Title: Through Siberia and Manchuria By Rail
Author: Ready, Oliver George
Language: English
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Through Siberia and Manchuria By Rail

BY

OLIVER G. READY

    AUTHOR OF
    “_Life and Sport in China_”



NOTE


    _This short account of my journey from London to Shanghai by way
    of the Siberian Railway was at first intended for private
    circulation only, in order to meet the enquiries of numerous
    personal friends.

    Now, however, that war has broken out between Russia and Japan,
    and that it may be years before this, the longest railway in the
    world, is again open to international traffic, I feel that any
    information, however slight, concerning so stupendous an
    undertaking, as well as about the remote region which it
    traverses, may be of interest to the general public.

    I wish to emphasize that much of what is herein described was
    seen only from the windows of a moving train, and must therefore
    be lacking in that accuracy and detail which closer inspection
    could alone insure.

    _The Russian words on the cover_ КТО ИДЕТЪ _signify “who goes
    there”?, and the Chinese characters represent my surname. The
    Russian cross at the end, is that of the original Greek Church.

        _Shanghai, 29th February, 1904._



EASTWARD HO!


I left Charing Cross on the _15th October, 1903_, by the 10 a.m.
boat-train for Dover. As we glided on I mentally said good-bye to
familiar scenes, for I was outward bound, to put in another five years’
service under the dragon flag.

At Dover we went aboard the Belgian _rapide_ “Ville de Douvres” and in
ten minutes were streaming at twenty miles an hour through the shipping
on our way across Channel.

It was a lovely day with fair wind and smooth sea, and had only the
vessel’s bows been pointed in the opposite direction, I should have been
perfectly happy, but they were not, so I had to make the best of things,
which consisted in watching over the stern Old England’s chalk cliffs,
gleaming white in the brilliant sunshine, slowly sink and disappear into
the heaving main. . . . . . . Good-bye. Eastward ho!

The Belgian coast was sighted at about 3 p.m., and shortly after 4 we
landed at Ostende, and I was soon installed in a first-class coupé of
the weekly _Nord-Express_, which was to carry me without change as far
as Warsaw.

This _train de luxe_, consisting of an engine and five or six cars, was
as replete with comfort and luxury as it was possible to compress within
so limited a space.

That night we passed through Belgium by way of Brussels, and at 7.30
next morning, the _16th October_, arrived at Berlin, but only stopped
for half-an-hour, when we were again _en route_.

The day was fine and the country pretty, without being beautiful. In
places it was well wooded with firs and silver birches. For many miles I
noticed sorrel growing alongside the line almost as thickly as grass.

Shortly before arriving at the Russian frontier that afternoon, I saw
many truck-loads of parsnips, and _heard_ a train-load of geese, which
were coming from the “merry green fields of Poland” to make _pâté de
foie gras_ for the Germans.

The frontier town of Alexandrowo was reached at 3 o’clock, and there we
passed from German to Russian control. At the German end of the long
platform officials and porters were wearing the German uniform. At the
Russian end of the platform, all porters were clad in long, white cotton
smocks with leather girdles, while officials wore the uniform of the
Czar. As the two nationalities were here contrasted, I think the
Russians showed to greater advantage, being generally taller and having
a more natural bearing than the over-drilled Teuton.

Our luggage was examined by the Customs officers, and our passports
taken away, viséd, and returned, before the train was allowed to
proceed.

It was getting dark as we steamed into Russia, so that not much of the
country could be seen, but as far as I could make out, it looked flat
and gloomy enough.

We reached Warsaw at about 8 o’clock, and as the train stopped here, it
being a terminus, I drove to the Hotel Bristol.

The general impression I had received while on this rapid journey across
half of Europe in little more than 24 hours, was that in Belgium things
looked slip-shod, in Germany organized, and in Russia potential.

The hotel I found to be first-class and up-to-date in every way, while
prices were moderate (six roubles a day) and the cuisine excellent.

The dining room was a perfect blaze, being illuminated by more than
1,000 electric lights, let into the walls and screened by round, opaque
glasses, so that the effect was something like that of so many
bull’s-eye lanterns.

