing, and learned that in +1878 there were imported to the Ussuri districts 80 horses, 600 sheep +and pigs, and 1,000 head of cattle. + +On arriving at the next station, Nicolsk, there was a good-sized +village, with a church, barracks of the 3rd Ussuri battalion, and, what +was better to me, a telegraph station. It was now Friday afternoon, and +I was anxious, if possible, to reach Vladivostock on the following day, +so as to be ready for Sunday. I had heard that they had been building +there a Lutheran church, and it was suggested to me at Nikolaefsk that +I might open it, as there was no resident pastor. I knew also that +steamers served on the Suifun only for the mail service, and that +when travellers required a passage, a telegram had to be sent to the +Governor. I had heard that he was absent; but as his wife spoke English +I telegraphed from Nicolsk, and said that if I could reach Vladivostock +in time I should be happy to conduct a Sunday service. In the telegraph +office I met Captain Alexander Jdanoff, to whom I gave some reading +material for his soldiers, and then went to the post-house. + +I noticed in several of the houses at Nicolsk that the chimneys were +built of lattice work like English hurdles, plastered with mud. These +erections told a tale to those who could read it, the builders being +emigrants from Little Russia. So long as serfdom continued, the Russian +peasantry were rooted to the soil, and often in great poverty;[9] but +when the serfs were liberated they came in some cases to the Government +in numbers, and said, “We are poor; please send us to colonize in +Siberia, or make us Cossacks.” And the Government, desiring to populate +the Ussuri, had sent them hither, freed from taxes, and with the usual +privileges granted to colonists.[10] + +The telegraphist at Nicolsk strongly advised me to push on to the +Suifun without delay, so as that night to reach the steamer, which +was to leave Rasdolnoi early on the morrow. I therefore started after +tea for a drive of 14 miles, the first stage being to Baranofskaya, +or the “sheep” station. On arriving I thought more of wolves than of +sheep, and of tigers than either. The post-house was in the middle of a +wood, and near it were burning large fires to keep away the mosquitoes +and, as I supposed, beasts of prey. It was now night, and I certainly +should have preferred proceeding by day; but I remembered the advice +just received, and told the men to put to the horses. A sailor youth, +travelling to Vladivostock, apparently on foot, and speaking a few +words of English, made himself officious on my behalf, and then wanted +to be allowed to mount my vehicle. It was too dark for me to see +what he was like, but I consented, thinking that if we did have any +encounter with wild animals or robbers, it might be an assistance to +have some one who understood if only a word or two of my mother tongue. +I sincerely hoped that we should not meet a supperless tiger, though I +think I should have been really uneasy had I known what I learned on +the morrow--that several of these animals had been killed during the +summer at the very village to which I was going.[11] + +It was nearly midnight when we reached Rasdolnoi. On the way my +fellow-traveller showed that he had been drinking, and his stock of +English words proved to be very small and by no means choice. I went +to the telegraph office and ascertained that the steamer, lying a few +miles off in the river, would leave at seven next morning; accordingly, +I took up my quarters at the post-house, and at midnight was writing +up my diary when, the news having spread that a clergyman had come, a +Finnish shopkeeper, named Rosenstrom, presented himself and asked if I +would baptize his little girl. The request came at an awkward moment, +for I had ordered the horses for five. At half-past three, however, +I sallied forth, arrayed in my cassock, with the Finn to conduct me, +lantern in hand. His house was not far, though approached by a rough +road; and, passing through the shop, I found a room nicely arranged +and brilliantly lighted, with some half-dozen persons present--the +telegraph officer and his wife or sister (who had communicated my +arrival), and a Finnish friend, besides the father and mother of the +child. After the service and breakfast, dawn appeared, and by five I +was ready to depart. Much to my chagrin, however, the smoke from the +funnel, among the distant trees, showed the vessel to be moving, and +I was left behind. I telegraphed to Vladivostock to this effect, and +received a reply that the steamer would return and bring me on Monday +morning. + +I had abundance of time, therefore, to inspect the little station of +Rasdolnoi.[12] Had I not felt impatient at losing the boat, I might +have enjoyed the view from the post-house, for it was exceedingly +pleasing. The country was well wooded, and the curves of the Suifun +added much to the beauty of the picture. It was in this post-house, and +only here, that I had a desperate battle with thousands of cockroaches +or _tarakans_. By day they hid themselves, but at night they came out +on to the table, the couch, and everywhere, great grandfathers and +grandmothers with their offspring to the third and fourth generation. +To wage general warfare against them was hopeless; therefore I set my +wits to work to keep the table free. I recalled a visit paid to Messrs. +Huntley and Palmer’s Biscuit Manufactory at Reading, where, on the +floor, were thousands of little insects running about. Let no lover +of Huntley and Palmer’s biscuits, however, be dismayed, for none of +these creepers are allowed to mount the tables, the legs being made to +stand each in a little pan of water; and as the emmets will not take +to swimming, they have to be content with the crumbs on the floor. +This plan I adopted with modifications. My friends had strongly urged +me to take from Petersburg a box of Persian powder, supposed to be an +abomination to B flats and F sharps. I had not used it once, but now I +surrounded each leg of the table with an embankment of the said powder, +and great was my delight to see the enemy advance, evidently thinking +to scale the ramparts and mount as usual, but, instead, suddenly stop, +hold a council of war, wave feelers, and then beat a retreat! + +I was enjoying my tea on Saturday afternoon from a clean table when +two officers, a wife, and child arrived from Vladivostock. Then was +cleared up the mystery of the boat having left so early; a telegram had +been sent that it should depart at five to meet these travellers, one +of whom was merely accompanying his friends for a few miles in Russian +fashion, and was to return next day. They spoke French and a little +English, and, having started in a hurry, they asked if I could sell +them some quinine, which I thought I might venture to do, seeing that +I had not once opened my store. Arnica had been needed for the sprain +of the interpreter’s foot, but as for myself I am not sure that I had +taken so much as a pill since leaving London, so that the counsel of my +medical adviser had proved to be sound; for when I proposed to take a +lot of medicines, he strongly urged me not to carry too much, “lest,” +he said, “you should be tempted to excess.” + +Though Rasdolnoi was so small a place, yet, when it became known that I +had good books in possession, several came from I know not where to buy +them. I now had time to reckon up my “takings,” and found that sales +amounted in all to about £18--not a large sum truly, but a good deal to +make up in kopecks, of which 100 equal only 2_s._ My receipts covered, +I suppose, about a fourth of the cost of the transport of books and +tracts, and as these had been given me, with grants toward their +carriage, by the Bible and Tract Societies of London and Petersburg, I +subsequently divided among them the proceeds. From Nikolaefsk I sent +to the Governor of the Primorsk 1,000 New Testaments, 10,000 tracts, +and 200 copies of the “Life of Christ,” requesting that they might be +distributed from Vladivostock to Kamchatka, to the prisons, hospitals, +soldiers, Cossacks, schools, and the seamen of the Siberian fleet; and +it has gratified me to hear, during the present year, that this was +thoroughly and carefully done. Thus I distributed in all by proxy--that +is through the authorities--about 44,000 publications, and personally +about 12,000, the exact total being 55,812 of all kinds.[13] + +On my return to England I wrote to the Director of the Central +Administration of Prisons, saying what I had done, and enclosing a list +of the persons to whom and for whom the books had been given. I also +stated my “strong conviction that a wider and better knowledge of the +Holy Scriptures would do much both to lessen crime and also to reform +the criminal. Hence I wished that a copy of the New Testament might +always remain within reach of every prisoner and hospital patient in +Siberia, and I cherished the hope that some who might perhaps take +up the book to while away time might read to profit and subsequent +reformation.” To this end I asked the administration to do anything +they could to forward the successful completion of my work; and this +letter I enclosed to the Minister of the Interior, when writing to +thank his Excellency for the great kindness and attention his letter +had secured for me.[14] + +My “work” was now almost done, and I looked forward with hope, for +I regard the Russian people as presenting a promising field for the +diffusion of a more spiritual religion than they now possess. Many, it +is true, do not cease to speak of Russian bribery and untruthfulness, +gambling and dishonesty. But, however that may be, there seemed to +me to be a general willingness in Russia to learn better things. +The sceptics we met were few and far between. In Western Siberia a +Polish veterinary surgeon--a Romanist--argued as if he would like to +upset Christianity, but he ended by giving money for a New Testament, +and acknowledged that he envied the experience of his antagonist. +In Eastern Siberia I met a Protestant gentleman who said that most +educated people in Siberia were materialists; but I had afterwards +reason to suspect he was measuring by his own bushel, for so material +was his creed that, though holding a high position in the Government, +with a large salary, he was not above suspicion of asking a bribe. I +ought, however, to add that a Russian critic, by no means unfriendly, +lamented to me that, owing to the want of teaching power in the +priests, men of the educated classes in Russia are, as a rule, +perfectly _indifferent_ to religion, and therefore tolerant to all +and every creed, though jealous of the orthodox Church as a national +institution. + +A good type of a religious gentleman--a devotee perhaps some would +say--was an officer I met, who goes to mass every morning at five; or, +again, a lady of high rank, who, whilst continuing strictly “orthodox,” +learns to look at the errors of her Church in their least objectionable +form, and to separate the good from the bad. Another educated man, an +advocate, was typical, I should judge, of many in his rank of life. +All are required to attend church on certain occasions, and beyond +this he acknowledged that he did so very little; but it was because he +got no teaching there. He went, he said, on the festivals, from six +to twelve times a year, and oftener whilst his children were young; +but he was ready to go every Sunday if something could be learned +thereby. As for the uneducated Russians, the distances they will go, +amounting to literally thousands of miles, for religious purposes, +manifests at least something intensely earnest about religious affairs. +Never--certainly, in any other country--have I met with such eagerness +to get Scriptures and good books. This extends to both clergy and +laity. When, on one occasion, my friend who edited the _Russian +Workman_ thought of giving it up, some of the priests sent their +subscriptions again, and implored that it might be continued; and some +of those interested in the religious societies at work in the empire +have told me that, in spite of the obstacles put in their way, they +have far more opportunities of usefulness than they can use. I agree, +therefore, with those who look upon Russia as a promising field for +Christian effort. + +On Sunday afternoon the officer returned to Rasdolnoi, and I began +immediately to question him. There was no ship sailing to Japan, he +said, for a fortnight; and then, by way of preface to information +respecting Vladivostock, he asked my standing, and whether I was rich +or poor. Having classed myself with those who have neither poverty +nor riches, he said that, as for himself, he was a man of means, and +that he took the journeys to the Caucasus and Egypt (of which he had +told me) because he had money in pocket, and so on--tall talk which +sank down wonderfully when I searched him out at Vladivostock.[15] +He appeared well posted, however, in his professional studies, and +willing to give me information; so, as we were to start very early in +the morning, we boarded the steamer towards sunset. The Suifun is 120 +yards wide. It varies in summer from 30 inches to 7 feet in depth, +and in winter rises 20 feet. Our vessel was named _Suifun_, after the +stream, and drew 2 feet of water, and could steam 8 or 10 miles an +hour. Vladivostock was only 50 miles distant, but the boat was not +suited for the sea, and therefore, on reaching the mouth of the river +at Richnoi, 30 miles distant, we were to be transhipped to a sea-going +steamer, the _Amur_, and so landed at Vladivostock. The _Suifun_ was +not a passenger vessel in the ordinary sense of the word, but belonged +to the Government. It was used for bringing the mails from Khabarofka, +and if there happened to be passengers accompanying them, they +travelled the 50 miles free. They were, moreover, so obliging, that, if +travellers arrived and telegraphed to the post as I had done, the two +ships were put in motion; and as if that were not enough, an allowance +was made to the officers to feed hungry passengers free of expense, so +that, on the whole, this was the cheapest 50 miles I travelled. + +I did not know of these arrangements at first, and heard that there +were no provisions to be had on board, and no sleeping accommodation. +My fellow-passenger slept in the open air, on deck, and I thought +I should be compelled to do the same; but the captain gave me an +excellent cabin, with plenty of room, which the officer, however, +would not share. I had not been long on board when my clerical +services were asked for a second time. We were to pass a saw-mill +where lived a Protestant family, and the captain, knowing that the +children were unbaptized, thought my coming very opportune, and asked +whether, if he stopped the steamer, I would go ashore and officiate. +As we approached Richnoi we came in sight of the mill, built, as I +afterwards ascertained, by Captain de Vries, and subsequently sold to +the Government. There are three such mills near Vladivostock, employing +39 workmen, chiefly Chinese, who earn £4,500 a year. The manager was +a Swede, named Lovelius, his wife, if I mistake not, being one of the +whaling community who had come from Finland. The father spoke a little +English, calling me “parson”; and after I had christened his three +children he placed a fee in my hand. When I demurred to take it, he +said he wished to stand indebted to no man, and added that I had saved +him a “lot of trouble,” for otherwise he must have brought all the +children into Vladivostock, when there chanced to arrive a minister or +chaplain.[16] + +The saw-mill was prettily situated, and the manager received good +remuneration, but he was not much in love with his position; for one +thing, the mosquitoes troubled him, as on the previous evening they +did me.[17] Fear of the Manza robbers, however, troubled the manager +more, and he pointed to a house across the river where they had lately +murdered an old man of seventy. + +On reaching the mouth of the Suifun we met the _Amur_, and the two +vessels exchanged passengers, whereupon I discovered, to my surprise, +that some of our new officers were those I had travelled with on the +Shilka. I had breakfasted that morning, not very comfortably, in the +open air, and was, therefore, ready for dinner in the officers’ cabin, +after which it was I learned that I had eaten at the expense of the +Emperor; and then, steaming down the Amur Gulf, and rounding the +promontory into the Golden Horn, we dropped anchor before Vladivostock. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The merchant Plusnin had on one occasion been attacked in his +sledge by one of these animals; and Mr. Emery told me that, when +a tiger had been seen on the road, he had sometimes found it very +difficult to make the post-boys set out on a journey. + +[2] When he left America he brought eight of a choice sort in his +portmanteau, and in three years had as many as he needed, and so fine +that they weighed 1 lb. each. The Chinese have since planted them, but +cultivate them so badly that their size has greatly diminished. On the +same land the captain sowed maize, and from one grain grew a stalk with +three heads and 900 grains. This he thought exceptional, but considered +500 grains for one an average return. He sowed in drills, and cleaned +the land with a cultivator drawn by an ox. This plan in the Western +States of America, he said, yielded six bushels an acre more than +ordinarily. + +[3] This reminds me of what Mr. Emery said at Nikolaefsk, that if I +put hay into the soles of the Yakute boots I purchased, I should never +suffer from cold feet. + +[4] Ginseng is found chiefly in the valleys of the Upper Ussuri, where +it is cultivated in beds, planted in rows. The earth must be a rich +black mould, and loose; and when the plant has attained the height of 4 +or 5 inches, it is supported by a stick. The beds are carefully weeded +and watered, and protected from the sun by tents or sheds of wood. Wild +ginseng is said to be the best. From May to September, hundreds go out +to seek the plant; and when I asked for the Goldi natives at some of +the stations on the Ussuri, I learnt that many of them were gone to +seek for ginseng. The prices named by the French missionaries for this +root were almost fabulous, a single root being valued in Manchuria at +from £250 to £300. The plantations belong to Chinese merchants living +at a distance, and Venyukoff found the guards strictly forbidden to +sell it. He was able, however, by stealth to procure 12 roots for £4, +and his native interpreter subsequently procured 20 for 30_s._ I was +told on the river that ginseng sells for £30 per Russian lb., but that +in a bad year the Chinese count it as valuable as gold, and give up to +£40 per lb. If, therefore, these prices be paid to those who find it, +no doubt it is very expensive when sold in China, where no chemist’s +shop is without it. The root is straight, spindle-shaped, knotty, and +up to half an inch in diameter, and 8 inches in length. The leaves are +cut off, and the root is boiled in water, apparently to remove some +injurious quality; and when it has undergone fitting preparation its +colour is a transparent white, with sometimes a slight red or orange +tinge; its appearance then is that of a stalactite. It is carefully +dried, wrapped in unsized paper, and sent to market. On the Ussuri it +is used, boiled, for cold, fever, headache or stomach-ache. + +[5] The first three stations--Mo, Vstrechni, and Utosni--were single +post-houses, with no other habitation in sight. The accommodation was +of the poorest; the couch at Vstrechni consisting of three boards, and +the table-cloth of linen tick. I gave the children some nuts, but not +one said “thank you,” and none could read. + +[6] Mr. Ravenstein speaks of the walnut of the Ussuri as seldom bearing +fruit, and he suggests that the whole growing power may be absorbed by +the trunk and leaves; but I saw walnuts on the trees at Khabarofka, +and, when speaking of them to Baron Stackelberg, heard nothing of their +failure in fruit. + +[7] The Chinese employ men in the interior to slaughter these animals, +simply for the sake of their antlers. These soft horns are exported +yearly to China in large quantities. Captain de Vries told me that on +one occasion he carried on his little schooner a load of them to the +value of £2,000, one extra good pair being worth £60. Erman states that +the jelly made of these horns is much esteemed by Chinese gourmands, +whilst Ravenstein quotes their medicinal use by the Chinese as a remedy +in female diseases. A Russian doctor, to whom I spoke upon the subject, +however, knew only of their general sedative properties, the jelly +being used, he thought, as a comforting medicine in weakness. + +[8] How long this abundance of game will last is an interesting +problem, for it is a well-known fact, says M. Réclus, that the +distribution of animals over Siberia has been markedly affected by the +advent of Russian hunters. The region of the reindeer, for instance, +ought to impinge upon that of the camel; and the reindeer used to be +found on the mountains of Southern Siberia, but it now runs wild only +in the low forests and tundras of the north. The argali, or wild sheep, +is no longer found in the plains and mountains of Siberia, as it was in +the last century, but has fled southwards into Mongolia. The antelopes +and wild horses, driven from the steppes of the Gobi by cold and lack +of pasture, descend in troops in autumn towards the plains of Siberia, +followed by tigers and wolves, and hunted by men; and the slaughter +lasts till the spring allows their return to the solitudes of Mongolia. +Neither animals nor birds need a map to show them the frontier of the +two countries. It has been remarked that the same birds which permit +a stranger to approach them without fear in Mongolia, flee in terror +at the least noise on Siberian soil. Especially is this the case with +water-fowl, for the Mongols never allow birds to be shot upon the +sacred element, believing that, if the blood of a bird mixes with the +water, the flocks that drink it will speedily die. + +[9] A lady in Petersburg told me that the peasantry near her country +house live for a large part of the year almost without bread, weave in +winter by the dim flame of a piece of lighted wood, and often go to bed +supperless. With a sufficiency of rye bread all the year round they +think themselves rich. + +[10] I heard on the Kama in European Russia, from a Belgian, that +whereas he, as a foreigner, was free from taxation, having to pay only +1_s._ 3_d._ a year for his passport, some of the peasants have to +pay as much as 28_s._ Servants of the Crown, including priests, pay +no taxes, though their children begin to do so at the age of 21. In +Western Siberia no man (except convicts deprived of all their rights) +is free from direct taxation, the manner of collecting the tax being +similar to that followed in Russia. A census is taken every 20 years +or oftener, and a number of villages are classed together into a _mir_ +(a world), from which a certain tax has to be raised. The _mir_ settle +among themselves in a kind of local parliament the proportion each +family shall pay, and then, whether the members of a family increase or +diminish, this fixed proportion goes on till the next census is taken. +This causes great inequalities. Thus a father with a large family will +be made liable for a large sum, which, so long as he has children at +home to work, he can pay; but should his sons be drawn for soldiers, +or be cut off by death, he is in a different position; though, on the +other hand, a man with a family of small children at the time of taking +the census is lightly taxed, whereas, when his children grow up and +work, he could well afford to pay more. In European Russia the census +is taken every seven or nine years, and the tax to be paid by each +family is revised oftener. + +Each village receives land according to the number of its inhabitants, +but so that each “soul,” or able-bodied male or head of a family, gets +about 15 acres, a space which, properly cultivated, should suffice +for his support; but if not, land in the Primorsk government costs +only 2_s._ an acre; in fact, at Nikolaefsk, the government _gave_ +land under certain restrictions for building, and up to 1875 charged +no property-tax, nor even for licences during the first ten years of +Russian occupation. When this land has been allotted to a man in Russia +with its accompanying tax, he cannot get quit of the bargain so far as +the tax is concerned. Should he find the land unprofitable he may give +up its cultivation, but he must continue to pay the tax, and hence it +often happens that a man leaves his commune and goes to a neighbouring +town for employment, but still pays taxes for the land in some remote +village he has left. + +[11] In the early days of the Russian occupation tigers used to come +into the town of Vladivostock, and my host had a horse eaten by them. +His young boy once came home saying that he had seen “such a pretty +calf,” but that he could not hold in his pony, such haste did it make +to get away. Sixty-five tigers were said to have been killed in the +district the year before my arrival, and Captain de Vries told me that +on the road by which I travelled he was proceeding, early one morning, +with a farmer and his dog, when the royal beast appeared on the road a +few yards before them, at which they shouted, and the animal retired +into the forest. They went forward, the dog preceding them, whereupon +the tiger sprang out and seized the dog and bore it away. The farmer +began to mourn his loss, but the captain said, “Why, you donkey! if +the tiger had not taken the dog for his breakfast he might have taken +_you_!” I heard these things, however, _after_ my journey; and the only +tangible reminders of tigers I saw were some of their skins, offered at +Khabarofka and Vladivostock from £2, for that of a cub, to £5 for those +of full size. Prejevalsky speaks of the tiger of the district as being +equal to the royal tiger of Bengal, but, judging from the skins I saw, +it is not so handsomely marked. + +[12] It being the furthest navigable point on the Suifun from +Vladivostock, the Russians in the early days of their occupation had +posted soldiers here and built barracks. They subsequently removed the +military to Nicolsk, and with them had migrated all the inhabitants +except Mr. Rosenstrom and the people at the telegraph-office and +post-house. There were plenty of log-houses still standing, to one +of which my attention was directed, and I was told that my informant +had purchased it for 10_s._--the cheapest house I had ever seen. Mr. +Rosenstrom and his friend, I discovered, were of the party of Finns +who had come to these parts to catch whales, so that he knew Captain +Stjerncreutz with whom I had travelled. I was puzzled to know how a +living could be made from a tiny shop near which there were but two +inhabited houses visible, but I found that a small trade was done with +travellers passing to and from Vladivostock, by hawking, and with +workmen building a shed at the river side. + +[13] The governors of Tobolsk, Tomsk, Akmolinsk, and Semipolatinsk, +of Yeneseisk, Irkutsk, and Yakutsk, were requested to apportion +the Scriptures to prisons, hospitals, poor-houses, and similar +institutions, and to disperse the tracts in schools, as widely +as possible. The governors of the Za-Baikal, Amur, and Sea-coast +provinces, in addition to this, were asked also to distribute extra +supplies to the army, navy, and Cossacks. + +[14] I would take this opportunity of expressing my thanks to the +Religious Tract Society of London and its colleagues in Russia for the +gracious way in which the Committee has always accepted my offers of +service, and for the kind manner in which I have been trusted to act +in concert with their local agents as seemed best on the occasion. Not +a little of my success (if it may be so called), especially in Russia, +has been traceable to this; and my holiday distribution of more than +100,000 of their publications, I hope, I shall always remember with +gratitude and pleasure. An extensive work is done in Russia by the +Religious Tract Society. About 1,000,000 tracts were sold from 1875 to +1878 which is an indirect testimony that we hold more truth in common +with the Russian Church than many are aware of. In Russia, as is well +known, every book, every pamphlet, every leaflet, before it can be +published and circulated, must receive the approval of the censor; and +if the doctrine of what is printed, whether political or religious, be +objectionable, its publication is forbidden. Further, it is pretty well +known what kind of doctrine, and what kind only, the Committee of the +Religious Tract Society approves. Hence, if these two things be put +together, and it be remembered that tens of thousands of tracts are +circulated in the empire which the Committee approves, and to which the +Synod does not object, then surely it is pretty clear that the Russians +and ourselves have in religious matters a great deal of common ground. + +[15] My travels in Russia have led me to the conclusion that in the +interior of that country it is not always wise to be too modest about +divulging one’s income. An English officer in plain clothes, passing +lonely through Kiakhta, was asked by a merchant, who had shown him some +attention, what was his income; whereupon the officer told him that +of a captain of Royal Engineers in full pay on foreign service, which +greatly astonished the Siberiak. He said he would mention it to the +chief man of the town, who, he felt sure, would call upon him. And so +he did, and the captain received a marked increase of attention. Again, +before starting last year for the Caucasus, I was told of the potency +there of wearing arms and insignia of office, and of the difference it +makes at the post-stations in getting horses, whether the traveller +wears a plain hat, or one adorned with gold, or bearing the tchinovnik +cockade. Accordingly, I so far profited by this information as to put +on certain splendid array which I possess as I approached the stations, +and (I will not say _therefore_) I obtained my horses. + +This is further illustrated by the treatment received by an able +correspondent of the _Times_, who has recently been in the Caucasus. On +arriving at a station, he was informed that he could not have horses +because they were detained for an English general, whose arrival was +expected every minute. Somewhat chafed, the correspondent took to +his legs, being anxious to secure a certain view before nightfall; +and it was not till he reached the next station, tired and enraged, +that his vexation was turned into mirth by discovering that the +horses had all the while been intended for himself. The préfet had +politely telegraphed to the post-masters to have horses ready for “a +distinguished” Englishman; and as the one idea of distinction in the +mind of a Russian peasant is the rank of a general, the post-master was +expecting an officer in uniform, and the correspondent in plain clothes +not coming up to this, he refused him the horses. + +[16] I did not grasp the full meaning of this till some days after, +and then I learned that every child in Russia must have a certificate +of baptism, wanting which sundry civil difficulties may arise. It was +well, therefore, that I chanced to give certificates on these two +occasions, of which I sent notice, 6,000 miles off, to Moscow, to be +copied into the register of “the nearest parish church.” The Russian +certificate of baptism gives the sponsors’ names, and is signed over +a 15_d._ stamp by the officiating priest and deacon. The certificate +is then sent to the bishop’s registry for another stamp of like value, +in addition to which, to expedite the matter, it is customary to add a +rouble or two for the bishop’s clerk. + +[17] I had been recommended sundry remedies against these insects, +and small vermin generally,--such as the burning of incense, a +mosquito mixture of _pyretum roseum_, and another, the essential oil +of cloves. I was prevailed upon to take some of the last-named, and +offered the bottle to the officer travelling with me to try the first +experiment. It made his hands and face tingle, but not in vain; and +I followed suit, to find that the little nuisances approached one’s +skin, evidently with malicious intent, and then changed their minds and +sailed away. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +_VLADIVOSTOCK._ + + Situation of town.--Lodged with Captain de Vries.--Chinese + labourers.--Chinese convicts.--Coreans.--Inhabitants of + Vladivostock.--Presented at the Governor’s house.--Admiral + Erdmann’s improvements.--Visit to barracks.--Boys’ high + school.--Education in Russia, its cost and method.--Vladivostock + Girls’ Institute; and Free School.--Statistics of + crime.--Telegraph companies.--Sunday services.--Protestantism + in Siberia.--Village of exiles.--General remarks on + exiles.