¦oi__^' 1' Id ffe? _r______ti 9M%& H-DE'WINDT- YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND harry de windt FROM PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND BY HARRY DE WINDT, F.R.G.S. AUTHOR OF " FROM PEKIN TO PARIS BY LAND," "A RIDE TO INDIA," "THE NEW SIBERIA," ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR AND MAPS OF THE ROUTE NEW YORK FREDERICK WARNE & CO. 36 EAST TWENTY SECOND STREET 1904 TO MY WIFE PREFACE Many who read the following account of our long land journey will not unnaturally ask : " What was the object of this stupendous voyage, or the reward to be gained by this apparently unnecessary risk of life and endurance of hardships ? " I would reply that my primary purpose was to ascertain the feasibility of constructing a railway to connect the chief cities of France and America, Paris and New York. The European Press was at the time of our departure largely interested in this question, which fact induced the proprietors of the Daily Express of London, the Journal of Paris, and the New York World to contribute towards the expenses of the expedition. Another reason is one with which I fancy most Englishmen will readily sympathise — viz., the feat had never before been performed, and my first attempt to accomplish it in 1896 (with New York as the starting-point) had failed half way on the Siberian shores of Bering Straits. The invaluable assistance rendered by the United States Government in the despatch of a revenue cutter to our relief on the Siberian coast is duly acknowledged in another portion of this volume, but I would here express my sincere thanks to the " Compagnie Internationale des Wagons- lits " for furnishing the expedition with a free pass from viii PREFACE Paris to the city of Irkutsk, in Eastern Siberia. In America the " Southern Pacific " and " Wabash " Lines extended the same courtesies, thus enabling us to travel free of cost across the United States, as guests of two of the most luxurious railways in the world. 45 Avenue Kleber, Paris, October 1903. CONTENTS PAGE Dedication v Preface vii List of Illustrations and Maps xi PART I.— EUROPE AND ASIA. CHAPTER I. Through Europe. The Trans-Siberian Railway II. The Paris of Siberia 13 III. The Great Lena Post Road 23 IV. The City of the Yakute 44 V. The Land of Desolation 63 VI. Verkhoyansk 77 VII. Through Darkest Siberia 88 VIII. An Arctic Inferno 108 IX. The Lower Kolyma River 136 X. A Cruel Coast 136 XI. In the Arctic 15a XII. Amongst the Tchuktchis 167 XIII. Amongst the Tchuktchis (continued) .... 181 PART II.— AMERICA. XIV. Across Bering Straits — Cape Prince of Wales . 197 XV. An Arctic City 310 XVI. A River of Gold 319 XVII. Dawson 333 XVIII. The Upper Yukon and Lewes Rivers. The White Pass Railway 348 XIX. The Franco-American Railway — Skagway — New York 362 APPENDICES. I. Approximate Table of Distances, Paris to New York 377 II. List of Post Stations between Irkutsk and Yakutsk 278 x CONTENTS PAGE III. Reindeer Stations between Yakutsk and Verkhoyansk 283 IV. Yakute Settlements between Verkhoyansk and Sredni-Kolymsk 383 V. Settlements on Kolyma River between Sredni- Kolymsk and Nijni-Kolymsk 284 VI. A Short Glossary of Yakute Words .... 285 VII. Glossary of Various Dialects in Use amongst the Tchuktchis Inhabiting the Coasts of N.E. Siberia 286 VIII. Meteorological Record of the De Windt Expedition 288 Index 295 ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS MAPS Facing General Map showing route from Paris to New York .... 2 Arctic Coast Route from Kolyma River to Bering Straits . . . igs ILLUSTRATIONS Portrait of Harry de Windt Frontispiece View of Moscow g A Station on the Trans-Siberian Railway q View of Irkutsk in Summer from the River Angard .... 13 Fishing Station on Lake Baikal x-\ Market Place, Irkutsk 16 Lake Baikal from the Mountains of Trans-Baikalia . . . .17 Supper with the Konigswerthers 33 Start from Ust-kutsk 33 View of Vitimsk 38 Vitimsk, my Sleigh in the foreground 39 Nearing Yakutsk. A Yakute Horseman 43 The City of Yakutsk in Summer 43 The Summer Fair on the Lena 48 Old Cossack Fort (a.d. 1693) at Yakutsk 49 Poor Yakutes 52 Markha in Summer-time 53 Market Gardens in Markha 56 A Yakute Merchant and his Wife 57 Our Drivers from Yakutsk to Vevkhoyansk 60 Old Yakute Woman 61 Cossack Horseman 64 A Post-House between Yakutsk and Verkhoyansk .... 65 Near Bet'e-Kul 72 xii ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS Facing $age Verkhoyansk 73 A Street in Verkhoyansk 80 The Chief of Police, Verkhoyansk 81 Katcherof ski's House at Verkhoyansk 84 Post-House, Verkhoyansk 85 A Summer Yakta near Verkhoyansk 88 Interior of a " Stancia " 89 Our Reindeer Sleds 92 A Driver and his Wife . 93 Cossacks who convey Political Prisoners to the Arctic Settlements . 93 A Shaman 96 A Shaman's Grave 97 Sredni-Kolymsk .113 Old Bridge near Sredni-Kolymsk 113 Group of Exiles, Sredni-Kolymsk 138 facob Yartsegg 139 First Day out from the Kolyma River 144 Sledging on the Arctic Ocean 145 Crossing Tchaun Bay 152 First Natives met with at Erktuk 153 A Visitor, Erktuk 160 Cape Despair 161 Tchuktchi Women at Koliutchin 166 Visitors at Koliutchin 167 East Cape, Bering Straits xyQ The Chief's Hut, Whalen I7I Teneshin's Daughters 175 Village of Whalen Tyy Yaigok and the Author I77 Spring Days at Whalen: de Windt and Native !84 Tchuktchi Boys jg- Launching the first Skin Boat in early summer !qa Boarding the " Thetis " jn. Crossing Bering Straits 200 Natives at Cape Prince of Wales 20I Eskimo Girls at Cape Prince of Wales aog Front Street, Nome City, in Summer 200 The Beach, Nome City, during the first rush .... 212 A Street in Winter, Nome City „ The first Liner in from 'Frisco in Spring-time . . . 220 A Village on the Yukon % Grave of an Alaskan Indian 2_ Dawson City 3 ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS xiii Facing page Bonanza Creek 244 A Miner's Shanty on the Creeks 245 Five Fingers Rapids, Upper Yukon 248 Hauling the " White Horse " up Five Fingers 249 White Horse Rapids 252 Thirty Mile River 353 White Horse City 256 White Horse City 257 Constructing the White Pass Railway. ... . 358 Dead Horse Gulch, White Pass Railway . . . . 359 Nearing the Summit, White Pass Railway . . ... 363 Inspiration Point, White Pass Railway . . ... 363 Skagway 266 Arrival of a Steamer at Skagway in Mid-Winter .... 367 An Indian Woman 270 A War-Canoe Figurehead 371 A"Potlatch" 274 The End of the Journey 375 PART I EUROPE AND ASIA FROM j^ARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND 2dkri3ijxn of _IAn]ii_rrf'iifTTrTii PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND CHAPTER I THROUGH EUROPE. THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY The success of my recent land expedition from Paris to New York is largely due to the fact that I had previously essayed the feat in 1896 and failed, for the experience gained on that journey was well worth the price I paid for it. On that occasion I attempted the voyage in an opposite direc tion — viz., from America to France, but only half the distance was covered. Alaska was then almost unexplored and the now populous Klondike region only sparsely peopled by poverty-stricken and unfriendly Indians. After many dangers and difficulties Alaska was crossed in safety, and we managed to reach the Siberian shores of Bering Straits only to meet with dire disaster at the hands of the natives of that coast. For no sooner had the American revenue cutter which landed us steamed away than our stores were seized by the villainous chief of the village (one Koari), who informed us that we were virtually his prisoners, and that the dog-sleds which, during the presence of the Government vessel, he had glibly promised to furnish, existed only in this old rascal's fertile imagination. The situation was, to say the least, unpleasant, for the summer was far advanced and the ice already gathering in Bering Straits. Most of the whalers had left the Arctic for the southward, and our rescue seemed almost im possible until the following year. When a month here had 4 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND passed away, harsh treatment and disgusting food had reduced us to a condition of hopeless despair. I was attacked by scurvy and a painful skin disease, while Hard ing, my companion, contracted a complaint peculiar to the Tchuktchis, which has to this day baffled the wisest London and Paris physicians. Fortunately we possessed a small silk Union Jack, which was nailed to an old whale rib on the beach (for there was no wood), much to the amuse ment of the natives. But the laugh was on our side when, the very next morning, a sail appeared on the horizon. Nearer and nearer came the vessel, scudding close-reefed before a gale which had raised a mountainous sea. Would they see our signal ? Would the skipper dare to lay- to in such tempestuous weather, hemmed in as he was by the treacherous ice ? Had we known, however, at the time, that the staunch Httle Belvedere was commanded by the late Capt. Joseph Whiteside, of New Bedford, we should have been spared many moments, which seemed hours, of intense anxiety. Without a thought of his own safety or a valuable cargo of whales, representing many thousands of pounds, this gallant sailor stood boldly in shore, launched a boat, which, after a scuffle with the natives and a scramble over floating ice, we managed to reach, and hauled us aboard the Httle whaler, more dead than aHve. A month later we were in San Francisco, far from the fair French city we had hoped to reach, but sincerely grateful for our preserva tion. For twenty-four hours after our rescue no ship could have neared that ice-bound coast, and we could scarcely have survived, amidst such surroundings, until the foUowing spring. A glance at the map wiU show the route which I had intended to pursue in 1896, although, as this land journey has never before been accomplished (or even attempted), I was unable to benefit by the experience of previous ex plorers. From New York we traveUed to Vancouver, thence across the now famous Chilkoot Pass to the Great Lakes and down the Yukon River to the sea, crossing Bering Straits in an American revenue cutter to the THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 5 Siberian settlement of melancholy memory. From here I hoped to reach the nearest Russian outpost, Anadyrsk, by dog-sled, proceeding thence along the western shores of the Okhotsk Sea to Okhotsk and Yakutsk. The latter is within a couple of thousand miles of civilisation, a com paratively easy stage in this land of stupendous distances. Had I been able on this occasion to reach Anadyrsk, I could, all being well, have pushed on to Yakutsk, for Cossacks carry a mail, once a year, between the two places. But the connecting link between that miserable Tchuktchi village and Anadyrsk was missing, and so we had to submit to the will of fate. Follow now on the map my itinerary upon the last occasion, starting from Paris to Moscow, and continuing from Moscow to Irkutsk by the Trans-Siberian Railway. Here we strike in a north-easterly direction to Yakutsk by means of horse-sleighs. Reindeer-sleighs are procured at Yakutsk, and we then steer a north-westerly course to Verkhoyansk. From Verkhoyansk we again proceed (still with reindeer) in a north-easterly direction to the tiny political settlement of Sredni Kolymsk, where we discard our deer (for there is no more moss) and take to dog-sleds. A journey of nearly two months, traveUing almost due east, brings us to East Cape Bering Straits, the north- easternmost point of Asia, and practically half way from Paris to our destination. From here the journey is fairly easy, for the beaten tracks of Alaska now entail no great hardships. Remote Eskimo settlements like that at Cape Prince of Wales are naturally as primitive as those on the Siberian side, but once Nome City is readied, the traveUer may proceed (in summer) to New York solely by the aid of steam. I shall not weary the reader with details of my prepara tions. Suffice it to say that, although the minutest care and attention were lavished on the organisation of our food- supply, lack of transport in the Far North compeUed me to abandon most of our provisions and trust to luck for our larder, which was therefore frequently very meagrely PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND stocked. Indeed, more than once we were within measur able distance of starvation, but this was the more unavoid able in so far as, even at Moscow, I was compeUed to abandon several cases of provisions on account of a telegram received from the Governor-General of Siberia. The message in formed me that reindeer were scarce, dogs yet more so, and that, unless the expedition travelled very light, it could not possibly hope to reach even the shores of the Arctic Ocean, to say nothing of Bering Straits. Neverthe less, even at the outset of the journey I was blamed, and that by totally inexperienced persons, for abandoning stores so early in the day; a certain British merchant in Moscow expressing surprise that I should have " made such an egregious error " as to leave any provisions behind. I fancy most explorers have met this type of individual — the self-complacent Briton, who, being located for business or other purposes in a foreign or colonial city, never leaves it, and yet poses as an authority on the entire country, however vast, in which he temporarily resides. I can recaU one of these immovable fixtures in India, who had never stirred from Bombay save in a P. and O. liner, but who was good enough to advise me how to travel through Central Baluchistan, a country which I had recently explored with some success ! The Moscow wiseacre was perhaps unaware that during hard seasons in Arctic Siberia the outfit of an expedition must be strictly limited to the carrying capacity of dogs and reindeer. However, this gentleman's ignorance was perhaps excusable, seeing that his experience of Russian travel had been solely gleaned in a railway car between Moscow and the German frontier. I am told that the same individual severely criticised me for not traveUing through Siberia in summer, thereby avoiding the severe hardships arising from intense cold. He was, of course, unaware that during the open season the entire tract of country north-east of Yakutsk is practically impassable owing to thousands of square nriles of swamp and hundreds of shallow lakes which can only be crossed in a frozen condition on a dog-sled. Even the natives of these regions THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 7 never attempt to travel between the months of May and September. Paris is my home, and I am not ashamed to own that, like most Parisians, I suffer, when abroad, from a nostalgia of the Boulevards that a traveUer were perhaps better without. It was therefore as well that our departure for New York took place on a dreary December day, when the beautiful city lay listless and despondent, swept by a wintry gale and lashed by gusts of driving sleet. The sky was sunless, the deserted thoroughfares rivers of mud mourn fully reflecting bars of electric light from either side of the street. As my cab splashed wearily up the Rue Lafayette I thought that I had never seen such a picture of deso lation. And yet it were better, perhaps, to remember Paris thus, than to yearn through the long Arctic night for the pleasant hours I had learned to love so well here in leafy June. Bright days of sunshine and pleasure in and around the " Ville Lumiere ! " cool, starlit nights at Annenonville and Saint Cloud ! Should I ever enjoy them again ? " The De Windt Expedition " left Paris on December 19, 1901. Preliminary notices of the journey in the French Press had attracted considerable notice in Paris, and a small crowd of journalists and others had assembled at the Gare du Nord to wish us God-speed. We were three in number — myself, the Vicomte de Clinchamp (a young Frenchman who acted as photographer) and George Harding, my faithful companion on many previous expeditions. The " Nord Express " was on the point of departure, but a stirrup-cup was insisted upon by some of De Clinchamp's enthusiastic compatriots, and an adjournment was made to the Buffet, where good wishes were expressed for our sal ety'and success. After a hearty farewell the train steamed out of the station amidst ringing cheers, which plainly told me that Paris as well as London contained true friends who would pray for our welfare in the frozen North and welcome our safe return to " La Belle France." Moscow was reached three days later, and here com- 8 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND menced the first of a series of minor but harassing delays which relentlessly pursued me throughout the Asiatic portion of the journey. WhUe alighting from the train I was suddenly seized with such severe internal pains, ac companied by faintness and nausea, that on arrival at the Slaviansky Bazar (the best Hotel, by the way, in the place), I was carried to bed. The attack was inexplicable. Harding, ever a pessimist, suggested appendicitis, and a physician was hastUy summoned. The medicine-man gravely shook his head : " You are very iU," he said, and I did not dispute the fact. " Can it be appendicitis ? " I asked anxiously. "Appendicitis," repUed the Doctor; " what is that ? I never heard of the disease ! " Morning brought me some relief, and with a not un natural distrust of Russian medical methods, I resolved to return at once to Berlin and consult Professor Bergmann. To abandon the journey was now out of the question, but our medicine-chest was up-to-date and I could at any rate ask the famous surgeon how to treat the dread disease should it declare itself in the wUds of Siberia. The next morning saw me back in Berlin, and by midday my mind was at rest. I was suffering from a simple rupture of long standing, but hitherto quiescent, which only required rest and proper treatment for at least a fortnight. " Then it must be in the train," I said, explaining the situation and the priceless value of time. So, after some discussion, I departed with the Professor's good wishes, which, however, were conveyed with an ominous shake of the head. Two days later I arrived in Moscow, only to be con fronted by another difficulty : our rifles, revolvers and ammunition had been seized at the Russian frontier, and at least a fortnight must elapse before we could obtain them. Moscow fortunately boasts of an exceUent gun- maker, and I was able to replace our armoury with EngHsh weapons, though, of course, at a ruinous expense. But time was too precious to waste. We had now but a little over four months in which to reach Bering Straits, for by the middle of May the bays and estuaries of the Arctic o¦J ¦fl o A STATION ON THIi TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 9 begin to break up, and open water might mean imprison ment (and worse) on these desolate shores throughout the entire summer. So I purchased revolvers, two rifles and a fowling-piece at about five times their usual cost, and hoped that our troubles were over, at least for the present. I should add that the arms had left London six weeks previously and that I was furnished with a special permit to introduce them into the country. But Russian methods are peculiar, and fortunately unique. I was unaware before our departure of the fact that if a gun is consigned direct from its English maker to a gunsmith in Russia it goes through without any trouble whatsoever. Otherwise, it may take six months or more to reach its destination. The New Year was passed in Moscow, and a gloomy one it was. From an historical and picturesque point of view the city is intensely interesting, but otherwise it is a dull, dreary place. Russian cities, not excepting Peters burg, generally are, although the English novelist generally depicts them as oases of luxurious splendour, where love and Nihilism meet one at every turn, and where palaces, diamonds and silver sleigh-bells play an important part, to say nothing of that journalistic trump card, the Secret Police ! I wish one of these imaginative scribes could spend a winter evening (as I have so often done), in a stuffy hotel reading-room, with a Times five days old, wondering whether the Russians wUl ever provide a theatre suffi ciently attractive to tempt a stranger out of doors after nightfaU. In summer it is less dismal ; there are gardens and restaurants, dancing gipsies and Hungarian Tziganes, but even then the entertainment is generaUy so poor, and the surroundings so tawdry, that one is glad to leave them at an early hour and go sadly to bed. *m«. The distance from Moscow to Irkutsk is a little under 4000 English miles, the first-dass fare a little over a hundred roubles (or about ^"12), which, considering the journey occupies nine days or more, is reasonable enough. There are, or were, two trains a week, — the " State " and Wagon- lo PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Hts expresses, which run alternately. The former is a Government train, inferior in every respect to the latter, which is quite as luxurious in its service and appoint ments as the trains run by the same company in Europe. At 10 p.m., on January 4, we left Moscow in a bunding snow-storm, a mUd foretaste of the Arctic blizzards to come, which would be experienced without the advantage of a warm and well-lit compartment to view them from. For this train was truly an ambulant palace of luxury. An exceUent restaurant, a Hbrary, pianos, baths, and last, but not least, a spacious and well-furnished compartment with every comfort, electric and otherwise (and without feUow traveUers), rendered this first "etape" of our great land journey one to recall in after days with a longing regret. But we had nearly a fortnight of pleasant travel before us and resolved to make the most of it. Fortunately the train was not crowded. Some cavalry officers bound for Manchuria, three or four Siberian merchants and their families, and a few Tartars of the better class. The officers were capital fellows, fuU of Hfe and gaiety (Russian officers generally are), the merchants and their women-folk sociable and musicaUy inclined. Nearly every one spoke French, and the time passed pleasantly enough, for although the days were terribly monotonous, evenings enlivened by music and cards, followed by cheery little suppers towards the smaU hours, almost atoned for then- hours of boredom. -s Nevertheless, I cannot recommend this raUway journey, even as far as Irkutsk, to those on pleasure bent, for the Trans-Siberian is no tourist line, notwithstanding the aUur- ing advertisements which periodicaUy appear during the holiday season. ClimaticaUy the journey is a deHghtful one in winter time, for Siberia is then at its best— not the Siberia of the English dramatist : howling buzzards, chained convicts, wolves and the knout, but a smiling land of promise and plenty even under its limitless mantle of snow. The landscape is dreary, of course, but most days you have THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY n the blue doudless sky and dazzling sunshine, so often sought in vain on the Riviera. At mid-day your sunlit compartment is often too warm to be pleasant, when outside it is io° below zero. But the air is too dry and bracing for discomfort, although the pleasant breeze we are enjoying here will presently be torturing unhappy mortals in London in the shape of a boisterous and biting east wind. On the other hand, the monotony after a time becomes almost unbearable. All day long the eye rests vacantly upon a dreary white plain, alternating with green bdts of woodland, while occasionally the train plunges into dense dark pine forest only to emerge again upon the same eternal "plateau" of silence and snow. Now and again we pass a village, a brown blur on the limitless white, rarely a town, a few wooden houses clustering around a green dome and gilt crosses, but it is all very mournful and depressing, especially to one fresh from Europe. This train has one advantage, there is no rattle or roar about it, as it steals like a silent ghost across the desolate steppes. As a cure for insomnia it would be invaluable, and we therefore sleep a good deal, but most of the day is passed in the restaurant. Here the military element is generally engrossed in an interminable game of Vint* (during the process of which a Jew civilian is mercilessly rooked), but our piano is a God-send and most Russian women are born musicians. So after di'jcuncr we join the fair sex, who beguile the hours with Glinka and Tchaikovsky until they can play and sing no more. By the way, no one ever knows the time of day and no one particularly wants to. Petersburg time is kept throughout the journey and the result is obvious. We occasionaUy find ourselves lunch ing at breakfast time and dining when we should have supped, but who cares? although in any other dime bottled beer at 8 a.m. might have unpleasant results. The Ural Mountains (which are merely downs) are crossed. Here the stations are built with some attempt at coquetry, for the district teems with mineral wealth, and in summer * Russian whist. 12 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND is much frequented by fashionable pleasure-seekers and invalids, for there are baths and waters in the neighbour hood. One station reminds me of Homburg or Wiesbaden with its gay restaurant, flower-staU, and a little shop for the sale of trinkets in silver and malachite, and the precious stones found in this region — Alexandrites, garnets and amethysts. But beyond the Urals we are once more lost in the desolate plains across which the train crawls softly and silently at the rate of about ten mUes an hour. I know of only one slower raUway in the world, that from Jaffa to Jerusalem, where I have seen chUdren leap on and off the car-steps of the train whUe in motion, and the driver alight, without actually stopping his engine, to gather wfld flowers ! We cross the great Obi and Yenisei rivers over magnificent bridges of iron and Finnish granite, which cost miUions of roubles to construct. Krasnoyarsk is passed by night, but its gHttering array of electric lights suggests a city many times the size of the tiny town I passed through in a tarantass whUe travelling in 1887 from Pekin to Paris. So the days crawl wearily away. Passengers come and passengers go, but this train, like the brook, goes on for ever. Although the traveUing was luxurious I can honestly say that this was the most wearisome portion of the entire journey. But aU things must have an end, even on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and on the tenth day out from Moscow we reach (unconsciously) our destination — Irkutsk. For it is two o'clock in the morning and we are aroused from pleasant dreams in a warm and cosy bed to embark upon a drive of about three miles" through wind and snow in an open droshky. But we are now in Eastern Siberia, and comfort wiU soon be a thing of the past. VIEW OF IRKUTSK IN SUMMER FROM THE RIVER ANGARA _c y 7. CHAPTER II THE PARIS OF SIBERIA We arrived ia Irkutsk on the eve of the Russian New Year, when business throughout the Empire comes to a standstill, and revelry amongst aU classes .reigns supreme. It was, therefore, useless to think of resuming our journey for at least a week, for sleighs must he procured, to say nothing of that important document, a special letter of recommenda tion, which I was to receive from the Governor-General of Siberia. But a resplendent etiie-4e-camp called at the hotel and regretfully informed me that State and social functions would keep bis Excellency foUy occupied far several days. It was hopeless, he added, to think of getting sleighs built while vodka was running like water amongst the people. So there was nothing for it but to await the end of the festival with patience, without which commodity no traveller should ever dream of visiting Asiatic Russia. He is otherwise apt to become a raving lunatic. Irkutsk has several so-called hotels, the only one in any way habitable being the " Hotel Metropole," a name which has become suggestive of gold-laced porters and gilded halls. It was, therefore, rather a shock to enter a noisome den, suggestive of a Whitechapel shim, although its prices equalled those of the Carlton in Pall Mall. The house was new but jerry-bmlt, reeked of drains, and swarmed with vermin. Having kept us shivering for half an hour in the cold, a sleepy, shock-headed lad with guttering candle appeared and led the way to a dark and iU-smelling sleeping-apartment. The latter contained an iron bedstead 14 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND (an unknown luxury here a decade ago), but relays of guests had evidently used the crumpled sheets and grimy pillows. Bath-room and washstand were supplied by a rusty brass tap, placed, pro bono publico, in the corridor. Our meakC in the restaurant were inferior to those of a fifth-rate gargotte. And this was the best hotel in the " Paris of Siberia," as enthusiastic Siberians have christened their capital . Irkutsk now has a population of over 80,000. It stands on a peninsula formed by the confluence of two rivers, the dear and swiftly-flowing Angara (which rises in Lake Baikal to join the river Yenisei just below Yeniseisk), and the small and unimportant Irkut river. It is an unfinished, sHpshod dty, a strange mixture of squalor and grandeur. with tortuous, iU-paved streets, where the wayfarer looks instinctively for the " No-thoroughfare " board. There is one long straggling main street with fairly good shops and buildings, but beyond this Irkutsk remains much the same duU, drean^-looking place that I remember in the early 'nineties, before the railway had aroused the town from its slumber of centuries. Even now, the place is absolutdy primitive and undviHsed, from an European point of view, and the yeUow Chinese and beady-eved Tartars who throng the business quarters are quite in keeping with the Oriental filth around, unredeemed by the usual Eastern colour and romance. On fine mornings the Market Place presents a curious and interesting appearance, for here you may see the Celestial in flowery silk elbowing the fur- dad Yakute and Bokhara shaking hands with Japan. The Irkutsk district is peopled by the Buriates, who originaUy came from Trans-Baikaha, but who have now become more Russianised than any other Siberian race. The Buriat dialect is a kind of patois composed of Mongolian and Chinese ; the religion Buddhism. About every fourth Buriat becomes a Lama, and takes vows of celibacy. They are thrifty, industrious people, ordinarily of an honest, hospitable disposition, who number, perhaps, 300,000 in all. This is probably the most dvilised aboriginal race THE PARIS OF SIBERIA 15 in Siberia, and many Buriates now wear European dress, and are employed as Government officials. The climate of Irkutsk is fairly good ; not nearly so cold in winter as many places on the same latitude ; the summers are pleasant and equable ; but the faU of the year is generaUy unhealthy, dense fogs occasioning a good deal of pulmonary disease and rheumatism. The city, too, is so execrably drained that severe epidemics occasionaUy occur during the summer months, but in winter the dry cold air acts as a powerful disinfectant. In spring-time, when the river Angara is swoUen by the break-up of the ice, inundations are frequent, and sometimes cause great destruction to Ufe and property. Winter is, therefore, the pleasantest season here, for during dry warm weather the clouds of black gritty dust are unbearable, especiaUy on windy days. Indeed, the dust here is almost worse than in Pekin, where the natives say that it wUl work its way through a watch-glass, no exaggeration, as I can, from personal experience, testify. There was little enough to do here during our five days of enforced inactivity, and time crawled away with ex asperating slowness, the more so that the waste of every hour was lessening our chance of success. But although harassed myself by anxiety, I managed to conceal the fact from de Clinchamp, whose GaUic nature was proof against ennui, and who managed to find friends and amuse ment even in this dismal city. In summer we might have kiUed time by an excursion to Lake Baikal,* for I retain very pleasant recoUections of a week passed, some years since, on the pine-clad margin of this the largest lake in Asia, sixty-six times the area of the Lake of Geneva. Now its wintry shores and frozen waters possessed no attraction, save, perhaps, the ice-breaker used by the Trans-Siberian * " Lake Baikal is about twenty miles from Irkutsk. It is 420 miles in length, its breadth varying from ten to sixty miles. Its average depth is rarely less than 819 ft., but in parts the ground has been touched only at 4500 ft. The natives believe it to be unfathomable." — " Side Lights on Siberia," by J. Y. Simpson. 16 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Railway to carry passengers across the lake, a passage of about twenty nules. But even the ice-breaker had met with an accident, and was temporarily disabled. So there was literally nothing to do but to linger as long as possible over the midday meal in the dingy Httle restaurant, and then to stroll aimlessly up and down the " Bolshaya," the main thoroughfare aforementioned, until dusk. This is the fashion able drive of the city, which on bright days presented an almost animated appearance. There is no lack of money in Irkutsk, for gold-mining miUionaires abound, and I generaUy spent the afternoon watching the cavalcade of well-appointed sleighs dashing, with a merry clash of beUs, up and down the crowded street, and sauntering amongst the groups of weU-dressed women and briUiant uniforms, until darkness drove me back to our unsavoury quarters at the Metropole. My companions generaUy patronised the skating rink, a sign of advancing civUisation, for ten years ago there was not a pair of skates to be found throughout the length and breadth of Siberia. Thus passed our days, and the evenings were even longer and more wearisome. Once we visited the Opera, a new and beauti- fuUy-decorated house, but the performance was execrable, and " La Dame de Chez Maxim " unrecognisable in Russian dress. There were also other so-caUed places of amusement, which blazed with electric light from dusk tiU dawn, where refreshments were served at little wooden tables while painted harridans from Hamburg cackled suggestive songs to the accompaniment of a cracked piano. In these establishments we used to see the local miUionaires (and there are many) taking their pleasure expensively, but sadly enough, amidst surroundings that would disgrace a dive in San Francisco. The company was generaUy very mixed, soldiers and flashily-dressed cocottes being alone distinguishable, by their costume, from the rest of the audience. For although the Siberian woman of the better class has learnt of late years to dress well, wealth makes no difference to the garb of mankind. AU of the latter have the same dirty, unkempt appearance ; all wear the MARKET PLACE, IRKUTSK THE PARIS OF SIBERIA 17 same suit of shiny black, rusty high boots, and a shabby slouch-hat or peaked cap. Furs alone denote the difference of station, sable or blue fox denoting the mercantile Crcesus, astrachan or sheep-skin his derk. Otherwise all the men look (indoors) as though they had slept in thdr dothes, which, by the way, is not improbable, for on one occasion I stayed with an Irkutsk Vanderbilt who lived in palatial style. His house was a dream of beauty and miUions had been lavished on its ornamentation. Pricdess pictures and objets d'art, a Paris chef, horses and carriages from London, and covered gardens of rare orchids and exotics. No expense had been spared to render life luxurious in this land of dirt and discomfort. Even my host's bedroom was daintily furnished, a la Louis XV., by a French upholsterer. And yet he slept every night, fuUy dressed, on three chairs ! There is no accounting for tastes — in Siberia 1 Although the "Bolshaya," in which most of the cafe" ckantants are situated, is bright with dectric Hght, the back streets of the dty are lit by flickering oil-lamps, and here the stranger must almost grope his way about after dark. If wise he will stay at home, for robbery and even murder are of frequent occurrence. A large proportion of the population here consists of time-expired convicts, many of whom haunt the night-houses in quest of prey. During our short stay a woman was murdered one night within a few yards of our hotd, and a man was stabbed to death in broad dayhght on the busy "Bolshaya." The Chief of Police told me that there is an average of a murder a day every year within the precincts of the dty, and warned us not to walk out unarmed after dark. There was no incentive to drive, for the Irkutsk cab, or droshky, is a terrible machine, something like a hoodless bath-chair, springless, and constructed to hold two persons (at a pinch) besides the driver. There is no guard-rail, and it was sometimes no easy matter to cling on as the vehide bumped and bounded, generaUy at fuU gaUop, along the rough, uneven streets. 18 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Three days dapsed before the business of the city was resumed and I was able to turn my attention to the purchase of sleighs. Fur coats and felt boots we were already pro- vided|with,? but I had determined to obtain the Arctic kit destined "to protect us from the intense cold north of Yakutsk from the fur merchants of that place. FinaUy, when the fumes of vodka had evaporated, at least a dozen sleigh-builders invaded my bedroom early one morning, for the Irkutsk papers had published our needs. The whole day was passed in driving about to the various workshops and examining sleighs, some of which appeared to have been constructed about the same period as the Ark. It was not easy to make a sdection from the score of ramshackle kibitkas which were hauled out for my inspection, especiaUy as I had a very faint notion of the kind of sleigh required for the work in hand. Fortunatdy, my friend the Chief of Police, white with rage and blazing with orders, burst into a yard as I was conducting the purchase of a venerable vehide, which bore a striking resemblance to Napoleon's traveUing carriage at Madame Tussaud's, and which would probably have come to pieces during the first stage. " Son of a dog," furiously cried the official to the trembling coach-buUder, " don't you know that this gentleman wishes to go to Yatuksk, and you are trying to swindle him into buying a 'Bolshaya' coups!" And in less than a minute I was being whirled away towards the PoHce Station, where a number of the peculiar sleighs required for this journey are kept on hand for the convenience of traveUers. " That man is an infernal scoundrel," said the Chief of Police, when told that Napoleon's barouche was to have cost me 150 roubles. " I will give you a couple of good Yakute sleighs for half the money. You can only use them on the Lena." And when I saw the primitive con trivances in question I no longer marvelled at their low price. Let me describe the comfortless conveyance in which we accomplished the first two thousand miles of the journey THE PARIS OF SIBERIA i9 across Siberia. A Yakute sleigh has a pair of runners, but otherwise totally differs from any other sleigh in the wide world. Imagine a sack of coarse matting about four feet deep suspended from a frame of rough wooden poles in a horizontal triangle, which also forms a seat for the driver. Into this bag the traveUer first lowers his luggage, then his mattress, piUows, and furs, and finaUy enters himself, lying at fuU length upon his belongings. There is a thick fdt apron which can be puUed completely over its occupant at night-time or in stormy weather. This sounds warm and comfortable, but is precisely the reverse, for after a few hours the porous felt becomes saturated with moisture (formed by bodily warmth and external cold), rendering the traveller's heavy garments damp and chiUy for the remainder of the journey. There is nothing to prevent the Koshma, as this covering is called (Cauchemar would be a better name ! ), from resting upon the face during sleep and frost-bitten features are the natural result. So far, therefore, as comfort is concerned a Yakute sleigh is capable of some improvement, for, even in fine weather, the occu pant must raise himself up on his elbows to see any thing but the sky above him, whUe in storms the damp, heavy covering casts him into outer darkness. Under the most favourable circumstances little is seen of the country traveUed through, but, as the Chief of PoHce consolingly remarked, " Between here and Yakutsk there is nothing to see ! " Provisions were the next consideration, and these were obtained from a weU-appointed store on the Bolshaya. We now had but a dozen cases of condensed foods, &c, left, and these I wished to keep intact, if possible, for use in the Arctic regions. On the Lena road the post-houses were only from thirty to forty mues apart, but as they only provide hot water and black bread for the use of traveUers, I laid in a good supply of canned meats, sardines, and tea to carry us comfortably, at any rate, through the first stage of the journey. With months of desolation before us our Enghsh tobacco was too precious to smoke 20 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND in civUisation, so a few hundred Russian cigarettes were added to the list. At last came the welcome news that the Governor-General would grant us an interview. Accompanied by an aide-de camp, we drove to the Palace on the banks of the Angara, and were ushered into the presence of the Tsar's Viceroy, who governs a district about the size of Europe. General Panteleyeff was a middle-aged man, with white moustache, light blue eyes, and a spare athletic figure, displayed to advantage by a smart dark green uniform. The General is a personal friend of the Emperor and the cross of St. Andrew and a tunic covered with various orders bore witness to their wearer's distinguished career. He received me most cordiaUy, and asked many questions regarding the land- journey, which had apparently aroused considerable interest in Russian official circles. The General, however, had no great faith in the proposed line to connect his country with the New World. " We have our hands too full in the Far East for the next century," he said, with a smUe, " to meddle with Arctic railways." His ExceUency assured me of every assistance as far as Nijni-Kolymsk, the most remote Cossack outpost on the shores of the Polar Sea, on ordinary occasions a year's journey from St. Petersburg. "Beyond Kolymsk," he added, " I fear I cannot help you. The Tchuktchi region is nominally under my control, but even our own officials rarely venture for any distance into that desolate country. But you will first have to reach Nijni-Kolymsk, and even that is a voyage that few Russians would care to undertake ; and beyond Nijni-Kolymsk you wiU have yet another two thousand miles to Bering Straits. Great Heavens ! what a terrible journey! But you English are a wonderful people ! " Here a secretary entered the apartment with a document, which the Governor rapidly scanned and then signed. "Your Imperial passport," he said, placing the paper in my hand, "which wiU ensure civility and assistance THE PARIS OF SIBERIA 21 from all offidals 3700 may meet as far as the Kolyma river. Beyond that you must rely upon yourselves and the goodwill of the natives, if you ever find them ! May God preserve you all." So saying, with a hearty shake of the hand, the General touched a bell, the aHe-dc-camp appeared, and I was re-conducted to my sleigh, rejoiang that nothing could now retard our departure. Amongst other privileges the passport ensured immediate relays of horses at the post- stations. As there are no less than one hundred and twenty- two of these (from fifteen to twenty-five miles apart) between Irkutsk and Yakutsk, and as the ordinary traveller is in variably delayed by extortionate postmasters, this dause was of the utmost importance. In many other ways also the document was a priceless one, and without it we could scarcely have reached the shores of America. It may be that I have unduly underrated the attrac tions of Irkutsk to the average public If so, the reader must remember that every hour of delay here was of importance and meant endless worry and vexation to the leader of an expedition which had not an hour to lose. . There is no doubt that Irkutsk must in a few years become a teeming centre of commercial activity. The sodal aspects of the place wul then no doubt improve under the higher civilisation introduced by a foreign dement. The resources of this province are limitless, for the soil has up till now, mineraUy speaking, only been scratched by idle fingers. Further afidd we hear of important dis coveries of valuable minerals in Manchuria, while the output of gold in the Lena district has been trebled by modern machinery within the past four years. Coal has also been recently discovered within a short distance of Lake Baikal, and is already being exported in large quantities to the Pacific ports. Irkutsk has, no doubt, a great com mercial future, but should I ever return there I shall, personally speaking, be quite satisfied to find a decent hoteL Such an establishment run on modern lines would certainly yidd fabulous returns. At present the only 22 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND avaflable restaurant is that of the grimy and verminous Metropole, and even here the local miUionaires cheerfuUy pay prices for atrocious food and worse wines which would open the eyes of a Ritz. Perhaps the most pleasant memory which I retain of Irkutsk is a cheery little supper which was given in our honour by a Mr. Koenigswerther and his wife and brother on the eve of our departure. The traveUers, who had only arrived that day, were visiting the city on business connected with the purchase of furs, and a chance word dropped in the purest French by Madame at the dinner-table linked our parties inseparably for the remainder of the evening ; indeed, until the next day. Madame Koenigswerther, an attractive little Parisienne, seemed to cast a gleam of sunshine over the gloomy dining-room in which we had partaken of so many melancholy meals. The trip here from Paris had already imbued her with a passion for further exploration, and I verily beHeve that she would have accompanied the expedition to Yakutsk if not re strained by her less enthusiastic male companions. Bed on such an occasion was not to be thought of, so we visited the theatre and caf& chantants, ending the evening with a supper at the Metropole (previously ordered by the fur merchants) which proved that money, even in Irkutsk, wiU convert a culinary bungler into a very passable chef. Our departure for the North took place very early on the morning of January 19, and I have since heard that nothing would induce our merry little hostess to seek her couch until the tinkle of our sleigh beUs had died out on the frosty air. " A New York ! " she cried, as our horses sprang into their coUars and dashed away down the frosty, sflent street. " N'ayez pas peur ! Nous arriverons," answered de Clin- champ, with a cool assurance which at the time excited my envy, if not admiration! CHAPTER III THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD The distance from Irkutsk to Yakutsk is about 2000 English miles, but the post-road by which we travdled during the first stage of the overland journey is, properly speaking, no road at all. After leaving Irkutsk the traveUer crosses about 150 miles of weU-wooded country, until the upper waters of the Lena river are reached.* In winter time the frozen surface of the latter connects the two dties, and there is no other way by land. A double row of pine branches stuck into the snow at short intervals indicate the track, and this is a necessary precaution, as the hot springs of the Upper Lena frequently render the ice treacherous and unsafe. A sharp look-out is, therefore, kept aU along the line for overflows, and, when necessary, the road is shifted to avoid them, but notwithstanding these precautions, darkness and drunken drivers often cause fatal acddents. In summer time Yakutsk may be reached by small steamers plying from Ust-kutsk on the Lena, about 250 miles by road from Irkutsk. The trip takes about a fortnight down stream, and three weeks in the reverse direction, but sand-bars frequently cause * The Lena river has an estimated length of not less than 3000 miles. It rises in the Baikal mountains and flows north and east past the towns oi Kirensk. Vitimsk, and Olekminsk to Yakutsk, thence it turns to the north-west and enters the Arctic Ocean, form ing a wide delta. The Lena receives several large tributaries, viz., the Vitim, about 1400, the Olekma, about 800, and the Aldan, about 1300 miles long. 24 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND delays, rendered the more irksome by poor accommodation, stifling heat, and clouds of mosquitoes.* Most people in England have a very vague idea of the size of Siberia. It is only by actuaUy visiting the country that one can grasp the harassing difficulties due to appaUing distances and primitive modes of locomotion, especiaUy when the traveUer is bound for the Far North. I wUl, therefore, endeavour to convey to the reader, as briefly as possible, the area of this land of illimitable space, and cannot do so better than by quoting the graphic description given by the American explorer, Mr. George Kennan.f He says : " You can take the whole of the United States of America, from Maine to California and from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico, and set it down in the middle of Siberia without touching anywhere the boundaries of the latter's territory ; you can then take Alaska and all the countries of Europe, with the exception of Russia, and fit them into the remaining margin like the pieces of a dissected map. After having thus accommodated all of the United States, including Alaska, and the whole of Europe, except Russia, you wiU stiU have more than 300,000 mues of Siberian territory to spare. In other words, you wiU stiU have unoccupied in Siberia an area half as large again as the Empire of Germany." According to the census of 1897 the entire population of Siberia is Httle more than that of the English metropolis. A couple of Yakute sleighs sufficed for ourselves and entire outfit. I rode with de Clinchamp in the leading vehicle, whUe Harding and the bulk of the stores foUowed in the other. At first sight, the Yakute sleigh appears to be a clumsy but comfortable contrivance, but very few miles had been covered before I discovered its un limited powers of inflicting pain. For this machine does * This must be very slow travelling, for Dobell, the traveller, writes : " When I descended the Lena from Ust-kutsk in the spring of 1816, I was only fourteen days going to Yakutsk in a large fiat- bottomed boat. " t " Siberia and the Exile System," by George Kennan. THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 25 not glide like a well-behaved sleigh, but advances by leaps and bounds that strain every nerve and musde in the body. In anything like deep, soft snow it generally comes to a standstill, and the combined efforts of men and horses are required to set it going again. However, for the first three or four days, good progress was made at the rate of about 200 versts * in the twenty-four hours, for we travelled night and day. There was no incentive to pass the night in the post-houses, which were generally of a filthy descrip tion, although luxurious compared to the Yakute Yurtas and Tchuktchi huts awaiting us up North. On the Lena post-road, stages were only from fifteen to thirty miles apart, and with a fresh troika (three horses harnessed abreast) at such short intervals, our rate of speed for the first week was very satisfactory. Between Irkutsk and the river Lena part of the road lies through dense forests, which are generally infested" with runaway convicts, so we kept a sharp look-out and revolvers handy. Only a week before we passed through this region a mail-cart had been hdd up and its driver murdered, but I fancy news had filtered through that my expedition was well armed, and we therefore reached the Lena unmolested. The weather at Irkutsk had been comparatively warm, and we were, therefore, unprepared for the intense cold experienced only forty-eight hours after our departure. Although on the evening of the 19th the thermometer had registered only io° below zero Fahrenheit, it suddenly sank during the night to 650 bdow zero, where it remained until the following evening. Oddly enough, a dense mist accompanied the fall of the mercury, rendering the cold infinitely harder to bear. Our drivers declared that this climatic occurrence was most unusual, and the fact re mains that this was the lowest temperature recorded during the entire journey south of the Yakute Yurta of Yuk- Takh, several hundred miles north of Yakutsk. There we had to face 750 bdow zero, but then Yuk-takh adjoins Verkhoyansk, the coldest place in the world. But the * A vast is two-thirds of an English mile. 26 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND dry frosty air of even this remote settlement inconvenienced me far less than the chiUy breeze of a raw November day on the Paris Boulevards with the mercury half a dozen degrees above the freezing-point. On the Lena this Arctic cold only lasted for about eighteen hours, and then slowly rose again, after remaining at about 500 below zero for a couple of days. The severest cold afterwards experienced south of Yakutsk was 510 below zero, and that only upon one occasion. Otherwise it varied from 2° above to 400 below zero, but even that was sufficient to convert our provisions into a granite-like consistency, and at first wearisome delays were occasioned at the post-stations by the thawing out of petrified sardines and tinned soup converted into solid ice. MUk, frozen and cut into cubes, was conveniently carried in a net attached to the sleigh, and this, with tea, was our sole beverage. For a case with a few bottles of Crimean claret, which we had taken to enliven the first portion of the journey, was found when broached to contain nothing but fragments of red ice and broken glass. Even some cognac (for medicinal purposes) was partly frozen in its flask. On the same day de Clin champ, removing his mits to take a photograph, accidentaUy touched some metal on the camera, and his fingers were seared as though with a red-hot iron. Perhaps our greatest annoyance on this voyage was the frequent deprivation of tobacco, that heavenly solace on long and trying journeys. For at even 400 below zero nicotine blocks the pipe-stem and cigar or cigarette freezes firmly to the lips. The moustache also forms a mask of solid ice, and becomes an instrument of torture, so much so that on the third day out on the Lena ours were mercilessly clipped. The post-houses on this road are, as I have said, luxurious as compared to the accommodation found among the Arctic races of Siberia, but I fancy those accustomed to " roughing it," as the word is generaUy understood in England, would find even a trip as far as Yakutsk rather a trial. Of course, these establishments vary from the best, which are about on a par with the labourer's cottage in England, THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 27 to the worst, which can only be described as dens of filth and squalor. AU are built on the same plan. There is one guest-room, a bare carpetless apartment, with a rough wooden bench, a table, and two straight-backed wooden chairs, and the room is heated to suffocation by a huge stove, which occupies a corner of the room. The flimsy plank partition is unpapered, but generaUy plastered with the cheap, crudely coloured prints sold by pedlars. Some of these depicted events connected with our recent war in South Africa, and it is needless to add that the English troops were invariably depicted in the act of ignominious flight.