As soon as I had been shown to my room, my passport was again demanded
by a police agent, and again taken off to be viséd. I subsequently
learnt that _everyone_ in Russia--not only travellers but also all
Russians--must have a passport, without which it is impossible to get
even a night’s lodging, so that the entire population comes directly and
constantly under the eye of the police. This must at times be rather
galling, but on the other hand, it is a great protection, especially to
strangers.

_17th October._--Warsaw is an interesting town for many reasons, also,
it is well laid out, having several large boulevards flanked with grass
and trees, though the back streets are dirty, and badly paved with
large, uneven blocks of stone.

Many beautiful churches raise their lofty spires and oriental domes,
painted green or gilded with gold and surmounted by crosses, for
Russians are of the Greek faith. The principal streets were crowded with
fine soldiers in gay uniforms, the slums were packed with repulsive
looking Jews, who, in long black coats and little peaked caps, sneaked
about as though in constant dread of persecution, their hooked noses,
pale faces and black beards giving them that furtive and crafty
appearance for which the Polish Jew is so well known. Objects of pity,
their history is written on their faces.

The horses, though fine-drawn, looked strong, well-bred and good goers.

Cigars were very dear--about eighteen pence for a medium one--and each
separate cigar was sold in a kind of glass or gelatine air-tight tube.

_18th October._--Left Warsaw at 9.30 a.m., and the train was so crowded
that although holding a first-class ticket, I was obliged to travel in a
second-class sleeping-car, in company with a Pole, a Russian, and a
German and his little three-year-old daughter, to say nothing of piles
of luggage. Passed through fine open country, quite flat, with woods of
fir, pine and silver birch at intervals, marshy plains and cultivated
ground (like Fens) alternating. Flocks of sheep and geese, herds of
cattle and horses. Very few birds of any kind--only saw some crows and
linnets.

Roads were wretched, being mere tracks a foot deep in mud, and looked as
though they had never been repaired, or even made.

Houses built low with no upper storey, walls of wooden beams and roofs
of thatch. Men mostly clad in sheep skins, and women in red dresses with
a red cloth over the head, bare legs and sandals. Winter wheat well
grown.

_19th October._--Passed a good night, despite five in the compartment.
This morning much colder, and at 10 o’clock saw snow, at first lying in
drifts, but gradually increasing as the day wore on until everything was
covered, while ponds were frozen.

Hardly any good houses. Peasants with hair four or five inches long and
wearing sheep skin coats and knee-boots, came to stations to look at the
train. The women had shawls over their heads, and squelched through the
mud and slush with bare feet. All looked cold and dejected, while the
landscape was most depressing.

With the exception of a few wild and tame pigeons, saw hardly any birds,
but turkeys at a farm.

Arrived in Moscow at 4 p.m., and drove in a droski (four-wheel cab) to
the Slavianski Hotel, where my passport was again required.

In the evening, after an excellent dinner, I went to a first-class
variety entertainment at the Aquarium theatre.

My bedroom at the hotel was warmed in a curious manner. There was
neither stove nor hot-water-pipe, but in one of the walls at some seven
feet from the floor was a round hole about three inches in diameter.

Being curious to know what this hole could be for, I put my hand up to
it, and was greatly surprised to find a current of hot air pouring into
the room, which was thereby kept at a most comfortable temperature both
by day and night.

_20th October._--It was a miserable day with rain and snow, so that
while the streets, which are wretchedly paved with big blocks of stone,
were bad for wheeled traffic, there was not sufficient snow for
sleighing.

In the morning I went to the Kremlin, which comprises the new and old
Imperial palaces, churches, treasury, etc., all grouped within a lofty
wall, pierced here and there by gateways, one of which being holy, it
behoves every good Russian to remove his hat on passing through. In the
vast courtyard are ranged in long tiers the many hundreds of cannon
which the Russians took from Napoleon I. It is impossible in this brief
diary to deal with the splendours of the Kremlin. Nothing I have ever
seen in Europe, Asia, Africa or America, can in any way compare with its
semi-barbaric magnificence.

