Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-07-08

Travel on the Great Riyer-Life in ST.
IBERIA.

tfeSainenC3 You una on the road 10 trayel by
sedee the same length of time, visiting histori-
al cities, passing through roma ntc scenery and
90 find cosey hotels, at least for meals would.
fancy, be a rare delight. bridal trip Of this
sort would, imagine be as pleasant Us it would
be unique for one can build for himself most
comfortable nest of downy pillows and soft furs
on the sled and sleep as soundy there as in the
state feather beds of our grandfathers But you
must have change of scenery, and if you are to
scdge down river at all you want to see romaIl-
tical!y situated hamlets and ruins OF ancient
castles, or at least rock formations that can
excite your imagination or satisfy your
fancy. But the Lena, for the thousand
miles or so down which passed. was mon
otonous in the extreme, and monOtony
ten times monotonOus after all the
dangerous places had been passed in safety.
| High slOping wooded mountains on either side
you that irritate you by their sameness and con-
| tinual presence, that seem to look sullenly at
| YOU as yen sink down under your wraps for the
night, and as suIlenly at you in the morning
when you awake before the sunshine has dissi-
| pated the chill and the gray sadness of every
| thing. And whenever you look ahead, morn
| ing, noon or night, the road seems to be barred
| by big, frownng mountain. that never seems
| TO change in outline: to reach which your
deavors are always directed. and which ALWAYS
seems TO recede as you advance along the way.
| Happily you know that the grim monster, al
| sion. and that he only marks the point where
! the river makes one of its many thousands of
curves on its way from the Baikal to the sea.
| In the upper part of the Lenas course. how
! ever, there are some magnificent rock fOrma-
| tions, but these passed during the night.
| At one point the road lies on ledge of cliffs
! just above the waters surface while mass of
| rock four or FIVE hundred feet high hangs over
! you, seemingly threatening to tall and crush
| you at every moment. Lower down the river
ahOnt haf0ra
kutsk. you meet few miles of romantic rock
| formation on the left bank that seem to assume
| familiar forms of ruined towers and castles and
| Gothtc-rOofed temples and hermitages GROWING
| the ellis. But these are exceptions that rarely
| occur. Every fifteen or twenty versts you leave
/ the rivers bed and the horses, scaInpering up
| the incline to reach the bluff Whereon village
| and post station are planted, give you tenn
| pOrary excitement, which is repeated when your
sled Is let down on to the surface of the river
again steep descent of from forty to eighty feet
! Usually only single horse is put in the shafts
| till this sometimes dangerous descent is safely
! made. though by far the greatest enjoyment is
| when all your horses are in. when yemschk and
| boy position are in their places, and your We
| hicle. gathering velocity at every step. in spite
! of the efforts of shaft-horse and men to check
| your speed, starts down the remainder of the
| hill at terrific speed. compelling the horses in
! sheer self-defence to dash away at full gallop
| and take you half mile on your way before the
| impetus is exhausted. This descent to the
river, which is repeated at least a hundred times
! during the journey, is generally accomplished
/ without accident, and only in one place did we
| deem it prudent not to enter the SledreS until
/ the rivers bed had been safely reached
Fortunately my journey was done in splendid
winter weather, for the most part: the sun shone
in friendly manner at least ten days out of the
| fourteen, and when the snow did fall it came
| down gently and harmless as driftcd down. The
! mornings broke brightly after the severe frosty
nights and the effects of the light upon the
! frosted branches and twigs were most charming
! that is. when the rivers bed was yet narrow
/ and the trees and shrubs and mountain sides
We're quite close to you. The mist that had
| gathered high up the wooded mountain sides
/ glanced and sparkled in the sunshine like lace
/ WORK OF diamond dust frozen fast to the tops of
! the evergreen frs and Cedars. The branches of
/ the slender birch that grew in quantities among
! the sturtier pines were frosted over as if by
! fairy hands. and the two never ending rows of
/ fir tree tops planted for thousand miles in the
snow on the rivers bed to point out the safe road
/ to the yemschks glittered with the pray flowers
/ of frost that had been scattered over them dur
/ ing the night. What pathway did it seem to
me at such times for old Santa Claus on his
| journey to the dwellings of men down through
these long. long rows of Christmas trees that
might be lighted with candles every night to
point out TO him his joyous way And the
candles would burn brightly enough. for, as
rule, scarcely breath of wind reaches the
surface of the river
Ill SleuGe travelling the ROADS through the 1Or-
eStS along the Lena are much to be preferred to
the surface of the river itself, If only for the
reason that in them You are sheltered from the
cold and have the mind occupied in looking at
the constant succession of surprising winter
views of the forest. All the pleasure of sleding
on the ice depends upon the speed at which you
are being driven; but snow flowers and grandest
rock formations weary you If the horses lag or
the yemschiks by carelessness stick you fast in
snOwdrift, But on the narrow roads through
oil hat sr,
summer must be of paradisaica beauty along
narrow avenues of frs and cedar and the green
Siberian larch. past cOsey little settlements and
/ deserted summer huts Of the Yakut peasants.
and occasionally over steepmountain, or along
! the narrow course of a petty tributary of the
Lena. where the trees Of the primitive forests,
| whose roots have been attacked by the surging
stream in its spring frOlicS and made to bend in
| obedience to its power, form with their SUBMITS
natural archway that extends for miles and
miles. And such an absolute stiffness prevails
| on these forest roads when the settlements are
| lett: for on the long journey which have Just
| completed we did not see tine track of single
wild animal in the snow nor the flight of any
| thing but solitary crows along the whole course
! Of river and forest.
One of the most picturesque portions of the
/ Journey was, think. after the last station be-
! fore reaching Kirensk, where we crossed high
| mountain in order to avoid long, roundabout
/ bend of the river. The ascent was made COM
i
| straight down from the top to the bottom, sheer
down the narrow forest path for a mile and
half, at an incline in places of at least thirty or
| thirty-fiye degrees. Each sled had driver and
! a position. and the runners were provided with
a rude kind of brake. being thick piece of rope
| cOiled under the runners-very effective so long
as the rope is not cut or worn through. As it
was, the velocity of the sledges increased at
the sleeper places to an alarming degree and in
one place almost caused disaster. was in
! the first sedge and the second one was follow
/ ing too closely, when. during one Of these des-
/ perate runs. the leading horse of my team got
/ his hind legs entangled in the rope traces and
was thrown, causing horses and sled to fall into
confused heap. The position of the second
sled following close after. seeing the accident
| sweryed his horses to one side in order to save
himself, but in so doing allowed the shaft horse
to dash directly into the back of my sled. and
| had not had little mountain of pillows behind
| my head am afraid that should not have es-
capped without serious injury. The accident
however was due entirely to the incautousness
Of the driver OF the second sled, who should
not have followed so closely in the wake Of the
| one preceding.
In conclusion must say that this little CITY
| of fakutsk is TO my mind the most interesting
OF all the Siberian towns through which have
passed. though neither modern nor beautiful
The place was founded $50 wears ago by the