* I purchased one, in which three distinguished British Generals were portrayed upon their knees imploring mercy of Mr. Kruger, and sent it to England, but it never reached its destination. This work of art had been " made in Germany." In every guest-room, however squalid, four objects were never missing : the sacred Ikon, portraits of the Tsar and Tsarina, and a printed copy of the posting rules. On the waU was generaUy also a biU of fare, in faded ink, which showed how many generations of travellers must have been duped by its tempting list of savouiy dishes. I never could ascertain whether these had ever really existed in the far distant past, or whether the notice was a poor joke on the part of the proprietor. In any case, the menu we found was always the same : hot water, sour black bread, and (very rarely) eggs of venerable exterior, for although the inmates of these stations presumably indulge occasionaUy in meat, no amount of bribery would induce them to produce it for our benefit. Vermin was everywhere ; night and day it crawled gaUy over the walls and ceUing, about our bodies, and into our very food, and, although the subject did not interest us, a naturalist would have delighted in the ever-changing varieties of insect life. Of the latter, cockroaches were, ' * I was surprised by the interest displayed by the Russian settlers of this district anent the Boer War. In every village we were eagerly questioned as to how affairs in the Transvaal were progressing. 28 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND I think, the most objectionable, for they can inflict a nasty poisonous bite. Oddly enough, throughout Siberia I never saw a rat, although mice seemed to swarm in every buUding, old or new, which we entered. The Lena post-house has a characteristic odour of unwashed humanity, old sheep skins and stale tobacco. Occasionally, this subtle blend includes a whiff of the cow-shed, which generally means that one or more of its youthful occupants have been carried indoors out of the cold. In winter there is no ventilation whatsoever, save when the heavy felt-lined door is opened and an icy blast rushes in to be instantly converted by the stifling heat into a dense mass of steam. Indoors it was seldom under 8o° Fahrenheit, and although divested of heavy furs we would invariably awaken from a sleep of, perhaps, a couple of hours, drenched with perspiration, in which state we would once more face the pitiless cold. In England such extremes of temperature, experienced day after day, would probably kill the strongest man outright, but here they made no appreciable difference in our bodfly health. It was no doubt rough traveUing along the Lena, and yet the pleasures of the journey far outweighed its iUs. Before reaching the river our way lay across vast deserts of snow, with no objects visible save, at rare intervals, some tiny viUage almost buried in the drifts, its dark roofs peeping out here and there, and appearing at a distance like pieces of charcoal laid on a piece of white cotton-wool. Beyond these nothing but the single telegraph wire which connects Yakutsk with civUisation. Coated with rime it used to stand out like a jewelled thread against the dazzling sky, which merged imperceptibly from darkest sapphire overhead to tenderest turquoise on the horizon. Who can describe the delights of a sleigh journey under such conditions, or realise, in imagination, the charm and novelty of a wild gallop over leagues of snow behind game little Siberian horses, tearing along to the clash of yoke- bells at the rate of twenty miles an hour ! In anything but a Yakute sleigh we should have been in an earthly paradise. THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 29 And on fine evenings, pleasanter stiU was it to lie in the sleigh snugly wrapped in furs, and watch the inky sky powdered with stars — Ursa Major (now almost overhead) sprawling its glittering shape across the heavens, and the little Pleiades twinkling like a diamond spray against dark velvet. At times I could make out every lonely peak and vaUey in the lunar world, and even distinguish far-away Polaris twinlding dimly over the earth's great mystery. The stars are never really seen in misty Europe. But a week, ten days, elapses and so little progress is made in the alarming total of mileage that the heart sinks at the mere thought of the stupendous distance before us. Few viUages are passed and these are invariably alike. A row of ramshackle huts ; at one extremity the post- house with black and white verst post, at the other a rough palisade of logs about twenty feet high, enclosing a space from which a grey column of smoke rises lazily into the frosty air. The building is invisible, but it generally contains one or more unhappy exUes wending slowly towards a place of exUe. Every viUage between Irkutsk and Yakutsk has its Balogan, or resting-place for political offenders, but in the Far North beyond the Arctic Circle, prison bars become superfluous. Nature has taken their place. There can be no doubt that, for monotony, this journey is unequalled. After a few days surrounding objects seemed to float by in a vague dream. Only the " scroop " of the runners and jingle of the sleigh-beUs seemed to be hammered into the brain, for all eternity. And yet, even the beUs in their own way were a godsend, for they were changed (with the yoke) at every station, and I liked to think that every one of the hundred and twenty -two stages were accompanied by a different tune ! There were other drawbacks to complete enjoyment. On the whole, the weather was stUl and clear, but occasionally the sky would darken, down would come the snow, and we would flounder about, sometimes for hours, lost in the drifts. Logs frozen into the river, fissures in the ice, and other causes rendered upsets of almost daUy occurrence, but it was 30 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND generally soft faUing. I remarked that as we proceeded further north the post-horses became wilder and more unmanageable, and it was often more than the drivers could do to hold them. Twice our sleigh was run away with, and once de Clinchamp and myself were thrown with unpleasant force on to hard black ice. On another occasion the troika started off whUe the driver was altering the harness, and went like the wind before we could clamber on to the box, seize the reins, and stop them. The unfor tunate yemstchik * was dragged with them, and I expected to find the poor fellow a mangled corpse, but we puUed him out from under his team badly cut and bruised, but otherwise Httle the worse for the accident. He had clung like grim death to the pole, or the heavy sleigh must have crushed him. During daylight we could afford to laugh at such trifles, but at night time it was a different matter. To tear through the darkness at a breakneck pace at the mercy of three wUd, unbroken horses required some nerve, especiaUy when lying under the koshma as helpless as a sardine in a soldered tin. For the first few days overflows were a constant menace, especially at night when sleep under the apron was out of the question, for any moment might mean a plunge through the ice into the cold dark waters of the Lena. I generaUy had a clasp-knife ready to slash asunder, at a moment's notice, the ropes which secured the apron to the sleigh. After a time I could lie in the dark and teU with unerring precision whether the sleigh was gliding over the river or the land, and whether, in the former case, the ice was black and sound or that dread element, water, was rippling against the runners. If so, out came the clasp-knife, and there was no more koshma for that night. During the first week we frequently passed places where hot springs had broken through the ice. One or two of these holes were quite near the track, and might weU, on a dark night, have brought the expedition to an untimely end. Talking of ice, we noticed a curious phenomenon in * Driver. THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 31 connection with it while journeying down the Lena. On dear sunny days the frozen surface of the river would appear to be sloping downwards at a perceptible gradient in the direction in which we were travelling ; occasionally it would almost seem as though we were descending a fairly steep hill, had not the unrelaxed efforts of our teams suggested the optical delusion which, as long ago as 1828, was observed by Eiman the explorer, who wrote: " I am disposed to think thai this phenomenon was con nected with the glistening and distortion of distant objects which I remarked not only in this part of the valley, but frequently also on the following days. This proved that the air was ascending from the ice and therefore that the lower strata were lighter than those above in which the eye was placed. Under such circumstances a plane per fectly horizontal and level in fact, would appear depressed towards the horizon, or, in other words, it would seem to slope downwards." Scientists must determine whether this be the correct explanation of this strange deception of nature, which was often noticeable on the Lena, although we never observed it elsewhere. We reached Ust-kutsk (the first town of any import ance) on the sixth day. This place figures largely on most English maps, but it is httle more than an overgrown village. A church with apple-green dome and gift crosses, a score of neat houses clustered around the dwelling of an ispravmk,* perhaps a couple of stores for the sale or doth- ing and provisions, and a cleaner post-house than usual : such is a "town" on the banks of the Lena. With the exception of Ust-kutsk there are only three, Kirensk, Vitimsk, and Olekminsk, places of such Uttle general interest that they are chiefly associated in my mind with the four square meals we were able to obtain during those three weeks of incessant traveL At Ust-kutsk for instance, we refreshed the inner man with a steaming bowl of schicki or cabbage soup followed by the tough and * An official who combines the duties of Mayor and Chief of Police. 32 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND greasy chunks of meat that had been boUed in it, and the meal tasted delicious after nearly a week on black bread, an occasional salt fish and dubious eggs. Our own pro visions were so hopelessly frozen that we seldom wasted the time necessary to thaw them out into an eatable con dition. There are salt-mines near Ust-kutsk from which about 50,000 poods * are annually exported throughout the Lena province, and the forests around here contain valuable timber, but agriculture did not seem so prosperous here as in the districts to the north and south. Oddly enough the cultivation of the land seemed to improve as we pro gressed northward, as far as Yakutsk, where, as the reader will presently see, the most modern methods of farming have been successfully adopted by a very peculiar and interesting class of people. I was told that during the navigation season, from June until the latter end of September, Ust-kutsk is a busy place on account of the weekly arrival and departure of the river steamers. But lying sUent and stiU in the icy grip of winter, this appeared to me to be the most desolate spot I had ever set eyes upon. And we left it without regret, notwithstanding that a darkening sky and threaten ing snow-flakes accompanied our departure, and the cold and hunger of the past few days had considerably lowered the high spirits in which we had left Irkutsk. Up tiU now monotony had been the worst evU to bear. In summer time the river as far as Yakutsk is highly cultivated, and smiling villages and fertUe fields can be discerned from the deck of a steamer, but in winter, from a sleigh, nothing is visible day after day, week after week, but an unvarying procession of lime-stone, pine-clad cliffs, which completdy shut out any scenery which may lie beyond them, and between which the bleak and frozen flood lies as inert and motionless as a corpse. Even at Ust-kutsk, nearly 3000 miles from the Arctic Ocean, the stream is as broad as an arm of the sea, which enhances the general * A " pood " is thirty-six English pounds. START FROM UST-KUTSK THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 33 impression of gloom and desolation. But in this world everything is comparative, and we little dreamt, when reviling the Lena, that a time was coming when we should look back even upon this apparently earthly Erebus as a whirlpool of gaiety. When we left Ust-kutsk at about 3 p.m. night was falling fast, a proceeding which scattered snow flakes followed with such vigour that only a few versts had been covered when we were brought to a standstiU by a dense snow storm, which, with a northerly gale, rapidly assumed the proportions of a blizzard. Providence has mercifuUy ordained that a high wind seldom, if ever, accompanies a very low temperature or on this occasion (and many others) we should have fared badly. But here and in the Arctic a faU of the glass was invariably accompanied by a rise of the thermometer, and vice versd. During this, our first storm, it was only eight degrees below zero, and even then it was impossible to face the wind for more than a few moments at a time, for it penetrated our heavy fur coats as though they had been of cripe-de- chine, and cut into the face like the lash of a cat-o'-nine taus. I had never experienced such a gale (although it was nothing to those we afterwards encountered), for the wind seemed to blow from all points of the compass at once as we blundered blindly along through the deep snow, pushing and hauling at the sleighs as weU as our numbed hands and cumbersome garments would permit. So blinding was the snow we couldn't see a yard ahead ; so fierce the wind we could scarcely stand up to it. Suddenly both teams gave a wild plunge which sent us sprawling on our faces and when I regained my feet the sleighs were upset and the horses, snorting with terror, were up to their girths in a snow drift. I then gave up all hopes of reaching a station that night. For over an hour we worked like galley-slaves, and suddenly when we had finaUy got things partly righted, the wind dropped as if by magic, and one or two stars peeped out overhead. The rapidity with which the weather can change in these 34 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND regions is simply marvellous. We often left a post-house in clear weather, and, less than an hour after, were fighting our way in the teeth of a gale and heavy snow. An hour later and stillness would again reign, and the sun be shining as before ! We now quickly took advantage of the lull to push on and in a few hours were rewarded by the glimmering lights of a post-house. We had reached the viUage of Yakurimsk and, being fairly exhausted by the cold and hard work, I resolved to stay here the night. This was our first experience of frost-bite (both faces and hands suffered severely), which is not actuaUy painful until circulation returns, and care must then be taken not to approach a fire. I have always found that snow, vigorously rubbed on the frozen part, is the best remedy. The stage between Ust-kutsk and Zakurimsk was a short one, only about eighteen versts, but it took us six hours to make it. When we awoke next morning bright sunshine was streaming into the guest-room, which was older and filthier than usual. But it possessed a cracked and cloudy looking-glass which dimly reflected three countenances swollen and discoloured beyond recognition. For we had neglected to anoint our faces with grease (Lanoline is the best), but after this experience never neglected this essential precaution. The postmaster at Yakurimsk, a decrepit Pole of benign but unwashed exterior, informed me that the woods around his viUage swarmed with bears, and that on pay ment of a few roubles for beaters he could ensure us a good day's sport. But although the offer was tempt ing I did not feel justified in risking the dday. Wolves had also been numerous, but had, as usual, confined their attacks to pigs and cattle. Before visiting Siberia I had the usual fallacious notion concerning the aggressiveness of this meek and much maligned animal. I remember, in my early youth, a coloured plate depicting a snow scene and a sleigh being hotly pursued at fuU gallop by a pack of hungry and savage-looking wolves. In the sleigh was a Cossack pale with terror, with a baby in his teeth and a ^Sfe^te* X ¦ THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 35 pistol in each hand. I fancy that, in riper years, I must have unconsciously based my estimate of the wolf's ferocity on this illustration, for I have now crossed Siberia four times without being attacked, or even meeting any one who had been molested. The only wolf which ever crossed my path was a haggard mangy-looking specimen, which, at first sight, I took for a half-starved dog. We met in a lonely wood near Krasnoyarsk in Western Siberia, but, as soon as he caught sight of me, the brute turned and ran for his life ! Our drivers and horses were exchanged at every station so that the severe work of the previous night did not retard our progress after leaving Yakurimsk. The weather was fine and we made good headway until the 28th, on the afternoon of which day we reached the second town of Kirensk. A few mUes above the latter the Lena makes a wide dJtour of fifty to sixty miles and the post-road is laid overland in a straight line to avoid it. It was a reHef to exchange, if only for a few hours, that eternal vista of lime-stone and pines for a more extended view. The Kirensk mountains are here crossed, a range which, although of no great altitude, is precipitous and thickly wooded, so much so that in places the sleighs could scarcely pass between the trees. The climb was severe, but a lovely view over hundreds of mUes of country amply rewarded our exertions. The glorious panorama of mountain, stream, and woodland stretching away on aU sides to the horizon, intersected by the sUvery Lena, was after the flat and dismal river scenery like a draught of clear spring water to one parched with thirst. Overhead a network of rime- coated branches sparkled against the blue with a bright and almost unnatural effect that reminded one of a Christmas card. A steep and difficult descent brought us to the plains again and after a pleasant drive through forests of pine and cedar interspersed with mountain ash and a pretty red- berried shrub of which I ignore the name, we arrived, almost sorry that the short land trip was over, at Kirensk. 36 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Although not the largest, this is the prettiest and cleanest- looking town on the Lena. Perhaps our favourable im pressions of the place were partly due to the dazzling sunshine and still, delicious air. Dull skies and a fog would, perhaps, have made a world of difference ; but as, under existing conditions, Kirensk afforded us the only interval of real rest and enjoyment on the Lena, we were proportion ately grateful. And it was almost a pleasure to walk through the neat streets, with their gaUy painted houses and two or three really fine stores, where any article from a ship's anchor to a gramophone seemed to be on sale. A few mercantUe houses and a busy little dockyard, with a couple of river-steamers in course of construction, explained the prosperous appearance of this attractive little town, which contrasted cheerfully with aU others which we saw in Siberia. The inn was quite in keeping with its surroundings, and perhaps a longer time than was absolutely necessary was passed there, for dejeuner was served, not in the usual dark fusty room reeking with foul odours, but in a bright, cheerful little apartment with comfortable furniture and a table set with a white cloth and spotless china by a window overlooking the river. There was a mechanical organ, too, which enlivened us with " La MarseUlaise " and " Loin du Pays " as a pretty waiting-maid in Russian costume served us with some exceUent cutlets and an omelette, which were washed down with a bottle of Crimean wine. These culinary detaUs may appear trifles to the reader, but they had already become matters of moment to us. And the sun shone so brightly that the claret glowed Uke a ruby in the glass as we drank to the success of the expedition and our friends in far-away France and England. And so susceptible is man to the influence of his surroundings that for one fleeting hour New York seemed no distance away to speak of ! After leaving Kirensk the horses were harnessed gusem or tandem fashion, for it is here necessary to leave the river and travel along its shores where the roadway becomes a mere track three or four feet wide through the forests. THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 37 As our sleighs were unusuaUy broad, this caused some trouble, and once or twice trees had to be feUed before we could proceed. When Vitimsk was reached, on" February 2, the drivers there flatly refused to embark upon a stage until the breadth of our sleighs had been reduced by at least one-third. Fortunately the weather changed for the worse, and snow-storms and a stiff Northern gale would have greatly impeded us, so that the lost time was not so precious as it might have been. There is no inn at Vitimsk, but the post-house was clean and comfortable, and the ispravnik, on reading the Governor's letter, also placed his house and services at my disposal, but I only availed myself of the latter to hasten the alteration to the sleighs. The only wheelwright in Vitimsk being an incorrigible drunkard, this operation would, under ordinary circum stances, have occupied at least a week ; under the watchful eye of the stern official it was finished in forty-eight hours. Politically, I am a Radical, but I am bound to admit that there are circumstances under which an autocratic form of Government has its advantages. Until Vitimsk was reached we had met but few traveUers during our journey down the Lena, certainly under a score, in all, which was fortunate, considering the limited accom modation en route. But at Vitimsk I was destined to come across not only an Englishman but a personal friend. The meeting, on both sides, was totaUy unexpected, and as on the evening of our arrival, I watched a sleigh drive up through the blinding storm and a shapeless bundle of furs emerge from it and stagger into the post-house, I little dreamt that the newcomer was one with whom I had passed many a pleasant hour in the realms of civilisation. The recognition was not mutual, for a week of real Siberian travel wiU render any man unrecognisable. " Pardon, M'sieu," began the stranger, and I at once recognised the famUiar British accent ; " Je reste ici seulement une heure." " Faites, monsieur," was my reply. But as I spoke the fur-clad giant looked up from the valise he was unstrapping and regarded me curiously. "WeU, I'm d d," 38 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND he said, after a long pause, " if it isn't Harry de Windt." But Talbot Clifton had to reveal his identity, for months of hardship and privation, foUowed by a dangerous illness, and so altered his appearance that I doubt if even his mother would have recognised her son in that post-house at Vitimsk. Clifton had already passed a year among the Eskimo on the Northern coast of the American conti nent, when, in the summei of 1901, he descended the Lena as far as its delta on the Arctic Ocean. Here he remained for several months, living with the natives and accompany ing them on their fishing and shooting expeditions. In the faU of the year he returned to Yakutsk, where he con tracted a chiU which developed into double pneumonia, and nearly cost him his life. My friend, who was now on his way home to England, had only bad news for us. The reindeer to the north of Yakutsk were so scarce and so weak that he had only just managed to struggle back there from Bulun, on the delta, a trifling trip com pared to the journey we were about to undertake. Moreover, the mountain passes south of Verkhoyansk were blocked with snow, and, even if deer were obtainable, we might be detained on the wrong side of the range for days, or even weeks. AU things considered, I would rather not have met Clifton at this juncture, for his gloomy predictions seemed to sink into the hearts of my companions — and remain there. However, a pleasant evening was passed with the assistance of tobacco and a viUainous mixture, which my friend concocted with fiery vodka and some wUd berries, and caUed punch. I doubt if, before this notable occasion, Vitimsk had ever con tained (at the same time) two Englishmen, a Frenchman, and the writer, who may daim to be a little of both. St Talbot Clifton left early the next day, and before sunset the sleighs were finished and we were once more on the road. From Vitimsk I despatched telegrams to the Governor of Yakutsk and the London Daily Express, and was surprised at the moderate charges for transmission. Of ccurse, the messages had to be written in Russian, but VIEW OF VITIMSK Qs^ <* VITIMSK, MY SLEIGH IN THli FORJiGROUND THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 39 they were sent through at five and ten kopeks a word respectively.* Vitimsk is, perhaps, less uninteresting than other towns on the Lena, for two reasons. It is the centre of a large and important gold-mining district, and the finest sables in the world are found in its immediate neighbourhood. Up tiU four years ago the gold was worked in a very desultory way, but machinery was introduced in 1898, and last year an already large output was trebled. This district is said to be richer than the Klondike, but only Russian subjects may work the gold. Olekminsk (pronounced " Alokminsk ") was now our objective point. I shaU not weary the reader with the detaUs of this stage, for he is probably already too famUiar, as we were at this juncture, with the physical and social aspects of travel on the Lena. Suffice it to say that a considerable portion of the journey was accomplished through dense forests, during which the sleighs were upset on an average twice a day by refractory teams, and that the filthiest post-houses and worst weather we had yet experienced added to the discomfort of the trip. BHzzards, too, were now of frequent occurrence, and once we were lost for nearly eighteen hours in the drifts and suffered severely from cold and hunger. Nearing Yakutsk traveUers became more numerous, and we met some strange types of humanity. Two of these, traveUing together, are stamped upon my memory. They consisted of an elderly, bewigged, and powdered Httle Italian, his German wife, a much-berouged lady of large proportions and flaxen hair, with a poodle. We met them at midnight in a post-house, where they had annexed every avaUable inch of sleeping space the tiny hut afforded. A gale and gusts of sleet rendered further progress impossible for that night, and I was therefore compelled to break in upon the conjugal privacy of the couple and their faithful companion. Monsieur, who was sleeping on * A kopek is the one-hundredth part of a rouble ;] the value of the latter is about 2s. id. 40 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND the floor, at once made room for us, but Madame, who (with the poodle) occupied the bench, fiercdy resented the intrusion and threatened de Clinchamp, the first to enter the room, with summary vengeance if he did not at once retire. This my friend pohtdy did, but it was so bitterly cold outside that I battered at the bolted door of the guest-room until the Httle ItaUan emerged, and volubly explained the situation. His massive consort, it appeared, invariably disrobed at night (even in a Lena post-house !), and was not prepared to receive visitors. GaUantry forbade further discussion, and we shared the post-master's dark doset with his wife and five squaUing chUdren. The room, about ten feet by four, possessed the atmosphere of a Turkish bath, and an odour as though it had, for several months, harboured a thriving famUy of ferrets. But with a lady in the question there was nothing to be done. When we awoke next morning the strange couple had departed. I never saw them again, but from what I after wards heard at Yakutsk their mission to that dty was such a shady one that I question if " Madame's " modesty was not assumed for the occasion. The remainder of the journey from here to Yakutsk was accomplished without further inddent, and the town of Olekminsk so resembles its predecessors as to need no description. We reached the place late at night, but the ispravnik was more hospitably indined than others we had met, and gave us supper while the teams were changed. One of the dishes would certainly have found favour in a Paris restaurant — a fish called " Ndma," which is found only in the Lena, and is served uncooked and in thin frozen slices. Ices and champagne terminated the little repast, which was presided over by our host's pretty wife. The only other guest was one VassUy Brando, a political exile, whose intimacy with the ispravnik was strangdy at variance with aU that I had heard and read con cerning exiles in the remoter parts of Siberia. Brando, a Jewish-looking person with keen dark eyes, was under going a sentence of eight years here after the usual term THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 41 of preliminary imprisonment in Europe. During his incar ceration Brando had taught himself English, which he now spoke almost fluently. This exUe told me that Olekminsk contained twenty other politicals, and was preferred to any other town or viUage on the Lena as a place of detention. Neither he nor his companions could travel for more than ten versts in any direction without a special permit from the Governor of Yakutsk, but, as the poor feUow pathetically remarked, " That's no great hardship ! " The exUes at Olekminsk may frequently receive letters and communicate with their friends (under the supervision of the authorities), and the solace of modern Hterature is not denied them so long as it is not connected with Socialism. Brando was an ardent admirer of Rudyard Kipling, and could, I verily beHeve, have passed an examination in most of his works, j We took leave of our kind host, Captain Bereskine, at midnight. It was bitterly cold (300 below zero), and I was, therefore, surprised when we alighted at the first post-house, after a long stage of thirty-five mUes, to find our host simlingly awaiting us with sandwiches, cigarettes, and a bottle of cognac ! He had passed us on the road, determined, even at considerable discomfort to himself, that we should travel, at any rate through his district, in comfort. Such a thing could never have occurred in any country but Siberia, where hospitality is looked upon (amongst Russians) as the first duty of man. Just imagine leaving your host on a cold winter's night in England to travel from London to Edinburgh and finding him waiting at, say, Hitchin to bid you a final fareweU. But the simile is weak, for there is a vast difference between an open sleigh and a sleeping-car. An interesting personahty we afterwards met on the road to Yakutsk was Dr. Herz, the famous naturalist, whom we fortunately came across in a post-house, for it gave me an opportunity of a chat with the Doctor anent his now weU-known discovery, the " latest Siberian Mammoth," which he was conveying in sections, packed in twenty sleighs, to Irkutsk. Dr. Herz gave us, like Talbot CHfton, 42 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND very disheartening accounts of affairs north of Yakutsk. The Doctor had traveUed here from the Kolyma river (our goal on the Arctic Ocean) only with the greatest difficulty on account of the scarcity of reindeer and the dangerous condition of the mountain passes. The task of conveying the mammoth, even as far as this point, had been an almost superhuman one, but no trouble or expense had been spared in the preservation of this antedUuvian monster, which is undoubtedly the most perfect specimen of its kind ever brought to light. The animal was found frozen into a huge block of ice, as it had evidently faUen from a cliff overhead, for the forelegs were broken and there were other signs of injury. The flesh of the mammoth (which measures about twenty feet high) was of a pinkish colour and as fresh, in appearance, as during the monster's lifetime, countless ages ago. Some grasses found in the mouth had been carefuUy preserved, and have since been analysed with the view of ascertaining the age of the pre historic monster. Time was now of the greatest importance to Doctor Herz, for everything depended upon the arrival of his treasure in European Russia in a frozen condition. A few days of warm muggy weather nearing Europe might render futUe the task of many months of hardship. So our interview was of short duration, but I am glad to say that the eminent Professor eventuaUy met with success, and that his priceless addition to the treasury of natural history now occupies a niche of honour in the Imperial Academy of Science in Petersburg. Nearing Yakutsk the country becomes unutterably wUd and desolate. Forest trees are now replaced for mUes and mUes by low withered scrub and dwarf fir-trees on either side of the river. As we proceed the Lena graduaUy widens untU it resembles a succession of huge lakes, where even our practised drivers have some difficulty in finding the way. The Russian language is now seldom heard, for in the viUages a kind of native patois is spoken. And yet the country is more thickly populated than up-river, although the pretty Russian isba has given place to the NVIVMSrIOII ',|l.i|MVA V '>[SI,.I>IVA I IN I N WIN THE CITY OF YAKUTSK IN SUMMER THE GREAT LENA POST ROAD 43 Yakute ywte, a hideous flat-roofed mud-hut, with blocks of ice for window-panes, and yellow-faced weirdly dad inmates, with rough, uncooth manners and the beady black eyes of the Tartar. And one cold grey morning I awaken, worn out with cold and fatigue, to peer with skepy eyes, no longer down the familiar avenue of ice and pine- trees, but across a white and dreary wilderness of snow. On the far horizon, dividing earth and sky. a thin drab streak is seen which soon merges, in the clear sun-rise, into the faint semblance of a city. Golden domes and tapering fire-towers are soon distinguishable, and our driver grows proportionately loquacious as his home is neared. " Ya kutsk ! " he cries, with a wave of his short, heavy whip, and I awaken de Qmchamp, still slumbering peacefully. with the welcome news that the first important stage of our long land-journey is nearly at an end.* * This -was on February 14., 1002, and 7S00 miles \>at of a some what aborning xc»t__I> now lay behind us. To reach this from Irkutsk we had employed - 20 horses, at a cos* of under j>> for both sleighs. CHAPTER IV THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE During our stay in Yakutsk we were" the guests of the Chief of Police, an offidal generaUy assodated (in the EngHsh mind) with mystery and oppression.fdungeons and the knout. But Captain Zuyeff in no way resembled his prototype of the London stage and penny novdette. By rights our host should have been a cool cynical viUain, always in fuU uniform, and continuaUy turning up at awkward moments to harass some innocent victim, instead of which he was rather a commonplace but benevolent in dividual devoted to his wife and chUd and consumed with a passion for photography, which was shared by many of the exUes under his charge. I once had occasion to go to his office and found Zuyeff in his shirt sleeves, busfly engaged in devdoping " Kodak " films with a pohtical who had dined at his house the night before ! But this would never have done for a transpontine audience. Yakutsk (which was founded in 1633 by the Cossack Beketoff) presents, at a distance, a rather imposing appear ance, quickly dispdled on doser acquaintance. For a more Hfdess, depressing dty does not exist on the face of this planet. Even Siberians caU this the end of the world. The very name of the place suggests gloom and mystery, for the news that filters through from here, at long intervals, into'dvUisation is generaUy assodated with some tragedy or|disaster, such as the awful fate of poor de Long and his companions [of jthe Jeanette in the Lena ddta, or more recently the Yakutsk Prison Mutiny. The Tsar's remotest THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 45 capital, is composed mainly of time-bleached wooden buildings of gloomy appearance even on the brightest day. We saw Yakutsk at its best, for in summer time the dusty streets and dingy dwellings are revealed in all the dirt and squalor which were concealed from our gaze by a clean mantle of snow. There are no public buUdings to speak of, but the golden domes of half a dozen fine churches tower over the dull drab town partly rdieving the sombre effect produced by an absolute lack of colour. Even the palace of the Governor is a mean- looking one-storied c^difice, scarcdy fit for the ruler of a province seven times the size of France ! A Cossack stockade of great age faces the palace ; and its dilapidated wooden walls are tottering with age, but are yet in keeping with most of the houses around them. There is a legend concerning this fort (erected by Cossacks in 1647) which may, or may not, be true. The natives granted these first settlers as much land, for the erection of a dtadeL as they could endrde with a limited number of reindeer skins. But the wily Russians cut the skins into thin, very long strips and took possession of an extensive site for a town. At present Yakutsk is a dty of the past, one may almost add of the dead, where ghosts walk in the shape of surly Russian traders clad in the fashion of a century ago, and sinister-looking fur-clad Yakutes. And yet the dead here may be said to hve, for corruption is delayed for an in definite period, so intense is the cold. Shortly before our arrival a young Russian girl was exhumed for legal purposes, and her body was found in exactly the same condition as when it was interred five years before. This however is scarcdy surprising in a soil which is perpetually frozen to a depth of six hundred feet. The uncanny sensation of gloom and despondency which here assails the traveller is not mit gated by the knowledge that, to reach Yakutsk you must slowly wade, as we had done, through a httle hell of monotony, hunger, and filth. To leave it you must retrace your steps through the same purgatory of mental and physical misery. There 46 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND is no other way home and so, to the stranger fresh from Europe, the place is a sink of despair. And yet Yakutsk only needs capital, energy, and enterprise to convert her into a centre of modern commerce and civUisation. Gold abounds in aU the affluents of the Lena ; last year the out put in the Vitimsk district alone was over a quarter of a mUlion sterling, and the soU is practically untouched. Iron also exists in very large quantities, to say nothing of very fair steam coal near the delta ; and there is prac- ticaUy a mountain of sUver known to exist near the city. Lead and platinum have also been found in considerable quantities further afield. Were the Yakutsk province an American State the now desolate shores of the Lena would swarm with prosperous towns, and the city would long ere this have become a Siberian El Dorado of the merchant and miner.* As it is the trade of this place is nothing to what it could be made, in capable and energetic hands, within a very short space of time. Here, as every where else on the river, the summer is the busiest season. In August a fair is held on the Lena in barges, which drift down the river from Ust-kutsk with European merchan dise of every description. In the faU the barges are towed back by steamers, exporting furs, fish, and ivory to the value of twenty miUion roubles, the goods brought in only amounting to about a twentieth part of that sum. Steamers run frequently in the open season both up and down the river as far as Bulun in the Arctic Ocean, which tiny settlement yearly exports large quantities of salt fish, furs, and walrus tusks.f In former days before the Russians annexed the Amur river there was regular communication between Yakutsk and Okhotsk, on the sea of that name, but although the road, or rather track, stiU exists, it is now rarely used. J However, American and Chinese goods do occasionaUy find * In face of these natural resources it is satisfactory to note that a hne from Irkutsk to Yakutsk could be laid with little difficulty. T Steam navigation on the Lena river was introduced in 188 s X bee projected railway route, chap. xix. THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 47 their way into Siberia by Okhotsk, for the latter is a free port, and if merchandise is destined for the Lena province, it is cheaper to send it in this way than via Vladivostok and the Amur, especially as steamers now visit the sea of Okhotsk every summer, sailing from Vladivostok and making the round trip vid Gijija, Ayan, and Okhotsk.* In winter time, when the track is in good condition, the trip from Okhotsk to Yakutsk occupies about a fortnight, with horse sledges. In summer the goods are carried over the mountains to the head of the Nelkan River, which is reached twice during the season by steamers plying from Yakutsk, a journey of two weeks up stream and about half the time down. The Nelkan district is said to be fabulously rich in gold, so much so that Mr. Siberikoff, a prominent Siberian million aire, lately visited the place with a view to constructing a railway to connect Nelkan with Ayan, on the sea of Okhotsk, a distance of about two hundred versts. f The line would be a costly one, but the country is said to be so rich, that no expense is to be spared in opening it up. Steamers also run from Yakutsk up to Viluisk but the trade with this place amounts to very little, £5000 or £6000 in all, every summer. Near Viluisk is the Hospital for Lepers founded some years ago by the English nurse, Miss Kate Marsden. In view of the conflicting statements which have appeared in England regarding this institution it is only fair to say that the lady in question is still spoken of in Yakutsk witli respect and affection, and that the infirmary, which alter much suffering and hardship she contrived to organise, is still in a flourishing condition. In 1901 it contained more than seventy patients in charge of a physician, his two assistants and three sisters of charity. As for the dimate here it is no better and no worse than other places in this latitude, although Yakutsk is said lo be the coldest place in winter and the hottest in summer in the world. But this is probably a mistake, for I carefully searched records of the temperature kept * The Port of Ola is now also called at. t This line is now commonced. Set chap. xix. 48 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND daily for the past fifteen years, and found that the greatest summer heat experienced during that period was 7S0 Fahrenhdt in the shade, which is cooler than an average EngHsh summer ; 690 below zero appeared to be the greatest cold here between the months of October and March, whUe at Verkhoyansk we experienced 7S0 bdow zero, which is, I imagine, about as low as the thermometer can fall on this earth. Winter here begins in September, and by the first week in October the country is ice-bound, and semi-darkness and 550 to 65"" bdow zero continue until the spring. In May the Lena breaks up, flooding the country for hundreds of miles and isolating Yakutsk for about a month, during which you can neither get to the dty nor leave it.* During the three months of summer dust and douds or mosquitoes render life almost unbearable. And yet Yakutsk is a paradise compared to a certain settlement. which I shaU presently describe, within the Arctic drde. The day foUowing our arrival a lunch was given in our honour by the Governor at the Palace, a ramshackle old buuding, comfortably furnished, but with no attempt at ostentation. The household was more like that of an English country house, and there was none of the stateli- ness and ceremony here which characterised the Governor's Palace at Irkutsk. Nor was I sorry for it, for in this land of hunger and long distances man can wdl dispense with formality and etiquette. We sat down over a score to lunch, including half a dozen ladies, one, at least, of whom was young and attractive, and as daintily gowned as though she had just returned from a drive in the Bois de Boulogne. But Madame V the bride of a Govern ment official had arrived here too recentlv to acquire the mUdewed appearance (I can use no other term), which * The Lena is not perfectly free from ice until the end of May or early in June. By October _;o it is generally froien over. " It is a peculiarity of these northern rivers that their waters are mainly de rived from the melting snows in June and July, when the Lena, for example, overflowing its banks spreads here and there to a width of 60 miles or more." (" In the Lena Delta," by G. \Y. Mel ville.) THE SUMMER FAIR ON THE LENA OLD COSSACK FORI AT YAKUTSK THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 49 every woman seems to acquire after a prolonged residence in Yakutsk. The meal was a merry one and was followed by music and dancing until nightfall, when another repast was served. By the way, although the pangs of hunger had often assailed us on the road, the frequency of meals here was our greatest trial. For they seemed to continue at short intervals throughout the twenty -four hours. The house of our host, the Chief of Police, was, for Yakutsk, an extremely quiet and orderly one, and yet I never once succeeded in getting to bed before 4 o'dock in the morning, chiefly because the prmcipal meal of the day was only served at midnight. Breakfast at 9 ajm. consisted of such dainties as black bread, smoked fish, and cheese. f This was followed at mid-day by a heavier meal where wines, beer, and fiery vodka played an important part. At 3 pj*. a dinner of several courses was discussed, and at 3 km. tea (accompanied by sweets and cakes) was again partaken of. The midnight supper aforementioned wound up the day. A sideboard in the dming-room was laid out with salt fish, ham, caviar, raw cucumber, &c, for snacks at odd moments! There was seldom more than about three or four hours sleep, but a siesta was generally in dulged in from 4 to 7 p.m. and a stay of ten days here con vinced me of the wisdom of tins arrangement. Most of the men passed their evenings in gambling at cards, but the women appeared to have absolutely no occupation of a rational kind. The entire city only boasted of three pianos, but nearly every house possessed a gramophone, which generally provided the music after dinner, when the ladies would sit in a silent circle and hsten to the ruth less assassination of Massenet and Mascagni, while the men played cards or walked up and down the room chatting and smoking, and frequently adjourning to the buffet, which in Yakutsk, is seldom far distant. Once a month an amateur performance is given at the club and we attended one of these entertainments, which was, how ever, of a wearisome description, commencing at about 6 P-M. and lasting till long after midnight. Of course 50 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND there was, as usual, plenty to eat and drink between the acts.* As sometimes happens in this world men here are far better off than women, for the former are occupied during the day with thdr professional duties, and, if so mclined, they can obtain exceUent fishing and shooting within a day's journey. The Verkhoyansk mountains can be reached in under a week, and here there are elk, wild sheep, and other big game, but for the unfortunate fair sex, Hfe is one eternal round of hopdess monotony. There is not even a regiment to enliven the dreariness of existence, for the garrison consists of about one hundred and fifty Cossacks, with only a couple of officers in command. Nor is there a newspaper ; only a dry offidal journal printed once a month, whue the tdegrams recdved by the Governor are sent round to subscribers of one rouble per month. In summer it is possible to walk or drive about, notwithstanding the mosquitoes, but in spring or winter-time the women here are often kept indoors for days together by the floods or piercing cold. No wonder that physical strength is soon impaired by an idle Hfe, stimulants, and the eternal cigarette, or that moral laxity should foUow the daily contamination of spicy scandal and pernidous French Hterature. I have heard Siberians assert that Yakutsk is the most immoral dty in the world, and (with a mental reservation regarding Bucharest) I fdt bound to agree with them. For if only one-half of the tales which I heard concerning the gay doings of the /lite here were true, then must the wicked little Roumanian capital " take " (to use a slang expression) "a back seat." Apparently this state of affairs has existed for some time, for when * The Russian Admiral Von Wrangell (who visited Yakutsk in 1820) wrote : "The inhabitants are not in an advanced state of intellectual cultivation. They pass much of their super-abundant leisure in somewhat noisy assemblages where eating and drinking play a principal part. After dinner, which is a very substantial meal, and at which naNvka, a liquor made of brandy, berries, and sugar, is not spared, the gentlemen pass the afternoon with cards and punch, and the ladies gather round the tea-table," THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 51 Admiral MdvUle, of the Jeannette, was here twenty years ago, searching the coast for his unfortunate shipmates, he attended a reception given on New Year's Eve by the Lieutenant-Governor, and was told by the latter that, " on that night, as on no other, every man had his own wife at his side instead of some other man's." * At the time of our visit Yakutsk contained under a score of poHtical exUes, who seemed to be no worse off, socially, than any one else, for they moved fredy about in society and were constantly favoured guests of the Chief of Police. The exUes, however, were not permitted to take part in the private theatricals I have mentioned, a restriction which caused them great annoyance. Their loud and unfavourable criticisms from the stalls on the evening in question were certainly not in the best of taste, and, to my surprise, they were not resented by the Governor's staff. This incident wiU show that, in Yakutsk at any rate, the " poHticals " are treated not only with leniency but with a friendly courtesy, which on this occasion was certainly abused. Mr. Olenin, an exUe whose term of banishment was ex piring, told me that he had no fault whatever to find with Yakutsk as a place of exfle, so much so that he had resolved not to return to Russia at the end of his sentence, but to remain here and complete an ethnological work upon which he was engaged. As wiU presently be seen (in the eighth chapter), I do not in any way hold a brief for the Russian Government, although I have occasionaUy been accused (in the EngHsh Press) of painting its prisons in couleur de rose for my own private ends. I simply state what I saw on this and subsequent occasions, and am glad to say that in Yakutsk the condition of the poHtical exUes was as satisfactory as it could possibly be made in such a rigorous climate and amidst such cheerless surroundings. I obtained from Mr. Olenin a plain and unvarnished account of the Yakutsk prison revolt, and subsequent " massacre," which aroused such indignation in England * " In the Lena Delta," by G. W. Melville. 