Through Siberia and Manchuria By Rail Part 1

Through Siberia and Manchuria By Rail.

by Oliver George Ready.

NOTE

_This short account of my journey from London to Shanghai by way of the Siberian Railway was at first intended for private circulation only, in order to meet the enquiries of numerous personal friends.

Now, however, that war has broken out between Russia and j.a.pan, and that it may be years before this, the longest railway in the world, is again open to international traffic, I feel that any information, however slight, concerning so stupendous an undertaking, as well as about the remote region which it traverses, may be of interest to the general public.

I wish to emphasize that much of what is herein described was seen only from the windows of a moving train, and must therefore be lacking in that accuracy and detail which closer inspection could alone insure.

_The Russian words on the cover_ ??? ????? _signify "who goes there"?, and the Chinese characters represent my surname. The Russian cross at the end, is that of the original Greek Church.

_Shanghai, 29th February, 1904._

EASTWARD HO!

I left Charing Cross on the _15th October, 1903_, by the 10 a.m.

boat-train for Dover. As we glided on I mentally said good-bye to familiar scenes, for I was outward bound, to put in another five years'

service under the dragon flag.

At Dover we went aboard the Belgian _rapide_ "Ville de Douvres" and in ten minutes were streaming at twenty miles an hour through the shipping on our way across Channel.

It was a lovely day with fair wind and smooth sea, and had only the vessel's bows been pointed in the opposite direction, I should have been perfectly happy, but they were not, so I had to make the best of things, which consisted in watching over the stern Old England's chalk cliffs, gleaming white in the brilliant sunshine, slowly sink and disappear into the heaving main. . . . . . . Good-bye. Eastward ho!

The Belgian coast was sighted at about 3 p.m., and shortly after 4 we landed at Ostende, and I was soon installed in a first-cla.s.s coupe of the weekly _Nord-Express_, which was to carry me without change as far as Warsaw.

This _train de luxe_, consisting of an engine and five or six cars, was as replete with comfort and luxury as it was possible to compress within so limited a s.p.a.ce.

That night we pa.s.sed through Belgium by way of Brussels, and at 7.30 next morning, the _16th October_, arrived at Berlin, but only stopped for half-an-hour, when we were again _en route_.

The day was fine and the country pretty, without being beautiful. In places it was well wooded with firs and silver birches. For many miles I noticed sorrel growing alongside the line almost as thickly as gra.s.s.

Shortly before arriving at the Russian frontier that afternoon, I saw many truck-loads of parsnips, and _heard_ a train-load of geese, which were coming from the "merry green fields of Poland" to make _pate de foie gras_ for the Germans.

The frontier town of Alexandrowo was reached at 3 o'clock, and there we pa.s.sed from German to Russian control. At the German end of the long platform officials and porters were wearing the German uniform. At the Russian end of the platform, all porters were clad in long, white cotton smocks with leather girdles, while officials wore the uniform of the Czar. As the two nationalities were here contrasted, I think the Russians showed to greater advantage, being generally taller and having a more natural bearing than the over-drilled Teuton.

Our luggage was examined by the Customs officers, and our pa.s.sports taken away, vised, and returned, before the train was allowed to proceed.

It was getting dark as we steamed into Russia, so that not much of the country could be seen, but as far as I could make out, it looked flat and gloomy enough.

We reached Warsaw at about 8 o'clock, and as the train stopped here, it being a terminus, I drove to the Hotel Bristol.

The general impression I had received while on this rapid journey across half of Europe in little more than 24 hours, was that in Belgium things looked slip-shod, in Germany organized, and in Russia potential.

The hotel I found to be first-cla.s.s and up-to-date in every way, while prices were moderate (six roubles a day) and the cuisine excellent.

The dining room was a perfect blaze, being illuminated by more than 1,000 electric lights, let into the walls and screened by round, opaque gla.s.ses, so that the effect was something like that of so many bull's-eye lanterns.

As soon as I had been shown to my room, my pa.s.sport was again demanded by a police agent, and again taken off to be vised. I subsequently learnt that _everyone_ in Russia--not only travellers but also all Russians--must have a pa.s.sport, without which it is impossible to get even a night's lodging, so that the entire population comes directly and constantly under the eye of the police. This must at times be rather galling, but on the other hand, it is a great protection, especially to strangers.

_17th October._--Warsaw is an interesting town for many reasons, also, it is well laid out, having several large boulevards flanked with gra.s.s and trees, though the back streets are dirty, and badly paved with large, uneven blocks of stone.