--Preparations for departure. + + +Vladivostock derives its lordly name from its supposed “command of the +east.” The town overlooks an inlet, sheltered by islands, at the end +of a promontory jutting out from the middle of the bay of Peter the +Great. Behind the harbour rises a lofty hill, crowned by a watch-tower, +to which I climbed during my stay, and was rewarded by a remarkably +fine view. Northwards stretched the well-wooded Muravieff promontory. +East and west lay the gulfs of the Amur and the Ussuri, down the former +of which I had steamed from the Suifun; whilst to the south were +mountainous islands with rocky headlands, separated from the mainland +by the eastern “Bosphorus.” Descending from this elevated spot, and +looking from the verandah of the Governor’s house, a less extensive +view is obtained, but a very pretty one, comprising the entrance to the +harbour called the “Bay of the Golden Horn,” with its two headlands +forming the west and southern shores. The depth of water within the +harbour is from 30 to 60 feet, and, at the entrance, about double these +soundings. The “Bosphorus” is from 60 to 120 feet in depth, and after +passing Kazakevich Island, this increases to 200 feet and upwards. + +As I steamed into the harbour on Monday afternoon, the 15th September, +it was well filled with the ships of many nations, including Chinese +junks with their clumsy sails. A German gunboat had just replaced an +English line-of-battle ship, and an Italian man-of-war arrived during +my stay. There were Russian ships from the Siberian and Pacific fleets, +merchant vessels (of which 50 a year visit the port), and a number of +boats, many of which ply between Vladivostock, Olga, and Paseat bays. I +found, however, no regular service to Japan, but was told that I could +probably leave in a Russian man-of-war within a fortnight. + +I sought a lodging with Captain de Vries, a Heligolander by birth, +who, when in command of a passenger ship plying between England and +New York, had become an American subject, and had again changed his +nationality to Russian on settling in Siberia at the time of the +annexation of the Amur. He had travelled over Siberia, and had a +minute knowledge of the Amur and Russian Manchuria; so that from him I +acquired a great deal of information, whilst his kind-hearted English +wife spared no pains to make me comfortable. In fact, I found the 15 +days of my stay at Vladivostock the pleasantest of my tour; for not +only had I time to rest and write and acquire information, but I was +almost daily received as a guest at the houses of the Governor, or of +some of the many inhabitants who spoke English. + +The population of Vladivostock in the Almanack is stated to be 8,431, +but was estimated to me on the spot at 5,000. The births for 1878 were +given by the priest as 184, marriages 13, and deaths 102, of which last +66 were males. The population, however, must fluctuate greatly, for +during the previous year 8,000 troops had been quartered in and about +the town; and I saw the earth batteries they had thrown up to receive +the English, in case the treaty of Berlin had been settled the wrong +way. Happily it went the right way; and when H.M.S. _Iron Duke_, on a +northern cruise, steamed into Vladivostock, instead of being injured +by torpedoes or fired upon, the officers were invited to dine at the +admiral’s house. I judged the party must have been a pleasant one, +for the commander of the Siberian fleet told me he had been immensely +pleased with the English admiral, and the Governor’s wife and family +had nothing to say of the officers but what was gracious and kind. + +A large number of the inhabitants of Vladivostock are Manzas, Coreans, +and Chinese, whose presence is looked upon in different lights. My +host, for instance, thought their numbers a hindrance to Russian +progress, because they outbid the Russians, work cheaper, and undersell +them. In fact, this was one of the subjects upon which the captain used +to wax warm. Accustomed to the high prices of American markets, he was +sorely offended at the insignificant profits proposed to him by the +Chinese, and, after speaking of their miserable offers for his goods +or services, he used to wind up his orations by telling me, in not +quite classical English, “There ain’t no footur for this country.” The +Governor’s wife and other Russians thought differently, for, apart from +the larger exports and imports,[1] they had the Chinese to thank for +the vegetable market and the performance of a great deal of local work +at a cheap rate, which otherwise would possibly not have been done at +all.[2] + +Emigrants from the Corea take refuge on Russian soil, in spite of +the Corean death penalty attached. In 1868 there were 1,400 of these +fugitives; but in the following year, when floods in the Corea drove +additional multitudes to seek refuge on neighbouring soil, their +further immigration was forbidden by the Russians, and some of the +fugitives were sent back, and, on their return, decapitated.[3] + +Sad accounts of the Manzas were heard at Vladivostock. My host +employed, he said, an old man whom he one day missed, and found that +he had been murdered, to be robbed of £10. The Manzas are pirates +also. In their transactions with the Russians the Chinese demand to be +paid in silver money, and this they take home by sea. Hence I saw more +silver roubles in the Sea-coast province than I had observed in any +other part of the empire. I saw too, at Khabarofka, a considerable sum +of silver money in Mexican dollars. The Manza robbers, accordingly, +watch for the boats, murder the crews, and secure the booty. + +The Coreans were described as very industrious. They dress in white, +and tie up their hair in the shape of a horn. Their summer hats +resemble those of the Gilyaks, except that they are hexagonal instead +of circular. I went into some of their houses, the walls of which were +of mud, plastered on a framework of straw. The floor was of beaten +earth, with a mud fireplace in the centre, and a divan round the walls. +In the best houses, the wife had a separate apartment. Fire burns in +the centre by day, and the flues, under the divan, are heated morning +and evening. The people live on millet and rice, and use a spoon of +bronze, with a nearly circular flat bowl. Taking one from a man who +was eating, I presented the spoon in one hand and a silver coin in the +other, intimating that I wished to buy; and when he had taken the coin +the master of the house came up, and, receiving from me the spoon and +from the man the coin, he graciously returned them both, implying that +he _gave_ me what I desired. + +The Russian inhabitants of Vladivostock consist almost entirely of +officers and persons connected with the army and navy, and there are +several foreign inhabitants besides,--some of them Germans, Finns, and +Americans. England was represented by an engineer, who went there, I +believe, as a mechanic, and whose son-in-law, at the time of my visit, +was mayor of the town.[4] + +In 1878 there were in Vladivostock 80 merchants of the first guild, who +pay in Russia a tax of £50 per annum; 185 of the second guild, who pay +£6 per annum; 228 temporary merchants, and 99 street-hawkers; also 215 +first-class and 209 second-class clerks.[5] + +The junks of the Chinese, their little houses of wood, their sheds +and implements, give to Vladivostock a different aspect from that of +ordinary Siberian towns. The Russian houses are chiefly of wood, and +among the public buildings are both barracks and winter quarters for +the seamen of the fleet. To these must be added the Admiralty, an +officers’ club, two high-class schools for boys and girls, a library, +two free schools, a Russian and a Lutheran church, two telegraph +stations, a dockyard, and the Governor’s house. + +At this last I was presented, on the day after my arrival, by Captain +Naumoff, the captain of the port. The Governor was away on a tour of +inspection, but I was introduced to Madame Erdmann, who spoke excellent +English, and had all the manners and charm of an English lady. She +was a German-Russian from the Baltic provinces, and both she and her +husband were Protestants--and zealous ones, too, for they had come +out to Vladivostock with the intention of effecting some good in the +place, and were evidently doing it. My host, Captain de Vries, bore +testimony to the material improvements which had been made by the +Governor; for, said he, until the admiral came, “we had no road for the +buggy.” His Excellency made also a pretty pleasure-garden at his own +cost, for which, now that it is finished, the Government allows a grant +for maintenance. Admiral Erdmann, who combined the three offices of +Admiral of the Fleet, Chief of the Military, and Civil Governor of the +province, drew a stipend of about £2,000 a year, kept an establishment +of 15 servants, and seemed to take pleasure in entertaining in +vice-regal style the officers of men-of-war of all nations visiting the +port. + +But Admiral and Madame Erdmann have left other monuments than these +to testify to their endeavours to promote the welfare of the town. +When they arrived there was no system of poor relief, whereupon her +Excellency called together the ladies of the place, and organized +a society which has been an immense benefit. She proposed, in the +first place, to build a free school, which was done. The institute or +boarding-school for girls also was enlarged, and Madame had been the +prime mover in another effort to build a Lutheran church and manse. The +means by which funds were raised for these charitable objects were, in +part, concerts and fancy fairs. One that took place during the first +week I was there was described to me as resembling those in England, +and I heard that by two such fêtes within a fortnight they cleared the +sum of £500. + +I was invited to dine at the admiral’s house soon after my arrival, +and met there the officers of the Russian clipper _Djiguitt_, in which +I afterwards left Siberia. A band performed during the evening, and +fairly surprised me by its excellence; for I had met with nothing to +equal it in Russia, and had heard little music of any kind in crossing +Siberia. This dinner-party brought me into contact with several +naval people, and I subsequently met a Commander Terentieff, who was +exceedingly kind in translating for me. He accompanied me one morning +to the temporary barracks of the first battalion, whose chief is the +Grand Duke Alexei. Its standard was presented by Peter the Great, and +the Commandant informed me with pride that it was this battalion that +escorted the Russian Ambassador across the Mongolian desert to Peking +in the seventeenth century. The barracks were shown me as something +noteworthy, in that they were built of mud-bricks not burnt, after +the fashion of the new ones at Tashkend. All inside was orderly, but +the bedsteads were somewhat close together. Some of the extras in +furniture, such as here and there a bright counterpane or quilt, had +been purchased by the economies of the regiment. I tasted their soup, +and found it excellent. The men varied in age from 22 to 26. Barracks +of ordinary bricks for 200 men were in course of construction. Usually +the Russian soldiers are their own builders, but in this instance +accommodation, including a room for gymnastics convertible into a +chapel, was being erected by Chinese labourers at a cost of £6,000. + +From the barracks we went to the lock-up, where were 20 military and +21 civil prisoners, the latter being for the most part Manza brigands. +At our entrance they went down on all-fours, and continued in that +posture whilst one was deputed to ask how their trial was going on; and +another, thinking, I suppose, to expedite matters, said that he wished +to be baptized. They were a sorry-looking lot; but I must give them +credit for keeping their chamber cleaner than the Russian prisoners +did. The hide upon which each of them slept was neatly rolled up, and +all was arranged in order. + +The commander took me to visit the boys’ pro-gymnasium or high-class +school for 45 scholars, established four years previously. It was +modelled on precisely the same plan as all the schools of its class +throughout Russia. Hence two boys in the same grade of school, though +one may be at Moscow and the other at Vladivostock, go through the +same studies, and keep the same hours to each subject. The scholars +dress in a blue and white uniform, and a boy, after passing through +the preparatory class, goes on through the various grades up to the +sixth, or, for a higher education, to the seventh and eighth classes. +He may then go to the university, or to the Lyceum, to study philology +and jurisprudence; or, again, to one of the academies, with a view to +special studies, such as medicine, mineralogy, divinity, etc. + +The cost of education in Russia, as compared with England, is low.[6] +The Russian curriculum looks very formidable on paper, and I have +heard from an English tutor in Russia that the boys are obliged to +work exceedingly hard to pass their examinations. He thought they +were worked harder than English boys, and acquired more theoretical +knowledge, though the education is of a less practical character than +in England.[7] Corporal punishment is forbidden, and is replaced by +impositions; and when these are inflicted the scholar receives a note +stating his fault, which he must take home and bring back signed by +his parents. Should a boy fail to pass his examination in each of his +classes, he is usually turned out of the gymnasium, which is a serious +loss to him, because a boy gains military exemptions according to the +class he is in on leaving school.[8] + +Besides the boys’ school at Vladivostock I visited the girls’ +institute for the daughters of naval officers, and witnessed the +opening religious ceremony of blessing the house after the long +vacation. Each child as she came up to kiss the Gospels was sprinkled +with holy water, as were also the visitors; after which the priest and +his assistant went over the building, sprinkling in all directions. The +inspector subsequently declared what children were to be advanced to +higher classes. The subjects taught were in keeping with those of the +boys’ gymnasium, from which the institute differed in that the children +were lodged, clothed, and boarded; 12 free, the rest on payment of £20 +per annum. The Government gives a grant of £1,000 per annum towards +this school, and the remainder is made up by the children’s fees and +voluntary contributions. The cleanliness and good arrangement of this +building were striking, not to say luxurious. A great deal, no doubt, +was due to the fact that the Governor’s wife visited one of the schools +every day. The senior class had two girls of 15 and 16 years of age. To +my questions in geography they gave good answers, and in the Gospels +fair. They had not read the Epistles, but were expecting so to do that +year. One girl was from a peasant home, the other the daughter of a +foreign merchant, but they appeared throughout to stand on a level +with the officers’ daughters. They had a custom of posting up on a +red board for a year the name of the best girl in the school. At the +time of my visit the same maiden had held this “blue ribbon” for five +years consecutively. Whether it was for excellence of intellect or +conduct I know not, but I amused them by offering a prize, such as I +had seen given in the schools of the Irish Church Missions, called the +“best beloved” prize. The girls were ranged in a line, and each came +and whispered in the ear of the teacher the name of the schoolfellow +she loved best, and the girl who gained the highest number of votes +received the prize. The idea was new to them, and they said the +whispering was like going to confession. + +There was yet another school the Governor’s wife took me to see--the +little free school--built by the society she had founded, and of which +it is not too much to say that it was the neatest and best-built house +in the town. It was furnished in a manner that would be thought too +good for a ragged school in England, and it struck me, as did the +institute, that it was somewhat over-provided with teachers.[9] + +There were 30 children on the books, of whom one class came in the +morning, and the other in the afternoon. The religious instruction +consisted in learning the 10 principal prayers of the Russian Church +from a small primer, the contents of which would be as much or, I was +told, rather more religious knowledge than the average Russian peasant +would know. The children received at Christmas presents of clothing, +and a marked increase of attendants takes place as the time for the +gifts draws near--a phenomenon not confined to Siberian schools! + +Madame Erdmann told me of an industrial school in the town for boys, +where they are paid 6_d._ a day for their work. It must not, however, +be inferred from these remarks about the educational condition of +Vladivostock that things so prevail throughout the province. On the +contrary, there are only 15 elementary schools throughout the Primorsk, +attended by 215 boys and 66 girls; and the low condition of education +was alleged to the Emperor as one of the principal causes of crime in +the district.[10] + +The foreign communications of Vladivostock are in summer tolerably +numerous. Ships from various nations come northwards to avoid the heat +of the tropics, or to get coal at Dui, and put in at Vladivostock +for provisions, the prices of which, in the meat and vegetable +markets, immediately rise on the arrival of a large ship. Again, the +inhabitants of this town in the far east have the advantage of two +telegraph stations, by one of which they can send a message to London +through Siberia, and by the other _viâ_ China and India. The latter +wires are those of the Great Northern Telegraph Company, opened in +1871, and passing through Hakodate and Nagasaki, thence to Shanghai and +Amoy, and so on to India and Suez. The latter wire goes by the route I +followed as far as Khabarofka, there meeting wires from Nikolaefsk, and +then continues across Siberia by the route I travelled. The number of +messages sent in 1878 from Russia to China was 595, and to Japan 515, +or 1,100 in all. + +Of the two Siberian wires, one, I found, is reserved for international +correspondence. Of 20,000 messages passing from the south through +Vladivostock, no less than 15,000 were in English. Of the remaining +5,000, those in the French and German languages absorbed the larger +proportion.[11] + +The director of the Great Northern Company was Mr. Russell, at whose +house I dined, and whose wife played the harmonium at the Sunday +service. I have already mentioned the heartiness with which Russians +and foreigners alike assisted these services in the Primorsk. At +Nikolaefsk, not only did the authorities send round notice of what was +to take place, but they seemed to vie with one another in offering +assistance. The military commandant offered the use of a room at the +club; the captain of the port, being a Protestant, seemed almost +aggrieved that his house from the first had not been chosen, and the +chief civil authority lent the best room in the Governor’s residence, +and attended the service with other dignitaries in full uniform. There +were present on the first Sunday 33 persons, Greeks, Romans, and +Protestants, representing Russia, Poland, England, America, Finland, +Germany, and Sweden. Some came, doubtless, out of curiosity to see the +first English service on the Amur, but many were able to understand; +and on the second Sunday, which was wet, there were 20 persons present, +all men but one. At Vladivostock the service was held in the new +Lutheran church. The congregation numbered 27 persons, representing +quite as many nationalities as at Nikolaefsk, and some Swiss besides. +So few were familiar with the offices of the English Church that I was +compelled to make the service of an irregular character; but it was +pleasant, after the sermons, to have one and another grasping one’s +hand, and expressing their thanks for what they had heard. Some of them +had not had such an opportunity for a long time. I was greatly struck +with one thing that reached me in connection with these services. Some +of the Russians had never attended a Protestant service before, and +more than one remarked upon its solemnity. This I thought remarkable as +coming from persons who from childhood had been accustomed to an ornate +and very elaborate ritual, and none other. They were plainly struck +by the quietness that prevailed and by the appeal to the intellect as +manifest in the sermon, in contrast to their service of worship only, +with persons moving hither and thither; and a well-educated officer, +commenting upon the solemnity of the service, said that he had never +before been impressed by a sermon in his life. + +The offertory at Vladivostock was given to the building fund, for the +church was not quite finished. A resident pastor was expected to arrive +in the course of a few months, which would make four Lutheran ministers +in Siberia, instead of the former three living in or near Omsk, Tomsk, +and Irkutsk, their general superintendent, Pastor Jürgenssen, living at +Moscow. The number of Protestant churches in Siberia is five, and of +Protestants about 7,000. At Ekaterineburg are living some 300 German +Protestants, but nine persons, we heard, was considered a large Sunday +congregation. In the vicinity of Tobolsk some of the Lettish peasants +were said to have joined the Russian Church, and some to have fallen +away from religion altogether. The account, however, of 1,800 Finns +living at Ruschkova was better. They had petitioned for, and were +awaiting, a pastor. + +At Vladivostock I took my farewell of Siberian exile life at an +experimental penal colony called “First River” village. Accompanied +by the German captain of the _Cyclop_, Captains Boris and Charles de +Livron, and a lady, we proceeded thither on horseback, by a pretty +ride through a partially-cleared forest, till, from the top of a hill, +we saw a brewery, brick-fields, and, not far distant, nestling among +the trees, the exiles’ village. It consisted of about 20 log houses, +occupied by 15 convicts and five others who had served their time, +and who might have removed elsewhere, but they so far liked their +quarters that they chose to remain. Two naval men lived in the village +for the purpose, ostensibly, of keeping order, and a few Chinese had +been attracted to settle in the place. Four of the convicts were under +sentence of 15 years’ hard labour, one for 20 years, and one for life. +They were condemned to Sakhalin, but, seeing that their wives had +accompanied them, and that there was not enough work in the coal-mines, +the kind-hearted Governor had obtained permission to place them in the +little colony as an experiment. The men had built their own houses, and +took it in turns to go into Vladivostock, from eight to twelve, to do +night work. They might earn what they could by day, and the wives were +able to add to the store by laundry work. One wife had by this means +possessed herself of two cows. + +Besides this, they might take as much land as they chose to cultivate. +They were growing potatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, and cabbages, but the +soil was said to be unsuitable for corn. Pigs and poultry were running +about; and though, according to their own account, one of them with +seven children found it difficult to make a living, yet the others did +so easily. + +One of the convicts, thinking I was a Government official, informed +me that he had not yet received his new clothes, whereupon I learned +that, when they begin to colonize, they receive monthly 72 lbs. of +flour and 5_d._ a day. Every year they received a _shuba_, or sheepskin +coat, underlinen, two pairs of winter boots, three pairs of summer +shoes, and, once in three years, a long coat. In one of the best of +the houses we found a clean, orderly room, with a good samovar, and +plenty of pictures and photographs. The owner possessed two cows and +a horse; so we were told, at least, by a fellow-convict, who took us +into his garden and seated us beneath a bower of wild vines. Milk and +wild grapes were afterwards brought for our refreshment. This man had +been in the Imperial Guard, and had finished his military service, +when, having invited some friends to his house, he killed one of +them in a drunken quarrel. I tried to get at the relative positions +of some of these convicts before the committal of their crimes and +after, and found in one case that in Russia the man was a drunkard and +poor, whereas in this village he could live well, and could not get +intoxicated so easily, by reason of his distance from Vladivostock. +There were but one man and one woman in the village who could read, and +one had friends who corresponded with him from Russia. The children +were educated at the industrial school at Vladivostock. Thus my last +specimen of Siberian exile life was the most favourable of all. + +I had now followed the exiles from Moscow all across Siberia, and, with +the exception of the mines at Nertchinsk and Dui, had seen them under +the varying circumstances in which they live. Looking at the matter +calmly and dispassionately, I am bound to say that “exile to Siberia” +no longer calls up to my mind the horrors it did formerly. I am quite +prepared to believe that instances have occurred of bad management, +oppression, and cruelty. I have already quoted some cases; but that the +normal condition of things has been exaggerated I am persuaded. Taken +at the worst, “condemned to the mines” is not so bad as it seems, and +in the case of peasant exiles, willing to work, I cannot but think +that many of them have a better chance of doing well in several parts +of Siberia than at home in some parts of Russia. English people are +accustomed to think of exiles like the parents of “Elizabeth,” banished +to a region in the far north where scarcely anything grows; but a +little consideration would show this to be, in the great number of +cases, extremely unlikely, for the Government would then have to keep +them, whereas in the south they can keep themselves. On the sea coast, +women convicts get excellent places as servants. One hardship connected +with their lot is that, until they have served their time or gained +their good conduct class, they cannot marry; and even then the husband, +if a free man, must undertake not to quit Siberia and so leave his wife +behind. This law is rigidly enforced. I heard of one case of a woman +who had behaved particularly well, and whose husband wished to return +to Russia, for which even the Governor of a province petitioned, but +the request was refused. + +A lady told me at Vladivostock that some of her convict servants had +recently said to her, “We have such a good time of it here in Siberia, +that, had we known it, we would certainly have committed a crime before +to get here; and now we mean to write to our relations and tell them +to do something to get sent here too,”--a speech that will probably +strike the reader as the foolish saying of a servant girl, but the +truth of which, _in this particular case_, I do not doubt. The servant +had the good fortune to be taken into the service of Madame Boris de +Livron, who had spent many years in America, and of whose home I can +speak, because I dined therein; and one had only to contrast with it +some wretched _izba_ in European Russia, from which, perhaps, the woman +came, and her laborious work in the fields, to render it exceedingly +likely that she spoke, after all, only the sober truth. That this was +an exceptional case may very well be, and so also the exile village was +in a manner exceptional, for the exiles are usually planted, on their +release, among colonists, rather than put into villages by themselves; +but I have quoted these instances as the least repulsive forms of exile +life that came under my notice, and to show that, once set free from +prison, the prosperity of the banished is pretty much in their own +hands. + +Before leaving Vladivostock I called upon the priest, who gave me +information about the church, and I likewise made the acquaintance of +several of the merchants, among them Mr. Lindholm, who had whaling +vessels in the Sea of Okhotsk. With him I exchanged my paper money, at +the rate of two roubles four kopecks per Mexican dollar, taking with me +a draft on his partners, Messrs. Walsh, Hall, and Co. of Yokohama. Thus +prepared I awaited the return of the Governor, and on Monday afternoon, +September 29th, the admiral’s flag appeared in the harbour; the naval +captains and military officers assembled to present their reports, and +I got my luggage on board the _Djiguitt_. Madame Erdmann insisted on +my coming, however, the same evening to be introduced to the admiral, +which I thought very kind, immediately after his prolonged absence, and +the weariness of his journey. A warm reception was accorded me by the +Governor, a lively interest manifested in my plans, and I left _terra +firma_ to sleep in the ship. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Réclus gives these statistics concerning Russian trade with China:-- + + Average of 1827-31, £120,000 exports, £20,000 imports, £140,000 total; + _i.e._, 1 per cent. of total Russian trade. + + ” 1842-46, £650,000 exports, £650,000 imports, £1,300,000 total; + _i.e._, 8 per cent. of total Russian trade. + + ” 1864-68, £580,000 exports, £450,000 imports, £1,030,000 total; + _i.e._, 2·5 per cent. of total Russian trade. + + The year 1876, £250,000 exports, £1,410,000 imports, £1,660,000 total; + _i.e._, 2 per cent. of total Russian trade. + +[2] The number of Chinese and their congeners in the Russian littoral +was estimated, in 1873, at from 3,000 to 7,000; and this would be +multiplied a hundredfold if free emigration were permitted. In 1861, +after the cession of the Sea Coast to the Russians, the Chinese +Government forbade its subjects any longer to colonize in the country +with their wives. The rich, therefore, returned home, leaving the poor; +and these were joined by Manchu brigands and vagabonds, generically +called Manzas, or Freemen--so named in reproach by the Chinese as +outlaws, though the Manzas call themselves _Pao-toui-tzi_, that is, +“walkers” or “couriers.” + +[3] In 1873 there were about 3,500 Coreans in the Primorsk, of whom, +says Réclus, more than half permitted themselves to be baptized--the +correctness of which latter statement I am disposed to doubt. I heard +nothing of any such number of Corean Christians, and the priest at +Vladivostock told me that in ten years he had baptized only about 10 +pagans. He was not a missionary, it is true, nor did I hear of one so +far south. + +[4] In Russian towns having not less than 5,000 inhabitants there +are 30 supervisors, three more being added for each 1,500 of the +population; and it is over these the mayor presides. Other civic +arrangements, applying to towns, are an _uchastok_, consisting of from +10 to 20 houses; a _quartal_, or square, or block; a chast, consisting +of from five to ten quartals; and a _government_ town of three chasts +and upwards. The police-master is at the head of affairs; under him is +a _chastny pristaf_ for each chast, under whom are chiefs of quartals, +with uchastok officers under them. + +[5] Manufactured goods were brought to the town to the value of +£100,000, of which £40,000 worth were transported into the interior, +and the increase of trade was reported to be 20 per cent. on that of +the previous year; but I am not aware to what departments of trade +this increase is to be apportioned, or whether it was due to the +abnormally large garrison. Réclus gives the commerce of Vladivostock in +1879:--Imports, £218,495; and exports, £10,452. + +[6] For instruction and books the first three classes pay 18_s._ a +year, the three higher classes £3 2_s._ a year. In certain places +only they can board and lodge, in which case they pay £24, or, with +clothing, £32 per annum. The average total cost of a boy’s education, +exclusive of food and clothing, up to the age of 21, in high-class +schools in Russia, is £240, and for special schools for army, navy, +etc., £300. + +[7] The subjects of Russian study are as follows: Prayers learnt +_memoriter_; explanation of most important chapters in Old and New +Testaments; Old and New Testament history; principles and doctrines +of the Orthodox Church; catechism; Divine revelation, sacred legends, +and holy writings; ancient and modern books; faith, hope, charity: +Greek and Russian Church histories; Sclavonic and Russian language +and literature: Latin, Greek; arithmetic, algebra, geometry, plane +trigonometry, and physical geography: natural sciences, electricity, +galvanism, light, heat, motion, meteorology, chemistry: natural +history, geology, botany, zoology: history, ancient, modern, Oriental, +Greek, and Roman: geography: German, and one other modern language at +choice, except that in certain seaport towns (as at Vladivostock) it +_must_ be English. This course applies to boys’ gymnasia throughout +Russia, and all the principal subjects are compulsory. Others may be +studied out of the gymnasium, such as music, languages, technology, +practical chemistry, etc. + +[8] Thus, whilst 7 years’ service is exacted from a recruit who is +uneducated, and 3 years from one who has passed through an elementary +school, a boy who goes from the 5th class of a gymnasium serves as a +soldier only 2 years; from the 6th class only 1 year; and from the 7th +class, or the university, only 6 months, after which he can be examined +for an officer’s commission, or may retire into the first reserve +during 10 years, and then into the second reserve up to 40 years of +age, after which he is altogether free from military service. + +[9] I learnt something of Russian teachers’ salaries. At the institute +the directress received £150 per annum; two teachers £100 each; an +assistant £60; linen custodian £25; housekeeper £30. They had 42 +scholars; and in the building they employed 8 male and female servants, +at a salary of £1 per month each. Beside this home staff there were 15 +outside teachers, amongst whom the priest received £70 a year. At the +boys’ gymnasium the teacher of English received £7 10_s._ per month, +and the teacher of German £25; or, to put it in another way, teachers +of languages and of the four higher classes received 10_s._ a lesson, +and those of the lower three classes 6_s._ The teachers elect from +their own number an inspector, who receives an additional £60 per annum +and a house rent free. Further, the Government appoints a director, at +a salary of £250 per annum. All teachers in Siberia appointed by the +Government receive an increase of 25 per cent. of their salary every +five years; and after ten years’ service have an annual pension of half +their salary. + +[10] Thus the official report dealing with the morality of the people +called attention to the fact that many are convicts and soldiers sent +to the district for punishment, to the unusually large importation +of alcohol and Chinese brandy, to the high price of necessaries, the +insufficient number of free marriageable women, and, lastly, to the +low condition of education. The chief causes of crime were given as +gambling and drunkenness; and the crimes committed in 1878 were: +insubordination to authorities 13, breaking prison bounds 4, vagrancy +31, murder 5, personal violence 11, libel and assault 12, theft 27, and +highway robbery 11. + +[11] A comparison of the salaries of the clerks shows the English +company to pay a higher rate. The English company has 25 European +clerks, independently of Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese +subordinates. The European clerks begin at a salary of £320 a year, and +go on to £420, after which they ascend to higher offices and shorter +hours as superintendents, etc., and rise to £800 a year or more. In the +Russian service a clerk begins at £2 12_s._ a month if speaking only +Russian, and receives £2 10_s._ a month extra for each new language +acquired. A first-class clerk has about £120 a year, with a house and +perquisites; and even a superintendent receives only £280, with the +like additions, part of which consist of rye meal or flour. I heard +one man say he bought up this meal of his fellow-clerks to give to his +horse and chickens. They also receive travelling-money periodically. I +was favourably impressed with the bearing of the telegraph officials +throughout Siberia. In some cases they live a most secluded life. At +Busse, for instance, I met one who had been shut off from the world +in that tiny place on the Ussuri for nearly ten years, hoping to +realize a pension of £36 a year. The English company gives a pension, +three-tenths of salary after 10, one-half after 20, and seven-tenths +after 30 years’ service. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +_RUSSIANS AFLOAT._ + + Reflections on leaving Siberia.--Departure.--The Russian + navy.--The _Djiguitt_.--Seamen’s food, clothing, + work.--Relation between officers and men.--Received as + captain’s guest.--Progress.--Hospital arrangements.--Arrival + at Hakodate.--Divine service.--Religious professions of + seamen.--Inspection of ship.--A “strong gale.”--Russian sentiments + towards Englishmen.--Cause of dislike.--Misrepresentations by + English press.--Russian writings.--Transhipped to American + steamer.--Arrivals at San Francisco and London. + + “_The sailor sighs as sinks his native shore_ + + * * * * * + + _And climbs the mast to feast his eyes once more._” + + +Siberia was not my native land, and I did not climb for a last fond +look; yet I confess to drawing half a sigh as I was borne away from +Vladivostock. At all events I was not unmoved, and various thoughts +presented themselves--some, I hope, of thankfulness that I had been +permitted to cross the Old World without scratch or bruise.[1] + +But my happiest reflections were connected with what has been called my +work. I entered the country very much in the dark as to what could be +done, and what I did was little enough to boast of; yet, to me, it was +a source of gratitude that I had been permitted to place within reach +of at least every prisoner and hospital patient in Siberia a portion of +the Word of God. A few opportunities also for the exercise of clerical +functions had presented themselves, such as the services at Nikolaefsk +and Vladivostock, as also some others of a private character, which +linger pleasingly in the memory. Since my return, news has come from +Archangel that the books I left in 1878 have caused inquiry and demand +for the Scriptures. Again, more than one who has followed me in +Northern Asia has told of the manner in which the books left at the +post-houses are treasured, and, last winter, two gentlemen, travelling +over a large portion of Western Siberia, found the tracts I had left +in great demand. One of them writes that they have been a boon and a +pleasure at many a peasant’s fireside. If, then, the result were no +more than this, it would be something to have ministered gratification +to tens of thousands of readers. But I had higher aims; for I believed +that in those Scriptures and tracts there were germs of new life and +thought and hope. I remembered what reading the Scriptures had done for +men in other lands,--for Luther in his cell, and Bunyan in prison; and +having sown the seed, I was content to leave it with Him in Whose name +I went forth. Then I sailed away with the thought that I had done what +little I could. Those who labour in similar fields will understand and +sympathize with my feelings, and some perhaps will breathe a prayer +that in the great day of account the harvest may be plenteous. + +As the _Djiguitt_ steamed out of the harbour we fired a salute of +seven guns, and, gliding past the admiral’s house, saw his Excellency +and Madame Erdmann waving their handkerchiefs from the verandah. Our +captain, Charles de Livron, is the admiral’s son-in-law, so that there +were hearty farewells passing. Madame Erdmann had kindly expressed to +me a wish that our acquaintance thus begun might be continued, and, on +leaving, I felt that I was parting from pleasant friends, not only in +the Governor’s house, but in the town and country too. As I had applied +to Captain de Vries for lodgings, I asked, of course, for my bill; but +Mrs. de Vries would not hear of one, and the old captain said, “Well, +write me a letter, and tell me how you get home, and then come again as +soon as you can.” + +We had hardly lost sight of land before I began to inquire about the +Siberian fleet, which I understood to consist of 12 ships, divided +into four classes, some being of iron and some of wood; 1 is for the +China station, and there are besides 5 transports, 2 cruisers, and 4 +gunboats, the last with 3 guns each; the whole being manned by 208 +officers and 2,240 seamen. Of these about 380 are employed on shore for +mechanical and building purposes, and a far larger number live ashore +in winter. Their pay is much higher (nearly double, I heard) than that +of sailors in the Baltic fleet.[2] + +And now a word about the _Djiguitt_ (pronounced “Jee-geet,” and +meaning “a horseman”), on board which I was favoured with a passage +from Vladivostock to Japan. The clipper had been built four years +previously, at a cost of £62,500, and measured 218 feet long, was +of 1,300 tons burden, and fitted with engines of 250 nominal, but +1,200 registered, horse-power. She carried 200 men, with three large +guns in the middle of the deck, and four small ones at the sides. The +captain said he relied less upon his guns than upon his torpedoes, +the apparatus connected with which fired 30 for defensive and 5 for +offensive purposes. By means of wires the torpedoes--a kind supposed +to be in possession only of the Russian navy--could be moved about +under the water, and caused to explode automatically or at will. I +am incapable of judging how far this information was correct, but I +observed subsequently, from one of the English newspapers describing +the _Djiguitt_, and some of her sister ships, that they were said to be +well fitted to damage merchant shipping; and there is no doubt that, +had England and Russia declared war in 1878, this clipper would have +done her best to cripple the English commercial navy in the Pacific. + +The _Djiguitt_ had three masts, could spread 15,000 square feet of +canvas, and, under sail and steam, was supposed to make 13 knots an +hour. We were not fortunate enough, however, to get up to anything near +this speed, nine knots on the first day being, if I mistake not, our +best travelling. Often it was not more than six knots, and one day we +made only 103 miles. Everything on board was scrupulously clean. The +same thing struck me at Vladivostock, when steering the boat of the +chief of the staff, in which I was rowed to the end of the harbour. +The boat was manned by six men with 18-feet oars. According to Russian +regulations, the men row up to 42 strokes a minute, and I noticed that +when their arms were outstretched the men simultaneously bobbed their +heads, but whether for obtaining more pulling power, or for appearance’ +sake, I did not make out. + +The sailors in the Imperial navy are now shorter than formerly. The +Russian plan was to give from recruits, taken from all parts of the +country, the tallest men to the navy, the next to the artillery, and +the next to the infantry; but now they have made an alteration, and the +navy takes the shortest.[3] + +The food of the seamen on shore I have already alluded to. At sea, each +man gets 1 lb. of beef per day and plenty of biscuit. As I saw them +eating their meals, sitting at tables, or on deck in circles round a +common soup-bowl, they appeared to have enough and to spare, for a +good deal of broken victuals was at times thrown overboard; and if, +moreover, they do not eat all their allowance (which is usually the +case), they may economise and purchase extras for holidays. Rum was +served out at least once a day (for the notion that this benefits the +men is not yet exploded in Russia), but a man might forego this if he +pleased, and receive a trifling pittance instead.[4] + +It was difficult sometimes on so small a ship to find work for 200 +men; consequently, a large number of them were employed in labour +of a time-killing character, polishing the fittings of the ship and +guns, making them in some parts as bright as silver plate. Others were +weaving stays, or binding fine wire on telegraph lines for use with the +torpedoes. Once or twice I saw them at gun drill. The smaller guns were +breech-loaders, firing 15-lb. shot, worked by five men each; and the +larger were 90-lb. muzzle-loaders, each worked by 19 men. + +There seemed to me to exist an excellent feeling between officers and +men. The captain, on leaving Cronstadt, hinted to his crew that, as he +was proceeding to Siberia, he might leave some of them there if they +misbehaved. He gave them, however, an excellent character, and said +that, on arriving in Japan, he told an officer to let him know the +number of men whose conduct since leaving port had been immaculate, and +out of 180 men more than 100 were found without a bad mark. These, by +way of encouragement, he treated to a special performance in a circus. +On another occasion the captain paid some Chinese jugglers to come +on board and give the men an exhibition, whilst, in the tropics, the +officers had given the men lectures on scientific subjects, illustrated +by a magic lantern. + +On boarding the _Djiguitt_ I had as usual “fallen on my feet.” There +was a small berth in the vessel set apart for a chance passenger; but +the captain honoured me with a place at his table in his own cabin, +where things were more than comfortable. My host spoke excellent +English, to say nothing of several other languages; and so well +educated in this respect were the officers that, although the captain +usually invited two of them to dine with us daily, there was seldom or +never an occasion when they could not converse with me in English or +French. Among the officers were some of the Russian nobility, one a +prince, another a baron, and so on; and after sailing with them for 12 +days, I came to the conclusion that they were gentlemen and officers +of whom any navy might be proud. The doctor played the violoncello, a +second officer accompanied on the piano, and others sang part songs. A +young baron in Siberia had told me that the officers of the army were +badly educated, and worse “elevé”; but this certainly was not the case +with the officers of the _Djiguitt_. + +On Sunday the captain and I were invited to lunch in the officers’ +cabin, where I was reminded of the smallness of the world by the +discovery that the first lieutenant sitting next me had been to the +Greenwich Observatory, and as he had gained scholastic distinction in +Russia, and had the privilege of spending two years in foreign study, +he thought of coming again to Greenwich to the Naval College. + +We left Vladivostock on Tuesday, the 30th of September, for Yokohama, +and made fair progress till, next morning, a slight derangement of the +machinery caused us to lift the screw and depend on sails. This piece +of brass machinery, weighing nearly five tons, was heaved up by two +lines of seamen on either side of the deck, which operation interested +me, as did also some of the manœuvres for setting the sails, of which +11 were one day hoisted on the foremast, thereby spreading to the wind +about 5,000 square feet of canvas. I accompanied the captain once or +twice on his rounds of inspection, and was surprised at the stock of +carpenters’ tools and stores on board. In the kitchen, divided into two +compartments for officers and men, was a Chinese cook, who received +excellent wages (the Chinese cook at Madame Erdmann’s at Vladivostock +received £60 a year); and to him I paid the ordinary passenger’s tariff +for food of 4_s._ a day. In the fore part of the clipper were two small +compartments almost dark, used, when needed, for a prison.[5] There was +a lazarette on board, and I found that the doctor was obliged to keep +a daily report, showing the number of patients in the ship, the number +of cases standing over, new cases, cured, sent to hospital, remaining, +and dead.[6] + +We sighted Japan on Friday, October 3rd, and early on Saturday morning +reached Hakodate, where the ship stayed to get coal. I went on shore, +not dreaming that I should know a creature, but soon found a missionary +with whom, as a student, I had played football and cricket; and then, +walking along the streets, a second surprise awaited me on meeting a +youth whom I had known as a boy in Sussex. We stayed only a few hours, +but I had time to visit the prison with Mr. Dening, the missionary; and +then, getting on board, we steamed away on Saturday afternoon. + +On Sunday morning, at half-past nine, a white sail with a red cross +was run up to the mast-head, the bugle and drum sounded, and the crew +assembled on deck for Divine service. Two men, uncovered, reverently +brought an ikon, which was fastened by an officer to the captain’s +bridge. It was a new ikon (about two feet square) of silver gilt, +lately presented by the captain and officers of the ship at a cost of +£20. It had been purchased in Petersburg, been sent to Vladivostock _by +post_, and was used on this particular Sunday for the first time.[7] + +When all was ready the officers and choir were ranged in front and the +men behind, and the Commander (in place of Captain de Livron, who is +a Lutheran) read prayers and a psalm, the men responding and singing. +The service was of short duration, but highly impressive, and very +reverential. So, too, was their daily evening prayer, just before going +to their hammocks at dusk, when the men, drawn up in double lines +facing each other, at a signal doffed their caps, and chanted the +Lord’s Prayer.[8] + +After Divine service the captain proceeded officially to inspect the +ship, which he did in a very thorough manner, looking into every hole +and corner for the least speck of dust or disorder. Here a cloth had +been left in a recess, and there a piece of biscuit remained on a +shelf. Both were ordered to be removed, and the attention of an officer +was drawn to the broken hook and eye which attached the hen-house to +the bulwarks. The captain even complained because, putting his hand on +the polished brass of a gun, he found it somewhat dusty. + +This, however, was fine-weather inspection, and we were to have a +taste of something different. On Tuesday and Wednesday all had been +bright. About two o’clock on Thursday morning a sudden squall struck +the ship from right ahead, and caused a commotion, but did no harm, +and for the remainder of the day the wind blew coldly from the north. +On Friday and Saturday the temperature rose, and on Wednesday, 8th +October, we passed through a warm stream with a temperature of 77°, +whilst the thermometer on deck indicated only 70°. I had frequently +asked how soon we should arrive at Yokohama, and the captain had +prudently declined to say; but on Sunday afternoon he volunteered the +remark that he was able to assure me that we should be at Yokohama in +four days. Luckless boast! for the words had not been long spoken when +there came on a tempest such as I had never experienced. Towards sunset +the wind whistled and blew “a strong gale,” that would be marked 9 in +the Beaufort notation (the remaining three degrees being 10, “a whole +gale”; 11, “a storm”; 12, “a hurricane”). The topmasts were lowered, +the sails furled, and the heavy guns, lest they should break away, were +fastened by two extra lashings. Then followed great running about on +deck, and climbing the rigging, at which I was looking on amused rather +than otherwise. The captain, perceiving this, said, “Ah! we shall soon +have the water rough!” And so it came to pass; there was a pendulum +on the deckhouse to indicate the careen of the ship, the scale being +marked up to 35°, and when I say that the ship heeled over to 32°, the +reader will be prepared for the statement that in the captain’s cabin, +where I was writing, the heavy table and myself behind it quitted +our respective bases, in a very undignified manner, in favour of the +opposite side of the cabin. The carpenter was called, and the table +screwed down, after which, by tucking my knees tightly between it and a +chair, I managed to hold my own. I know not whether the jolting of the +tarantass across Siberia had rendered my nerves sea-proof, but, to my +agreeable surprise, I found myself able to write during three severe +storms on the Pacific and Atlantic. On Monday there ran “a high sea,” +which the captain marked “7” (“8” standing for “very high,” and “9” +for “tremendous,” beyond which my figures to indicate the disturbance +of the water do not go). After the storm came a calm wind with rough +waves. We dropped the screw, used steam, and to some extent steadied +the ship; but, with all our efforts, made little progress, and burnt +a great deal of coal, so that we had not sufficient to steam the +remainder of the voyage. The captain said he had never known, in so +short a space of time, so many changes of wind, barometer, and weather. + +I had learned that the steamer left Yokohama for San Francisco on +Saturday, the 11th of October, and as the mail-packet makes the passage +from Hakodate to Yokohama in 64 hours, my hope was that I might land in +the early part of the week, take a peep at the capital, and then embark +for California; but the storm and the calm upset our calculations +completely, and I had nothing to do but to submit, and make the best of +my ebbing opportunities of gaining Russian information, and of getting +my statistics translated. + +Being brought into such close proximity with Russian gentlemen for +several days, we naturally became somewhat intimate; restraint wore +off, and I learned more fully than I had done before the feelings of +educated Russians towards England. When passing through Petersburg +a general had said to me, “_J’adore les Anglais, mais je hais leurs +conseils_,” which, in 1879, was natural enough. Also the _Djiguitt_ +had left Europe during the Russo-Turkish war, and I discovered that +her officers had brought away with them unpleasant feelings towards my +nation. One of them observed, though not unkindly, that the English had +interfered most rudely with Russian affairs, for which, he thought, +the English Government was deeply hated by the Russian people, though +Englishmen, he said, were not so. He was ready to discuss, very keenly, +the probability of war between our two nations; and did not attempt +to hide the disappointment of the Russians at being foiled of their +purpose to enter Constantinople. He thought that, if war did break out, +it would, on the Russian side, be intensely popular. + +I set myself to discover, if possible, the cause of the alleged +dislike, whereupon I found that, among other reasons, he was extremely +sore about the frequent misrepresentation of Russia in English +newspapers. He complained that there were certain journals always +ready to exaggerate Russian defects; and, to be honest, I could +not help allowing there was a measure of truth in what he said. +Misrepresentation, however, may arise from two different sources--from +ignorance or from malevolence. When passing through the northern +capital, I myself saw, in some of the best English newspapers, +statements to the effect that Petersburg was then in such a state that +it was penal for anyone to stir out after nine without a certificate; +that no evening party might be given without leave from the police; +that no student might burn the midnight oil; and that a curfew law +forbade a light to be seen in a dwelling after ten: all of which I read +with amazement, for I myself was out as I pleased till past midnight, +and burned a light in packing nearly all the night through. When I +returned to London I said so to the editor of one of the papers, and +found that his statements had been due to wrong information. + +But complaint was made not merely of mistakes arising from ignorance or +wrong information. It was urged that false statements were frequently +put forth, and not properly and honorably rectified, when it afterwards +became manifest that they were wrong.[9] I had not up to that time +realized to what an extent this was true; but, after reading various +books and papers for the present work, I cannot but acknowledge that +some of the writers upon Russian affairs do, to put it in the mildest +form, make the most extraordinary statements. Some of these, as I have +said, arise from ignorance, and are pardonable; but others, it is to +be feared, arise from something far worse, which I prefer not to have +to name. What, for instance, will the reader think of the following +extract from an article in the _Sheffield Daily Telegraph_ of December +6th last, which has come to my hand just before going to press?--“The +Russian Government does a regular and an important business with +Sheffield. Our Russophiles will be charmed. The Government of ‘the +Divine figure from the North’ takes from Sheffield five tons per week +of horseflesh. The horses killed for Holy Russia are those which, +through decay or disease, are worthless. The dogs’ meat thus obtained +is bought as food for human beings in Siberia, and, having to travel so +far, it is often in a putrid condition when it arrives there, and in +all its horrible putrescence it is so served out.” + +This is remarkable information. The cheapest cost of carriage known +to me from Petersburg to the Siberian _frontier_ is £5 a ton, taking +12 months in transit (no wonder that the meat is putrid!); and if to +this sum be added the cost of the horseflesh and its conveyance from +Sheffield, and salt (for the _Telegraph_ is kind enough to say, on +Dec. 3rd, that the meat is salted, although it becomes putrid!), then +how strange it will seem that the Russian Government should come to +Sheffield to buy meat, when live stock, as I have already stated, can +be purchased in Western Siberia at less than ½_d._ per pound! This, +with a vengeance, is “carrying coal to Newcastle”! But the article +goes on to speak of the prisoners working “in quicksilver-mines, where +the mercury produces an artificial leprosy that rots blood, bones, +and skin”; and then the writer pathetically adds that this “is the +unspeakable fate of thousands of Russians in whom education and a +disposition and temperament naturally brave have aroused thoughts too +deep for tears, and a devoted courage worthy of the Christian martyrs.” +These “martyrs,” moreover, are fed with “flesh swept up from English +knackers’ yards”--that is to say, with horseflesh carried overland +8,000 miles!--I suppose to Nertchinsk, for the writer wisely abstains +from naming the locality of his mines. O wonderful information from +the _Sheffield Daily Telegraph_! Would that I could be informed where +there exists in Siberia a quicksilver-mine at all, that I might hasten +thither if only to clear up this mystery about--Sheffield horseflesh! + +To return, however, to serious writing. Is it surprising if Russians +feel annoyed at calumnies so gross? and ought one who knows them to +be so to abstain from giving such statements the lie? Few Englishmen, +one trusts, will be proud to read misstatements like these, and the +exposure of them, it is to be hoped, may lead the unimpassioned to +reflect on such injustice, and to call it by its proper name. For my +own part (humiliating as it is to acknowledge), I have learned to +expect from certain quarters exaggerations and misstatements respecting +Russian affairs. If any complain to me of the character of Russian +diplomacy I reply that I do not defend it. I say nothing of Russians +as politicians, and so long as human nature remains as it is there +will probably not be wanting writers to fan national jealousies and +misgivings to a flame; but no right-minded persons will ever look upon +misstatements like those I have quoted, other than with shame and +disgust. Such misrepresentations carry also their own Nemesis, for the +uninformed, led astray thereby, when they see themselves duped often +espouse the opposite cause. Such unfairness has taught me at least +to sympathize with Russians who are thus misrepresented; and perhaps +I ought to confess that this feeling had something to do with my +resolving to write this book. + +It does one an immensity of good sometimes to have to listen calmly +to an opponent, and I was thankful for the plain speaking I heard on +the _Djiguitt_. I am indebted for other similar thoughts to various +writings by Russians, among them to Madame Novikoff’s “Russia and +England--a Protest and an Appeal” (by “O. K.”); all the more forcibly +put because so politely written. I have said in my preface that of +politics I know next to nothing, and it is not in this connection that +I agree or disagree with what that accomplished lady has published; +but I perceive that “O. K.” has found in England what I have found in +Russia--a number of warm and generous friends, between whom one would +desire that only the best of feelings should exist. If Russia were +but better known, a similar feeling would grow, I feel sure, between +Englishmen and Russians generally, and both would be gainers thereby. +There are many who wish to know the truth respecting Siberia, and to +form an unbiassed opinion, and if what I have written should tend in +any degree to this end, I shall be thankful indeed. + +On Saturday morning, October 11th, the _Djiguitt_ was creeping along, +without coal and almost without wind, when a five-masted steamer +was seen on the horizon, coming away from Yokohama. “That,” said +the captain, “is your steamer. Shall I ask them if they will take a +passenger?” I quickly decided in the affirmative, packed my luggage, +and embarked in a gig. The commander of the _City of Peking_ did not +stay to read the signals, but, seeing a boat put off from a man-of-war, +concluded that it could be nothing short of an officer with important +dispatches, and came to a standstill, to discover, however, that it was +only to pick up a man “escaped from Siberia.” San Francisco was reached +in sixteen days. From thence I visited the Yo-Semite Valley, Salt Lake +City, Chicago, and Niagara; and then, pushing on to New York, crossed +the Atlantic to Liverpool, and on November 25th re-entered London, +having compassed the world in nearly a straight line of 25,500 miles. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] For the Author’s itinerary round the globe, _see_ Appendix F. + +[2] The pay of sailors in the Siberian fleet, afloat and on shore, +per month, is as follows:--Deck sailors, 4_s._; rigging sailors, +4_s._ 4_d._; steersmen and gunners, 4_s._ 9_d._; cooks, firemen, +carpenters, divers, and assistant clerks, 9_s._; quartermaster, +machinists, and head firemen, 15_s._; boatswain’s mate and foreman of +machine room, 18_s._; boatswain and clerks, 54_s._ Some have extras +as perquisites, thus:--Hospital servants, per month, 9_d._; chief +gunners, 1_s._; and torpedo men, 9_s._ The pay of officers, per month, +is as follows:--Midshipmen from £7 10_s._ to £14 14_s._; lieutenants, +£7 10_s._ to £17 10_s._; commander, £13 to £80; captain of second +rank (frigate), £15 10_s._ to £100; and captain of first rank (ship), +£17 4_s._ to £100. Seamen have all found for them. Officers provide +themselves with everything except cabin and furniture, the captain +having one man from the ship’s company for a servant, the higher +officers having one servant for two cabins, and the midshipmen one +servant for four cabins. The mess on the _Djiguitt_ cost each officer +about £6 a month, including holiday wines, and entertainment to guests +in port. The officers gave an entertainment before leaving Vladivostock. + +[3] The method of Russian conscription is as follows:--The empire is +divided into districts, each of which has annually to send a number of +men according to the requirements of the Government. Lots are drawn +from the men of 21 years of age, and those thus taken are examined as +to size of chest, eyes, ears, teeth, pulling force and general health; +and the faulty ones rejected. If sound, they have to serve seven, +three, two, one, or half a year, according to their education; after +which they pass into the first reserve. Those who escape the lot fall +at once into the first reserve. They may then marry; and, if following +certain callings, are free from further conscription, and in any case +are liable to be drawn again only in time of war or emergency. At 28 +these escaped ones fall into the second reserve, which is called up +only in case of home invasion. There are besides for those upon whom +the lot falls several exemptions, by reason of which they are either +free or their service may be postponed. + +[4] The clothing served out to the men was similar in character to +that of the soldiers already referred to, with the following yearly +additions: a flannel shirt and two blue flannel jerseys, two pairs +white shoes, two pairs white trousers, and three white shirts with +collars, also five yards of towelling and two white cap-covers for +hot climates. There is allowed them also 1_s._ for ribbons, 4_s._ for +bed-linen, 1_s._ for spoon and knife, and the quartermaster 4_s._ for +whistles. The machinists and firemen have each a further addition of +two pairs of shoes and a black canvas coat. + +With regard to work, Russian sailors usually lift half-a-ton a day. In +harbour they work eight hours, and on shore 12 hours, with two hours +for rest. On the _Djiguitt_ the men rose soon after five, breakfasted, +stowed away hammocks, washed the decks and got all clean before 8 +o’clock. They then worked till 11, at which hour they dined and +rested till 2; then worked again till 5.30, supped, and at 7 retired; +but this programme varies, of course, according to time, place, and +circumstances. The watches for the men were divided into two of six +hours each by day, and three of four hours each by night; but the +officers took in rotation five watches of four hours each. + +[5] I met at Vladivostock the officer who had to do with the legal +affairs of the Siberian fleet, acting as judge (aided by three or four +others), but whose sentences had to be approved by the admiral. + +[6] The form to be filled up for a patient was something to this +effect:--Name of patient, To what duty assigned, Number of his ship at +Cronstadt, Age, How long in service, From what province, How often in +hospital before, How often ill on board before, Name of disease, When +taken ill, When cured or died, How many days ill; and beneath this was +a form for showing diagnosis of the disease, heat of body, internal and +external treatment, and food. A monthly report also had to be forwarded +by the medical officer to Petersburg. + +[7] Each ship has, I believe, its particular ikon, as I found at Kara +was the case with each company of Cossacks, who carry the picture in a +special carriage. Some of the ikons that have accompanied Tsars to the +battlefield are treasured very highly in Russia. Private individuals, +when travelling, frequently carry with them ikons, before which in +their lodging they light lamps, as I saw in the case of a merchant at +Tomsk. + +[8] The religious professions of the seamen (excluding officers) in the +Russian fleet I gathered from the Naval Almanack for April, 1879, to be +as follows:-- + + BALTIC. BLACK. + | Afloat.