53 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND a few years ago. It was then reported that the poHtical exUes here were subjected to such cruelty whUe in prison that they unsuccessfuUy tried to starve themselves and then mutinied, upon which both men and women were mercilessly butchered. As a matter of fact, at the com mencement of the incident the exiles were not confined in prison at aU, but were living in provisional liberty. What really happened was this. A party (numbering about half a dozen of both sexes), which was bound for Verkhoyansk, carried more baggage than usual, and the season being far advanced, the Governor of Yakutsk directed that the exiles should start forthwith without their belongings, which should be sent after them as soon as possible. Otherwise, he explained, the politicals might not reach their destination before the break-up of the roads, which would probably mean death from starvation or by drowning in the floods. But an angry discussion foUowed this edict, and as the politicals were assembling in the open street for departure a young student lost his temper and fired his revolver, killing a policeman. A general mile'e ensued, during which several persons were accidentaUy kUled and wounded, for a large crowd had been attracted by the sound of firearms. The exUes, Fiiff, Minor, and Pik, were shot dead on the spot. A young woman, Madame Gourie- vitch, about to become a mother, was bayoneted, and died in great agony. FinaUy, after a hard struggle, the culprits were secured and confined in the prison, where some of them did undoubtedly try to starve themselves in order to escape execution. The case was tried at Petersburg, and three of the ringleaders, Zotoff, Haussmann, and Bernstein, were duly hanged in the Yakutsk gaol. Zotoff, who had been badly wounded during the fight, had to be carried on his bed to the scaffold. The other exUes received long terms of imprisonment at the political prison at Akatui, where I saw and conversed with them in 1894.* The women were sent to VUuisk, but have since been liberated. * For further details of this prison see " The New Siberia " bv Harry de Windt. Chatto and Windus, London. 1896. i\\>k \ vkv vrs &M i M - JfLV ^*7- &v^s_ asr a*s_ _ sf&J THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 53 Criminal convicts here are also weU cared for, although the prison, which contained about ninety inmates, was old and dilapidated, like almost every other building in the place. But the wards appeared to be fairly clean and weU warmed, a comfortable infirmary adjoined the building, and also a home maintained by private subscriptions for the chUdren of prisoners. Enforced idleness seemed to be the chief complaint from which the convicts were suffering, for during the long winter months it is naturally difficult to find them employment. Being aware that Russian officials are seldom overpaid, the lavish style in which they entertained us astonished me, for provisions of aU kinds must, I imagined, always be at famine prices in a town within measurable distance of the Arctic regions. But inquiry proved that I was entirely wrong, and that living here is as cheap, if not cheaper, than in Irkutsk. It used not to be so when, in former days, Yakutsk was surrounded by vast marshes, often submerged, and apparently quite useless for the purposes of cultivation.* But these are now converted into fertile plains of grain and pasture, this innovation being entirely due to the " Skoptsi," a religious sect exUed from European Russia, who, by dint of thrift and industry, have raised a flourishing colony on the outskirts of the city.f Cultivation was formerly deemed impossible in this inclement region, but now the Skopt exile amasses wealth while the Russian emigrant gazes discon solately at the former's rich fields and sleek cattle, and wonders how it is all done. For the Skoptsi are up-to-date farmers, employing modern American machinery, which they import into the country via Vladivostok. And their efforts have been amply repaid, for in 1902 the sale of corn and barley, formerly unknown here, realised the sum * The explorer Dobell wrote : "In the autumn of 1813 I found that agriculture had advanced no further than Olekma (Olekminsk), 600 versts above Yakutsk." t The Skoptsi faith, the practice of which is strictly forbidden in Russia, entails a life of absolute chastity. This sect can only acquire new members by election, since both sexes so mutilate their persons that they can neither beget nor bear children. ^ _ ^ 54 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND of over a miUion roubles. Thirty years ago this district contained but few 'herds of cattle, and now nearly two miUion roubles' worth of frozen meat is annuaUy exported to the various settlements up and down the river. The inhabitants of Yakutsk are also indebted to these in dustrious exUes for the fact that their markets are now provided with vegetables of most kinds, although only the potato was procurable some years ago. Now cabbages, beetroot, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, and lettuce are to be had in season at a reasonable price, to say nothing of ddidous water-melons in August, but I could not find that any other kind of garden-fruit was grown here, although wild berries are both numerous and delicious. The Skoptsi exUes, who number about six hundred, inhabit a viUage caUed Markha about seven versts from Yakutsk. Every man and woman in the place (there are of course no children) is a Skopt. We visited Markha one bright morning, driving out with the Governor, his staff and several other officials in about a dozen sleighs in aU. Breakfast had been prepared for us at the house of the wealthiest Skopt in the viUage, and we did justice to it with appetites sharpened by the drive through the keen frosty air. There was a breeze and the cold was piercing, but once indoors the sun streamed into the room with such force that I was compelled to move my seat away from a window. One might have been lunching in the late spring at Nice or BeauHeu. The scrupulous deanliness of Markha after the dirt and squalor of most Siberian viUages was striking. Our host's sitting room contained even palms and flowers, artificial, of course, but cheerful to the eye. He himsdf waited on us during the meal, and continually plied his guests with champagne and other rare vintages, for the Skopt, although a miser|at heart, is fond of displaying his wealth. Avarice is the characteristic of these people, although they are kind to their own poor. We visited an institution maintained soldy by the viUage for the old and decrepit of both sexes, and this" place would have done credit to a European city. On the way to this THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 55 establishment we passed several windmills, a rare sight in Siberia, also a number of corn and saw nulls driven by steam. The engines were of American make, also aU the agricultural madiinery, which was shown us with pardonable pride. In every shed we entered the cattle looked sleek and weU fed, and the poorest and tiniest hut had its poultry yard. The Lena Provmce now contains over 300,000 head of cattle, and their number is yearly increasing. When the Skoptsi first came here, forty years ago, cows and oxen were numbered by the hundred. Books and European newspapers were plentiful in aU the houses we visited in Markha, and the Skoptsi with whom I conversed were men of considerable inteUigence, wdl up in the questions of the day. But their personal appearance is anything but attractive. Most of the men are enormously stout, with smooth flabby faces and duU heavy eyes, whUe the women have an emadated and prematurely old appearance. The creed is no doubt a revolting one, physicaUy and morally, but with all his faults the Skopt has certain good points which his free neighbours in Yakutsk might do weU to imitate.* Although the Yakutes form the bulk of the population in Yakutsk (the entire province contains about quarter of a million) they do not mix a great deal with the Russians, and we saw httle of the better class. As a race the Yakutes are not interesting, whUe in appearance both sexes are distinctly plain, and often repulsive. The type is Mongo- fian ; saUow complexion, beady eyes, flattened nostrils and wiry black hair. The men are of medium hdght, thick set and muscular, the women ungainly Httle creatures, bedizened with jewelry, and smothered with paint. Some marry Russians and assume European dress, which only adds to their grotesque appearance. Notwithstanding * When a Skopt dies, his property is confiscated by the State, but he generally finds means to dispose of his wealth in other ways. Occasionally it is buried in remote places, where it remains if not discovered by accident. 56 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND their defects the Yakutes are extremdy proud of their birth and origin, and consider themselves immeasurably superior to the Russians, who, they say, are only tolerated in the country for commercial purposes. A Yakute is therefore mortally offended if you call his chief town by anything but its native name : " The City of the Yakute." Many Yakutes grow wealthy in the fur, fish or ivory trades, and are so shrewd in their dealings that Russians have christened them the " Jews of Siberia." But although cunning and merdless in business matters this Siberian financier becomes a reckless spendthrift in his pleasures, who wUl stake a year's income on the yearly Yakutsk Derby (which takes place over the frozen Lena), or squander away a fortune on riotous living and the fair sex. AU who can afford it are hard drinkers, and champagne is their favourite beverage. The men of all classes wear a long blouse of cloth or fur according to the season, baggy breeches and high deerskin boots, — the women loose flow ing draperies adorned, in summer, with bright sUks and satins, and in winter with costly sables. A lofty head dress of the same fur is worn in cold weather. The poorer Yakute is a miserable mortal. He has no warlike or other characteristics to render him of any interest whatsoever, like, say his Tchuktchi brethren in the far North. For the Yakute peasant is too stupid to be treacherous, and as cowardly as the Tchuktchi is brave, and, while his wealthier compatriots have learned to a certain extent the virtue of cleanliness, the poor Yakute is generaUy nothing but a perambulating bundle of filthy rags, the prox imity of which, even in the open air, is almost unbearable. But this is only amongst the peasantry. The town-bred Yakutes are more civUised and deanly in their habits, and many are employed by the Russians as domestic servants. All Yakutes pay a poU tax of four roubles to the Russian Government, those possessed of means paying in addition an income tax. Ten years ago taxes were levied in furs, but they are now paid in coin of the realm. I was surprised to find that these natives are self-governed . _____H________H'.;^^^_tlM''^. ¦•' :'.">. '''*'' MARKET GARDENS AT MARKHA A YAKUTE MERCHANT AND HIS WIFE THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 57 to a certain extent ; minor crimes, such as theft, petty larceny, &c, being judged by prominent men in the towns and the head-man of each viUage. Murder and more serious crimes are dealt with by a Russian tribunal in Yakutsk. I shaU not forget my surprise one day when nearing Yakutsk to overhear one driver apparently addressing another in pure Turkish, a language with which I am slightly acquainted. The mystery was explained by Cap tain Zuyeff, who told me that there is such a marked resem blance between the language in question and Yakute that a merchant from Constantinople would readUy be under stood in the market-places of this far-away frozen land. Many words are precisdy simUar, and the numerals up to ten are identical (see Appendix). On several occasions, whUe crossing the Yakute region, the natives faUed to comprehend my meaning in Russian, but when I spoke in Turkish they at once understood me.* We experienced considerable difliculty in getting away from Yakutsk, indeed had I not possessed my invaluable passport the expedition would probably have remained there. For every day invitations came pouring in for days ahead, and the entertainers would not hear of a refusal. At last, however, firmness became necessary, and I in sisted (being empowered by my magic document to do so) upon immediate preparations being made for our departure, although every official in the place urged me to abandon a project which they averred could only end in disaster. By suggestion of the Governor a Siberian Cossack from the garrison, Stepan Rastorguyeff, joined the expedition to accompany us so far as I should deem expedient, for * " This race is supposed to be a Turkish branch of the Turanian stock. Latham informs us that their language is intelligible at Constantinople, and that the majority of their words are Turkish ; observing, also, that their traditions bespeak for them a Southern origin. He says : ' The locality of the Yakutes is remarkable, it is that of a weak section of the human race pressed into an inhospitable climate by a stronger one, yet the Turks have ever been the people to displace others rather than be displaced themselves.' " — " Frozen Asia," by Professor Eden. 58 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND our furtherTprogress now bristled with difficulties. This man was employed to escort poHtical exUes to the distant settlement of Sredni-Kolymsk, near the Arctic Ocean, and was therefore acquainted with the best way of reaching that remote post, indeed he afterwards proved an invalu able addition to our party. It seemed hard that fate should have selected this year of aU others to render the journey from Yakutsk to the north almost an impossibUity. In the first place reindeer were so scarce and weak that the 1800 odd mUes to Sredni Kolymsk (which can generaUy be accompHshed, under favourable circumstances, in four or five weeks) might now take us three months to cover. In this case faUure of the journey and a summer in this dreary settlement would be our fate; for from May until October, Sredni- Kolymsk is isolated by marshy deserts and innumerable lakes, which can only be crossed in a sled. Throughout the summer, therefore, you can neither reach the place nor leave it. A still more serious matter was an epidemic which had been raging amongst the Yakutes of the far north, and a fear of which had driven the Tchuktchis (or natives of the coast) into the interior of their country and along the seaboard in an easterly direction until their nearest settle ment was now nearly six hundred mUes distant from Sredni- Kolymsk, at which place I had calculated upon finding these natives, and utiHsing them as a means of procuring food and lodging and guidance along their desolate coast. Now, however, over six hundred miles of ice without a stick of shdter or mouthful of food stared me in the face. It was also suggested that, if many of the Tchuktchis had perished from the dread malady the remainder might have retreated in a body inland, in which case death from starvation seemed an unpleasant but not unlikdy con tingency. For beyond the aforesaid six hundred miles lay another stretch of about 1600 mUes more, before we could reach our destination : Bering Straits. Lastly, Sredni-Kolymsk had itsdf suffered from so serious a famine that an expedition had latdy been despatched THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 59 from Yakutsk to the relief of the sufferers. Provisions there would therefore be unprocurable. Also, most of the dogs in the Kolyma district had perished from a scardty of fish the previous season, and as dogs were our sole means of transport along the Arctic Coast, the reader wiU admit that, aU things considered, my expedition did not leave Yakutsk under the rosiest of conditions ! Neverthdess I cannot hope to adequatdy repay the kind ness shown by every official in Yakutsk, from the Governor downwards, during that trying time, for it was undoubtedly their timdy assistance which eventuaUy kindled the bright flame of success out of the ashes of a forlorn hope. As soon as it was realised that my resolve to proceed north ward was inflexible, every man worked to further my ends as though he himself was embarking upon the hazardous trip. Even the Governor was continuaUy concocting plans to render our voyage as easy as possible, and to that end despatched a Cossack three days ahead of us, so that reindeer might be forthcoming at the stations without delay. But his Excellency evidently looked upon the scheme as a mad one, and my daily anxiety was lest he should suddenly take the initiative, set the wires in motion with Irkutsk, and put a final stopper on our departure for America — overland. We now disposed of our cumbersome Yakute sleighs and exchanged them for "nartas," or reindeer-sleds each drawn by four deer. A " narta " is a long narrow roffin- shaped vehide about 7 ft. long by 3 ft. broad, fitted with a movable hood, which can be drawn completdy over during storms or intense cold. The occupant lies at fuU length upon his mattress and pillows, smothered with furs, and these tiny sleds were as automobiles to whedbarrows after our lumbering contrivances on the Lena. A reindeer sled is the pleasantest form of primitive travd in the world, over smooth hard snow ; but over rough ground their very lightness makes them roU and pitch about like a cross Channd steamer, to the great discomfort of the traveuer. 60 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Furs were my next consideration, for here we discarded civUised clothing and assumed native dress. The reader wiU realise what the cold must have been when I say that we often shivered inside the covered sleighs (where, how ever, the temperature never rose above io° below zero), under the foUowing mountain of material : two pairs of Jaeger singlets and drawers, thin deer-skin breeches and three pairs of thick worsted stockings. Over this a suit of Arctic duffle (or felt of enormous thickness), and a pair of deerskin boots reaching above the knee and secured by leathern thongs. Then a second pair of deer skin breeches and a garment caUed by the Yakutes a " kukhlanka," a long, loose deerskin coat reaching to the knees, with a hood of the same material Hned with wolverine. Under this hood we wore two close fitting worsted caps and a deerskin cap with ear flaps. Two pairs of worsted gloves and one of bearskin mits, reaching almost to the elbow, completed the outfit. I had hoped to procure furs for a moderate price in Yakutsk. But for some occult reason deerskins cost almost as much here as in Moscow. The good old days are past when peltry was so cheap and European goods so dear, that an iron cauldron fetched as many sable skins as it would hold ! Stepan also insisted upon the purchase of a number of iron horse-shoes, which he explained were to be affixed to our moccasins in order to cross the Verkhoyansk mountains in safety. But the method did not strike me at the time as practical, and I afterwards had even less respect for its inventor. Lastly provisions had to be purchased. Our original outfit brought from London comprised rations sufficient for six weeks ; but this I was determined not to break in upon, unless absolutely necessary, before the Arctic coast was reached. There was hardly any food to be procured between Yakutsk and Verkhoyansk, and. according to Stepan, stiU less beyond that isolated viUage. A reindeer sled was therefore packed to its utmost capacity with black bread, salt fish, various tinned provisions, and a portion of some animal unknown, weighing (in a raw condition) about ¦A >O ot, 3_ o c__ O OLD YAKUTE WOMAN THE CITY OF THE YAKUTE 61 ioo lbs. I use the term " animal unknown," as, when cooked at the first station, the latter looked and tasted exactly Uke horse-flesh. I mentioned the fact to Stepan, who was aheady instaUed as chef, and he informed me that horse was regarded as a great delicacy by the Yakutes, and fetched twice the price of any other meat in their city. " It was bought as beef," added the Cossack, " so that anyhow we have got the best of the bargain." There was nothing, therefore, for it but to faU to with knife and fork, and with as Httle repulsion as possible, upon the docUe friend of man ! We started for the unknown with a caravan of six sleighs in aU, of which two were loaded down with food and baggage. The night of our departure, February 21st, was fine, and a crowd had assembled in front of our host's house to bid us fareweU. But although long and lingering cheers foUowed us out of the dty, I fancy many of these weU- wishers regarded us more in the Hght of harmless lunatics than as pioneers of a great raUway which may one day almost encircle the world. Just before our departure (which was preceded by a dinner-party), a picturesque but rather trying ceremony took place. FareweUs having been said we retired to don our furs and were entering the sleds when our hostess recafled us from the frosty night air into the drawing-room, where the heat was that of a hothouse. " You must not take your furs off," said our host, as I was divesting myself of a portion of my cum bersome costume, " remain just as you are." And so we returned to the brightly Ut apartment, where the guests had assembled, and here, with a solemnity befitting the occasion, they turned toward the sacred " ikon," and knelt and prayed for our safety and success. This is an old and pretty Russian custom now obsolete in Europe. And I was almost ungrateful enough to wish, as I knelt in my heavy furs, streaming with perspiration, that it was no longer practised in Siberia ! But the affecting Httle ceremony was soon over, and after a final adieu to our kind hosts, my caravan sHd sUently down the snowy, fe PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND starht street. An hour later tiie rights of Yakutsk had faded away on the horizon, and we had bidden farewell to a dvflisation which was only regained, sis long months later, at tiie gold-mining city oi Nome in Alaska. CHAPTER V THE LAND OF DESOLATION Lieutenant Schwatka, the famous Alaskan explorer, once remarked that a man travelling in the Arctic must depend upon his own judgment, and not upon the advice of others, if he would be successful. The wisdom of his words was proved by our journey from Yakutsk to Verkhoyansk. Every one at the former place, from the Governor downwards, assured me that certain faUure and probable disaster must inevitably attend an attempt to reach Verkhoyansk in under six weeks. Fortunately I turned a deaf ear to wen-meant, but unwise, counsel, for in less than nine days we had reached the place in ques tion, and had left it again on our way northward in under a fortnight from the time we left Yakutsk. I should add that our rapid rate of speed was entirely due to Stepan, without whose aid we should probably have taken at least three times as long to complete the journey. But the wUiest of Yakute postmasters was no match for our Cossack, whose energetic measures on previous trips had gained him the nickname of Tchort (or "the devU") on the Verkhoyansk track. And a devfl he was when drivers lagged, or reindeer were not quickly forthcoming at the end of a stage ! There are two routes from Yakutsk to Sredni-Kolymsk, near the Arctic Ocean, which was now our objective point. These cannot be caUed roads, or even tracks, for beyond Verkhoyansk (which is only one-third of the distance) the traveUer must depend almost entirely upon his compass and the stars. The oldest route to the Kolyma is now 64 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND very seldom used, although Von-WrangeU traveUed over it in the early part of the nineteenth century. On this occasion the Russian explorer avoided Verkhoyansk, and, proceeding some distance south of the route we selected, passed through the ruined, and now deserted, town of Zashiversk. By Stepan's advice we chose the Verkhoyansk route, as being the one best known to the Cossack, for it is the one by which political exUes invariably travel. Politicals, Cossacks, and natives alone visit these desolate northern wastes, unless it be a special mission like ours or that of Dr. Hertz. The Governor of Yakutsk had held his post for nearly twenty years, and yet had never summoned the courage to visit even Verkhoyansk. Nor could any of his officials advise me, from personal experience, which road to select, although their remarks on the subject recalled the darkie's advice to the cyclist as to the best of two path ways across a swamp : " Whichebber one you travels, Boss, Ijfguess you'U be d d sorry you didn't take de udder ! " |_ Horses were used for the first three stages out of Yakutsk, along a narrow track through the forests, vaguely indicated by blazed trees. It was anything but pleasant traveUing, for our light nartas were speciaUy adapted to the smooth, level stride of the reindeer, and the ponies whisked them about like match-boxes, occasionaUy dashing them with unpleasant force against a tree-trunk. It was, therefore, a relief to reach Hatutatskaya on the second day, and to find there thirty or forty sturdy reindeer tethered aroimd the station. The method of harnessing this animal is pecuHar. Each sled is drawn by four deer, two abreast. In front of the four wheeler is a kind of miniature sled, or platform on runners, on which the driver sits to control the two leaders in front of him. There are no reins, the entire team being managed by a thong attached to the off-leader, and the traces are secured by a loop round the neck, and inside the outer leg of each deer. The latter carried no beUs, and although it may sound chUdish to say so, we missed their music terribly at first. The driver is armed with a long pole, which, however, he sddom uses, for, if the Yakute mk COSSACK HORSEMAN Lr ? S A POSTHOUSE BETWEEN YAKUTSK AND VERKHOYANSK THE LAND OF DESOLATION 65 has a virtue, it is kindness to animals. A plaintive cry, which sounds like " yahee," is uttered to urge on a team, and it generaUy has the desired effect, for the Siberian reindeer is the gamest animal in the world. I have seen them working incessantly day after day, growing weaker hour by hour, and yet bravely struggling on untU the poor little beasts would faU to the ground from sheer exhaustion, never to rise again. We lost many during the long and trying journey to the Arctic, and I shall always recall their deaths with a keen pang of remorse. For their gentle, docUe nature made it the more pitiable to see them perish, as we looked helplessly on, unable to aUeviate their agony, yet conscious that it was for our sake they had suffered and died. The distance from Yakutsk to Verkhoyansk is 934 versts, or about 625 English mUes. Most of the way lies through a densely wooded, region and across deep swamps, almost impassable in summer. About half-way the Verkhoyansk range is crossed, and here vegetation ceases and the country becomes wUd in the extreme. Forests of pine, larch, and cedar disappear, to give place to rugged peaks and bleak, desolate vaUeys, strewn with huge boulders, and slippery with frozen streams, which retard progress, for a reindeer on ice is like a cat on walnut-sheUs. The stancias, as the deer-stations are caUed, are here from forty to sixty versts apart. There are no towns in this region, or even villages in our sense of the word, for a couple of dUapidated huts generaUy constitute the latter in the eyes of the Yakute. As for the stancias they were beyond description. I had imagined that nothing could be worse than a Lena post- house, but the latter were luxurious compared to the native yurta, which is merely a log-hut plastered with mud. You enter a low, narrow aperture, the door of which is thickly padded with felt, and find yourself in a low dark room considerably below the surrounding ground, with a floor of beaten mud, slippery with the filth of years, and windows of ice. The walls are of mud-plastered logs, also the ceiling, which would seriously inconvenience a six-foot 66 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND man. As soon as the eye grows accustomed to the gloom you find that a rough wooden bench surrounds the apartment, and that one portion of it is strewn with wet and filthy straw. This is for the guests. When it was occupied we slept on the floor, and there was little difference, except that cattle also shared the stancia, and were apt to walk over us during the night. A fire of pine-logs was kept blazing on the clay hearth night and day, and the heat was sometimes so overpowering that we suffered almost as much from it as from the deadly cold outside. But the stench was even worse to endure, especiaUy when cooking operations were in progress, for the Yakute wUl not look at -fresh pure meat. He prefers it in a condition that would repel a civUised dog, and the odour that used to emanate from a mass of putrid deer-meat, or, worse, still, tainted fish, simmering on the embers, is better left to the imagination. At first we suffered severely from nausea in these unsavoury shelters, and there were other reasons for this which cannot here be explained. Suffice it to say that it was a constant source of wonder to me that even this degraded race of beings could live amidst such bestial surroundings and yet survive. Vermin had up tUl now been a trifling incon venience, but thousands on the Lena were here succeeded by myriads of the foe, and, for a time, our health suffered from the incessant irritation, which caused us many days of misery and nights of unrest. Stepan told me that in summer the stancias were unapproachable, and this I could well believe seeing that we were often driven out of them during dry and intense cold. But in the open season only Cossacks attempt to travel through with the maU to Verkhoyansk, once each way. The journey, which is made on horseback, is a perilous one, owing to unfordable rivers and dangerous swamps, and the mail carriers are occasionaUy drowned, or lost in the marshy deserts, where they perish of starvation. Stepan had once made the summer trip, and sincerely hoped he might never have to repeat the experi ment. Travellers on this road are lucidly rare, so that the post- THE LAND OF DESOLATION 67 houses seldom contained any guests besides ourselves. The stancias were crowded enough as it was with the Yakute postmaster and his generaUy numerous and disgusting famUy, several deer-drivers, and perhaps two or three cows crowded into a space of about thirty feet square. We traveUed throughout the twenty-four hours, and only stopped at these places sufficiently long to thaw out some food and swaUow a meal. The stancias were too far apart to work on a schedule, and we generaUy left one rest-house with very vague notions as to when we should see the next. On one occasion we were compelled to lay to in a storm for eighteen hours (although the stancia was only a couple of mUes away), and to subsist during that time on chocolate and black bread, frozen to the consistency of iron.* But luckUy the weather was, on the whole, favourable. Most of the nights were clear, and at. first there was a bright moon, which was also an advantage, although at times our way lay through forests so deep and dark that it became necessary to use lights. We left Paris supplied with an elaborate electric outfit, which now, and in after-days, would have been a godsend, but the lamps and cumbersome batteries had to be abandoned with our other stores at Moscow. Probably the cold would have rendered the wires useless, at any rate I consoled mysdf by thinking so. Two days' hard traveUing brought us to Tandinskaya. This is the best stancia on the road, and we therefore seized the opportunity to make a good, substantial meal and snatch a few hours' sleep before proceeding to the next rest-house, which was nearly a hundred miles distant. At Tandinskaya we changed teams, successfuUy resenting the extortionate charges made by the postmaster. AU the stancias on this road are leased by the Government to Yakute peasants, who are legaUy entitled to receive three kopeks a verst for every pair of deer. This sum includes post-house accommodation, such as it is; but as we always added a rouble or two for the use of these filthy hovels, * On such occasions Christy's " Kola Chocolate " is invaluable. 68 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Stepan was the more incensed at this postmaster's rascality. The latter claimed payment for about fifty versts more than we had actually covered, so Stepan averred, although the distances north of Yakutsk are very vague, and the Cossack was probably wrong. It was amusing to compare the mUeage as given in the only post-book of this road (compiled in the reign of the Empress Catherine) with the real distances, which were invariably twice as long. The officials of those days probably reflected that, if three kopeks must be paid for a verst, the latter had better be a long one. And the Yakute, knowing no better, suffered in sUence. On leaving Tandinskaya, we travelled some miles along the river Aldan, a tributary of the Lena, which is dangerous in winter on account of numerous overflows. Our drivers, therefore, proceeded with caution, walking some distance ahead of the sleds, and frequently sounding the ice with their long poles. It was bitterly cold, for a breeze was blowing in our faces, and the deer, as usual, slipped and shthered in aU directions, continuaUy upsetting the sleds. This became such a common occurrence that, after a couple of days, we took it as a matter of course, and I would often awaken from a nap inside the hood to find mysdf proceeding face downwards, the sled having overturned. But the driver would merely halt the team and replace the narta, with its helpless inmate, on its runners, with the indifference of a child playing with a toy horse and cart. LuckUy the deer never attempted to bolt on these occasions, but waited patiently untU their burthen was placed " right side up." To-day the wind became more boisterous, and the cold consequently more piercing every mUe we traveUed. We had left Tandinskaya about ten at night, and towards morn ing Stepan calculated that we had covered twenty mUes in seven hours. The stars had now disappeared, and snow was falling fast, also the wind had risen to a gale, which percolated the felt hoods and furs like a stream of iced water. At daybreak the weather turned to a blizzard, which raged for twenty-four hours and nearly buried us in snow; but THE LAND OF DESOLATION 69 when the storm luUed a bit we struggled painfuUv on for about fifteen mUes, and haUed the sight of a povarnia with ddight, for it meant, at any rate, shelter and a fire. Povamias are merely mud-huts erected at intervals along the track, when the stancias are long distances apart. They are dark, uninhabited hovels, generaUy half fuU of snow, and open to the winds, and yet these crazy shelters have saved many a traveUer from death by cold and exposure on this londy road. A povarnia contains no furniture whatever ; merely a clay hearth and some fire wood which previous traveUers have left there, perhaps weeks before. For on leaving these places every one is expected to cut fud ready for those who come after. Sanga- AH was the povarnia we had now reached, and it was almost blocked by snow which had drifted in through the open doorway. But we set to with a wiU, and were soon crouching over a good fire on which a pot of deer-meat was fragrantly simmering. Here we remained untU early next morning, taking it in turns to pile on fresh logs, for when the flame waned for an instant the cold became so intense that to sleep in it without a fire might have had unpleasant results. Sordonnakia, the second povarnia, was reached after a journey of nine hours, by which time the weather had again become stiU and clear. Fortunately, bright calm days prevaUed south of Verkhoyansk, although in mid winter these are the realms of eternal darkness. But in our case spring was approaching, and on fine mornings I could throw open my narta and bask in warm sunshine whUe contemplating a sky of sapphire and smoking a cigar — one of the last, alas ! I was Hkely to enjoy on this side of America. On such days the pure frosty air would exhUarate like champagne, and there was only one drawback to perfect enjoyment : the body would be baked on the one side by the scorching rays, and frozen in the shade on the other. Another inconvenience was hunger, for there was never more than one square meal in the twenty- four hours, and often not that, and nothing resists cold 70 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND like a weU-lined stomach. Our sufferings were undoubtedly great from Yakutsk to the Arctic Ocean, but they were greatly aUeviated by the fact that it was generally possible, even in the coldest weather, to enjoy a dgarette under cover of the hood. A pipe was, of course, out of the question, for the temperature (even under the fdt covering) was never over io° below zero, which would have instantly blocked the stem with frozen nicotine. But a Russian papirosh could always be enjoyed in peace, if not comfort, out of the wind, and I have derived reHef through many an hour of misery through their soothing influence. A brief halt only was made at Sordonnakia, for the povarnia had been left in such a disgusting state by its last occupants that we were compeUed to eat in our sleds. The fifty versts between this place and the stancia of Bete-Kul were rapidly accomplished, and during this stage we came in sight of the Verkhoyansk range, a chain of precipitous mountains which would form one of the chief stumbling-blocks to the construction of the proposed AU-World RaUway. If the Paris-New York line is ever laid it wiU probably not run through Verkhoyansk. The direction would rather be east direct from Yakutsk to the Okhotsk Sea although that is also mountainous enough. Nearing Bete-Kul the landscape became yet wflder and more desolate, and we traveUed along vaUeys of deep snow and across dark, londy gorges, the depths of which even a brilliant sunshine could not penetrate. What this region may be like in summer-time I know not, but in winter the surface of the moon itsdf could scarcdy present a more sUent, spectral appearance. At Bete-Kul we were kept some time waiting for reindeer, which had to be brought in from a considerable distance. Deer generaUy take some finding, as they stray sometimes fifteen or twenty nines from a stancia in search of moss, but, in our case, long ddays had been avoided by the Cossack who preceded us. The stancia at Bete-Kul was kept by a more prosperous-looking Yakute than usual, and his wife was attired in bright silks and wore a profusion THE LAND OF DESOLATION 71 of massive gold jeweUery. The Yakutes are expert gold smiths, but chiefly excd in the manufacture of arms, especiaUy a kind of yataghan, or huge dagger, which is stuck into the waistband. Yakute steel is much more flexible than Russian, although I have seen a knife made out of the former sever a copper coin as neatly as though it were a meat-lozenge. We shared the postmaster's meal at Bete-Kul, and were introduced to a pecuHar dish, which deserves mention as showing the extraordinary digestive powers of these people. It was a kind of jeUy extracted from reindeer-horns and flavoured with the bark of the pine tree, which is scraped into a fine powder for the purpose. I was fated to subsist in after days on disgusting diet of the most varied description, but to this day the recoUection of that Bete-Kul jeUy produces a faint feeling, of nausea, although I can recaU other ghouHsh repasts of raw seal-meat with comparative equanimity. Pure melted butter formed the second course of this Yakute dejeiiner, each guest being expected to finish a large bowl. Stepan, however, alone partook of this tempting dish, but he merely sipped it, whUe our host and his wife drained the hot, oily mess as though it had been cold water. But Yakutes wiU consume any quantity of butter in this condition. DobeU, the explorer, says that a moderate Yakute butter-drinker wUl consume from twenty to thirty pounds at a sitting. The same traveUer adds that " at other times these natives drink butter as a medicine, and dedare it exceUent for carrying away the bue." This was written nearly one hundred years ago, and it is curious to note that the most modern European treatment for gaU-stones should now be oHve oU, given in large quantities, presumably to produce a sinular effect to that obtained by the butter of the Yakute. By the time this weird meal was over the deer had arrived, and I dedined our host's offer of a pipe of Circassian tobacco, which would probably have finished me off com- pletdy. Both sexes here smoke a tiny Chinese pipe, with bronze bowl and wooden stem, which half a dozen whiffs 72 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND suffice to finish. The stem is made to open so that the nicotine may be coUected, mixed with wood shavings, and smoked again. We left Bete-Kul at four in the morning, intending, if possible, to cross the mountains during the day, but the pass had lately been blocked with snow and the natives reported it in a terrible condition. But time would admit of no delay and I resolved to make the attempt at aU hazards. Anna-sook, a miserable little povarnia near the foot of the mountain, was reached after a journey of five hours. The hut was, as usual, fuU of drifted snow, which we had to remove before breakfasting in an atmosphere of 12° below zero, upon which a roaring fire made no appreciable impression. Oddly enough, in this deserted shanty we came upon the sole sign of life which we had encountered (outside of the stancias) all the way from Yakutsk. This was a tiny field-mouse, which had survived the Arctic winter, curled up in a little mound of earth in a corner of this cold, dark shanty. The poor little half-frozen thing could scarcely move, but we gathered some fir-boughs and made it a nest, and left with it a goodly supply of biscuit-crumbs, which it devoured with avidity and a grateful look in its beady black eyes. Starting at midday we commenced the ascent of the mountain, which is crossed by probably the most remarkable pass in the world. From a distance it looked as though a perpendicular waU of ice, some hundreds of feet in height, must be scaled in order to gain the summit. Before ascend ing, the iron horse-shoes brought from Yakutsk were fastened to our moccasins, ostensibly to afford secure foothold, but I discarded these awkward appendages after they had given me five or six bad faUs, and my companions did likewise. About two hours of severe work, increased by deep snow and the rarefied atmosphere, brought us to the summit, the reindeer and sleds ascending by a longer but much less precipitous route. During the ascent there were places where a slip must have meant a dangerous, if not fatal, faU, for midway up a precipice of over a NEAR BETB-KUL ;*s- 7-XZ- VERKHOYANSK THE LAND OF DESOLATION 73 thousand feet was crossed by a slippery ledge of ice about three feet in width. Looking down on the northward side, a frozen snow-slope, about a mUe in length, was so steep, that it seemed impossible to descend it without personal injury. We awaited the sleds for nearly three hours on the summit, almost perished with cold in a tem perature of nearly 450 below zero, accompanied by a strong breeze which resembled one described by a friend of the writer, a ChantiUy trainer, as a lazy wind, viz., one that prefers to go straight through the body instead of the longest way round. To descend, the deer were fastened behind the sleds, which we aU held back as much as possible as they dashed down the incline. But nearing the vaUey the pace increased until all control was lost, and we landed in a deep snow-drift half-way down, men, deer, and sleds being muddled up in inextricable confusion. I remember thinking at the time what a fortune such a snow-slide would make for its proprietor at Earl's Court. Imagine an " ice chute " more than a mUe in length. To stand upright was even now, half-way down the mountain, out of the question, so the rest of the perilous descent was ignominiously accomplished on aU-fours. We reached the vaUey in safety, foUowed by the sleds, which were now restrained only by drivers and deer. From below they looked like flies crawling down a white waU. At this point the Verkhoyansk mountains are about 4500 ft. above the level of the sea. Leaving the mountains we were soon lost in the forests again, and from here to Kangerak, the first station on the northern side of the range, the journey is one of wondrous beauty, for the country strikingly resembles Swiss Alpine scenery. In doudless weather we gHded swiftly and sUently under arches of pine-boughs sparkling with hoar-frost, now skirting a dizzy precipice, now crossing a deep, dark gorge, rare rifts in the woods disdosing glimpses of snowy crag and summit gHttering against a sky of cloudless blue. The sunny pastures and tinkling cow-beUs of lovdy Switzerland were wanting, but I can never forget the impressive grandeur of those desolate peaks, nor the weird, 74 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND unearthly stillness of the iondy, pine-dad valleys at thdr feet. We passed a comfortable night at Kangerak, for the long, fatiguing day had rendered us oblivious to the attacks of the vermin with which the stancia swarmed. My ears had been badly frost-bitten crossing the pass and caused me great pain, but I slept soundly, and so did my com panions who had escaped scot free. Only one drcum- stance marred my satisfaction at having successfuUy negotiated the pass ; three of our deer had perished from exhaustion. From Kangerak we travelled some distance along the river Yana, which scatters itsdf into a series of lakes on either side of the main stream. There are dangerous overflows here, and twice we narrowly escaped a ducking, or perhaps a worse fate, although I fancy the river at this point is very shaUow. Neverthdess I heard afterwards at Verkhoyansk that whole caravans, travdlers, drivers and deer have occasionaUy been fataUy submerged here, or frozen to death after thdr immersion. Our deer, as usual, feU about on the ice in aU directions, and one, breaking its leg, had to be destroyed. The stage was a hard one, so much so that we halted at a povarnia (MoUahoi) for the night. Towards morning I was awakened by the stifling heat and a disgusting odour due to the fact that our drivers had discovered a dead horse in the ndghbourhood and were cooking and discussing its remains. Stepan opined that the animal had expired some weeks previously, and I could weU bdieve it. A couple of hours before reaching MoUahoi, Harding caught sight of some ptarmigan within a few yards of the track. I mention the fact as this was the only game we came across throughout the whole of the journey of nearly three months from Yakutsk to the Arctic Ocean. When the stancia of Siremskaya was readied on February 27, I realised with intense satisfaction that the journey, at any rate as far as Verkhoyansk, was practicaUy over. For if this portion of the voyage had been successfully overcome in so short a time why should not the remainder THE LAND OF DESOLATION 75 as far as Sredni-Kolymsk be accompHshed with equal facflity ? And so we traveUed on from Siremskaya with renewed hopes and in the best of spirits, although nearing Verk hoyansk the cold became intense — strong gales and heavy snowstorms prevaUed — and we aU suffered severdy. In deed once Clinchamp was carried out of his sled and into the povarnia a journey of twenty consecutive hours having temporarily deprived him of the use of his limbs. The thermometer had marked 400 bdow zero even inside my dosdy covered sled, and one of my feet was also badly frozen, owing, however, to my carelessness in neglecting to change my foot-gear the previous night, for if this is not done the perspiration formed during the day congeals, during sleep, into sohd ice. Harding escaped any Ul effects, but in truth, although I have said little about physical sufferings, most of that journey was terrible work. I got into a way at last of dassifying the various stages of frigidity on departure from a stancia, and this was thdr order : (1) the warm; (2) the chiUy; and (3) the glacial. The first stage of comparative comfort was due to the effect of a fire and warm food and generaUy lasted for two or three hours. In stage No. 2, one graduaUy commenced to fed chiUy with shivers down the back and a sensation of numb ness in the extremities. No. 3 stage was one of rapidly increasing cold, untU the face was covered by a thin mask of ice formed by the breath during the short intervals of sleep, or rather stupor. The awakening was the most painful part of it aU, and when the time came to stagger into some filthy stancia, I would have often preferred to sleep on in the sled, although such an imprudence might have entaUed the loss of a limb. At last one bright morning in dazzling sunshine we reached Verkhoyansk, having made the journey from Yakutsk in eight days, a record trip under any circum stances, espedaUy so under the adverse conditions under which we had traveUed. I had looked forward to this place as a haven of warmth and rest, and perhaps of safety 76 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND from the perilous blizzards that of late had obstructed our progress, but the sight of that desolate viUage, with its solitary row of filthy hovels, inspired such feelings of aversion and depression that my one object was to leave the place as soon as possible, even for the unknown perils and priva tions which might lie beyond it. It was absolutely necessary, however, to obtain fresh reindeer here, and a stay of at least a couple of days was compulsory. What we saw, therefore, and did in Verkhoyansk will be described in the foUowing chapter. CHAPTER VI VERKHOYANSK Loyal Russians caU Verkhoyansk the heart of Siberia. PoHtical exUes have another name for the place also com mencing with the letter H, which I leave to the reader's imagination. Suffice it to say that it applies to a locality where the climate is presumably warmer than here. Any way the simUe is probably incorrect, as there are many worse places of banishment than Verkhoyansk, although, indeed, the latter is bad enough. For if prosperous viUages near the borders of Europe impress the untrammeUed Briton with a sense of unbearable loneliness, conceive the feelings of a Russian exile upon first beholding the squalid Arctic home and repulsive natives amongst whom he is destined, perhaps, to end his days. Forty or fifty mud-plastered log huts in various stages of decay and half buried in snow drifts over which .ice windows peer mournfully, a wooden church pushed by time and climate out of the perpendicular, with broken spire and golden crosses mouldering with rust — on the one hand, a dismal plain of snow fringed on the horizon by a dark pine forest ; on the other, the frozen river Yana, across which an icy breeze moans mournfuUy — such is Verkhoyansk as we saw it on the morning of February 28, 1902. I thought that a more gloomy, God-forsaken spot than this could not exist on the face of the earth. But I had not seen Sredni-Kolymsk. And yet, if we were here forty-eight hours and it seemed a Hfetime, what must an enforced sojourn of five or six years mean to the unhappy exues, some of whom had been here for a quarter of a 78 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND century. Let the reader imagine, if possible, the blank despair of existence under such conditions ; day after day, year after year, nothing to do or look at of interest, tortured by heat and mosquitoes in summer, perished by cold and hunger in the dark, cruel winter, and cut off as completely as a corpse from aU that makes life worth living. An exile here told me that the church was his only link with humanity, for it recalled other sacred buildings in which loved ones were worshipping, far away in the busy world of freedom. One could imagine a man entirely losing his identity after a few years here and forgetting that he was ever a human being. In truth Yakutsk was bad enough ; but Yakutsk, compared to Verkhoyansk, • is a little Paris. And yet, I repeat, this is by no means the worst place of banishment in North-Eastern Siberia. The ispravnik received us in the official grey and scarlet, reminding me that even in this remote corner of the Empire a traveUer is weU within reach of Petersburg and the secret police. But we found in Monsieur Katche- rofsky a gentleman and not a jaUor, like too many of his class, whose kindness and hospitality to the miserable survivors of the Arctic exploring ship Jeannette, some years ago, was suitably rewarded by the President of the United States.