Many beautiful churches raise their lofty spires and oriental domes, painted green or gilded with gold and surmounted by crosses, for Russians are of the Greek faith. The princ.i.p.al streets were crowded with fine soldiers in gay uniforms, the slums were packed with repulsive looking Jews, who, in long black coats and little peaked caps, sneaked about as though in constant dread of persecution, their hooked noses, pale faces and black beards giving them that furtive and crafty appearance for which the Polish Jew is so well known. Objects of pity, their history is written on their faces.

The horses, though fine-drawn, looked strong, well-bred and good goers.

Cigars were very dear--about eighteen pence for a medium one--and each separate cigar was sold in a kind of gla.s.s or gelatine air-tight tube.

_18th October._--Left Warsaw at 9.30 a.m., and the train was so crowded that although holding a first-cla.s.s ticket, I was obliged to travel in a second-cla.s.s sleeping-car, in company with a Pole, a Russian, and a German and his little three-year-old daughter, to say nothing of piles of luggage. Pa.s.sed through fine open country, quite flat, with woods of fir, pine and silver birch at intervals, marshy plains and cultivated ground (like Fens) alternating. Flocks of sheep and geese, herds of cattle and horses. Very few birds of any kind--only saw some crows and linnets.

Roads were wretched, being mere tracks a foot deep in mud, and looked as though they had never been repaired, or even made.

Houses built low with no upper storey, walls of wooden beams and roofs of thatch. Men mostly clad in sheep skins, and women in red dresses with a red cloth over the head, bare legs and sandals. Winter wheat well grown.

_19th October._--Pa.s.sed a good night, despite five in the compartment.

This morning much colder, and at 10 o'clock saw snow, at first lying in drifts, but gradually increasing as the day wore on until everything was covered, while ponds were frozen.

Hardly any good houses. Peasants with hair four or five inches long and wearing sheep skin coats and knee-boots, came to stations to look at the train. The women had shawls over their heads, and squelched through the mud and slush with bare feet. All looked cold and dejected, while the landscape was most depressing.

With the exception of a few wild and tame pigeons, saw hardly any birds, but turkeys at a farm.

Arrived in Moscow at 4 p.m., and drove in a droski (four-wheel cab) to the Slavianski Hotel, where my pa.s.sport was again required.

In the evening, after an excellent dinner, I went to a first-cla.s.s variety entertainment at the Aquarium theatre.

My bedroom at the hotel was warmed in a curious manner. There was neither stove nor hot-water-pipe, but in one of the walls at some seven feet from the floor was a round hole about three inches in diameter.

Being curious to know what this hole could be for, I put my hand up to it, and was greatly surprised to find a current of hot air pouring into the room, which was thereby kept at a most comfortable temperature both by day and night.

_20th October._--It was a miserable day with rain and snow, so that while the streets, which are wretchedly paved with big blocks of stone, were bad for wheeled traffic, there was not sufficient snow for sleighing.

In the morning I went to the Kremlin, which comprises the new and old Imperial palaces, churches, treasury, etc., all grouped within a lofty wall, pierced here and there by gateways, one of which being holy, it behoves every good Russian to remove his hat on pa.s.sing through. In the vast courtyard are ranged in long tiers the many hundreds of cannon which the Russians took from Napoleon I. It is impossible in this brief diary to deal with the splendours of the Kremlin. Nothing I have ever seen in Europe, Asia, Africa or America, can in any way compare with its semi-barbaric magnificence.

The ball-room in the new palace is of immense size and of most majestic proportions, the walls being entirely of mirrors and gold gilt, and the floor richly inlaid with many kinds of beautiful woods. Columns built of malachite, crystal, and precious stones. Stairways of marble and jade, while countless ornaments of pure gold adorned the various apartments.

The old palace, which adjoins the new, is smaller, less magnificent, being of cloister like build, but intensely interesting. Here I saw the bedroom and the bed in which Napoleon slept for a few nights before Moscow was laid in ashes by her own inhabitants, and the French invaders driven out to die like flies in the snow.

In the afternoon I visited several beautiful churches, a museum, and an exhibition of Verestchagin's famous war pictures.

On the _21st October_ I returned to the Kremlin and visited its churches, which are stored with priceless icons, golden vessels, gem-studded crucifixes, and silken vestures stiff with gold and precious stones. In striking contrast to such wealth, some of the chapels had dirty, uneven brick floors, and were horribly dark. Afterwards I pa.s.sed through the Treasury, until I was weary of looking on diamond-studied saddles, bejewelled swords and guns, thrones, crowns, the regalia and coronation robes of all the Russian Czars, etc., etc. Altogether the wealth of the Kremlin must represent scores of millions of pounds in value.

The bazaars of Moscow are far-famed, though more so in Asia than in Europe. I pa.s.sed through the newest and largest. It struck me as being more extensive than the Crystal Palace, though not so lofty, and I was told that it contained under its roof a thousand shops of the best cla.s.s.