|Ashore.|Afloat.|Ashore.| + Orthodox Russian Ch. | 16,669 | 289 | 4,729 | 31 | + Gregorians | | | 1 | | + Protestants | 759 | 16 | 8 | 7 | + Roman Catholics | 51 | 8 | 13 | | + Jews | | | | | + Mohammedans | 47 | | 5 | | + Sects {Molokans | | | | | + {Pomorski | | | | | + Pagans | | | | | + | ------ | ---- | ----- | ---- | + | 17,526 | 313 | 4,756 | 38 | + \-------v------/ \------v------/ + 17,839 4,794 + + CASPIAN. ARAL. SIBERIAN. TOTAL. + |Afloat.|Afloat.|Afloat.|Ashore.| + Orthodox Russian Ch. | 1,281 | 291 | 2,028 | 308 | 25,626 + Gregorians | 3 | | | | 4 + Protestants | | 8 | 7 | 3 | 808 + Roman Catholics | 1 | 9 | 3 | | 85 + Jews | | | 2 | | 2 + Mohammedans | 43 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 119 + Sects {Molokans | 3 | | | | 3 + {Pomorski | 3 | | | | 3 + Pagans | | 3 | | | 3 + | ----- | ---- | ----- | ----- | ------- + | 1,334 | 330 | 2,044 | 312 | 26,653 + \--v--/ \--v--/ \------v------/ \---v---/ + 1,334 330 2,356 26,653 + +[9] As a flagrant instance, they complained of the falseness of the +_Daily Telegraph_, respecting the carriage of convicts by the _Nijni +Novgorod_, to which I have alluded in my first volume (page 45). I +learn from the same paper of November 16th, 1881, that the Russians +have been further annoyed by some untrue statements published by the +_Daily Telegraph_ on June 28th of this year, concerning “judicial +and administrative abuses in Russia.” These misrepresentations were +copied by other papers, from which Mr. Tallack, compiling his report +for the Howard Association, and falling into the pit, reproduced +the matter thus: “Yet even an Imperial commissioner has recently +reported atrocious cruelties to prisoners in Central Russia, including +the torture of women with red-hot tongs; the killing of numbers by +imprisoning them in dark dungeons; other prisoners reduced to almost +naked skeleton figures in hideous caverns; inhuman floggings, 125 +lashes being inflicted even for addressing warders in the old peasant +style of ‘thou’ instead of ‘you’; and other brutalities.” When I read +these charges I felt sure they were untrue, but as I had not visited +the prisons of Orenburg, where the atrocities were alleged to have +occurred, all I could say was that I had seen prisons nearly all over +Russia, and had witnessed nothing answering to such abominations. I +ventured, however, to write to the editor of the _Daily Telegraph_ +for information respecting the Russian paper, the _Sjeverny Viestnik_ +(suppressed, I have since learnt, at least three years ago), from which +the statements were said to have come, and I received a polite reply +that the writer of the article was travelling in Russia. I then wrote +to Mr. Tallack, who inquired concerning the matter of Mr. Kokovtzeff, +one of three inspectors-general of prisons, who denied the truth of +what had appeared. Accordingly Mr. Tallack (whose zeal in the cause of +prison reform is well known), finding that he had been deceived, wrote +to the _Daily Telegraph_ to say so; but I was sorry to see that, though +this paper had given a whole column in bold type to the misstatements, +which had been multiplied therefrom by hundreds of thousands, yet all +the space they could spare for contradiction was 15 lines in very small +type! + + + GRATIAS DEO. + + + + +APPENDIX A. + +THE HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH. + +(_From page 162._) + + +The history of the Russian Church may be treated under the four periods +of its foundation, consolidation, transition, and reformation. Its +foundation period extends from the end of the tenth century to the +beginning of the fourteenth. In the year 957 a Russian princess, +named Olga, visited Constantinople, was baptized, and returned with +the Christian name of Helena. About thirty years afterwards there +came to her grandson, Vladimir, envoys from the different religious +communities of the known world,--from the Mussulmans, the Pope, the +Jews, the Greeks,--inviting him to adopt their respective creeds. To +these he replied by sending elders and nobles to examine their various +religions; and shortly afterwards, in 988, he was baptized and joined +the Greek Church. Vladimir then gave orders for a wholesale baptism of +his docile subjects at Kieff. A church was built there, and the work of +conversion advanced rapidly. The Holy Scriptures had been translated +into Sclavonic a century before for the nations on the Danube; so that +the Greek priests, on going to Russia, had this powerful lever ready to +hand in the language of the people. + +The period of the _consolidation_ of the Russian Church dates +from the beginning of the fourteenth century to the middle of the +seventeenth, during which time the local centre of ecclesiastical +history was transferred from Kieff to Moscow, and three great powers +came prominently forward--the Tsars, the Metropolitans, and the +Monks. The Tsar, in his ecclesiastical position, represented the +laity of the Church, and received the unbounded veneration of the +people; and the Metropolitans, second only to the Tsar, almost without +exception supported the authority of the Sovereign. In the middle of +the fifteenth century the Metropolitans became independent of the See +of Constantinople; and in 1589, Job, the Metropolitan of Moscow, was +elevated to the dignity of a patriarch. Again, the hermits and monks +acquired an immense influence. In 1338 was founded the famous Troitza +monastery--a seminary, cathedral, church, and fortress all in one--the +monks and clergy of which have more than once taken an active part in +the deliverance of their country from the Tatars and Poles. + +The _transition_ period of the Russian Church extends from the middle +of the seventeenth to the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, +during which time lived Nikon, the famous Patriarch of Moscow. He has +been called a Russian Chrysostom, a Russian Luther, a Russian Wolsey. +Ivan the Terrible, in his own savage way, had done something towards +rectifying the abuses of the Church. The Patriarch did more; he took +in hand the Russian hierarchy, whom he found idle and drunken. He +set them a good example, on one hand, by founding hospitals, feeding +the hungry, visiting prisons, and, above all, after the silence of +many centuries, by preaching; but, on the other hand, he administered +clerical discipline with uncommon severity. He was perpetually sending +his officers round the city, with orders that, if they found priest +or monk in a state of intoxication, they were to imprison, strip, and +scourge him; and numbers of dissolute clergy he banished to Siberia. +His name, however, is chiefly remembered by reason of his innovations, +or perhaps resuscitation of forgotten details in ritual. Finding that +copyists’ errors had crept into the service books, which were in +manuscript, he sent deputations to Mount Athos, and throughout the +Eastern Churches, for correct copies, put the printing press to work to +circulate new rubrics, and set on foot a work of revision, which met +with frantic opposition on the part of the ignorant among the people, +and was ultimately made the occasion of the secession of a large part +of what are now known as the Russian _raskolniks_, or dissenters. + +The fourth period, which has been called--though, alas! in only a +very limited sense--the _reformation_ of the Russian Church, extends +from the time of Peter the Great to our own day. The patriarchate had +attained to a position of great power, and the great Peter was not +the man to brook such a rival as Nikon had been to his father Alexis; +accordingly, on the death of the Patriarch Adrian, in 1700, his chair +was allowed to remain vacant for twenty years, at the end of which +time Peter abolished the patriarchate and appointed a synod. He also +carried out many reforms and improvements, which he had the good sense +to see were sorely needed. He established schools for the children of +the clergy, abolished anchorites, reformed the monasteries, and issued +regulations enjoining bishops to read the Scriptures carefully, and not +to be absent from their dioceses without permission of the synod. Many +of his changes, however, excited great dissatisfaction. The measures of +Nikon had sadly perturbed the orthodox Russians; those of Peter drove +them to desperation and to further schism. Among the charges brought +against the Tsar were such as these: that he had introduced into the +churches pictures by Western artists; and this was said to be a mortal +sin. Besides this, at the opening of the eighteenth century, Peter +changed the calendar, gave his people the 1st of January for their +New Year’s Day, and began to reckon the year from the birth of Christ +instead of from the creation of the world. This, among other like +things, was regarded as the very sign of Antichrist, inasmuch as he was +“to change times and laws”; and Peter the Great is still designated +Antichrist by a large proportion of the Russian dissenters. Since the +time of the great reformer the Russian Church has gone on very much as +he left it, the few minor reforms introduced by the Emperors Alexander +the First and Second being in the right direction. + + + + +APPENDIX B. + +THE DOCTRINES OF THE RUSSIAN, ROMAN, AND ENGLISH CHURCHES. + +(_From page 163._) + + +The doctrines of the Russian Church are not set forth in any one +public document like the “Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion,” but must +be sought in its creeds, councils, Church services, and catechisms. +Generally speaking, it may be said that the Bible and tradition form +the Russian rule of faith, and excommunication is the penalty of +heterodoxy. The Nicene Creed we know the Russians receive, with the +exception of the clause relating to the procession of the Holy Ghost +from the Son; and the Athanasian Creed finds a place in their Church +books, though it is not read in the public services. There are likewise +certain works by eminent Russian divines which have been promulgated or +received with more or less authority by councils or the general consent +of the Eastern Church. Such are the treatise of St. John Damascene +on the Orthodox Faith; the Answers of the Patriarch Jeremiah to the +Lutherans, 1574-1581; Peter Mogila’s Orthodox Confession of Faith of +the Catholic and Apostolic Church of the East, 1643-1662; the Eighteen +Articles of the Synod of Bethlehem, 1672; and the Orthodox Doctrine +of Platon, 1762. We get a better insight, however, into the doctrines +of the Russian Church, as they are taught in the present day, from +Mr. Blackmore’s translation of the Russian Primer, the Catechisms, +and the Treatise on the Duty of Parish Priests--a perusal of which +last seems to me to bring the Russian Church nearer to the English, +and further from the Roman, than is generally supposed. Some idea of +the divergences of the three Churches will be obtained by briefly +enumerating their differences, thus:-- + +1. The principal differences between the Russian and English Church are +upon-- + + (1) The number of the Œcumenical Councils. + (2) The number of the sacraments. + (3) Confirmation by priests. + (4) Marriage of clergy after ordination. + (5) Consecration of married priests to the episcopate. + (6) Transubstantiation. + (7) Invocation of saints. + (8) Reverence to sacred pictures and relics. + (9) Prayer for the faithful departed. + (10) The procession of the Holy Ghost. + +2. The differences between the Russian and English Churches on one +side, and the Roman on the other, are upon-- + + (1) Papal supremacy. + (2) Purgatory. + (3) Communion in one kind. + (4) Celibacy of priests and deacons. + (5) Indulgences. + (6) Works of supererogation. + (7) Judicial absolution. + (8) The doctrine of intention in priestly acts. + (9) The Apocrypha. + (10) Service in an unknown tongue. + (11) Withdrawal of the Scriptures from the laity. + (12) Use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist. + (13) The immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. + (14) Papal infallibility. + +3. Once more, the differences between the English Church and the +Russian and Roman combined are upon-- + + (1) The number of the sacraments. + (2) Married bishops. + (3) Invocation of saints. + (4) Reverence of pictures and relics. + (5) Prayer for the faithful departed. + (6) Compulsory confession. + +These are some of the principal differences between the three branches +of the Catholic Church, besides which there are others connected with +usage and ritual. + + + + +APPENDIX C. + +THE SCHISMS OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH. + +(_From page 163._) + + +It cannot be denied that there is a very considerable amount of +toleration of foreign religions in the Russian Empire. The Tsar does +not emulate the Roman Pontiff, who, as long as he could prevent it, +which was up to about 12 years ago, would not allow a Protestant +place of worship to be built within the walls of his capital. On the +contrary, at the fair of Nijni Novgorod, the Mohammedan mosque and the +Armenian church stand side by side with the orthodox cathedral, and +I am not sure that I did not see in the Chinese quarter a Buddhist +temple. Notwithstanding all this, however, the religious toleration of +the Tsar is of a somewhat one-sided character. A man is usually left +in peace to practise the religion in which he was born, so long as he +does not try to proselytize. Again, should an English Churchman, or any +one else living in Russia, be convinced that the Greek Church is more +scriptural and catholic than his own, the Greek Church will receive him +into her communion. But not _vice versâ_. On the contrary, should a +Russian Churchman living in Russia be convinced that the English Church +is more scriptural and catholic than his own, and should he attempt to +carry out his convictions, he would thereby render himself liable, I +believe, to expatriation, confiscation of property, and other pains and +penalties too dreadful to mention; and to receive the convert into the +English Church would be more than the Chaplain at Petersburg or Moscow +dare do. Again, in mixed marriages--that is, when either father _or_ +mother is “orthodox”--the children _must_ be orthodox, and follow the +religion of the State. Russians abroad sometimes change their religious +profession, in which case they remain Russian subjects, but are not +permitted to return to their country unless they recant. + +The matter therefore stands thus, that whilst the Russian Church is +ready to receive from all, she gives to none--that is, if she can +help it. Consequently, what she will not give, there are some who +choose to take. The rich, who are possessed of broad acres, be they +ever so convinced that some of the doctrines of the Greek Church are +unscriptural and uncatholic, naturally think twice before they render +their estates liable to confiscation. But there are others, who have +less to lose, for whom confiscation has no such terrors; or, if it has, +dare to face them, and bid the law do its worst. + +Persecution, however, such as we have known in England, has never +been a characteristic of the Church of Russia. I do not mean that +her repressive measures have never taken a form which can with +difficulty be distinguished from persecution. But she has never had +an Inquisition; neither Petersburg nor Moscow has a Smithfield; and +the plains of Russia have never heard such cries as once resounded +through the valleys of Piedmont. On the whole, I am disposed to think +that, in religious matters at all events, the hug of the bear is not so +bad as might be expected from his growl; and that the powers that be, +when they see a religious point cannot be carried, meet the difficulty +half-way. + +I left Siberia in a Russian man-of-war, and heard a story that will +illustrate this. Formerly the law obtained in the Russian navy that +all the seamen should have shaven chins. Now, at the Council of Moscow +in the seventeenth century, to shave the beard was pronounced “a sin +which even the blood of martyrs could not expiate”; and some of the +Russian dissenters still believe that to cut the hair or the beard is +altogether unscriptural and unorthodox. Accordingly, one fine day two +recruits appeared in the navy with flowing beards. They were ordered +to cut them off, but they obstinately refused. Their insubordination +was reported to higher quarters, and an order was returned that the +men must shave or be shaved. The men still refused, and in consequence +were shaved, to the saving of their consciences, but the loss of their +beards. But nature gave them new ones, and the difficulty came up +again, the men once more refusing to obey orders. Their obstinacy was +again reported, this time to very high authorities--to one of the Grand +Dukes, if not to the Emperor himself--when it occurred to one of them, +in his wisdom, to ask _why_ these men should be made to shave; and, no +satisfactory answer being forthcoming, another question followed--why +should _any_ of the men be made to shave? and shortly there went forth +a regulation that, throughout the whole of the navy, men should be left +to do as they liked with their beards. So in many things respecting +religion: when the Government of the present day cannot carry a point, +they not unfrequently give it up, or cease what looks like active +persecution. + +The Russians have, however, certain fanatical sects to deal with, +whose tenets are so outrageous that no enlightened Government could +do otherwise than try to repress them. Some of their ideas are +sufficiently ludicrous. “Cursed be the man,” said one of these people +to an acquaintance of mine--“Cursed be the man who presumes to pray to +God in a pair of trousers!” from which, I suppose, we are to infer that +in public worship these individuals think it right to divest themselves +of their nether garments. I am not aware, however, that persons such as +these are persecuted. Among the fanatical sects also are the Scoptsi, +some of whom are banished to a village on the Yenesei. There are +certain sectarians also who have no settled home, but wander about as +strangers and pilgrims. We met some of them in the Siberian wilds. +The great mass, however, of the Raskolniks, or Russian dissenters, +estimated at eight millions in number, are very different from those I +have mentioned. + +When, in the seventeenth century, the Patriarch Nikon began to have +the Church books revised and corrected, he met with fierce opposition. +He was charged with interpolating instead of correcting the books, and +nothing would persuade many of the ignorant people to the contrary. +Many thus became unsettled and broke away--not, they would say, +because they were leaving the Church, but because the Church, with +its new-fangled notions, was leaving them. Then when, in addition to +Nikon’s changes, Peter the Great introduced others, things were looked +upon as becoming worse than ever. There was, accordingly, a large +section of the most ultra-Conservative Russians, both of priests and +people, who clung to old books, old pictures, and old ways, under the +impression that thus only could they worship God according to the +customs of their forefathers; and it is from these secessionists that +the great mass of the _Staroveri_, or Old Believers, are descended. We +heard, at Tiumen, that some are very strict in their habits of living; +that, for instance, they will not drink tea or wine, and will not drink +out of the same vessel with one who is not of their sect. The Staroveri +are split into two principal parties. They had a bishop with them at +the time of their secession, and he ordained many priests; but as these +priests died they asked, How shall we fill their places? They had no +second bishop to ordain more. Some decided that they would do without +priests, and these are called _Bezpopoftschins_, or priestless. The +others for a time got priests from the Established Church as best they +could, but eventually came to a compromise with the Government, and, +by certain concessions made to them, saved their scruples and obtained +their priests. These are called _Popoftschins_. The differences, +however, between both parties on the one side, and the Established +Church on the other, were not questions of doctrine, but such points +as these: the Starovers gave the benediction holding up two fingers, +the established clergy holding up three, which latter practice was +regarded by the Old Believers as a mortal sin. The Starovers’ form of +the cross had three transverse beams, instead of the Russian two or the +Latin one. Again, to say the name of Jesus in two syllables instead of +three (as in Greek) was condemned by the Starovers, as was also the +repetition of the hallelujah in the service thrice instead of twice. It +became also an alarming innovation to read or write, for ecclesiastical +purposes, a word in modern Russ. I had a reminder of this in 1878 on +the Dwina, where Old Believers exist, for I sometimes found my tracts +objected to because not printed in Sclavonic. + +But there are many among the Raskolniks of Russia who dissent from +the Established Church on points less diminutive than those of the +Starovers; as the _Dukhobortsi_, or “wrestlers with the Spirit,” who +spiritualize to a high degree both doctrines and sacraments. Also they +reject pictures, do not cross themselves, nor observe the appointed +fasts. In their meetings they pray for one another, sing psalms, and +explain the Word of God. They call themselves “Christians,” and their +great dogma is to worship God in spirit and in truth. They have no +magistrates, but govern their own society; they practise brotherly +love, have all things common, and are remarkable for the orderly and +cleanly manner in which they live. An officer whom I met last year in +the Caucasus spoke to me in the highest terms of their blameless lives. + +There are many other sects of the Russian Church, many followers of +which are found in Siberia, either because banished or born there, or +having migrated by their own choice for the sake of greater liberty. +Not the least interesting among them are the _Molokans_, some of whom I +found on the Amur, and others more recently in the Trans-Caucasus. + + + + +APPENDIX D. + +THE DISCOVERIES OF WIGGINS AND NORDENSKIÖLD. + +(_From page 196._) + + +From various papers in the Proceedings of the Society for the Promotion +of Marine Enterprise and Trade in Russia, together with information +gathered by Mr. Oswald Cattley, it seems that Mr. M. K. Sidoroff of +Petersburg was the agitator, and, in a certain sense, the originator, +in modern times, of sea-trading adventure in the north of the Russian +empire. He was largely interested in gold-mining in the Yenesei, and +his efforts to open up marine communication with the north date from +1841. In 1860, thanks to his enterprise, the first foreign vessel +entered the Bay of Petchora. At the Universal Exhibition of 1862, in +London, Mr. Sidoroff exhibited, and obtained two medals for, products +from the Turukhansk district--graphite, skins, coal, salt, mammoth +tusks, etc.--all of which he presented to the South Kensington Museum. +In 1867 he began agitating the possibility of communicating with Europe +by sea _viâ_ the Yenesei and Obi rivers and the Arctic Ocean. In 1868 +he communicated with the Norwegian whalers, and at his initiative +Captains Foyne, Carlsen, and others ventured into the Kara Sea, but +none reached to the mouth of either of the two great rivers. This +success was to be reaped by Captain Wiggins, of Sunderland, who fitted +out, at his own expense, a small steamer, the _Diana_, in which he +reached the mouth of the Obi in 1874. He was resolved upon repeating +the voyage in 1875, and to that end invited capitalists to assist him +in organizing a trade between Siberia and England. These overtures were +not successful to any considerable extent, though two gentlemen came +forward with subscriptions in Sunderland, and the captain added more +from his own means; but the whole amounted to less than was needed +for efficient operations. Determined, however, not to be baffled, +Wiggins purchased a small cutter, the _Whim_, that might have been +put in a good-sized drawing-room (it was only 45 feet long, and of +27 tons register!), and in _that_ he sailed direct for the Kara Sea. +The weather was adverse, and he was compelled to return in the autumn +of 1875. Another explorer, however, had followed suit, for Professor +Nordenskiöld, seeing what Wiggins had done in 1874, took the same track +in 1875, and reached the mouth of the Yenesei. Thence he sent back his +walrus sloop to Hammerfest, ascended the river, and returned overland +to Petersburg. + +Captain Wiggins was now asked to meet his brother explorer, +Nordenskiöld, at Petersburg, where they both addressed crowded +audiences; after which the Russian merchants offered subscriptions +towards the equipment of another expedition, under the command of +Captain Wiggins, who was to return at once to England and secure a +steamer suitable to the work. But jealousy of a “foreign element” +subsequently seized some of the Russian merchants, and they desired +that a Russian naval officer should head the expedition--in other +words, that Captain Wiggins should be pilot, which he declined. Many +of the Russian subscriptions were in consequence withheld, but not +that of Mr. Sibiriakoff, who placed his money in the hands of the +editor of the _Times_. This money, with the assistance furnished by Mr. +Gardiner, of Goring, enabled Wiggins to attempt a third voyage, and +he now purchased the screw-steamer _Thames_--doing so, however, under +protest, for she was not the vessel he ought to have had. In this, in +1876, he started for the mouth of the Obi, and reached it; but, owing +to the unsuitability of his ship, he could not ascend the river. He +lay, therefore, in the Baidaratsky Gulf of the Kara Sea, employing +himself usefully in making nautical surveys, dredging, etc. He then +directed his course to the Yenesei, entered the river, and reached +the village of Dudinsk, about 400 miles from the ocean. Here he was +informed that the nearest port or river of safety was the Kureika. I +have since been told, by one in Siberia, that this was a mistake, the +river not being a suitable place for winter quarters. But the captain +proceeded without chart, without pilot; time was of importance; and he +had not got his steamer into the Kureika more than two or three days +before the ice formed, and she was locked up for eight months. This had +been anticipated; and the captain now returned overland, post-haste to +London, which he reached in January 1877. + +Meanwhile Professor Nordenskiöld had also been following up his +discoveries, in proceeding again to the Yenesei, in 1876, with an +object mostly, but not entirely, scientific. It was arranged that his +expedition, consisting of Swedish geologists, botanists, zoologists, +and men of science, should be divided into two parties; one going with +the Professor, in the steamship _Ymar_, through the Kara Sea, was to +enter the mouth of the river and ascend to Mesenkin; whilst the other +party, under the direction of M. Théel, was to proceed overland to +Krasnoiarsk, and then descend the river to meet their comrades. The +Professor ascended to Mesenkin, but M. Théel could not get so far. The +two parties therefore failed to effect a meeting; but they added much +valuable information to what had been hitherto known of the natural +history of the Yenesei, and which was printed in two reports--the one +from Professor Nordenskiöld, and the other from M. Théel, addressed to +Messrs. Oscar Dickson, of Gothenburg, and Alexander Sibiriakoff, at +whose joint expense the expedition had been sent. + +In the spring of 1877 Wiggins went overland from England through +Siberia, and down the Yenesei to the _Thames_, intending to steam back +to Europe. But the vessel was damaged by the breaking-up of the ice, +and became a wreck; and Wiggins was once more compelled to return by +land. He had been accompanied on the outward journey by Mr. Henry +Seebohm, who proceeded to the Yenesei to study its ornithology, and who +has since published some of the results of his researches, as well as +a book called “Siberia in Europe,” on the ornithology of North-eastern +Russia and part of Siberia. Besides these travellers and their +journeys, there have been several voyages undertaken, with a view to +bring Siberia into maritime contact with Europe. The _Newcastle Daily +Chronicle_ for November 28th, 1878, records several voyages as having +been made up to that time, with more or less success; and thus from the +years 1875 to 1878 we learnt more than had ever been previously known +of these two ancient rivers, the Obi and the Yenesei--to which latter, +another vessel has made its way during the present year. + +That Western Siberia is capable of being made to play an important +part in the supply of European markets seems certain. The country +possesses immense stores of minerals, from gold down to excellent +coal, and agricultural produce both of fibre and cereals, the latter +including wheat, to be purchased at from 12 to 15 shillings per +quarter, first hand, which in England commands from 45 to 50 shillings. +A thousand miles of land between the Tobol and the Obi is capable of +producing an almost unlimited supply of wheat, oats, barley, rye, hay, +linseed, flax, and hemp; and to these might be added for export, to +be purchased very cheaply, hides, tallow, wool, and other products. +Already, on the rivers of the Obi system alone, there are no less +than 46 passenger and tug steamers plying annually, and ranging from +30 up to 120 horse-power. If, then, two central warehouses could be +established, at, say, Tiumen and Tomsk, it would be easy from thence +to purchase and carry produce to the mouth of the Obi. The difficult +part of the navigation lies between the mouth of the Obi and the Kara +or the Waigatz Straits, west of the Kara Sea; and what is required is +a powerful steamer, adapted for working among ice if needed, to ply +between the Obi Gulf and a depôt, say, on Waigatz Island, or even at +the North Cape, whence ordinary vessels could bring the produce away. +The ice steamer might then, in her last voyage for the season, return +with foreign merchandise, to be sold at the establishments in the +interior, and, in February, at the annual fair of Irbit where merchants +congregate from all parts of Siberia. Mr. Seebohm goes so far as to +say that, could the talked-of canal be formed from the Obi Gulf across +the Yamal peninsula, it might prove almost as important as that across +the Isthmus of Suez. Captain Wiggins thinks the canal impracticable, +but is sanguine as to the possibilities of trade on the Obi; and it +has been computed by Mr. Oswald Cattley that with a strong steamer, a +tug, six barges, and a couple of lighters, there might be exported from +Siberia, in a single navigation season, 6,000 tons of wheat; but, of +course, this would involve the outlay of considerable capital, and the +location of responsible agents in the country. + + + + +APPENDIX E. + +THE EARLY EXPLORATION OF SIBERIA BY SEA AND LAND. + + +The north-east passage to China was attempted as far back as the +16th century, after the discovery of America had given such zest to +geographical exploration. Willoughby, Chancellor, and Burroughs started +on a route indicated to them by Sebastian Cabot, but with the result +that Willoughby perished in 1554; Chancellor landed in the White Sea +and laid the foundation of Anglo-Russian commerce; and Burroughs was +stopped before entering the Kara Sea. Thinking that China might, +perhaps, be reached by way of the Obi gulf, thence up the river, and by +a fabulous lake of Kitaï (or China) marked upon the map of Herberstein, +the English renewed their efforts. In 1580 two English ships, commanded +by Pet and Jackman, sailed towards the Russian Polar Seas, their +navigators being counselled by Hakluyt and Mercator, the foremost +geographers of their day; but both were baffled by the ice of the Kara +Sea. The Dutch were not more fortunate, and in the three voyages, in +which the illustrious Barentz took part, 1594-1597, no progress was +effected beyond the Seas of Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. In 1608, the +Dutch Hendrick Hudson, sailing in the English service, endeavoured but +in vain to pass the limits where his predecessors had been stopped, and +after his name should be mentioned those of Wood and Flawes, bringing +us to 1676. There was subsequently a lull in the efforts made by the +navigators of Western Europe for two centuries, and then we have the +voyage in the _Tegetthoff_, under Payer and Weyprecht. The fishermen +and Russian merchants from the White Sea, however, knew perfectly the +route to the gulfs of the Obi and Yenesei. Of this there is proof in +the map of Boris Godunof in the year 1600, although it is true that +to travel by this route was forbidden sixteen years later under pain +of death, lest the Russians should pilot foreigners to the coasts of +Siberia. + +Cut off thus by a frozen sea, the sailing of which was considered by +the navigators and geographers of Western Europe an impossibility, +the exploration of the North Siberian littoral could go on only from +Siberia itself, which was done by means of river craft. In 1648, +the Cossack Dejnev, leaving the mouth of the Kolima in command of a +little fleet of seven boats, had succeeded in rounding the extreme +northern point of Asia, and in clearing, long before Behring was +born, the strait which bears the name of that navigator. Stadoukhin +also traversed the seas of Eastern Siberia, looking for islands +covered with fossil ivory, of which the natives had told him. In 1735 +Prontchichtchev and Lasinius descended the Lena to examine its delta +and coast along to the east and west. The former proceeded round Cape +Cheliuskin (so named after his pilot), but did not reach the Yenesei +Gulf, and the expedition brought back their leader’s corpse. Again, an +expedition set out in 1739 under Laptev, and, after being shipwrecked, +crossed overland the most northern cape of the Old World, and explored +the Taimur peninsula. The littoral between the estuaries of the Obi and +Yenesei was discovered two years previously by Ovtzin and Minin. + +Navigation towards the Siberian Sea had already commenced, however, by +way of the Pacific. In 1728 Behring, a Dane in the Russian service, +crossed Siberia by land, and, embarking on the Pacific, penetrated the +famous straits which bear his name, and it was through him that the +geographers of Western Europe learned the existence of this passage, +already known for eighty years to the Siberian Cossacks; but the +archives of Yakutsk had so closely kept the secret that the great Peter +himself did not know it when he charged Behring to go and explore the +coasts of Eastern Siberia. + +The explorations of Cook, in 1778, confirmed the points laid down by +Behring, and added much to our knowledge of these north-eastern waters. +After the voyage of Cook, only the seas about Sakhalin, Yesso, and the +Kuriles remained to be explored. La Perouse laid down the first tracing +of the islands and the shores of the continent, and he recognized the +insular character of Sakhalin and the existence of a passage uniting +the seas of Japan and Okhotsk. + +Thus all the coast lines of Siberia were mapped out as to their +principal features, and there matters remained until, at the instance +of Mr. Sidoroff, in 1868, some Norwegian whalers ventured to the Kara +Sea, which, however, was not successfully navigated, I believe, by an +_ocean_ craft till 1874, when Captain Wiggins accomplished it by steam. +He reached the gulf of the Obi, and would willingly have steamed on to +“the land of Kitaï,” but he was unsupported by such enterprise as sent +out Willoughby, Chancellor, and Burroughs, and the rose was honorably +snatched from the Englishman’s hand by Nordenskiöld, the Swedo-Finn, +whose voyage may, in a manner, be said to have closed the maritime +discovery of Siberia. + +The scientific exploration of this vast country by land can hardly +be said to have commenced till the 18th century, with Messerschmidt. +Some years later, Gmelin, Müller, and Delisle de la Croyère, during +an absence of nine years, from 1733 to 1742, recorded valuable +observations on the physical geography of the country. In those days, +however, the Russian Government regarded with considerable jealousy +the publication of documents relative to the resources of the empire. +Pallas travelled over Siberia to the Baikal and beyond, with several +scientists, and brought back much valuable information, especially +concerning geology and natural history. Scientific travels in Siberia +were then suspended till after the political events of 1815. In +1828 the Norwegian Hansteen, accompanied by Erman, went on those +travels which proved of such importance to the study of terrestrial +magnetism, whilst Erman’s astronomical determinations were of great +use in correcting the maps which hitherto had been only approximately +correct. Humboldt went to Siberia when Hansteen and Erman were there; +and though his visit, by reason of its shortness, was not very fruitful +in observations, it proved important in the history of science, because +he brought back documents which proved valuable for his work on Central +Asia. The explorations of Middendorf in Northern and Eastern Siberia +had considerable importance, and in 1854 Schwartz, Schmidt, Glehn, +Usoltzoff, and their companions made a remarkable expedition, which +explored the immense region stretching from the Za-Baikal to the Lena, +including the northern affluents of the Amur. + +These are some of the prominent names connected with the scientific +exploration of Siberia in general. Several specialists also have pushed +their way to various parts of the country--Castrén the philologist +to the Samoyede country, 1842-3; Maack, Venyukoff, and Radde, to the +Amur and Ussuri, 1854-9; Müller and Czekanovski to the country of the +Chukchees, 1869-70, and to the Yenesei in 1873-4. Two years later +Seebohm, the ornithologist, descended the Yenesei, as also did the +Swedish expedition under Professor Théil; and in the same year Finsch, +Brehm, and Zeil explored the basin of the Irtish and Obi. For the names +of other travellers in Northern Asia the reader is referred to the +Bibliography of Siberia, and list of works consulted, in the following +appendix. + + * * * * * + +P.S.--This appendix was written before the publication of “The Voyage +of the _Vega_ round Asia and Europe, with an Historical Review of +Previous Voyages along the North Coast of the Old World. By A. E. +Nordenskiöld,” whose book will doubtless be regarded as a standard +work, and to it, accordingly, the reader is referred for fuller +information on the maritime coast of Siberia. + + + + +APPENDIX F. + +THE AUTHOR’S ITINERARY ROUND THE WORLD. + + +The following shows the dates of the Author’s arrivals and departures, +with distances in miles travelled by rail, water, and road, together +with the number of post-horses employed:-- + + DATES. | PLACES. | RAIL. | WATER. | ROAD. | HORSES. + | | | | | + April 30 | London to Petersburg | 1,683 | 23 | | + to May 3 | | | | | + | | | | | + May 12 | Petersburg to Moscow | 402 | | | + to May 13 | | | | | + | | | | | + May 16 | Nijni Novgorod to Kasan | | 266 | | + to May 17 | | | | | + | | | | | + May 19 | Kasan to Perm | | 686 | | + to May 22 | | | | | + | | | | | + May 22 | Perm to | 312 | | | + to May 24 | Ekaterineburg | | | | + | | | | | + May 27 | Ekaterineburg to Tiumen | | | 204 | 74 + to May 29 | | | | | + | | | | | + May 30 | Tiumen to Tobolsk | | | 172 | 65 + to June 1 | | | | | + | | | | | + June 3 | Tobolsk to Tomsk | | 1,601 | | + to June 10 | | | | | + | | | | | + June 12 | Tomsk to Barnaul | | | 238 | 51 + to June 15 | | | | | + | | | | | + June 16 | Barnaul to Tomsk | | | 238 | 51 + to June 18 | | | | | + | | | | | + June 19 | Tomsk to Krasnoiarsk | | | 369 | 165 + to June 24 | | | | | + | | | | | + June 26 | Krasnoiarsk to | | | 24 | + to June 27 | Gold-mine and back | | | | + | | | | | + June 27 | Krasnoiarsk to Irkutsk | | | 671 | 267 + to July 6 | | | | | + | | | | | + July 4 | Telma to Alexandreffsky | | | 32 | + to July 5 | and back | | | | + | | | | | + July 10 | Irkutsk to Kiakhta | | | 312 | 80 + to July 14 | | | | | + | | | | | + July 15 | Kiakhta to Cheelantoui | | | 54 | + | and back | | | | + | | | | | + July 16 | Kiakhta to | | | 148 | 35 + to July 18 | Verchne-Udinsk | | | | + | | | | | + July 18 | Verchne-Udinsk to Chita | | | 294 | 112 + to July 21 | | | | | + | | | | | + July 21 | Chita to Stretinsk | | | 242 | 78 + to July 24 | | | | | + | | | | | + July 24 | Stretinsk to Khabarofka | | 1,345 | | + to Aug. 8 | | | | | + | | | | | + July 25 | Kara | | | 46 | + to July 28 | | | | | + | | | | | + Aug. 9 | Khabarofka to | | 628 | | + to Aug. 13 | Nikolaefsk | | | | + | | | | | + Aug. 31 | Nikolaefsk to | | 628 | | + to Sept. 4 | Khabarofka | | | | + | | | | | + Sept. 6 | Khabarofka to | | 510 | | + to Sept. 11 | Kamen-Ruiboloff | | | | + | | | | | + Sept. 11 | Kamen-Ruiboloff to | | | 88 | 27 + to Sept. 12 | Rasdolnoi | | | | + | | | | | + Sept. 15 | Rasdolnoi to | | 66 | | + | Vladivostock | | | | + | | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----- + | | 2,670 | 5,753 | 3,132 | 1,005 + | | | | | + | | | SEA | | + | | | MILES.| | + | | | | | + Sept. 30 | Vladivostock to | | 553 | | + to Oct. 4 | Hakodate | | | | + | | | | | + Oct. 4 | Hakodate to Yokohama | | 645 | | + to Oct. 11 | | | | | + | | | | | + Oct. 11 | Yokohama to | | 5,261 | | + to Oct. 27 | San Francisco | | | | + | | | | | + Oct. 29 | San Francisco to Ogden | 883 | | | + to Nov. 5 | | | | | + | | | | | + Oct. 29 | Lathrop to Yo-Semite | 182 | | 170 | + to Nov. 3 | Valley and back | | | | + | | | | | + Nov. 5 | Ogden to Salt Lake City | 74 | | | + to Nov. 6 | and back | | | | + | | | | | + Nov. 6 | Ogden to Omaha | 1,032 | | | + to Nov. 8 | | | | | + | | | | | + Nov. 8 | Omaha to Chicago | 502 | | | + to Nov. 9 | | | | | + | | | | | + Nov. 10 | Chicago to New York | 961 | | | + to Nov. 13 | | | | | + | | | | | + Nov. 15 | New York to Liverpool | | 3,482 | | + to Nov. 25 | | | | | + | | | | | + Nov. 25 | Liverpool to Blackheath | 207 | | 3 | + to Nov. 25 | | | | | + | | ----- | ------ | ----- | ----- + | | 6,511 | 15,694 | 3,305 | 1,005 + \________ __________/ + \/ + 25,510 + +From the foregoing it will appear that the total distance travelled was +25,510 miles, of which 3,305 miles were accomplished by the hire of +1,005 post-horses. The whole time occupied was 210 days, of these, 50 +days were stationary; thus leaving 160 days, during which was covered +an average of 159 miles per day. + + + + +APPENDIX G. + +BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SIBERIA, + +AND LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED OR REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING VOLUMES. + + + _Adams, A. L._, Travels of a Naturalist in Japan and Manchuria, 1870. + + _Agar, Mrs._, Adventures of a Serf’s Wife. _London_, 1866. + + Amur and Adjacent Districts. “Royal Geographical Society’s Journal,” + vol. xxviii. _London_, 1858. + + Amur River Explorations. _Washington_, 1859. + + _Andreoli, M. Emile._ De Pologne en Sibérie: Journal de Captivité, + 1863-1867. “Revue Moderne,” August and September, 1868. + + _Atkinson, T. W._, Oriental and Western Siberia. _London_, 1858. + + _Atkinson, T. W._, Travels in the Regions of the Upper and Lower + Amoor. _London_, Hurst, 1861. + + _Author of_ “Member for Paris,” The Russians of To-day. _London_, + Smith and Elder, 1878. + + _Banished Lady, A_, Revelations of Siberia. 1853. + + _Barry, H._, Ivan at Home; or, Pictures of Russian Life. _London_, + 1872. + + _Bax, B. W._, The Eastern Seas. _London_, Murray, 1875. + + Bible of Every Land; a History of the Sacred Scriptures in every + Language and Dialect. _London_, Bagster, 1851. + + _Blackmore, W. R._, Doctrines of the Russian Church, being the Primer, + or Spelling Book, the Shorter and Longer Catechisms, and a + Treatise on the Duty of Parish Priests. _Aberdeen_, 1845. + + _Blackmore, W. R._, Mouravieff’s Doctrines of the Russian Church. + _Oxford_, Parker, 1842. + + _Burney, James_, Chronological History of North-Eastern Voyages of + Discovery, and of the Early Eastern Navigations of the Russians. + _London_, 1819. + + _Bush, R. J._, Reindeer, Dogs, and Snow-Shoes; Siberian Travel in + 1865-7. _London_, Low, 1871. + + Calendar (Russian) for 1880. _Petersburg_, Hoppe, 1880. + + _Chappé d’Auteroche_, Journey into Siberia, made by order of the King + of France in 1761. Translated. _London_, 1770. + + _Chester, H. M._, Russia, Past and Present, adapted from the German of + Lankenau and Oelnitz. _London_, Society for Promoting Christian + Knowledge, 1881. + + _Cochrane, J. D._, Narrative of a Pedestrian Journey through Russia + and Siberian Tartary from the Frontiers of China to the Frozen Sea + and Kamchatka. _London_, 1825. + + _Collins, P. M._, Siberia to Japan. _New York_, 1860. + + _Collins, P. M._, A Voyage Down the Amoor. _London_, 1860. + + _Cottin, Madame de_, Elizabeth; or, the Exiles of Siberia. Translated. + _London_, 1808. + + _Cottrill, Herbert_, Recollections of Siberia in the Year 1840-1. + _London_, Parker, 1842. + + _Covel, John, D.D._, Some Account of the Greek Church compared with + Goar’s Notes on the Greek Ritual. _Cambridge_, 1722. + + _De Foe, Daniel_, Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. _London_, + Cadell, 1820. + + _De Lagny, G._, The Knout and the Russians. _London_, Bogue, 1854. + + _Dobell, P._, Travels in Kamtchatka and Siberia. _London_, Bentley, + 1830. + + Documents of the United States Senate about Alaska. _Washington_, 1876. + + _Dostoyeffsky, F._, (A. P. Goryantchikoff) Buried Alive; or, Ten + Years’ Penal Servitude in Siberia. Translated from the Russian. + _London_, Longmans, 1881. + + _Eden, C. H._, Frozen Asia. _London_, Society for Promoting Christian + Knowledge, 1879. + + Education, Plan of, in the Boys’ Gymnasia (in Russ). _Petersburg_, + 1872. + + _Erman, Adolph_, Travels in Siberia. _London_, Longmans, 1848. + + _Finsch, O._, Reise nach West Sibirien, im Jahre 1876. _Berlin_, 1879. + + _Fowkes, F._, The Greek and Latin Churches. _London_, Whittaker, 1854. + + _Gayarin, Father_, Russian Clergy. Translated from the French by + Charles du G. Makepeace. _London_, Burns, 1872. + + _Gordon, Peter_, Fragment of a Tour through Persia in 1820, containing + Voyages to and from Ochotsk in Siberia. _London_, 1833. + + _Goryantchikoff, A. P._, Buried Alive; or, Ten Years’ Penal Servitude + in Siberia. Edited by Dostoyeffsky. Translated. _London_, + Longmans, 1881. + + _Grant, C. M._, Gold Mines of Eastern Siberia. From the “Mining + Magazine.” + + Greek and Eastern Churches. _London_, Religious Tract Society. + + Greek Church, Articles on:-- + “Bibliotheca Sacra,” vol. xv. + “British and Foreign Review,” vol. ix. + “Christian Examiner” (American), vol. lix. + “Church Quarterly Review” (American). _New York_, 1859. + + Greek Church: A Sketch. _London_, Darling, 1850. + + _Grieve, James_, History of Kamchatka and the Kurilski Islands. + Translated from Russian, 1764. + + _Hansteen_, Travels in Siberia. _London_, “Leisure Hour,” 1879. + + _Hardy, Mrs._, Up North; or, Lost and Found in Russia. _London_, + Nimmo, 1878. + + _Hertzen, A._, My Exile in Siberia. _London_, Hurst, 1855. + + _Hill, S. S._, Travels in Siberia. _London_, Longmans, 1854. + + _Hovgaard, A._, Nordenskiöld’s Voyage around Asia and Europe: + a popular account of the North-East Passage of the _Vega_. + Translated by H. L. Brækstad. _London_, Sampson Low and Co., 1882. + + _Huc, Abbé_, Life and Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China. + Translated by W. Hazlitt. _London_, 1867. + + _K. O._ (Madame Novikoff), Russia and England from 1876-80: a Protest + and an Appeal. _London_, Longmans, 1880. + + _Kennan, G._, Tent Life in Siberia. _London_, Low, 1870. + + _King, John G._, Rites and Ceremonies of the Greek Church in Russia. + _London_, 1772. + + _Knox, T. W._, Overland Through Asia. _Hartford_, Connecticut, 1871. + + _Kotzebue, Augustus Von_, The Most Remarkable Year in the Life of, + containing an account of his Exile into Siberia. Translated. + _London_, 1802. + + _Latham, R. G._, Native Races of Russian Empire. _London_, Baillière, + 1854. + + _Leslie, Alexander_, Arctic Voyages of A. E. Nordenskiöld. _London_, + Macmillan, 1879. + + _Lesseps, M. de_, Travels in Kamchatka during the years 1787 and 1788, + 2 vols. Translated. _London_, 1790. + + _Littledale, R. F._, Holy Eastern Church, a Popular Outline of its + History. _London_, Hayes, 1872. + + _Littledale, R. F._, Offices from the Service Books of the Holy + Eastern Church, with translations. 1863. + + _Lover of Truth, A_, The Antidote; or, The Inquiry into the Merits of + a Book entitled “A Journey into Siberia made in 1761,” by the Abbé + Chappé. Translated. _London_, 1772. + + _Maack, R._, Travels on Amur (in Russ.). _Petersburg_, 1859. + + _Maistre, X. de_, Jeune Sibérienne, and Index. _London_, Dulau, 1878. + + _Masson, E._, Apology for the Greek Church. _London_, Hatchards, 1844. + + _Mayhew, H._, Criminal Prisons of London, and Scenes of Prison Life. + _London_, Griffin, 1862. + + _Michie_, Siberian Overland Route from Peking to Petersburg. _London_, + Murray, 1864. + + _Middendorff, A. T. Von_, Siberie Reise. _Petersburg_, 1860. + + _Milne, J._, Journey Across Asia. “Transactions of Asiatic Society of + Japan,” vol. vii. _London_, Trübner, 1879. + + _Mouravieff_, Harmony of Anglican and Eastern Doctrine. 1846. + + _Muller, G. F._, Conquest of Siberia. 1842. + + _Neale, J. M._, History of the Holy Eastern Church. _London_, Masters, + 1850. + + _Nordenskiöld, A. E._, Arctic Voyages of. By Alexander Leslie. + _London_, Macmillan, 1879. + + _Nordenskiöld, A. E._, The Voyage of the _Vega_ round Asia and Europe, + with an Historical Review of previous voyages along the North + Coast of the Old World. Translated by Alexander Leslie. _London_, + Macmillan, 1881. + + “Oriental Church Magazine,” Quarterly. _New York_, from 1878. + + _Overbeck, J. J._, A Plain View of the Claims of the Orthodox Catholic + Church as opposed to all other Christian Denominations. _London_, + Trübner, 1881. + + _Palmer, Adam H._, Memoirs, Geographical and Political, The Amur, + etc., 30th Congress, 1st Session, etc. + + _Palmer_, Patriarch and Tsar. _London_, Trübner, 1871. + + _Pietrowski, R._, My Escape from Siberia. _London_, Routledge. + + _Pietrowski, R._, Story of a Siberian Exile. _London_, Longmans, 1863. + + _Pinkerton, R._, Russia; or, Miscellaneous Observations on the Past + and Present State of that Country, etc. _London_, Seeleys, 1833. + + _Pinkerton, R._, Present State of the Greek Church in Russia; or, a + Summary of Christian Divinity. _Edinburgh_, 1816. + + _Platon_, Present State of the Greek Church. Translated by Pinkerton. + _Edinburgh_, 1815. + + Post-Book of Russian Empire. _Petersburg_, 1875. + + _Prejevalsky, N._, Mongolia, etc. Translated from Russian, by E. D. + Morgan. _London_, Low, 1876. + + _Prinsep, H. T._, Thibet, Tartary, and Mongolia. _London_, 1852. + + _Rae, Edward_, Land of the North Wind; or, Travels among Laplanders + and Samoyedes. _London_, Murray, 1875. + + _Ravenstein, E. G._, The Russians on the Amur. _London_, Trübner, 1861. + + _Réclus, E._, Nouvelle Géographie Universelle VI. L’Asie Russe. + _Paris_, Hachette et Cie, 1881. + + _Reisen in Russ Asien II._ _Leipzig_, Otto Spamer, 1866. + + Report, Meteorological, “Annalen des Physikalischen + centralobservatoriums” (in Russ and German). _Petersburg_, H. + Wild, 1878. + + Report of the Orthodox Missionary Society for 1876 (in Russ). + _Moscow_, 1878. + + Report of Directors of Convict Prisons for 1877. _London_, Eyre and + Spottiswoode, 1878. + + Revelations of Russia, 2 vols. _London_, H. Colburn, 1844. + + _Romanoff, H. C._, Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. _London_, 1871. + + _Romanoff, H. C._, Rites and Customs of the Græco-Russian Church. + _London_, Rivington, 1868. + + _R[osen], Baron_, Russian Conspirators in Siberia. Translated from the + German. _London_, Smith and Elder, 1872. + + Russia, Recollections of. By _A German Nobleman_, during 33 years’ + residence. 1855. + + Russian Church, History of. “Christian Remembrancer,” vol. x. + + Russians of To-day. By the Author of “The Member for Paris.” _London_, + Smith and Elder, 1878. + + _Sauer, M._, Account of a Geographical and Astronomical Expedition to + the North Parts of Russia, the mouth of the Kolyma to East Cape, + and Islands in the Eastern Ocean, performed by Joseph Billings, + 1785-94. _London_, 1802. + + _Seebohm, Henry_, Contributions to the Ornithology of Siberia. The + “Ibis,” April, 1878. + + _Seebohm, Henry_, A Visit to the Valley of the Yenesei. _London_, + Clowes, 1879. + + _Shaw, Robert_, Visits to Chinese Tartary. _London_, Murray, 1871. + + _Shepherd, Captain W._, Homeward through Mongolia and Siberia. “Royal + Engineers’ Journal,” 1880. + + Siberia, Article on. “Contemporary Review,” September, 1879. + + Siberia, Article on. “Revue de deux Mondes,” September, 1879. + + Siberia, Revelations of. By _A Banished Lady_. 1853. + + _Smith, Thomas_, Doctrines of the Greek Church, 1680. + + _Spalding, Captain_, Venyukoff’s “Saghalien.” “Royal Geographical + Society’s Journal,” vol. xlii. _London_, 1872. + + _Stanley, A. P._, History of the Eastern Church. _London_, Murray, 2nd + ed., 1862. + + _Strahlenberg, P. G._, Description of North and East of Europe. + _London_, 1738. + + _Théel, M._, Rapport de, sur les Expéditions Suédoises de 1876 au + Yéneséi. _Upsal_, Edquist, 1877. + + _Ure, A._, Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines. _London_, + Longmans, 1863. + + _Venyukoff_, Saghalien. Translated by Captain Spalding. “Royal + Geographical Society’s Journal,” vol. xlii. + + _Waddington, G._, Present Condition and Prospects of the Greek or + Oriental Church. _London_, Murray, 1854. + + _Wahl, O. W._, Land of the Czar. _London_, Chapman and Hall, 1875. + + _Wallace, D. Mackenzie_, Russia. _London_, Cassells, 1877. + + _Whyte, W. H._, Land Journey from Asia to Europe. _London_, Low, 1871. + + _Wiggins, J._, The Austro-German Polar Expedition. Translated. + _Bishopwearmouth_, Wm. Carr, 1875. + + _Williamson, A._, North China, Manchuria, Corea. _London_, 1870. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Åbo, Prison of, 63 + + Aboriginal population of Siberia, 52 + + Aborigines’ love of drink, 102 + + ---- of Manchuria, 547 + + ---- of the Yenesei, 205 + + Accident on tarantass journey, 251 + + Account of a Russian prison, 380 + + Across Europe, 9 + Lake Baikal, 309 + + Adamson, Mr., the catechist, 229 + + Advocate, Profession of an, 582 + + Afloat with Russians, 732 + + Aged prisoners at Kara, 470 + + Agriculture of the Daurians, 549 + + Aigun, Difficulty of entering, 558 + + ---- Government buildings at, 557 + + ---- Population of, 556 + + ---- Temple at, 558 + + ---- Theatre at, 558 + + ---- Town of, 495, 556 + + Aïno, Appearance of an, 650 + + ---- language, 650 + + ---- mission, 650 + + ---- Translation into, 650 + + Akatuya, Prisoners in irons at, 421 + + Akmolinsk, Distribution of tracts in province of, 186 + + ---- Dr. Finsch in, 159 + + Albazikha River, 515 + + Albazin, Country surrounding, 515 + + ---- Sieges of, 515 + + ---- Trees in vicinity of, 515 + + Alcohol and _vodka_, 544 + + Alcoholic liquors at Irkutsk, Price of, 265 + + Alexander, Peter, Protodiakonoff of Khabarofka, 673 + + ---- Baptisms of Goldi by, 674 + + ---- House of, 677 + + ---- Translation of Gospels by, 673 + + ---- Visit to, 673 + + Alexandreffsky, Inquiries concerning Author at, 249 + + ---- Journey to, 243 + + ---- Photography at, 250 + + ---- Prison, 70, 245 + Amusements, 83 + Book for description of prisoners, 76 + Books for, 249 + Brickmaking, 247 + Cigarette-paper making, 247 + Convicts, Number of, 70 + Director of, 244 + Ethnography of, 246 + Food, 79 + Formerly a factory, 245 + Gardening, 248 + Hospital, 248 + _Petchka_, 246 + Prisoners in irons, 248 + ---- Number of, 246 + ---- seeing friends, 246 + _Scorbutus_ among prisoners, 249 + Secret cell in, 245 + Shoemaking in, 247 + Work, 82, 446 + ---- Lack of, 247 + + Altai mountains, boundary of Russia in Asia, 19 + + ---- Discovery of metals in, 153 + + ---- Extent of, 148 + + ---- Minerals in, 104 + + ---- silver-mines, 411 + + Altars of sacrifice, 591 + + American animals, 644 + + Amur, Arrival on the, 503 + + ---- Atkinson, Mr., on the, 440 + + ---- Chernigovsky’s expedition, 492 + + ---- Collins on the, 499 + + ---- Colonists, 502 + + Amur, Cucumbers on the, 588 + + ---- Difficulties with China, 501 + + ---- History of the, 489 + + ---- _Ingoda_ steamer on the, 510 + + ---- Khabarof’s expedition, 490 + + ---- Length of the, 504 + + ---- Lower: + Animals, 599 + Boundary of, 580 + Cats, Price of, 600 + Cliff at Tyr, 589 + Depth of, 580 + Fish, 581 + Flowers, 579 + Fruit, 583 + Gilyak habitation, 591 + Hotsprings, 588 + Ravenstein on the, 581 + Religious services on the, 725 + Scenery, 580 + Settlers’ village, 588 + Temperature of, 579 + Trees of, 579 + Weather, 627 + Width of, 580-85 + + ---- Middle: + Climate of, 532 + Manyargs on, 507 + Province, Area of, 543 + Scenery of, 535 + Scripture distribution, 538 + + ---- Military Governor of the, 500 + + ---- Muravieff, the Governor, 496 + + ---- Pashkof’s expedition, 492 + + ---- Population of province, 543 + + ---- Poyarkof’s expedition, 490 + + ---- Route through Siberia, 52 + + ---- Russian conquests on the, 489 + + ---- Source of the, 19 + + ---- Stepanof’s expedition, 491 + + ---- Territory of the, 504 + Tribes’ appeal to China for help against Russia, 493 + + ---- Upper: + Cliffs on the, 516 + Flora of, 516 + Peoples on Chinese bank, 506 + + ---- Ust-Strelka, The river at, 514 + + ---- Venyukoff’s mission, 494 + + ---- _Zeya_ steamer aground, 511 + + Amusements of the Chinese, 342 + + ---- Dancing, 622 + + ---- Gilyak, 602 + + ---- Prison, 83 + + Amusements, Russian, 621 + + ---- Swings, 621 + + Anadir River, 639 + + ---- Fish in the, 640 + + Anadirsk, Fort of, 640 + + Andreoli, M., Exile of, 43 + + ---- on flogging, 93 + + ---- on the _knout_, 91 + + Andreyeff, M., Introduction to, 615 + + Anecdote concerning an “equipage,” 439 + + Angara River, Rapids of the, 311 + + ---- Temperature of the, 310 + + Anglo-Chinese War, Influence of the, 501 + + Animals, American, 644 + + ---- Asiatic, 644 + + ---- Distribution over Siberia, 697 + + ---- of chase in Yeneseisk, 207 + + ---- of Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- on Lower Amur, 599 + + ---- Wild, 188 + + Aniva Bay, Scriptures for, 660 + + Annexation, Russian, of Siberia, 109 + + Antiquities, Bulgarian, 13 + + Appeal, Court of, 73 + + Apple-tree mountains, View of, 360 + + Archangel, Distribution of Scriptures at, 733 + + ---- tour of Author, 4 + + “Archangel Gabriel” mine, 218 + + Archbishop of Irkutsk, Interview sought with, 274 + + ---- of Tobolsk on tract distribution, 183 + + Archery in Manchuria, 556 + + Area of Russia in Asia, 18 + + ---- of Tobolsk, 97 + + ---- of Trans-Baikal province, 400 + + _Argols_ as fuel, 368 + + Army officers, Pay of, 668 + + Arrests for drunkenness, Number of, 545 + + Arrival at Kamen-Ruiboloff, 686 + + ---- at Petersburg, 9 + + Arrows and bows of Ostjaks, 126 + + Art in Siberia, 433 + + Asia and Europe, Frontier of, 18 + + ---- Ethnography of Russia in, 19, 52 + + Asiatic animals, 644 + + ---- boundary-line, 49 + + ---- Russia, Population of, 20 + + Assaying gold at the mine, 223 + + Assizes, Court of, 73 + + Asylum at Krasnoiarsk, 229 + + ---- for prisoners’ children, 77 + + Atchinsk, Ispravnik of, 195 + + Atkinson, Mr., on the Amur, 440 + + ---- on Buriat missions, 375 + + ---- on Kirghese, 159 + + ---- on Nertchinsk climate, 425 + + Atmosphere of prisons, 381 + + Author, Dilemma of, at Khabarofka, 574 + + ---- Distance travelled by, 770 + + ---- Farewell of exile life by, 726-8 + + ---- Impressions of, concerning exile life, 726-8 + + ---- Inquiries concerning, at Alexandreffsky, 249 + + ---- Itinerary of, round the world, 770 + + ---- Object of journey of, 1 + + ---- Opinion of, on prisons, 662 + + ---- Religious services of, 701, 709, 725 + + ---- Work of, in Western Siberia, 733 + + ---- Works consulted by, 772 + + Awaking a Russian at Nijni Udinsk, 241 + + + Baikal, Lake, 19 + + ---- Area of, 312 + + ---- Basin of, 312 + + ---- Destination for political prisoners, 37 + + ---- Fish of, 312 + + ---- Flora of neighbourhood, 315 + + ---- Storms on, 312 + + Bail found by prisoners, 74 + + Bank at Khabarofka, 578 + + ---- Siberian State, 578 + + Bankova River, Fair held by Cossacks, 488 + + Baptism, Author’s administration of, 701, 709 + + ---- Certificate of, 709 + + ---- in the Russian Church, 167 + + ---- of Goldi, 674 + + ---- Service of, 167 + + Barge transport of exiles, 29, 120 + + Barnaul, Cemetery at, 152 + + ---- Flora in district of, 149 + + ---- Hospital at, 153 + + ---- Journey to, 148 + + ---- Land at, Cost of, 158 + + ---- Museum at, 157 + + ---- Poor-house at, 153 + + ---- Population of, 152 + + ---- Provisions at, Cost of, 158 + + ---- Silver-smelting at, 156 + + ---- Tatars at, 62 + + ---- _Usine_ at, 153-6 + + Barracks at Blagovestchensk, 526 + + ---- at gold-mines, 223 + + ---- at Kara, 452 + + ---- at Nikolaefsk, 620 + + ---- at Vladivostock, 718 + + Bath-room in Petersburg Model Prison, 66 + + Battle with cockroaches at Rasdolnoi, 702 + + Bays in the Primorsk, 562 + + Bazaar at Tomsk, 128 + + Bears, Mode of capturing, 209 + + ---- venerated by Gilyaks, 606, 608 + + Beds in Siberia, 444 + + Beef at Irkutsk, Cheapness of, 265 + + Beggars at Krasnoiarsk, 228 + + ---- at Tomsk, 228 + + _Beljetchenko_ steamer, 117 + + ---- Card-playing on the, 119 + + Bell exiled, 113 + + Bells of Russian churches, 332 + + Benediction of water, 169 + + Betrothal of Gilyaks, 601 + + Beverages of gold-miners, 224 + + _Bezpopoftschins_, Sects of, 759 + + Bible distribution on the Shilka, 539 + + ---- possessed by priest at Krasnorechinska, 195 + + ---- Russian Church and the, 181 + + ---- Society: + Finnish grant of, 3 + Irkutsk, Contemplated depôt at, 268 + Kansk, 238 + Roumanian grant, 3 + Russian Scriptures printed for the, 8 + Tomsk, Depôt at, 237 + + Bibliography of Siberia, 772 + + Bigotry of the Russian Church, 756 + + Biisk, Prison at, 133 + + Billings, Joseph, on Kamchatka, 631 + + Birching of prisoners, 89 + + ---- Effects of, 473 + + Birch-trees on the Upper Amur, 515 + + Birds known to the Goldi, 600 + + ---- of prey in Western Siberia, 189 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 202 + + ---- on Mongolian frontier, 357 + + ---- on the Yenesei, Seebohm on, 763 + + Bishop, Consecration of a, 167 + + “Black” Nihilists, 34 + + Blagovestchensk, Cossack barracks at, 526 + + ---- Flood at, 532 + + ---- Foundation of, 500 + + ---- Government establishments at, 526 + + ---- Meaning of, 518 + + ---- Merchants’ stores at, 526 + + ---- Meteorology of, 532 + + ---- Missionary effort at, 518-19 + + ---- Prison at, 525 + + ---- Provisions at, Cost of, 527 + + ---- Seminary for priests, 523 + + ---- Students’ education at, 523 + + ---- Temperature of, 532 + + Board at post-houses, 141 + + Boats of the Goldi, 600 + + ---- of the Manchu, 554-5 + + ---- on the Lena, 285 + + Bogotol, Hospitality at, 194 + + Bolan, Mission school at, 604 + + Books at Irkutsk hospital, 276 + + ---- Church, Revision of, 758 + + ---- English, on Siberia, at Nikolaefsk, 629 + + ---- for prison, 113 + + ---- for prisoners at Irkutsk, 277 + + ---- for the Trans-Baikal, 400 + Letters concerning them, 401, 402 + + ---- left with Gen. Ismailoff, 279 + + ---- left with M. Lochwitzky, 279 + + ---- for Alexandreffsky prison, 249 + + ---- on Siberian prisoners, 379 + + ---- Stock of, at Irkutsk, 280 + + Boot-making in prison, 247 + + Bothnian tour of Author, 540 + + Boundaries of Siberia, 49 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 199 + + Boundary of Russia and China, 323 + + Bows and arrows of the Ostjaks, 126 + + Boys’ Industrial School at Vladivostock, 723 + + Branding prisoners abolished, 464 + + Bread, A substitute for, 642 + + ---- Black, 141 + + Bribery by prisoners, 39 + + Bribery in trading transactions, 626 + + ---- of guards by exiles, 39 + + ---- of prison officials, 277 + + Brickmaking at Alexandreffsky, 247 + + _British Workman_ in Russ, 7 + + Brunière, De la, missionary to Gilyaks, 612 + + Buddhist praying machine, 373 + + ---- temple at Maimatchin, 344 + + Building a Siberian prison, 70 + + Buildings at Nikolaefsk, 625 + + Bulgarian Antiquities, Museum of, 13 + + Bureya district, Climate of, 542 + + ---- mountains, Coal in the, 536 + + ---- Scenery of, 537 + + Burial service of the Russian Church, 152 + + Buriats as drivers, 356-69 + + ---- attitude towards exiles, 40 + + ---- Conversion of, 374 + + ---- feast