* Katcherofsky's invaluable services for twenty years past might also have met, by now, with some sub stantial recognition at the hands of the Russian Govern ment, for a more honest, conscientious and universally * The U.S. Arctic exploring steamer Jeannette was crushed in the ice and sank on June 12, 1881, in the Arctic Ocean, some hundreds of miles N.-E. of the mouth of the Lena river. Captain de Long and his party, in three ship's boats, made their way over and through the ice towards the Lena delta, but one of the boats (under Lieut. Chipp) foundered with all hands. Another one, commanded by Chief Engineer (now Admiral) Melville, reached the Siberian coast and found the natives and salvation, but Captain de Long and his crew landed on the Lena delta, and being unable to find a settlement or procure food his entire party, consisting of twelve persons, perished, after horrible sufferings, of exposure and starvation. The bodies were eventually found by Melville, and eonveyed to America for interment. VERKHOYANSK 79 popular offidal is not to be found throughout the dominions of the Tsar. *- The tspravnik's house, or rather hut, was no better, within or without, than others in Verkhoyansk, which consists of one street, or rather stragghng avenue of mud hovds with ice windows and the usual low entrance guarded by a fdt-covered door. The entire population does not exceed four hundred souls, of whom, perhaps, half were Yakutes and the remainder officials, Russian settlers and poHtical exUes. Talking of exUes, I have found that, as a rule, very erroneous impressions exist in England as to the conditions under which they are Sent to Siberia, a country which has often been greatly mahgned by the EngHsh Press. For this great prison-land is not always one of dungeons and Hfdong incarceration. The latter certainly awaits the active revolutionist, but, on the other hand, an erring journaHsf may, for an " imprudent " paragraph, be sent to vegetate for only a couple of months within sight of the Urals. As GUbert's " Mikado " would say, " the punish ment fits the crime." And in the towns of Western Siberia I have frequently met men t>riginaUy banished for a short term who, rather than return to Russia, have dected to remain in a land where Hving is cheaper, and money more easfly gained' than at home. Olenin, of Yakutsk, was a case in point. The exfle of State offenders to Siberia is generally carried out by what is called the " Administrative Process," or, in other words, by a secret tribunal composed of civil and mihtary members. There are no Press reports of the trial, which is held strictly in camera, and, as a rule, a poHtical " suspect " vanishes as completely from the face of the earth as a pebble cast into the sea. Usually the blow faUs unexpectedly. A man may be seated quietly at home with his f amUy, in his office, or at some place of pubhc enter tainment when the fatal touch on the shoulder summonses him away, perhaps for ever. The sentence once passed, there is no appeal to a higher Court, nor can a prisoner hold anv communication whatever with the outer world. 80 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND An exile's relatives, therefore, when ignorant of his fate, frequently ascribe his absence to voluntary motives, and years sometimes elapse before the truth is known. In some cases it never reaches his famUy, and the harassing thought that he is, perhaps, regarded by the latter as a heartless deserter has driven many a victim of the " Ad ministrative Process " to self-destruction. A term of imprisonment varying from six months to two years in a European fortress invariably precedes a term of exUe, and this rule applies to both sexes. There are hundreds of towns and viUages throughout Siberia where men and women are domicUed for various periods of their existence, but as we are now dealing only with the remoter settlements within the Arctic Circle we wiU follow the footsteps of a political exUe deported to, say, Verkhoyansk. From the forwarding prison at Moscow to the city of Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia, politicals not sent by rail travel with a criminal gang, wear prison dress, and live practicaUy the same as ordinary convicts. At night time, however, in the e'tapes * a separate ceU is set apart for their use. On arrival at Irkutsk prison-dress is discarded, and an exUe may wear his own clothes, although he remains under lock and key and in close charge of the Cossack who is responsible for his safe delivery. In summer time the two-thousand-mUes journey to the first stage northwards, Yakutsk, is made by river-steamer, but during the winter months this weary journey must be accomplished in uncovered sleighs, and is one of great severity and priva tion, especiaUy for women. At Yakutsk reindeer-sledge conveys the ill-assorted pair ever northwards for another six hundred mUes to Verkhoyansk. The reader has seen the difficulties which we experienced crossing the mountains, where delicate women on their way to exUe are compeUed to clamber unassisted over giddy places that would try the nerves of an experienced mountaineer. I should add that women never travel alone with a Cossack, but are always accompanied on the journey by another exUe, * Rest-houses for convict gangs along the great post-road. A STREET IN VERKHOYANSK Note Ice Windows THE CHIEF OF POLICE, VERKHOYANSK VERKHOYANSK 81 dther a man or one of their own sex. In the former case, an acquaintance is occasionaUy made which ends in a life long liaison, if not marriage. Every year from three to six " politicals " arrive in each of the settlements north of Yakutsk. An empty hut was set apart for our use : a tumble down yurta of mud with the usual ice-windows, which necessitated the use of candles even on the brightest day. But it contained two rooms and a kitchen, and was weather proof, so we lived in comparative luxury. Meals were pro vided for us at Katcherofsky's hospitable board, and on the evening of our arrival we sat down to a supper to which the kind-hearted old ispravnik had invited several " politicals." And here, for the second time, I witnessed the incongruous sight of a Chief of Police amicably hobnobbing with the exiles in his custody. And when one of the latter remarked at table, " I can always feel cheerful in Katcherofsky's house, even in Verkhoyansk," I could weU believe that our genial and good-natured host was looked upon more in the light of a friend than a guardian by both men and women of the free command. It was a strange but enjoyable evening, and the menu of delicious sterlet brought from the Lena, roast venison, and ice-cream, accompanied by a very fair champagne was hardly one which you would expect to find in these frozen wastes. Coffee and nalivka, a liquor made of the wild raspberries which grow freely around here, concluded the last decent repast we were likely to enjoy for some months to come. Only one displeasing memory do I retain of that otherwise pleasant supper-party : I smoked my last cigar ! There were under a dozen exUes in all here, of whom two were women. One of the latter was my neighbour at supper ;— Madame Abramovitch, a fragUe, little woman, whom delicate features and dark, expressive eyes would have rendered beautiful, had not years of mental and physical suffering aged and hardened the almost giriish face. Abramovitch, her husband, a taU, fine-looking 82 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND man of Jewish type, was only thirty-two years old, but his Ufe since the age of twenty-one had been passed in captivity either in Russian prisons or as an exUe in Siberia. Abramo vitch and his wife were shortly to be released, and it was pathetic to hear them babble like chUdren about their approaching freedom, and of how they would revd in the sight of Warsaw, and enjoy its restaurants and theatres, and even a ride in the dectric cars ! I visited them next day in their dark and miserable home, which, however, was scrupulously dean, and we drank tea and discussed people and events in distant Europe far into the night. And Madame sang Pohsh love-songs in a sweet, pathetic voice, and I recounted one or two American yarns in Yankee vernacular which excited inordinate gaiety, so easfly amused were these poor souls with minds duUed by long years of lethargy and despair. And I wondered, as I glanced around the squahd room, how many years had dapsed since its mud-waUs had last echoed to the sounds of genuine laughter ! Abramovitch and his wife spoke French fluently, the former also English. But two-thirds of the poHtical exUes I met throughout the journey spoke two, and sometimes three, languages besides their own, whUe German was universal. In most cases the exUes had taught themsdves, often under the most adverse conditions, in the gloomy ceU of some Polish fortress or the damp and twiHt casemates of SS. Peter and Paul. Most exUes make it a rule on their banishment to take up some subject, history, chemistry, natural science, &c, otherwise insanity would be far more prevalent amongst them than it is. At Verkhoyansk books are occasionaUy obtainable, but further north their scarcity formed a serious drawback to study and mental recreation. Even at Verkhoyansk the censure on Hterature is very strict, and works on sodal sdence and kindred subjects are strictly tabooed by the authorities. On the other hand almost any kind of novel in any language may be read, so long as it does not refer in any way to the Russian Government and its methods. At the time of our VERKHOYANSK 83 visit " Quo Vadis " was on everybody's hps, and the solitary copy had been read and re-read into rags, although it had only been a month in tiie settlement. Dickens, Thackeray, Zola, and Anthony Hope were favourite authors, but whole pages were missing from most of the volumes in the tiny hbrary, and the books were otherwise mutilated, not by carelessness or Ul usage, but by incessant use. I dosdy questioned Abramovitch as to the conditions of hfe at Verkhoyansk and he said that so far as the treatment of the exiles was concerned there was nothing to complain of, but the miserable pittance aUowed by the Government for the lodging and maintenance of each exfle was, he justly averred, totaUy inadequate where even the common neces saries of life cost fabulous prices. Apparently this allowance varies in the various districts ; thus, at Verkhoyansk it is eighteen roubles, at Vfluisk, south of Yakutsk, only twdve ! Fortunately, deer-meat is fairly cheap here, but aU other provisions are outrageously dear. Flour, for instance, costs twenty-five kopeks or about 6d. per pound, milk (in a frozen condition) five kopeks, or about 3*?. per pound, but the latter is bought from the Yakutes, and is generally in a filthy and undrinkable condition. Tea and sugar are so dear that the former is bofled over and over again, but Abramovitch said that he suffered more from the loss of light than anything else, for candles (or rather tallow dips) cost a rouble a pound. My friend was therefore reduced to the dim light died by the flickering logs of his fire throughout the dreary winter, when daylight disappears for two months. And even in summer time there is no way of eking out the slender sum allowed for existence, which must suffice for lodging and dothes aswdl as food. Poultry does not exist, the Yana yidds few fish, and the soil stubbornly refuses to produce vegetables even of the hardiest kind. By dint of ceasdess care Katcherofsky had contrived to grow a few watery potatoes, which were served at table with as much ostentation as early strawberries or asparagus in England ; but the experiment was not a success. The ispravnik had also tried cabbages, with a similar result. 84 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND This seems strange, seeing that Yakutsk, only six hundred mUes further south, is a fertUe land of plenty, but an exUe told me that even in midsummer the forests around Verk hoyansk appear withered and grey, the very grass seems colourless and the dasies and violets scentless immortelles. This sterility of nature seems to be confined to a radius of about twenty miles of Verkhoyansk, for beyond this arid circle trees flourish, grass grows freely as far as the timber line, whUe beyond it the tundra, from May untU August, is gaily carpeted with wUd flowers. Verkhoyansk is not unhealthy. The worst season of the year is in autumn, when dense mists from the river Yana often shroud the place for days together. Bronchitis and rheumatism are then very prevalent, also a kind of epidemic catarrh, which, however, was not confined to the faU of the year, but was raging at the time of our visit. Of this fact we had unpleasant proof, as a couple of days after leaving the place the whole expedition (except Stepan) were attacked with this troublesome complaint, which, in my case, was only cured on arrival in America. I fancy this disease was closely aUied to that which attacked Admiral Von WrangeU's party early in the nineteenth century.* But all things considered, summer is the most trying season here, not only on account of the heat, which is far greater than that of Yakutsk, but of the mosquitoes, which make their appearance before the snow is off the ground and do not disappear untU late in the faU. The exUes said that they were often deprived of sleep for nights together on account of these pests, which swarm in and out of doors, and inflict a nasty poisonous bite. ChUdren had died from the fever produced from the irritation and consequent sleeplessness. This, and continual (and therefore distressing) daylight, made the advent of winter, even with all its cold * In 1 820 Von Wrangell wrote : " During my stay in Verkhoyansk a kind of epidemic catarrhal fever prevailed throughout the district j the symptoms were violent depression of the chest, noise in the ears, headache, etc. ... A Cossack whom I had previously sent forward with my papers died of the epidemic ; every one was more or less ill." KATCHEROFSKIS HOUSE IN VERKHOYANSK A y >os s Id > a •A. D O Ao a. VERKHOYANSK 85 and darkness, a wdcome one. For this season also brings another blessing to these poor outcasts, news from home, which reaches here once a month by reindeer-sledge, whereas in summer a maU is only once despatched from Yakutsk, and frequently faffs to arrive at its destination.* In addition to his Hterary pursuits Mr. Abramovitch had kept a record of the temperature during his term of exUe, and the result of his careful observations for a period of twdve years was as foUows : Mean temperature for the whole year, 4° below zero Fahrenheit. In hard winters the thermometer was frequently 750 below zero, and once touched the almost incredible point of 8i° below zero. During our stay only 650 below zero was registered, but at the first stancia, two hundred miles north of Verkhoyansk, we experienced 780 bdow zero, a cold so intense that the breath froze as it left our Hps and feU in a white powder to the ground. And yet, I can assure the reader that I have suffered more from cold in Piccadilly on a damp, chiUy November day than in the coldest weather in this part of Siberia. For the atmosphere here is generaUy dry and does not permeate the frame Uke that of our sea-girt, foggy island. Also, during extreme cold there is never any wind, and this is fortunate, for although 6o° or 700 below zero are quite bearable in stillness, 300 or 400 higher, accompanied by only a moderate gale, would probably kUl every Hving thing before it. A few weeks later, when we reached the Arctic Ocean, the approach of a gale was always preceded by a rising thermometer, and clear, cold weather by a faU of the same. At Verkhoyansk, as at Yakutsk, nothing met me but difficulties, and the ispravnik implored me to abandon the journey. Sredni-Kolymsk, he said, was twelve hundred mUes away, and with weak reindeer it might take us a couple of months to reach the Tsar's remotest settlement. This would bring us into early May, and about the first week in June the thaw comes, and travelling is impossible. And even at Sredni-Kolymsk another two thousand mUes of • The telegraph wire ceases at Yakutsk. 86 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND wild and desolate country, almost bereft of inhabitants, would he between us and Bering Straits. Not only Kat- cherofsky but the exiles begged me to abandon the journey, if not for mv own sake for that of my companions. It was unfair, they urged, to drive men to almost certain death. Altogether I don't think I shafl ever forget the hours of anxiety I passed at Verkhoyansk. Should we advance or should we retreat was a question which I alone had the power to decide, and one which Providence eventually settled for me with the happiest results. Nevertheless, even in the dark days which foUowed, when lost in the blinding blizzards of Tchaun Bay, or exposed to the drunken fury of the Tchuktchis on Bering Straits, I have sddom passed a more unpleasant and harassing period of my existence than those two days under the care of Ivan Katcherofsky- Chief of PoHce of Verkhoyansk, North eastern Siberia. But notwithstanding adverse pressure on aU sides I resolved to bum my boats, and push on, although wefl aware that, Verkhoyansk once left behind us, there would be no retreat. And it is only fair to add that my companions were just as keen on an advance as their leader. The ispr amok, seeing that further argument was usdess, shrugged his shoulders and soldy occupied himself with cramming the sledges full of interesting looking baskets and bottles. And on the bright sunlit morning of March 2 we left Verkhoyansk, our departure being witnessed bv our kindly old host and ah the exiles. Our course this time was in a north-easterly direction towards the shores of the frozen sea. Before the start a pathetic Httle inddent occurred which is indehbly photographed on my memory. Mv smaU supply of reading matter comprised a ** Daily Mail Year Book," and although very loth to part with this I had not the heart to take it away from a young exile who had become engrossed in its contents. For the work contained matters of interest which are usuafly blacked out by the censor. " I shafl learn it all off, Mr. de Windt," said the poor feUow, as the Chief of Pohce for a moment looked away, and I handed him VERKHOYANSK 87 the tiny encyclopaedia. " When we meet again I shall know it aU by heart 1 " But twelve long years must elapse before my unhappy friend bids fareweU to Verkhoyansk I Never theless, the almost childish delight with which the trifling gift was received would have been cheaply bought at the price of a valuable library. CHAPTER VII THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA Let the reader picture the distance, say, from London to Moscow as one vast undulating plateau of alternate layers of ice and snow, and he has before him the region we tra versed between the so-caUed towns of Verkhoyansk and Sredni-Kolymsk. Twelve hundred mUes may not seem very far to the raUway passenger, but it becomes a different proposition when the traveUer has to contend against intense cold, scanty shelter, and last, but not least, sick reindeer. For the first seven or eight hundred versts we passed through dense forests, which graduaUy dwindled away to sparse and stunted shrubs untU the timber Hne was crossed and vege tation finaUy disappeared. The so-called stancias, filthier, if possible, than those south of Verkhoyansk, were now never less than two hundred mUes apart. There were also povar- nias every eighty mUes or so, but these were often mere shapdess heaps of timber, rotting in the snow. Through out the whole distance there was no track of any kind and the sledges were steered Uke ships at sea, our course being shaped by compass and an occasional rest-house or povarnia, and these were easUy passed unnoticed on a dark night, or after a heavy snow-faU had concealed their low log waUs. " League on league on league of desolation, Mile on mile on mile without a change " aptly describes the long, dreary expanse that stretches from the Yana River to the Polar Sea, for I doubt if there //'"/ II "/' II •I'^.lV/.'iH >MWA .fV'.f.l V.I.'.IVA (I'.||MIAI/I4 v 4/ >,*" **#*<• «n rfy //-i/yfv Sketch by H. tie Windt INTERIOR OF A "STANCIA' THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 89 is a more gloomy, desolate region on the face of this earth. So spaisdy is it peopled that even a small town can moulder away here into non-existence and no one be the wiser for years after its disappearance. The authentidty of the following anecdote is vouched for by Mr. George Kennan, the American traveUer, who quotes from Russian official statistics.* " In the year 1879 there was hving in the dty of Pultava a poor apothecary named SchiUer, who was banished as a pohtical offender to the village of Varnavin, in the Pro vince of Kostroma. Schiller, finding a forced residence in a village to be irksome and tedious, and having no con fidence in petitions, changed his location without asking leave of anybody, or in other words ran away. About this time the Tsar issued a command directing that aU exiles found absent from their places of banishment without leave should be sent to tiie East Siberian Province of Yakutsk. When, therefore, SchiUer was rearrested in apart of the Empire where he had no right to be, he was banished to Irkutsk and the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia was requested to put him under pohce survefllance in some part of the territory named in the Imperial com mand. Governor-General Anuchin, who had then recently come to Irkustk, and who had not had time apparently to familiarise himself with the vast region entrusted to his care, directed that SchiUer be sent to the district town of Zashiversk, which was (supposed to be) situated on the River Indigirka, a few miles south of the Arctic Circle. A century, or a century and a half, ago Zashiversk was a town of considerable importance, but for some reason it lost its pre-eminence as a fur-trading centre, fdl gradually into decay, and finally ceased to exist. Its location was still marked by*two concentric circles on all the maps, its name continued to appear regularly in the annals of the Governor-General's Office, and I have no doubt that a coterie of ' Tchinovmks ' t in Irkustk were dividing and * " Siberia and the ExQe System," by George Kennan. t Petty officials. go PARIS TO N£W YORK BY LAND pocketing every year the money appropriated for repairs to its pubhc buildings ; but, as a matter fact, it had not contained a buUding or an inhabitant for more than half a century, and forest trees were growing on the mound that marked its site. Poor SchiUer, after being carried three or four times up and down the Rivers Lena and Indigirka in a vain search for a non-existent Arctic town, was finaUy brought back to Yakutsk, and a report was made to the Governor-General that Zashiversk had ceased to exist ! The Governor-General therefore ordered that the prisoner be taken to Sredni-Kolymsk, another 'town' of forty-five houses, situated on the River Kolyma north of the Arctic Circle, 3700 miles from Irkutsk and 7500 miles from the capital of the Empire. When, after more than a year, the unfortunate druggist reached the last outpost of Russian power in North-Eastern Asia, and was set at Hberty, he made his way to the httle log church, entered the belfry, and proceeded to jangle the church beUs in a sort of wild, erratic chime. When the people of the town ran to the belfry in alarm and inquired what was the matter, SchiUer rephed, with dignity, that he wished the whole population to know that 'by the Grace of God, Herman SchiUer, after long and perilous wanderings, had reached, in safety, the town of Sredni-Kolymsk ! ' Months of fatigue, privation and loneliness had probably deprived the poor feUow of his reason, a not unusual occurrence in this isolated portion of the great Russian Empire. Bnt the local pohce reported to the Governor-General that the exUe SchiUer was disorderly and turbulent, and that he had caused a pubhc scandal before he had been in Sredni- Kolymsk twenty-four hours, and upon recdpt of this in formation the Governor-General endorsed an order to remove the offender to some place at least twdve versts distant from the town. His idea was probably to have SchiUer sent to some smaU suburban viflage in the general ndghbourhood of Sredni-Kolymsk. Unfortunatdy there was no suburban viUage within a hundred miles in any direction, and the local authorities, not knowing what else THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 91 to do, carried the wretched druggist about twdve versts out into the primaeval wUderness, erected a log cabin for him, and left him there. What eventually became of him I don't know."* The first stage out from Verkhoyansk, one of a hundred and fifty versts, was rapidly accomplished in less than twenty-four hours. This was wonderful travelling, but the snow was in perfect condition, indeed as hard and slippery as ice, for at the first stancia the cold was greater than any we experienced throughout the whole journey from France to America, the thermometer register ing 780 below zero (Fahr.). We remained here for some hours waiting for reindeer, but the heat and stench of the rest-house produced such nausea that more than once during the night I was compelled to don my furs and brave a temperature that rendered even inhalation painful, and instantly congealed the breath into a mass of ice. To make matters worse, the hut was crowded with Yakutes of loathsome exterior and habits, and a couple of cows and some calves also occupied the foul den, which, of course, swarmed with vermin. And so did we, after passing the night here, to such an extent as to cause actual pain for some days afterwards whenever we left the outer air for a warmer temperature. Oddly enough, these rest-houses were usuaUy crowded with people, who presumablynever left them, for in the open we never encountered a solitary human being, nor indeed a single animal or bird, with the exception of a dead ermine which had been caught in a trap and which our Yakute drivers, with characteristic greed, promptly took from the snare and pocketed. Talking of ermine, the district of Sredni-Kolymsk has always been famous as a fruitful breeding-place of this pretty little creature, and they used to be obtainable there at an absurdly low price, from six pence to a shiUing apiece. A friend had therefore com missioned me to procure him as many skins as we could * No wonder Zashiversk figures to this day on most English maps, when it is shown on an official map of the Russian General Staff published as late as 1883 I 02 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND conveniently carry, intending to make a mantle for as many halfpence as the garment would have cost him pounds in England. But we found that ermine had become almost as costly in Sredni-Kolymsk as in Regent Street. The price formerly paid for a score would now barely purchase one, for the Yakutsk agents of London furriers had stripped the district to provide furs for the robes to be worn at the Coronation of his Majesty the King of England. Far-reaching indeed are the requirements of royalty ! It was impossible to procure food of an eatable kind here, or indeed at any other stancia throughout this part of the journey. The ispravnik at Verkhoyansk had assured me that deer meat would always be forth coming ; and so it was, in a putrid condition which ren dered it quite uneatable. There was nothing else ob tainable but frozen milk (generaUy black with smoke and filth), so we were compeUed to subsist soldy on the meat from Yakutsk, so long as it lasted, and on " Carnyl,"* a kind of palatable pemmican brought from England and intended only for use on the Coast. And we afterwards nearly perished from starvation in conse quence of this premature indulgence in our " emergency rations." Shortly after leaving Aditscha we crossed the river of that name, which flows into the Yana bdow Verkhoyansk. The former stream is noted for its abundance of fish, which, in summer time, is salted and exported in large quantities to the various settlements throughout the district. Travd- ling steadily for forty-five versts we crossed the Tabalak mountains (or rather hills), and from here under fifteen versts brought us to Tostach, where the accommodation was a shade less atrodous than at Aditscha, and where we again had to pass the night to await a relay. Stepan tried the effect of threats, and then of kicks, but even the * " Carnyl " (invented by Dr. Yorke-Davies) is a patent food I can heartily recommend to Arctic explorers, as it is not only sus taining but very palatable. ITdth OUR REINDEER SLEDS A DRIVER AND HIS WIFE (STEPAN) COSSACKS WHO CONVEY POLITICAL PRISONERS TO THE ARCTIC SETTLEMENTS THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 93 latter failed to arouse the postmaster to any great extent, for the Yakutes add laziness to their other numerous vices, which indude an arrant cowardice. Treat one of these people with kindness and he wfll insult you; thrash him soundly, and he wfll fawn at your feet. This constant dday in the arrival of the deer now began to cause me some anxiety, for Stepan said that he had frequently had to wait three or four days for these animals at a stancia. Tostach was only outwardly cleaner than Aditscha, for when the inmates of the stancia had retired to rest, the warmth and firelit sflence brought out such overwhelm ing legions of vermin that I rose and, lighting a candle, proceeded to beguile the hours until the dawn with a "Whitaker's Almanack," which, with a Shakespeare and "Pickwick," now composed our hbrary. And here an inddent occurred which might wdl have startled a person with weak nerves, for the most practical being scarcdy cares to be suddenly confronted, at dead of night, with a ghostly apparition unpleasantly suggestive of graveyards. On this occasion the spectre might have dropped from the douds, for I looked up from my book for an instant, and noisdessly as a shadow it appeared before me, a shapeless thing in rags with a pale and gibbering face framed in tangled grey locks. A tinkling sound, accompanied every movement of the creature, and I then saw that the figure was adorned from head to hed with scraps of iron, copper coins, rusty nails, and other rubbish, in cluding a couple of sardine-tins which reassured me as to the material nature of the unwdcome visitor. When, however, the intruder showed signs of friendliness and nearer approach, I aroused Stepan, who sprang to his feet, and, with one heave of his mighty shoulders, sent the intruder flying into the darker recesses of the stancia. " It's only a Shaman," muttered the Cossack with a yawn,-as he rolled back into the dirty straw, and I then regretted that I had not more closely examined this High Priest of, perhaps, the weirdest faith in existence, for an hour afterwaxds, when the rekindled fire had once more rendered 94 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND objects clearly visible, the "Shaman" had left the hut as sUently and mysteriously as he had entered it. Shamanism is strictly prohibited by the Russian Govern ment, although many Yakutes practise its rites in secret, and the Tunguses* know no other faith. Only few Euro peans have beheld the weird ceremonies performed by these people, generaUy at night in the depths of the forest or out on the lonely " Tundra," far from the eye of official dom. The most lucid description of Shamanism which I have been able to obtain is that given by Mr. J. Stadling, the Swedish explorer, who led a few years ago an expedition through Northern Siberia in search of Monsieur Andre. Mr. Stadling writes : " The Universe, according to the Shamans, consists of a number of layers, or strata, which are separated from each other by some kind of in termediate space or matter. Seven upper layers constitute the kingdom of light, and seven or more lower layers the kingdom of darkness. Between these upper or lower layers, the surface of the earth, the habitation of mankind, is situated, whence mankind is exposed to the influence both of the upper and the lower world — i.e., the powers of Hght and of darkness. AU the good divinities, spirits and genii, which create, preserve and support the weak children of men, have their abode in the upper layers, in the world of light. In the layers of the lower world the evU divini ties and Spirits lurk, always seeking to harm and destroy mankind. In the highest layers (the ' Seventh Heaven '), the Great Tangara, or ' Ai-Toion,' as he is caUed in Northern Siberia, is enthroned in eternal light. He is perfect and good, or rather is exalted above both good and evU, and seems to meddle very little with the affairs of the Universe, caring neither for sacrifices nor prayers. In the fifth or ninth layer of the lower world, the fearful Erlik-Khan, the Prince of Darkness, sits on a black throne, surrounded by a court of evil spirits and genu. The intermediate layers are the abode of divinities and spirits of different degrees of Hght * The Tunguses number about 12,000 to 15,000, and inhabit the region lying to the north-west and north-east of Yakutsk. THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 95 and darkness; most of them are the spirits of deceased men. AQ spirits exert influence on the destiny of man for good or evil ; the children of men are unable to soften or to subdue these spiritual beings, whence the necessity of Shamans or Priests, who alone possess power over the spiritual world."* I met some years ago at Tomsk, in Western Siberia, a fur-trader who had once secretly witnessed a Shaman ceremony, which he thus described to me : " Half a dozen worshippers were gathered in a dealing in a Iondy part of the forest and I came on them by acddent, but concealed myself behind some dense undergrowth. In a circle of flaming logs I saw the Shaman, clad in pure white and looking considerably deaner than I had previously thought possible. Round his neck was a circular brass plate signi fying the sun, and aU over his body were suspended bits of metal, smaU bells, and copper coins, which jingled with every movement. The ceremony seemed to consist of circling round without cessation for nearly an hour, at the end of which time the Shaman commenced to howl and foam at the mouth, to the great excitement of his audience. The gyrations gradually increased in rapidity, until at last the Priest fefl heavily to the ground, face downwards, apparently in a fit. The meeting then dispersed and I made my escape as quickly and as silently as possible, for had I been discovered my life would not have been worth a moment's purchase." The museum at Yakutsk contains some interesting rdics pertaining to Shamanism, amongst others some artides found near the Lena, in the tomb probably of an important personage, for tiie grave contained valuable jewellery, arms and personal effects. I observed that everything, from garments down to a brass tobacco-box, had been punctured with some sharp instrument, and Mr. Olenin explained that aU artides buried with persons of the Shaman faith are thus pierced, generally with a dagger, in order to " kfll " them before interment. About twenty miles north-east * "Through Siberia." By J. Stadling. London, 1901. 96 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND of Tostach we came across the tomb of a Shaman which, judging by its appearance, had been there about a cen tury, and the shell with the remains had long since disappeared. The deer were a long time coming at Tostach ; one of our drivers accounted for the dday by the fact that wolves had been unusuaUy troublesome this year, and when Stepan suggested that the wolves were two-legged ones, did not appear to relish the joke. For the man was a Tunguse, a race noted for its predatory instincts and partiality for deer-meat. Reindeer in these parts cost only from twelve to fifteen roubles apiece, but farther north they fetch forty to fifty roubles each, and the loss of many is a serious one. We managed to get away from Tostach that afternoon (March 5) in a dense snowstorm, although on the preceding day the sun had blazed so fiercdy into the sleds that we could almost have dispensed with furs. The weather, however, was mostly bright and dear aU the way from the Lena to the coast, which was fortunate, for with sunshine and blue sky we could generaUy afford to laugh at cold and hunger, while on dufl, grey days the spirits sank to zero, crushed by a sense of intolerable loneliness, engendered by our dismal surroundings and the dafly increasing distance from home. The stage from Tostach was perhaps the hardest one south of the Arctic, for we travelled steadily for twdve hours with a head-wind and driving snow which rendered progress slow arid laborious. FinaUy, reaching the povarnia of Kiirtas * in a miserable condition, with frost-bitten faces and soaking furs, we scraped away the snow inside the crazy shdter and kindled a fire, for no food had passed our hps for sixteen hours. But time progressed, and there were no signs of the provision-sled which, as usual, brought up the rear of the caravan. Ignorance was bhss on this occasion, for the knowledge that the vehide in question was at that moment firmly fixed in a drift ten mfles away, with one of its team lying dead from exhaustion, would * When the letter " u " is surmounted by two dots it is pronounced like that in " Curtain." A SHAMAN THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 97 not have improved matters. When our provisions reached Kurtas, we had fasted for twenty-four hours, which, in North-eastern Siberia, becomes an inconvenience less cheerfully endured than in a temperate dimate. Beyond Kurtas the track was almost overgrown, and our narta covers were almost torn to pieces by branches on either side of it. There were places where we had HteraUy to force our way through the woods, and how the drivers hdd their course remains a mystery. Nearing the Tasha- yaktak * mountain, however, we traveUed along the Dogdo River for some distance; but here, although the road was clear, constant overflows compeUed us to travel along the centre of the stream, which is about ten times the width of the Thames at Gravesend. Here the sleds occasionaUy skated over perUously thin ice, and as night was faUing I was glad to reach terra firma. The Tashayaktak range is at this point nowhere less than three thousand feet in height, and I was anticipating a second clamber over their snowy peaks when Stepan informed me that the crossing could be easily negotiated by a pass scarcely rive hundred feet high. Fortunately the wind had now dropped, for^during gales the snow is piled up in huge drifts along this narrow pass, and only the previous year two Yakutes had been snowed up to perish of cold and starvation. However, we crossed the range without much difficulty, although boulders and frozen cataracts made it hard work for the deer, and another one f eU here to mark our weary track across Siberia. And we lost yet another of the poor little beasts, which broke its leg in the gnarled roots of a tree, before reaching the povarnia of Siss, a hundred and thirty versts from Tostach. Here both men and beasts were exhausted, and I resolved to halt for twelve hours and recuperate. The povarnia of Siss was more comfortable than usual, which means that its accommodation was about on a par with an English cow-shed. But we obtained a good * The names of places between Verkhoyansk and Sredni-Kolymsk were furnished by Stepan Rastorguyeff . G 98 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND night's rest, notwithstanding icy draughts and melted snow. The latter was perhaps the chief drawback at these places, for we generaUy awoke to find oursdves lying inch- deep in watery slush occasioned by the warmth of the fire. At Siss the weather deared, and we set out next day with renewed spirits, which the deer seemed to share, for they, too, had reveUed in moss, which was plentiful around the povarnia, whUe, as a rule, they had to roam for several mUes in search of it. Siberian reindeer seem to have an insatiable appetite ; whenever we halted on the road (often several times within the hour) every team would set to work pawing up the snow in search of food, with such engrossed energy that it took some time to set them going again. And yet these gentle, patient beasts would labour along for hours, girth-deep in heavy snow, their flanks going like steam-engines, and never dream of stopping to take a rest unless ordered to do so. It would weary the reader to enumerate in detaU the events of the next few days. Suffice it to say that half a dozen povarnias were passed before we reached Ebelach, a so-called viUage consisting of three mud huts. Ebdach is more than seven hundred versts from Verkhoyansk, and we accomplished the journey in under a week. Only one place, the povarnia of Tiriak-Hureya, is deserving of mention, for two reasons : the first being that it exactly resembled the valley of Chamonix, looking down it from Mont Blanc towards the Aiguilles. I shall never forget the glorious sunset I witnessed here, nor the hopdess feding of nostalgia instUled by the contemplation of those leagues of forest and snowy peaks, the latter graduaUy merging in the dusk from a ddicate rose colour to bluish grey. Only the preceding summer I had stood on the principal " place " of the little Swiss town and witnessed almost exactly the same landscape, and the contrast only rendered our present surroundings the more lonesome and desolate. No wonder the Swiss are a homesick race, or that Napoleon, on his distant campaigns, prohibited, from fear of desertion, the playing of their national airs. Smoky dries could be THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 99 recalled, even in this land of desolation, without yearning or regret, but I could never think of the sunlit Alps or leafy boulevards without an irresistible longing to throw reputation to the winds and return to them forthwith ! The other circumstance connected with Tiriak-Hureya is that the povarnia, measuring exactly sixteen feet by fourteen feet, was already tenanted by a venerable gentleman of ragged and unsavoury exterior, his Yakute wife, or female companion, three chUdren, and a baby with a mysterious skin disease. We numbered sixteen in all, including drivers, and that night is vividly engraven on my memory. It was impossible to move hand or foot without touching some foul personality, and five hours elapsed before Stepan was able to reach the fire and cook some food. But notwithstanding his unspeakably repulsive exterior the aged stranger excited my curiosity, for his careworn features and sunken eyes suggested a past life of more than ordinary interest. He was an exile, one of the few who have lived to retrace their steps along this " Via Dolorosa." I addressed the poor old feUow, who told us that he had once spoken French fluently, but could now only recall a few words, and these he unconsciously interlarded with Yakute. Captain , once in the Polish Army, had been deported to Sredni-Kolymsk after the insurrection of 1863, and had passed the rest of his life in that gloomy settlement. He was now returning to Warsaw to end his days, but death was plainly written on the pinched, paUid face and weary eyes, and I doubt whether the poor soul ever lived to reach the home he had yearned for through so many hopeless years. Nearing Ebelach the forest became so dense that we traveUed almost in darkness, even at midday. Snow had faUen heavUy here, and the drifts lay deep, while the trees on every side were weighted down to the earth with a soft, white mantle, that here and there assumed the weirdest resemblance to the shapes of birds and animals. I have never seen this freak of nature elsewhere, although it is mentioned by ancient explorers as occurring in the ioo PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND forests of Kamtchatka. And as we advanced northward optical ddusions became constantly visible. At times a snow hillock of perhaps fifty feet high would appear a short distance away to be a mountain of considerable altitude ; at others the process would be reversed and the actual mountain would be dwarfed into a molehUl. These pheno mena were probably due to the rarefied atmosphere, and they were most frequent on the Arctic sea-board. A number of smaU lakes were crossed between the last povarnia and Ebdach. There must have been quite a dozen of these covering a distance of twenty mUes, and fortunatdy the ice was weU covered with snow or it must have considerably impeded the deer. These lakes vary in size, ranging from about one to four mUes in diameter, and are apparently very shallow, for reeds were visible everywhere sprouting through the ice. Swamps would, perhaps, better describe these shoaly sheets of water, which in summer so swarm with mosquitoes that deer and even the natives sometimes die from their attacks. Ebdach was reached on March 9, and as the stancia here was a fairly dean one, I decided, although reindeer were in readiness, to halt for twenty-four hours. For even one short week of this kind of work had left its mark on us, and the catarrh, from whidi we now all suffered, did not improve the situation. When I look back upon the daily, almost hourly, fatigues and privations of that journey from the Lena River to Bering Straits, I sometimes marvel that we ever came through it at all ; and yet this part of the voyage was a mere picnic compared to the sub sequent trip along the Arctic coast. And indeed this was bad enough, for in addition to physical hardships there were hundreds of minor discomforts, a description of which would need a separate chapter. Vermin and bodUy filth were our chief annoyances, but there were other minor miseries almost as bad as these. One was the wet inside the sleds at night. You lay down to sleep, and in a short time your breath had formed a layer of ice over the face, and the former rndting in the warmer region of the neck THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 101 gradually trickled down under your furs, until by morning every stitch of underclothing was saturated. On very cold nights the eyelids would be frozen firmly together during sleep, and one would have to stagger blindly into a stancia or povarnia before they could be opened. Again, on starting from a stancia at sunset, the hood of the sled is closed down on its helpless occupant, who must remain in this ambulant ice-box for an indefinite period, until it is re-opened from the outside, for no amount of shouting would ever attract the attention of the driver. The mid night hours were the worst, when we lay awake wondering how long it would be before the last remnant of life was frozen out of us. Two or three times during the night there would be a halt, and I would start up and listen intently in the darkness to the low sound of voices and the quick nervous stamp of the reindeer seeking for moss. Then came an interval of suspense. Was it a povarnia, or must I endure more hours of agony ? But a lurch and a heave onward of the sled was only too often the unwelcome reply. At last the joyous moment would arrive when I could distinguish those ever-pleasant sounds, the creaking of a door foUowed by the crackling of sticks. A povarnia at last ! But even then it was generaUy neces sary to yell and hammer at the sides of your box of torture for half an hour or so, the drivers having fled to the cosy fireside intent upon warming themselves, and oblivious of every one else. No wonder that after a night of this description we often regarded even a filthy povarnia as little less luxurious than a Carlton Hotel. The cold was so great that I had not slept for thirty-six hours before reaching Ebdach, but we soon made up for it here, where everything was fairly clean and even the ice windows were adjusted with more than usual nicety. Glazing is cheap in these parts. When the ponds are frozen to a depth of six or eight inches blocks of ice are cut out and laid on the roof of the hut out of reach of the dogs. If a new window is required the old melted pane is removed, and a fresh block of ice is fitted on the outside 102 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND with wet snow, which serves as putty and shortly freezes. At night-time boards are placed indoors against the windows to protect them from the heat of the fire, but the cold in these regions is so intense that one ice window wfll gener aUy last throughout the winter. The hght filters only very dimly through this poor substitute for glass, which is almost opaque. By the way, here as in every other stancia a wooden calendar of native construction was suspended over the doorway. Some superstition is probably attached to the possession of these, for although I frequently tried to purchase one at a fancy price the owners would never sdl this primitive timekeeper which was generaUy warped and worm-eaten with age. I never saw a new one. After a square sleep of twdve hours we awoke to find the inmates of the stancia discussing a dish of fine perch ?aught from the adjacent lake. They had simply thawed the fish out and were devouring it in a raw state, but we managed to secure a portion of the wdcome food, which, when properly cooked, was ddidous, and a wdcome change from Carnyl and the beef (or horse) from Yakutsk, which had lasted us until now. Every lake in this region teems with fish, which are never salted here for export, but only used for local consumption. The postmaster's famUy was a large and thriving one. I noticed that the pohteness of these natives increased as we proceeded northward, and that at the same time their mental capadty diminished. For instance, two of the people at Ebdach were hopdess idiots and I was prepared for the terrible percentage of insane persons which I afterwards found amongst the exiles of Sredni- Kolymsk by the large number of Yakutes of feeble inteUect whom we encountered at the rest-houses beyond Verk hoyansk. Nearly every one contained one or more un mistakable lunatics, and it afterwards struck me that in a land where even the natives go mad from sheer despon dency of Hfe, it is no wonder that men and women of culture and refinement are driven to suidde from the constant dread of insanity. Idiocy, however, is more frequent THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 103 amongst the natives, and in one povarnia we found a poor half-witted wretch who had taken up his quarters there driven away from the nearest stancia by the cruelty of its inmates. This poor imbecile had laid in a store of putrid fish and seemed quite resigned to his surroundings, but we persuaded him to return to his home with us. This was an exceptional case, for the Yakutes are generaUy kind and indulgent towards mental sufferers, their kindness perhaps arising to a certain extent from fear, for in these parts mad people are credited with occult powers which enable them to take summary vengeance on their enemies. Leaving Ebdach the lakes became so numerous that the country may also be described as one vast sheet of water with intervals of land. We must have crossed over a hundred lakes of various sizes between the stancia of Khatignak and Sredni-Kolymsk, a distance of about five hundred versts. The majority were carpeted with snow, and afforded good going ; but smooth black ice formed the surface of others, swept by the wind, and these worked sad havoc amongst our deer, of which four, with broken legs, had to be destroyed. Nearing Khatignak we crossed the Indigirka* river, which rises in the Stanovoi range and flows through many hundred mUes of desolation to the Arctic Ocean. The country here is more hiUy, but sparse forests of stunted bushes and withered looking pine-trees were now the sole vegetation, and these were often replaced by long stretches of snowy plain. A long stage of seventy- five versts without a break brought us to Khatignak, where another reindeer dropped dead from exhaustion before the door of the stancia. Some mUes beyond Khatignak another chain of moun tains was crossed, although downs would more aptly describe the Alazenski range. But the snow lay deep and we were compeUed to make the ascent on foot, a hard walk of five hours in heavy furs under a blazing sun. On the summit is a wooden cross marking the boundary between the * The now obsolete town of Zashiversk was situated on the right bank of this river. 