SIGHT-SEEING IN SIBERIA

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1626, 29 April 1903, Page 18

SIGHT-SEEING IN SIBERIA

To the tourist who takes an intelligent interest in thing;*, and does not want a country’s attractions served up before him as part of an entertainment, there is. writes Mr J. Foster Fraser in “Travel,” much for the sight-seer in Siberia. There are the people themselves —tali, brawny, with heavy but often liandsnne features half-hidden with thick, black beards. There is the mudjik, who wears his red shirt outside his trousers, and liis trousers stuck inside his boots Ho is a huge Imyphatic creature, with no vice in him except that he frequently gets drunk. He does not want to fight 3-011 when in his cups; he is generally inclined to kiss .you, which is Averse. He is a constantly interesting study. Lacking the go-ahead, hustling habits of the Westerner, lie is something of a fatalist. He lacks ambition. and so long as there is FOOD IN THE CUPBOARD and vodki in the jar, the problems of life do not trouble him. Then there are the officials, and quite half the men in Siberia are officials. Everybody in Government employ ivears uniform, from the Grovernor-General down to the railway portexs. To turn up at a station full of passengers suggests to the newcomer that he has reached a place in tire occupation of an arny. There are men in grey- tunics, in yellow jackets, in coats edged Avith green to indicate they belong to the frontier guard; there are yclloAV-collared men. signifying the telegraph administration; there are others in purple, showing they are connected Avith education ; and there are many other colours. By these and the buttons and little stars you can tell at once what a man is, and .exactly avli at position he occupies. The "first big Siberian toAvn I became acquainted Avith was that of Omsk. It Avas a pleasant, hot day, and as I had been several days in the railway cars I took things quietly. It Ava.s A GALA THAT DAY. and in the evening I Avent with a couple of American acuaintances to tile .public gardens. Here there was a crowd of folks. Bands Avere playing. 011 a platform. Avere people dancing. Over in a corner Avas a. theatrical performance. AA 7 hen darkness closed there Avas a fireworks display, with an almost Crystal Palace crowd breaking into “Oh ! oh! 0I1 ! o—h !” as blue stars kept falling to the ground. When they saAV a portrait of the Ei m per or in flame the crcAvd broke into loud, boisterous cheers. While most of the Old World has for centuries had its -eyes directed towards the West, Russia has ever turned its face towards the East. And, just as the red man of the American plains are slowly; but surely disappearing off the face of the earth before the adA r ance of Western civil ;-sation. so the races of the East are as certainly succumbing before Russia’s monopolisation of the Avorld from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific coast. Still there are tribes to be' seen —sliteyed denizens of the Siberian plains—who tuive acquiesced without much trouble to the domination of their Russian masters. There are the Kirghis, a most interestingpeople, of Avhom I .saw a great deal on the Avestern steppes- They ltie in bulbous felt huts, generally some distance from the towns. Then, aAvay 1 - on the other side of Lake Baikal, among the Yablonoi Mountains there are the Buriats, broadfigured, BOUND-FACED, SALLOW MEN, who liA-e a purely; pastoral life. Many of them you migiit easily mistake for Lied Indians. And this idea is rather accentuated by the fact that they live in tents just like the Avigwarns of the red man. Some of them are extremely rich from herds of cattle, and I never met a Russian avlio knew anything about them Avho was not enthusiastic ewer tlieir honesty and good nature. Those who are interested in educational matters Avill be agreeably surprised to find that instead of the county being positively .swathed in ignorance, there is a great educational movement. At Tomsk he Avill find a university ; and Avlien I was there they were just putting the finishing touches to a really excellent technological college, where the young Siberians can be instructed in the resources of liis land, how to develop it. and how to win the vast quantities of gold that are to be found in its bordering mountains and in the rivulets feeding its great waterway's. At Irkutsk he Avill find a re-ally interesting little museum. Then there are the prisons. The impression prevails in the Western world that UNMENTIONABLE HORRORS take place in the Siberian penitentiaries, and the one aim of the Russian Government is to prevent Western people from knowing anything about the prisons. Well, there are many things open to criticism in the Russian Empire; but when I made the application that I be alloAved to see the great prisons at Irkutsk and Alexandrovski. I more than half expected that the request Avould be refused. I was considerably surprised Avlien a .reply was given to me that the authorities would be glad to show their prisons to foreign A T isitors*> and for no other reason than to let it be seen they are anyth highlit tlio evil-odoured places that sensational Avriters have depicted them. Howinteresting these prisons' are ! There 3 t ou see men wearing heavy chains. Also see conA’icts in long- gre.y coats, and with tlieir heads half-shaven, presenting a curious spectacle. But also you Avill see lioav these prisons are being- put into line as it Avere. with the best Ave have in the "West. If you drive OA’er the prairies to Alexandrovski you will find in the Governor, instead of a fierce-A r isaged torture-monger, a delightful old gentleman. avlio actually has a theatre in the prison for the entertainment of the goodconduct convicts. _ And as he boasts he has the finest choir in all Siberia, 3-011 will probably have the opportunity of listening to some of the delightful and ever-quaint Slavonic music.