The ball-room in the new palace is of immense size and of most majestic
proportions, the walls being entirely of mirrors and gold gilt, and the
floor richly inlaid with many kinds of beautiful woods. Columns built of
malachite, crystal, and precious stones. Stairways of marble and jade,
while countless ornaments of pure gold adorned the various apartments.
The old palace, which adjoins the new, is smaller, less magnificent,
being of cloister like build, but intensely interesting. Here I saw the
bedroom and the bed in which Napoleon slept for a few nights before
Moscow was laid in ashes by her own inhabitants, and the French invaders
driven out to die like flies in the snow.

In the afternoon I visited several beautiful churches, a museum, and an
exhibition of Verestchagin’s famous war pictures.

On the _21st October_ I returned to the Kremlin and visited its
churches, which are stored with priceless icons, golden vessels,
gem-studded crucifixes, and silken vestures stiff with gold and precious
stones. In striking contrast to such wealth, some of the chapels had
dirty, uneven brick floors, and were horribly dark. Afterwards I passed
through the Treasury, until I was weary of looking on diamond-studied
saddles, bejewelled swords and guns, thrones, crowns, the regalia and
coronation robes of all the Russian Czars, etc., etc. Altogether the
wealth of the Kremlin must represent scores of millions of pounds in
value.

The bazaars of Moscow are far-famed, though more so in Asia than in
Europe. I passed through the newest and largest. It struck me as being
more extensive than the Crystal Palace, though not so lofty, and I was
told that it contained under its roof a thousand shops of the best
class.

At 10 p.m. that night I left the hotel in pouring rain and drove to the
station, where I was soon on board the trans-Siberian express, which
started at 11 p.m. In my coupé were two Russian Officers and a
Japanese--all hurrying eastward in anticipation of a Russo-Japanese war.
The most interesting part of my journey now commenced. I was about to go
where but comparatively few Englishmen have ever been, and to pass
through a region chiefly known to the civilized world as a place of
exile, a place of horror, a dreary wilderness of frost and snow and
wind, a place to which the words “ye who enter here must leave all hope
behind” were ever applicable. The greater part of this journey of over
5,000 miles from Moscow to the Far East, which I was about to make in a
few days in a _train de luxe_, was, until recently, made by the wretched
exiles on foot, taking from one to two years.

_22nd October._--Passed through flat, uninteresting country. Much wheat
cultivated. No trees, no hedges, no ditches and but little grass. Cloudy
and depressing. Inhabitants ill-clad and poverty stricken. Miserable
houses with mud or wooden walls and thatch roofs. Some were built
partly below ground for warmth, while earth heaped up round the walls
and over the roofs, gave them the appearance of enormous potato heaps,
having a door, chimney, and two or three windows. Churches were the only
substantial buildings.

_23rd October._--Same kind of country as yesterday. In afternoon more
hilly on approaching the Ural mountains. Dining-car far too small and
had often to wait hours for meals. General Wogack, a prominent Russian
Officer on his way to the Far East, seeing that I could not get a seat,
very kindly invited me to lunch at his table, which had been reserved
for him and his _aide-de-camp_. Both the General and his _aide_ spoke
English perfectly.

Another passenger was a Chinese Secretary of Legation from Rome, who,
not being able to speak anything but his own language, hailed me with
delight, and we had long conversations in Mandarin.

Grouped round towns and villages were enormous stack-yards, representing
what must have been the entire wheat crop of the surrounding country,
for I saw no other stacks in the fields. It seemed to me a very
dangerous plan, for if one stack caught fire, the others would be almost
sure to go too. There may have been as many as a thousand stacks close
together. I saw numerous turkeys at the farms.

_24th October._--This morning we were in the Ural mountains, and at
about 10 o’clock stopped at Zlataoust, which is the last town in Europe,
and where I bought two platinum candlesticks and a small model of a
sledge as mementoes. Here also much cutlery was for sale at very low
prices, being evidently manufactured in the neighbourhood, while
precious stones were offered in the rough state, as taken from the
mines, but it was necessary to be a connoisseur before venturing to buy.
At Miasse, the next stopping place and the first station in Asia, saw
many natives clad in skins, with very yellow and Asiatic looking faces,
dirty. Here I bought two crystal eggs as paper-weights. In a booth at
one end of the platform saw several stuffed specimens of game found in
this neighbourhood. Wapiti, lynx, deer, wolf, fox, etc. Highest point
reached by railway about 3,000 feet. Many nice views. Ground covered
with snow. Country very thinly populated.

