Morning journal and courier., 1882-02-11
Price Four Cents.
Travel In Siberia

Il
| tersburg on their way to the United States,
and two officers of our navy have just been
| ordered to Siberia to assist In the search for
| Captain De Long and the missing men. 1t
has therefore been suggested to me that q
| brief description of the Siberian post road
| over which these parties viii travel would be
specially interesting at this time.
I'm November, 1866, LEFT Irkutsk for st.
Petersburg; the terminus of the railway was
| then at Mini EoYgorod, 3, 400 miles from the
/ former city. Winter is the best time for
travel in Siberia, as the roads are smoother
| than at other seasons of the year, and one Is
| not annoyed by dust and mosquitoes. Hyou
| travel by the post vehicles belonging TO the
station masters you must change at every
station, and transfer of yourself and bag
gage four or five times q day, with the Their
| mometer below zero, is the reverse of pleas
| ant. Consequently most persons prefer to
| buy carriage or sleigh st starting and sell
it for what it viii bring at the end of the
route. became the owner of fEbitka, or
| half-open sleigh, which somewhat resembles
| New England chaise, greatly elongated
There was abundant room for two of as, and
we could be at full length on our Nfurs And
baggage, or sit half upright with pillows
enough to wedge us closely into our places.
At night or In storms We could lower . hood
at the top and fasten il to thick apron from
below, SO that We were fairly protected from
severe weather. Baggage e N fiat vslises of
soft leather, and spread over the bottom of
the sleigh the cavities and chinks are filed
with straw, layer of furs or sheep skins
covers the whole, and on this you SIT or lie
at your pleasure. 1t is judicious to lash it
with ropes to prevent its tqmbling out on top
of you in case of an upset.
ttThe post stations are from 10 10 20 miles
apart, and from Irkutsk TO Mini Novgorod /
changed horses and drivers 200 times, and
| was drawn by not far from !, 600 horses alto
gether. On arriving at station you present
your padeTojHSd, or road pass, to the station
| master, and demand horses; If your pass Is
of high order you i'll get them at once
| bat If there is reason Why he should ex-
pedite you, he may keep you waiting several
| hours, or Until you bride him into supplying
your wants. The road pass is only obtain
able from the authorities, and as horses can
| not be supplied without Il, there is no chance
of an irregular person travelling about the
country. The pass states your name and res
| idence, the number of horses you are entitled
to demand and pay for and also states very
| explicitly your destination. The ordinary
team is three horses, and each horse Is to be
paid for at the rate of kopeck and q kalf
per verst-about cent and half per mile
The driver expects a small fee at the end of
| his course, SO that the expense of being
| drawn over aSiberian road is about I've cents
mile for two persons. If the roads are
good you are carried along at fine speed, es-
specially if you hint that liberal fee viii be
forthcoming 1t was not unusual to make ten
or twelve miles an hour, and not unfrequent-
ly thirteen miles would be covered in that
time. The performance of Russian driver
is something rather trying to nervous per-
son; he deseends hills at breakneck paes
and is utterly regardless of shaking you up
Late in winter the roads are full Of holloWs
or og-wdlows, especially on the hill sides
and when q team is driven over them at Il
gaIlop the sleigh jumps In manner great
deal more than exhilarating- As long as the
vehicle preserves its integrity the driver pays
it no attention. This sort of thing brings on
what the Russians call the road fever the
pulse is high and every bound of the sleigh
forces the blood through the veins at fear
full pressure Your head seems ready to
burst, and the feeling at each jar of the vehi-
Gle is very much as though somebody was
trying to drive q railway spike into your
skull. The fever generally subsidies in two
or three days. but sometimes it is SO severe
that the traveller becomes delirious and must
take several hours of rest at each stage.
