The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-29


not until January Of the following year that he
came upon the small river Urka. which led him
directly TO the Amur On his way down the main
river he found many native towns deserted, and
learned that warlike tons had been made To
receive him lie accordingly retrented to town
at the mouth Of the Irkh, leaving his men To gar
rison the place, and returned 10 inkutsk In May.
The part Of the Amur which he had visited was
situated much higher than the mouth OF the Leyh.
whence Payarkod had begun his explorations.
and he had certainly found better route because
lie had travelled from Yakutsk 10 the Amur and
back in about year He estimated that 5000
men would be required TO conquer tho Amur Basin.
but he had To content himself with enlistng about
$50 volunteers. to which the Noivode Of Sakutsk
added detachment Of twenty Cossacks and three
guns With these reinforccments, KhavaroG
dccended the Amur and met a large force Of Dau
rans near the town OF Albazin. After an obstinate
battle which lasted from midday to evening. he
routed the natives, and secured Albazin with its
stores Of grain. This town was to play great
part in the Russian attempts at cooni zation on
the Amur in the seventeenth century. Khavarof
descended the Amur as far the mouth Of the
Ussuri where he built fort and defended II with
success against a Manchu force supplied with
muskets and artillery. As the approach OF a
larger Manchu army reported he abandoned
After Yermak Khavarof is the most memorable
figure among the Cossack conquerors Of Siberia:
he not only possessed the daring and the resolution
needed TO face difficulties and privations. but he
had the intellectual qualities needed for command
er, He was the first Russian to meet a largo
Manchu force and TO infict upon IL severe defeat
Subseq uenty third and still shorter route TO the
Amur discovered by the way Of the Selenga
and the Shilka. In 1856, the Russians again
defeated the Manchus, but, in 1883 Stepanof,
at the head OF 40 Cossacks, was caught in trap
and persisted with the majority Of his men, This
disaster. the heaviest sustained by the Russians
in Siberia, ruined their domination the Amur
by destroying their reputation for invincibility.
In the same year, the osrog, or stockaded settle.
mcnt founded at Abazin in 1851, was burnt by
the ManchusL Ii was soon rebuilt, however, and
by 1874 II Possessed government office, q guard
house and barracks. Captured by Manohu
army OF Is. 600 men in 1885. it was again burned,
but, in the course Of the same year. was once more
reconstructed BY the Treaty of Nertchnsk
however. concluded in 1889. Russia relinquished
all claims to the Amur Basin. and Albazin was
third time. destroyed by the Chinese. who con-
fidenty imagined that II would never rise again.
As a matter Of fact, moro than 90 years passed
before the pertinacity of the Russians restored
the town which had been so persistenty defended
by their ancestors
The failure Of the Russians TO acqurethe Amur
region in the last half Of the seventeenth century
was due mainly to the power OF China. In north
crn Siberia the Cossacks had met natives armed
only with bows and spears, who could not with
stand the bold pioneers provided with firearms.
In the south. on the other hand. they found tho
Chinese as well armed themselves and. thong h
the firearms were, perhaps, not handled so skill
fully, tho deficiency compensated by over
whelmng numbers The Russians, moreover
were unfortunate in encountering the Chinese at
a time when they were far more warlike than they
have ever been since. The Manchus had lately
conquered China and the hardy virtues evolved
in their native mountains had infused a short
lived vigor into the old empire. The liberal favor
shown TO the Jcsuits gave the emperors OF the
Manchu dynasty all the resources OF the science
of western Europe The CosSacks on the Amur
were also very disadvantageously situated in
their struggle against the Chinese; they were at
too great distance from their base 1t is needless
renewal Of the attempt TO conquer the Amur region.
il began with the foundation OF the winter station
OF Petrofskoe, near the mouth OF the Amur, and
was for considerable period conducted from
Petropavlofsk, in kamchatka, as a base The
first stage of annexation may be said TO have been
completed when, in 1858. the shores of the lower
Amur and the tract between the Ussuri and tho
sea OF Okhotsk were coded to Russia by China
The process OF OK pansion ended temporarily hen
in March, 1893, the present Picking Government,
by easing Port Arthur and Talienwan 10 Russia
practically surrendered tho whole of Manchuria
| to the masters of Siberia