_25th October._--Lovely day, no snow but sharp frost. Ponds and streams
frozen and a few people skating. At Omsk saw numbers of Asiatics clad in
skins, they were ugly, dirty and many pitted with small-pox. Country was
level plain, with clumps of silver birch at intervals. Some cultivation,
numerous herds of cattle, and a few ponies. Land mostly covered with dry
grass about a foot high, like our Norfolk marsh grass. The station at
Omsk was on outskirts of town, which looked to be of great size, with
many pretentious buildings. Few inhabitants in country.

_26th October._--This morning passed Obi, a town of considerable
importance. The air was delicious. Snow on ground, with hard frost. Sun
bright and warm. Country much nicer--more undulating. Saw men carrying
stones for building purposes on a kind of tray with two handles at each
end, as fishermen carry nets. China ponies were numerous here. Women and
men very ugly and dirty. Sledges in use for carrying litter, hay, wood,
etc. To many stations the most delicious milk and cream I have ever
tasted were brought in bottles by women and girls, for sale to the
passengers, and at very cheap rates. Occasionally also, a few pears and
apples of fair quality could be purchased, but the amount of fruit grown
seemed to be small.

_27th October._--Much warmer, there being a good deal of snow, with
bright sun. At about 2 o’clock reached Krasnoiarsk, a considerable town.
Shortly after this crossed the river Yenesei on a magnificent iron
bridge of several spans. The scenery became very fine in the afternoon,
with pleasant hills and trees, all covered with snow. Several China
ponies in droves. Sledges. More cultivation. At sundown slowly climbing
a range of mountains. Saw many houses built underground with roof and
entrance just appearing above snow. Country more pleasing than any seen
since entering Russia.

_28th October._--Perfect weather--same as yesterday. Country very hilly
and beautiful in the snow. Passing up a valley between lofty hills,
noticed a corduroy road made of transverse trunks of trees, as seen in
Canada. Well built water-towers about 30 feet high at all stations for
watering engines. Country looked more thriving here than in European
Russia. Better houses, and bright skies instead of lowering ones. Silver
birch, pines and firs. At various places en route have seen the old
Siberian Road, of bitter memories.

_29th October._--Lovely morning with sharp frost. Saw many small houses
with only roofs above ground. Many tame pigeons and a few magpies, but
hardly any other bird-life. Horses, or rather, ponies, small and poor.
Skirted the river Angara for a long distance in early morning. View
lovely. Water, where not frozen, clear as crystal. Swift current, which,
breaking over boulders, showed that there was no great depth. Saw three
small boys clad in furs fishing through a hole made in the snow-covered
ice. At 11 o’clock reached Irkoutsk, but saw very little of it as the
station is two miles out of the town. At about two o’clock arrived at
Lake Baikal, where we left the train and went on board the ferry boat
“Baikal,” a remarkable craft with four funnels and twenty windsails,
three screws aft and one forrard. It was said that she could plough her
way through ice two feet thick at eight miles an hour. I judged her to
be about 260 feet long by 50 wide. She has a good saloon wherein
refreshments of all kinds can be obtained. The bows of this vessel, from
about six feet above the water-line, are wide open, so that as she lay
at the wharf trains can steam into her hold, the metals on board and
those on shore connecting. She has three lines of metals in the hold, so
that three trains, each of about 240 feet in length, can stand abreast.
There were twenty or twenty-one trucks aboard to-day, in three rows of
six or seven trucks each, but no engines. Most of these trucks were
laden with twenty railway metals each, though three or four of them
carried merchandize.

No ice on lake. We cast off at a quarter to three in the afternoon and
reached Missovaïa on the other side at 5.35, a distance of only 40
miles, this being the narrowest part of the lake, the length of which
exceeds 300 miles.

The water was clear and of a steel-gray colour. Hills of perhaps 2,000
feet lined either shore as far as the eye could reach. Presently the
setting sun lit up the snow on these mountains with every colour of the
rainbow, and we steamed along, as it were, between walls of flaming
brilliancy. Soon the placid waters took on the colouring as reflected
from the hills, and we were indeed moving in a basin of liquid fire.
Many seagulls, appearing as quite old Norfolk friends, followed in our
wake.

