ACROSS SIBERIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6383, 4 December 1907, Page 8

ACROSS SIBERIA.

ASIA TRAVKKSBD BY' TJUIN. A OKSULTORY DIAKY. (Concluded from y<i^terda-y.) (By Pierce C, Frocstb.) KYOTO. Japan, Sept. 17. At daylight on the eighth day we ay© padding along the whores of Lake BaVOn. the one side steep rocky upUii.4» crou-m'd with haunted pines, on iito. olhor swomps and forestlandt-i borthe water front, in the distance a glorious range of rugged wnow-tipped muintnihH reminding of the Sooth,i ’i AlOccasion-ally the hike inipinges on the lino, aiyi the wave** of tie* girat inland wa come tumbling in, pre iM,«H«'d by u sIJIT sbondand brecz.e, lor j/ike Baikal, like al! tilings_ Busman, i = ini u big sca-k*, being -l~h miles long, >n , places ihOhl‘l. deep, and IbWl’t. above sea ;,wl. The Min waw shining bright and

iiitrm and the scone was imprwwive ami very beautiful. Presently we were nj> amongst the hill** again, and threading our way along a precipitous gorge looking down,upon the broad, sv/ift current •>i Salinga river, along whose banks the r./oko of camp fires dcnolcd the habilalion of Uie flwher folk. At the first doping place, men and women appeared with great bundles of trout, and t.nn of caviar, the great Km-sian delicacy for which Baikal is faniouw.

As we climbed higher and higher, the wind from the snow-covered ranges irid'* iS presence uncomfortably felt, ami vi Him rext Htation loads of firewood v>prc put aboard and soon the carriages were ■u fever heat. At Verkuieodinsk, on the Yablonovo Mountains. we came in sight of a great body of troops writering their l.orsce, and shortly afterwards tho tram jmih'tl up in the centre of a garrison i o»vn of grout dimensions. There were lA.ssacks on guard at every point, and hundred* of c«rts—driven by soldier*were engaged in currying fodder from cho lowlands for wilder use. The country hereabouts is bare and sterile, and not at all the Ideal locale for a military cM-irt.ro, but no doubt tho authorities have! good reasons for it* selection. Verknieodinsk w;t« once tho headquarters of the cainel caravans bringing tea from Chirm, hut Uim trade now finds its way homo arrow llaikal to Irkutsk. A rather amusing incident enlivened our sojourn at this place. On tho train wad an American with n huge camera. Ho bad been warned that photography from tho train was prohibited, and that the penalty for disobedience was forfeiture ami perhaps imprisonment, but ho persisted. dust a« he was in tho act of focussing a beautiful tump his arm was seized. Looking up, he came face to face ' with an armed Cossack. With a rry of terror ho wrenched free, hugging hi* precious camera to his bosom, made one l)oun<l for tho train, bundled headlong into a compartment, (locked the door, and was not seen out again until fho train) was well on its \vay._ Wo had been told at a previous station of a Frenchman having been seized while photographing from a Russian train and detained for a fortnight before being liberated minus camera and collection. There is something contemptible about a militarism which is so frightened of shadows a.s this is. Two mile* farther along we saw another Inigo camp on tho plains. It was a collection of substantial huts. Outside there were several gymnastic appliances built on tho Swedish pTinciplo, but on a very largo scale. We passed through a very gread deal of second-class lull country during this (the eighth) day, but £ho oullook from this vintage was at all times extremely picturesque, and wo wore quite disappointed when night closed over the scene and nothing remained but tho myriad sparks which went belching over the forest from onr wood-fed funnels

A crisp, frosty morning heralded in the ninth day of our pilgrimage. Wc descended into u groat valley rich in posture and washed by tho broad and beaufcifnl river Ingoda. Hero tho population is scattered and evidently nomad. A few solitary lmt« and an occasional mob of rough-haired cattle and. horses were the only signs of settlement. Presently we came to Tschrta, tho capital city of tho Trans-Baikal, an aggregation of log houses ami n log church -with a carved lower of quite effective architecture. Dozens of .pigs weltered about in the ooze and slime, and soldiora and officials jostled tho peasants who loniiged about tho station. Every official here wears a uniform of some kind—oven the enginjporw, schoolmasters and students are uniformed—and it is very hard to determine "what you are up against." - The