104 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Kolyma and Verkhoyansk districts. The cross was hung with aU kinds of rubbish, copper coins, scraps of iron, and shreds of coloured doth suspended by horse-hair, which had been placed there by Yakute traveUers to pro pitiate the gods and ensure a prosperous journey. The cross, as a Christian symbol, did not seem to occur to the worshippers of the Shaman faith, who had left these offer ings. We slept on the northern side of the mountain at a povarnia renowned even amongst the natives for its revolting accommodation. In the Yakute language " Siss- Ana " signifies hteraUy " one hundred doors," and the name was given to this sieve-like structure on account of the numberless and icy draughts which assail its occu pants. The place is said to be accursed, and I could weD believe it, for although a roaring fire blazed throughout the night, the walls and ceiling were thickly coated with rime in the morning, and towards midnight a bottle of " Harvey's Sauce " exploded like a dynamite shell, not ten feet from the hearth ! The condiment was far too precious to waste, so it was afterwards carried in a tin drinking-cup, in a frozen state, and not poured out, but bitten off, at meals ! Between Siss-Ana and the stancia of Malofskaya the country becomes much wilder, and forests dwindle away as we near the timber line. OccasionaUy not a tree would be visible from sled to horizon, only a level plain of snow, which under the influence of wind, sunshine and passing douds would present as many moods and aspects as the sea. On one day it would appear as smooth and unbroken as a viUage pond, on another the white expanse would be broken by ripples, solid wavdets stirred up by a light breeze, while after a storm, biUows and roUers in the shape of great drifts and hiUocks would obstruct our progress. As we neared the frozen ocean many storms were en countered, and approaching Sredni-Kolymsk these occurred almost daily as furious blizzards. On such occasions we always vlajT. to, for it was impossible to travd against the overwhelming force of the wind. Frequently these THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 105 tempests occurred in otherwise fine weather, and on such days the snow did not fall but was whirled up from the ground in dense clouds, and during the luUs, a momen tary glance of sunshine and blue sky had a strange effect. And, as we graduaUy crept further and further north, a sense of unspeakable loneliness seemed to increase with every mUe we covered. Let the reader try and realise that during the journey from Verkhoyansk of over one thousand mUes, we had seen perhaps fifty human beings and — a dead ermine ! When at Irkutsk I spoke of journey ng to Sredni- Kolymsk I was regarded as a lunatic by the majority of my hearers. Yakutsk was their end of the world ! And now that cold, monotony and sUence were graduaUy teUing upon the brain and nerves, I sometimes questioned, in moments of despondency, whether my Irkutsk friends were not right when they exclaimed : " You are mad to go there." There were compensations, notwithstanding, for a lover of Nature — the sapphire skies and dazzling sunshine, the marveUous sunsets under which the snowy desert would flash Uke a kaleidoscope of deHcate colours, and last, but not least, the glorious starlit nights, when the Httle Pleiades would seem to glitter so near that you had but to reach out a hand and pick them out of the inky sky. On March 14 a large caravan hove in sight, composed of perhaps a score of horse-sleds, which, as we neared it, halted, and a European emerged from the leading sled to greet us. This bearded giant in tattered furs proved to be the Russian naturalist, Yokelson, returning to Europe after a two years exploration in North-Eastern Siberia — principaUy in the neighbourhood of Kamtchatka and the Okhotsk Sea. From Gijiga, Yokelson had struck in a north westerly direction to Sredni-Kolymsk, and was bringing home a valuable coUection for the society which had em ployed him in the United States. The Russian could only give us the worst of news from the Kolyma, where my expedition was expected by the ispravnik, although the latter had assured Yokelson that our projected journey 106 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND to Bering Straits was out of the question. A famine was stiU raging, there were very few dogs, and those half starved and useless, and neither this official nor any one else in the place knew anything about the country east of Sredni- Kolymsk. Three years previously a Russian missionary had started with a driver on a dog-sled to travel from the Kolyma along the coast to the nearest Tchuktchi settle ment, about 600 mUes away, and the pair had never been heard of since. This was the cheerful information which, happUy, the Russian traveUer imparted to me in strict privacy. Shortly after leaving Yokelson we crossed the Utchingoi- kel, or " Beautiful Lake," so caUed from its picturesque surroundings in summer time. At .Andylach horses were harnessed to the sleds and we used no more deer, there being no moss between here and Sredni-Kolymsk. The change was not a desirable one, for the Yakute horse is a terrible animal. " GeneraUy he won't move untU your sled is upset, and then he runs away and it's im possible to stop him." So wrote Mr. GUder, the American explorer, and his experience was ours. But GUder was compeUed to ride several stages and thus graphicaUy describes his sufferings : " The Yakute horse can scarcely be caUed a horse, he is a domesticated wUd animal. A coat or two was placed under the wooden saddle, so that the writer was perched high in the air like on a camel. The stirrups were of wood, and it was an art to mount, for they depended immediately from the pommel. When you mounted ten to one that you feU in front of the pommel, and as you could not get back over a pommel ten inches high you slid over the horse's head to the ground and tried again. Yakute horses are docUe, provokingly so, for they have not enough animation to be wicked. The favourite gait is a walk so slow and dehberate that you lose all patience, and, if possible, raise a trot which is like nothing known to the outs de world ; your horse rises in the air and straightens out his legs and then comes down upon the end which has the foot on it, the recofl bouncing you high up from your seat just in time to meet THROUGH DARKEST SIBERIA 107 the saddle as it is coming up for the next step. If s like constant bucking, and yet you don't go four miles an hour !" I could sympathise with the writer of the above, for during the first day's work with these brutes I was upset five times, and fdt towards evening like an invalid after a hard day with hounds. Crossing lake after lake (this is a Siberian Finland) with intervals of forest and barren plain, we reached the last stancia of any size, Ultin. This is about two hundred miles from Sredni-Kolymsk, and the rest-house showed signs of approaching civilisation, or rather Russian humanity. For the floor was actually dean, there was a table and two chairs, and a cheap oleograph of his Majesty the Emperor pinned to the plank wafl. The place seemed palatial after the miserable shdters we had shared, and I seized the opportunity of a wash in warm water before con fronting the authorities at Sredni-Kolymsk. On March 17 Atetzia was reached. This is, indeed, a land of contradictions, for, although only ten miles from Sredni-Kolymsk, the povarnia here was the filthiest we entered throughout the journey from Verkhoyansk. It con tained two occupants, an old and ragged Yakute woman and a dead deer in an advanced state of decomposition. The former lay upon the mud-floor groaning and apparently in great pain, with one arm around the neck of the putrid carcase beside her, and I inferred that she had been poisoned by partaking of the disgusting remains, probably in a raw condition, for there were no signs of a fire. But the medicine-chest alleviated her sufferings, and we left the poor wretch full of gratitude and in comparative comfort. The same afternoon we reached our destination, having accomplished the journey from Verkhoyansk in eighteen days, although four months had been fredy predicted as its probable duration ! CHAPTER VIII AN ARCTIC INFERNO Note. — The information contained in the following chapter was chiefly obtained from Government officials stationed at Sredni- Kolymsk, the facts being afterwards verified, or otherwise, by pohtical exiles at the same place by my request. We reached Sredni-Kolymsk early in March on a glorious day, one of those peculiar to the arctic regions, when the pure, crisp air exhUarates like champagne, and nature sparkles like a diamond in the sunshine. But as we neared it, the sight of that dismal drab settlement seemed to darken the smiling landscape like a coffin which has been carried by mistake into a briUiant baU-room. I once thought the acme of desolation had been reached at Verkhoyansk, but to drive into this place was like entering a cemetery. Imagine a double row of squalid log-huts, with windows of ice, some of which, detached by the warm spring sunshine, have fallen to the ground. This is the main " street," at one extremity of which stands a wooden church in the last stage of decay, at the other the house of the Chief of Police, the only decent buUding in the place. So low indeed are these in stature that the settlement is concealed, two or three hundred yards away, by the stunted trees around it. Only the rickety spire of a chapel is visible, and this overtops the neighbouring dwellings by only a few feet. Picture perhaps a score of other huts as squalid as the rest scattered around an area of half a mile, and you have before you the last "civUised" outpost in Northern Siberia. AU around it a desolate plain, fringed by grev- AN ARCTIC INFERNO 109 green arctic vegetation and bisected by the frozen river Kolyma ; over aU the sUence of the grave. Such is Sredni- Kolymsk, as it appeared to me even in that brilliant sun shine — the most gloomy, God-forsaken spot on the face of this earth. At first sight the place looked like an encampment deserted by trappers, or some viUage decimated by deadly sick ness ; anything but the abode of human beings. For a whUe our arrival attracted no attention, but presently skin- clad forms emerged here and there from the miserable huts, and haggard faces nodded a cheerless welcome as we drove past them towards the police office. Here a dweUing was assigned to us, and we took up our residence in quarters colder and filthier than any we had occupied since leaving Verkhoyansk. And yet our lodgings were preferable to many of those occupied by the exfles. During our visit Sredni-Kolymsk had a population of about three hundred souls, of whom only fourteen were political offenders. The remainder were officials, criminal colonists, and natives of the Yakute, Lamute, or Tunguse races. The Cossacks here subsist chiefly by trapping and fishing, but are also nominaUy employed as guards — a useless precaution, as starvation would inevitably foUow an attempt to escape. The criminal colonists are allotted a plot of ground in this district after a term of penal servitude, and I have never beheld, even in Sakhalin, such a band of murderous-looking ruffians as were assembled here. They were a constant terror to the exUes, and even officials rarely ventured out after dark. The police officials here were sour, stern- visaged individuals, and our welcome was as frigid as it had been warm at Verkhoyansk. The Chief of Police had recently met his death under tragic circumstances, which I shall presently describe, and I was received by the acting ispravnik, whose grim man ners and appearance were in unpleasant contrast to those of our kind old friend Katcherofsky. Although this natural prison had no bolts and bars or other evidences of a penal system, the very air seemed tainted with mystery and oppres- no PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND sion, and the melancholy row of huts to scrawl the word " captivity " across the desolate landscape. Even the ispravnik 's room, with its heavy black furniture and sombre draperies, was suggestive of the Inquisition, and I searched instinctively around me for the rack and thumb-screws. How many a poor wretch had stood in this gloomy apart ment waiting patiently, after months of unspeakable suffering, for some filthy hovel wherein to lay his head. 1 1 seemed to me that crape and fetters would more fittingly have adorned those whitewashed waUs than a sacred Ikon encrusted with jewels, and heavUy gUt oU-paintings of their Imperial Majesties ! A couple of tables littered with papers occupied the centre of the room, and at one of these sat the ispravnik, a wooden-faced peremptory person in dark green tunic and gold shoulder straps. A couple of clerks, also in uniform, were busUy engaged at the other desk, sorting the maU which our Cossack had brought, and in expectation of which a group of poorly dad, shivering exiles were already waiting in the piercing cold outside. But when we left this place ten days later not a single letter had reached its destination, although the post-bag contained over a hundred addressed to the various politicals. Even the Governor General's aU-powerful document pro duced little effect here, for the ispravnik appeared to regard himself as beyond the reach of even the Tsar's Viceroy, which, indeed, from an inaccessible point of view, he un doubtedly was. " You cannot possibly go," was the curt rejoinder to my request for dogs and drivers to convey us to the Bering Straits. " In the first place, a famine is raging here and you wiU be unable to procure provisions. Stepan teUs me that you have barely enough food with you to last for two weeks, and it would take you at least twice that time to reach the nearest Tchuktchi settlement, which we know to be beyond Tchaun Bay, six hundred mUes away. A year ago two of our people tried to reach it, and perished, although they left here weU supplied with dogs and pro visions. For aU I know the Kor (which has decimated this district) may have kiUed off the coast natives or driven AN ARCTIC INFERNO in them into the interior of the country, and then where would you be, even supposing you reached Tchaun Bay, with no shelter, no food, and another month at least through an icy waste to Bering Straits. As for dogs, most of ours have perished from the scarcity of fish caught last summer ; I don't think there are thirty sound dogs in the place, and you would need at least three times that number. Rein deer, even if we could get them, are out of the question, for there is not an ounce of moss on the coast. But even with dogs forthcoming I doubt whether you would find drivers to accompany you, for all our people are in deadly terror of the Tchuktchis. No, no ! Take my advice and give up this mad project, even if you have to remain here throughout the summer. It wiU at any rate be better than leaving your bones on the shores of the Arctic Ocean." My experience of Russian ispravniks is varied and exten sive, and I therefore realised that argument was useless with this adamantine official, whose petty tyranny was evidently not confined to his dealing with his exiles. I therefore returned to our cheerless quarters in anything but a pleasant frame of mind, and almost convinced that our overland expedition was now finaUy wrecked. The outlook was not a cheerful one, for the homeward journey would in itself be miserable enough, without the addition of floods and a possible detention through a sultry, mosquito-infested summer at Verkhoyansk. It has seldom been my lot to pass such a depressing evening as that which foUowed my interview with the ispravnik, but the prospect of an entire summer's imprisonment in Arctic wUds affected us far less than the faUure of the expedition. Harding probably echoed the feelings of all when he exclaimed with a gesture of despair : " When we set out on this job the devil must have taken the tickets ! " Stepan alone was sUent and taciturn. When I awoke next morning at daybreak he had disappeared, presumably to procure reindeer for the return journey. But the season was now so far advanced that the ispravnik caUed during the day to beg me not to risk a spring journey to Yakutsk. 112 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND It was far better, he averred, to remain here and travd back in safety and comparative comfort in the late faU. It would even be preferable to attempt the summer journey down the Kolyma River and over the Stanovoi Mountains to Ola on the Okhotsk Sea. The trip had certainly never been made, but then no more had our projected one to America, and how infinitdy preferable to arrive at Ola, where we might only have to wait a few days for a steamer, than to start off on a wUd goose chase to Bering Straits which we should probably never reach at aU. " Besides," continued the ispravnik, " the Ola trip would be so easy by comparison with the other. No drivers and dog-sleds to be procured, merdy a flat-bottomed boat which could be put together in a few days." From my friend's eagerness to avoid trouble of any kind I now strongly suspected that laziness was the chief cause of our present dUemma, although \his official's demeanour was so much more conciliatory ihan on the previous day, that I fancied that a night's reflection had revealed the unpleasant results that might foUow my unfavourable report of his conduct at Irkutsk. Although we sat for hours that day consvuning tea and innumerable dgarettes, I was no nearer the solution of the problem at sunset than at dawn. And had I but known it, aU the time I was vainly urging this stohd boor to reconsider his dedsion, hdp was arriving from a totaUy unexpected quarter. I discussed a cheerless and sUent meal with my companions, and we were turning in that night when Stepan stroUed in, cool and imperturbable as usual. He even divested himsdf of furs and hdped himsdf to food before making an announcement which sent the blood tingling through my veins with excitement and renewed hope. " I have got the dogs," said the Cossack quietly, with his mouth fuU of fish and black bread. " Sixty-four of them ; we can go on now ! " The news seemed too good to be true, untU Stepan explained that he had traveUed thirty mUes down the river that day to obtain the animals from a friend. The dogs were poor, weakly brutes, and the price asked an exorbitant one, but I would gladly have / SKEUNI-Is.OLVM.sk ^^Mt#o_jyiNUL — "^ OLD BRIDGE NEAR SREDNI-KOLYMSK AN ARCTIC INFERNO _II3 paid it thrice over, or pushed on towards our goal, if need be, with a team of tortoises. Even now I anticipated some difficulty with the ispravnik, and was relieved when, the next morning, he consented without demur to our departure. Indeed, I rather fancy he was grateful to the Cossack for ridding him so easily of his troublesome guests. The inde fatigable Stepan had also procured three drivers, so that I had no further anxiety on that score. But several days must elapse before sufficiently strong sleds for our purpose could be constructed. I therefore resolved to utilise the time by making the acquaintance of the exiles and studying the conditions of their existence in this out-of-the way corner of creation. This was at first no easy matter, for if the officials here were suspicious the politicals were a thousand times more so, of one who had invariably written in favour of Russian prisons. Most of these " poHticals " were famUiar with Mr. Kennan's indictment and my subsequent defence of the Russian exUe system, but the fact that my party was the first to visit this place for a period of over thirty years imbued an investigation of its penal system with such intense interest that, notwith standing many rebuffs, I finaUy gained the confidence of aU those who had been banished to this Arctic inferno. And the information which I now place before the reader is the more valuable in that it was derived, in the first place, from an official source. I should perhaps state that my experience of Russian prisons dates from the year 1890. Mr. Kennan's report on the conditions of the penal establishments throughout Siberia, was then arousing indignation throughout civilised Europe, and his heart-rending accounts of the sufferings endured by political and criminal offenders obviously caUed for some sort of an explanation from the Tsar's Government. A mere official denial of the charges would have been useless ; a disinterested person was needed to report upon the prisons and etapes which had been described as heUs upon earth, and to either confirm or gainsay the statements made by the American traveUer. The evidence u4 _Ll paris TO NEW YORK BY LAND of a Russian subject would, for obvious reasons, have met with increduHty, and it came to pass, therefore, that through the agency of Madame de Novikoff, herself a prison Direc tress, I was selected for a task, which although extremely interesting, subjected me to much unfavourable criticism on my return to England. Some yeUow journals even went so far as to suggest that I had received payment from the Russian Government for " whitewashing " its penal system, but I fancy the foUowing pages should con clusively disprove the existence of any monetary transac tions, past or present, between the Tsar's officials and myself, to say nothing of the fact that my favourable account of the prisons of Western Siberia has been endorsed by such rehable and weU-known EngHsh traveUers as Dr. LansdeU and Mr. J. Y. Simpson. In fairness, however, to Mr. Kennan, I should state that my inspection of the Tomsk forwarding prison and simUar establishments was made fuUy five years after his visit. In 1894 I again proceeded to Siberia (under similar con ditions) to report upon the penal settlement on the Island of Sakhalin, the political prison of Akatui, and the mines, where only convict labour is employed, of Eastern Siberia. On this occasion I traveUed from Japan to the Island of Sakhalin, on board a Russian convict ship, a voyage which convinced me that the Russian criminal convict is as humanely treated and weU cared for at sea as he is on land, which says a great deal. I have always maintained that were I sentenced to a term of penal servitude I would infinitdy sooner serve it in (some parts of) Siberia than in England. It is not now my intention, however, to deal with the criminal question, but to describe, as accuratdy as I can, the life led by a handful of poHtical exiles. There are now only two prisons throughout the Russian Empire where political prisoners are actuaUy incarcerated,* * Pohtical prisoners are no longer confined in the fortress of SS, Peter and Paul. Short terms of imprisonment previous to banishment to Siberia are served in the citadels of Warsaw and other cities, but Schlusselburg and Akatui are the only establish ments now used as pohtical prisons in the real sense of the word. IN THE ARCTIC 155 the Siberian sled-dog is unquestionably the most sagacious animal in existence, and many a time have his comical vagaries lightened my hours of despondency. In appearance the Siberian differs essentially from the Esquimo dog, and is a stronger though smaller animal, sddom of a uniform colour, being generaUy black and white, black and tan, &c. . His eyes are often of a Hght blue colour from the incessant snow-glare, which has a queer effect, especiaUy, as often happens, when one pupU has re tained its original colour. The leader of my team, a lean, grizzled old customer with the muzzle of a wolf, was the quaintest of aU. Oddly enough, kicks gained his friendship much more readUy than kindness, if the kicker happened to be a favoured acquaintance; if not, trouble was likely to ensue, as De Clinchamp once found to his cost ! Towards the other male dogs of my team " Tchort," or the DevU, assumed an air of almost snobbish superiority, but to the females he was affabflity itself. The reader wiU scarcely believe that I have seen this weird animal squat gravely in front of one of the opposite sex, extend his right paw and tap her playfuUy on the jowl, the compliment being returned by an affectionate lick on Tchort's right ear. But this is a fact, and only one of many extraordinary eccentricities which I observed amongst our canine friends whUe journey ing down the coast. Tchort, however, was a sad thief and stole everything he could lay his hands, or rather teeth, upon, from seal-meat to a pair of mocassins. At night, therefore, when other dogs were free to roam about camp, my leader was invariably fastened firmly to a sled, where he-usually revenged himself by howHng dismaUy at intervals. But he was a capital leader and as steady as a rock, excepting when the team, at the sight of a distant object on the snow, would give one piercing yelp of joy, and bolt towards it at breakneck speed, utterly regardless of the brake or curses of the driver. I am bound to say that on these occasions Tchort was the most unruly of the lot. Beyond Erktrik the coast becomes so rocky and precipi tous that we traveUed chiefly over the sea, and progress n6 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND them were occasionaUy almost cheerful under circum stances that would utterly annihilate the health and spirits of an average Englishman. But even European Russia is an unutterably dreary land in a stranger's eyes, which perhaps accounts for this remarkable fact. The most pitiable characteristic about Sredni-Kolymsk is perhaps the morbid influence of the place and its sur roundings on the mental powers. The first thing notice able amongst those who had passed some years here was the utter vacancy of mind, even of men who in Europe had shone in the various professions. Amongst them was a weU-known PoHsh author,* who, upon his arrival here, only three years ago set to work upon an historical novel to lighten the leaden hours of exUe. But it must be more than disheartening to reahse that your work, however good it may be, wfll never reach the printer's hands. In six months the book was thrown aside in dis gust, and in less than a year afterwards, the writer's mind had become so unhinged by the maddening monotony of life, that he would, in civilisation, have been placed under restraint. I met also a once famous professor of anatomy (who had been here for seven years), and who, although completely indifferent to the latest discoveries of surgical science, displayed an eager interest as to what was going on at the Paris music-haUs. Indeed, I can safely state that, with three exceptions, there was not a perfectly sane man or woman amongst all the exUes I saw here. " A couple of years usually makes them shaky," said an official, " and the strongest-minded generaUy become chUdish when they have been here for five or six." " But why is it ? " I asked. My friend walked to the window and pointed to the mournful street, the dismal hovds, and frozen river dark ening in the dusk. " That," he said, " and the awful sUence. Day after day, year after year, not a sound. I have stood in that street at mid-day and heard a watch tick in my pocket. * I was requested to suppress the name. AN ARCTIC INFERNO 117 Think of it, Mr. de Windt. I myself arrived here only a few months ago, but even I shaU soon have to get away for a change, or " and he tapped his forehead signifi cantly. The insanity which I found so prevalent amongst the exUes here is no doubt largely due to physical privation. When a man is banished for political reasons to Siberia, his property is confiscated to the uttermost farthing, by the Russian Government, which provides a fixed monthly aUowance for his maintenance in exUe. At Sredni-Kolymsk it is nineteen roubles a month, or about £1 16s., an absurdly inadequate aUowance in a place where the necessaries of Hfe are always at famine prices. During our stay here flour was seUing at a rouble a pound, and an abominable kind of brick tea at two roubles a pound, whUe candles, sugar, and salt cost exactly five times as much as at Yakutsk, where European prices are already trebled. The price of deer meat was, therefore, prohibitive, and the exUes were living throughout the winter upon fish caught the pre ceding summer, unsalted, and therefore quite unfit for human consumption. And this at mid-day was their sole nourishment, breakfast and supper consisting of one glass of weak tea and a small piece of gritty black bread ! Sugar was such a luxury that a lump was held in the teeth whUe the liquid was swaUowed, one piece thus serving for several days in succession. Were a house and dothing provided, even the miserable pittance provided by the Government might suffice to keep body and soul together, but this is not the case. Some of the exUes were accordingly occupying almost roofless sheds that had been vacated by the Yakutes, whUe many were so poorly clad that in winter time they were unable to leave their miserable huts. The house occupied by Monsieur Strajevsky, a Polish gentleman, whose personality I shaU always recaU with sincere regard and sympathy, wiU serve as a type of the better class of dweUing occupied by these exUes. It con sisted of a low, mud-plastered log hut about 6 ft. in height, 14 ft. by 10 ft. was the measurement of the one room it 118 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND contained, with a floor of beaten earth, gHstening with the filth of years. A yeUow Hght filtered dimly, even on the brightest day, through the slab of ice which formed the soHtary window, but it revealed only too clearly the dirt and squalor of the room. Some planks on trestles formed my friend's sleeping-place, and more planks strewn with books and writing materials, his table. An old kerosene tin was the only chair, and as I seated myself my friend went to the mud hearth and kindled a few sticks, which burned brightly for a few moments and then flickered out. He then left the hut, climbed on to the roof, and dosed the chimney with a bundle of rags. This is the Yakute mode of warming an apartment, and it is practised for economy, for Sredni-Kolymsk is near the tree line, and firewood, like everything else, is an expensive article. Even timber is so costly here that towards sunset every inhabitant of Sredni- Kolymsk fired up preparatory to blocking up his chimney for the night. The outlook from our hut was at this hour a weird and unique one, as an avenue of fires rose from the mud hovels and ascended in sheets of flame to the starlit sky. But this Ulumination was stifled in a few seconds by dense clouds of smoke. This method of obtaining warmth is scarcdy a success, for I sat during my visit to Strajevsky in an atmosphere minus 470 Fahrenheit by my thermometer. And in this miserable den my PoHsh friend, once a prosperous barrister in Warsaw, had passed eight of the best years of his life, and is stiU, if alive, dragging out a hopeless existence. In summer time Ufe here is perhaps less intolerable than during the winter, for the Kolyma River teams with fish, and edible berries are obtainable in the woods. Geese, duck, and other wild fowl are plentiful in the spring, and as fire-arms are not prohibited, game at this season is a ^el- come addition to a generaUy naked larder. Manual labour, too, is procurable, and an exUe may earn a few roubles by fishing, trapping, wood-cutting, &c. ; but the dark winter months must be passed in a condition of inactive despair. During the winter season there are two maUs from Russia brought by the Cossacks in charge of the yearly consign- AN ARCTIC INFERNO 119 ment of exUes, but in spring, summer, and early autumn Sredni-Kolymsk is as completely cut off from the outer world as a desert island in mid ocean, by swamps and thousands of shaUow lakes which extend landwards on every side for hundreds of mUes. A reindeer sled skims easUy over their frozen surface, but in the open season a traveUer sinks knee-deep at every step into the wet spongy ground. Summer here is no glad season of sunshine and flowers, only a few brief weeks of damp and cloudy weather, for even on fine days the sun looms through a curtain of mist. Rainy weather prevaUs, and the leaky huts are often flooded for days together by an incessant downfaU. Swarms of mosquitoes and sand flies are added to other miseries, for there is no protection against these pests by night or day, save by means of dimokuris, a bundle of leaves, moss, and damp pine logs which is ignited near a hut and envelops it in a perpetual cloud of pungent and stifling smoke. At this season of the year there is much sickness, especiaUy a kind of low fever produced by the miasma from the surrounding marshes. Epidemics are frequent, and during our stay smaUpox was raging, but chiefly amongst the native population. Leprosy is as prevalent here as in Central Asia, but Russians suffer chiefly from bronchitis and diphtheria, which never faU to make their appearance with the return of spring. Every one suffers continually from catarrh, irrespective of age or race, indeed we all had it ourselves. And yet in this hotbed of pestUence there is no Government infirmary, nor is any provision whatever made for the sick. Mr. Miskievitch (a young medical student and himself an exile) was attending the community, but a total lack of medical and surgical appliances rendered his case a hopeless one. I inquired for the old hospital and was shown a barn-like construction partly open to the winds and occupied by a famUy of filthy but thriving Yakutes. The new infirmary for which a large sum of money was subscribed in St. Petersburg ten years ago adjoined the older buUding, but the former was stiU in its 120 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND initial stage of foundations, and four corner posts where it wiU probably reign, the sUent witness of a late ispravnik's reign and rascality. But there exists a mental disease far more dreaded than any bodUy affliction, or than even death itself, by this Httle colony of martyrs. This is a form of hysteria chiefly pre valent amongst women, but common to aU, offidals, exUes, and natives alike, who reside for any length of time in this heU upon earth.* The attack is usuaUy unexpected ; a person hitherto calm and coUected wUl suddenly commence to shout, sing, and dance at the most inopportune moment, and from that time the mind of the patient becomes per manently deranged. A curious phase of this disease is the irresistible impulse to mimic the voice and actions of others. Thus I witnessed a painful scene one night in the home of an exUe who had assembled some comrades to meet me, and, in the street one day, a peasant woman, born and bred here, seized my arm and repeated, with weird accuracy, a sentence in French which I was addressing to De Clinchamp. This strange affliction is apparently unknown in other Arctic settlements. It is probably due to gloomy sur roundings and the eternal sUence which enfolds this region. The malady would seem to be essentially local, for the daughter of a Sredni-Kolymsk official who was attacked, immediately recovered on her removal to Yakutsk. On the other hand, sufferers compeUed to remain here generally become, after a few years, hopelessly insane. In the opinion of Dr. Miskievitch the affliction is largdy due to a total inertia of the reasoning faculties, which" after a time becomes a positive torture to the educated mind. * The Russian explorer, von Wrangell, mentions an apparently similar mental disease as existing in these regions in 1820. He writes : " There is here, indeed (Sredni-Kolymsk), as in all Northern Siberia, that singular malady called mirak, which, according to the universal superstition of the people, proceeds from the ghost of a much-dreaded sorceress, which is supposed to enter into and torment the patient. The mirak appears to me to be only an extreme degree of hysteria ; the persons attacked are chiefly women." — " Siberia and the Polar Sea," by von Wrangell, 1829. AN ARCTIC INFERNO 121 This evU could undoubtedly be remedied. For instance, were mental work of any kind, even unremunerative, pro vided by the Government it would be eagerly welcomed by every exUe with whom I conversed, but the authorities seem to consider apathy of the mind as essential a punish ment as privation of the body. Some years ago the exiles here were permitted to instruct young chUdren of the Free Community and their Hfe was thus rendered infinitely less unbearable than before, but shortly afterwards, and for no apparent reason, an order was issued from St. Petersburg to cancel this " privilege." I found, oddly enough, an almost total lack of resent ment amongst the victims consigned here by an infamous travesty of justice. Madame Akimova, for instance, a plain but homely-looking person, seemed devoted to the care of her miserable little household to the exdusion of aU mundane matters. I sometimes wondered, as I sat in her hut, and watched the pale, patient little woman clad in rusty black, ceaselessly striving to make his home less wretched for her husband, whether this could reaUy be Theisa Akimova, the famous NihiHst, whose name had one time, and not so very long ago, electrified Europe. We often spoke of Paris, which Akimova knew weU, but she evinced Httle or no interest in the political questions of the day, and I never once heard her murmur a word of complaint. Nevertheless she is here for life. Zimmermann was another example of mute resignation, but I fancy that in his case years of exUe had somewhat duUed the edge of a once powerful inteUect. Strajevsky, Miskievitch, and the others were enduring a Hfe of captivity and suffering for offences which, in any country but Russia, would scarcely have subjected them to a fine, and yet they never in my hearing showed vindictiveness towards those who had sent them into exile. And it is a significant fact that, although the higher officials of State were sometimes execrated, I never once heard a member of the Imperial famUy spoken of with the slightest animosity, or even disrespect. A reason for this is perhaps to be found in the foUowing incident: 122 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Upon one occasion I expressed my surprise to an exUe that his Majesty the Tsar, a ruler renowned for his humanity and tolerance, should sanction the existence of such a place of exUe as Sredni-Kolymsk. " The Emperor ! " was the answer with a bitter laugh ; " you may be quite sure that the Emperor does not know what goes on, or we should not be here for a day longer." Although the expedition remained here for only ten days, if seemed, on the day of our departure, as though as many months had elapsed since our arrival. Each day seemed an eternity, for my visit to the huts of the exUes always took place, for obvious reasons, after dark. During the hours of daylight there was absolutely nothing to do but to stare moodUy out of the window at the wintry scene as cheerless as a lunar landscape. Outdoor exercise is undesirable in a place where you cannot walk three hundred yards in any direction without floundering into a snow drift up to your waist. So during the interminable after noons I usually found my way to the tiny hut known as the Library. It contained seven or eight hundred books on duU and dreary subjects which, however, had been read and reread untU most of the volumes were torn and coverless. Amongst the numerous photographs of exUes past and present that were naUed to the log waU one object dafly excited my curiosity. This was a funeral wreath composed of faded wUd flowers secured by a black sUk ribbon, and bearing the golden inscription " Auf Wiedersehen " in German characters. One evening at the house of an official I happened to mention this withered garland, and learned that it had been laid upon the coffin of a young exUe by his comrades only a few weeks previously. The sad circum stances under which this youth met his death, and the startling denouement which foUowed the latter, form one of the darkest tragedies that has occurred of recent years in the annals of Siberian exile. I give the story word for word as it was related to me by the successor of the infamous Ivanoff who figures in the tale. In the winter of 1900 there came to Sredni-Kolymsk one AN ARCTIC INFERNO 123 Serge Kaleshnikoff, who, previous to his preliminary deten tion at the prison of Kharkoff, had held a commission in the Russian Volunteer Fleet. For alleged complicity with a revolutionary society known as the " WU1 of the People "* Kaleshnikoff was sentenced to imprisonment for twelve months in a European fortress, and subsequent banishment for eight years to Siberia. .-;:l Kaleshnikoff was a young man of about twenty-three years of age, whose sympathetic nature and attractive manners soon rendered him a universal favourite. Even the officials regarded him more as a friend than a prisoner — with one exception. This was Ivanoff, the Chief of Police, whose marked aversion to the young saUor was noticeable from the first day the latter set foot in the settlement. But as Ivanoff was an ignorant and surly boor, disliked even by his coUeagues, Kaleshnikoff endured his petty persecutions with comparative equanimity. One day during the summer of 1901, whUe fishing from a canoe on the Kolyma, Kaleshnikoff espied the barge of Ivanoff returning from Nijni-Kolymsk, a settlement about three hundred mUes down the river, The exUe, who was expecting a letter from a feUow " political " domicUed at the latter place, paddled out into mid-stream and boarded the barge, leaving his canoe to traU astern. Ivanoff, who met him at the gangway, had been drinking heavUy, as was his wont. His only answer to Kaleshnikoff's poHte inquiry was an oath, and a shameful epithet, to which the other naturaUy repHed with some warmth. An angry dis cussion foUowed, with the result that the Chief of Police, now Hvid with rage, summoned the guard. By Ivanoff's orders Kaleshnikoff was then bound hand and foot, flogged with rope's ends into a state of insensibiHty, and flung, bruised and bleeding, into his boat. The latter was then cast adrift, and the police barge proceeded on her way up the river. The incident occurred some mUes below Sredni-Kolymsk. The next evening, as Madame Boreisha and M. Ergin * Russian : Narodna-Volya. 124 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND (both exUes, and the latter an intimate friend of Kaleshnikoff) were stroUing by the riverside, they met the latter, who, weakened by exhaustion and loss of blood, had taken more than twenty-four hours to return to the settlement. Ergin, shocked by his friend's wUd and blood-stained appearance, pressed him for an explanation, but Kaleshnikoff, with a vacant stare, waved him aside, and with a despairing gesture disappeared into his hut, only a few yards distant. A few minutes later a pistol-shot was heard, and Ergin, instinc tively fearing the worst, rushed to his friend's assistance, only to find that the latter had taken his life. Beside the dead man was a sheet of paper bearing the words, hastUy scrawled in pencU : " FareweU ! I go to a happier land." * An inquiry foUowed, and Ivanoff was placed under temporary arrest. Unfortunately for the Chief of Police, this order did not entaU confinement to the house, or he might have escaped the tragic fate which overtook him on the afternoon of the very day that his victim was laid to rest in a lonely grave in the suicides' graveyard f on the banks of the river. As luck would have it, the hated official was lounging outside his doorway, smoking a cigarette, as Ergin, a gun on his shoulder, stroUed homeward from the marshes. The latter asserts that the act was unpremeditated, for at the time his thoughts were far away. But Ergin adds : " The sudden appearance of that evil face and the recoUection of its owner's foul and inhuman cruelty suddenly inspired me with uncontroUable fury, and I raised my fowHng-piece and shot the man dead, just as he had divined my purpose and turned to rush * I was told that the majority of the suicides amongst the exiles here occur towards the end of their term of banishment, a fact which seemed incredible until I learned that sentences are frequently prolonged for an indefinite period, just at the time when the exile is expecting release. The suspense and uncertainty attending the last months of captivity are thus a frequent cause of self-destruction, especially amongst women and the younger men. t Only suicides are buried in this plot of ground, which contains over a score of graves. AN ARCTIC INFERNO 125 indoors." Ergin has ere this been tried for murder at Yakutsk, but I was assured that he would be acquitted, for Ivanoff's conduct would in any case have met with severe punishment at the hands of the authorities in St. Petersburg. Physical brutality is, as regards Russian poli tical exUes, a thing of the past, and an official guuty of it now lays himsdf open to instant dismissal, or even to a term of imprisonment. Such is a plain and unvarnished account of the penal settlement of Sredni-Kolymsk, an accursed spot which should assuredly and without delay be erased from the face of civUisation. The above tragedy is but one of many that have occurred of recent years, and although space will not admit of my giving the detaUs of others, I can vouch for the fact that since the year 1898 no fewer than three cases of suicide and four of insanity have occurred here amongst about a score of exUes. And yet every winter more miserable hovels are prepared for the reception of comrades ; every year Sredni-Kolymsk enfolds fresh victims in her deadly embrace. " You wiU teU them in England of our Hfe," said one, his eyes dim with tears, as I entered the dog-sled which was to bear me through weeks of desolation to the Bering Straits. And the promise then made in that Hfeless, forsaken corner of the earth, where, as the exUes say, " God is high and the Tsar is far away," I have now faithfuUy kept. For the first time in thirty years I am able to give an " unofficial " account of the Hfe of these unfortunates, and to deliver to the world their piteous appeal for deliverance. May it be that these pages have not been written in vain, that the clemency of a wise and merciful Ruler may yet be extended towards the unfor tunate outcasts in that Siberian heU of famine, pestUence, and darkness, scarcdy less terrible in its ghastly londiness than those frozen realms of eternal sUence which enshrine the mystery of the world. CHAPTER IX THE LOWER KOLYMA RIVER " Why don't you try to escape," I once asked an exUe at Sredni-Kolymsk, " and make your way across Bering Straits to America ? " For I was aware that, once in the United States, a Russian " political " is safe from the clutch of the bear.