At Missovaïa we found another _train de luxe_ awaiting us, and it was
here, from the warmth of a saloon car, that I first saw a batch of
Siberian exiles, although I had previously seen the cars with caged
windows wherein they are now transported, instead of having to undergo
that weary tramp of 4,000 miles.

It was already dark and the train had not yet started, when I saw a band
of armed soldiers surrounding some thirty people carrying bundles,
coming along the dimly-lighted platform, and then form up at one end of
it, the people being always surrounded by the soldiers. What had
especially attracted my attention, or I might not have noticed in the
uncertain light of what the band consisted, was a little boy of about 10
or 12 years of age, who was carrying a large bundle which looked like
clothing, trying to pass on the wrong side of some palings, when he was
roughly seized by the ear by one of the Cossack guards and quickly
brought back.

Wishing to post some letters, I tried to pass along that end of the
platform in search of the pillar-box, but was at once stopped by the
guard. The steam from our engine, congealed by the sharp post, fell in a
fine snow about this luckless band, and glistened white on their clothes
in the station lights, and it almost seemed to add an uncalled-for
insult to the misery of their lot. I could not help wondering as to what
their thoughts might be as they watched our waiting train, replete with
every comfort and blazing with electric light. I have never before seen
the extremes of misery and captivity on the one hand, and the extremes
of freedom and luxury on the other, brought into such close and striking
contrast, and I hope never to see it again. Subsequently the dejected
looking throng, in which I fancied I saw women, were marched through a
doorway into a darkened passage in the station, and so disappeared from
sight.

Probably they were all criminals who deserved their fate. Possibly not.
Preconceived ideas and old tradition, however, stirred one’s sympathies,
and left an unpleasant feeling in the mind for some time. I was
constrained to compare our lots, and be thankful for mine. I, free to go
my way in every comfort. They .............................. ?

After crossing the Ural mountains I noticed numbers of magpies, through
in European Russia I also saw a few.

_30th October._--Another beautiful day. In the morning we passed
Petrovski Zavod, a place historical in Russian annals as being the penal
settlement of the conspirators who early in the nineteenth century tried
to overthrow the ruling dynasty, and where numbers of the Russian
aristocracy died in exile. It is now a large village of log houses, with
wide, mud streets. Hills surround this spot, so that it could be easily
guarded, and escape made very difficult. A large, black Russian cross,
conspicuous on the highest peak, overlooks the valley. It marks the
burial place of one of the most noble exiles.

The scenery to-day has been very good, having at times a park-like
appearance, with rolling downs and scattered fir trees. In the
afternoon we climbed the Nertchinsk mountains, and by dark had reached a
considerable altitude, the air being very keen. At Khilok station, where
we stopped for a few minutes, I got out and ran up and down for
exercise, but found the cold so great that I was glad to get on board
again for fear of having my ears frost bitten, they having become
perfectly numb.

Since leaving Irkoutsk the houses have been better built, and the
country has looked far more pleasing than in European Russia. I saw
great piles of sleepers stacked alongside the line, and heavy metals
lying by the track for many miles, so that the present light rails are
apparently to be replaced, but so far, very few men at work. To-day we
passed a waggon-church in a siding at a small village. This
waggon-church moves about up and down the line to places where there are
no churches, and there it is stopped, and mass said for the inhabitants
by a Russian priest.

A few fat-tailed sheep were also seen. These animals have enormous tails
of solid fat, about as large, and of much the same shape, as a small
ham. During winter when the frozen ground is covered with snow and no
pasturage is to be found, it is said that they live on the fat stored in
these tails, in the same manner as camels exist for considerable periods
on their humps, seals on their blubber, and bears by sucking their paws.

Here and there I observed mobs of China ponies, some nondescript dogs
and a few ordinary-looking cattle.

Between Lake Baikal and Manchuria all food was much dearer, while only
American beer could be obtained and that at the exorbitant price of one
rouble and a quarter, say half-a-crown, the bottle, which was because of
excessive import duty. We crossed many streams, the waters of which were
clear, although generally frozen. The Buriat population of this region
looked of a low type, fairly large in stature but hideous, and generally
badly marked with small-pox. Saw one boy on skates. Bought postage
stamps for 40 kopeks at a small station, but had to give another 10
kopeks as commission. Saw a Mongol with pigtail at one of the stations,
which showed that we were approaching the borders of the Chinese Empire.

