, 1858-11-12
From the San Francisco Herald, Sept IL.
The AmOOr Russia - Prospective CON-
merCe Of the Pacific.

lNNOluCNshlJ SltudItu utdT tue mouth OF lnt
Amoor river, is published. The writer i:
an engineer, who has for some time past
been engaged in surveying a route for a
railroad from the head waters of the Amool
to lrkoutsh, the capital of Siberia. Some
time ago we learned from Major Collins
who in the capacity of Commercial Agent
Of the United States, had travelled from
st. Petersburg all the way to the Pacific
that the construction Of this road was the
general topic of conversation in Siberia,
and that there was very strong prOba.
biity Of its being undertaken and compile.
ted at an early day. San Francisco is not
more than thirty days by sailing vessels OF
fourteen days by steam, from the mouth oil
the Amoor-the Amoer is navigable for
steam boats to Chetah-a distance OF nearly
two thousand miles, and if railroad were
constructed from that point to Inkoutsh,
goods from California could be laid down
in the very centre of Siberia in thirty days
after their shipment from San Francisco, il
steam were used on the whole trip, or forty,
five days if sailing vessels were employed
between this port and NicolaeVski. The
people of Siberia, numbering upwards Of
four millions, draw all their supplies from
St. Petersburg, distance of 5000 versts,
and nearly six months are consumed in the
transportation That the Amoor is navi,
gable for steamers has been satisfactorily
demonstrated. The writer in the Gazette
says that the AmericG-a steamer which,
it will be recollected, arrived off this port
about two years ago, and sailed directly
for Petropauloski without entering, in con-
sequence of certain failures which had oc-
Cured here-has assembled that river to
the distance Of nineteen hundred miles If
a railroad from Chetah to Irkoutsh were
built, the people of Siberia could get all
their supplies-and they stand in need of
almost everything-frOm San Francisco in
one sixth of the time, and at fifty per cent
less expense than at present, and the whole
of that trade would, as q natural conse-
quence, fall into our hands. They are
evennow consuming goods sent from here.
The trade between San Francisco and
Nicolaevski has already been opened. The
writer in the Gaaette says that " to-day
(the time at whchdhis letter was dated l.,
Irkoutsh consumes coffee, sugar, cigars,
which reach it not by way of St. Peters
burg and Njnii-NOvgord, but through
Nocoaevski and Nertcchinsk. Nor is Irk-
outsh the only city of Siberia which enjoys
the advantages of this outward trade
Strangers come here to buy cur sable,
squirrel, and other valuable skins, the
price of which is largely enhanced since the
opening or rather the discovery Of naviga-
tiol on the Amoor Moreover they have
purchased this year specimens of all our
other products, and have carried them to
San Francisco, Boston, Hongkong and
elsewhere" We have for some time been
aware that some of our merchants have
been engaged in the Siberian trade, but
had no idea that it reached the extent
which the above extract would seem 10 in
dicate There is no reason, hewever, why
it should not even at this time reach fig
ure sufficiently important to attract the at
tenton of the public generally, for it does
not cost much to ship goods from here to
Nicalaevski, and the above letter furnishes
US with the information that the america is
plying on the Amoor, and that she had
reached q point 1900 miles from its mouth.
After that by few hundred miles Of pack
ing they could be laid down in the very
heart Of Asiatic Russia. The country
through which it is proposed to construct
the railroad so as to connect the river with
the Siberian capital is described by Major
Collins as exceedingly rugged and noun
famous, and it was his opinion, that it
would require an enormous amount Of
money to carry out the project The writer
Of the letter from which we quote, states
that he I" has found gorge in the noun
tains through which a railroad can pass,
and that he has cut gap for the road
through the forest" He also furnishes a
large amount Of interesting information in
relation to the terra incognita to which the
attention Of the world has been so recently
called. Even agriculture" he says, on
the Amoor finds itself on an excellent foot
ing" and adds:
The greater part of the river waters a country of
which the latitude is the that Of New Russia
and Odessa. Here, at Nicalsevsk, we are under the
latitude OF oauafa anu feusa, anu although our cL-
mate assimilates to that of st. Petersburg yet the
country washed by the river in the middle Of its course
witnesses the growth Of the native grape vine, cork
trees grass three feet and half in height and other
products Of the temperate zone. And such river
Where can you name another in which steamship,
built in America, (the Ansried) and which has tray-
ersed oceans has been able to ascend to the distance
Of nineteen hundred miles 7 The fact is the Amoor
alone presents such facility OF navigation Look at
the Volga. Steamers can go from Astrakhan to Sa-
mara or NjniiNovgorod, and that is all. 1t is only
in the spring that they can make their way to Ry'
bnsk, whittier small steamers which get even far
as the Tyer, can alone ascend at all seasons. The
Mississippi itself is only navgabe for the enormous
steamboats, we wonder at there, for few hundred
miles. There are several Americans here, mechanics
and Others who have travelled on the Mississippi; we
have also captains Of rivercraft from the Voga. All
admit they have never elsewhere a river so ma
jestic. There shoals in the Amoor, but they are
only Of sand and mud; there are neither rocks noI
those trunks of trees dangerous in river navigation
and abundant in the Mississippi, where steamboat.
are sent especially to cut them out precauton en-
tirely unnecessary the AmOOr. As TO Nolga need
hardly remind you OF the lodges of rock with which il
is garnished from Tver to Rybinsk. There also are
placed two artificial reservoirs Of water from which
The river is fed at the moment vessels are passinr