* " You do not know the coast," was the reply, " or you would not ask me the question." My friend was right. A month later I should certainly not have done so. i Indeed, had I been aware, at this stage of the journey, of the formidable array of obstacles barring the way to the north-easternmost extremity of Asia, I might perhaps even now have hesitated before embarking upon what even tually proved to be the most severe and distressing of all my experiences of travel. It does not look much on the map, that strip of coast-line which extends from the Kolyma River to Bering Straits (especiaUy when viewed from the depths of a cosy armchair) ; and yet I don't think there is a mUe throughout its length which is not associated in my mind with some harassing anxiety, peril or privation. Provisions of aU kinds had become so scarce that a special permit from the Ispravnik was necessary in order to enable us to purchase even a pound of flour. LuckUy a reHef convoy had arrived from Yakutsk during the week preceding our departure or a total lack of food must have brought the Expedition to a final standstiU. However, after endless * A political exile escaping to the United States can become (in ten years) an American citizen. THE LOWER KOLYMA RIVER 127 difficulties and a lavish expenditure of rouble-notes, I managed to procure provisions enough to last us on short rations, with the addition of our own remaining stores, for about three weeks. I also secured a cask of vodka (or rather pure alcohol) to trade with the Tchuktchis, for a sum which, in England, would have stocked a moderate- sized ceUar. Within three weeks I hoped to reach the first native settlement, said to be six hundred mUes distant. Should we faU to do so starvation seemed unpleasantly probable, or death from exposure, our sole shelter being a flimsy canvas tent more suitable for a Thames picnic than an Arctic dime. And so we set out from Sredni-Kolymsk with seven men, five sleds and sixty-four dogs. One of the sleds was loaded down with provisions, our precious cask of vodka, and sundry deal cases containing dasp-knives, cheap revolvers, glass beads, wooden pipes, &c, for the natives, who do not use money. A sack of mahorka was also taken along for the same purpose. This is a viUainous leaf tobacco so rank and sour that it must be soaked in warm water before smoking ; and yet, long before we reached the Straits, it became far too precious to waste on the Tchuktchis ! Another sled was packed with dog-food, consisting of in ferior salt-fish, which we were also compeUed to share with the teams before Tchaun Bay was reached. My greatest anxiety, next to the food supply, was regarding fuel. Every drop of oU had been exhausted some days before reaching Sredni-Kolymsk, where no more was procurable, so that artificial heat, that essential of Arctic travel, would have to be entirely derived from the sodden drift-wood occasionaUy found on the shores of the Polar Sea. I did not care to think much about what would happen if this commodity faUed us for any length of time. AU things considered, it is no exaggeration to say that my expedition was about as suitably equipped for the work before it as a man who, in England, goes out duck shooting in the depth of winter in a sUk night-shirt ! Here, as at Verkhoyansk, our departure was witnessed 128 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND by officials, exUes and natives. Even the politicals took an active interest in this hitherto unattempted journey, although perhaps this was partly due to the fact that certain sealed missives, destined for Europe, were snugly concealed about my person. Poor Strajevsky, whom I had learned to regard more as a friend than as an acquaints ance, made a sketch of our departure which he promised to forward to me, but of course the drawing never reached its destination. Where is now, I often wonder,, the unfor tunate artist ? He had Hved for some time at Montrouge, in Paris, in order to study the French language, but I was unable to trace any of the friends there to whom he sent messages announcing his terrible fate. From Sredni-Kolymsk, which we left on March 22, our way lay along the Kolyma River* to Nijni-Kolymsk,f an almost deserted coUection of log huts surrounding a ruined wooden chapd. Our sleds were now Hghtly buUt, un covered contrivances to carry two men, about a dozen dogs being harnessed to each. With a good team one may cover a long distance during the day over level ground, but our poor half-starved brutes traveUed so slowly that my heart sank when I thought of the distance before them. Through out that dismal time America used to seem as unattainable as the North Pole itsdf ! I now directed that the sleds should travel in a certain order. Mine was the leading narta, and Nos. 2, 3 and 4 were occupied by de Clin champ, Harding and Stepan respectivdy. Numbers 4 and 5 were provision-sleds which should have headed, not brought up the rear of the caravan, although I- did not discover this mistake, which nearly cost us dearly, until after the passage across Tchaun Bay. Harding and Stepan each drove a sled, the three other drivers being half-breed Kolyma-Russians, of whom two were of the usual stoHd, sulky type. The third, who accom- * The River Kolyma, like the Indigirka, has its source in the Stanovoi Mountains. t "Sredni" signifies "Middle," and "Nijni" " Lower " Kolymsk, according to their situations on the Kolyma River. GROUP OF EXILES, SREDNI-KOLYMSK JACOB YARTSEGG THE LOWER KOLYMA RIVER 129 panied me, was a character. A squat little bundle of furs, with beady black eyes twinkling slyly from a face to which incessant cold and bad brandy had imparted the hues of a briUiant sunset. Local rumour gave Mikouhne forty years, but he might have been any age, certainly an octo genarian in such primitive vices as were feasible within the restricted area of his Arctic home. Mikouline had once traveUed some distance down the coast, and was therefore instaUed as guide. He and the other drivers agreed to accompany us as far as the first Tchuktchi settlement, where I hoped to procure assistance and trans port from the natives. And at first I beHeved in my driver, for he was a cheery, genial little feUow, so invariably face tious that I often suspected his concealment of a reserve stock of vodka. And although Mikouline's casual methods concerning time and distance were occasionaUy disquieting, he was a past master in the art of driving dogs, which is not always an easy one. The rudiments of the craft are soon picked up, but, as I afterwards found to my cost, a team wiU discover a change of driver the moment the latter opens his mouth, and become accordingly unmanageable. IUustrations of dog-sleds in the Arctic generaUy depict the animals as bounding merrily away at fuU speed, to be restrained or urged on at the wiU of their driver, but this is a pure faUacy, for a sled-dog's gaUop is Uke a donkey's, short and sweet. The average gait is a shuffling trot, covering from five to seven miles an hour over easy ground ; and even then desperate fights fre quently necessitate a stoppage and readjustment of the traces. There are no reins, the dogs being fastened two abreast on either side of a long rope. To start off you seize the sled with both hands, give it a violent wrench to one side, and cry " Petak ! " when the team starts off (or should tsart off) at fuU gaUop, and you jump up and gain your seat as best you may. To stop, you jab an iron brake into the snow or ice and caU out " Tar ! " But the management of this brake needs some skill, and with unruly dogs an inexperienced driver is often landed on his back in the 130 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND snow, whUe the sled proceeds alone upon its wUd career. Laplanders and the Eskimo have each their method of dog driving, but the above was that practised by ourselves and by the Tchuktchis on the Siberian coast. The journey of three hundred mUes to Nijni-Kolymsk was accomplished in five days, and it was pleasant enough, for every night was passed in the hut of some fisherman or trapper who regaled us with tea and frozen fish. The Kolyma settler is generaUy a half-breed ; an uncouth but hospitable being who leads a queer existence. During the short summer his days are passed on the river in canoes, fishing and trapping, but in winter furs are donned and dog-sled and rifle become a means of Hvelihood. Fish is the staple article of food, and when the summer catch has been a poor one a winter famine is the invariable result, and this is what had marred our progress. Nevertheless, a famine here is generaUy due to laziness, for the river teems with fish of all kinds, sturgeon and salmon-trout predominating, and there is also the tchir, a local deHcacy. The busiest fishing season is in the early autumn, when herrings ascend the river in such shoals that forty or fifty thousand are frequently taken in a couple of days with a single net. Our dogs were fed on this fish, which appeared to be much larger than the European species. In the spring-time the Kolyma settler can revd in game, for swans, geese, duck and snipe abound, although weapons here are very primitive and the muzzle-loader prevails. Elk and Polar bear are occasionaUy shot in the winter, but the former have become scarce, and the latter only frequent the sea- coast. Every hut, or even shed, we passed on the Kolyma had a name, which duly appears on the table of distances in the Appendix, but there are only two so-called viUages between Middle and Lower Kolymsk, Silgisit and Krest, making the stages of the journey 90, 180, and 240 mUes respectively. A little drive Uke the final stage of, say, London to Durham with such short rests would pro bably knock up an English horse, but even our weakly THE LOWER KOLYMA RIVER 131 teams were fit to continue after twenty-four hours^'at Lower Kolymsk. Krest, so named .from a large wooden cross which stands amidst a few log huts, was reached on March 24, and here we were hospitably enter tained by the inhabitants, who aU appeared to Hve in one house, the interior of which was cosy enough ; and I here noticed for the first time that the windows were made, not of ice, but of fish skin. The other huts were deserted, for Krest is a fishing viUage only fuUy populated in summer-time. There seemed to be a fair lot of cattle and horses about the inhabited dwellings where we shared the usual evening meal of frozen fish, to which a goodly portion of roast deer had been added in our honour. The meat would have been exceUent had it not reeked of wUd thyme, a favourite ingredient on the Kolyma, but the frozen berries served with it as a compote were dehcious. These were a species - of bUberry, but my host informed me that a dozen edible kinds are found within a couple of mUes of the viUage, a kindly provision of nature, as vegetables are here unknown. There were also edible roots, one of which I tasted, but have no desire to repeat the experiment. I was surprised at the sleek appearance of my host's cattle, but he told me that the plains around Krest afforded good, but coarse, pasturage, and sufficient hay to last throughout the winter months. When we left Krest the night was bitterly cold, but clear and starht, and that evening is memorable on account of a strange dream which disturbed my slumbers as I lay snugly ensconced in the sleeping-bag which was now my nightly couch. Perhaps the roast deer and bUberries had transported my astral self to the deck of a P. and O. liner at Colombo, where the passengers were warmly congratulat ing me on a successful voyage across Asia. " You have now only Bering Straits to get over," said one, pledging me in champagne, and the geographical inconsistency did not strike me untU a captain in gold lace, with the face of a Yakute, pointed out the little difference of several 132 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND thousand mUes lying between Ceylon and our projected goal. The shock of this discovery awoke me in terror, to shiver untU dawn, yet heartUy thankful that Colombo and I were stiU where we should be! Not that a short interval of tropical warmth would have been unwelcome that night, for although the cold was not so severe as it had been inland, I found on halting for breakfast that a mirror in a smaU bag under my pUlow was coated with a thin film of ice. Grey skies and frequent snowflurries were experienced as we neared Nijni-Kolymsk, and as each mUe was covered the vegetation on either side grew scantier, for even at Sredni-Kolymsk the pine forests had lost their grandeur. Here they dwidled away to scanty fir-trees, stunted larches and grey-green wiUows drooping in the snow. There is no sadder sight in creation than a sunset in these regions, when the heart seems to sink in sympathy with the dying day, and a duU despair to deaden the mind, as darkness creeps over a frozen world. On the morning of Friday, March 28, we reached Nijni- Kolymsk, about thirty log huts in various stages of decay. This settlement, which was founded by Cossacks about the middle of the seventeenth century, is surrounded by low scrub, and, as at Sredni-Kolmysk, the buUdings left standing are so low that they are invisible from the level of the river, which is here about two mUes wide. The surroundings, however, are more picturesque than those of Middle Kolymsk, for a picturesque chain of mountains breaks the horizon to the eastward, although the remainder of the landscape consists of level and marshy tundra. In the reign of the Empress Catherine Nijni-Kolymsk contained over five hundred sturdy Cossacks and their famiHes ; it was peopled at the time of our visit by about fifty poor souls, whose gaunt and spectral appearance told of a constant struggle against cold, hunger and darkness. Nijni-Kolymsk had once apparently boasted of a main street, but the wooden huts had faUen bodily, one by one, tiU many now formed mere heaps of mud and timber ; those stiU erect being prevented THE LOWER KOLYMA RIVER 133 from utter collapse by wooden beams propped against them. We found the entire community, consisting of half-breeds, Yakutes and Tunguses, gathered outside the hut of the only Russian in the place, one Jacob Yartsegg, who was banished here for life for smuggling rifles for revolutionary purposes into Russia. Yartsegg, a taU elderly man in ragged deerskins, informed me that the viUage possessed no Ispravnik but him self, at which I could scarcely restrain a smUe. There was something so " Gilbertian " in the idea of a prisoner acting as his own jaUer ! This man spoke a little EngHsh and apolo gised for the damp and darkness of the only hut he had to offer us. And in truth it was a piteous hovel half filled with snow, which was soon melted by the heat of our fire, rendering the floor, as usual, a sea of mud. There was not a mouthful of food to spare in the place, and we ate from our own stores. Yartsegg's dweUing was shared by a miserable creature who had lost a hand and leg in a blizzard the previous year. The wounds, with no treatment, had not even yet healed, and it made me shudder to think of the agony the poor feUow must have endured, with cold and hunger to add to his misery. But although the sufferer was a young man, now maimed for life, he never com plained save when pain in the festering limbs .became excruciating. Under such conditions a European would probably have succumbed in a few weeks, but Arctic Siberia must be visited to thoroughly realise the meaning of the words " suffering " and " patience." The cold is not generaUy so severe at Nijni-Kolymsk as at the settlement up river (Yartsegg's record showed 420 F. as the minimum temperature for the month of March), but the dimate here is less endurable on account of violent snowstorms which occasionaUy occur even in summer, and dense fogs which, during spring and autumn, continuaUy sweep in from the Polar Sea. The sun remains above the horizon for fifty-two days, and the rest of the year varies from twilit nights in June to almost complete darkness in midwinter. The viUage was certainly not an attractive 134 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND one, and as its occupants evinced a decided tendency to encroach on our provisions I resolved to remain in it only a couple of days. But here occurred the first of a series of contretemps which dogged my footsteps throughout the coast journey, for the drivers now refused to carry out their contract, urging that even if a Tchuktchi settlement were safely reached the natives there would certainly murder us.* Here was an apparently insurmountable difficulty, for Mikouline, who acted as spokesman, simply snapped his fingers at Yartsegg's authority. Threats were therefore useless, and kindness equaUy futile where this little scoundrel was concerned. In Vodka lay my sole hope of victory, and the " exile-jaUer " lucidly possessed a limited store, some of which I purchased, and set to work to subju gate the unruly Mikouline by the aid of alcohol ; an immoral proceeding no doubt, but no other course was open. For I knew that my driver's example would at once be foUowed by the others who, like sheep, Mindly foUowed him in everything. It would weary the reader to describe my hopes and fears during the ten interminable days and nights that the war was waged. But he wul appreciate what they meant to the writer from the fact that every day, even every hour, was now of utmost importance, owing to the late season and probable break up of the sea-ice at no distant date. Also we were rapidly consuming the provisions which were to form our sole subsistance in the desolate Arctic. It therefore became necessary to place each man on half rations, consisting of two frozen fish, one pound of black bread and a quarter of a pound of Carnyl per diem. My triumph over .Mikou line cost me several gaUons of Vodka, to say nothing of hours of disgust and annoyance passed in dose companionship with the now maudlin, now abusive, Uttle half-breed. To make matters worse, the weather during that wasted fort- * The Kolyma Russians have apparently always held this tribe in great awe, for as far back as 1820 Von Wrangell wrote: "Our sled- drivers were certainly not free from the deeply rooted fear of these people (the Tchuktchis), generally entertained by the inhabitants of Kolymsk." THE LOWER KOLYMA RIVER 135 night was stiU, dear, and perfect for traveUing, and the very morning of our departure it broke up with a gale and blind ing snowstorm which occasioned another irksome delay down river. Just as we were starting, the now sober Mikou line again showed symptoms of weakening, untU I plied him with bumpers of Vodka. So long as " the spirit moved him " my driver was aU right ; but alas ! the Vodka would not last for ever, and where should we be then ? Yartsegg begged me to visit some of his relatives in New York and acquaint them of his existence, but although furnished with their address I could never trace these people, and the exUe talked so wUdly at times that my faUure to execute the commission was perhaps due to his impaired mind and memory. But half-witted and almost repulsive as this poor f eUow had become, it went to my heart to leave him in that God-forsaken settlement, when on the morning of April 2nd we again set out, in the teeth of a biting north-easter, for the shores of the Arctic Ocean. CHAPTER X A CRUEL COAST A few mUes below Nijni-Kolymsk vegetation entirely disappears, and in winter nothing is visible on aU sides but vast and dreary plains of snow-covered tundra. The first night was passed in a tiny log hut belonging to a trapper and bearing the name, like any town or viUage, of Tchorniu- sova. It was pleasant to reach even this rude shelter, the last but one to separate us from the homeless immensity of the Arctic, for the strong breeze of the morning increased by sunset to a northerly gale which the dogs would not face. Towards midnight two Yukagirs (a smaU tribe inhabiting the country due east of the Kolyma) arrived in a dog-sled and begged for shelter, having with difficulty reached the hut after several hours of battling against a furious poorga which had succeeded a change of wind to a westerly quarter. A poorga is a kind of Arctic typhoon justly dreaded on this coast, for its fury is only equaUed by the suddenness with which it over takes the traveUer. During these tempests (which some times last two or three days) the snow is whirled up in such dense douds that objects a few yards away become invisible, and it is impossible to make headway, for the dogs, instinc tively aware of peril, generaUy lie down and howl, regardless of the severest punishment. The trapper here told me that on one occasion he observed, after one of these storms, an unusual mound of snow near his dweUing, and extricated from it the frozen remains of a Yukagir driver and five A CRUEL COAST 137 dogs. The former had laid down to die within fifty yards of shelter and salvation. The weather improved towards daybreak and enabled us to make an early start. A hard day's traveUing foUowed, for the wind had cleared the river of snow, and we sledded over slippery black ice, which would have made a school boy's mouth water, but sadly impeded the dogs. Nearing the ocean the Kolyma widens by several mUes, and here we made our first acquaintance with the ice-hummocks or " torosses " formed by the breakers of the Polar Sea. Towards sunset a black speck was sighted on the snowy waste, and two hours later we reached Sukharno, the Tsar's remotest outpost on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, about eight thousand mUes from Petersburg. Here there was a single hut, so low in stature and buried in the drifts that we had to crawl into it through a tunnel of snow. The occupant was an aged Cossack who lived amid surroundings that would have revolted an English pig, but we often recaUed even this dark, fetid den as a palace of luxury in the gloomy days to come. We were awakened the foUowing morning by the roaring of the wind, for another poorga had swooped down during the night, which kept us prisoners here for the three foUowing days. It was madness to think of starting in such weather, and there was nothing for it but to wait for a luU, alternately smoking, sleeping, and cursing Mikouline, the cause of the delay. Fortunately the hut was weather proof, and but for perpetual anxiety I could almost have enjoyed the rest and warmth out of reach of the icy blast. But who could sit down in peace or sleep for more than five consecutive minutes when tortured by the thought that the poorga might rage for an indefinite period and that the journey to Tchaun Bay must occupy at least three weeks, whue our stock of food was slowly but surely diminishing ? Even the scanty allowance I had fixed upon for each man was doled out by Harding reluctantly, and with a doubtful glance, as much as to say, " WiU it last ? " a question which for the past week had dinned itsdf into my brain 138 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND several thousand times within the twenty-four hours. Here again Mikouline showed signs of mutiny, and I was com peUed to broach our store of Vodka to keep him up to the mark, which I did so successfuUy that my driver started from Sukharno in an advanced state of intoxication, after a bout of fisticuffs with his aged host. But the little scoundrel would certainly not have started in a sober condition. We left Sukharno on the morning of April 6, in a strong north-westerly gale accompanied by driving snow, but later in the day the sky brightened and we forged ahead as rapidly as rough sea ice would permit. Soon it became much colder, a favourable sign, for here a falling thermo meter invariably precedes clear, stiU weather. But it seemed ages before we lost sight of Sukharno, and whUe it was stiU in sight I often glanced back for a last look at that lonely snow-covered hut, for it was our last link with civUisation, indeed with humanity. This is, however, not strictly correct, for later in the day we passed the wooden beacon erected by the Russian explorer Lieutenant Laptief in the year 1739. The tower, which stands on a prominent diff, is stiU in a remarkable state of preservation and is visible for a great distance around. And talking of Laptief reminds me of other traveUers who have explored these frozen wastes. I had before leaving Europe ransacked the book stores of London and Paris, but had faUed to obtain any practical knowledge of the country which we were about to traverse. Nordenskj old's " North-East Passage, or the Voyage of the Vega," was invariably produced by every bookseUer I questioned, but as the Swedish explorers never left their ship, this work, as a guide, was quite usdess to me. So far, therefore, as finding the Tchuktchis was concerned I was much in the position of a wild Patagonian who, set down at Piccadilly Circus, is told to make his way unassisted to the Mansion House. For although MikouHne affected a knowledge of the coast, I doubt if he knew much more than I did. My literary researches showed me that the journey we were undertaking had only twice been performed by A CRUEL COAST 139 Europeans, or rather Americans (in a reverse direction) about twenty years ago. This was when the U.S. survey ing ship Rodgers was destroyed by fire in the ice of Bering Straits, and Captain Berry (her commander) and Mr. W. GUder (correspondent of the New York Herald) started off in midwinter to report her loss, traveUing through Siberia to Europe, which was reached, after many stirring adven tures, in safety. The works of the earlier explorers afforded me almost as little assistance as the " Voyage of the Vega." In a volume, however, written by the famous Russian explorer Admiral Von WrangeU, I gleaned that, " The first attempt to navi gate the Polar Ocean to the east of the Kolyma was made in 1646 by a company of fur hunters under the guidance of Issai Ignatiew. The sea was covered with thick drift- ice, nevertheless the traveUers found a narrow passage, through which they advanced for two days, when they ran into a bay surrounded by rocks and obtained by barter some walrus teeth from the Tchuktchis dwelling there. Their ignorance of the language of the natives and the war like disposition of the latter made it appear prudent not to venture further, and Ignatiew returned to the Kolyma. From his imperfect report it is difficult to judge how far his voyage extended. From the time expended, however, it is probable that he reached Tchaun Bay." The subsequent expedition and fate of the Russian explorer Schalarof are thus chronicled by the same author : " The ice in the Kolyma did not break up in 1762 untU July 21, when Schalarof put to sea and steered for a whole week on a N.-E. and N.-E.-by-J-E. course. On August 19th the ship was completely beset by large fields of ice. In this dangerous situation, rendered more alarming by a dense fog which concealed the shore, they continued until the 23rd, when they found means to work themselves out of the ice and to gain open water again. They tacked for some time among the fields of ice, in the hope of making and doubHng Cape Shelagskoi ; but being detained by ice and contrary winds, the advanced season at length obliged 140 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Schalarof to seek for a convenient wintering place. This he hoped to find in an inlet on the west side of the cape which led into Tchaun Bay, first visited and surveyed by him. On the 25th he passed between the mainland and the island of Arautan. On the 26th he struck upon a sand bank, from which it cost the crew much labour to get afloat again. Schalarof went on shore, but finding neither trees nor drift-wood, was obliged to sail further, in search of some place provided with this indispensable requisite. He shaped his course along the southern shore of the bay, as far as the island of Sabadei. FinaUy, he resolved to return to the Kolyma, which he entered on September 12, and reoccupied his quarters of the preceding winter." " On the return of spring, Schalarof desired to put to sea again, in the hope of effecting his favourite object, the doubling of Cape Shelagskoi ; but his crew, weary of the hardships and privations they had endured, mutinied, and left him. This forced him to return to the Lena. He then went to Moscow, and having obtained some pecuniary assistance from the Government, undertook, in 1764, another voyage to Cape Shelagskoi, from which he never returned." " For a long time none but vague rumours circulated respecting his fate. I was so. fortunate in 1823 as to dis cover the spot, about seventy mUes from Cape Shdagskoi, where Schalarof and his companions landed, after they had seen their vessel destroyed by the ice. Here, in a black wUderness, struggling against want and misery, he ended his active life ; but a late posterity renders this weU-deserved tribute of acknowledgement to the rare disinterested spirit of enterprise by which he was animated." *' On Schalarof's chart, the coast from the Yana to Cape Shelagskoi is laid down with an accuracy that does honour to its author. He was the first navigator that examined Tchaun Bay, and since his time no fresh sound ings have been taken there." Apparently the Russian explorer Laptief only once made an attempt to travel by land from the Kolyma to A CRUEL COAST 141 Bering Sea, but this was by an entirdy different route to ours. " Considering it impossible to effect by sea the task assigned him by surveying the Anadyr River,* Laptief resolved on an undertaking attended by equal danger and difficulty, namdy, to proceed overland with his whole crew, crossing the mountains, and traversing the country of the hostUe Tchuktchis. With this view he left Nijni-Kolymsk on October 27th, 1741, and directed his course towards the Anadyr, with forty-five nartas drawn by dogs. On Novem ber 4th he arrived at Lobasnoie, on the Greater Anui. As that river forms the boundary of the country inhabited by the wandering Tchuktchis, Laptief deemed it prudent, during his passage through what might in some measure be considered an enemy's territory, to observe the utmost caution, and to subject his men to a strict mUitary discipline. They ascended the Greater Anui, crossed the chain of mountains Yablonoi Khrebet, and reached the Anadyr Ostrog on November 17th without having seen a single Tchuktchi on the way." Concerning another expedition Von WrangeU writes : "The Geodets undertook a third excursion over the ice in 1771. Starting from the Kolyma they arrived on the last of the Bear Islands on March 9th. There they remained six days on account of bad weather, and then started for Tchaun Bay. Three days they continued in a due east direction, and having gone forty-eight versts, turned off to the Baranov rocks, from which they were fifty versts distant, and where they arrived on the 18th. Having rested there and kiUed a white bear, they continued their journey along the coast in an easterly direction, but on the 28th, their provisions running short, they were forced to return. On April 6th they arrived again at Nijni-Kolymsk, after driving about 433 versts." AU this was not very encouraging, especiaUy the fact, recorded by Von WrangeU, that a traveller named Hedenstrom once made an attempt to reach Shelagskoi * Which in those days was supposed to fall into the Polar Sea. 142 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND about the same time of year as ourselves, but " found the ice already so thin that he was obliged to renounce the plan. He even found it difficult to retrace his own track to the Kolyma, where, however, he arrived in safety and spent the foUowing summer." This was the sole information which I was able to extract from a score of volumes dealing with Arctic exploration, and, briefly, it came to this : Von WrangeU had once traveUed in winter, with dogs, from Nijni-Kolymsk to Koliutchin Bay (about two-thirds of the distance to Bering Straits). Berry and GUder had traversed the entire distance, from the Straits to the Kolyma River, under simUar conditions ; and why, therefore, should we not do Hkewise ? There was a " but," however, and a formidable one. These three traveUers had made the coast journey in the depth of winter (with a good three months of solid ice before them), whUe we were about to attempt it in the declining spring. On the first day, when traveUing about two mUes out to sea not far from the mouth of the Kolyma River, Harding, with an exclamation of surprise, drew my attention to a group of men apparently gathered together on the brink of a cHff. But a moment's reflection showed me that, viewed from this distance, these figures, if human beings, must have been giants of fifty feet high. The resemblance, however, was so startling that we steered inshore for a doser inspection, and my glasses then revealed the rocky pinnades which nature has so weirdly fashioned in the shape of man. The effect in this desolate and ice-bound wUder- ness was uncanny in the extreme. Von WrangeU noticed these piUars in 1820, and measuring one found it forty- three feet in height. He describes it as " something like the body of a man, with a sort of cap or turban on his head, and without arms or legs," but to us they appeared much more lifehke. We made good headway during the greater part of the first day in dear and doudless weather, but towards evening the sky became overcast and a rapidly rising wind brought A CRUEL COAST 143 down another shrieking poorga, which compeUed us to encamp in haste under the lee of a rocky diff, luckUy at hand when the storm burst upon us. At this time a breast plate of soHd ice was formed by driving snow on our deer skins, and an idea of the intense and incessant cold which foUowed may be gleaned by the fact that this uncomfort able cuirass remained intact until we entered the first Tchuktchi hut nearly three weeks later. But this first poorga, although a severe one, was nothing compared to the tempests we afterwards encountered. Neverthe less, our flimsy tent was twice blown down before morning, its re-erection entaUing badly frozen hands and faces, for having encamped without finding drift-wood there was no fire and therefore no food. Cold and hunger preduded sleep, and I passed the cold and miserable hours vainly endeavouring to smoke a pipe blocked by frozen nicotine. This may be taken as a fair sample of a night in dirty weather on that cruel coast. At daybreak we com menced another hunt for drift-wood, which was not dis covered for several hours, when every one was utterly worn out from the cold and lengthened fast. Sometimes a poorga would rage aU day, and in this case progress was out of the question. The solitary meal would then consist of frozen fish or iron-Hke chunks of Carnyl which were hdd in the mouth untU sufficiently soft to be swaUowed. There was of course no means of assuaging thirst, from which we at first suffered severely, for the sucking of ice only increases this evU. And want of water affected even the sleds, the runners of which should be sluiced at least once a day, so as to form a thin crust of ice which slides easUy over a frozen surface. On April 7th we reached a landmark for which MikouHne had been searching in some anxiety, the Bolshaya-Reka or Big River. AU that day we had been at sea, picking our way through mountainous bergs and hummocks, some quite sixty feet in height, whUe the sleds continuaUy broke through into crevasses concealed by layers of frozen snow. On the right bank of this river we found a deserted 144 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND viUage once occupied by trappers ; half a dozen ruined huts surrounding a roofless chapel. The place is known as Bassarika, a corruption of Bolshaya-Reka, and Mikouline had known it ten years ago as the abode of prosperous fur traders. But one hard season, every living being perished from smallpox and privation, and the priest alone escaped to carry news of the disaster to Nijni-Kolymsk.* Our drivers camped here with reluctance, for the place is said to be haunted, and its sUent, spectral appearance certainly suggested an abiding-place of evU spirits. But one of the ruined huts, although pitch dark and partly filled with snow, offered a pleasanter shelter than our draughty tent, and I insisted upon a halt. Drift-wood was plentiful (it always was near the mouth of a river), and a fire was soon kindled, or rather a bad imitation of one, for this fuel only yidds a duU, flickering flame. This latter, however, melted the snow sufficiently to convert the floor of our shanty into a miniature lake, and we therefore left it in disgust and adjourned to the deerskin tent shared by Stepan and the drivers, hard snow being a preferable couch to several inches of icy-cold water. This happened to be my birthday, and Harding triumphantly produced a tiny plum pudding, frozen to the consistency of a cannon-baU, which he had brought aU the way from England in honour of the occasion. But we decided to defer the feast until we could enjoy it in comparative comfort, perhaps on the shores of Bering Straits — if we ever reached them ! My notes between Bassarika and Tchaun Bay are very incomplete, for they were generaUy made at night, when the tempera ture inside the tent seemed to paralyse the brain as completely as it numbed the fingers. Oddly enough there is nothing colder than paper, and when the bare hand had rested upon it for a few moments it had to be thrust back into a fur mit to restore circulation. * Twenty or thirty years ago there were three or four Russian settlements, and at least as many Tchuktchi villages between the Kolyma River and Tchaun Bay, but there is now not a solitary being on the coast throughout the whole distance of nearly six hundred miles. J DE WINDT STEPAN FIRST DAY OUT FROM THE KOLYMA RIVER m ' *fc SLEDGING ON THE ARCTIC OCEAN A CRUEL COAST 145 Imagine a barren, snow-dad Sahara absolutely un inhabited for the first six hundred mUes, and then sparsdy peopled by the filthiest race in creation, and you may faintly realise the region traversed by my expedition for nearly two months of continuous travel from the last Russian outpost to Bering Straits. Place a piece of coal sprinkled with salt on a white tabledoth, a few inches off it scatter some lump sugar, and it wiU give you in miniature a very fair presentment of the scenery. The coal is the bleak coast-line continuaUy swept dear of snow by furious gales ; the sugar, sea-ice, and the cloth the frozen beach over which we journeyed for over 1600 mUes. The dreary outlook never changed; occasionally the cliffs vanished and our way would lie across the tundras — marshy plains — which in summer encirde the Polar Sea with a belt of verdure and wud flowers, but which in winter -time are merged with the frozen ocean in one boundless, bewUdering wilderness of white. In hazy weather land and sky formed one im penetrable veU, with no horizon as dividing Hne, when, even at a short distance away, men and dog-sleds resembled flies crawUng up a white curtain. But on dear days, un fortunately rare, the blue sky was Mediterranean, and at such times the bergs out at sea would flash like jewels in the fuU blaze of the sunshine, whUe blocks of dark green ice, half buried in snow under shadow of the cliffs, would appear for aU the world Uke cabochon emeralds dropped into a mass of whipped cream. But the reverse of this picture was depressing in the extreme. For on cloudy days the snow would assume a dull leaden appearance, and the sea-ice become a slate grey, with dense banks of wooUy, white fog encircfing the dismal scene. Fair and foul weather in the Arctic reminded me of some beautiful woman, bejeweUed and radiant amid lights and laughter, and the same divinity landing disheveUed, pale, and seasick from the deck of a Channel steamer. But we had Httle time, or indeed incUnation, to admire the beauties of nature, which are robbed of half their charms when viewed by the owner of an empty stomach. K 146 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Did not Dr. Johnson once truthfuUy remark that, " the finest landscape is spoUed without a good inn in the foreground " ? Time also in our case meant not merdy money, but life, and we were therefore compeUed to push on day after day, week after week, at the highest rate of speed attainable by our miserable teams, which, to do them justice, did their best. The poor beasts seemed to be instinctively aware that our food would only last for a limited period. When the coast was visible we steered by it, traveUing from' 6 a.m. untU we struck drift-wood, the traveUer's sole salvation on this coast. Sometimes we found it and sometimes we didn't, in any case it was sddom more than sufficient to boU a kettle, and bodUy warmth from a good fire was an unknown luxury. Even a little oU would have been a godsend for heating purposes, but we had used up every drop we possessed before reaching Sredni-Kolymsk, where no more was attainable, and I dared not waste the alcohol brought for the purpose of bartering with the Tchuktchis. I can safdy say I have never suffered, physically or mentally, as I did during those first two weeks along the shores of North-Eastern Siberia. We were often compeUed to go without food throughout the twenty-four hours, and sometimes for thirty-six, our frozen provisions being uneatable uncooked. At night, after a cheerless meal, we would crawl into sleeping-bags and try to sleep in a temperature varying from 350 to 450 below zero. And sometimes lying sleepless, miserable, and half frozen under that flimsy tent, I resolved to give it aU up and make an attempt to return to the Kolyma River, although even retreat would now have been attended with considerable peril. And yet, somehow, morning always found us on the march again eastward. On the beach we got along fairly weU, but steep, predpitous diffs often drove us out to sea, where the sleds had to be pushed and hauled over rough and often mountainous ice, about the toughest work I know of. We then traveUed about a mUe an hour, and sometimes not that. The end of the day generaUy found~us aU cut about, bruised, and bleeding from^faUs A CRUEL COAST 147 over the glassy ice ; and the wounds, although generaUy trifling, were made doubly painful by frost and the absence of hot water. I enter into these apparently trivial details as at the time they appeared to us of considerable importance, but the reader may tiiink them unnecessary, just as the man who has never had toothache laughs at a sufferer. Toothache, by the way, was another minor evU that greatly increased our sufferings during those dark days of hunger and incessant anxiety. And yet, if aU had gone weU, aU these troubles — added to intense cold and semi-starvation — would have been bearable ; but everything went wrong. First it was the dogs, as famished as oursdves, who dragged their tired limbs more and more heavfly towards evening as the weary days crawled on, and every morning I used to look at their gaunt flanks and hungry eyes, and think with despair of the thousand odd mUes that lay between us and Bering Straits. Then the Russian drivers, secretly backed by Mikouline, threatened almost daUy to desert us and return to the Kolyma. One morning aU three burst into my tent and vowed that nothing should induce them to proceed a mUe further. FinaUy, force had to be employed to keep these cowards together, and, lucidly, we were weU armed, which they were not. But this trouble necessitated a watch by night, as exhausting as it was painful in the pitiless cold. Only ten days out from the Kolyma we were Hving on a quarter of a pound of Carnyl and a Httle frozen fish a day, a diet that would scarcdy satisfy a healthy chUd. Bread, biscuits and everything in the shape of flour was finished a week after leaving Kolymsk, but luckUy we had plenty of tea and tobacco, which kept life within us to the last. Then sickness came. Owing to the frequent dearth of fud our furs and foot-gear were never quite dry, and during deep our feet were often frozen by the moisture formed during the day. One tireless night De Clinchamp entirely lost the use of his limbs, and a day's dday was the result. Four days later he sfipped into a crevasse whUe after a bear 148 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND and ruptured himself. This bear, by the way, was the only living thing we saw throughout that journey of nearly six hundred mUes to Tchaun Bay. Then I was attacked by snow-blindness, the pain of which must be experienced to be realised. Goggles gave me no relief, and in civUisation the malady would have necessitated medical care and a darkened room. Here it meant pushing on day after day half blinded and in great agony, especiaUy when there was no drift-wood and therefore no hot water to subdue the inflammation. Sleep or rest of any kind was impossible for nearly a week, and for two days my eyes dosed up entirely and I lay helpless on a sled, which was upset, on an average, twice every hour on the rough, jagged ice. At last we struck a fair quantity of wood and halted for forty- eight hours, and here I obtained reHef with zinc and hot water, whUe MikouHne proceeded to rub tobacco into his inflamed optics, a favourite cure on the Kolyma, which oddly enough does not always faU. About this time one of the dogs was attacked with rabies, and bit several others before we could shoot it. We lost over a dozen dogs in this way before reaching Bering Straits, this being probably due to the casual manner in which Stepan treated the disease. When one animal had to be destroyed he cooUy led it about at the end of a string to find a suitable spot for its execution, and when another went mad, and I was for despatching it, suggested that we could Ul spare it from the team for a few days longer ! And yet, notwithstanding these hourly difficul ties, privations, and hardships, I am proud to say that I never once heard a word of complaint from a single member of my party, although those days of constant toU and suffering in that grave of nature, the Arctic, might weU have tried the constitution of a Sandow and the patience of a Job ! And I may add that no leader of an expedition could wish for three more courageous and unsdfish companions than the Vicomte de Clinchamp, George Harding, and last, but not least, the Cossack Stepan Rastorguyeff, whose invaluable services throughout this journey wiU, I am informed, be suitably rewarded by the Russian Government. A CRUEL COAST 149 About one day in four was bright and sunny, and would have been almost pleasant under other circumstances. Even our chicken-hearted drivers would become less gloomy under the genial influence of bright sunshine, and join together in the weird songs of their country untU darkness again feU, bringing with it disquieting fears of the murderous Tchuktchi. Most of that memorable journey was made through a constant succession of snowstorms, gales and poorgas. We met three of the latter between the Kolyma River and Cape North, the last one striking us on the twentieth day out, as we were crossing Tchaun Bay, on the eastern shores of which I hoped to find a settlement. Although the weather just before had been perfectly clear and calm, in five minutes we were at the mercy of such a tempest that men and dogs were compeUed to halt and crouch under the sleds to escape its fury. During a temporary lull we got under way again, and for seven of the longest hours of my life we floundered on. As even a gentle zephyr up here, blowing against the face, means considerable discomfort, and anything like a gale, acute distress, the reader may imagine what it meant to struggle against a howling poorga. During those terrible hours one could only glance hastUy to windward, for the hard and frozen snow cut Uke a whip into cheeks and eyebaUs. Every few minutes the weak, half-starved dogs would lie down and were only urged on by severe punishment which it went to my heart to see inflicted, but to reach. land was a question of life or death. Sometimes the coast would loom ahead through the bHnding snow, but we had to steer by the compass, which, for some occult reason, was that day usdess, for it pointed east and led us due north towards the sea. At last, after a journey from the opposite coast of ten hours, with faces, feet and hands badly frozen, we reached land exhausted, and, for the time being, safe! Some drift-wood and the shelter of a friendly cave were handy, or that night some of us must inevitably have perished. But after a painful struggle up a steep cliff, waist- deep in snow, and a crawl into the cheerless refuge, the cry 150 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND was raised, " A sled is lost ! " and there was nothing for it but to face the poorga again in search of the missing narta and its driver, one of the Kolyma men. For perhaps an hour every man floundered about the hummocks and crevasses of the bay with a dogged perseverance born of the knowledge that at this time of the year large floes are often detached from the main pack and blown out to sea. But at last even Stepan's pluck and endurance were ex hausted (to say nothing of my own), and I blew the whistle for a general retreat to our cavern, only to find the missing sled triced up with the others and its occupant snugly reposing inside the rock. And right glad we were to find not only the man in charge of it but also the missing sled, which had contained the last remnants of our provisions ! That night, after the evening meal, every mouthful of food we had left was two pounds of Carnyl and fourteen frozen fish, and this must suffice for nine men and sixty ravenous dogs! Hitherto we had joked about cannibaHsm. Harding, we had said, as being the stoutest member of the party, was to be sacrificed, and Stepan was to be the executioner. But to-night this weU-worn joke feU flat. For we had reached the eastern shores of Tchaun Bay and this was where we should have found a Tchuktchi viUage. When the sun rose next morn ing, however, not a sign of human life was visible. Even Stepan's features assumed a look of blank despair, but the plucky Cossack aroused our miserable drivers as usual with his cruel nagaika* and compeUed them to make a start, although the poor wretches would wiUingly have resigned themselves to a death which undoubtedly overtook them a few days later. We had lost three dogs during the blizzard on Tchaun Bay, and the rest were so weary and footsore that it seemed little short of brutal to drive them on. But to stop here meant starvation, so we struggled painfuUy onwards to the eastward, growing weaker and weaker every hour. At times I fdt as if I must lie down in the snow and give way to an overpowering feehng of drowsiness, and Harding * Cossack whip. A CRUEL COAST 151 and De Clinchamp afterwards confessed that they frequently experienced the same feding. But Stepan, perhaps more inured to hardships than oursdves, was the life and soul of our party during that long, miserable day, and it was chiefly due to his dogged determination (combined with a small sHce of luck) that on that very night, when things seemed to be on the very verge of a fatal termination, we came upon signs of human life in the shape of a kayak with a paddle propped against it on the snowy beach. An hour later we sighted our goal — the first Tchuktchi settle ment ! And the relief with which I beheld those grimy, walrus-hide huts can never be described, for even this foul haven meant salvation from, the horrors of a lingering death. CHAPTER XI IN THE ARCTIC Our reception by the Tchuktchis at Cape Shdagskoi* was so surly that I began to think there might be some reason for the repeated warnings of our friends on the Kolyma. Two or three woebegone creatures, in ragged deerskins, crawled out of the huts and surveyed us with such suspidon and distrust that I verily betieve they took us for visitors from the spirit world. As a rule the Tchuktchi costume is becoming, but these people wore shapeless rags, matted with dirt, and thdr appearance suggested years of inactivity and bodUy neglect. I noticed, however, with satisfaction that their churlish greeting was not unmingled with fear, although they obstinatdy refused the food and shdter begged for by means of signs, pointing at the same time, to a black banner flapping mournfully over the nearest hut. This I knew (from my experiences at Oumwaidjik in 1896) to be the Tchuktchi emblem of death. Our sulky hosts then indicated a dark object some distance away upon the snow, which I sent Stepan to investigate, and the Cossack quickly returned, having found the corpses of several men and women in an advanced stage of decom position. An infer* - is disease was apparently raging, * Von Wrangell writes that during his coast journey an old Tchuktchi near here told him that he was descended from the Chelagi, or, as they are usually called by the Tchuktchi, the Tche- wany, who many years since migrated towards the west and have not since been seen. He adds : " The first of these names has been preserved in Cape Shelagskoi, and the second in that of Tchewan or Tchaun Bay." IN THE ARCTIC 153 lor several sufferers lay hdpless on the ground of the first hut we entered. I imagine the malady was small-pox, for a lengthened experience of Siberian prisons has made me famUiar with the characteristic smeU which accom panies the confluent form of this disease. On the other hand, it may have been kor, the mysterious epidemic which had latdy desolated the Kolyma district, and of which we had heard even as far south as Yakutsk. But food must be obtained at any cost. To leave this place without an adequate supply would have been sheer madness, especiaUy as we had ascertained from the natives that the next settlement was at least nine " sleeps " (or, in Tchuktchi dialect, days) away. Our own stores had now dwindled down to a few frozen fish, but here, for the first (and by no means the last) time, vodka came in useful, for there lives no Tchuktchi who wiU not sdl his soul for alcohol. The fiery spirit procured seal-meat sufficient to last us, with care, for ten days. I can safdy say that this is the most disgusting diet in creation, but we devoured it greedUy, with keen appetites sharpened by the knowledge that twenty-four hours more would have seen us starving. There were about thirty people in this place who had escaped the prevaUing pestUence, but all showed such a marked aversion to our presence that I sparingly dispensed our vodka. A drunken Tchuktchi is a murderous devU, and I had no desire to repeat my experiences amongst these people of 1896, when my Hfe was more than once in jeopardy during their orgies. However, the natives of Erktrik (as this place is caUed), were so openly hostUe that even the usually truculent MikouHne, who once, under the influence of his favourite beverage, had offered to accompany me to a much warmer and remoter place than this, was paralysed with fear. I therefore resolved to push on early the foUowing day (April 22), but that night we were all too exhausted to keep the usual watch, and when we awoke late the next morning our three Kolyma friends had bolted, taking some of our seal-meat with them. There can be no doubt that the fugitives perished trying to reach their home, 154 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND for panic had deprived them of the reasoning power to steal a sled and dogs, or even a compass, which they might easUy have done. The food the poor feUows took was perhaps sufficient for a week's consumption, certainly not for a journey of at least a couple of months on foot. A more vicious and unprincipled scoundrel than MJ&ouline probably never existed, and yet I missed him sordy after wards, and would give a good deal, notwithstanding aU the trouble he gave me, to know that the Httle ruffian had reached the Kolyma in safety. But this is, I fear, out side the bounds of possibUity. We did not leave the next day, for Erktrik, or rather Cape Shelagskoi, proved a Pandora's box of unpleasant surprises, including another tempest, which, though not so severe as the poorga which preceded it, detained us here for forty-eight hours. These were passed in scouring the coast in search of the drivers, but although their footsteps were visible for a couple of mUes they ceased abruptly where the runaways had taken to the ice in order to recross Tchaun Bay. On the morning of April 23 we left Erktrik, now each driving a sled, the fifth team being hitched on to Stepan's narta. A dead calm had now succeeded the wind, and we halted at midday for a rest of an hour. There being drift wood near camp, I decided to eat our daUy meal here instead of waiting, as usual, until the evening. And that was one of the pleasantest hours throughout the whole of that distressing journey, for the air was stiU, and the sun blazed down upon our Httle tent and fiUed it with a bright warm Hght, which, but for the desolate sur roundings and unsavory odour of seal-meat, would have re- caUed Nice or Monte Carlo. The ice, too, on beard and mous tache, and dinking against the drinking-cup, was scarcely suggestive of the Riviera ; but, neverthdess, the momentary peace and warmth were little short of luxurious. And the dogs seemed to rdish the sun and warmth as much as our selves, as they lay around, asleep or indulging in the quaint antics which often made me wonder whether they were not in some way distantly aUied to the human race. For IX THE ARCTIC 135 the Siberian sled-dag fe unquestMuntfity the most sagacious amawrtl in existence, and many a time have his comical vagaries lightened my horns of despondency. In appearance the Siberian drffieis essentially from the Esqonrao dog. and is a stranger though smaller animaL sddom of a nsifoem colour, being generally black and white, black and tan. &c. His eyes are often of a fight bine colour from the incessant snow-glare, which has a queer effect, especially, as often happens* when one pupil has re- tamed its o*Tg««»1 cofaur. The leader of my team, a lean, graded oM customer with the morale of a woM, was the quaintest of aU. Oddly enough, kicks gained bis friendstup nach more readily than kindness* if the kkker happened to be a favoured acquaintance: if not, trouble wss fikety to ensue, as De Cfiachamp once found to his ecst ! Towards tiie other male dags of my team " Tchort," or the Devil, assisted an air of almost snobbish superiority, but to the females he was anabmty itself. The reader wffl scarcely beheve that I have seen tins weird animal squat gravely ia ftoat of one of the opposite sex. extend his right pav and tap her pfayraBy on the iowL the compbment being returned by an affectionate Bck on Tchort's right ear. But this is a fact, and only one of many extraordinary ei&enlAkilfea which I observed amongst ©cr canine hfe___ds while joumey- mg down the coast. Tchort, however, was a sad tmef and stole everytbieig he could lay his hands, or lather teeth. upon, from seal-meat to a pair of mocassins. At mght, therefore, when other dogs were free to roam about camp. my leader was invariably fastened fanny to a sled, where be^usuauyieveagedhisaself by howhng dismally at intervals. But be was a capital leader and as steady as a rock, excepting when the team, at the sight of a distant object on the snow, would give one piercing yelp of joy, and belt towards it at breakneck speed, utteriy regardless of tiie brake or corses of the driver. I 1=1 bound to say that en these occaskss Tchort was the most uEruiy c* the lot Beyond Erktrik the coast becomes so rocky and pcedpi- tous that we traveled chiefly over the sea, and progress 156 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND was slower than it had been yet on account of the mountain ous ice we encountered around the numerous headlands. There was little driving to do, every man having to turn to and haul with the dogs, or lift the sleds bodUy across crevasses, or over steep, slippery icebanks. For a week the sky remained unclouded, and the sun beat down so fiercely that during the day our garments were soaked with perspiration, which would freeze to the skin at night and intensify the cold. West of Cape North the coast is of no great height, and although distance and the rarefied atmosphere often made the cHffs appear of formidable dimensions, a nearer approach generally showed that a man could stand on the beach and, metaphoricaUy, shake hands with one on their summits. With plenty of decent food this part of the journey would have been com paratively enjoyable, but as we had only enough seal-meat to last for ten days, and as I feared that the Erktrik natives, wishing to be rid of us, had misinformed me as to the distance away of the next viUage, I could only issue provisions very sparingly. LuckUy my fears were un founded, for in a week we reached the second settlement, Owarkin, which was more prosperous, and where a goodly supply of food was produced in exchange for half a dozen dogs, some tea and a few artides of barter. The natives here were less unfriendly, but as most of them had never seen a white man we were regarded with great curiosity. AU day the tent was packed with eager faces, and at night time the canvas opening was continuaUy pushed aside, much to our discomfort, for the cold here was very severe. But these people were such a welcome contrast to the sulky, Ul-conditioned natives down coast that we gladly suffered this minor discomfort. We remained in this place for one night only, and pushed on with renewed hope, encouraged by the kindly demeanour of the natives, for Cape North. But now the fair weather broke up, and almost daUy we had to fight against gales and blizzards, which weakness, caused by filthy diet, almost rendered us incapable of. But we pegged away cheerfuUy enough, although IN THE ARCTIC 157 every one was suffering more or less from troublesome catarrh ; De Clinchamp was partially crippled by frost bite, and snow-blindness caused me incessant pain — agony on sunny days when there was a glare off the ice. To make matters worse, drift-wood was so scarce at this time that a small fire was only obtainable every second day. LuckUy I had kept a few wax candles, and with the aid of these enough snow was melted to serve as a lotion for De Clinchamp and myself. I was harassed, too, by the thought that at our slow rate of speed Koliutchin Bay (still eight hundred miles away) would probably be found broken up and impassable, in which case the entire summer would have to be passed amongst these treacherous natives. For should the Revenue cutter, which the American Government had kindly undertaken to send to our assistance in June, not find us at East Cape, she would probably sail away again, under the impression that we had returned to the Kolyma. In any case she would scarcdy come more than a hundred miles or so west of Bering Straits, and Koliutchin was quite three times that distance. There is probably no region in the world more inaccessible than North-Eastern Siberia, and even had the iU-fated Andre managed to effect a landing, say between Tchaun Bay and the Kolyma River, he would, unless well supplied with provisions, in my opinion, have perished. Near Cape Kyber a huge bear and its cub were seen in the ice off the island of Shalarof,* about three miles from the coast. De Clinchamp, Stepan and half a dozen dogs at once went in pursuit, less for the sake of sport than of replenishing our larder, but after an exciting chase the brute got away, leaving its cub to be devoured by the dogs before Stepan could secure it, a keen disappointment to * About throe and a half versts north of Cape Kyber there is a rocky island of two and a half versts in circumference, entirely sur rounded by hummocks. I gave it the name of Shalarof, after the man whose enterprise, courage, and perseverance, and finally whose death in these regions, have well deserved that his name should be so recorded. " The Polar Sea." By Von Wrangell. 