_31st October._--Lovely day, air like champagne. Descended mountains at
a good pace, having two engines, one in front and one behind. Were now
in country of the nomad Bactrians. No cultivation. Saw mobs of ponies
and flocks of black and white sheep, cattle much resembling Scotch
breeds, having long, thick hair, and a good many two-humped camels.
Observed one man shooting with a gun, another riding with bow and arrows
slung on his back. The houses, or wigwams, were square in shape with
arching roofs, and looked to be constructed of wicker-work and skins. In
many places noticed irregular, flat stones set up on edge and varying in
height from three to six feet, forming circles about twenty feet in
diameter, in which, presumably, were graves.

At Buriatskaia, which means capital of the Buriats, were two typical
Mongols with pigtails and clad in skins. One of them was wearing an
official tassel attached to his skin hood, but no official button to
show his rank. To-day saw a flock of larks, a hawk and a magpie. From
daylight till dark, during which time we travelled a distance of perhaps
300 miles, there was no vestige of either trees, shrubs, banks or
hedges, and no cultivation, only the rolling grass lands slightly
whitened with snow. Reached the town of Manchuria, which is on the
Manchurian frontier, at 8 p.m., and changed one of the 1st Class cars,
something having gone wrong with the axles.

_1st November._--A bright morning, but more snow on ground and not so
cold. Saw many Mongols and Chinese. The country was hilly and sparsely
wooded with silver birch and bushes. At Irekte the Russians have quite a
colony, and the line apparently has a branch running South. From Irekte
to Boukhédou, a distance of about 25 miles, the line passed over some
very steep hills. Two engines to haul us up, and coming down the descent
was made in gradients, the train first running a mile or so one way,
then stopping, when the engines were shunted to the other end, when we
ran about a mile in the opposite direction, and so on, so that we
described a perfect zigzag. A tunnel through this range of hills is
being bored, and a colony of 150 Italian mechanics, together with their
wives, has been imported to do it. Boukhédou is already quite a large
place with numbers of substantial Russian houses built of wood, and many
more, as well as a station, in course of construction. Sentries armed
with rifle and revolver were stationed every here and there along the
line. A fair amount of rolling-stock. Saw several long-haired goats,
also some Chinese pedlars. Evidently a good deal of ground game in this
locality, judging from traces in the snow.

_2nd November._--We arrived at Harbin (or Kharbine) towards noon. I
could see tall factory chimneys for some time previously, and then we
crossed by a fine iron bridge over the Sungari River, whereon I saw
about a dozen river-steamers, of say 1,000 to 1,500 tons, laid up for
the winter, and a score or so of barges of perhaps 400 to 600 tons. A
large paddle steamer was towing a barge under the bridge against the
swift current as we passed over.

This large town, which has entirely sprung up since advent of the
railway, looked almost wholly Russian, there being a population of about
64,000 Russians and not so many Chinese. Russians here were even working
as labourers, drivers of droskies, etc. Many European houses and several
large brick-built factories in course of construction. The Russians are
here with the intention of staying, and are making good their hold as
quickly as possible.

The station is perhaps a mile from the river and of considerable size,
though still in a rough stage, for Harbin is the junction of the line to
Vladivostock and the line to Dalny and Port Arthur. Here was a great
deal of rolling-stock--scores of cars and many engines.

After leaving Harbin armed guards along the line were more numerous,
while every few miles were brick-built block-houses surrounded by
loop-holed walls.

The country looked fertile and well cultivated, and the Manchu and
Chinese inhabitants more prosperous. Rolling hills and a few trees.
Much warmer. No snow.

_3rd November._--Lovely day, bright and warm. No trace of snow.
At Tienline saw some rickshas, also good, brick European houses
being built. Chinese navvies working on the line, a good deal of
rolling-stock, and truck-loads of superior looking bricks. Chinese
were _wheeling_ barrow-loads of mud instead of, as is usual,
carrying it in baskets, owing, probably, to Muscovite persuasion.
Country looked rich, well cultivated and well peopled; the women,
being nearly all Manchus, having large feet. Chinese carpenters,
bricklayers and joiners at work on many new stations and houses.
Pigs, cattle and fowls. Few birds. Thinly wooded. A pleasant
looking country. Donkeys, ponies, goats and mules.