pigs and. peasants have the one common disgaetirig token —dirt! So we journeyed along in pleasant Places for another hundred miles, and at length pulled up at Karimskia, a little place having a history of its own. Tho railway was originally built from this place to Stretiensk. tho avowed intention itfc that time being to carry it through jßufsiau territory above tho northern boundary of Manchuria; but just at that time the "Boxers’* began to cause bother m, the latter place, aiul Russia, with that yearning for pacification which has been ©n© of her distinguishing features, went ■rlown to quell the rising. Quite absentmindedly she forgot to come back again, Incidentally she then pushed the railway Sn a straight lino to Vladi*ostoclc through Manchurian terirtory. By doing that pho virtually became possessor of one of the most beautiful and fertile territories on tho earth’s surface. Tho trans-Si-berian. traveller ' does not take long to realise this. During thte ninth day wo passed through beautiful fertile Valleys interacted Ijy lagoons. Tho hillsides wore s*ipo with harvests of oat« and wheat, forests of tinnier climbed from tho upland slopes rigirt away to the sky line. Then, after ascending tho Yabloni Mountains (Miff feet), we debouched upon the plains. A radiant, earn made vivid tho satin lining of a dense maos of black clouds on tho western horizon, and tho distant slopes, brought near by contrast, wore bathed in

n lomTiioira dark blue hazo beautiful to \ Book upon. Not a tree to bo Been; nothing but tho barn, undulating illimitable Elaine stretching nto in Unite apace. This » the homo of the Buriat Mongols, nomad tril>osmeu who throw their little iquavro huts —for all tho world like antheaps—upon tho soil, and wander round on stout Manchu ponies, keeping watch, and ward on their flocks and herds. Somotimoei tho trarne paes 'mile after mile with nothing in sight save the dwellings- of tho rail watchers. Then suddenly turning some corner, they come upon a mob of n thousand cattle Mattered along a hillside; with vigilant shepherds followed by black dogs guarding them steadily front and rear; or a huge flock of sheep—black sheep and white sheep making a most effective picture—scattered iwjross tho plain; sometimes a herd of »hort-lcggcd ponies; or a mob of goats. Abundance of water everywhere; on ideal grazing country, and jet a verTflble wilderness far as tho eyo tan ream. Suddenly wo arc startled by an apparition. Surely our night deceives us. It cannot ho; yes it is—a man on a biovcle. All rorta of theories arc promoted as to how ho pot there—some extraordinary theories. But just as we are getting thoroughly excited tho mystery is solved. Bounding the shbuldor of a hill a town oomos in sight. It is Ara, a busy railroad depot, surrounded by acres upon acre© of timber brought from afar to fuel tho engines. ‘Never sinco time began was Bach a heap of firewood. At the station vre see many Mongol physiognomies, men and women. Chinese labourers, moving with an agility ouito un-Russian, fill tho wood boxes and water tanks and revictual us for our onward journey. Clean Chinese, in characteristic dress, wearing pigtails and groat sabots, with uttnidcte of white linen enclosing tho ends of their trousers, walk up and down enjoying tho novelty of a train do luxe,' plcasa-nt-featured “‘Johns/' who are coneuirvedly entertained when wo leave the stuffy cars and start , playing “tag" and “leap frog" up and down the platform. ■ My, but tiro air is delicious. Dirty, .jilouchy Cossacks in ill-fitting linen blomsee tied awry, curry their gtiue up 1

aml flown. They nro not amused. They nro simply on parade—an oarnoit oi' tho Russian pacifiqiie.

All tlvo pftßsong«m crowd to fpc the eunfft. Thoro are no longr-r monntains, only a fow low ranges. Tho country is becoming sandy and tho train plods with painful «!owni?SG in answer to danger signals. Hero wo are on the edge of tho groat Gobi desert, and the wind has hoen blowing tho ballast about. There is a luxuriance of native grass and herbage, and it look® like idea] sheep country; but a dust4ng -rP'V «n the rmsr eminence gives pr<wnonit;ion of winter, and reminds ns that thoio is a place where ."it is not always afternoon/*