of boiled mutton, 367 + + ---- Fuel of, 368 + + ---- habitations, 366 + + ---- lamasery, or monastery, 335 + + ---- method of salutation, 356 + + ---- Missions to the, 357 + Atkinson, Mr., on, 375 + Cochrane, J. D., on, 375 + Hill, Mr. S. S., on, 375 + + ---- _Obos_ of the, 405 + + ---- Occupation of the, 369 + + ---- opposition to invasion, 281 + + ---- Physiognomy of, 364 + + ---- Population of, 369 + + ---- Possessions of the, 369 + + ---- Religion of the, 370 + + ---- Respect of, for Lamas, 371 + + ---- treatment of escaped convicts, 40 + + ---- Women’s head-dresses, 365 + + “Buried Alive,” by Goryantchikoff, on flogging, 654 + + ---- on political prisoners, 384 + + Burney, Capt., on Kamchatka, 631 + + Burning of Irkutsk, 253 + + Bush, Mr., on Kamchatka, 633 + + Busse, General, Military Governor of the Amur, 500 + + Butter, Siberian, 188 + + ---- Cost of, 317 + + Butterflies on the Alexandreffsky route, 240 + + + Camels, Caravan route by, 351 + + ---- on Mongolian frontier, 357 + + Candidates for holy orders, Lack of, 171 + + Candle worship, 164 + + Caravan transport in Siberia, 354 + + Card-playing at Sakhalin, 656 + + ---- by prisoners, 388 + + ---- on the _Beljetchenko_, 119 + + ---- on the Ussuri, 680 + + Carriage, Siberian, Cost of, 105, 746 + + Carts of the Manchu, 552 + + Catechist at Krasnoiarsk, 229 + + Cathedral at Kiakhta, 332 + + ---- at Krasnoiarsk, 230 + + ---- singing, 165 + + Cats, Price of, on Lower Amur, 600 + + Cattle in the Primorsk, 697 + + ---- of the Manchu, 550 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 204 + + Cattley, Oswald, Loan of tarantass by, 27 + + ---- on Obi trade, 27, 108, 761 + + Cavalry, Mongolian, in Kiakhta, 326 + + Cells at Blagovestchensk, 525 + + ---- Dark, in Model Prison at Petersburg, 66 + + ---- in Kara prison, 469 + + ---- Solitary, 88 + + Cemeteries, Russian, 152 + + Cemetery at Barnaul, 152 + + Certificate of baptism, 709 + + Chains worn by prisoners, 154 + + Changing horses, 140 + + Chapel in Model Prison at Petersburg, 67 + + ---- Lutheran, at Krasnoiarsk, 228 + + Chaplain for prisoners at Kara, 458 + + Chaplains of prisons, 663 + + Character of Koriaks, 640 + + Cheese-making, 188 + + Cheliuskin, Cape, Discovery of, 767 + + ---- rounded by Nordenskiöld, 292 + + Chernigovsky’s expedition on the Amur, 492 + + Children of prisoners’ asylum, 77 + + China, Boundary of, 323 + + ---- Difficulties with, on Amur question, 501 + + ---- Ethnography of empire, 206 + + ---- High road to, 52 + + ---- North-east passage to, attempted, 766 + + ---- Population of, 206 + + ---- Travellers on Mongolian route, 349 + + ---- Treaties with Russia, 323 + + Chinese amusement, 342 + + ---- appealed to by Amur tribes, 493. + + ---- chopsticks, 347 + + ---- clerks at Maimatchin, 340 + + ---- demand for silver money, 715 + + ---- dinner at Maimatchin, 345 + + ---- exports into Russia, 341 + + ---- in the Primorsk, Number of, 714 + + ---- junks and houses at Vladivostock, 716 + + ---- merchant at Maimatchin, 339 + + ---- method of salutation, 356 + + ---- _samovar_, 347 + + ---- use of tea, 340 + + Chita, 70 + + ---- Cucumbers at, 426 + + ---- Flora in neighbourhood of, 404 + + ---- _Plète_ at, 94 + + ---- Population of, 361 + + ---- Prison at, 362 + The “Black-cart” at, 362 + + ---- Situation of, 361 + Baron R[osen] on, 425 + + Christian Goldi, Photograph of, 674 + + Christmas presents to scholars at Vladivostock, 723 + + Chukchee coast, Fauna of, 643 + _Vega_ frozen in on the, 646 + + ---- country, Flora of, 644 + + ---- language, 647 + + Chukchees, Marriage customs of the, 643 + + ---- Number of the, 639 + + Church affairs in province of Irkutsk, 273 + + ---- at Kozloffskaya, 670 + + ---- at Nikolaefsk, 624 + + ---- Baptism, 167 + Certificate of, 709 + + ---- Bells, 332 + + ---- Bigotry, 756 + + ---- Bishop, Consecration of a, 167 + + ---- books, Revision of, 758 + + ---- Candles, 164 + + ---- Cathedrals, 165 + + ---- Clergy, 163 + + ---- committees, 163 + + ---- Confession, contrition, and communion, 169, 237 + + ---- “Consistory,” 164 + + ---- Consolidation of the, 751 + + ---- Dioceses, 163 + + ---- “Directory,” 163 + + ---- discipline, 175 + + ---- Doctrines of Russian, Roman, and English, 754 + + ---- Eastern, Greek, and Russian, Distinction between, 162 + + ---- Fanatical sects, 758 + + ---- Fasting, 177 + + ---- Foundation of, 751 + + ---- History of the, 751 + + ---- Holy oil, 169 + + ---- Images, Worship of, 164 + + ---- Journal of priest, 174 + + ---- knowledge, Sources of, 161 + + ---- Liturgy, 166 + + ---- Lutheran, at Vladivostock, 717 + + ---- Metropolitans, 176 + + ---- Missionary collections, 520 + + ---- Monasteries, 163-77 + Clergy of, 176 + + ---- music, 165 + + ---- Nunneries, 179 + + ---- Obligation of clergy to be married, 524 + + ---- Orders, 166 + + ---- Ordinations, 166 + + ---- Parish priest: Position, pay, and tithes of, 172-3 + + ---- Parishioners, 163 + + ---- Penance, Sacrament of, 169 + + ---- Picture worship, 164 + + ---- Priests, Social disadvantages of, 173 + + ---- processions, 174 + + ---- Protestants in Siberia, Number of, 726 + + ---- Reformation period, 753 + + ---- Registers, 174 + + ---- Relation of Greek to English, 181 + + ---- Ritual, 166 + + ---- Rural deaneries, 163 + + ---- schisms, 756 + + ---- Seminary for priests at Blagovestchensk, 523 + + ---- Sermons, 460, 671 + Number of, yearly, in Petersburg, 460 + + ---- Services: + Burial, 152 + Commemoration of the Virgin, 165 + Marriage, 168 + + ---- Transition period, 752 + + ---- Unction, Sacrament of, 169 + + ---- Vestments, 163-4 + + Churches at Irkutsk, 265 + + Churching of women, 167 + + Cigarette-making at Alexandreffsky, 247 + + City on fire, 253 + + Civic arrangements in Russian towns, 716 + + Classification of exiles, 29, 33 + + ---- of prisoners, 72, 450 + + Clergy of Siberian Church, 163 + + ---- Fasting of, 177 + + ---- Monastic, 176 + + Clerical vestments, 164 + + Cliffs on the Upper Amur, 516 + + ---- on the Shilka River, 483 + + Climate of the Middle Amur, 532 + + ---- of Bureya district, 542 + + ---- of Kamchatka, 635 + + ---- of Kansk, 240 + + ---- of Lake Khanka district, 690 + + ---- of Nertchinsk, 426 + Atkinson, Mr., on, 425 + + ---- of Nikolaefsk, 563 + + ---- of the Lower Primorsk, 564 + + ---- of Tomsk, 127-46 + + Clothing, 50 + + ---- of Cossacks, 683 + + ---- of prisoners, 80, 455 + + ---- of seamen, 737 + + Club, Officers’, at Nikolaefsk, 624 + + Coal at Dui, 81 + + ---- at Sakhalin, 651 + + ---- at Vladivostock, 678 + + ---- in Bureya mountains, 536 + + Coat of fish-skin, 597 + + Cochrane, Capt., on Buriat missions, 375 + + ---- Travels of, 282-5 + + ---- Visit of, to Nertchinsk, 412 + + Cockroaches at Rasdolnoi, Battle with, 702 + + Coldest town--Yakutsk, 296 + + Collections at church doors for missions, 520 + + Collins, Mr., Descent of, in a silver-mine, 412 + + ---- on the Amur, 499 + + ---- Visit of, to Nertchinsk, 417 + + ---- Voyage of, down the Shilka, 441 + + Colonies of Finns in Siberia, 131 + + Colonists, Exile, in Eastern Siberia, Number of, 451 + + ---- “Little” Russians as, 32 + + ---- on the Amur, 502 + + ---- Penal, at Vladivostock, 726 + + ---- Privileges granted to, 698 + + Colonization of the Lower Amur, 500 + + Commandant of Kara Prison: Government allowance to, 474 + + ---- Hospitality of, 480 + + ---- Namesday of, 479 + + ---- Salary of, 461 + + Commemorations of the Virgin, 165 + + Commerce of Tiumen, 27 + + ---- of Vladivostock, 716 + + ---- Russo-Chinese: + Kiakhta as a centre of, 324 + + ---- The Obi as an outlet for, 51 + + Commercial school at Tiumen, 28 + + Committees in connection with prisons, 77 + + Communication by Siberian roads, 51 + + Confession and Communion, 237 + + ---- Priestly, 169, 237 + + Confinement, Solitary, 88 + + Conquests of Russia on the Amur, 489 + + ---- of Yermak, 57 + + Conscription, Russian, Method of, 736 + + Consecration of a Bishop, 167 + + Consolidation of the Russian Church, 751 + + _Contemporary Review_ on political exiles, 413 + + Contraband articles in Model Prison of Petersburg, 67 + + Conversion of a learned lama, 521 + + ---- of Buriats, 374 + + ---- of the Yakutes, Tzar’s ukase for the, 305 + + Convict clothing and chains, 155 + exiles as servants, 730 + + Convicts at Alexandreffsky, Number of, 70 + + ---- at Kara, Freedom of, 448 + Number of, 445 + + ---- in the mines, 462 + + ---- labour compared with English, 662 + + ---- opinions of Tobolsk prison, 115 + + Convicts, Runaway, hunted down by Buriats, 40 + + Cooking not usually needed, 512 + + ---- “Rob Roy” cuisine, 145 + + Copper-mine, Descent of a, 21 + + ---- at Nijni Tagilsk, 138 + + ---- Malachite in, 21 + + Corean fugitives, 714 + + ---- houses, 715 + + Corporal punishment, 423 + + Correspondence with exiles, 38 + + Cossacks, Barracks for, at Blagovestchensk, 526 + + ---- Buriats’ opposition to, 281 + + ---- Clothing of, 683 + + ---- combing goats, 26 + + ---- fair on Shilka, 488 + + ---- Food of, 682-3 + + ---- Houses of, 683 + + ---- in Lower Primorsk, 568 + + ---- on the Ussuri, 681 + + ---- Pay of, 682 + + ---- Summer barracks at Kara, 452 + + Cost of carriage in Siberia, 105, 746 + + ---- of salmon at Nikolaefsk, 628 + + ---- of Siberian butler, 317 + + Costume of a Tunguse _Shaman_, 158 + + ---- of the Kirghese, 158 + + ---- of the Manchu, 551 + + ---- The _Mala-Russiá_, 250 + + Cottin, Madame de, “Story of Elizabeth,” 379-83 + + Country of the Daurians, 548 + + ---- of the Samoyedes, 98 + + ---- round Albazin, 515 + + Courier travelling, 134 + + Courts of law, Russian and Siberian, 73 + + Cows near Tomsk, 188 + + Creed, Religious, of exiles, 29 + + Crime attributed to drunkenness, 29 + + ---- in district of Kansk, 235-6 + + Crimean war, Influence of the, 497 + + Crimes of exiles, 34 + + ---- of prisoners at Kara, 448 + + Criminals at Nikolaefsk, Birching of, 89 + + ---- Desperate, 655 + + ---- Statistics of, 72 + + ---- Zavod work for, 82 + + Cucumbers at Chita, 426 + + ---- on the Amur, 588 + + Curiosity of fellow-passengers concerning Scripture distribution, 539 + + Custom at leave-taking, 353 + + ---- of addressing friends, 406, 620 + + Customs of Goldi, 672 + + ---- Trade, 627 + + + _Daily Telegraph_ on number of political prisoners, 396 + + Dancing at Mikhailofsky, 622 + + Daurians, Agriculture of the, 549 + + ---- Country of the, 548 + + ---- Howorth, Mr., on the, 548 + + ---- Religion of the, 549 + + Dead, Gilyaks’ treatment of the, 611 + + ---- Manchurian treatment of, 554 + + Deaneries, Rural, of the Russian Church, 163 + + Decembrists, Sympathy of Russians for, 32, 378 + + Decocq’s hotel at Irkutsk, 254 + + Deer in Southern Manchuria, 696 + + ---- of the Koriaks, 642 + + De la Brunière, Missionary to Gilyaks, 612 + + De Lagny on Siberian political prisoners, 380 + + ---- on the _knout_, 380 + + De Lesseps on Kamchatka, 631 + + ---- travels in Siberia, 282 + + Demidoff hospital at Tagil, 24 + + ---- mines at Nijni Tagilsk, 21 + + ---- works at ditto, 21 + + Demidoffs, Riches of the, 23 + + Deportation of exiles, Localities, 37 + + ---- Modern plan of, 42 + + ---- of political prisoners to the Trans-Baikal, 377 + + ---- of vagrants to Sakhalin, 37 + + Depôt for sale of Scriptures at Krasnoiarsk, 232 + + Description of a Siberian village, 190 + + ---- of the _plète_, 90, 92 + + Deserted village at Pashkova, 671 + + Desperate criminals, 655 + + Destination of exiles, Walking to, 44 + + Destruction of property by fire at Irkutsk, 263 + + De Vries, Capt., of Vladivostock, 712 + + Dialect of Koriaks, 640 + + Diet of prisoners at Kara, 453 + + Dinner among Chinese at Maimatchin, 345 + + ---- at a Siberian hotel, 431 + + ---- at Nikolaefsk, 619 + + Diocese of Irkutsk, Number of churches, 274 + + Dioceses of Siberian Church, 163 + + Director of Alexandreffsky prison, 244 + + ---- Pay of, at Irkutsk prison, 277 + + Directories of Siberian Church, 163 + + Discipline, Ecclesiastical, 175 + + Discoveries of Nordenskiöld and Wiggins, 761 + + Discovery of the Shilka River, 492 + + Dissent, Exiled for, 34 + + ---- _Scoptsi_ village of, 205 + + Dissenters, Efforts to reclaim, 518 + + ---- Number of, 519-27 + + Distance travelled by Author, 770 + + Distress at Irkutsk after fire, 269 + + Distribution of exiles, 43 + + ---- of Scriptures and tracts, 3, 7, 8, 11, 121-9, 183-6, 401, 538, + 665-6, 703-33 + + _Djiguitt_, Divine Service on board the, 740 + + ---- in a squall, 742 + + ---- Inspection of the, 741 + + ---- Officers of the, 738 + + ---- Prison on board the, 739 + + ---- Speed of the, 735 + + Dobell, Peter, Travels of, 283 + + Doctors in Siberian towns, 619 + + Doctrine of the _Scoptsi_, 205 + + Doctrines of the Russian, Roman, and English Churches, 754 + + Dogs of Kamchatka, 636 + + ---- used by Gilyaks and Goldi, 600 + + ---- Yakute, Breeding of, 304 + + Dostoyeffsky’s “Buried Alive” and political prisoners, 384 + + _Douga_, Description of the, 137 + + Dress of Gilyaks in winter, 597 + + ---- of penal colonists at Vladivostock, 728 + + ---- of the Samoyedes, 99 + + ---- of the Yakutes, 302 + + ---- The _Mala-Russia_, 250 + + Drink, Aborigines’ love of, 102 + + ---- and its follies, 225 + + ---- Madness through, 229 + + ---- Murder under influence of, 155 + + Drivers, Buriats as, 356 + + Drunkards exiled by Russian villagers, 34 + + Drunkenness: Alcohol and _vodka_, 544 + + ---- Arrests for, Number of, 545 + + ---- as a cause of crime, 29 + + ---- at social leave-taking, 118 + + ---- Comparison of Russian with English, 544 + + ---- Effect on trade, 627-30 + + ---- of gold-miners, 225 + + ---- of _yemstchik_, 252 + + ---- on board the _Zeya_, 506 + + Dubininskaya, Arrival at, 692 + + Dui coal-mines, 81 + + ---- _Plète_ in prison at, 653 + + ---- Prison food at, 656 + Officers at, 660 + + ---- Prisons at, 652 + + ---- Scriptures for, 660 + + _Dukhobortsi_, Sect of, 760 + + Dutch explorers, 766 + + Duty of Priests, Treatise on the, 181-2 + + Dwellings of the Manchu, 549 + + ---- Yakutes’, 500 + + + Eagles tamed by Kirghese, 189 + + Earthquakes in Kamchatka, 635 + + Eastern and Western Siberia, 51, 188 + + ---- Greek, and Russian Church, Distinction between, 162 + + Ecclesiastical discipline, 175 + + _Echo_ on exiles’ march, 415 + + Eden, C. H., on quicksilver, 410 + + Education in Russia, Cost of, 719 + Subjects of study, 720 + + ---- in Western Siberia, 150 + + ---- of exiles, 32 + + ---- clerical, at Blagovestchensk, 523 + + Ekaterineburg, Englishmen at, 25 + + ---- Prisoners, Money allowance to, 78 + + ---- Railway to, 17 + + ---- Town of, 25 + + ---- Transport of exiles to, 43 + + Ekaterino-Nicolsk, Distribution of Scriptures at, 538 + + ---- Garden at, 537 + + “Elizabeth, Story of,” by Madame de Cottin, 379-83 + + Elk, Hunting of the, 209 + + Emeralds of the Odon Tchelon mountain, 407 + + Emery, Mr. Enoch, 614 + + Employment of prisoners in ship-yards, 420 + + Engineering firm at Tiumen, 27 + + Engines, Fire, 573 + + English and Russian drunkenness compared, 544 + + ---- books at Nikolaefsk, 629 + + ---- graves at Selenginsk, 319 + + ---- mission to Buriats, Story of the, 318 + + ---- newspaper accounts of exiles’ passage, 45 + + ---- suspected at Petersburg, 329 + + Englishmen at Ekaterineburg, 25 + + “Equipage,” Description of an, 439 + + Erdmann, Admiral, Governor of Vladivostock, 717 + + ---- Madame, Introduction to, 717 + + Erman on the valley of the Lena, 284 + + Escape of prisoners at Kara, 465 + + Étape prisons, 44, 69, 616 + + ---- Number of soldiers employed for, 667 + + Ethnography in Kasan government, 14 + + ---- of Alexandreffsky prisoners, 246 + + ---- of Russia in Asia, 19, 52 + + ---- of Russian and Chinese empires, 206 + + ---- of Tobolsk province, 98 + + Europe and Asia, Frontier of, 18 + + ---- Weather in crossing, 24 + + Exchange of money, 731 + + Exchanging names and punishments, 75 + + Excitement at Petersburg, 328 + + Exile convict servants, 730 + + ---- life, Author’s farewell and impressions of, 726-8 + + Exiles accompanied by wives, 36 + + ---- as colonists, 451 + + ---- bribing guards, 39 + + ---- Buriats’ attitude towards, 40 + + ---- Classification of, 29, 33 + + ---- Correspondence, 38 + + ---- Crimes of, 33 + + ---- Deportation, Localities of, 37 + Modern plan of, 42 + + ---- destination, Walking to, 44 + + ---- Distribution of, 43 + + ---- Education of, 32 + + ---- Étape prisons for, 44 + + ---- for dissent, 34 + + ---- Fund for, at Moscow, 43 + + ---- Gilyaks’ attitude towards, 40 + + ---- in Kansk, 32 + + ---- Lemke on treatment of, 413 + + ---- March of, _Echo_ on, 415 + + ---- Marriage rites of, 35 + + ---- Number of, 32, 39 + + ---- on the march, 48 + + ---- Passage of, English newspapers on, 45 + + ---- passing through Tiumen, 395 + + ---- _Perisylnie_ prisons for, 44 + + ---- Political: + _Contemporary Review_ on, 413 + Whyte, Mr., on number of, 394 + + ---- Presents to, 42 + + ---- Proportion condemned to hard labour, 37 + + ---- _Raskolnik_, 32 + + ---- receiving the _plète_, 35 + + ---- Réclus, M., on the first, 31 + + ---- Release, A, 38 + + ---- Religious creed of, 29 + + ---- Religious scruples respected, 460 + + ---- Returned, Number of, 729 + + ---- route, _viâ_ Suez Canal, 44 + + ---- Runaways, Capture of, 40 + + ---- Sentences of, 35 + + ---- Social ties of, 41 + + ---- Transport by barge and rail, 29, 42, 43 + + Expedition of Chernigovsky on the Amur, 492 + + ---- of Khabarof, 490 + + ---- of Pashkof, 492 + + ---- of Poyarkof, 490 + + ---- of Stepanof, 491 + + Explorations, Early, by sea and land, 766 + + ---- of Nordenskiöld, 51, 107, 292 + + ---- Scientific, in Siberia, 768 + + Export of furs from Siberia, 295 + + Exports at Vladivostock, 714 + + ---- Chinese, into Russia, 341 + + ---- from Siberia, 341 + + ---- Probable future of, 105 + + Extravagance of gold-miners, 225 + + + “Fabric” work, 82 + + Fair at Nijni Novgorod, 12 + + ---- on the River Bankova, 488 + + Fanatical sects, 758 + + Fasting of clergy, 177 + + Fasting of prisoners, 79 + + Fauna of Chukchee coast, 643 + + ---- of Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- of the Primorsk, 565 + + Feast of mutton by Buriats, 367 + + Female prisoners at Kara, 467-8 + + Ferry, A Siberian, 139 + + Fertility of Tobolsk, 104 + + Finland: Grant of Bible Society, 3 + + ---- Prisons in, 63 + + Finnish colonies, Transport of prisoners to, 131 + + ---- pamphlets, Gift of, 53 + + Finns at Ruschkova, 5 + + Finsch, Dr., in Akmolinsk, 159 + in Semipolatinsk, 159 + + Fire at Irkutsk, 253 + + ---- at Perm, 16 + + ---- engines, 573 + + Fires due to incendiarism, 269 + + Fish eaten by Gilyaks, 596 + + ---- Gilyak mode of catching, 598 + + ---- in Lake Khanka, 679 + + ---- in Primorsk, Price of, 569 + + ---- in River Sungacha, 679 + + ---- in River Ussuri, 679 + + ---- in the Anadir, 640 + + ---- Manchurian method of catching, 555 + + ---- of Lake Baikal, 312 + + ---- of the Yenesei, 201 + + ---- on the Lower Amur, 581 + + ---- pie a Siberian luxury, 432 + + ---- skin coat, 597 + + ---- trade at Nikolaefsk, 628 + + Fisheries of the Obi and Taz, 123 + + Fishing in Manchuria, Method of, 555 + + ---- boat of the Manchu, 555 + + Fleas and vermin in prisons, 363 + + Fleet, Siberian: + Officers, Pay of, 734 + Sailors, Clothing of, 736 + ---- Food of, 736 + ---- Pay of, 734 + ---- Religious professions of, 741 + + Flight of inhabitants from Irkutsk fire, 257 + + Flogging prisoners, Andreoli on, 93 + + ---- Goryantchikoff on, 654 + + Flood at Blagovestchensk, 532 + + Flooding of the Yenesei, 198, 219 + + Flora at Kansk, 239 + + ---- between Tomsk and Barnaul, 149 + + ---- in Kamchatka, 636 + + ---- in neighbourhood of Chita, 404 + + ---- in private houses, 231 + + ---- of Chukchee country, 644 + + ---- of Lake Baikal vicinity, 315 + + ---- of North-east Siberia, 645 + + ---- of Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- of the Primorsk, 565 + + ---- of the Upper Amur, 517 + + ---- of the Yenesei, 219 + + Flour sold at Nikolaefsk, 569 + + Flowers at Khabarofka, 579 + + Food of Cossacks, 682-3 + + ---- of Gilyaks, 596 + + ---- of miners, 419 + + ---- of natives at Sakhalin, 650 + + ---- of prisoners, 78, 276, 453, 656 + Cost of, 80 + Difficulty in procuring, 659 + Horseflesh reported as, 746 + + ---- of sailors in Siberian fleet, 736 + + Forçats, Classification of, 449 + + ---- Escape of, 466 + + ---- Meaning of, 449 + + Forests near Krasnoiarsk, 220 + + ---- of Yeneseisk, 200 + + Formation of the Shilka River, 482 + + Fort of Anadirsk, 640 + + Fortress of Sibir, 110 + + Fortunes of gold-miners, 226 + + Foundation of Krasnoiarsk, 112 + + ---- of Mariinsk, 585 + + ---- of Nikolaefsk, 615 + + ---- of Russian Church, 751 + + ---- of town of Yakutsk, 112, 281 + + Foxes, Hunting of, 209 + + Franklin, Sir John, and his “equipage,” 439 + + Free colonists, Privileges of, 698 + + ---- school at Vladivostock, 722 + + Freedom of convicts at Kara, 448 + + Frontier of Europe and Asia, 18 + + Frozen butchers’ meat, 265 + + Fruit at Vladivostock, 690 + + ---- in Kamchatka, 636 + + ---- on Lower Amur, 583 + + ---- Siberian, 149 + + Fuel, _Argols_ used as, 368 + + Fugitives, Corean, 714 + + Furniture of Siberian prisons, 71 + + ---- of Yakutes’ houses, 301 + + Furs from Siberia, Export of, 295 + + + Gambling, Effects on trade, 627 + + ---- of Russians, 119 + + Game, Abundance of, 696 + + Garden at Ekaterino-Nicolsk, 537 + + ---- at Vladivostock, 717 + + Gardening by prisoners, 248 + + _Gaulois_ on number of political prisoners, 396 + + Gems in neighbourhood of Nertchinsk, 407 + + ---- in Trans-Baikal province, 378 + + _General Korsakoff_, On board the, 314 + + “Géographie Universelle” of M. Réclus, 631 + + Geological Museum at Barnaul, 157 + + Gilyaks, Amusements of the, 602 + + ---- attitude towards exiles, 40 + + ---- Bears, Veneration for, 606, 608 + + ---- Betrothal of, 601 + + ---- Children of, 595 + + ---- Country, Extent of, 594 + + ---- Dead, Treatment of the, 611 + + ---- Dogs used by, 600 + + ---- dress in winter, 597 + + ---- Etymology, 593 + + ---- Family of, 603 + + ---- Fish eaten by, 596 + + ---- Fishing, 598 + + ---- Food of, 596 + + ---- Foreign relationships, 602 + + ---- habitations on Amur, 591 + + ---- Habits of, 599 + + ---- Hotsprings at village of, 588 + + ---- Idols of, 606 + + ---- Mission schools for, 604 + + ---- Missionaries to the, 612-66 + + ---- Occupation of, 598 + + ---- Polygamy among, 601 + + ---- Population, 594 + + ---- Religion of, 609 + + ---- Shamanism, 609 + + ---- Stature of, 594 + + ---- Superstitions of, 605 + + ---- Tigers, Fear of, 606 + + ---- Villages of the, 593 + + ---- Winter habitations of, 595 + + ---- Women, Estimation of, 601 + + Ginseng of Manchuria, 691 + + ---- on Upper Ussuri, Plantations of, 566 + + Girls’ Institute at Vladivostock, 721 + + Glaisher, Mr., Introductions from, 10 + + ---- Meteorological instruments, 147 + + Gluttony of the Yakutes, 301, 307 + + Goats of the Kirghese, 26 + + Goitre, Siberians afflicted with, 285 + + Gold deposits, 213 + + ---- digging, 214 + + ---- found in the Trans-Baikal province, 378, 428 + + ---- in the Primorsk, 583 + + ---- in the Za-Baikal, 462 + + ---- in Yakutsk, 295 + + ---- mine, The “Archangel Gabriel,” 218 + + ---- miners at Irkutsk, 264 + Drunkenness of, 225 + Extravagance of, 225 + + ---- mines, 223 + Beverages for workmen, 224 + Subterranean work of, 216 + Wages at, 223 + (_See also_ “Mines”) + + ---- mining, Season for, 462 + + ---- Prospecting party, A, 213 + + ---- Russian, 211 + + ---- seekers, 212-13 + + ---- washing, 477, 583 + + Goldi, Appearance of, 583 + + ---- Baptisms of, 674 + + ---- Birds known to, 600 + + ---- boats, 600 + + ---- Customs of, 672 + + ---- Dogs, Use of, 600 + + ---- language, 604 + + ---- lexicon, 604 + + ---- Missionary to, 671 + + ---- Number of, 672 + + ---- Photograph of, 674 + + ---- Physiognomy of, 672 + + ---- Polygamy among, 601 + + ---- weddings, 601, 674 + + ---- wives, Price of, 601, 674 + + ---- women, Estimation of, 601 + + Gordon, Peter, Travels of, 284 + + Goryantchikoff on flogging of prisoners, 654 + + Gospels translated by Archdeacon of Khabarofka, 673 + + _Gostinnoi Dvor_, or Bazaar, at Tomsk, 128 + + Government allowance to Commandant of Kara, 474 + + Government buildings at Aigun, 557 + + ---- establishments at Blagovestchensk, 526 + + ---- grant to Vladivostock Girls’ Institute, 721 + + “Governments” in Siberia, 50 + + Governor of a province, 51 + + ---- of Tobolsk, 113 + + Governors-General, 51 + + ---- Houses of, 192 + + Granite rocks on the Shilka, 487 + + Graves of English missionaries at Selenginsk, 319 + + Greek Church, Penance in, 169 + Relation of, to English Church, 181 + + ---- Russian, and Eastern Church, Distinction between, 162 + + Guards bribed by exiles, 39 + + + Habitations of Buriats, 366 + + ---- of Gilyaks, 591-5 + + ---- of Koriaks, 641 + + Habits of Gilyaks, 599 + + Hakodate to Yokohama, 743 + + Harbour of Vladivostock, 712 + + Hard-labour prisons at Tobolsk, 70, 82 + + ---- of exiles, Proportion condemned to, 37 + + Hardships of gold-miners, 216 + + ---- of _isvostchiks_, 627 + + Harness of Siberian horses, 137 + + ---- The _douga_, 137 + + Head-dress of Buriat women, 365 + + ---- of Tatar women, 58 + + Hearthrugs for tarantass travelling, 136 + + Heathen rites at Kasan, 13 + + Hellman, Miss Alba, 5 + + ---- Gift of pamphlets by, 53 + + _Helsingfors Dagblad_, Author’s Bothnian tour in the, 540 + + Herbaceous plants in the Lower Primorsk, 566 + + Hertzen, Alex., on political prisoners, 380 + + High school at Vladivostock, 719 + + Hill, Mr., on Buriat missions, 375 + + ---- on the Lena, 284 + + ---- Travels of, 230 + + History of the Amur, 489 + + ---- of the Russian Church, 751 + + Holy Oil in Church service, 169 + + Holy Orders in the Russian Church, 166 + Scarcity of candidates, 171 + + ---- Unction, Office of the, 169-70 + + Honesty of the Ostjaks, 102 + + ---- of the Samoyedes, 102 + + Horns of the reindeer, 209 + + Horse-eating by the Yakutes, 301 + + ---- flesh reported as food for prisoners, 746 + + Horses, Changing of, 140 + + ---- Harness of, 137 + + ---- Orochons’, 508 + + ---- Shoeing of, 232 + + ---- Siberian, 123 + + ---- Yakutes’ treatment of, 308 + + Hospital at Alexandreffsky, 249 + + ---- at Barnaul, 153 + + ---- at gold-mine, 223 + + ---- at Irkutsk, Books for, 276 + + ---- at Kara, 471 + + ---- at Tagil, 24 + + ---- at Tomsk, 229 + + Hospitality at Bogotol, 194 + + ---- at Krasnoiarsk, 232 + + ---- in Siberia, 353, 431 + + ---- of Commandant at Kara, 480 + + ---- of Kamchatdales, 639 + + Hospitals at Nikolaefsk, 617 + + ---- at Vladivostock, 617 + + ---- Impressions of, 618 + + Hotel at Irkutsk, 254 + + ---- at Krasnoiarsk, 228 + + ---- Siberian, Method of dining, 431 + + Hot-springs at Gilyak village, 588 + + Hours of labour at a gold-mine, 224 + + Houses at Kozloffskaya, 671 + + ---- at Krasnoiarsk, 230 + + ---- at Maimatchin, 339 + + ---- Flora in, 231 + + ---- of Buriats, 366 + + ---- of Chinese, 716 + + ---- of Coreans, 715 + + ---- of Cossacks, 683 + + ---- of Gilyaks, 595 + + ---- of Governors-General, 192 + + ---- of Kamchatdales, 639 + + ---- of Manchu, 550 + + ---- of Siberians, 190 + + ---- of Yakutes, 301 + + Howard Association Report, Mistake of Mr. Tallack in, 745 + + Howorth, Mr. on Daurians, 548 + + ---- on the Manchu, 548 + + ---- on the Samoyedes, 98 + + Hunting by the Orochons, 509 + + ---- Eagles trained for, 189 + + ---- Methods of, 207 + + ---- of foxes, 209 + + ---- the elk, 209 + + + Idols, Gilyak, 606 + + ---- of the Yurak-Samoyedes, 103 + + ---- Tchuvash and Tcheremisi, 14 + + Ignatoff, Mr., at Tiumen, 29 + + ---- Influence of, 118-60 + + Ikons, Worship of, 331 + + Image-worship, 164 + + Immorality, Effects on trade, 627 + + Importation of tea into Russia, 325 + + Imports at Vladivostock, 714 + + ---- of the Primorsk, 570 + + Impressions of exile life, 726-8 + + Incendiarism in Siberia, 269 + + Income of a _tayoshnik_, 217 + + Indictment of a prisoner, 75 + + Industrial school for boys at Vladivostock, 723 + + Influence of the Anglo-Chinese war, 501 + + ---- of the Crimean war, 497 + + Ingoda, Collins’s descent, 482 + + ---- Gold-mines on the, 212 + + _Ingoda_ steamer on the Amur, 510 + + Inhabitants of the Primorsk, 567 + + ---- of Vladivostock, 713 + + Inmates of Irkutsk prison, 275 + + Innokente, St., Shrine of, 274 + + Inquisitiveness about Author, 249 + + Inspection of the _Djiguitt_, 741 + + Inspector of schools of Eastern Siberia, 11 + + Institute for girls, 721 + + Institution for prisoners’ children at Tomsk, 130 + + Institutions for training schoolmasters, 278 + + Instruments, Meteorological, 147 + + Insubordination of prisoners, 393 + + Interpreter a necessity, 4 + + ---- Joined by, 13 + + ---- Parting with, 439 + + Introductions, Numbers of, 11 + + Invasion of Cossacks opposed by Buriats, 281 + + Irkutsk, Alcoholic liquors at, 265 + + ---- Archbishop of, Interview sought, 274 + + ---- Bible Society at, 268 + + ---- Books at, Stock of, 280 + + ---- Churches, 265 + + ---- Decocq’s hotel at, 254 + + ---- Deputy-Governor of, 267 + + ---- Diocese, Churches of, 274 + + ---- Distress, Relief of, 269 + + ---- on fire, 253 + Firemen’s arrangements, 259 + Flight of inhabitants, 257 + Museum burnt, 268 + Origin, Supposed, 269 + Procession at, 260 + Property destroyed, 263 + Provisions, Procuring, after the fire, 309 + Ruins of the city, 267 + Salvage, Articles of, 258 + Spectacle of burning city, 260-62 + + ---- Founding of city, 264 + + ---- Gold-miners, Resort for, 264 + + ---- hospital, 268 + + ---- Larsen, Mr., Introduction to, 265 + + ---- Limit (Proposed) of travel, 253 + + ---- Markets at, 265 + + ---- prison: + Director, Pay of, 277 + Food for hospital and, 276 + Inmates of, 275 + Library of, 77 + + ---- prisoners: + Books for, 276-7 + Money allowed to, 276 + + ---- Provisions at, 265 + + ---- Roads of, 139 + + ---- School at, 278 + + ---- Shrine of St. Innokente, 274 + + ---- _Usine_ at, 268 + + ---- Winter at, 264 + + Iron in the valley of the Tom, 104 + + ---- ore in Yenesei valley, 210 + + ---- Smelting of, by Yakutes, 304 + + ---- Tons cast in 1879, 156 + + ---- works at Petrovsky Zavod, 355 + + Irons on prisoners, 85, 248, 421-63 + + _Irtish_, barge for prisoners, 120 + + ---- Tract distribution on the, 121 + + Island of Sakhalin, 648 + + Ismailoff, Gen., Deputy-Governor of Irkutsk, 267 + + Ismailoff, Gen., Books left with, 279 + + _Ispravniks_, 29, 51, 195, 234 + + ---- Pay of, 235 + + _Isvostchiks_, Hardships of, 627 + + Itinerary round the world, 770 + + + Jail at Tomsk, 128 + + Japan, Russian Missions in, 358 + + Jews at Kara, 455 + + ---- at Tiumen, 460 + + Journal, A priest’s, 174 + + Journey by rail from Petersburg to Moscow, 25 + + ---- of an exile from Petersburg to Tobolsk, 42 + + ---- of Author, Extent of, 770 + Object of, 1 + + ---- of 2,670 miles by rail, 24 + + ---- to Alexandreffsky, 243 + + ---- to Barnaul, 148 + + Journeys of previous travellers, 282 + + Juchova, Price of provisions at, 120 + + Judges of the Peace, 73 + + Junks of the Chinese, 716 + + Jury, Trial by, 73 + + + Kachugskoe, Width of Lena at, 287 + + Kama River, 16 + + ---- Steamers on the, 29 + + Kamchatdales, Appearance of, 637 + + ---- Hospitality of, 639 + + ---- Houses of, 639 + + ---- Number of, 638 + + Kamchatka, Anadir River, 639 + + ---- Area of, 634 + + ---- Billings, Joseph, on, 631 + + ---- Burney, Capt., on, 631 + + ---- Bush, Mr., on, 633 + + ---- Capital of, 638 + + ---- Climate of, 635 + + ---- De Lesseps on, 631 + + ---- Dogs of, 636 + + ---- Earthquakes in, 635 + + ---- Flora of, 636 + + ---- Fruit in, 636 + + ---- Language of, 637 + + ---- Locality of, 630 + + ---- Sledging in, 637 + + ---- Vegetables of, 645 + + ---- Volcanoes in, 635 + + ---- Wildfowl of, 637 + + Kamen Ruiboloff, Arrival at, 686 + + Kansk, Bible Society and, 238 + + ---- Climate of, 240 + + ---- Crime in district of, 235-6 + + ---- Exiles in, 32 + + ---- Flora of, 239 + + ---- Ispravnik of, 234 + + ---- Priests at, 236 + + ---- Prison at, 235 + + ---- School at, 237 + + Kara, Barracks for Cossacks in summer, 452 + + ---- Commandant, Government allowance to, 474 + Hospitality of, 480 + Namesday of, 479 + Salary of, 461 + + ---- Gold-washing at, 477 + + ---- Hospitals at, 471 + + ---- Murderers sent to, 37 + + ---- Police-master at, 485 + + ---- prison: + Cells in, 469 + Diet, Scale of, 453 + Photography by priest, 458 + Plète at, 464 + + ---- Prisoners at: + Aged, 470 + Branding abolished, 464 + Chaplain for, 458 + Classification of, 450 + Clothing of, 455 + Crimes of, 448 + Female, 467-8 + Forçats classification, 449 + ---- Escape of, 466 + Freedom of, 448 + Irons on, 85, 463 + Jewish, 455 + Labour of, 463-4 + Money from friends for, 83 + Number of, 445 + Politicals, 396 + Provisions for, Cost of, 80 + Scurvy among, 472 + Sentences of, 450 + _Starostas_ among, 454 + Work of, 446 + + ---- Reputation of, unenviable, 473 + + ---- Sea, Wiggins on the, 51, 768 + + ---- Storehouse at, 455 + + Kasan, Founding of city, 57 + + ---- government, Ethnography, 14 + Tatars in the, 15 + + ---- Heathen rites at, 13 + + ---- Seminary at, 14 + + Kazakevich, Admiral, 500 + + Kaznakoff, Governor-General, 185 + + Khabarof’s expedition on the Amur 490 + + Khabarofka, Author’s dilemma, 574 + + ---- Bank at, 578 + + ---- Flowers at, 579 + + ---- Military post at, 577 + + ---- Musical instruments at, 552 + + ---- Plusnin, merchant, 668 + + ---- Post-office at, 578 + + ---- Priest, Visit to, 673-7 + + ---- Sable-skins at, Sale of, 577 + + ---- Scriptures