The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-09
BOATING ON THE AMUR.
CURIOUS SIGHTS FROM 4 RUSSIAN STEAMER IN EASTERN SIBERIA.
From BlagovestchensI to the Ch'hese City of AigOuin by Water-th"f"o'o isttcs of the Men and Women

summer between NicolaleVsk' al 'iio
 mouth of the Amur, and BlagoVest- I chensk. i. .S53 versts, touching at hha-
 barovk and other points. At BlagoNes'-
 chensk passengers for more ulstan'
 places take smaller steamers pouifo loi
 stretvinsk practically the head of riV-
 CT navigation The regular and occa-
 sional steamers tow barges carrying
 large cargoes, and the General Moola
 yieff, of the old company, on Whlclf wy | were to travel was no exception Io 'ii0 | towing rule. We expected to ieaNo ! Khabarovk the 2d of June. Our stealh
 CT was late, and we did not get OIL uh- til the Sth Failure to connect IS ih-
 separable from frontier traVenrS, anu must be accepted as an ineVitaple Aed- ture of Siberian touring. steamers iol | Rlagovestchensk are supposed to leave
 Khabarovk every five days in the sea
 son and we were told later this scheu-
 ,le is maintained. In order to get as
 far as Stretyinsk by boat ana so ie
 duce the land travelling, we hao ai
 ranged to start by one Of the llrsl poa''
 of the year. The Amur is the man al
 tery of eastern Siberia, and Wlth l''
 tributaries covers most of the traa'i's
 places in a large portion of that fesloli'
 The river is clear of ice ana naNlSaple
 from six to eight months ln the yea
 iron, Nicolaieysk to Blagovestchehsh,
 and for three months from BlagoNSs.-
 chensk. The distances are: Nicoi-
 aievsk to Khabarovk 935 versts; hha-
 barovk to Blagovestchensk, 9lS Versts,
 Blaeovestchensk to Stretylnsk, 1'A''
 versts. The verst is tive-eightns ol
 mile.
 The Mooravieff is a side wheel steam
 CT of five feet draft, two hundred anu
 fifteen feet long, sharp forward, puls
 ing at the paddle wheels setting LOW Ill
 inc water, and accommodating eleven
 ffrst-class and twenty-two second-class messengers. Her tow was barge two
 hundred feet long and carrying 9'z,ooo
 mounds of freight, of which 5o4,ooo
 nounds was black tea brought to Nlcol-
 aievsk bv steamers from HankoW, FOO
 chow and Kukiang, to be sold at StfetS-
 insk. ~
 Al 6:20 the Mooravieff began whist
 l;np and at 6,3O. after series of Rus
 sian farewells. men hugging and KISS
 ing each other like hysterical school l
 bracing much shouting and laughing
 and sood-natured jostlng, the steamer l moved out into the stream for us kept ne on. deck a long time, but finally, at . a hint from our practical travelling com , panion, we looked up our cabin ms
 at inc foot of short, steep, winding stairs we found of good size cone sbaned with deep, wide, soft, spring
 tIn
 h,oad end. The cone point had table and chair and a small porthole, our cue Iigbt looked almost on to the river sur
 face, so close were we to the Wa'ei'
 The single attempt at decoration was a bright blue silk curtain over the port which we promptly tucked unoef a 1 cushion SO as to eaten every ray oi sunshine The room was paheieo Ill 5 polished oak. and the ceiling crosssu with heavy beams. We would nave , gladly given up panel, polish ana cur $ l tain for dozen strong hooks-tnele I were but two-and looking-glass The : | Siberians are certainly not vain LOOK f ing-glasses are scarce we nave
 dressed combed and shaved on the say n ] so of each other and small hand -slass . for a week running, Fortunately, our f travels have taken us where pefSa i'"' I | appearance has not counted, anu $ day's beard or an uneven side comp mas
 not harred Us from the samovar group
 laways assembling or assembled lhe
 majority of Russian men are not aS
 heavily bearded as we imagined. feN
 are smooth-faced, but many ot theH f wear only mustaches. Nature has peer :, kind as to locks, but the barbers arr saens the fairly well groomed Russlaf
 close cut as to head and face. lhf - common class woman on our stealne' a wora a shawl or 'kerchief on her head ', l and the ladies went bareheaded. f1a''
 ara worn only when absolutely neces' t sarv and consequently the cheVelufe i' y not always tidy. A Russian lady VII n he trim and modern in dress, with 5 | head disheveled to the comcal point
 The head and feet of the women glV' '' them the least and the most concern 'f The soft breezes play havoc with loos if e+ra,de vet the women defy dripping ] docks and muddy roads in the thinnes if of heelless slippers. This is their on f Itouch of vanity. Men wear the heaVles d of high boots with the thermometer d n ninety, and women put on paper-Welsh " slippers though the heavens weep. Tn 7 latter are not the half shoe of our coun
 trv but the old-fashioned strap cross ', ine ribbon bowed slipper Harmony o ~, toilet and symmetry of costume are un Io known to the women at this end o1 th ,I Czars domain The shirt waist ha a | wedged in-not the natty America d waist. This one has a broad turn-oVe if collar fancy cuffs, cotton bow, man ,t buttons and numerous frills, making ., loften feminine terror. There are som ,+ 1 vell-dressed women. In our party, 10 a instance the Russian ladies are up t d l date in style and cut.
 to The Mooravieff ran from 6:30 to lo If m., starting day, and then anchored D. The night was dark, the river mof d than ordinarily tortuous and naVigatlo If | difficult The next morning was bflgf a l and warm and we ran the day long l ct a stream nearly two miles Wlde, Wlt " bushy banks, with tall grass back | in the mountains, the water a mudo Id brown, and grass, bushes and trees pr vivid green At 7:30 in the evening " a | reached the Cossack village of Mltndy ,n low Semenovskia. It is memory Id soldiers, peasants in long red, pink an ,d | green belted blouseS, women barehea' le ed or 'kerchiefed and barefooted, or