Next morning we are still in the sandy region, but as we plod along, doing our consistent twenty miles an hour, tho face of tho country gradually changes. We run through a series of hills whore the peaks break up info sharp rocky form-a----t Mitt-i wh/vo 4ho ipsouiuj. fern grows high and rank, and tho onk takes hold and rrnnrMfes, j»tkT svrßt ‘turns—TrTo-xfT stmwe foi' trout —gurgle from the hilLs and wind amongst the willows on tho Hat. Wherever there i« cultivation there is an abundant harvest, and tho scattered Mongol peasantry grows sufßrfont for it« i ods. Tho econory j® perfectly beautiful, thc f larger tree® a vivkl groon, and the umi'M'giwth. varying from purple to jajlftvt yo-llow. Tho scrub lands are alive with game. Oronoe arc on the wing, f i lla i! ns* i i in sca.-cd battalions and fall scatfering to cover; tho whito-nockod Lhinese pheasant, with a bevy of mates, hs startled in(o /light, and goee chortling through the woodbind®; monstrous crown and magpies, with long fanned talks, hover in search of food; and wild ducks flash f rajitically from sheltered lagoons making a great sputter in tjio water. Lvon the sparrow—English wparrow no longer—is in evidence, and at one station I was asionkshed when flinging a stone into a tree, to tee a great flock of these buds nse from a seed bod in which they h;id been luxuriating, and spread themsolves out on an adjacent building. At the waysifh l , .Russian youths oamo offering phe.'isnnts at a shilling a pair, and oven there it hurt to see tho slaughter of the, hens. Tins country bears a startling restun bianco to the north of Scotland, but lor the heather one .searches tho hillside® in vain. There are, however, many bountiful native flower®, which complete r> n picture upon which the memory lingers > wnenevor it recurs. A glorious sunset, irrad’atmg the valleys, gilding the lagoons, ami silhouetting the giant monoliths of rock against a purple skyline, completed tho enjoyment of a perfect day.

Wo arrived at Harbin at daylight on Hie morning of tho eleventh day, and 1 took reluctant farewell of the Scotsman and other passengers who wore bound for Tientsin via Mukden. Harbin boars the unenviable reputation’ of being, foi its size, the wickedest town in Asia. It is full of slugs and harpies. _ Here tho Russian police suporvim quite nominal, and, murders and robberies arc of frequent occurrence. Nevertheless it is the finest and most fio.id ox the cities on tho Manchurian side, and is destined to become an immenso centre. The majority of the buildings are of brick; its railway- station is palatial; and the traffic yards already ccver several acres. Here Russia has ci great military depot, with soldiers oiv guard at every ,point. One perceives that she is, preparing for another Boxer risiug-or any other nearby contingency.

Another pericct day, the sun ablaze in a cloudless sky. Flocks of Chinese are thus early astir, prancing along with vegetable baskets on bamboos, or driving great heaps of produce through the knee-deep mire. There -is no metal. It is worse than the north!” ihe carts come by in seemingly endless procession Not one glum face. Every eyo fixed on the passing train, every face t t W , °f cordiality. Tho wbolo landscape is under cultivation, tho black, rich soil yielding an abundance of -food stuffs of great variety. Hundreds of coolies are to be seen in tho helds reaping, and carting, and stacking and turning tho loam with primitive ploughs. Pig herds with long sticks stand watchful over their charges, big lat porkers—very different from the. lank repugnant Russian swine-revelling amidst tho stubble; and small boys, nicturesque and alert, galloping about on pomes, shepherding herds of horses and cowa to prevent incursions amongst tho crops. . . . Tho train winds up amongst tho hilla again. Splashes of purple are scon against tho skyline, and great barbarous rocks tower above valleys of content. pwt.nno of Chinese are hero engaged in tiio cultivation of tho soil, and their garden squares lying along tho slopes ot tho hills catch tho snn amidst a tangle of scrub and trees and ferns. 1 igs and fowls run in and out of the tiuy. nuts at will, and children spring up in swarms from every hole and corner - „ question about "keeping the cradles full" m this locality. These Manchus are ragged, unkempt, and dirty, an <‘ spem to be having a hard life of it, yet their faces exhibit no signs of the battle. They j ust stand round and grin on the slightest provocation. The Russian invasion doesn't seem to trouble them, though armed soldiers are on guard at every station, and the Russian officials aro both arbitrary and peremptheir treatment of tho “under dog. Coolies with fowls in baskets spacious and comfortable—very different from those used by tho sagacious European for tho purpose—stand at the etatipns in tho hopes of making a deal, and the children sell grapes—oh, such, wur grapes—and flowers to the confiding tourists.