for, 667 + + ---- Silver money at, 715 + + ---- Temperature of, 579 + + ---- Tichmeneff, General, and the port, 666 + + ---- Tigers at, 689 + + ---- Town, Situation of, 577 + + ---- Trees at, 579 + + Khamenoff, General, and his footman, 273 + + Khanka Lake, Area of, 685 + + ---- Depth of, 685 + + ---- District of, 689 + Climate of, 690 + Medicinal plants of, 691 + + ---- Fish of, 679 + + ---- Winds on, 686 + + Kiakhta cathedral, 332 + + ---- Commerce of, 324 + + ---- Mongolian cavalry in, 326 + + ---- Prison at, 327 + + Kirghese, Atkinson on the, 159 + + ---- Costumes of the, 158 + + ---- Eagles used by the, 189 + + ---- goats, 26 + + ---- _Koumis_, a beverage of the, 159 + + Kizi Lake, Area of, 585 + + _Knout_ abolished, 85, 91 + + ---- “A German Nobleman” on the, 380 + + ---- Andreoli, M., on the, 91 + + ---- De Lagny on the, 380 + + Knox, Mr., on the Shilka, 441 + + “K., O.” on number of exiles in 1876, 39 + + ---- on “Russia and England,” 748 + + Koecher, Mr., at Troitzkosavsk, 323 + + Koriaks, Bread of, 642 + + ---- Character of, 640 + + ---- Deer of the, 642 + + ---- Dialect of the, 640 + + ---- Habitations of the, 641 + + ---- Language of the, 647 + + ---- Number of the, 639 + + ---- Sick and Aged, Treatment of, 643 + + ---- Wandering, 642 + + _Koumis_, Love of Kirghese for, 159 + + Kozloffskaya, Church at, 670 + + ---- Houses at, 671 + + ---- Priest at, 670 + + Krasnoiarsk, Asylum at, 229 + + ---- Beggars at, 228 + + ---- Catechist at, 229 + + ---- Cathedral at, 230 + + ---- Forest near, 220 + + ---- Founding of, 112 + + ---- Gold-mining district of, 212 + + ---- Hospitality at, 232 + + ---- Hotel at, 228 + + ---- Houses at, 230 + + ---- Lutheran chapel at, 228 + + ---- Peacock, Dr., of, 212 + + ---- _Perisylnie_ prison at, 229 + + ---- Province of, Scriptures for, 233 + + ---- “Rotten Row” of, 231 + + ---- Scriptures at, Depôt for sale of, 232 + + ---- Town of, 227 + + Krasnorechinska, Bible of priest at, 195 + + Kruskopf, M. Emile, 540 + + Kureika River, _Thames_ laid up in the, 103 + + _Kvas_ at Tomsk, 224 + + + Labour, Hours of, in mines, 423 + + ---- of convicts compared with English, 662 + + ---- of prisoners, 80, 114, 463-4, 658 + + Lagny, De, on prisoners, 380 + + Lakes of Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 200 + + Lama, Conversion of a, 521 + + Lamas, 348 + + ---- forbidden to take life, 372 + + ---- respected by Buriats, 371 + + Lamasery for Buriats, 335-71 + + Land at Barnaul, Cost of, 158 + + Landscape scenery of Siberia, 189 + + Language of Aïnos, 650 + + ---- of Chukchees, 647 + + ---- of Goldi, 604 + + ---- of Kamchatka, 637 + + ---- of Koriaks, 647 + + ---- of Manchu, 604 + + ---- of Manyargs, 604 + + ---- of Orochons, 604 + + ---- of Russians, 441 + + ---- of Yakutes, 305 + + Larsen, Mr., Introduction to, 265 + + Latham on the Turkish race, 206 + + ---- on population of Russia and China, 206 + + ---- on “Races of Russian Empire,” 57 + + Lavra monastery, 177-8 + + Law, Courts of, Russian and Siberian, 73 + + Lead, Scarcity of, 156 + + Leave-taking in Siberia, 353 + + Ledyard, John, Travels of, 283 + + Lemke on treatment of political exiles, 413 + + Lemmings, 644 + + Lena River, 19 + + ---- as an outlet, 51 + + ---- at Kachugskoe, Width of, 287 + + ---- Boats on the, 285 + + ---- Course of the, 286 + + ---- Gold-mines, 211 + + ---- Mammoth on the, 288 + + ---- Merchandise on the, 285 + + ---- Rhinoceros on the, 289 + + ---- Travellers on the, 282 + + ---- Tributaries of the, 288 + + _Lena_ rounding Cape Cheliuskin, 292 + + Length of the Ussuri, 679 + + Lesseps, De, on Kamchatka, 631 + + ---- Travels in Siberia, 282 + + Letters concerning Scripture distribution, 401-2 + + ---- posted at Verchne-Udinsk, 354 + + Lexicon, Goldi, 604 + + Library at Irkutsk prison, 77 + + Lichatcheff’s Museum of Bulgarian Antiquities, 13 + + “Little” Russians as colonists, 32 + + Littoral, Russian, Number of Chinese in, 714 + + Liturgy of Russian Church, 166 + + Location of prisons, 69 + + Lochwitzky, M., Books to, 270 + + ---- Interview with, 275 + + Lodging at post-houses, 141 + + Loss of pocket-book, 692 + + Love of Russians for tea, 534 + + Lutheran chapel at Krasnoiarsk, 228 + + ---- church at Vladivostock, 717 + + + Machine for praying to Buddha, 373 + + Madhouses exceptional in Primorsk, 618 + + Madness from drink at Tomsk, 229 + + Maimatchin, Buddhist temple, 344 + + ---- Chinese dinner at, 345 + Merchant at, 339 + + ---- Clerks at, 340 + + ---- Houses at, 339 + + ---- Plays at, Licentious, 344 + + ---- Population of, 337 + + ---- Streets of, 339 + + _Mala-Russia_ costume, 250 + + Malachite in copper-mine, 21 + + Maladies of the Primorsk, 571 + + Mammalia inhabiting Siberia, 188 + + Mammoth remains, 288 + + Manchu boats, 554-5 + + ---- carts, 552 + + ---- Cattle of the, 550 + + ---- Dwellings of the, 549-50 + + ---- guests, Reception of, 553 + + ---- Howorth, Mr., on the, 548 + + ---- language, 604 + + ---- people, 207 + + ---- shop, 553 + + ---- temples, 549 + + Manchuria, Boundary of, 547 + + ---- Costume of the men, 551 + + ---- Ginseng of, 691 + + ---- Southern, Deer in, 696 + + ---- Town of, 550 + + Manchurian archers, 556 + + ---- dead, Treatment of the, 554 + + ---- fishing, Method of, 555 + + ---- sable-skins, 696 + + Manufactories at Telma, 242 + + ---- in Siberia, 241 + + Manyargs, Language of the, 604 + + ---- on Middle Amur, 507 + + Manzas, Robberies by, 715 + + Mariinsk, Foundation of, 585 + + ---- Scripture distribution at, 665 + + Market at Troitzkosavsk, 327 + + Markets at Irkutsk, 265 + + Markova, Scenery at, 684 + + Marriage compulsory on clergy, 524 + + ---- customs of Chukchees, 643 + of the Ostjaks, 126 + + ---- rites of exiles, 35 + + Marriage services, 168 + + Martyrdom of a missionary, 612 + + Materialism in Siberia, 705 + + Mayor of Tiumen, 27 + + Mayors of Siberian towns, 716 + + Meals on board a steamer, 513 + + Meat at Irkutsk, Cheapness of, 265 + + ---- in the Middle Primorsk, Cost of, 568 + + Medicine, Author’s stock of, 703 + + ---- Plants for, 691 + + Medvedsky, School at, 150 + + Merchandise on the Lena, 285 + + Merchant, Chinese, 339 + + ---- Russian, Specimen of a, 118 + + Merchants’ stores at Blagovestchensk, 526 + + Metals in the Za-Baikal, 378 + + ----- Precious, 153, 211 + + Meteorological instruments, 147 + + ---- observatory at Nertchinsk, 425 + + Meteorology of Blagovestchensk, 532 + + Metropolitan of Moscow, 10 + + Mexican dollars at Khabarofka, 715 + + Mica and gold at Yakutsk, 295 + + Middle Primorsk, Area of, 568 + + Mikhailofsky, Dancing at, 622 + + Miles travelled by Author, 24, 770 + + Military exemptions, 720 + + ---- hospitals at Nikolaefsk, 617 + + ---- post at Khabarofka, 577 + + Mills at Vladivostock, 709 + + Mine, Copper, Descent of a, 21, 138 + + ---- Magnetic iron, 22 + + Mineral springs on the Shilka, 488 + + Minerals in Altai mountains, 104 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 240 + + Miners, Gold: + Beverages of, 224 + Drunkenness of, 225 + Extravagance of, 225 + Food of, 419 + Wages of, 223 + + ---- Testimonies from, 418 + + ---- Wiggins, Captain, on, 225 + + Mines at Kara: + Female prisoners at, 467-8 + Gold-washing at, 477 + Work, Leaving off, 464 + + ---- at Nertchinsk, 30 + Inaccessibility of, 412 + + ---- at Nijni Tagilsk, 20 + + ---- Coal, at Vladivostock, 678 + + ---- Gold, 211 + “Archangel Gabriel,” The, 218 + Assaying, 223 + Barracks at, 223 + Districts of, 211-12 + Hospital at, 223 + Ingoda River, 212 + Krasnoiarsk district, 212 + Manager of, 226 + Mohammedans at, 224 + Nertcha River, 212 + Olekma River, 212 + Onon River, 212 + Proprietors of, 226 + Registration of, 217 + Stables at, 223 + Washing the gold, 222 + Work, Hours of, 224 + Working the metal, 221 + + ---- in Altai district, 156 + + ---- Manganese iron ore, 22 + + ---- Private, 81 + + ---- Punishment in the, 456 + + ---- “Quicksilver,” 411 + Nertchinsk, Baron R[osen] on, 409 + ---- _Newcastle Daily Chronicle_ on, 409 + ---- None heard of at, 409 + _Sheffield Daily Telegraph_ on, 747 + + ---- Silver: + Altai region, 411 + Collins’s descent of, 412 + Food at, 419 + Formation of, 422 + Labour, Hours of, 423 + Rozguildieff, Cruelty of, 419 + Women _not_ working in, 417 + + ---- Unhealthy fumes reported, 408 + + ---- Work in, 82 + + Mining district, Principal centre of, 420 + + ---- Gold, Season for, 462 + + Minister of the Interior, 9 + + “Miracle” at Troitzkosavsk, 330 + + Miraculous ikons, 331 + + Misadventures of tarantass travelling, 193 + + Misrepresentations of newspapers, 744-5 + + ---- of various writers, 379-83, 413, 416-68, 744 + + Mission at Blagovestchensk, 518-19 + + ---- converts, Charge of bribery, 676 + + ---- Conversion of a lama, 521 + + ---- English at Selenginsk, Story of the, 318-20 + + ---- Offertories, 677 + + ---- school at Bolan, 604 + at Troitzka, 604 + + ---- schools for Gilyaks, 604 + + ---- to Aïnos, 650 + + ---- to Burials, 357 + Atkinson, Mr., on, 375 + Hill, Mr., on, 375 + + ---- to Gilyaks, 612-65 + + ---- to Goldi, 671-4 + + ---- to Japanese, 358 + + Missionaries, Pay of, 676 + + Missionary collections at church doors, 520 + + ---- Martyrdom of a, 612 + + Missions: Results of Orthodox Missionary Society’s work, 520 + + Model Prison at Petersburg, 64 + + Mohammedan mosques in Tatar villages, 59 + + ---- workmen at gold-mines, 224 + + Molokans, 386 + + ---- Doctrines of the, 528 + + ---- Manner of living, 529 + + Monasteries, 163 + + ---- Clergy of, 176 + + ---- Three kinds of, 177 + + Monastery for Buriat priests, 335 + + Monastic life at Yuryef, 178 + + Money allowance to prisoners at Irkutsk, 276 + + ---- exchanged, 731 + + ---- Prisoners’, 78 + + ---- received by prisoners from friends, 83 + + ---- Silver, Chinese demand, 715 + + ---- taken by Author, 578 + + ---- Tea used as an equivalent for, 343 + + Mongolian camels, Caravan route by, 351 + + ---- cavalry in Kiakhta, 326 + + ---- frontier, Birds on, 357 + Herds of camels on, 357 + + ---- race, Dr. Latham on the, 206 + + ---- route, Travellers on the, 349 + + ---- salutation, Method of, 356 + + ---- sheep, 552 + + Morality at Vladivostock, 723 + + Moscow fund for exiles, 43 + + ---- Metropolitans of, 10, 586 + + ---- Stay at, 12 + + Mosques, Mohammedan, in Tatar villages, 59 + + Mosquitoes on Sungacha, 684, 710 + + Mountain of Odon Tchelon, 407 + + ---- Volcanic, 562 + + Mountains, Altai range of, 19 + + ---- of Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- Sikhota-Alin, 561, 669 + + ---- Ural, 17 + + Muravieff, Count, Governor of Eastern Siberia, 496 + + Murder at Nikolaefsk, 655 + + ---- Trial for, 74 + + ---- under influence of drink, 155 + + Murderers sent to Kara, 37 + + Museum at Irkutsk destroyed, 268 + + ---- of Bulgarian Antiquities, 13 + + ---- of Geology at Barnaul, 157 + + Music, Church, 165 + + Musical instruments at Khabarofka, 552 + + Mutton, Russian dislike of, 628 + + ---- the staple feast of Buriats, 367 + + + Narim, Population of, 123 + + Native belief in Shamanism, 405 + + Natives of Sakhalin, Food of, 650 + + Naval hospitals at Vladivostock, 617 + + Navigation, Early, of Siberia, 767 + + ---- of Kara Sea by Wiggins, 768 + + Needs of the Russian Church, 182 + + Nertcha, Gold-mines on the, 212 + + Nertchinsk, Climate of, 425 + Atkinson, Mr., on, 425 + + ---- Cochrane’s visit to, 412 + + ---- Gems in neighbourhood, 407 + + ---- Meteorological observatory at, 425 + + ---- Mines, Mr. Collins’s visit to, 412-17 + Inaccessibility of, 412 + + ---- Mining region of, 30 + + ---- Prison at, 70 + + ---- Prisoners’ work at, 446 + + ---- “Quicksilver”-mines: + Baron R[osen] on, 409 + None heard of at, 409 + + ---- Silver-mines at, 411 + + ---- Situation of, 430 + + ---- Temperature of, 426 + + ---- Tobacco cultivation at, 425 + + ---- Treaties at, 324, 428 + + ---- Vegetation at, 426 + + _Newcastle Daily Chronicle_ on “Quicksilver”-mines, 409 + + Newspapers, English: + Account of exiles’ passage in, 45 + Misrepresentations of, 744 + + Nihilists, “Black,” 34 + + ---- Opinions concerning, 328 + + ---- Transport, Mode of, 46 + + Nijni Novgorod, Fair at, 12 + Steamboat to Perm, 16 + Transport of exiles to, 43 + + ---- Tagilsk, Copper-mine at, 138 + Mines and works at, 20 + + ---- Udinsk, Awaking a Russian at, 241 + Prison at, 241 + + Nikolaefsk, Amusements at, 621 + + ---- Andreyeff, M., of, 615 + + ---- Author’s religious services at, 725 + + ---- Barracks at, 620 + + ---- Birching criminals at, 89 + + ---- Buildings at, 625 + + ---- Church at, 624 + + ---- Climate of, 563 + + ---- Dinner at, 619 + + ---- Emery, Mr. Enoch, of, 614 + + ---- English books at, 629 + + ---- Étape prison at, 616 + + ---- Fish-trade of, 628 + + ---- Flour sold at, 569 + + ---- Foundation of, 615 + + ---- Hospital at, 617 + Government grant to, 617 + Scriptures for, 617-66 + + ---- Murder at, 655 + + ---- Officers’ club at, 624 + + ---- _Plète_ used at, 616 + + ---- Police-station at, 624 + + ---- Population of, 624 + + ---- Prison, 615 + + ---- Prisoners’ food at, 79 + Preference for, 277 + + ---- Rise of, 498 + + ---- Salmon at, Cost of, 628 + + ---- Scripture distribution at, 666 + + ---- Service at, 619 + + ---- Town, Aspect of, 624 + + ---- Trade of, 625 + + ---- Wages at, 590 + + Nikon, Patriarch, Revision of Church books by, 758 + + Ninagai tribe of Orochons, 507 + + Nordenskiöld, Discoveries of, 761 + + ---- Explorations of, 51, 107, 292 + + _North China Herald_ on Sakhalin prisoners, 652-8 + + North-east passage to China attempted, 766 + + Novgorod, Transport of exiles to, 43 + + Nunneries of the Siberian Church, 163-79 + + + Obdorsk, School at, 103, 150 + + Obi as an outlet for commerce, 51 + + ---- Cattley, O., on trade, 108, 761 + + ---- Commercial value of the, 103 + + ---- district, Tundras of the, 105 + + ---- Fisheries of the, 123 + + ---- gulf, Capt. Wiggins in the, 106 + + ---- Length of the, 19 + + ---- Ostjaks on the, 124 + + ---- Steamers on the, 29 + + ---- Temperature of the, 50 + + ---- Tract distribution on the, 184 + + Object of Author’s travel, 1 + + _Oblasts_ of Siberia, 50 + + _Obos_ of the Buriats, 405 + + Observance of the Sabbath by prisoners, 422-55 + + Observatory at Nertchinsk, 425 + + Occupation of Buriats, 369 + + ---- of Gilyaks, 598 + + Odon Tchelon, Mountain of, 407 + + Offences by prisoners, 84 + + Offertories for Missions, 677 + + Office of the Holy Unction, 169-70 + + Officers’ club at Nikolaefsk, 624 + + ---- in the army, Pay of, 668 + + ---- of the _Djiguitt_, 738 + + ---- of Dui prison, 660 + + ---- of Siberian fleet, Pay of, 734 + + Oil, Holy, in Church service, 169 + + Okhotsk, Sea of, Whales in the, 631 + + Olekma gold-mines, 212 + + ---- Sables of, 295 + + Omsk, Prison at, 70 + + ---- School at, 150 + + Onkelon people, The, 647 + + Onon River, 482 + + ---- Gold-mines on the, 212 + + _Onon_ steamboat, On board the, 669 + + Orders in Russian Church, 166 + + ---- Lack of candidates for, 171 + + Ordinations in Russian Church, 166 + + Orenburg shawls, 26 + + ---- Souvenirs from villages, 26 + + Orochons as hunters, 509 + + ---- Horses of, 508 + + ---- in Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- Language of the, 604 + + ---- Population of tribes, 507 + + ---- Tents of, 509 + + ---- Women’s hair, 508 + + Orthodox Missionary Society’s work, 520 + + Ostjaks and Tunguses, Resemblance between, 207 + + ---- as fishermen, 123 + + ---- Bows and arrows of the, 126 + + ---- Honesty of, 102 + + ---- Marriage customs of the, 126 + + ---- on the Obi, 124 + + ---- Wiggins, Capt., and the, 103 + + ---- _Yourts_ of the, 124 + + _Ostrog_ prison, An, 69 + + Outdoor amusements of the Russians, 621 + + + Pamphlets for distribution, 53 + + “Paris, Member for,” Author of, on Prisons, 380 + + ---- on the mines, 413-62 + + ---- on women miners, 468 + + Parishioners of the Russian Church, 163 + + Pashkof on the Amur, Expedition of, 492 + + Pashkova, Deserted village at, 671 + + Pay-day at a gold-mine, 225 + + ---- of Cossacks, 682 + + Peace, Judges of the, 73 + + Peacock, Dr., on the current of the Yenesei, 197 + + ---- visiting the gold-mine, 212 + + Peasantry, Russian--how they live, 698 + + Peasants on the River Zeya, 531 + + Penal colony at Kara, 70 + + ---- at Vladivostock, 726 + + Penance in the Greek Church, 169 + + _Pericladnoi_ travelling, 135 + + _Perisylnie_ prison at Krasnoiarsk, 229 + + ---- prisons, 44, 69 + + Perm, Fire at, 16 + + ---- to Ekaterineburg by rail, 17 + + ---- Transport of exiles to, 43 + + _Petchka_ at Alexandreffsky, 246 + + Petersburg, Arrival at, 9 + + ---- English suspected at, 329 + + ---- Excitement at, 328 + + ---- Prisoners, Places of worship for, 65 + + ---- Prisons of, 2 + + ---- Sermons in, Number, 460 + + ---- to Moscow by rail, 25 + + Petropavlovsk, 638 + + Petrovski, State prison at, 387 + + Photograph of Goldi Christians, 674 + + Photography at Alexandreffsky, 250 + + ---- by Kara priest, 458 + + ---- Russian, 434 + + Physiognomy of Buriats, 364 + + ---- of Goldi, 672 + + Picture-worship, 164, 331 + + Pigs, Siberian, 188 + + Plantations of ginseng, 566 + + Plants, Herbaceous, in Lower Primorsk, 566 + + ---- Medicinal, of Lake Khanka district, 691 + + Plays, at Maimatchin, 344 + + Pleasure-garden, Vladivostock, 717 + + Plète at Chita, 94 + + ---- at Dui, 653 + + ---- at Kara, 464 + + ---- at Nikolaefsk, 616 + + ---- Description of the, 90 + + ---- Exiles receiving the, 35 + + ---- used at three places only, 94 + + Plusnin, M., Business with, 668 + + Pocket-book, Loss of, 692 + + _Podkeedovate_, a Siberian custom, 353 + + _Podorojna_, A Crown, 143, 314 + + ---- permit for posting, 134 + + Police-master at Kara, 485 + + ---- of Siberian towns, 269 + + ---- station at Nikolaefsk, 615-24 + + Political divisions in Siberia, 50 + + ---- exiles: + _Contemporary Review_, 413 + Lemke on treatment of, 413 + Whyte on number of, 394 + + ---- prisoners and Dostoyeffsky’s “Buried Alive,” 384 + Author of “Member for Paris” on, 380 + + Polygamy among Gilyaks, 601 + + ---- among Goldi, 601 + + Poor of Vladivostock, 717 + + ---- house at Barnaul, 153 + + _Popoftschins_, Sect of, 759 + + Population of Aigun, 556 + + ---- of Amur province, 543 + + ---- of Upper Amur on Chinese bank, 506 + + ---- of Barnaul, 152 + + ---- of Buriats, 369 + + ---- of China, 206 + + ---- of Chita, 361 + + ---- of Gilyak country, 594 + + ---- of Maimatchin, 337 + + ---- of Narim, 123 + + ---- of Nikolaefsk, 624 + + ---- of Orochons, 507 + + ---- of Russia, 206 + + ---- of Russia in Asia, 20 + + ---- of Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- of Siberia, Russian and aboriginal, 52 + + ---- of Sophiisk, 585 + + ---- of Surgut, 123 + + ---- of the _Za-Baikal_ province, 400 + + ---- of Tiumen, 27 + + ---- of Tomsk, 127 + + ---- of Verchne-Udinsk, 317 + + ---- of Vladivostock, 712 + + ---- of Yakutsk, 294 + + ---- of Yeneseisk, 203 + + Possessions of Buriats, 369 + + Post, Russian and Chinese, 352 + + ---- office at Khabarofka, 578 + + Postal communication, 52, 578 + + ---- letter, A, 143 + + Posting--An “equipage,” 439 + + ---- “Book for complaints,” 55 + + ---- Distances between verst-posts, 436 + + ---- in Siberia, 134 + + ---- Official, 437 + + ---- Post-houses, lodging at, 141 + Tariff of, 141 + + ---- Travelling, Manner of, 135 + + ---- Wrong road, The, 144 + + Potatoes at Vladivostock, 690 + + Poyarkof’s expedition on the Amur, 490 + + Prayers, A Tatar at, 61 + + Praying-machine, Buddhist, 373 + + Preaching, Lack of, 459 + + Precious stones in neighbourhood of Nertchinsk, 407 + + Presents to exiles, 42 + + Price of meals on a steamer, 513 + + ---- of tea in Russia, 325 + + Priest at Khabarofka, Visit to, 673-7 + + ---- at Kozloffskaya, 670 + + ---- at Krasnorechinska, Bible of, 195 + + ---- at Vladivostock, 730 + + ---- Journal of a, 174 + + Priests at Kansk, 236 + + ---- Seminary for training, 523 + + ---- Social disadvantages of, 173 + + ---- Stipend of, 172 + + ---- Treatise on the Duty of, 181-2 + + Primorsk, or Sea-coast province, 561 + + ---- Bays in the, 562 + + ---- Cattle in the, 697 + + ---- Divisions of province, 567 + + ---- Fauna of the, 565 + + ---- Fish in the, Price of, 569 + + ---- Flora of the, 565 + + ---- Gold-washing in the, 583 + + ---- Health of inhabitants, 571 + + ---- Imports of, 570 + + ---- Inhabitants of the, 567 + + ---- Lower: + Climate of, 564 + Herbaceous plants in, 566 + Populated by Ussuri Cossacks, 568 + + ---- Madhouses exceptional in, 618 + + ---- Maladies of the, 571 + + ---- Middle: + Area of, 568 + Meat, Cost of, 568 + + ---- Rivers in the, 562 + + ---- Schools, Number of, 723 + + ---- Scriptures distributed in, 703 + + ---- Soldiers in the, 667 + + ---- Taxes in the, 571 + + ---- Trees in the, 566 + + ---- Tribes in the, Number of, 567 + + ---- Vaccination in the, 571 + + ---- Volcanic mountains in the, 562 + + Prison affairs at Tomsk, 128 + + ---- Ameliorating influence in, 77 + + ---- at Åbo, 63 + + ---- at Alexandreffsky, 70, 245 + Amusements at, 83 + Books for, 249 + Director of, 244 + Hospital at, 248 + + ---- at Biisk, 133 + + ---- at Blagovestchensk, 525 + + ---- at Chita, 70 + The “Black-cart” at, 362 + + ---- at Dui, Officers of, 660 + + ---- at Irkutsk: + Director’s pay, 277 + Inmates of, 275 + Library, 77 + + ---- at Kansk, 235 + + ---- at Kara, 70 + + ---- at Kiakhta, 327 + + ---- at Krasnoiarsk, 229 + + ---- at Nijni Udinsk, 241 + + ---- at Nikolaefsk, 615-16 + + ---- at Omsk, 70 + + ---- at Petrovski, 389 + + ---- at Sakhalin, 70 + + ---- at Schlüsselburg, 68 + + ---- at Troitzkosavsk, 327 + + ---- at Verchne-Udinsk, 317 + + ---- at Wiborg, 63 + + ---- Books in, 113 + + ---- chaplains, 663 + + ---- on board the _Djiguitt_, 739 + + ---- ethnography, 246 + + ---- food compared with English prison diet, 79 + + ---- furniture, 71 + + ---- gardening, 248 + + ---- labour compared with English, 662 + + ---- officials, Bribery of, 277 + + ---- _Ostrog_, An, 69 + + ---- Petersburg Model, 64 + Bath-room in, 66 + Chapel in, 67 + Contraband articles in, 67 + Dark cells in, 66 + + ---- Russian, Account of a, 380 + + ---- school at Tomsk, 128 + + ---- Smuggling spirits into, 67, 317 + + ---- _Starostas_, 454 + + ---- statistics, 69 + + ---- storehouse at Kara, 455 + + ---- Tragedy in, 154 + + ---- _Travaux forcés_, 113 + + ---- work: + Cigarette-paper making, 247 + Lack of, 247 + + Prisoners, Aged, 470 + + ---- Asylum for children of, 77 + + ---- Authors on, 379-88-94 + + ---- Bail, 74 + + ---- Barge, the _Irtish_, 120 + + ---- Birching of, 89, 473 + + ---- Books for, 276-7 + + ---- Branding of, 464 + + ---- Bribery by, 39 + + ---- buying Scriptures, 121 + + ---- Card-playing among, 388, 656 + + ---- cells, 469, 525 + + ---- chains, 154 + + ---- changing destinations and names, 75 + + ---- Chaplain for, 458 + + ---- children, School for, 278 + + ---- Classification of, 72, 450 + + ---- Clothing of, 80, 455, 728 + + ---- complaint, Causes of, 393 + + ---- Courts, Judges, and modes of trial, 73 + + ---- Crimes of, 448 + + ---- descriptions taken, 76 + + ---- Escape of, 465 + + ---- Fasting of, 79 + + ---- Female, 467-8 + + ---- Flogging of, 654 + Goryantchikoff on, 654 + + ---- Food, 77-9, 82, 276, 453, 656 + Cost of, 80 + Difficulty in procuring, 659 + Horseflesh reported as, 746 + + ---- _Forçats_, 449-66 + + ---- in irons, 85, 248, 421-63 + + ---- in Yakutsk government, 37 + + ---- Insubordination of, 393 + + ---- Labour of, 80, 114, 463-4, 658 + + ---- Money allowance to, 276 + Received from friends, 83 + + ---- Number at Alexandreffsky, 246 + At Kara, 445 + At Sakhalin, 652-3 + + ---- offences, 84 + + ---- Polish, 122, 390 + + ---- Political, 396 + Baron R[osen] on, 387 + _Daily Telegraph_ on number of, 396 + De Lagny on, 380 + Deported to Trans-Baikal province, 377 + Destination of, 37 + _Gaulois_ on number of, 396 + Lemke on, 413 + Living to be earned, 398 + Lodging of, 395 + Number of, 394 + ---- in 1879, 396 + Position of, 398 + Present condition of, 390 + Tiumen, Passing through, 395 + + ---- preference for Nikolaefsk, 277 + + ---- Punishment of, 84, 129, 421-3 + + ---- Reformation doubtful, 664 + + ---- Religious professions of, 72 + + ---- Russian, Condition of, 64 + English and, Comparison between numbers of, 478 + + ---- Sabbath, Observance of, 455 + + ---- Scurvy among, 472 + + ---- seeing friends, 246 + + ---- Sentences of, 450 + + ---- shipyard at Sivakoff, 420 + At Stretinsk, 420 + + ---- _Starostas_ among, 454 + + ---- Statistics concerning, 72 + + ---- Sundays, Refusal to work, 422 + + ---- ticket of indictment, 75 + + ---- to Finnish colonies, 131 + + ---- Treatment of, 728 + + ---- Wives of, 388 + + ---- work, 82, 446 + + ---- Worship, Places of, 65 + + ---- writing to friends, 84, 236 + + Prisons, Atmosphere of, 381 + + ---- Author’s interest in, 1 + Opinion on, 662 + + ---- at Dui, 652 + + ---- at Nertchinsk, 7 + + ---- at Tobolsk, 70, 82 + + ---- at Uleaborg, 41 + + ---- Books for _Za-Baikal_, 400 + + ---- Building of, 70 + + ---- Étape, 44, 69, 667 + Soldiers employed for, 667 + + ---- Fleas and vermin in, 363 + + ---- Furniture of, 71 + + ---- Kinds of, 68 + + ---- Local committees in connection with, 77 + + ---- Location of, 69 + + ---- _Perisylnie_, 44, 69 + + ---- Petersburg, Visitation of, 2 + + ---- Russian and Finnish, 63 + + Private mines, 81 + + Privileges to free colonists, 698 + + Procession at fire of Irkutsk, 260 + + Processions, Church, 174 + + “Prodigal Son” for distribution, 7 + + ---- Hammering up the, 190, 238 + + Profession of an advocate, 582 + + Proprietors of gold-mines, 226 + + Protestant churches in Siberia, 726 + + Protestants in Siberia, 726 + + Protodiakonoff of Khabarofka, 673 + + Province, Governor of a, 51 + + Provisions aboard steamboats, 512 + + ---- at Barnaul, Cost of, 158 + + ---- at Blagovestchensk, Cost, 527 + + ---- at Irkutsk, 265 + + ---- at Juchova, Price of, 120 + + ---- at Kara, Cost of, 80 + + ---- at Surgut, Price of, 120 + + ---- at Tobolsk, Cost of, 105 + + Punishment in the mines, 456 + + ---- of prisoners, 84, 421 + + + Quass (or _kvas_) at Tomsk, 224 + + ---- for miners, 224 + + “Quicksilver”-mines, 409 + + ---- Baron R[osen] on, 409 + + ---- Eden, Mr., on, 410 + + ---- _Newcastle Daily Chronicle_ on, 409 + + ---- _Sheffield Daily Telegraph_, 747 + + ---- Supposed deadly fumes, 412 + + + “Races of Russian Empire,” by Dr. Latham, 57 + + Railway, A new line of, 17 + + ---- journey of 2,670 miles, 24 + + ---- Petersburg to Moscow by, 25 + + ---- transport of exiles, 42 + + Railways in Russia, 25 + + Rain in the Primorsk, 565 + + Rapids of Angara River, 311 + + Rasdolnoi, Cockroaches at, 702 + + _Raskolnik_ exiles, 32 + + Rates for telegrams in Siberia, 522 + + Ravenstein on the Amur, 581 + + Réclus, M., “Géographie Universelle” of, 631 + + ---- on the first exiles, 31 + + ---- on the Yurak-Samoyedes, 103 + + Reformation of Russian Church, 753 + + Registers, Church, 174 + + Registration of gold-mines, 217 + + “Reign of Terror” described in _Daily Telegraph_, 45 + + Reindeer, Horns of, 209 + + ---- riding, 306 + + ---- taken in chase, 209 + + ---- Yakutes’ use, in travelling, 306 + + Release of exile, 38 + + Religion of Buriats, 370 + + ---- of Daurians, 549 + + ---- of Gilyaks, 609 + + ---- of prisoners, 72 + + ---- of sailors, 741 + + Religious scruples of exiles respected, 460 + + ---- services of Author at Vladivostock, 725 + + ---- Tract Society in Russia, 705 + + Revision of Church books by the Patriarch Nikon, 758 + + Rhinoceros on the Lena, 289 + + Riches of the Demidoffs, 23 + + Riding in the _taiga_, 212 + + Ritual of Russian Church, 166 + + Rivers of Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- in the Primorsk, 562 + + Roads of Irkutsk, 139 + + ---- of Siberia, 51-2 + + ---- in Yeneseisk, 139 + + Rob Roy cuisine, 145 + + Robberies by the Manzas, 715 + + Rooms in Siberian houses, 192 + + _Rooski Rabotchi_ for distribution, 7 + + ---- Subscribers to, 184 + + Rosaries, Russian and Roman, 61 + + R[osen], Baron, on “quicksilver”-mines, 409 + + ---- on political prisoners, 387 + + ---- on situation of Chita, 425 + + “Rotten Row” of Krasnoiarsk, 231 + + Roumanian grant of Bible Soc., 3 + + Route of exiles _viâ_ Suez Canal, 44 + + ---- _viâ_ the Shilka, 52 + + Routes across Siberia, 281 + + Rozguildieff, Cruelty of, 419 + + Ruins of Irkutsk after the fire, 267 + + Runaway exiles, Capture of, 40 + + ---- prisoners at Kara, 465 + + Ruschkova, Finns at, 5 + + Russ, _British Workman_ in, 7 + + Russia and China, Boundary, 487 + Difficulties between, 501 + Ethnography of, 206 + Treaties between, 323 + + ---- Appeal by Amur tribes for Chinese help against, 493 + + ---- Asiatic boundary line, 49 + + ---- Author’s previous tours in, 2 + + ---- Chinese exports into, 341 + + ---- Church bells of, 332 + + ---- Early Chinese frontier, 323, 487 + + ---- Education in, Cost of, 719 + Subjects of study, 720 + + ---- Ethnography of, 206 + + ---- in Asia: + Area of, 18 + Ethnography of, 19, 52 + Population of, 20 + + ---- Population of, 206 + + ---- Railways in, 25 + + ---- Tea in, Price of, 325 + + Russian annexation of Siberia, 109 + + ---- cemeteries, 152 + + ---- Church: + Bible, The, and, 181 + Burial services, 152 + Foundation of the, 751 + Reformation of the, 753 + Rural deaneries of the, 163 + Schisms of the, 756 + Transition of the, 752 + + ---- conquests on the Amur, 489 + + ---- conscription, Method of, 736 + + ---- courts of law, 73 + + ---- custom of addressing friends, 406, 620 + + ---- dislike of mutton, 628 + + ---- drunkenness compared with English, 544 + + ---- gold, 211 + + ---- Greek, and English Church, Distinctions between, 162 + + ---- Judges, 73 + + ---- Littoral, Number of Chinese in, 714 + + ---- peasantry--How they live, 698 + + ---- photography, 434 + + ---- politicians, 748 + + ---- prison, Account of a, 380 + + ---- prisoners, Condition of, 64 + + ---- salutation, Mode of, 406 + + ---- Scriptures printed for Bible Society, 8 + + ---- sea-trading adventure, 761 + + ---- trade, Effects of gambling, 627 + + Russians afloat, 733 + + ---- Amusements of, 621 + + ---- at home, 620 + + ---- Gambling of, 119 + + ---- “Little,” as colonists, 32 + + ---- Superstitions of the, 620 + + ---- Sympathy of, for Decembrists, 32, 378 + + Russo-Chinese commerce, Kiakhta as a centre of, 324 + + + Sabbath, Prisoners’ observance of, 422-55 + + Sables of Olekma, 295 + + ---- of Vitim, 295 + + ---- skins of Manchuria, 696 + Khabarofka, Sale at, 578, 696 + + Sacrament of Penance, 169 + + ---- of Unction, 169 + + Sacred pictures as objects of worship, 331 + + Sailors of Siberian fleet: + Clothing of, 736 + Food of, 736 + Pay of, 734 + Religion of, 741 + + Sakhalin: Aïnos, 650 + + ---- Card-playing at, 656 + + ---- Coal at, 651 + + ---- Fauna of, 649 + + ---- Flora of, 649 + + ---- Food of natives, 650 + + ---- Island of, 648 + + ---- Lakes of, 649 + + ---- Mountains of, 649 + + ---- Orochons in, 649 + + ---- Population of, 649 + + ---- Prisoners at, Labour of, 658 + _North China Herald_ on, 652-8 + Number of, 652-3 + + ---- Rivers of, 649 + + ---- Trade in trepangs, 650 + + ---- Ula-Hotun, Town of, 550 + + ---- Vagrants’ deportation to, 37 + + Salaries of telegraph clerks, 724 + + Salary of Commandant of Kara prison, 461 + + Salmon at Nikolaefsk, Cost of, 628 + + Salt-works at Telma, 243 + + Salutation by Buriats, 356 + + ---- Chinese method of, 356 + + ---- Russian mode of, 406 + + Salvage from Irkutsk fire, 258 + + _Samovar_ required and _not_ required, 145, 221 + + Samoyedes, Country of, 98 + + ---- Dress of the, 99 + + ---- Honesty of the, 102 + + ---- Howorth, Mr., on the, 98 + + ---- Idols of the, 103 + + ---- Seebohm on the, 98 + + ---- Yurak, Réclus on the, 103 + + Scenery of Bureya mountains, 537 + + ---- of the Lower Amur, 580 + + ---- of the Middle Amur, 535 + + ---- of the Shilka River, 483 + + ---- of the Sungacha River, 684 + + Schisms of Russian Church, 756 + + Schlüsselburg prison, 68 + + School at Kansk, 237 + + ---- at Medvedsky, 150 + + ---- at Obdorsk, 103, 150 + + ---- at Omsk, 150 + + ---- at Tiumen, 150 + + ---- at Tobolsk, 150 + + ---- at Tomsk, 130 + + ---- for Gilyaks, 604 + + ---- for prisoners’ children at Irkutsk, 278 + + Schools at Vladivostock, 719-21-23 + + ---- in the Primorsk, Number, 723 + + ---- Inspection of, 11, 278 + + ---- Teachers’ salaries, 722 + + ---- Training institutions for masters, 278 + + Scientific explorations in Siberia, 768 + + _Scoptsi_ as a fanatical sect, 758 + + ---- Doctrine of the, 205 + + ---- village of dissent, 205 + + _Scorbutus_ in Alexandreffsky hospital, 249 + + Scripture depôt at Krasnoiarsk, 232 + + ---- distribution at Archangel, 733 + at Mariinsk, 665 + at Nikolaefsk, 666 + at Sophiisk, 665 + at Tiumen, 184 + at Tomsk, 185 + at Tyr, 665 + by Author, 3, 703 + Curiosity of fellow-passengers, 539 + in Akmolinsk, 186 + in Semipolatinsk, 186 + in the Primorsk, 703 + Letters concerning, 401, 403 + on Upper Amur, 538 + Total up to Tomsk, 186 + + Scriptures on steamboat, 668 + + ---- for Aniva Bay, 660 + + ---- for distribution on Siberian tour, 7 + + ---- for Dui, 660 + + ---- for Khabarofka, 667 + + ---- for Krasnoiarsk province, 233 + + ---- for Nikolaefsk hospital, 617 + + ---- for Verchne-Udinsk, 318 + + ---- in Russ, printed for Society, 8 + + ---- purchased by prisoners, 121 + + ---- Reception of, in Siberia, 185 + + ---- taken for distribution, 11 + + ---- Turkish, read by Tatars, 61 + + ---- Wish of Bible Soc. for new translations, 673 + + Scurvy among prisoners, 472 + + Sea-borne exiles, 45 + + ---- coast province (_see_ Primorsk) + + ---- communication