New-York tribune., 1895-08-30
BOOKS OF TRAVEL.


scribner's sons
THE BoEpERLANp9 9,s or czAR IA RUSSIAN MSp Frontier
~ poultney bsecw s,rsr 'I%s.rai%s'n nps, S
HussSSS .; EATnns hs ns song. 'cs'S 81 p
s'"iHiI ~. iioSsh,on Mifrn ( Go.
WITH tn, .Tswis+S zS"M Mspa r5Ehn EoFen 'TG f.
thor rp DC Macmillan q Co
Tire Rev Dt. Field has given an almost '"F'"'
character 20 the Journey from New''o'" ="
Alaska and back. Al the age OF "'V'"' .,"e
years he takes. n anything more 'n''''"' w.,
no ever did in tho observation OF strange '"h"S
and strange peoples. That IL saying ""''' Wv,
for ne has been On indefatigable r"Ne'c' "'
has recorded his Impressions Of many Ihhus' '''
.,wavs takes n kindly view OF things. out 'he''
vsrs rar,icuar reasons why the trip 10 '"s"'
should be pleasant to him. Next 10 the o''''.'
States. he loves England, and IN 'h'S '",s "
was among English peoples or H"e'iu' -
wov He went west by Inc Id"au'""
po,,roy and returned through the uh''eo
States Naturally he found friends every "
and saw his own good nature rehec''u ~
very mountains and Islands among ""''" ."
travelled Adventures on the 'o"''"''
.,,. ,ho rscessarv prelude and afterpiece 10 the
VOYAGE through the narrow crooNeu
,,a, divide the islands along the coast OF Aaska'
much IN his battle with nature on this coast ne
g. ~, avon been able TO surmount the ,'eaks'
nho forosAs are as nature planted them iai''s
a.. hatch. and density as one nears the region Va
.rra, crhw The summer days lengthen rs '"e
cavaliers 90 northward. until night ceases a'o-
re,her Dr. Field did not go to the poiii' "'e'.
Tho s,n was still up all night long but ne went
far enough to have sun that oisappe '
% rise again within two or three hours
~, Tho confines of the land of icy desoiauon
II struck him that he could solve ali '"e p
,.ros involved in the effort TO care for ana eu"
ca,e the Esouimaus. His plan would nave oee"
70 sen6 n steamship and cary away 'he 4'V0v =.
2 600 wild fur-cad people TO milder shores' D''
they would not GO he was told. They ioNe '"''i
.-o,,s and icebergs. So he acquiesced somewhat
reluctantly in the plans OF the Oni'eo ''a
co,aror,ent for stocking Alaska with reinoeer'
The murderous hunting methods OF ciV'nzeo man.
no found caused much OF the suffering a'no"s
.,o.,,.o dve,,ers on the Alaskan coast. The
- >, hov,tzers for harpooning whales. OF 'he
ooeat,nr rife for killing walrus. and the whoie-
..,a slaughter Of seals rapidly took every living
oso,,rce NJ Arctic man. Civilization hasteneo u
,rcra amends for taking away the food OF .ne
1-s,,,,roaus nv giving them drink, drink "h'o"
- ,,a,r climate was a quick and ceacly po'so"'
Dr Field learned Of one case where 'He "n'''
nonu,ation of group Of villages. ooo Souls "e'e
found dead in their huts. Drink ana coiu nav
killed them and they lay staring WIN WV"
omen eyes at those who found them. Ooie''uee
might have found in such an inciaeh' ne"
-error for his tale OF the Ancient Mariner INC
uncannv thing about dead BODY IN 'he az
North Is that II does not decay. ii may 'aS' i'
ares with the hue Of life and the immooil''s VI
dea.h DR. Field devotes some pages 10 '"V
efforts that are making to educate the ha"Ne'
and 70 re, cue them from their heathensm His
book is copiously illustrated, apparently llo'
rho,oorapls One of the pictures. that OF Inc
,,.s o,,s" ,s a curiosity If it were not for
~. ,r,r.ed title nobody could tell when OF TWO
-. should be uppermost. This Is doubtless
-, Intentional tribute to the mrror-like placidi'y
Of the lake.
NJ r,geovs book on Russia and Germany is
q memorial Of an expedition which came u al
untir,ely end There was time wnen ne
doubted George Kennan's description W Hie ~
.s,a,,c puss,a. After a plunge over the western
border os European Russia and very uhcere-
,pon.ous emulsion he came to the conclusion
,. ~ 1a,nan was right and in dedcating his
hoor n that gentleman he frankly said So But
NJ 1-ennan performed task which the Gar
,,nself was interested In while Mr.. Blgelow
,s the opening chapters OF his work are any crl-
terion was gathering information that woulu
have been Of use to Russias adversaries IN war
Mr. Kennan could say with certainty 'ha' ''
man road his articles on Siberia with more care
than the Emperor Of Russia. But MI biseio"
study Of the Russian army was not hKei! 10
have the same attractions for the Gar his
descr,p,ion Of the way he and Mr.. Remington
were turned out of the country VIII long deserve
% he read as a ,,ibute to the minute skill which
NJ when
prosecuting an unwelcome visitor. lndirecty' ne
<ound the Russian frontier guarded as that of
another country might be In time OF war
His picture OF the processes OF Russihcation
is dark enough. The provinces subjected TO II
lose the prosperity which they gained from
mixed. energetic population. and the most Hour
ishing trade gets to be that OF the Jewish SNUG
gler engaged In putting emgrants safely over
the border For the Russian Jew himself the au-
thor shows scant sympathy, and his account OF
the hatred that the various races subjected TO
Russian rule feel for each other seems to show
that from the Russian point Of view the only
hope Of national unity rests on absorbing these
allen elements completely expellng them In
short the whole lesson OF his chapters on Russia
IS that the nation cannot be. and does not wish
70 be- judged by the rules Of Western civilization
Mr.. BigelOws studies Of the German soldier and
Of the rural amusements OF the German Emperor
his stud farm and hunting forest. reple;e
with the information which only the most thor
ough familiarity would have enabled him 10 give
Miss Hapgcods text is that Russian life is
where as black as it is painted. Even the press
censorship. she believes. is more unpleasant in
appearance than IT is in reality. 1t Is possible 10
get even forbidden publications without mL,a-
tion. Her own experience showed her that the
pains taken 10 guard the imperial family N the
streets Of St. Petersburg were exaggerated by
travellers On one occasion she might have
walked into small. select imperial party un-
known. unlimited, unhindered" II she had
chosen 10 DO So Her experiences in ST. Peters