As tho train . goes tirelessly upwards and onwards, it runs into great stretches ot rich country quite unpopulated, but giant piles of firewood and timber at frequent intervals bespeak considerable industry in that direction. Tho Russians are making the best of their opportunities. At length we are right amongst tho clouds. We have zig-zagged up on a course so tortuous that three lines of rails are frequently visible at ono time. Here the touch of winter is upon tho land. Thero is no sign of life Rave an occasional, eagle soaring at an incredible altitude. The scene is ouo ot great beauty. Tho maple leaves are changing their foliage from green to gold from gold to the brightest crimson. and as the sun glows on the heights and emphasises tho ever varying schemes of colour, the watching voyagers ,rend i ?• } v f*kni with cries of surprise and delight. J apan‘ in tho maple season is lovely. vi ell, hero wo aro getting a charming foretaste of Japan. Wo descend during the course of the afteimoon, and cross huge open spaces with low’ ranges of pasture country-hav--9* startling likeness to those in tho Hawke a Bay district of Now Zealand. The air is pure and balmy, with a sweet aroma hko tho breath of tho early spring. Here again a few scattered nomads azo'tho : lords of a fertile soil Wo aro now at the last night of tho journey, end some of us are actually regretting its approaching termination.

Bang, bang, bang. It is 1 a.m,, and tho Customs officials are khocking at the door. Russian officialdom is beyond all reason senseless, but this just beats the band. “What on earth do they want'- ’ It is explained that havln" passed out of Russian territory again* they want to see your baggage. You sleepily consign them to Rotoria, and open tho door. Enter a man with a lantern. Ciguren? ' Cigaren?" he inquires. ,J No no, Idiot," you exclaim petulantly. He catches the notion of it. puts, a chnlf scratch on your baggage, and walks out. The “examination" is ended. “Well, of all the—" But what's tho use? “This is Russia/* vou are reminded—“ Russia- and that's all there is to it, says the American, and you turn over and try to go to sleep again. Next morning we are up in Vladivostok right up to schedule time. Eleven and a half days in the train and we haven’t turned a hair.

It has been raining in Vladivostok, and tho streets—by courtesy so called—aro reminiscent of Taihape, on the North Island Main Trunk. A liar met us at tho station aud said there was a boat going within two hours, but as wo wouldn’t bo,able to get our passports

examined within that time he guessed we had bettor book up at tho Grand) Hotel. He was the Grand Hotel agent. Some of us booked; others wont to the) shipping office and discovered that the boat would not sail till two in the after-i noon. X never saw such a pleased lot. of people, Tho rate at the best hotel, in Vladivostock is sixteen shillings a day without board or extras, and when, I mention that even sea-sick people pre-j for to stay on tho boats tho quality ofl tho accommodation may be imagined* Vladivostock is just palpitating with life. The streets aro just full of Chin-i eso, Cossacks, and sailors of various’ nationalities. The wharves are piled, with goods, and tho harbour is crowded with shipping. It is a magnificent liar* j boar and looks immensely well from tho I fort above the town.' We went up to | have a look at it, but the usual sentry* came and hunted us off, and warned us of towers and dungeons. At least it, I sounded something like that. There aroj I some splendid warehouses in tho place. The Germans seem to have got their nosea in hero; but the Russian and Chinese settlements are so noisome and the streets and purlieus so unutterably filthy, that one is glad to get away from the vicinity before the plague starts. So we boarded the New Zealand Union i Company’s old steamer Waihora—now ! masquerading as the Lyshalt—run by a j German syndicate under contract with the Russian Government, and within forty hours found ourselves snug and happy at Tsuruga, on tho western coast of Japan. Some of the passengers were j ust seventeen days out from London. Tho same journey by steamer, via way ports, takes thirty odd days. When Russia gets her double track completes, the Moscow-Vladivostocic ride will occupy only about eight days, and the world’s record journey will again bo broken.

As the tenor of these random notes discloses, Siberia is not the desert of the popular imagination, but a wonderfully fertile land awaiting development. Rich in. soil, coal, water, petroleum, and all the minerals known to man, attractive and-fruitful to a degree, the country is yet in the hands of a sluggish and benighted race which oji'poses all development and resents all innovation. If instead of following a policy of rigid exclusiveness Russia were to open her doors freely ‘ to new ideas and foreign capital her advancement would be immediate and extraordinary. Her rulers may yet see tho wisdom of this course. Instead of that, every difficulty is placed in the way of capitalists, traders, and even travellers. A policy of rigid exclusiveness is pursued. The people are encouraged in sloth and ignorance both by church and State; and the latter makes a monopoly of the chief instrument of their degradation. It is a sorrowful and yet intensely interesting-pic-ture.