81 followed the Russian plan in preparing
for the journey. had fur socks over my
ordinary ones, fur stockings outside the
socks, and fur boots inelosing all Over my
Ordinary GtUtUluk NUEC b4CcpSA1n CQAA
with the wool inside and fastening tight
around the neck Outside of this was q
deerskin coat that touched theground shezs
I stood erect and was large enoxSh uiaside
for a maa and q boy; its collar was a foot
wide, and the sleeves, six inches longer than
the arms inside, were very inconvenient
when tried to pick up anything Fur
clothing in such amount is personal incum-
brance, but without it the traveller would
suffer from the severe cold. The lowest
temperature experienced on the road was
40 below zero. A bottle of champagne be-
came perfectly solid the first day of the
sleigh ride, and l discovered tendency to
capitalization in bottle of poor brandy that
belonged to my companion.
Though the frost cannot penetrate
travellers furs, it constantly assails his face
and congeals the moisture of his breath
beard and furs frequently freeze together
and render sudden movements inconEsnient.
A moustache becomes double ended iciele
in a short time, and lady viii tell you that
her veil is soon converted into good coun-
terfeit of q wire screen. 1t was season of
fasting when 1 made my journey. and the
stations could not be relied on for any pro-
visions, except bread and eggs. unless We IN
clude hot water for making Tea Russians
drink vast quantities of tea while travelling
and many who are addicted to stimulating
drinks while at home abstain from them al
together on the ROAD anu 0rlnk uOt112R cut
tea We carried most of our provisions in q
frozen state and thawed them out at the sta
tions as we wanted them. Soup was in cakes
like small bricks, and roast beef resembled
red granite. We had bag of pilmania-a
Russian preparation of little meat balls COW
cred with an envelope of dough-and this
bag was our great reliance The contents
we're like walnuts from the effects of the
frost; double handful dropped in a gallon
| of water and boiled for five minutes made
substantial soup or stew, and We found this
| article of sustenance more convenient than
any other.
"Along the road there was little change of
| scenery. The country Is undulAting, but not
broken, and in some places there are plains
that resemble our western prairies- The
| landscape, or rather snovscape, Is mcnoto-
nous and vearisome, except where Il Is
crossed by rivers and the few ranges OF his
| along the route The villages containing the
stations were from ten to twenty miles apart,
and generally built in single street. Out
side of nearly every village was a block
house, where exiles are lodged on their way
| to the places of their Punishment; the move
ments of these involuntary emigrants are so
| timed that only given number are lodged
| in any one house at the same titne-not SO
much in consideration of the comfort of the
/ exiles as through fear of attempts at revolt
/ and escape While the horses were changed
at the STATIONS, We nao the OptlOn OF euter1ug
/ the house or staying outside; we generally
did the latter, except at meal times as the
| change from several degrees below to sixty
| or seventy above Is not altogether agreeable.
| The rooms of Russian houses are warmed
by brick stoves, and among the peasants the
top of the stove is the faverite sleeping place.
| At night we used to stir the drivers out from
where they were being slowly baked their
toilets were quickly performed, as it only in
cluded DOMINIC sheepskin. coat and buck
| ling belt around the waist, and then they
were ready for drive of two or three hours
| through an arctic temperature.
''The most perilous part of the journey is
across the Barabinsky Steppe, in Western 81
| IBERIA, plain a thousand miles wide, and
often swept by severe storms. The snow Is
| vhirled In binding masses, the wind. IL
blowing from the north, is bitter cold, and
not infrequently men and horses perish.
Travel ceases during these storms, and some
| times those who venture to brave them never
reach their destination. Wolves abound
here, and many stories are told of their fe-
rocity, but they are less dangerous than in
Western Russia, where the population Is
more dense and gameIless abundant than N
! Siberia even there they never attack men
| except in the severest winters when hunger
| has made them desperate.
"a Siberian journey generally begins IN
the evening, and is continued day and night
| till its end. The government couriers viii
| go from Irkntsk to Moscow in fourteen or
| fifteen days under favorable circumstances