At Moukden, which is the capital of Manchuria, the train only stopped
for a few minutes, and as the station was outside the city walls, I
could get no idea of what the place was like. From Moukden to Dalny I
saw many and substantial traces of Russian occupation. At one point a
mud fort crowned with guns, at another a large camp with half a dozen
field-pieces, and so on.

The line all through seemed to be well laid, though rails far too light,
which forbade running at high speeds. There appeared to be too few
sidings. On one of the cars I saw the number 2,741, which may be some
indication as to the amount of rolling-stock. Along entire length of the
line I noticed overhead telegraph wires, which sometimes numbered six or
seven and occasionally two or three.

For the whole journey the food on train was good, but owing to the large
number of passengers, after giving the order one had oftentimes to wait
from an hour to an hour and a half before getting served. After Baikal
this considerably improved, there then being two restaurants, one for
smokers and one for non-smokers, whereas before, men smoked without
restraint while women and children were eating their meals. This
dining-car was a perfect babel of tongues, for there were collected
Russians, English, French, Japanese, Germans, Swiss, Chinese and
Italians, generally all talking at once.

On the whole we rubbed along fairly well, although where so many
nationalities were closely packed together for a fortnight, a certain
amount of racial antipathy was occasionally bound to appear. When no
Russians were about both the Japanese and Chinese would eagerly question
me on the chances of war. When a Russian appeared, they immediately
seemed to lose all interest in the subject. The Germans affected to
despise the Russians, and the Russians said they hated the Germans,
while they both suspected the English.

_4th November._--We reached Dalny at 7 a.m., and I drove in a droski
from the station to the wharves, a distance of perhaps one mile and a
half, and there went on board the Railway Company’s steamer “Amour”
which was to convey us to Shanghai. It is truly wonderful to what a
large European town Dalny has grown from absolutely nothing, in about
five years. Good private residences, factories, hotels, shops, public
buildings, the beginnings of botanical and zoological gardens, a dry
dock measuring, I judged, about 350 feet by 70, wharves, breakwaters,
dredgers, tugs, steamers ... everything except the one thing needful,
trade. Of the half-dozen fine steamers in port, and others either
arriving or preparing to depart, all were practically light. Money has
been poured out like water by the Russians in constructing the Railway
and in building Dalny, and it is very doubtful if this gigantic
enterprise will ever be made to pay. It is said that Dalny, which is
identical with Talienwan, can never thrive unless Newchwang be closed to
foreign trade. The harbour has a depth of 28 feet and is being dredged.
The Railway Company’s line of superb steamers carrying mails, passengers
and a little cargo between Dalny and Shanghai, is being run at a heavy
loss. The naval fortress of Port Arthur, at the extremity of the
Liaotung peninsular, is thirty miles by rail from Dalny.

The impression left on me by my journey through Siberia is that Russia
has advanced her outposts into Manchuria far beyond range of effective
communication, that is, communication by the Siberian railway alone,
which is only a single line of light metals some 5,375 miles in length.

Travelling over this line day and night for fourteen consecutive days,
passing continuously through bleak, barren and almost unpopulated
regions, crossing numerous wide rivers, an enormous lake and several
mountain ranges, waiting sometimes for hours in sidings to allow
homeward bound trains to pass, and seeing enough snow, even before
winter had actually begun, to understand what difficulties heavy falls
must occasion, I cannot help feeling that Russia’s position in the Far
East is unnatural and even precarious.

The railway in its entirety is flimsy and liable to collapse almost
everywhere, and I am certain it could never sustain a large volume of
rapid traffic. Even, however, supposing that it did not break down, but
was worked successfully to its utmost capacity, what would that capacity
be--the capacity of a single light line of over 5,000 miles in length?
Could a town of 100,000 inhabitants rely _solely_ on it for supplies?
Can a Russian army of even 100,000 men rely on it?

The S.S. “Amour” cast off from her wharf at noon on 4th November, and
after a quick and calm passage arrived in Shanghai at noon on 6th
November, 1903.