158 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND us all.* We frequently came across tracks after tins, but saw no more bears, wliich from everything but a gastronomical point of view was no loss. For there is no more sport in shooting the polar spedes than in knock ing over a rook or a rabbit. Finally Areni, a large viUage near Cape North, was reached, and here we found food in plenty, even some deer- meat, which, although putrid, was most acceptable. The kor, or smaU-pox, had not visited this place, and we saw and heard no more of this dread disease eastward of this. From here on to Cape North villages became more frequent and natives more friendly. In one place the sight of a San Frandsco newspaper riUed us with joy and a pleasant sense of proximity, although it xcas two years old. We traced it to an American whaler, for the trade of this coast is now no longer in Russian hands, but in those of the whaling fleet from the Golden Gate. At present there is no communication whatsoever between the Tchuktchis and tiie Kolyma, as we had already found to our cost. A hard journey of over two days from here, during which scarcity of drift-wood caused us much trouble, brought us to Cape North.f Darkness had now almost left us. and on April 28 we travdled nearly throughout the night in a dim daylight, arriving the next morning at a small village of three huts called Yugetamil. " And it's about time," murmured Harding, on hearing the name. But the atrodous pun was justly received in silence. About fifteen miles east of this we sighted mountains, perhaps thirty * Von Wrangell writes that dogs have a remarkable aversion to bear's flesh as long as it is warm, but this was not our experience on this occasion. t Concerning this region Von WrangeU wrote: "Drift-wood is scarce along this coast, partly from the consumption by Tchuktchis, and partly from natural causes. The greater part of the drift-wood found between the Shelagskoi and the Bering Straits is probably of American origin, for it consists chiefly of stems of pines and firs. My opinion that the drift-wood on this part of the coast comes from America is confirmed by the assertion of the Tchuktchis that among the trunks of fir they not unfrequently find some that have been felled with stone axes." IN THE ARCTIC 159 miles to tiie southward, known to the Tchuktchis as the Puk-tak range. The highest peak, Mount Urani, about 3000 feet high, was visible in dear weather. Nearing Cape North the ke was so bad that our pro gress seldom exceeded two miles an hour, but the cliffs here are quite perpendicular, so that it was impossible to travel by tend. In places they were covered to a height oi forty feet or so by the dear green or blue ice formed by breakers of tiie preceding year, and tiie dazzling colours reflected by tiie sunshine on tiie glassy surface of the rocks was marvellous to behold, Nearing the cape the ke was pikd up so high that I feared at one time we should never succeed in rounding the headland. The sleds were constantly hauled up hummocks sixty to seventy feet high, *ad much care was needed to prevent them falling headlong from the summits with tiie dogs. Every one had over a score oi bad falls that day, and although no bones were broken I slipped up towards midday and landed heavuy on the back of my head with my feet in the air. But for three thick fur caps my skull must have been fractured, and for several minutes I lay unconscious. All that day we toiled along, now scrambling over moun tainous " torosses»" now wading waist-deep in soft snow, which occasionally gave way to precipitate us into invisible holes. When, late at night, we reached a small village of two huts (name unknown), men and dogs were quite exhausted, and had the tiny settlement been half a mile further we could never have reached it. Here again we disposed of three dogs for more seal-meat, and went 011 the next rooming rejoicing, notwithstanding a stiff gale from the eastward accompanied by snow. At Cape North the natives were the friendUest we had yet seen, and we actually obtained flour and molasses, priceless luxuries. Pancakes fried in seal oil may not sound appetising, but to us they tasted Kke the daintiest of petiis fours. And the welcome news that Kohntchm Bay would remain frozen until late in May enabled me to hope that we might now reach Bering Straits, a contingency i6o PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND which only a few days before had seemed extremdy remote. This information was furnished by a Tchuktchi named Yaigok, whose home was within a few mUes of Bering Straits, and who spoke a few words of English picked up from the American whalemen. This man was returning with a sled-load of bear skins and fox furs, to trade to the whafing fleet. He was a fine, strapping feUow, and I gladly accepted his offer to guide us as far as his vUlage, for twdve dogs, some tobacco and a couple of clasp-knives. Several natives here had traveUed as far as the Bering Straits, wliich they caUed the " Big River," the land beyond it, Alaska, bdng known as " Nagurok " in the Tchuktchi dialect. The viUage at Cape North is known to the natives as Irkaipien. From a distance the promontory presents almost the appearance of an island, as it is joined to the low land by a landspit hidden in winter by stranded ice. This is probably the point seen in 1777 by Captain Cook, from whom it recdved its present name, but I rechristened it Cape Despair, on account of the difliculty we experienced in reaching it from the time when it was first sighted. Mentioning the fact to Stepan, I was much entertained by an anecdote rdated by the Cossack in connection with the names of places. He had once accompanied a German traveUer, who was compUing a volume of his experiences, down the Yenisd River in Siberia. On several occasions the tourists' inquiries as to topographical names were met with the reply, " Imia niet," for the country they were traveUing was new to Stepan. When, however, the book of travd was pubHshed in Berlin, a mountain, two rivers and a vUlage were carefuUy described under the title of the above two words which in Russian signify : " It has no name ! " I was rather disturbed whUe at Cape North to hear the name of my old friend Koari of Oumwaidjik continuaUy mentioned by the natives, for although I well knew the old scoundrel's influence extended along the coast in a southerly direction, I was not prepared to find it existing amongst the Tchuktchis of the north-eastern seaboard. One of my chief objects had been to avoid the Oumwaidjik A VISITOR. ERKTUK I CAPE DESPAIR IN THE ARCTIC 161 people, and I had therefore planned our route so as to steer north of the place by over two hundred mUes. However, nothing was known here of the enmity existing between myself and this old bandit, who, by reason of thepunishment inflicted on him on my account by the United States Government, would probably have made things warm for us had he been aware of my proximity. I had hitherto imagined that no land communication existed between Oumwaidjik and the Arctic Coast, and that by the time navigation re-opened we should be far away from the dutches of my old enemy, with whom our guide, Yaigok, was apparently on intimate terms. I therefore resolved to be careful, the more so that at Natska, a vUlage about ten days east of Cape North, we found a caravan of sixteen dog-sleds, laden down with furs, on the point of departure. " Where are those people going ? " I inquired of Yaigok, as the team started away across the tundra in a south easterly direction. " Over the mountains to Koari ! " repUed the Tchuktchi, and I prudently refrained from questioning him further. Another unpleasant incident occurred at Cape North, where a gale and heavy snow detained us for two days. A young native, having imbibed our vodka, damoured loudly for more, and when Stepan refused to produce the drink, drew a knife and made a savage lunge which cut into the Cossack's furs. In an instant the aggressor was on his back in the snow, and foreseeing a row I seized a revolver and shouted to my companions to do likewise. But to my surprise the crowd soundly belaboured their countryman, whUe Yaigok apologised on behalf of the chief, for the man's behaviour. Neverthdess, there were dissentient voices and ugly looks, so that I was not altogether sorry to leave Irkalpien behind us. We made rapid headway after this, for most of the way lay over tundra as smooth and flat as a bilHard- table. Our guide's sled continuaUy left us far behind, for the Tchuktchi's nartas are far superior to those made on the Kolyma. Yalgok's^dogs, too, were fresh and hardy, 162 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND whUe ours were exhausted by hunger and hardship. Our method of harnessing was also inferior to the Tchuktchi method, which brings the strain on the shoulders instead of the neck. These people, like the Yakutes, are very kind to animals. I never once saw them strike their dogs, which were urged on by rattling an iron ring fixed for the purpose to the end of the brake. Yaigok knew every inch of the road and saved many a mUe by short cuts taken across land or sea. The cold here was great and drift-wood scarce, but one could be sure now of passing some settlement at least every three or four days, where even the ford glimmer of a seal-oU lamp was better than no fire at aU. About this time the sleds gave us much trouble — the rough usage they had undergone necessitating constant repairs, but these were quickly made, for not a scrap of metal enters into the construction of a Kolyma dog-sled ; merely wooden pegs and walrus-hide thongs, which are more durable and give more spring and pliancy than iron nails. Three days after leaving Cape North, and in fine weather, Wrangell Land was sighted, or, I should perhaps say, was probably sighted, for at times huge barriers of icebergs can easUy be mistaken for a distant island. Yaigok, however, averred that it was an island, and his judgment was probably correct. The journey from here eastwards to Bering Straits would under ordinary circumstances of travd have seemed a severe one, for we traveUed through head winds and con stant snowstorms, which now, with a rising temperature, drenched our furs and made the nights even more miserable than those of intense, but dry, cold. One thing here struck me as curious, every snowflake was a most perfect five- pointed star, as accuratdy shaped as though it had passed through a tiny mould. Discomforts, as I have said, con tinued, not to say hardships, but we had become so inured to the latter that we could now, with weU-lined stomachs, afford to despise even blizzards with shdter never more than twenty or thirty mUes distant. Our diet was not appetising, consisting as it did for the most part of oUy IN THE ARCTIC 163 seal and walrus-meat, but drift-wood was now more plentiful, and we could usuaUy reckon on that blessing, a fire at night. There was now little difficulty in finding settlements, one of which was reached on an average every twenty-four hours, but it was necessary to keep a sharp look-out, for the low, mushroom-like huts of the Tchuktchis are invisible a short distance away and are easfly passed unnoticed during a fog or in driving snow. Fogs, by the way, were very prevalent as we neared the Straits, and became denser in proportion as the spring advanced. East of Cape North we had no bother whatever with the natives, who in many places even refused payment for food and assistance. Passing the viHages of Wankarem and Onman * we reached, on May 10, Kohutchin, a large viUage situated on an island in the bay of that name. Here we were recdved with open arms by the chief, who spoke a little EngHsh, picked up, Uke Yaigok's, from American whalemen at East Cape. Professor Nordenskjold's ship the Vega wintered here some years ago, and the natives showed us souvenirs of the Swedish explorer's visit in the shape of dasp-knives and tin tobacco-boxes. The irony of fate and obstinacy of pack-ice are shown by the fact that aU on board the Vega were expecting an easy passage through Bering Straits to the southward, and yet within twenty-four hours were compeUed to remain for another winter securely ice-locked off this dreary settlement. Koliutchin Island was caUed Bumey Island by Captain Cook, but Whale Island would be a better name for it than dther, for it exactly resembles a narwhal on the surface of the sea. There appeared to be frequent communication with the mainland, for we reached the island (about four mUes in circumference and twenty-five miles from the coast) by a weU-defined sled-track ; perhaps luckUy, for the bay was otherwise obstructed by heavy ice. News travds Hke lightning along this part of the coast, and Kouniang, the * Our American charts made these villages sixty miles apart, whereas they are not divided by a third of the distance. 164 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND chief, and a crowd of natives received us as we landed along the beach. As soon as our tent was pitched, deer-meat (onlysHghtly tainted!), flour and molasses were brought us, also some sticky American sweets, which having reposed for some time in the chief's deerskin parka, were covered with hairs. But we were used to this sHght inconvenience, for since leaving Yakutsk I had sddom partaken of a meal which was not fredy sprinkled with capiUary partides, either from our own furs or the surroundings. I verily bdieve that between Verkhoyansk and East Cape I con sumed, in this way, enough hair to stuff a moderatdy sized piUow ! Kouniang was one of the richest natives on the coast, and his trade with the whale-ships was extensive ; he providing the Americans with whalebone, walrus tusks and furs, in exchange for cotton goods, canned pro visions and rubbish of aU kinds " made in Germany." The chief would take no payment for his hospitafity, and this was perhaps fortunate, as I had very Httle to give him. So many of our dogs had died or been bartered that only thirty- one were now left, and these, with four sleds, about fifteen pounds of Circassian tobacco and under a gaUon of vodka, represented the entire assets of the expedition. Poverty is a serious crime in a dviHsed country, but in some savage lands it means absolute starvation, and the problem of tiding over perhaps a couple of months at East Cape without means of paying for food now caused me considerable anxiety. A credit was awaiting me at Nome City in Alaska, but the Tchuktchi scarcdy understands banking transactions. Everything depended upon the charity or otherwise of the chief at East Cape; and, as the reader may imagine, I left KoHutchin in a very perplexed state of mind. KoHutchin Bay was negotiated in beautiful weather, much to my reHef, for I had experienced misgivings after our terrible experiences in Tchaun Bay. But a blue sky and perfect stiUness enabled our now exhausted dogs to carry us across in under seven hours, and I was glad to IN THE ARCTIC 165 reach the eastern shore, for great lakes of open water on every side showed that we were not a day too soon. The sun had now become so powerful that most of our traveUing was done by night, for during the daytime the ice was often inch-deep in water, and the runners were imbedded in the soft and yidding snow. The coast from here on to Bering Straits is said to be rich in minerals, but although coal was frequently seen cropping out from the diffs and mica is plentiful, we saw no gold, and only heard on one occasion of the precious metal. This was at Inchaun, about a day's journey from East Cape, where one Jim, an English- speaking Tchuktchi informed me that he knew of " a moun tain of gold " about ten miles away. The lad offered to walk to the place (now almost inaccessible on account of melting snow), and to bring me specimens of the ore, which I agreed to, undertaking to repay him with one of our much-battered sleds on arrival at East Cape. The next day Jim returned with several attractive bits of rock, which, however, when tested by an expert at Nome City, were found to be abso lutely worthless. I had heard of this mountain of gold in London, where I believe it once figured in an aUuring pros pectus ! Jim, I fancy, was a bit of a humbug, who had served on a whaler and was therefore not whoUy unac quainted with iron pyrites. Indeed this was the most intelli gent Tchuktchi I ever met, although his language would have startled an EngHsh bargee. The white man he regarded with extreme contempt, aUuding to us indiscriminately as " dis-feUah " as he sat in our tent, calmly sharing (without invitation) any repast that was going on, and occasionaUy pausing to exclaim, between the mouthfuls, " By G — ! you come a long way ! " At Inchaun, Yaigok left us, and we proceeded alone and rapidly along the now level beach and roUing tundra. The comparative ease and comfort with which we accomplished the last three hundred mUes of the coast journey was due to the fact that the natives are in yearly touch with the American whaling fleet, and are therefore generaUy well provided with the necessaries of life. On May 19 we 166 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND reached East Cape, the north-easternmost point of Asia, after a voyage of nearly two months from Sredni-Kolymsk, At this point the expedition had accomplished rather more than half the entire journey, and had traveUed, from- Paris, a distance of about 11,263 English mUes. w*f*&'a *."• WW~- TCHUKTCHI WOMEN AT KOLIUTCHIN VISITORS AT KOLIUTCHIN CHAPTER XII I.— AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS The wintry aspect of nature around Bering Straits seemed to predict a late summer, and it looked as though months must elapse before the Revenue cutter courteously placed at my disposal by the United States Government could break through the ice and reach us. My original idea was to try and cross over the frozen Straits to Cape Prince of Wales, in Alaska, a feat never yet attempted by a white man, but I found on arrival at East Cape that the passage is never essayed by the Tchuktchis, and only very rarely by the Eskimo. During the past decade perhaps a dozen of the latter have started from the American side, but only a third of the number have landed in Siberia, the remainder having either returned or perished. The distance from shore to shore at the nearest point is about forty miles, the two Diomede Islands and Fairway Rock being situated about half-way across. Bering Straits are never completely dosed, for even in midwinter floes are ever on the move, which, with broad and shifting " leads " of open water, render a trip on foot extremely hazardous. Our subsequent ex perience on nearly seven mUes of drifting ice, across which we were compeUed to walk in order to land on American soil, inspired me with no desire to repeat the experiment. East Cape, Bering Straits, practicaUy " the end of the end of the world," is about the last place where you would expect to find a white man, especiaUy in springtime, which, in this far North, answers to the depth of winter in England. When we arrived there, East Cape had been cut. off by ice 168 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND from the world ever since the previous summer, which rendered the presence of " BUly," as the natives caUed him, the more remarkable. At first I mistook the man for a Tchuktchi, for he had adopted native costume, and a hard winter passed amongst these people, combined with a painful skin disease, had reduced him to a skeleton. The poor feUow had suffered severely, mentally and physicaUy, and could only crawl about the settlement with difficulty, and yet, when news first reached the cape of our approach, he had set out to walk along the coast and meet us, and was brought back from the first viUage, fifteen miles away, more dead than alive. BUly was a young man, about twenty-five years old, whose hardships had given him a middle-aged appearance. He belonged to the American middle class and was apparently weU educated, and, as I suppress his name, there can be no harm in giving his history. A year before we found him, BiUy had left his home in San Francisco to ship as ordinary seaman on board a whaler. But a rough Hfe and stormy weather soon cured him of a love for the sea, and whUe his ship was lying at Nome City he escaped, intending to try his luck at the diggings. A report, however, had just reached Nome that tons of gold were lying only waiting to be picked up on the coast of Siberia, and the adventurous BUly, dazzled by dreams of wealth, determined to sink his smaU capital in the pur chase of a boat in which to sail away to the Russian " El Dorado." Having stocked his craft with provisions, BiUy started alone from Nome, and after many hair-breadth escapes from shipwreck in the Straits, managed to reach East Cape. This was early in the month of August, when an American Revenue cutter is generaUy cruising about, and the Californian was delighted with his kindly reception from the Tchuktchis, ignoring that the latter are not so pleasantly disposed when alone in their glory and fortified by a frozen sea. For nearly a month BiUy remained at East Cape, prospecting every day, and working HkeagaUey slave in the marshy " tundras" swarming with mosquitoes, AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 169 only to return, every night, to his walrus-hide hut with growing despair. For although the streams teemed with fish, not a glimmer of gold rewarded his labours. Time crept away and the coming winter had shown her teeth with a cutting bhzzard, while ice was forming around the coast, when one gloomy October day the Revenue cutter anchored, for the last time that season, off the settlement. And BiUy regarded her hopelessly, knowing that desertion from his ship had rendered him an outlaw. To board the Bear would mean irons and imprisonment, and the deserter dared not face an ordeal which, a few months later, he would gladly have undergone to escape from Siberia. BiUy watched the Government vessel sink below the horizon with some uneasiness, for his sole property now consisted of the furs he stood up in. His boat, provisions, clothes and even mining tools had all been bartered for food, and the discomfited prospector was now living practicaUy on the charity of his savage hosts. The reflection, therefore, that nine long months must be passed in this Arctic prison was not a pleasant one, especiaUy as the natives had already indulged in one of the " drink orgies" which were afterwards resumed at intervals throughout that terrible winter. How the man survived is a mystery — treated as a rule like a slave, dothed in ragged furs, nourished on disgusting food, and ever at the beck and call of every man, woman and chUd in the settlement. Christmas-time found BiUy suffering severely from scurvy, and covered from head- to foot with painful boUs. Throughout this period, however, he received every attention and care from the women, who, however, without medical appliances, could do little to alleviate his sufferings. BiUy said that at times these strange people showed a consideration and kindness only surpassed on other occasions by their brutality and oppres sion. One day gifts of food and furs would be showered upon the white man, and nothing be too good for him ; on the next he would be cursed and reviled, if not actually Ul-treated by aU. On drink-nights BiUy concealed himself, even preferring to sleep in the snow rather than brave 170 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND the drunken fury of the reveUers, which, as the reader wiU presently see, was one of my greatest anxieties during our sojourn on these barren shores. AU things considered, our arrival on the scene was a godsend to this poor castaway,. who averred that another month of solitude would assuredly have driven him out of his mind. But our presence worked a marveUous difference in a short space of time, and BiUy visibly gained in health and strength as the days went on, chiefly on account of congenial companionship ; for we were almost as badly off, in material comforts, as our poor friend himself. East Cape consists of a few walrus-hide huts which cling like limpets to the face of a cliff overhanging the Straits. In anything like windy weather you can't go out without danger of being blown bodUy into the sea. Also, on the occasion of my last overland trip, I had been warned by the officers of the Bear against dangerous natives here, so I resolved to move on to Whalen, a viUage a few mUes west of East Cape on the Arctic Ocean, to await the arrival of the Thetis.* Whalen consists of about thirty yarats (as a Tchuktchi dweUing is called) and about three hundred inhabitants. The viUage stands on a sandy beach only a few yards from the sea, but when we arrived here the entire country was knee-deep in partly melted snow, which rendered loco motion very wet and unpleasant. Here we were kindly received, indeed rather too kindly, for our presence was the signal for a feast, and in a few hours every man in the settle ment was mad with drink. Fortunatdy the chief remained sober and we hid in his hut until the orgie was over. But aU that night men were rushing about the vUlage, firing off Winchesters, and vowing to kiU us, although that morning when sober they had been quite friendly. We did not pass a very pleasant night, but the next day all was quiet, and remained so untU the appearance of a whaler again demoral- * The name Whalen should probably be written as it is pro nounced — Oo-aylin, but I have adopted the mode of spelling in use amongst the whaling fraternity. <4 i oiH•A: oy u ma o-< u THE CHIEF'S HUT, WHALEN AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 171 ised the settlement. When a Tchuktchi gets drunk, his first impulse is to get a rifle and shoot. He prefers a white man to practise upon, but if there are none handy he wUl kUl anybody, even his mother, without compunction, and be very sorry for it when he is sober, which unfortunately does not mend matters. Many whalemen have been slain on this coast during the past ten years, and during the few weeks we were at Whalen two natives were kiUed, also a German trader on the Diomede Islands in Bering Straits. But as the latter individual had set up a primitive stiU and an nounced his intention of flooding the coast with " tangle foot,"* his own poison was probably seized by the islanders, who, when intoxicated, murdered its manufacturer. Teneskin, the chief of Whalen, was, luckily for ourselves, a very different type of man to the ruffian Koari ; and his stalwart sons, Yemanko and Mooflowi, who were, like their father, teetotalers, became our powerful aUies when the demon of drink was rampant. Yemanko, the elder, spoke English fairly well, and the comparative comfort in which we lived here was chiefly due to his inteUigence, for he managed to persuade his father that my cheques, or rather receipts for food, would be honoured by the commander of the Thetis on her arrival. This was our only way out of a tight corner, and I awaited the chief's verdict with intense anxiety, for should his decision be unfavourable starvation stared us in the face, and the worst kind of starvation, in the midst of plenty. For BiUy told me that Teneskin received a yearly consignment of goods, in ex change for native produce, from the whalers, and that a shed adjoining his hut was packed from floor to ceUing with canned provisions, groceries and other luxuries. To my great relief the conclave, which lasted for several hours, terminated satisfactorily, and it was agreed that every article furnished by Teneskin should on her arrival be doubly repaid from the store-room of the Revenue cutter. And notwithstanding some anxious qualms as to subsequent repayment which occasionaUy assaUed our host, this plan * A slang term for whisky on the Alaskan coast. 172 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND worked weU, for whUe here we never once suffered from actual hunger. Stepan alone was disgusted with the preliminary discussion regarding the food supply. These Tchuktchis were subjects of the Tsar, he urged, and should therefore be compeUed to furnish goods free of cost to the iUustrious traveUers under His Majesty's protection. The Cossack even donned his uniform cap with the gold double eagle in order to impress the natives with a sense of our official importance. But although the head-dress was at once removed by irreverent hands and passed round with some amusement, I regret to say that its effect (from an awe-inspiring point of view) was a total faUure. As a matter of fact the Tchuktchis know nothing what ever about Russia, and even the Great White Tsar has less influence here than a skipper of the grimiest Yankee whaler. For the latter is the unfaUing source, every summer, of the vUe concoction known as whisky, for which a Tchuktchi wiU barter his existence, to say nothing of whalebone and walrus tusks. Indeed, were it not for the whalers these people would undoubtedly perish, for although a Russian gunboat generaUy visits them once during the summer, it is more with the object of seizing anything her com mander can lay his hands upon than of affording assistance. The " Stars and Stripes " are therefore the only colours with which the coast Tchuktchis are famUiar, and I had therefore brought an American flag as weU as our now tattered Union Jack, which proved a wise precaution. The British ensign they had never seen before. There are perhaps twdve thousand Tchuktchis in aU, the race consisting of two tribes : the coast Tchuktchis, inhabiting the shore from Tchaun Bay to the mouth of the Anadyr River ; and the land Tchuktchis, who are more or less nomads, roaming amongst the plains and mountains of the interior with herds of reindeer, which form their sole means of existence, whUe their brethren of the coast are entirely dependent upon the sea for a living. Although nominally Russian subjects, these people are the freest subjects in the world, paying no taxes and framing their AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 173 own laws, which is perhaps only just seeing that they have never been reaUy conquered by Russia. Samoyedes, Buriates and Yakutes have aU gone down before the iron heel of the Cossack, but for two centuries the Tchuktchi has stood his ground, and, with cold and desolation for aUies, has invariably routed aU invaders.* Thus, to this day, these people are respected, if not feared, by their Russian neigh bours, and although several attempts have been made in St. Petersburg to establish a yassak\ amongst them, no official has yet penetrated far enough into the Tchuktchi country to coUect it. Although Russia is their common foe, the land and sea Tchuktchis are staunch friends, for each tribe is more or less dependent on the other ; the coast Tchuktchis furnishing whalebone, walrus tusks, hides, seal-meat and oU to the landsmen, and receiving deer-meat for food, and skins for clothing, in return. It is a far cry from Bering Straits to Borneo, and I was therefore surprised to find 'many points of resemblance between the coast Tchuktchis and the Dyaks of that tropical island, with whom I became weU acquainted some years ago whUe in the service of Raja Brooke. The Tchuktchi is perhaps physicaUy stronger than the Dyak — unquestion ably he is, by nature, a greater drunkard — but otherwise these races might pass for each other so far as features, complexion and characteristics are concerned. And al though I have heard men assert that the Tchuktchis origi- naUy migrated to Asia from the American continent, my own experience leads me to doubt this fact, the more so that there is not an atom of resemblance (save perhaps in a partiaHty for strong drink) between the Eskimo of Alaska and their Siberian neighbours. As a rule the coast native * " These people for many years resisted every attempt made by the Russians either to subdue them or to pass through their country. Of a force numbering two hundred armed men who were sent into their territory, rather for the purpose of scientific exploration than with any views of conquest, not a soul returned, nor has their fate ever been ascertained." — " Frozen Asia," by Professor Eden. t The fur-tax formerly paid to the Crown by the Yakutes and other Siberian races. 174 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND is inteUigent, and of strong and graceful build, owing to his life of almost ceaseless activity; out in aU weathers, in summer fighting the furious gales of the Arctic in skin boats, in winter tracking the seal,' walrus or bear, some times for days together, amid the cold, dark sUence of the ice. Towards springtime this becomes a dangerous occupation, for floes are often detached without warning and carried away from the main pack into Bering Sea, whence there is generally no return, although marveUous escapes are recorded. Yemanko, the chief's son, had lived for six days floating about on a block of ice, and subsisting upon a seal which he had caught before he was swept into Bering Sea, eventuaUy grounding near East Cape. His only companion was frozen to death. I was relieved to find that the country between this and Koari's viUage (about three hundred miles south) was now impassable on account of melting snow, for, if only for the sake of revenge, this wUy old thief would probably have set the natives here against us. Communication between the two places had been frequent throughout the winter, and Koari's son, Oyurapok (a deadly enemy of mine), had lately been at Whalen, but had of course ignored my move ments.* An Oumwaidjik man, however, who accompanied him had remained here on account of sickness. He was almost a lad and therefore knew nothing of Harding and myself, but we were much amused one day to see him proudly produce a many-bladed clasp-knife, once my property (!) which Koari had confiscated, with our other goods, in 1896 ! There seemed to be no love lost between the Whalen and Oumwaidjik people, whom I had found as surly and inhospitable as these were (when sober) friendly and weU disposed. It is curious to notice how the various settlements of this coast vary with regard to the reputation of their inhabitants. Thus, although we were generaUy wdl treated here, a stay at East Cape would probably have meant serious trouble with the natives, from whom * See " Through the Gold Fields of Alaska." By Harry De Windt, London : Chatto and Windus. AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 175 BUly had fled to take refuge at Whalen. But the East Cape people are probably the worst on the coast, although the natives at St. Lawrence Bay are nearly as bad, and those at Oumwaidjik even worse. And yet, unless a drink feast is in progress, a stranger who behaves himself is safe enough in most Tchuktchi viUages, so much so that these people are known as Masinker (which in their dialect signifies " good ") amongst the American whalemen. The odour of a Tchuktchi is indescribable, but So powerful and penetrating as to be noticeable some distance from a settlement, this characteristic smeU being caused by a certain emanation of the human body which enters largely •into the Masinker's daily use. The fluid is employed chiefly for tanning purposes, but it is also used for cleaning food platters, drinking cups and, worst of aU, for washing the body, which it is said to protect from cold. Both here and at Oumwaidjik I tried in vain to discover the origin of this disgusting habit, which also prevails to a lesser extent amongst the Alaskan Eskimo. This is only one of the many revolting customs which I unfortunately had an opportunity of studying at close quarters while at Whalen, where I came to the conclusion that the Tchuktchi race must be the filthiest in the world. Were I to describe one- tenth of the repulsive sights which came under my daUy notice, the reader would lay down this book in disgust. Furs are worn by the coast Tchuktchis throughout the year, which, as they are seldom removed, did not make them pleasant neighbours in a crowded hut. The men wear a deerskin parka, a loose garment reaching a little below the waist and secured by a belt or walrUs thong, and hair seal boots and breeches. In rainy weather a very Hght and trans parent yeUow waterproof, made of the intestines of the walrus, is worn. Men and boys wear a close-fitting cap covering the ears, like a baby's bonnet, and have the crown and base of the skuU partly shaved, which gives them a quaint monastic appearance, whUe every man carries a long sharp knife in a leather sheath thrust through his belt. The women are undersized creatures, some pretty, but most 176 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND have hard weather-beaten faces, as they work in the open in aU weathers. Many have beautiful teeth, wliich, however, are soon destroyed by the constant chewing of sealskin to render it pHable for boots and other articles. They wear a kind of deerskin combinations made in one piece and trimmed at the neck and wrists with wolverine, a pair of enormous sealskin mocassins, which gives them an awkward waddling gait, completing their attire. The hair is worn in two long plaits, intertwined with gaudy beads, copper coins and even brass trouser buttons given them by whalemen. UnHke the men, aU the women are tattooed — generaUy in two lines from the top of the brow to the tip of the nose, and six or seven perpendicular lines from the lower lip to the chin. Tattooing here is not a pleasant operation, being performed with a coarse needle and skin thread — the dye (obtained from the soot off a cooking-pot moistened with seal oU) being sewn in with no light hand by one of the older squaws. Teneskin's daughter, Tayunga, was not tattoOed, and therefore quite good-looking, but even the prettiest face here is rendered unattractive by the unclean personality and habits of its owner. So filthy are these people that even the parkas of both sexes are made so that the hand and arm can be thrust bodUy inside the garment, not, as I at first imagined, for the sake of warmth, but to rdieve the incessant annoyance caused by parasites. Hours of idleness were often passed by a couple of friends in a redprocal hunt for vermin. I was naturaUy anxious to avoid the dose companionship with the natives, which residence in a Yarat would have entaUed. Teneskin's hut was the deanest in the vUlage, but even this comparatively habitable dweUing would have compared unfavourably with the foulest den in the London slums. The deep, slushy snow made it impossible to fix up a tent, but Teneskin was the proud possessor of a rough wooden hut buUt from the timbers of the whaler Japan, which was wrecked here some years ago, and in this we took up our abode. The buUding had one draw- ^ : ' _ . . w"Jk % TENESKIN'S DAUGHTERS VILLAGE OF WHALEN YAIGOK AND THE AUTHOR AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 177 back ; although its walls were stout enough a roof was lacking, and our tent was a poor substitute. However, the place was deaned out and made fairly cosy with our rugs, furs and four sleds which were used as bunks. Then came a serious difficulty, artificial warmth, which, without a roof, was sordy needed at night. Teneskin's trading goods comprised a small iron cooking stove, which seemed to be the very thing, with plenty of driftwood about, and which Stepan, with Cossack promptitude, annexed without leave. But an hour later Yemanko rushed into the hut, pale with rage, and without a word seized our treasure and carried it away. Things looked even more ugly when very shortly afterwards the Chief, accompanied by a crowd of natives, entered our dwelling, with BUly as spokesman in their midst. Then amidst frequent interruptions from the Chief the mystery was explained. It appeared that a superstition exists amongst these people that if a cooking place is used by strangers in a hut bdonging to the father of a newly born child, the latter dies within a moon or month. Teneskin's famUy had recently received an addition wliich was the cause of our trouble, but during the height of the argument, Stepan quietly seated himself beside me and whispered the word " Mauser," which reminded me that our host had cast longing eyes on a rifle in my possession. Much as I prized it a fire was essential, and the rifle had to go ; which it did without dday, for Teneskin, once pos sessed of the precious weapon, the baby, to use a sporting expression, was knocked out at a hundred to one ! The stove was replaced by willing hands with one proviso : that only the Chief's pots and pans were to be used for the pre paration of our food, which proved that a Tchuktchi is not unlike some Christians in the soothing of his consdence. As the spring wore on, strong gales accompanied by storms of sleet drove us to seek the warmth and filth of Teneskin's residence, which was of walrus hide, about forty feet round and fifteen feet high in the centre. The only aperture for Hght and air was a low doorway. There was a large outer chamber for fishing and hunting tackle where M 178 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND dogs roamed about, and inside this again a smaU dark inner room, caUed the yaranger, formed of thick deerskins, where the famUy ate and slept. In here seal-oU lamps continuaUy burning make it average about 850 throughout the winter. Beyond the tiny doorway there was no ventUation whatso ever, and the heat and stench of the place were beyond description. At night men, women and chUdren stripped naked, and even then the perspiration poured off them. The nights we passed here were indescribable. Suffice it to say that the hours of darkness in the inner chamber of that yarat were worthy of Dante's Inferno. And the days were almost as bad, for then the indescribable filth of the dwelling was more clearly revealed. At the daUy meal we recHned on the floor, like the Romans in "Quo Vadis," by a long wooden platter, and lumps of seal or walrus meat were thrown at us by the hostess, whose dinner costume generaUy consisted of a bead necklace. Rotten goose eggs and stale fish roe flavoured with seal oU were favoured deHcacies, also a kind of seaweed which is only found in the stomach of the walrus when captured. Luckily a deer was occasion aUy brought in from inland, and Stepan then regaled us with good strong soup foUowed by the meat which had made it. Every part of the animal was greedUy devoured by the natives, even the bones being crushed and the marrow extracted from them, flavoured with seal oU, and eaten raw. Teneskin, however, had plenty of flour, and this, with desiccated vegetables, was our mainstay during the greater part of the time. As spring advanced, game was added to our biU of fare in the shape of wUd duck, which flew in enormous douds over the settlement. A large lagoon hard by swarmed with them, arid one could always bag a couple at least every morning and evening without leaving the hut. But a shooting party was usuaUy made up every day, and we saUied out with the natives, perhaps a score of men and boys, the former armed with Winchesters and the latter with slings, which projected a row of five or six baUs cut out of walrus teeth. To shoot a duck on the wing with a buUet is not easy, but the natives sddom re- AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 179 turned empty handed ; and many a time I have seen a tiny lad of ten or twelve years old bring down his bird with a sling at twenty or thirty yards. Once I saw Yemanko, with the same weapon, put a stone clean through a biscuit tin at twenty yards range. And one memorable day (for once only) a regal repast was served of three courses consisting of reindeer, wUd. duck, and Harding's plum pudding, which, notwithstanding its novd experiences, proved delicious. It only had one irreparable fault — there was not enough of it. All things considered, our stay here was by no means the worst part of the journey, for beyond filthy food and surroundings and the deadly monotony of existence, there was Httle to complain of. Every now and then a drunken orgie would necessitate close concealment, but this was practicaUy the only annoyance to which we were subjected. Once, however, Stepan ventured out during one of these outbursts, and was instantly fired at by a band of ruffians who were reeling about the viUage. The man who fired the shot was, when sober, one of our best friends, and, luckUy for the Cossack, was too far gone to shoot straight. This incident was therefore a compara tively trivial one, although it served to show the unpleasant affinity between a barrel of whisky and bloodshed, and the undesirabUity of Whalen as a sea-side resort for a longer period than was absolutely necessary. But Teneskin and his sons were always ready to protect us by force if neces sary against the aggression of inebriates. Indeed had it not been for these three giants I doubt if the Expedition would have got away from Whalen without personal injury or perhaps loss of Hfe. Although our host himself did not indulge in alcohol, he was the sole retaUer of it to our neighbours. I only once saw the stuff, which was rehgiously kept hidden save when an orgie had been decided upon and Teneskin, after receiv ing payment, barricaded himself and prepared for squaUs. When we arrived at Whalen, most of the fiery spirit left by the whalers the preceding year was exhausted, and Teneskin was issuing an inferior brand of his own brewing, concocted 180 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND much in the same way as the " gun-barrel water " of the Eskimo and even more potent, if possible, than San Francisco " Tangle-foot." This is made by mixing together one part each of flour and molasses with four parts of water and then letting the mixture stand for four days in a warm atmo sphere untU it ferments. The distiUery consists of a coal oU tin, an old gun-barrel, and a wooden tub. The mash is put in the coal oU tin, and the gun- barrel, which serves as the coU, leads from this tin through the tub, which is kept fiUed with cracked ice. A fire is then buUt under the tin, and as the vapour rises from the heated mess it is condensed in the gun-barrel by the ice in the tub, and the Hquor comes out at the end of the gun barrel drop by drop, and is caught in a drinking cup. This process is necessarily slow, and it took a long time to obtain even a half pint of the Hquor, but the whisky made up in strength what it lacked in quaHty, and it did not take much of it to intoxicate, which (from a Tchuktchi standpoint) was the principal object. I am told on rehable authority that, on the Alaskan coast, the Eskimo women join freely in the drunken debauches of the men, but this was certainly not the case amongst the Siberian natives, at any rate those at Whalen. For throughout our stay there I only once saw an intoxicated female. This was the wife of Teneskin, who during an orgie was invariably the only inebriated member of his household. But she certainly made up for the rest of the famUy ! CHAPTER XIII AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS— (continued) The time at Whalen passed with exasperating slo ness, especiaUy after the first ten days, when monotony had duUed the edge of success and worn off the novelty of our strange surroundings. On the Lena we had experienced almost perpetual darkness ; here we had eternal daylight which, with absolutely nothing to do or even to think about, was even more trying. Almost our sole occupation was to sit on the beach and gaze blankly at the frozen ocean, which seemed at times as though it would never break up and admit of our rdease from this natural prison. Every day, however, fresh patches of brown earth|appeared through their white and wintry covering, and wUd flowers even began to bloom on the hillsides, but the cruel waste of ice stiU appeared white and unbroken from beach to horizon. One day Harding fashioned a rough set of chessmen out of driftwood, and this afforded some mental relief, but only for a few days. " Pickwick " had been read into tatters, even our Shake speare failed us at last, and having parted with the "Daily Mail Year Book " at Verkhoyansk, this was our sole Hbrary. Sometimes we visited our neighbours, where we were gene raUy kindly received, presents occasionaUy being made us. One day the Chief's eldest daughter worked and presented me with a pair of deerskin boots with a pretty pattern worked in deerskins of various colours, ^obtained from dyes of native manufacture. I naturaUy wondered how these could be extracted from natural products in this barren land of rock, sand and driftwood, but BiUy partly explained the secret of the operation which is, I fancy, 182 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND peculiar to this coast.