The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-02-18

passport signed by himself
Where do you think | shall overtake
the party" | asked.
The governor made calculation.
Somewhere about Irkutsk. he thought.
And IrkutSk two thousand miles.
more or less, from Tobolsk,
! babe the great man grateful adieu
and spurred on at such speed that even
the gOCd-tempered Ivan began to grum-
bic. Man. even Russian. was but
mortal, he said, and | could not expect
To ind Arab SteedS among government
poSt-hOrSes which the pOstmasters were
compelled 10 furnish at about twopence
a mile horse. l left the yemschik and
himself no time for refreshment. Their
tea had not grown cool enough to swal-
low before | was insisting on fresh
start. And as for proper night s rest!
lea. Until / made that journey
never knew the amount of tea a mortal
stomach could hold. One and all they
drank il by the gallon. They carried it
about compressed into bricks. cement
Ell. / heard with a shUdder bv sheep 5
or some other animals blood. They
drank II morn, noon and night. When
ever there was a StoppaCe and boiling
water could be obtained bucketfuls of
tea were made and poured down their
Threats.
The impressions | retain of that long
journey are not very deep. | was not
traVeTsing the country for the sake of
writing book of travels. or to observe
the manner and customs of the people.
My great object was to Overtake Ceneri
as quickly as possible. and my endeavors
were directed TO passing from one post
ing station to another as swiftly as I
could. We sped over vast SteDDes. wild
marshes. through forests of birch. tail
pines. oak. ash. and other trees: We were
+AFr5aI ls.rsrI a.
we went as straight to our destination
as the great post road would take us
When nature forced us TO rest we had
To put up with such pitiful accommoda-
ton as we could get. Unless the place
at which we stopped was OF some I'M
portance, inns We're unknown. By dint
OF practice, l at last cOntriyed to obtain
almost enough sleep, ii not TO satisfy
me, TO serve my needs, whilst jOltng
along i'll the tarantass.
II was mOnotonOuS journey. | turn
ed aside to visit no objects of interest
spoken of by travellers, From morn to
night and generally through the greater
part Of the night our wheels rolled
along the road. And at every posting
station | read on the wooden post which
stands III front of it the number of
miles we were from st. Petersburg. I'M
til. as the days and weeks passed. | be-
gan To feel appalled, at the distance |
had come and the distance | must re-
turn. Should | ever see Pauline again?
Who can say what may have happened
before | return to England? At times
| grew quite dispirited.
| think what made me realize the
length of the journey even more than
days or measured miles was to see. as
we went on, the country people gradual
ly changing their costume and dialect.
The yemschiks who drove us changed
in appearance and in nationality; the
very breed of the horses varied. But
let man or cattle be Of what kind they
may, we were well and skillfully con-
| Quoted.
The weather was glorious. almost too
glorious. The cultivated country we
passed through looked thriving and
productive. Siberia was very different
in appearance from what is usually as
ISOLATED with its name. The air when
not too warm was simply delicious.
Never have | breathed a more invig-
Grating and bracing atmosphere. There
We're days when the breeze seemed to
send new life through every vein.
The people | thought fairly honest,
and whenever | found need of pro-
ducing nay papers the word civility viii
scarcely express the treatment | receiv-
ed. How | should have been treated
without these potent talismans | can
not say.
The whole countryside in most places
was busy with the hay-harvest; a mat
ter of such importance to the com
munity at large that convicts are told
off for some six weeks to assist in the
work of saving the crops. The wild
flowers. many of them very beautiful,
grew freely; the people looked we'll and
! cOntented. Altogether my impressions
| of Siberia in summer were pleasant
: | ones.
Yet | wished it had been the dead of
winter. Then it is that, in spite of the
cold, one travels more pleasantly. Ivan
assured me that when good snow road
, is formed and a tarantasS may be eX-
! changed for a sledge. the amount of
ground passed over in a day is some
: thing marvellous. | am afraid from
memory to say how many miles may be
covered in twenty-four hours when the
smoOth-going runners take the place OF
wheels.
We had. of course, various small ac-
cidents and delays on the road. How
!. eyer strongly built tarantass may be
- but mortal. Wheels broke. axle
rMg@$s gave way, shafts snapped twice
/, we were overturned, but as no evil ex-
cept delay ensued | need not relate the
2 history of these misfortunes.
} Nor need | enumerate the towns and
. NtIld2tS llllOu2l MIttt VIC ldSStil litliENS
/ ] wished to make my story as interest
T ing as a scriptural genealogy
T Kainsk, BOLIVIAN, Tomsk, Achinsk
e Krasnoyarsh. Mini Udinsk, may OF
e may not be familiar to the reader, ac
l cOrding to the depth of his geographical
& studies; but most of the others, even il
q | knew how to spell their names, would
+ be nothing more than vain sounds. Per
S haps. when we trace the march of the
N .1au+iraI 10 inv 10
J Indian Empire we may become better
acquainted with the Cars Asiatic do
a miniOnS.
: Yet at the entrance to each of these
:. little towns or villages, the very names
: of which | have forgotten, so surely as
d you found the well-appointed posting
: station, you found also a gloomy square
v building, varying with the size of the
b place, surrounded by tall palisade, the
n gates of which were barred, bolted anC
n sentried-these buildings were the
d OStrogs, or prisons.
v Here it was that the wretched convicts
t were housed as they halted on theil
e long march. In these places they were
packed like sardlnes III box. Prisons
t built to hold two hundred were Otter
T called upon to accommodate at least
i twice that number of luckless wretches
: I was told that when ice was breaking
V up in the rivers; when the floods were
e out; when in fact the progress mus
S perforce be delayed, the scenes at these
: prisons or depOts beggared descrip
y ton. Men, sometimes unseXed womeI
K with them, huddled into rooms reeking
L with filth, the floors throwing GU
I poisonous emanationS-rOoms built tC
give but scanty space to a small mum
: Der, crowded to suffocatiOn. The NOR
5 tally at times was fearful. The trial:
!. of the march were as nothing wher
n compared with the horrors of the st
n called rest. And it was in one of thest
S ostrogs | should find Ceneri.
/ We passed many gangs of convict;
/. Flooding along to their fate. Ivan tolt
| me that most of them were in chains
!. This | should not have noticed. as the
= irons are only on the legs and worn I'm
q der the trousers. Poor wretched beings
q my heart ached for them. Felon
J, though they were, | could never refus,
the charity they invariably prayed for
f So far as | could see they were not un
d kindly treated by the soldiers and of
d ticers, but terrible tales We're told hi
about their sutferings at the hands O
: @Then you had better come with MI
n and try and pick him out among M
e unfortunates. Light another cigarett
a you will want it, be added, wit
: meaning.
+ He led the way. and soon we stood be
: fore heavy door. At his command
d jailer. armed with mighty keys, appear
e ed. The grinding locks were turned
5 and the door was opened.
t Follow me-" said Varlamoff, with
e long pull at his cigarette. | obeyed, am
d standing on the threshold had much adj
:; to keep from fainting.
u From the stencil which rushe
e through it, that open door might hav
n been entrance to some pestilential cav
:. ern at the bottom of which all the i'm
G purities of the world were rotting an
s putrefying. As it passed you, you fel
: that the thick air was poisonous wit
7 disease and death.
. recovered myself as best | could
Z nd II a y >