This fine vessel, measuring about 2,000 tons, steaming 14 knots, fitted
up with every comfort and kept scrupulously clean, was commanded by
Russian officers and manned by a mixed crew of Russian and Chinese
sailors. Since the outbreak of hostilities, however, she has been
transformed into a hospital ship at Port-Arthur.

    Approximate Cost of Journey
                                                         _£ s. d._
    Passport viséd at Russian Consulate in London            4 10
    Ticket from London to Moscow, 1st Class              14  4  9
    Freight and Insurance on heavy luggage from
        London to Shanghai by P. & O. steamer             4  0  0
    Cab hire at Warsaw and Moscow                         1  0  0
    Ticket from Moscow to Shanghai                       34 10  0
    Maintenance _en route_ (including hotels) for
        22 days at ten shillings a day                   11  0  0
    Sundries                                              5  0  0
                                                        ---------
    Total from London to Shanghai                        69 19  7
                                                        =========

    Length of Journey
                                                         _Miles_
    From London to Moscow                             about 1,600
      ”  Moscow to Dalny                                ”   5,375
      ”  Dalny to Shanghai (by sea)                     ”     550
                                                            -----
    Total distance from London to Shanghai                  7,525
                                                            =====

    Time Occupied

                                                      _Days_ _hours_

    From 10 a.m. on 15th October to noon on
        6th November, 1903                              22      2

    Less 3 days 19 hours stay at Warsaw and
        Moscow                                           3     19
                                                        ---------
    Time spent in actual travelling                     18      7
                                                        =========

The rate of travelling was therefore rather more
than seventeen miles an hour, inclusive of all stoppages
and delays.

Between Moscow and Dalny the train stopped at 151 stations, thereby
losing almost 37 hours.

The rouble is equivalent to about two shillings and a penny. There are
100 kopeks to the rouble.

German is the most useful foreign language for travelling in Russia.

[Illustration]


FINIS



SECOND EDITION.

“Life and Sport in China.”

(ILLUSTRATED.)

BY OLIVER G. READY, B.A.

PRESS COMMENTS.

    _Times_--“A bright popular account of Anglo-Chinese life, and
        of the characteristics and customs of the Chinese.”

    _Spectator_--“A very bright contribution to the aspect of animal
        nature and domestication in the Far East. Is full of keen
        observation, and lightened by a very pleasant sense of
        humour.” (Topics of the day).

    _Standard_--“Of life in China the author has much to tell us. He
        is a keen and often sympathetic observer.” (Leading
        article).

    _Yorkshire Post_--“This book is ‘alive’ and interesting, and far
        in advance of the ordinary record of travel.”

    _Scotsman_--“Entertaining and fair-minded.”

    _Glasgow Herald_--“Certain to excite the interest and the envy
        of young men at home.”

    _Birmingham Gazette_--“One of the Books of the Day. Is
        pleasantly written, immensely entertaining, and full of
        information.”

    _Dundee Advertiser_--“The chapters on Shooting, Riding and
        Sailing will prove specially interesting to sportsmen and
        athletes.”

    (Chapman and Hall, London, 10s. 6d. net).



ERRATA

This type was set up by Chinese compositors.

_Second_ proofs contained 268 errors!

    Page 11 for hehind read behind

      ”  14  ”  cheep read cheap

      ”  18  ”  exhorbitant read exorbitant

      ”  21  ”  navies read navvies



    Transcriber’s Note:

    The items mentioned in the errata have been changed,
    along with the following:

    Page  7 general inpression
            general impression

            to strangers,
            to strangers.

    Page 10 gem-studied
            gem-studded

    Page 15 length of whch
            length of which

            300 miles
            300 miles.

    Page 16 in the the station
            in the station

    Page 17 Petrovski zavod
            Petrovski Zavod

            conspiritors
            conspirators

    Page 19 clad in skins
            clad in skins.

    Page 20 and Chinese
            and Chinese.

    Page 21 chimnies
            chimneys

            we passed over
            we passed over.

            trace of show
            trace of snow

    Page 22 Few birds
            Few birds.

    Page 24 even precarious,
            even precarious.

    Page 25 P & O. steamer
            P. & O. steamer





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