with Europe, 107 + + ---- of Okhotsk, 631 + Whales in the, 631 + + ---- trading adventures of the Russians, 761 + + Seamen, Clothing of, 737 + + Season for gold-mining, 462 + + Sect of _Dukhobortsi_, 760 + + Sects of _Bezpopoftschins_, 759 + + Seebohm on ornithology of Yenesei, 763 + + ---- on the birds of the Yeneseisk province, 202 + + ---- on the Samoyedes, 98 + + ---- on the Yenesei, 198 + + ---- with Capt. Wiggins, 763 + + Selenginsk, English mission at, 318 + + Seminary at Kasan, 14 + + Semipolatinsk, Distribution of tracts at, 186 + + ---- Finsch, Dr., in, 159 + + Senate a Court of Appeal, 73 + + Sentences of exiles, 35 + + ---- of prisoners at Kara, 450 + + Serfdom, A remnant of, 272 + + Serfs, Former condition of, 23 + + ---- Riches of the Demidoffs, 23 + + Sermons, 460, 671 + + ---- in Petersburg, yearly, 460 + + Servants, Exiles as, 730 + + ---- wages at Vladivostock, 570 + + Service, Church, 165-6 + + ---- at Nikolaefsk, 619 + + ---- on board the _Djiguitt_, 740 + + Services, Author’s religious, 701, 709-25 + + ---- of the Russian Church for Buriats, 152 + + Settlement of peasants on the Zeya, 531 + + Shaman Buriats, Conversion of, 374 + + ---- Costume of a, 158 + + Shamanism, Belief in, 405 + + ---- of the Daurians, 549 + + ---- of the Gilyaks, 609 + + ---- “Priest’s Stone,” The, 311 + + ---- Victims of, 311 + + Shan-Alin mountains, 669 + + Shawls, Orenburg, 26 + + Sheep, Mongolian, 552 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 204 + + ---- Russian dislike of mutton, 628 + + _Sheffield Daily Telegraph_, Extraordinary statement of, 746 + + ---- on “quicksilver”-mines, 747 + + Shilka--Boundary of Russia and China, 487 + + ---- Cliffs on the, 483 + + ---- Collins’s voyage down the, 441 + + ---- Fair on the, 488 + + ---- Formation of the river, 482 + + ---- Granite rocks on the, 487 + + ---- Knox, Mr., on the, 441 + + ---- Mineral springs, 488 + + ---- Scenery on the, 483 + + ---- Shipyards on the, 420 + + ---- Siberian route _viâ_ the, 52 + + ---- Territory, Discovery of, 492 + Occupation of, 492 + + Shipyard at Sivakoff, 420 + + ---- employment for prisoners, 420 + + Shoeing horses, Method of, 232 + + Shologon tribe of the Orochons, 507 + + Shop of a Manchu tradesman, 553 + + Shrine of Innokente at Irkutsk, 274 + + Siberia--Amur route, 52 + + ---- Animals, Wild, 697 + + ---- Bed a novelty, 444 + + ---- Bibliography of, 772 + + ---- Books on, 629 + + ---- Boundaries of, 49 + + ---- Caravan transport in, 354 + + ---- Carriage, Cost of, 105, 746 + + ---- Cossack conquerors of, 281 + + ---- Eastern: Number of exile colonists, 451 + + ---- Explorations of, 766 + + ---- Exports from, 105, 341 + + ---- Finnish colonies in, 131 + + ---- Fish pie a luxury, 432 + + ---- Furs exported from, 295 + + ---- “Governments” in, 50 + + ---- Journeys of previous travellers, 282 + + ---- Landscape scenery of, 189 + + ---- Manufactories of, 241 + + ---- Materialism in, 705 + + ---- Navigation, Early, 767 + + ---- Nordenskiöld, Discoveries, 761 + + ---- North-east, Flora of, 645 + + ---- Political divisions of, 50 + + ---- Population of, 52 + + ---- Prison-life in, Misrepresentations of, 379-83, 413-16, 468, 744 + + ---- Prisoners in, Trial of, 73 + + ---- Protestants in, Number of, 726 + + ---- “Quicksilver”-mines of, 409 + + ---- Roads of, 52 + + ---- Routes across, 281 + + ---- Russian annexation of, 109 + + ---- Scientific explorations in, 768 + + ---- Sea communication with Europe, 107 + + ---- Steamboat passengers in, 118 + + ---- Temperature of, 50 + + ---- Towns of, 192 + + ---- Western and Eastern, 51, 188 + + ---- Wiggins, Discoveries of, 761 + + Siberian butter, 188 + + ---- cathedrals, 165 + + ---- cheese-making, 188 + + ---- Church: + Knowledge, Sources of, 161 + Nunneries of, 163-79 + + ---- churches, 163, 332 + + ---- courts of law, 73 + + ---- ferry, 139 + + ---- fleet, 734 + + ---- fruit, 149 + + ---- horses, 123 + + ---- hospitality, 194, 353, 431 + + ---- hospitals, Impressions of, 618 + + ---- hotel-dining, 431 + + ---- houses, 190-2 + + ---- leave-taking: the _podkeedovate_, 353 + + ---- posting, 134 + + ---- prison, Building of, 70 + + ---- prisoners, Books on, 379 + + ---- rooms, 192 + + ---- sailors, 741 + + ---- State bank, 578 + + ---- tour, Scriptures for distribution on, 7 + + ---- village, Description of a, 190 + + Sibir, Fortress of, 110 + + Sick, Visitation of the, 169 + + ---- and aged among the Koriaks: Treatment of the, 643 + + Sidoroff, M.K., and Russian sea-trading adventure, 761 + + Sieges of Albazin, 515 + + Sikhota-Alin range of mountains, 561, 669 + + Silovanoff, _Scoptsi_ village at, 205 + + Silver found in the Za-Baikal, 378 + + ---- mine, Collins’s descent, 412 + + ---- mines at Nertchinsk, 411 + Cruelty of Rozguildieff, 419 + Food at, 419 + Formation of, 422 + Labour, Hours of, 423 + of Altai region, 411 + Women not working in, 417 + + ---- money at Khabarofka, 715 + Chinese demand for, 715 + + ---- smelting at Barnaul, 156 + + Singing in cathedrals, 165 + + Situation of Khabarofka town, 577 + + ---- of Tiumen, 27 + + ---- of Vladivostock, 711 + + Sivakoff, Punishment at, 421 + + ---- Shipyard at, 420 + + _Skaka_, an outdoor game, 621 + + Sledging in Kamchatka, 637 + + Sleeping in a tarantass, 187 + + Smelting of iron by Yakutes, 304 + + Smuggling spirits into prison, 67, 317 + + Sokoloff, Mr., Inspector of schools, 278 + + Soldiers, Educated, exempt from military service, 720 + + ---- in East Siberia, Number of, 667 + + ---- in the Primorsk, Number of, 667 + + ---- Officers, Pay of, 668 + + Sophiisk, Amur at, Width of, 585 + + ---- Population of, 585 + + ---- Scripture distribution at, 665 + + “Souls” in Russia, 23 + + Souvenirs from Orenburg, 26 + + ---- from Yakutsk, 303 + + Spectacle of Irkutsk fire, 260 + + Speed of the _Djiguitt_, 735 + + Stables at gold-mine, 223 + + Stallybrass, Mr., and the Selenginsk mission, 320 + + _Starosta_ of a prison, 454 + + ---- of a village, 51 + + _Staroveri_, Sect of the, 759 + + State prison at Petrovski, 387 + + Statistics of criminals, 72 + + ---- of prisoners in Siberia, 69 + + ---- of Russo-Chinese trade, 714 + + _Stauropegia_ monastery, 177-8 + + Steamer aground on the Amur, 511 + + Steamers, Arrival of, uncertain, 117 + + ---- Carriage of Scriptures, 668 + + ---- Departure of, uncertain, 117 + + ---- Exiles conveyed by, 42 + Conveyance _viâ_ Suez, 14 + + ---- Journeys on board, 16, 118-19, 314, 505-11, 669, 708-43 + + ---- Meals on board, 513 + + ---- on the Kama, 29 + + ---- on the Obi, 29 + + ---- on the Yenesei, 203 + + ---- Passengers on board, 118 + + ---- Provisions on board, 512 + + Stepanof’s expedition on the Amur, 491 + + Stipend of priests, 172 + + Stones, Precious, in neighbourhood of Nertchinsk, 407 + + Storehouse at Middle Kara, 455 + + Storms on Lake Baikal, 312 + + “Story of Elizabeth,” by Madame de Cottin, 379-83 + + ---- of English mission at Selenginsk, 320 + + Strahlenberg on the Yakutes, 305 + + ---- Travels of, in Siberia, 282 + + Streets and houses of Maimatchin, 339 + + Stretinsk, Shipyard at, 420 + + ---- Town of, 438 + + Students’ education at Blagovestchensk, 523 + + _Subbotniki_, Sect of, 451 + + Subscribers to the _Rooski Rabotchi_, 184 + + Suez Canal route for exiles, 44 + + Suifun River, Width of the, 708 + + _Suifun_ steamer, Travelling on board the, 708 + + Sundays, Refusal of prisoners to work on, 422 + + Sungacha River, Fish of the, 679 + + ---- Mosquitoes on the, 684 + + ---- Scenery at Markova, 684 + + _Sungacha_, On board the, 669 + + Sungari River, Mouth of the, 541 + + Superstitions of Gilyaks, 605 + + ---- of the Russians, 620 + + Surgut, Population of, 123 + + Surgut, Provisions at, Price of, 120 + + Swan, Mr., and the Selenginsk mission, 320 + + + Tagil, Hospital at, 24 + + ---- Temperature at, 24 + + _Taiga_, Gold-seeking in the, 213 + + ---- Riding in the, 212 + + Talking by signs, 442 + + Tallack, Mr., Mistake of, in Howard Association Report, 745 + + Tarantass, Cost of, 136-40 + + ---- Description of the vehicle, 135 + + ---- Loan of, by Mr. O. Cattley, 27 + + ---- travelling in spring, 55 + Clothing for, 50 + Hearthrugs for, 136 + Manner of progress, 138 + Mishaps, 193, 251 + Sleeping, 187 + + Tariff at post-houses, 141 + + Tatars, Ancestors of the, 57 + + ---- Appearance of, 58 + + ---- as coachmen or servants, 58 + + ---- at Barnaul, 62 + + ---- at prayers, 61 + + ---- Head-dress of women, 58 + + ---- Houses of, 59 + + ---- in the Kasan government, 15 + + ---- Mohammedan mosques, 59 + + ---- Monuments of the, 589 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 205 + + ---- Turkish Scriptures read by, 61 + + ---- Worship of the, 14, 59 + + Taxes in the Primorsk, 571 + + _Tayoshnik_, Income of a, 217 + + ---- Work of a, 213 + + Taz River fishery, 123 + + Tcheremisi idols, 14 + + Tchuvashi idols, 14 + + Tea, a traveller’s requisite, 142 + + ---- Buriat invitation to drink, 366 + + ---- caravans in Siberia, 354 + + ---- Chinese use of, 340 + + ---- consumed at mines, 224 + + ---- Importation of, into Russia, 325 + + ---- in Russia, Price of, 325 + + ---- Love of Russians for, 534 + + ---- used as coin, 343 + + Teetotalism in Russia, 545 + + Telegraph clerks, Pay of, 724 + + _Telegraph, Daily_, and the “Reign of Terror” in Russia, 45 + + ---- Misrepresentations of the, 745 + + ---- on number of political prisoners, 397 + + ---- _Sheffield Daily_, Misrepresentations of, 746 + + Telegraphic communication at Vladivostock, 724 + Rates for telegrams, 522 + + Telma, Salt manufactory at, 243 + + Temperature, Difference between London and four Siberian towns, 427 + + ---- of Blagovestchensk, 532 + + ---- of Khabarofka, 579 + + ---- of Nertchinsk, 426 + + ---- of the Obi, 50 + + ---- of Siberia, 50 + + ---- of Tagil, 24 + + ---- on the Vega, 563 + + ---- of Vladivostock, 50, 563 + + ---- of Yakutsk, 296 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 200 + + Temple at Aigun, 558 + + ---- Buddhist, at Maimatchin, 344 + + Temples of the Manchu, 549 + + Tents of the Orochons, 509 + + _Thames_ in the Kureika, 103, 198 + + Theatre at Aigun, 558 + + Théel, M., on the Tunguses, 207 + + ---- on the Yenesei, 197 + + ---- on the Yuraki, 207 + + Tichmeneff, General, 666 + + Tigers at Khabarofka, 689 + + ---- Gilyaks’ fear of, 606 + + ---- in Vladivostock, 700 + + “Tips” to _yemstchiks_, 140 + + Tiumen, Commerce of, 27 + + ---- Exiles passing through, 395 + + ---- Ignatoff, M., at, 29 + + ---- Ispravnik of, 29 + + ---- Mayor of, 27 + + ---- Population of, 27 + + ---- Prisoners’ food at, 78 + Irons at, 85 + Jewish, 460 + + ---- Schools at, 28, 150 + + ---- Situation of, 27 + + ---- Tract distribution, Plan for, 184 + + ---- Wardropper’s firm at, 27 + + Tobacco grown at Nertchinsk, 425 + + Tobolsk, Area of, 97 + + ---- as a capital, 109 + + ---- Ethnography of province, 98 + + ---- Exiles’ journey to, 42 + + ---- Fertility of, 104 + + ---- Governor of, 113 + + ---- Hard-labour prisons at, 70, 82 + + ---- Lakes of, 97 + + ---- prison, Convicts’ opinions of, 115 + + ---- Prisoners’ labour at, 114 + + ---- Provisions at, Cost of, 105 + + ---- School at, 150 + + ---- Surface of, 97 + + ---- Tract distribution at, 183 + Archbishop’s opinion of, 183 + + Tom, Iron in the valley of the, 104 + + Tomsk, Bazaar at, 128 + + ---- Beggars at, 228 + + ---- Bible Society’s depôt at, 237 + + ---- Climate of, 127-46 + + ---- Cows near, 188 + + ---- Departure from, 186 + + ---- Flora in vicinity of, 149 + + ---- hospital, 229 + + ---- Jail at, 128 + + ---- Madness through drink at, 229 + + ---- Population of, 127 + + ---- Prison school at, 128 + + ---- Prisoners at, 78 + + ---- Province of, 127 + + ---- Punishment of prisoners at, 129 + + ---- _Quass_ at, 224 + + ---- School at, 130 + + ---- Scripture distribution at, 185-6 + + ---- Towns of, 128 + + ---- Tract distribution at, 129 + + ---- Vegetation south of, 146 + + Topaz and emeralds of the Odon Tchelon mountain, 407 + + Town of Aigun, 495, 558 + + ---- of Ekaterineburg, 25 + + ---- of Krasnoiarsk, 227 + + ---- of Nikolaefsk, 624 + + ---- of Verchne-Udinsk, 317 + + ---- without women, 338 + + Towns, Manchurian, 550 + + ---- Siberian, 192 + Civic arrangements, 716 + Doctors in, 619 + + Tracts: + Distribution at Tiumen, 184 + ---- at Tomsk, 129 + ---- Archbishop of Tobolsk on, 183 + ---- Author’s work in Western Siberia, 733 + ---- for Akmolinsk, 186 + ---- for Semipolatinsk, 186 + ---- on the _Irtish_, 121 + ---- Total up to Tomsk, 186 + + ---- Gift of, by Miss Hellmann, 53 + + ---- People’s reception of, 185 + + ---- Religious Tract Society’s work in Russia, 705 + + ---- taken for distribution, 8 + + ---- Total number distributed by Author, 704 + + Trade at Nikolaefsk, 626 + + ---- Bribery in, 626 + + ---- customs, 627 + + ---- Drunkenness, Effect of, on, 627 + + ---- Gambling, Effect of, on, 627 + + ---- Immorality, Effect of, on, 627 + + ---- in trepangs, 650 + + ---- on the Obi, Oswald Cattley on, 27, 108, 761 + + ---- Russian and Chinese, 714 + + Tragedy in prison, 154 + + Training institutions for schoolmasters, 278 + + Trans-Baikal province, Area of, 400 + Destination of political offenders, 377 + Gems found in the, 378, 428 + Gold found in the, 378, 428 + Population of the, 400 + Silver found in the, 378, 428 + + ---- prisons, Books for, 400 + + Transition period of Russian Church, 752 + + Translations into Aïno, 650 + + Transport of Exiles by barges, 29 + By rail, 42 + To Ekaterineburg, 43 + To Nijni Novgorod, 43 + To Perm, 43 + + ---- of Nihilists, Mode of, 46 + + ---- of prisoners to Finnish colonies, 131 + + _Travaux forcés_ in prison, 113 + + Travellers on the Lena, 282 + + ---- on the Mongolian route, 349 + + Travelling, Courier, 134 + + ---- in winter, Difficulties of, 306 + + ---- Manner of, 135 + + Travels in Siberia, De Lesseps’, 282 + + ---- of John Ledyard, 283 + + Treaties at Nertchinsk, 324, 428 + + ---- between Russia and China, 323 + + Treatise on the Duty of Priests, 181-2 + + Treatment of penal colonists, 728 + + Trees at Khabarofka, 579 + + ---- in Kamchatka, 636 + + ---- in the Primorsk, 566 + + ---- in the Yenesei valley, 105 + + ---- in vicinity of Albazin, 515 + + ---- on the Lower Amur, 579 + + ---- on the Upper Amur, 515 + + Trepangs, Trade in, 650 + + Trial by jury, 73 + + Tribes in the Primorsk, 567 + + Tributaries of the Lena, 288 + + _Troichatka_, Description of, 90, 92 + + Troitzka, Mission school at, 604 + + Troitzkosavsk, A “miracle” at, 330 + + ---- Koecher, Mr., at, 323 + + ---- Market at, 327 + + ---- Prison at, 327 + + Tundras of the Obi district, 105 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 200 + + Tunguses--A _Shaman’s_ costume, 158 + + ---- fair on the Shilka, 488 + + ---- Latham, Dr., on the, 206 + + ---- of the Yeneseisk province, 206 + + ---- Yuraki, M. Théel, on the, 207 + + Tura River, 27 + + Turkish race, Dr. Latham on, 206 + + ---- Scriptures read by Tatars, 61 + + Types of Russian religious gentlemen, 706 + + Tyr, Cliff at, 589 + + ---- Scripture distribution at, 665 + + Tzar’s ukase for conversion of Yakutes, 305 + + + Uleaborg, A female prisoner at, 41 + + Unction, Holy, Office of the, 169-70 + + Ural mountains, 17 + + ---- Gold-washing in the, 211 + + Usine at Barnaul, 153-6 + + ---- at Irkutsk, 268 + + Ussuri, Card-playing on the, 680 + + ---- Cossacks in Primorsk, 568 + Warlike nature of, 681 + + ---- Course of the, 669 + + ---- Fish in the, 679 + + ---- Length of the, 679 + + ---- Upper, Ginseng plantations of the, 566 + + Ust-Strelka, The Amur at, 514 + + + Vaccination in the Primorsk, 571 + + Vagrants, Deportation of, 37 + + _Vega_ frozen in, 646 + + ---- rounding Cape Cheliuskin, 292 + + ---- Temperature on the, 563 + + Vegetables of Kamchatka, 645 + + Vegetation at Nertchinsk, 426 + + ---- at Sakhalin, 649 + + ---- at Vladivostock, 690 + + ---- south of Tomsk, 146 + + Venyukoff’s mission to Peking, 494 + + Verchne-Udinsk, Population of, 317 + + ---- Posting letters at, 354 + + ---- Prison at, 317 + Scriptures for, 318 + + ---- Town of, 317 + + Vermin in Siberian prisons, 363 + + Verst-posts, Distances between, 436 + + Vestments of clergy, 163 + + ---- Splendour of, 164 + + Victims of Shamanism, 311 + + Village church procession, 174 + + ---- deserted at Pashkova, 671 + + ---- education, 150 + + ---- of the Gilyaks, 593 + + ---- of the _Scoptsi_, 205 + + ---- settlers on the Amur, 588 + + ---- Siberian, Description of a, 190 + + ---- _Starosta_, or chief man, 51 + + Virgin, Commemorations of the, 165 + + Visit to a Chinese merchant, 339 + + ---- to a gold-mine, 211 + + ---- to a Kara mine, 463 + + Visitation of the sick, 169 + + Visits to prisoners, 246 + + Vitim, Sables of, 295 + + Vladivostock, Author’s religious services at, 725 + + ---- barracks, 718 + + ---- Boys’ Industrial School, 723 + + ---- Chinese houses at, 716 + Junks at, 716 + + ---- Coal-mines at, 678 + + ---- Commerce of, 716 + + ---- De Vries, Capt., Lodging with, 712 + + ---- Exports at, 714 + + ---- Foreign communications, 723 + + ---- Fruit-trees at, 690 + + ---- Girls’ Institute, 721 + “Best-beloved” prize, 722 + + ---- Harbour of, 712 + + ---- High-class school at, 719 + + ---- Imports at, 714 + + ---- Inhabitants of, 713 + + ---- lock-up, 719 + + ---- Lutheran church at, 717 + + ---- Mills at, 709 + + ---- Morality at, 723 + + ---- Naval hospitals at, 617 + + ---- Penal colony at, 726 + Dress of prisoners, 728 + Treatment of convicts, 728 + + ---- Pleasure garden at, 717 + + ---- Poor relief at, 717 + + ---- Population of, 712 + + ---- Port of, 666 + + ---- Potatoes at, 690 + + ---- Priest of, 730 + + ---- Rain at, 565 + + ---- Russian inhabitants of, 715 + + ---- Situation of, 711 + + ---- Telegraphs in, 724 + + ---- Temperature at, 50, 563 + + ---- Tigers in, 700 + + ---- Wages of convict women servants at, 570 + + _Vodka_ and alcohol, 544 + + Voguls, 98 + + Volcanoes, 562, 635 + + Volga, Voyage on the, 16 + + Voyage down the Shilka by Collins, 441 + + ---- of Knox on the Shilka, 441 + + + Wages at Nikolaefsk, 590 + + ---- of convict servants, 570 + + ---- of gold-miners, 223 + + Walking of exiles to destination, 44 + + War, Anglo-Chinese, Influence of, 501 + + ---- Crimean, Influence of, 497 + + Wardropper’s engineering firm at Tiumen, 27 + + Water, Benediction of, 169 + + Weather in crossing Europe, 24 + + ---- on Lower Amur, 627 + + Weddings among the Goldi, 601-74 + + Western and Eastern Siberia, 51, 188 + + ---- Siberia, Author’s work in, 733 + + Whales in the Sea of Okhotsk, 631 + + Wheelwright, An extortionate, 193 + + Whyte on number of political exiles, 394 + + Wiborg prison, 63 + + Wife-beating, 270 + + ---- Goldi’s price of a, 601-74 + + Wiggins, Capt., accompanied by Seebohm, 763 + + ---- dealing with Ostjaks, 103 + + ---- Discoveries of, 761 + + ---- in the Obi gulf, 106 + + ---- Navigation of the Kara Sea, 51, 768 + + ---- on Siberian miners, 225 + + ---- The _Thames_ in winter quarters, 198 + + Wild-fowl of Kamchatka, 637 + + Winter climate at Irkutsk, 264 + + ---- dress of Gilyaks, 597 + + ---- habitations of Gilyaks, 595 + + Wives accompanying exiled husbands, 36 + + ---- of prisoners, 388 + + Women, Churching of, 167 + + ---- criminals at mines, 467 + + ---- Gilyaks’ estimation of, 601 + + ---- in silver-mines a myth, 417 + + ---- Town without, 338 + + Work at Alexandreffsky prison, 446 + + ---- “Fabric,” 82 + + ---- in mines, 82 + + ---- of a _tayoshnik_, 213 + + ---- of prisoners, 446 + + ---- Prison, Lack of, 247 + + Working hours at a gold-mine, 224 + + Works at Nijni Tagilsk, 20, 21 + + ---- consulted or referred to, 772 + + ---- Iron, at Petrovsky Zavod, 355 + + World, Itinerary round the, 770 + + Worship: Altars of sacrifice, 59 + + ---- Candles used at, 164 + + ---- Gilyak idols, 606 + + ---- “High places,” 405 + + ---- of images, 164 + + ---- of pictures, 164, 331 + + ---- of prisoners in Petersburg, 65 + + ---- of Tcheremisi, 14 + + ---- of the Tatars, 14, 59 + + Writing to prisoners’ friends, 84, 236 + + + Yablonoi mountains, View of, 360 + + Yakute dogs, Breeding of, 304 + + Yakutes: Tsar’s ukase for their conversion, 305 + + ---- Description of the, 299 + + ---- Dress of the, 302 + + ---- Dwellings of the, 300 + + ---- Furniture of houses, 301 + + ---- Gluttony of, 301, 307 + + ---- Horseflesh eating, 301 + + ---- Horses, Treatment of, 308 + + ---- Iron-smelting by, 304 + + ---- Language of the, 305 + + ---- Reindeer, Use of, 306 + + ---- Strahlenberg on, 282-99, 305 + + Yakutsk, Foundation of, 112, 281 + + ---- Gold and mica found at, 295 + + ---- government, Prisoners in, 37 + + ---- Population of, 294 + + ---- Souvenirs from, 303 + + ---- Temperature at, 296 + + ---- Travelling, Difficulty of, 306 + + _Yemstchiks_, 138 + + ---- Buriats as, 369 + + ---- Drunkenness of, 252 + + ---- “Tips” to, 140 + + Yenesei, Current and proportions of, 197 + + ---- Fish of, 201 + + ---- Floods, 198, 219 + + ---- Flora of, 219 + + ---- Length of, 19 + + ---- Outlet to Europe and Japan, 51 + + ---- Peacock’s description of, 197 + + ---- Seebohm on the, 198 + On ornithology of, 763 + + ---- Settlement of Tunguses on the, 206 + Yuraki, on the, 206 + + ---- Sources of the, 196 + + ---- Steamers on the, 203 + + ---- Théel’s description, 197 + + ---- valley, Iron ore in the, 210 + Trees in the, 105 + + Yeneseisk, Animals of, 209 + + ---- Birds of, 202 + + ---- Boundaries of, 199 + + ---- Cattle of, 204 + + ---- Forests of, 200 + + ---- Founding of, 112 + + ---- Lakes of, 200 + + ---- Population of, 203 + + ---- Roads in, 139 + + ---- Tatars of the province, 205 + + ---- Temperature of, 200 + + ---- Town of, 205 + + ---- Tundras of, 200 + + ---- Tunguses, 206 + + Yermak, Conquests of, 57 + + _Yourts_ of the Ostjaks, 124 + + Yukaghirs, 298 + + Yule, Mr., and the Selenginsk mission, 320 + + Yurak-Samoyede idols, 103 + + Réclus, M., on the, 103 + + Yuraki settlement on the Yenesei, 206 + + ---- Théel, M., on the, 207 + + ---- Tunguses, M. Théel on the, 207 + + Yuryef monastery, Life in the, 178 + + + Za-Baikal, Gold found in the, 462 + + ---- Metals in the, 378 + + ---- Silver found in the, 378 + + Zavod work for criminals, 82 + + Zemski post, 239 + + Zeya, Course of the, 531 + + ---- Mouth of the, 531 + + ---- Peasants on the, 531 + + _Zeya_, Drunkenness on board the, 506 + + ---- Travelling on board the, 505, 511 + + +Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury. + + + + +NOTICES OF THE PRESS. + + +=The Times.= (_One column._) + +“The reader who will follow this long Odyssey, with all its episodes +of considerable hardships, and not without dangers, will find in Mr. +Lansdell’s volumes all that can interest him about Siberia--a country +which was once looked upon merely as a place of durance and banishment, +with weeping and gnashing of teeth, but which begins now to be better +known as a land in many parts of prodigious fertility and transcendent +beauty.... Mr. Lansdell appears to have been delighted with almost +everything he saw.... He lays claim to the character of an impartial +writer, and if his mind was in any way biased it can only have been by +those warm chivalrous sympathies which prompted him to an enterprise +of charity and humanity, and by a sense of gratitude for the great +kindness and hospitality with which he seems to have been welcomed at +every stage of his progress.” + + +=The Athenæum.= (_Five columns._) + +“With the exception of Mr. Mackenzie Wallace’s ‘Russia,’ the best book +on a Russian subject which has appeared of late years is Mr. Lansdell’s +‘Through Siberia.’ It is a genuine record of a remarkable expedition, +written by a traveller who has evidently eyes with which to see +clearly, and a mind free from prejudice or bias, whether political or +theological.... Mr. Lansdell may be congratulated on having rendered a +great service to the convict population of Russia.... But the service +which he has rendered to English readers is of a more signal nature.... +Mr. Lansdell’s book will now enable every one to judge for himself.” + + +=The Illustrated London News.= + +“We can promise the readers of Mr. Lansdell’s book a great deal of +entertainment, combined with instruction, in the survey of such an +immense field of topography, natural history, and ethnology, and in the +plentiful anecdotes of wayside experience and casual observation.... +His statements are characterised by an imposing air of precision, and +are fortified by official statistics, which claim due attention from +those candidly disposed to investigate the subject.” + + +=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society.= + +“Mr. Lansdell’s work contains much incidental detail likely to be +of practical utility to other travellers, apart from its special +philanthropic and economical aspects, and the convenience of its +collected descriptive matter. The observations on the various races met +with, especially in the extreme eastern part of the journey, are of +considerable interest, as are the accounts of the actual conditions of +the country at the present time.” + + +=Church Missionary Intelligencer.= (_Four pages._) + +“Mr. Lansdell has spared no pains or labour to make his book as +complete as possible. It is altogether different from even the +higher class of books of travel. It teems with information of every +possible kind; ... the footnotes are quite a remarkable feature for +the minuteness of statistical detail with which every subject touched +upon--geographical and ethnographical, economic and commercial, +ecclesiastical and literary, imperial and municipal--is illustrated.” + + +=The Record.= (_One column._) + +“The interest of ‘Through Siberia’ is varied, and the revelations of +the book will attract various minds. The Christian will find herein +much which will move his pity for souls; the ecclesiastic will note +with attention many striking passages which will assist his studies +in comparative religion, and supply links between different ages +and differing Churches; the philanthropist will engage himself with +existing human wrongs, and seek for suggestions as to methods for +redressing and removing them; the statesman may find light, lurid, +indeed, and terrible, cast on pressing questions of State policy and +relation of classes; while the man of science will not search these +pages in vain for facts in ethnology, geography, geology, climatology, +sociology, and philology, which will enrich his stores and supply +missing links in his world of study.” + + +=The Field.= + +“The utmost commendation must be given to the reverend author, not +only for his personal work, but for the good taste that has impelled +him to describe his religious labours in language understanded of the +laity.... His observations on the varied aspect of the country, its +products and capabilities, the actual condition of cities and villages, +society, means of travel and accommodation, and the many tribes and +races met with, will be perused by the general reader with the greatest +interest; whilst a good index enables the student of ethnology, +mineralogy, and other physical sciences, etc., to discover the many +special notes scattered throughout the book.” + + +=The Globe.= (_One column._) + +“In addition to a large amount of valuable information respecting +convict life in Siberia, the author gives many interesting details +of the semi-barbarous countries through which he travelled.... The +illustrations and maps will be found very serviceable in elucidating +the text, and the work as a whole deserves no slight measure of praise.” + + +=The Rock.= (_One column._) + +“The volumes are got up with great care, and remarkably well +illustrated. The books will amply repay perusal; and to all who desire +to obtain an insight into Russian manners and customs we confidently +recommend them.” + + +=The Academy.= (_Four columns._) + +“His book is full of interesting, valuable, and amusing information.... +Mr. Lansdell is never tedious; and we are of opinion that ‘Through +Siberia’ is much more entertaining, and certainly more readable, than +many novels.” + + +=The United Service Gazette.= (_Three columns._) + +“There is plenty of real novelty in Siberia without troubling the +novelist any more. Certainly no more entertaining book of the kind, +combined with usefulness, has been issued from the press for a long +time.... Everywhere there is something new to tell us, and we wonder +why in the world it is that Siberia has been left out in the cold so +long.” + + +=Paper and Print.= (_One column._) + +“‘Through Siberia’ is a book which every Englishman ought to read.... +Mr. Lansdell’s book will create a lasting sensation, and will also +provide food for reflection for all who take an interest in the affairs +of their fellow-creatures.” + + +=The St. James’s Gazette.= (_One column._) + +“Mr. Lansdell has made a point of avoiding politics; nor does it form +part of his plan to inquire why the exiles, imprisoned or confined to +particular districts in Siberia, were sent there. He deals only with +their actual condition; and this he certainly shows to be much better +than is generally supposed.” + + +=The Pall Mall Gazette.= (_Two columns._) + +“In some ways Mr. Lansdell has a better right to speak about Siberia +than any previous western traveller. He went right through the country, +from Tiumen on the Ural boundary, to Nikolaefsk on the Pacific +coast.... His views upon the Russian penal system are undoubtedly +founded upon honest personal conviction.... Apart even from its main +subject, it teems with useful information about the country and the +people, some tribes of which Mr. Lansdell has perhaps been the first so +fully to describe.” + + +=The Fireside.= (_Three pages._) + +“As a work of rare interest, we commend to our readers Mr. Lansdell’s +charming traveller’s story, a book of which three-fourths of the +first edition were sold before it had fairly reached the publishers’ +counter.... That he has succeeded in gathering a mass of reliable +information is evident; for a Russian Inspector of Prisons writes +respecting the proof-sheets of the work: ‘What you say is so perfectly +correct, that your book may be taken as a standard even by Russian +authorities.’” + + +=Fraser’s Magazine.= (_Thirteen pages._) + +“It is no more than the simple truth which Mr. Lansdell speaks when +he claims that he is in a unique position among all those who have +written on the subject. He has gone where he pleased in Siberia.... His +testimony, therefore, is simply the best that exists.... Of course it +is difficult to hope that his testimony will be accepted by everyone; +there are too many who, as a popular proverb says, ‘love truth, but +invite the lie to dinner.’ But I have faith that the majority of +Englishmen will perceive the untrustworthiness of Nihilistic and Polish +sources. If I am wrong, it would only prove that public opinion, even +in England, has lost its value.” + + O. K. (a _Russian_ writer.) + + +=Harper’s Monthly Magazine.= (_One column._) + +“Since the time of Howard, no one has given us so full and fair an +account of Russian prisons as is now presented to us by Mr. Lansdell, +and like Howard, he finds the Russians far less cruel jailers than they +are generally credited or discredited with being.” + + +=The Baptist.= (_Two columns._) + +“The effect of Mr. Lansdell’s laborious investigations from one end of +the country to the other cannot but be salutary, and cannot, we are +disposed to think, fail to promote a good understanding between Russia +and other countries.... It is strange, but none the less true, that no +government in the world has been so ludicrously misrepresented as the +Russian, and a man who undertakes to set matters in a true light before +the eyes of the world deserves the gratitude of all parties. This Mr. +Lansdell has done, and his book will rank as a leading book of the +season.” + + +=The Saturday Review.= (_Three columns._) + +“Mr. Lansdell is an acute and eager traveller, as well as an ardent +philanthropist.... His journey ... was one of great interest, great +adventure, and great endurance. The numerous and clever illustrations +with which the volumes are adorned add very much to their value. We +take leave of our author in the hope that, on the one hand, neither +his philanthropy nor his love of travelling is exhausted; and that, on +the other hand, his first venture in the world of letters may be so +favourable as to tempt him to a second venture, though perhaps on a +somewhat smaller scale.” + + + + +Transcriber’s Notes + + + • Italics represented by surrounding _underscores_. + + • Small caps converted to ALL CAPS. + + • Obvious typographic errors silently corrected. + + • Variations in hyphenation and spelling kept as in the original. + + • Corrected the spelling of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld throughout. + + • Footnotes renumbered consecutively within each chapter and moved to + the end of their respective chapters. + + • Images relocated close to related content. Page references from + original captions removed. + + • The table in Appendix F has been reformatted to fit a vertical + rather than a horizontal format. + + • At the end of the Bibliography is “_To the foregoing should be added + the following work, on the eve of publication_” and an entry for + Hovgaard. This entry has been moved to its alphabetical location in + the Bibliography and the note removed. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77742 *** |