The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-11-08

t, melted on the way from impropt
;e packing. A cargo of hams was con
al signed to Hong Kong merchant, bt
l. when he opened the barrels he foun
h they con tanned nothing bat bones.-
;. s'As the bone market was low at tha
time. he did not repeat his order" Th
purchaser of the wooden hams prob;
bly, came to the same conclusion.
On their way through Siberia bot
f the travellers naturally touch on th
: treatment of the persons sent ther
e either for crimes or political causes
and here Mr.. Knox is more favorabl
I to the Russian Government than Mr.
e Whytc. The American writer say
that the object of deportation to ST
IBERIA is to people the country, ant
that if the exiles were treated so cru
ely that half of them died on tn,
: road the policy of the Government
would be defeated. Mr.. Whyte al
ludes chiefly to the labor imposed upor
the exiles after their arrival, and tt
the absolute degradation Of many peo
pie of good family whose only offence
} is hostility to the Russian Govern
j. rnent. On this question we may fair
ly assume that each writer is, guided
by his own sympathies. Mr.. Knox
was treated With great courtesy at
Irkutsk by the Russian Governor
General, and may have received his
Information from official and slightly
interested sources. Yet we should
have thought that the career of Ruin
Piotrowski, which he narrates in this
volume, would have induced more
marked effect upon his mind. Among
matters connected with the Russian
Goyernm- mt we may mention the case
of fayorite actor who was arrested
because the Emperor Nicholas had
spoken to him in the public garden
The police had orders to arrest any
one who spoke to the Emperor, and
the actor being addressed by the EN-
peror could not help replying, so he
came within the rule. The Emperor
was much vexed at this stupidity, and
wanted to make any amends in his
power, but the only favor asked by
the actor was that his Majesty would
never address him again in the public
garden. Mr.. Knox was treated at
Irkursk as the representative of the
United States, had to return thanks
for the President and Congress and to
propose the Emperor's health at dim
ner where the Governor-General was
present. Apropos of this speech,
which lasted only two minutes, we are
told that another American had made
a much longer Grafton in the same hall
in answer to toast given by General
Mouravicf. After the American had
spoken for six.or eight minutes; the
General asked sonic enc at the table to
translate what had been said. "He
thanks you," was the reply. The
American spoke for six or eight min
utes more, and similar demand was
made on the Interpreter. "He thanks
you very much," was the reply. a
closing period of the same length led
to a third question, and the third re-
ply was, "He thanks you very much |
indeed" 1t seemed to the American
speaker that Rustien must be very
comprehensive language, if it repro
duced an address of twenty minutes
in three or four words. However,
when Mr.. Knox went to buy sleigh |
for the journey from Irkutsk to Mini, |
he found that brevity was not the rule |
in bargaining. He and his friend |
talked for half an hour before the !
word "sleigh' was mentioned, and. in
answer to an impatient remark, his
friend said it was necessary to angle
very cautiously and begin long way
from the desired subject. "It you
want to. ouy a horse" Mr.. Knox was
told, "pretend that you want to sell a
COW, but don't mention the horse at
first. If ycu do, you will never sue
ceed." Mr.. Knox waited at Irkutsk
till snow had fallen, but we presume
he started earlier than Mr.. Whyte,
whose account of the cold he cxper-
fenced is painful, even in the severity
of the present summer. However,
the Baikal lake was not frozen, so
that the strange sensation of crossing
il ON sleigh; which was described to
Mr.. Knox by q gentleman in Jrkutsk,
was denied to the English traveller.
to his account, the ice on
the lake was six feet thick, but so
transparent as to give the impression
Of driving over the surface of the
water. Moreover, when the sleigh
left the shore the opposite side of the
lake was not visible. Mr.. Knox men
lions the violent snow storms which
sweep over the north eastern parts of
and which sometimes bury
whole parties of travellers. On one
some people were forced to
take refuge in a hollow, but the snow u.
1rifted so rapidly that when two of
he party dug their way out they found
themselves unable to reach their COM )
oanions, and before the storm was
,ver the DRIFT was fifty feet deep. The !
bodies of the other travellers were not ]
'ecovered till the snow melted again,
md then the remains of men and
logs were found huddled together as
f they had closed up for the sake of ,
warmth and had perished of sufloca- !,
ion. We commend this instance to :
Ir. Whyte, who tells US that winter is !.
he best time for crossing the desert of
4ebi, and who seems to have been
ortunate in not having snow with the
Wind that swept those regions. ~
1t can hardly be thought that either ;
If the books before us will tempt flu /,
ure travellers, or cause any vivid de- !
ire fer the intense cold of Siberia and
he journey in carts drawn by camels.
rhe New York banker who had new |
II heard of Irkutsk may gain some
Information from Mr.. Knox's book,
,ut it is not likely TO be tempted to /
et up branch establishment in that I
own. MIR. Whyte does not regret t
rsvinp taken his trip. as it is over,