* The ex-whaleman furnished me with this information during a talk we had over his expe riences of the previous winter. From the same source I also gleaned many facts concerning these people, who invari ably try to mislead the ingenuous stranger. BiUy, however, enjoyed their complete confidence, and had stored up a fund of interesting information, some of which I reproduce for the reader's benefit. Next to irresponsible and armed drunkards my greatest anxiety at Whalen was caused by the medicine men, of whom there were about a score, and who never lost an opportunity of setting their patients against us. Medicine men are aU- powerful here, although their treatment consists solely of speUs and incantations. But the unfortunate dupes have a firm belief in these men, who are not only medical advisers, but are consulted on everything pertaining to the affairs of Ufe, from marital differences to the price of whalebone. BUly had at one time aroused the enmity of these impostors, who naturally distrust the influence generaUy gained by the owner of a modern medicine chest. Our friend had landed in Siberia with a bottle of embrocation and some Cockle's pills, but even this modest pharmacopoeia had aroused the bitterest jealousy amongst the doctors at East Cape. But famUiarity breeds contempt, and when BiUy had graduaUy been reduced to the social standing of the humblest Tchuktchi, the medicine men simply ignored him, and made no objection to his presence at their seances, which generaUy took place in the dark. Occasion aUy, however, the Shamans officiated in the dayHght, when their skUl as conjurers would, according to BUly, have edipsed an Egyptian HaU performance. To swaUow several pieces of walrus hide, and afterwards vomit forth a pair of miniature mocassins, would seem a trick beyond the powers of the untutored savage, but the whaleman often saw it accompHshed. He also assisted to bind a Shaman hand * A bright red colour is obtained from a rock found in the interior. Green by boiling the fur in the urine of a dog. I was unable to ascertain how dark blue, the only other dye, is made. AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 183 and foot with walrus thongs, and in less than ten seconds the man had freed himself, although secured by knots which BiUy himself could not have unraveUed in a week. My friend is probably the only white man who has ever assisted at a whale dance, which took place in a hut, dimly lit by seal oU lamps and crowded with both sexes in a state of nature, with the exception of their sealskin boots. The performance commenced with music in the shape of singing accompanied by walrus-hide drums, after which a long plank was brought in and suspended on the shoulders of four men. Upon this three women were hoisted astride, and commenced a series of wUd contortions, back and forth and from side to side, not unlike the " Dance du ventre." Relays of girls continued this exercise for two or three hours, untU aU were exhausted, and then flesh of the whale, caught the preceding summer, was handed round by chil dren, and washed down by floods of raw whisky, which brought the entertainment to a close for that night. The foUowing day athletic sports were indulged in by those sufficiently sober, the owner of one hut furnishing the prizes and refreshments. This giver of the feast and his family were distinguished by faces plastered with the red paint already mentioned as being obtained from the mountains of the interior. Wrestling and racing were the chief pas times, the prizes consisting of a cartridge, a piece of calico, or perhaps a fox skin. The women did not join in these contests, but with them a form of " tossing in a blanket " was gone through. A walrus skin perforated around with holes to give a firmer grip was held by seven or eight stalwart men, and at a given signal a girl lying in the centre was sent flying into the air, she who reached the greatest height receiving the appropriate prize of a needle or thimble. At night the dance was continued, and on this occasion a fire was kindled around which the medi cine men seated themselves, mumbling incantations and casting smaU pieces of deer or walrus meat into the flames as a sacrifice to the evil spirits. The whale entertainment lasted for three nights, but the incidents which occurred 184 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND upon the last evening were not fit for reproduction here. The whaleman, being more or less of a celebrity, had attracted the bright glances of several Tchuktchi maidens. But even when he found his affinity poor BUly's courtship was of short duration, for his ladylove, when embraced for the first time upon the lips, indignantly thrust him away and screamed for help. According to Tchuktchi customs, she had suffered an irreparable insult, the only recognised mode of kissing here being to rub noses while murmuring " Oo " for an indefinite period. This was Billy's first and last experience of love-making here, although Teneskin would gladly have welcomed a white man as a son-in-law, and without the tiresome preHminaries which generaUy precede a Tchuktchi marriage. For, on ordinary occasions, a man must first obtain the consent of his jiancee, then that of her parents, and when these points are settled he must reside for several months as an inmate of the girl's hut before he becomes her husband. A Tchuktchi may put a wife away on the shghtest pretext, but no crime on his part entitles his wife to a divorce. A curious custom here is that of exchanging wives with a friend or acquaintance, who thereupon becomes a brother, even legally, and so far as the disposal of property is concerned. A Tchuktchi may have as many wives as he pleases or can afford, but married Hfe here is usuaUy a happy one, which is probably due to the fact that a wife is never idle. Not only must she attend to the wants of the household, needle work, cooking, washing, and in winter clearing the roof of the yarat of snow, but there are hides to be tanned and deerskins to be dressed and sewn into dothing. A married woman must also pass cold and weary hours in winter watching for seal and walrus, and in summer probe the depths of boredom by fishing with a line for " Tom cod." And, from a feminine point of view, there is no reward for her labours, no baUs or parties, nor smart hats or gowns to excite the envy of her neighbours ; aU the Tchuktchi spouse can hope for being a " quid " of tobacco, so rare a luxury that it only reaches her Hps when her husband has extracted SPRING DAYS AT WHALEN : DE WINDT AND NATIVE TCHUKTCHI BOYS AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 185 most of its flavour. WhUe smoking, the Tchuktchis, like the Yakutes, use tiny pipes ; the smoke is not ejected or inhaled, but swaUowed, and the rankest tobacco is so precious here that it is usuaUy eked out with seal-hairs. Tchuktchi-land teems with legends and superstitions of which Whalen had its fuU share. A rock off the coast hard by was said to sing and talk whenever a chief of the village was about to die, and the foUowing curious legend was gravely related to me by Yemanko. Many years ago there lived at Whalen a chief with a wife so pretty that even fish were attracted to the land by her charms. Amongst the dweUers of the sea was a whale, with whom, unknown to her husband, she contracted a union. Eventually a young whale was born to the amazement of the settlement, which, regarding it as a mysterious gift from the spirits, paid the new arrival great homage. A huge tank was dug and contained the monster untU it had attained its fuU growth, when it was marked and turned loose in the sea to decoy other whales. But the natives of Inchaun, an adjoining vUlage, caught and killed the marked whale, which was scaring away aU their fish. The Inchaun people were thereupon attacked by the Whalen men, who slaughtered every soul in their village. There is no doubt that this tribal conflict did take place some time during the eighteenth century, but I cannot say whether the murder of the marked whale was the real cause of the battle. The Tchuktchis appeared to have no religion, and I never saw any ceremony performed suggestive of a belief in a Supreme Being, although good and evU spirits are believed to exist, and when I was at Oumwaidjik, sacrifices of seal and walrus meat were often thrown into the sea by the medicine men to abate its fury. Three men who died at Whalen during our visit were clad after death in their best deerskins and carried some distance away from the settle ment, where I believe they were eventually devoured by the dogs. Several natives told me that a man who dies a violent death ensures eternal happiness, but that an|easy 186 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND dissolution generally means torment in the next world, which shows that the Tchuktchi has some belief in a future state. The theory that a painful death meets with spiritual compensation probably accounts for the fact that loss of life is generaUy regarded here with utter indifference. A ghastly ceremony I once witnessed at Oumwaidjik is a proof of this. It was caUed the Kamitok, in other words the sacrifice, with the fuU consent, of the aged and useless members of the community. When a man's powers have decreased to a depreciable extent from age, accident, or disease, a famUy councU is held and a day and hour is fixed for the victim's departure for another world. The most curious feature of the affair is the indifference shown by the doomed one, who takes a lively interest in the prelimi naries of his own execution. The latter is generaUy preceded by a feast where seal and walrus meat are greedUy devoured and whisky is consumed untU all are intoxicated. After a while the executioner, usuaUy a near relative of the victim, steps forward and placing his right foot against the back of the condemned, quickly strangles him with a walrus thong. Or perhaps he is shot with a Win chester rifle, this being the usual mode of despatching a friend who has asked another to put him out of the world on account, perhaps, of some trifling but troublesome ailment such as earache or neuralgia, which the sufferer imagines to be incurable.* And a request of this kind must be obeyed, or if not lifelong misfortune will attend the man who has refused to fire the fatal shot. Women, however, are never put to death, nor, so far as I could glean, do they * Mr. Waldemar Bogoras, the Russian naturalist, writes as follows in Harper's Magazine of April 1903 : " One of the attendants I had with me for two years while in the Kolyma country belonged to a family with a tradition of this kind. He was a man of fifty, and the father and elder brothers had already followed in the way of their ancestors [by the Kamitok]. One time, while stricken with a violent fever, instead of taking the medicine that I gave him, he inquired anxiously if I were sure that he would recover at all, otherwise he felt bound to send for his son and ask for the last stroke." — " A Strange People of the North," by Waldemar Borgoras. Harper's Magazine, April 1903. AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 187 ever want to be. The origin of this custom is probably due to the barren nature of this land where every mouthful of food is precious, and where a man must HteraUy work to live. That the Kamitok also exists amongst the Eskimo of Alaska is shown by the foUowing anecdote. Captain Healy, of the Revenue Cutter Thetis, told me that he once inquired of a native near Point Barrow whether one Charlie he had known the previous year was stiU alive and in good health. " Oh no," was the reply, " Charlie dead, I shot him." " Shot him ? " said Healy, taken aback. " What did you do that for ? " " Oh, poor Charlie sick, pains all over, he asked me shoot him, so I shot him with his own gun and kept it afterwards ! " The Tchuktchis are by no means an idle race, and when ever I entered a hut I invariably found even the youngest inmates usefuUy employed ; the women busUy engaged cooking and sewing, or cleaning and polishing firearms, while the men were away duck-shooting or hunting the seal or walrus. Sometimes we went seal-hunting with our friends, but this is poor sport, especiaUy in damp, chUly weather. The outfit is very simple, consisting of a rifle, snowshoes and spear. A start is made at daylight untU a likdy-looking hole in the ice is reached, and here you sit down and wait patiently, perhaps for hours, untU a seal's head appears above water, which it frequently fails to do. In warm weather this might be an agreeable occupation, but on cold days it seldom induced me to leave even the comfortless shelter of our hut. Most of the seals caught here are hair seals, which must not be confounded with the valuable fur seal, which is used in Europe for wearing apparel, and is seldom found north of the PrivUov Islands in Bering Sea. The latter animal is too weU known to need description, but the skin of the hair seal is a kind of dirty grey, flecked with dark spots, and is short and bristly. But it is warm and durable and therefore used by the Tchuk tchis for breeches and foot wear. Recently, too, it has been 188 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND introduced into Europe for the use of chauffeurs of automobUes, but ten years ago it was practicaUy worthless ; although the flesh is preferable as food to that of the more costly species. A chase after walrus is far more exciting than either a seal or bear hunt, for their capture involves a certain risk and occasionaUy actual danger. As soon as one of these beasts is sighted four or five Baidaras are launched and set out at a terrific pace, for the crew of the first boat up gets the lion's share of the spoU. Winchester rifles are now used instead of the old-fashioned harpoon, so that accidents are rarer than they used to be, although boats are often upset. I have only once seen a walrus : a distorted, shapeless mass of discoloured flesh, sparsely covered with coarse bristles. The one I saw measured about ten feet long, had quite that girth, and must have weighed over a ton. Walrus meat as a diet is less repulsive than seal, for it is not so fishy in flavour and has more the consistency of beef. We had been here about ten days when a native arrived from East Cape and reported a whaler off that headland. At Whalen the ice stiU presented a hopelessly unbroken appearance, but low, dark clouds to the eastward looked like open water in the direction of the straits, and I sent Harding and Stepan, with the East Cape man, to verify his report. He was a sUent, sulky brute, and I felt some anxiety untU the pair returned the next day after a terrible journey, partly by land but principaUy over the sea ice across which they had to wade knee deep in water. For about six mUes crossing the tundra they floundered in soft snow up to the waist, and finally reached their destination, wet through and exhausted, to find that the ship, probably scared by heavy pack ice, had disappeared to the south ward. The natives, however, treated them weU, and sent a man to accompany them half way back to Whalen, for the thaw had come so suddenly that he could proceed no further, and our companions only just managed to reach home. This was the last journey made by land between the two settle- AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 189 ments, for which I was not sorry, as the undesirable com munity at East Cape were now as completely cut off from us as the pirates of Oumwaidjik. Harding informed me that at East Cape a totaUy different dialect was spoken to that at Whalen, but this did not surprise me, as I compUed while at Oumwaidjik a smaU glossary which completely differed from words in use at Whalen. The natives of the Diomede Island have also a distinctive language, of which, however, I was unable to obtain any words. A reference to the Appendix wul show the difference existing between the dialects spoken on the mainland of Siberia. East of Tchaun Bay the same language existed in every viUage as far as Whalen. The languages spoken by the Reindeer Tchuktchis of the interior and the Eskimo of the Alaskan Coast do not in any way resemble the dialects spoken on the Siberian Coast. By the end of June the snow on land was fast disappearing, and blue lakes began to appear amongst the white plains and hummocks of the sea. But those were weary days of waiting even when warmer weather enabled us to live altogether in our hut without taking shelter in the chief's malodorous yarat. For the former was crowded aU day with natives, who used it as a kind of club, and left us souvenirs every night in the shape of a stifling stench and swarms of vermin. As time wore on the heat in our heavy furs became insupportable, but frequent and sudden changes of temperature rendered it impossible to discard them alto gether. For often the sun would be blazing at midday with a temperature of 6o° in the shade, and a few minutes later we would be cowering over the stove listening to the howling of the wind and the rattle of sleet agains^ the wooden waUs. This would last perhaps an hour or two, and then the sky would again become blue and cloudless, the sunshine as powerful as before. One day in early June is thus described in my journal: " Clear, doudy, warm, cold, windy, calm, sunshine, fog and a little rain ! " The wind troubled us most, for here there is no happy medium between a dead calm and a tearing gale, and the latter occurred on an average ev ry second day. Northerly and north- 190 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND westerly winds prevaUed, and we whistled in vain for a southerly buster to clear the coast of ice. And yet not withstanding our many miseries there were pleasant days, stiU and sunlit, when I would stroU to the summit of a grassy hiU near the settlement, where the sward was carpeted with wfld flowers and where the soothing tinkle of many rivulets formed by melting snow were conducive to lazy reverie. From here one could see for a great distance along the coast to the westward, and on bright days the snowy range of cHffs and kaleidoscopic effects of colour cast by cloud and sunshine over the sea ice formed a charming picture. Stepan passed most of his time on these cliffs watching in vain, like a male sister Anne, for ships, for, Uke most Russians, the Cossack suffered severely from nostalgia. But the days crawled wearily away, each more dreary than its predecessor, and the eternal vista of ice greeted each mOrning the anxious gaze of the first man up to survey the ocean. Our Union Jack, now almost torn to shreds by incessant gales, was hoisted on a long stick lent by Teneskin for the purpose, but I began to think that the shred of silk might as weU have fluttered at the North Pole for aU the attention it was likely to attract from seaward. So passed a month away, and the grey hag Despair was beginning to show her ugly face when one never-to-be-forgotten morning Harding rushed into the hut and awoke me with the joyful news that a thin strip of blue was visible on the horizon. A few hours later waves were seen breaking near the land, for when once ice begins to move it does so quickly. Three days later wavelets were rippling on the beach, and I felt like a man just released from a long term of penal servitude when on the 15th of July the huU of a black and greasy whaler came stealing round the point where Stepan had passed so many anxious hours. The whaler proved to be the William Bayliss of New Bedford. We boarded her with some difficulty on account of the jagged ice floes on the beach to which she was moored. It was an acrobatic feat to jump from the slippery ice, lay AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 191 hold of a jibboom towering overhead, and scramble over the bows. But once aboard, Captain Cottle loaded us with good things (including a tin of sordy-needed tobacco), and aU would now have seemed couleur-de-rose had Cottle been able to give us news of the Thetis. This, however, he was unable to do, and when that night the whaler had sailed away I almost regretted that I had declined her skipper's offer of a passage across the Straits, which might, however, have been prolonged for an indefinite period as the ship was now bound in an opposite direction. That night was certainly the worst we ever experienced, for even Teneskin was rendered helpless by the pandemonium created by the floods of whisky which had streamed into the settle ment from the hold of the William Bayliss. Towards evening things looked so ugly that the chief and his sons, armed with Winchester rifles, took up their quarters for the night in our hut, the door of which was barricaded by means of iron bars. Even Yemanko looked pale and anxious, for every man in the vUlage, he said, was mad with drink. The chief's wife and daughters remained in the yarat, for a Tchuktchi however drunk has never been known to molest a woman. Singing, shouting and deafening yeUs were heard during the earher part of the night, as men reeled about the settlement in bands, and occasionaUy our door would re-echo with crashing blows and demands for admis sion. This went on for two or three hours, and when things had quieted down and we were thinking of emerging from the stifling hut for fresh air a shot rang out on the stiUness. We seized our rifles, and not a moment too soon, for simultaneously the door flew open with a crash and half a dozen men reeled into the room. One of them brandished a Winchester, but I noticed with relief that the rest of the intruders were unarmed. The face of another, whom . I recognised as a medicine man, was streaming with blood from a wound across the forehead. Fortunately all were over come by the fiery poison they had been greedUy imbibing and were therefore as weak as chUdren in the hands of seven sober men. In less time than it takes me to write it 192 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND the invaders were firmly secured with walrus throngs and thrown out of doors to sleep the drink off. A watch was kept throughout the night urease of an attack by reinforce ments, but the deadly " Tangle-foot " had done its work, and the viUage did not awaken untU the foUowing day from its drunken slumbers. Unfortunately a native was kUled by the shot we heard. On the morning of the 18th of July Harding and I, whUe walking on the beach, remarked a white cloud on the horizon, the only blur on a dazzling blue sky. Presently the vapour seemed to soUdify, and assume the appearance of a floating berg, until, a few minutes after, we looked again at the object which had attracted our attention, and lo and behold a thin black thread was now ascending from it into the dear stiU air. " A steamer ! " shouted Harding, rushing back to the hut for a fidd glass. But before he could return through the deep heavy shingle doubt had become certainty and I had recognised the Revenue Cutter Thetis. This is the same vessel, by the way, wliich rescued Lieutenant Greely and his party on the shores of Smith Sound, but I do not think even they can have been more heartUy grateful to see the trim white vessel than we were. In less than an hour our welcome dehverer had threaded her way through the ice, and we stood on the beach and watched her cast anchor about half a mUe off shore. As the chains rattled cheerily through the hawse holes Stepan flew, on the wings of a light heart, to the flagstaff. I am not emotional, but I must confess to feeling a lump in my throat as the Stars and Stripes were slowly dipped in response to a salute from our ragged Httle Union Jack. For with the meeting of those famiHar colours aU my troubles seemed to vanish into thin air ! Once aboard the Thetis Harding and I, at any rate, were amongst acquaintances who had previously served on the Revenue Cutter Bear, I also found an old friend, Lieuteuant Cochrane, once third officer of the Bear, and now second in command of the Thetis, wliich made this sudden change from a Hfe of mental and physical misery to one of security LAUNCHING THE FIRST SKIN BOAT IN EARLY SUMMER |inrT,r QQAST ROUTE FROM THE KOLYMA RIVERT^BERlNQ Harry de Windt's Route Tchuktchi Huts • Camps i Distance from Nijni-Kolymsk to East Cape 1500 English Miles CEAN Coflmson, 27 Aug TI... f-inlnrrgh. Grogrnphirjil. Budtic Longfotdt iTesT of QnerondK T_,1„, F.«,.rUlQm_ra'A Co. AMONG THE TCHUKTCHIS 193 and wdl-being the more enjoyable. There was nothing to delay the cutter, save fareweUs to our kind old host and the repayment for the food with which he had pro vided us, and by midday we were steaming away from the dreary settlement where I had passed so many anxious hours. And then, for the first time in many weary months we sat down in the ward-room to a decent and well served meal and enjoyed it beyond description, for are not aU pleasures in this world comparative ? Success to the Expedition was drunk in bumpers of champagne, and I then adjourned to Cochrane's room for coffee and liqueurs and a talk over old days on the Bear. And the afternoon in that cosy, sunlit cabin, the blessed sensation of rest after toU combined with a luxurious lounge and delicious cigar, constituted as near an approach to "Nirvana" as the writer is ever likely to attain on this side of the grave ! PART II AMERICA CHAPTER XIV ACROSS BERING STRAITS— CAPE PRINCE OF WALES The term " cutter " is somewhat of a misnomer, if literally taken, for the Government vessels which patrol these Nor thern waters. The Bear, for instance, which landed us on the Siberian coast in 1896, was a three-masted screw-steamer of over 600 tons, an old Dundee whaler purchased for the United States for the Greeley Relief Expedition. The Thetis, although somewhat smaUer, is practically a sister ship of the Bear, which latter is regarded as the best and stoutest vessel of the Revenue Cutter Service. And her officers and men are weU worthy of her. Three or four years ago no less than eight whalers were hopelessly jammed in the ice off Point Barrow in the Arctic Ocean, and their crews were in imminent danger of starvation. The season was too far advanced for a ship to proceed to their rescue, but a party from the Bear managed to carry supplies to the beleaguered ships after a sled journey of almost un- paraUeled difficulty and thereby avert a terrible catastrophe. Several of the shipwrecked men had already perished, but the majority were rescued, chiefly through the pluck and perseverance of Lieutenant Jarvis, first Heutenant of the Bear, and leader of the expedition. The Thetis, when she caUed for us at Whalen, was bound on a mission of some peril — the search for two large steamers from San Francisco which, while trying to reach Nome City had been caught in the pack and swept away by drifting ice into the Polar Sea. Both vessels were crowded with passengers, including many women, and the Thetis I9« PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND had already made two unsuccessful attempts to ascertain their whereabouts. Indeed, it was feared that no more would ever be heard of the Portland or Jeannie which had, as usual, been racing to reach Nome City before any rival liner from the Golden Gate. When, on that sunlit morning, we left Whalen, a cloudless sky and glassy sea unflecked by the tiniest floe, led me to hope that our troubles were at an end. Captain Healey of the Thetis had resolved to land us on Cape Prince of Wales, but when, towards evening, that promontory was sighted, my heart sank at the now famUiar sight of ice packed heavUy around the coast. By nine o'clock we were (to use a whaling term) " up against " the outer edge of the pack, and shortly afterwards the engines of the Thetis were slowed down, for the man in the crow's nest reported trouble ahead. And we found it in plenty, for the stout little vessel, after cleaving and crashing her way through the floes for a couple of hours, was finally brought to a standstiU by an impassable barrier. We were now about six mUes from the land, but an Eskimo viUage under the Cape was plainly visible across the swirling masses of ice which were drifting to the northward. " I can't go in any further," cried Healey, and I now had the choice of two evils — to attempt a landing with the aid of the natives, or remain on board the Thetis perhaps for weeks searching for the Portland and Jeannie* But I quickly decided on the former course, and a signal was run up for assistance from the shore, which was quickly seen by a crowd of natives assembled on the beach. To add to our difficulties a breeze, which had arisen towards evening, was now assuming the proportions of a southerly gale, and Healey impatiently paced the deck, as he watched the Eskimo launch a baidara, and cautiously approach us, now threading narrow leads of water, now hauling their skin- boat across the drifting ice. Finally, after a perUous journey, they reached us, and without a moment's delay the expedition was bundled, bag * Both these vessels were eventually rescued without loss of Ufe. CAPE PRINCE OF WALES 199 and baggage, into the baidara, for the position of the Thetis was now not devoid of danger. Amidst hearty cheers from those on board, we pushed off with some misgivings, whUe the cutter slowly veered away northward on her errand of mercy. I shaU never forget that short, but extremely unpleasant journey. At times it seemed as though our fraU craft must be overwhelmed and swamped, for it was now blowing a gale. Every moment huge cakes of ice around us were dashed against each other, and splintered into fragments with a report as of a gun. We made way so slowly that the shore seemed to recede instead of to advance, for often boat and baggage had to be hauled across the floes which now traveUed so quickly with the wind and tide that it seemed as though we must be carried past our destination and into the Arctic Ocean. Sometimes it looked as though we could never reach the coast, for — "The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around, It cracked and growled and roared and howled Like noises in a swound." At times the ice-islands we were crossing were tossed to and fro by the waves_so violently that it became almost impos sible to stand, much less walk, on their slippery surface ; at others, while all were paddling for dear life, a towering berg would saU down in perilous proximity, for its touch would have sunk our skin boat like a stone. Once I thought it was all over, when a floe we were on became detached from the main pack, and there was barely time to regain the latter by quickly leaping from one cake of ice to the other as the waves and current tore them apart. It took us four hours to reach land, or rather the foot-ice securely attached to it, and here, worn out after the tough struggle against the forces of nature, every man took a much-needed rest. It was not untU 7 a.m. on June 19 that our feet actuaUy touched the soU of America, six months to a day after our departure from the Gare du Nord, Paris. Cape Prince of Wales is a rocky, precipitous promontory about 2000 ft. high, which stands fully exposed to the 200 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND furious winds, prevalent at aU times on this connecting link between Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Why Bering Straits should be so known remains a mystery, for the explorer of that name only saUed through them in the summer of 1728, whUe Simeon Deschnev, a Cossack, practicaUy dis covered them in the middle of the seventeenth century.* Captain Cook, of British fame, who passed through the Straits in 1778, is said to be responsible for the nomencla ture, which seems rather an unjust one, but perhaps the intrepid English navigator had never heard of Deschnev. The Eskimo settlement which nestles at the foot of Cape Prince of Wales is known as Kingigamoot, and contains about 400 souls. The place looked infinitely drearier and more desolate than the filthy Tchuktchi vUlage which had been our home for so many weary weeks, and it seemed to me at first as though we had stepped, like the immortal Mr. Winkle in " Pickwick," " quietly and comfortably out of the frying-pan into the fire." For our welcome on the shores of America was a terrific gale, and driving sleet against * "On June 20, 1648, Simeon Deschnev, a Cossack trader, sailed from the River Kolyma for the eastward to trade for ivory with the Tchuktchis. His party sailed in three small shallops drawing but httle water. After a while the known waters behind them closed up with floes, rendering a return to the Kolyma impossible but the unknown wastes ahead were open, and invited exploration. Hugging the coast, Deschnev sailed through the Bering Straits, landing there in September. He called the Siberian shore an isthmus, and described the Diomede Islands, which he plainly saw. Although no mention is made by this party of having seen the American continent, it was probably observed by them, for Cape Prince of Wales can easily be seen on a clear day from the Asiatic side. Deschnev's voyage was quite forgotten until discovered by accident amongst some old records in 1774. "Only in August, 1728, did Bering sail through here, going a short distance into the Arctic Ocean, but returning without giving any sign of the importance of the pass, or its nature, and believing, most likely, that what land he saw on the eastern side was a mere island, and not the great American continent. Captain Cook, who came third, made no mistake, for he fully realised that the division of the two hemispheres was here effected, and gave to these straits the name of Bering, August 1778." — "An Arctic Province," by H. W. Elliott, CROSSING BERING STRAITS NATIVES AT CAPE PRINCE OF WALES CAPE PRINCE OF WALES 201 which we could scarcely make headway from the spot where a landing was effected to the viUage, a distance of perhaps a mUe, which took us an hour to accomplish. It was barely eight o'clock, and no one was yet stirring in the settle ment, which is only visible a short distance away, for the Eskimo, unlike the Tchuktchis, dweU under the ground. The sight of a wooden house with glass windows con siderably enlivened the dismal and storm-swept landscape, and we made our way to this solitary haven, which proved to be the residence of Mr. Lopp, an American missionary. His home, though snug enough, was too smaU to contain more inmates, being already occupied by its owner's wife and famUy, but an empty shed adjoining it was placed at our disposal, and our hospitable friend bustled about to make it as cosy as possible for our reception. The place was cold, pitch dark, and draughty, being only used as a store house, but by mid-day our tent was pitched inside the buUding, and a fire was burning merrily in a small stove cleverly fixed up by the missionary, whose kindly assistance was very welcome on this bleak and barren shore. Food is scarce enough here, and had it not been for these good friends in need, we should indeed have fared badly, having landed with but few provisions. But although they could Ul afford it, the missionary and school teacher, Mrs. Bernardi, gave freely from their scanty store, thereby rendering us a service which I can never adequately repay. Nome City was now our objective point, but how to reach it by land was a puzzler, the hundred odd miles of country being flooded by melting snow. Two or three wide rivers must also be crossed, which at this season of the year are often swoUen and impassable. It was clearly useless to think of walking, so there was nothing for it but to wait for some passing craft to take us down, a rather gloomy prospect, for whalers were now entering the Arctic, and few other vessels get so far north as this. We were lucky to find a white man at Cape Prince of Wales, for the natives would certainly have afforded us no assistance, and might, indeed, have been actuaUy unfriendly without the firm and restrain- 202 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND ing hand of Mr. Lopp to keep them in order. A wide and varied experience of savage races has seldom shown me a more arrogant, insolent, and generaUy offensive race than the Alaskan Eskimo, at any rate of this portion of the country. The Tchuktchis were infinitely superior in every respect but perhaps cleanliness, which, after all, matters little in these wilds. With all their faults our Whalen friends were just and generous in their dealings, though occasionaUy disquieting during their periods of festivity. The Eskimo we found boorish and surly at aU times, and the treachery of these people is shown by the fact that a few years previously they had brutaUy murdered Mr. Lopp's predecessor by shooting him with a whale-gun. A monu ment on the cliff facing the Straits bears the foUowing inscription : HARRISON R. THORNTON, born January 5, 1858, died August 19, 1893. A good soldier of Christ Jesus. Erected by friends in Southport, Conn. It is satisfactory to note that the cowardly assassins met with their deserts, for the usual excuse of intoxication could not be pleaded for this foul and deliberate crime. Although many of the Prince of Wales natives were fairly well educated, thanks to missionary enterprise, the Tchuk tchis could certainly have taught them manners, for the latter is a gentleman by nature, whUe the Eskimo is a vulgar and aggressive cad. Thanks, however, to the untiring zeal and energy of Mr. Lopp, the younger generation here were a distinct improvement upon their elders, and the smaU school conducted by Mrs. Bernardi had produced several scholars of really remarkable intelligence. Amongst these were the publisher and printer of the most curious little publication I have ever seen, The Eskimo Bulletin, a tiny newspaper which is annually published here by the aid of a smaU printing-press belonging to the missionary. The illustrations were engraved solely by the natives, and were, under the circumstances, very creditable pro- CAPE PRINCE OF WALES 203 ductions. The advertisements in this unique little journal are suggestive of a fair sized town, whereas Kingigamoot resembled a coUection of sandhUls, the only visible signs of civUisation being the rather dUapidated huts of the mission. The ten days we remained here seemed fuUy as long, if not longer, than the five weeks we had passed at Whalen for the sun only made his appearance twice, for a couple of hours each time, during the whole period of our stay. Most of our time was passed in the cold draughty hut, for it was impossible to face the gales and dense fogs which succeeded each other with startling rapidity, whUe on gusty days clouds of fine gritty sand would fill the eyes, mouth, and nostrils, causing great discomfort. There is probably no place in the world where the weather is so persistently vUe as on this cheerless portion of the earth's surface. In winter furious tempests and snow, in summer simUar storms, accompanied by rain, sleet, or mist, are experienced here five days out of the seven. If by accident a stUl, sunlit day does occur, it is caUed a " weather-breeder," for dirtier weather than before is sure to be lurking behind it. A howling south-wester on the English coast would be looked upon here as a moderate gale. WhUe walking on the beach one day I was lifted clean off my feet by the wind, although the day was locaUy called rather a pleasant one. One would think that this storm-swept, grey-skied region would discourage even the natives after a time and make them pine for a more congenial climate. But to the native of even this bleak and desolate coast there is no place like home. Mr. EUiot, a reliable authority on the subject, writes that cases have come under his notice where whalers have carried Eskimo down to the Sandwich Islands (the winter whaling ground) under an idea that these people would be delighted with the warm climate, fruits and flowers, and be grateful for the trip. But in no instance has an individual of this hyperborean race failed to sigh for his Arctic home after landing at Hawaii. Nor is this nos talgia of the frozen north confined to its aboriginal inhabi- 204 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND tants, for most explorers who return from its fastnesses experience sooner or later a keen desire to return. And the majority do so, obedient to an invisible influence as unerring as that of a toy magnet over its fish. I had little opportunity of studying the manners and customs of the natives whUe at Kingigamoot. Outwardly the Eskimo differs little from the Tchuktchi, that is, so far as costume is concerned, but the physiognomy and lan guages essentiaUy differ. That the former is fuUy as filthy even if more civUised in other ways than the latter I can, from personal experience, testify. Also that the introduction of Christianity has faUed to eradicate the love for strong drink, which was quite as prevalent here as at Whalen, although more cunningly concealed. An American explorer, Mr. Eugene McElwaine, who recently traveUed extensively throughout these regions, gleaned the foUowing facts, wliich may interest the reader, but which I am unfortunately unable to furnish from my own personal experience. He writes : " The average Eskimo is very uncleanly in his personal habits and domestic customs, but is always wUHng to be taught habits of cleanliness, and is ever anxious to change his mode of living when brought to realise its inferiority or repulsiveness. He recognises the white man to be his superior, and his inclination is to better his condition. " The Eskimo's knowledge of the past is vague and inde finite. Their time is computed by the revolutions of the moon, their distances when traveUing by ' sleeps,' and they measure a * yard ' by the length between the two hands with arms stretched horizontaUy. The Eskimo believe in a power that rewards the good and punishes the bad, indi cating by gestures that the former go above and the latter below after death. They bury their dead usuaUy on top of the ground in a box made of small timbers or drift wood, elevating the box four feet from the surface, and resting it on cross poles. Their meagre belongings are generally buried with them. The small bidarka (skin canoe) is not infre quently used for a casket when the head of the household dies. CAPE PRINCE OF WALES 205 " Their simple funeral rites are conducted by members of the deceased's own famUy, no other member of the tribe coming near the house during the time or attending the obsequies at the grave. WhUe the remains are being de posited in the box a member of the famUy buUds a smaU fire with twigs of wiUows and the fire is kept burning until the burial is completed, after which all present march around the fire in single file, chanting a prayer, with bowed heads, and then return to their hut. The household bdongings are now removed from the hut and the famUy move off to build a cabin in another place which the evil spirit wUl not enter. " The Eskimo are dever in many ways. Nearly all the men are experts in buUding canoes, whUe many are good carvers and draughtsmen. The writer has a map of the Arctic region, drawn by one of the Kowak River natives, which is one of the most complete things of the kind ever made. It shows every river, creek, lake, bay, mountain, vUlage and traU, from the mouth of the Yukon River to Point Hope, and the native drew it in four days. " A hut here is simply an excavation, about three feet deep, twdve^ feet long, and sixteen feet wide. Spruce sap lings about four feet long and four inches through are set upright side by side around the interior, supported by the beams. Two posts six feet long and one ridge piece support the arched roof, light saplings being used for rafters. An obHque external/ portal, five feet long, two feet high, and eighteen inches wide is constructed in the same manner as the hut. The opening for the door is about eighteen inches wide by two feet high. This addition has a twofold purpose : it shelters the entrance to the famUy room of the hut, and the air wliich passes through the portal into the apartment carries away the smoke and foul air through a hole in the roof. The structure is finally banked and covered with dirt, and more resembles a mound than a human habitation. The interior of these dweUings is not luxurious. The floor is strewn with the pUant branches of the Arctic wiUow. A few deer-skins He scattered about, and here the men, women, and chUdren of the tribe sit day after day, and month after 206 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND month, performing their tasks of labour, and it is here when fatigued that they sleep in security and comfort. A minia ture camp fire is kept burning day and night during the winter months." My unfavourable opinion pf the specimens of this race whom we met at Cape Prince of Wales is somewhat modified by the foUowing anecdote, also related by Mr. McElwaine : " An Eskimo lad about sixteen years of age came into my cabin one morning suffering with an acute bowel complaint. I happened to have a preparation for this trouble in my medicine chest, and administered to him a dose according to directions. It relieved him somewhat, and after eating his dinner, he returned home, a distance of some ten mUes. In a week or ten days later he came back, bringing with him a number of curios which he had wrapped with care in a piece of deer-skin and placed in a smaU canvas sack. Taking the curios out of the sack one by one, and unwrapping them carefuUy, he laid them on my table, saying as he did so in his broken English, ' You like 'em ? ' Receiving an affir mative reply, he said, ' You catch 'em,' at the same time shoving the articles toward me. I thought the young man was bent upon a trade, so, to please him, I laid out upon the table a number of edible articles, together with a red bandana handkerchief (a red handkerchief is prized very highly by all the natives), and awaited his decision. It was soon forthcoming. ' Me no catch 'em,' he said, pointing to the articles which he had placed upon the table ; ' me give him you.' He left the trinkets with me, but would not accept a thing in return for them. " Some four weeks afterwards this Indian boy came to my cabin again. He brought with him on his second visit a pair of smaU snowshoes and a miniature Eskimo sled. He had been told that I had a Httle boy at home, and he made me understand that he had made the snowshoes and sled for him, insisting that I should take them, which I did, but he stoutly refused anything in return for them. AU this was to show his appreciation of the little act of kindness which I had inadvertently done him." CAPE PRINCE OF WALES 207 Mr. McElwaine condudes: "And yet, against the aborigines of Northern Alaska many explorers have charged that they are the most ungrateful wretches in the world." Personally, I can cordiaUy endorse this statement, but perhaps a very short residence amongst these people has left me ignorant of their real merits, and Mr. McElwaine may be perfectly right when he adds, in connection with the aforesaid explorers : " AU such statements are, in my opinion, founded upon a misapprehension of the true cha racter of this peculiar race." Mr. Henry EUiot thus describes the Eskimo, or Innuit, as he is sometimes caUed, inhabiting the far northern por tions of Alaska : " The average Innuit stands about five feet seven inches in his heelless boots. He is shghtly Mon golian in his complexion and facial expression. A broad face, prominent cheek-bones, a large mouth with fuU lips, smaU black eyes, prominently set in their sockets, not under a lowering brow, as in the case of true Indian faces. The nose is insignificant, and much depressed, with scarcely any bridge. He has an abundance of coarse black hair, which up to the age of thirty years is cut pretty dose ; after this period in Hfe it is worn in ragged, unkempt locks. The hands and feet are shapely, the limbs strong and well-formed. An Eskimo woman is proportionately smaller than the man, and when young sometimes good-looking. She has small, tapering hands, and high-instepped feet, and rarely pierces her lips or disfigures her nose. She lavishes upon her chUd or chUdren a wealth of affection, endowing them with all her ornaments. The hair of the Innuit woman is aUowed to grow to its fuU length and is gathered up behind into thick braids, or else bound up in ropes, lashed by copper wire or sinews. She seldom tattoes herself, but a faint drawing of tranverse blue lines upon the chin and cheeks is usuaUy made by her best friend when she is married." The reader will probably infer, after reading the fore going notes, that there is reaUyyery Httle difference, broadly speaking, between a Tchuktchi and an Eskimo, and yet the two are as dissimUar in racial characteristics and customs 208 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND as a Russian and a Turk. Personal experience inclines me to regard the Siberian native as immeasurably superior to his Alaskan neighbours,* both from a moral and physical point of view, for the Eskimo is fuUy as vicious as the Tchuk tchi, who frankly boasts of his depravity, whUe the former cloaks it beneath a mantle of hypocrisy not whoUy uncon nected with a knowledge of the white man and his methods. But every cloud has its sUver lining, and it is comforting to think that even this rapacious and dissipated race can occa sionaUy derive pleasure from the beauties of nature. WhUe stroUing round the settlement one day, I gathered a nosegay of wUd flowers, including a species of yeUow poppy, anent which Kingigamoot cherishes a pretty superstition. This flower blossoms in profusion about mid June around Cape Prince of Wales, and by the end of July has withered away. Simultaneously a tiny golden butterfly makes its appearance for about a fortnight, and also disappears. I was gravdy informed by perhaps the greatest inebriate in the viUage that the poppy and the insect bear a simUar name, for when the former has bloomed for a whUe it devdops a pair of wings and flies away to return again the foUowing summer in the guise of a flower. During my rambles I came across some curious stone erections on the summit of the Cape. They were moss- * It is only fair to say that the only Eskimo I met were those at Kingigamoot, and the enmity of these particular natives to most white men is by some ascribed to the following incident. Some thirty years ago a small trading-schooner from San Francisco dropped anchor off the village, and was at once boarded and looted by the natives, who killed two of her crew. The remainder of the white men escaped with their vessel, and returned the following year under escort of a revenue cutter. Several natives were induced to visit the latter, and when perhaps a score had been lured on board the Government vessel, she steamed away, intending to carry off the Kingigamoot men and punish them for the outrage committed the preceding year. But a fight at once ensued on the deck of the cutter, and every Eskimo was shot down and killed. Relatives of these men are still hving at Kingigamoot, and the generally aggressive demeanour of the natives here is often ascribed to this fact, for the vendetta practised amongst both the Tchuktchis and Eskimo is fully as bitter and relentless as that which exists in Corsica. ESKIMO GIRLS AT CAPE PRINCE OF WALES DA:y y,o CAPE PRINCE OF WALES 209 grown, much dilapidated, and apparently of great age. The tomb-like contrivances are said to have been constructed by the Eskimo as a protection against invaders — the pUlars of stone, laid loosely one on the other, about ten feet high, to represent men, and thus deceive the enemy. But for the truth of this I cannot vouch. The ice remained so thickly pUed up around the coast for- four or five days after our arrival here that no look-out was kept. No vessel would willingly have approached this part of the coast without a special purpose, and Cape Prince of Wales possesses,, few attractions, commercial or otherwise. On a clear day the Siberian coast was visible, and the Diomede islands appeared so close with the aid of a field-glass that their tiny drab settlements were distinguishable against the dark masses of rock. The big and little Diomedes are about two miles apart, and the line of demarcation between Russia and America strikes the former off its eastern coast. From the most westerly point of Alaska to the most easterly point of the little Diomede (Ratmanoff) the distance is about fifteen miles, and from the most easterly point of Siberia to the most westerly point of the big Diomede (Krusenstern) the distance is about twenty miles. On the southern extremity of the larger island, a small vUlage is situated, containing about a hundred and fifty natives (Russian sub jects), and on the smaller one is another small viUage, with about the same number of American Eskimo. Fairway rock, a little way east of Ratmanoff island, is not inhabited. The comparatively short distance between the two con tinents and the intermediate islands has suggested the utilisation of the latter as supports for a leviathan railway bridge, a theory which (as Euclid would remark) is obvi ously " absurd." For no bridge could withstand the force of the spring ice in Bering Straits for one week. On the other hand, the boring of a tunnel from shore to shore is not entirely without the range of possibility, but of this, and of other matters dealing with the construction of a Franco-American raUway, I shall deal fully in the concluding chapter of this work. CHAPTER XV AN ARCTIC CITY " You will find a magic city On the shore of Bering Strait, Which shall be for you a station To unload your Arctic freight. Where the gold of Humboldt's vision Has for countless ages lain, Waiting for the hand of labour And the Saxon's tireless brain." S. Dunham Billy, the ex-whaleman, accompanied us here on board the Thetis, intending to make his way to Nome City. The commander of the cutter had let him go free, thinking, no doubt, that the poor feUow had been sufficiently punished for his misdeeds by a winter passed amongst the savages of Northern Siberia. One day during our stay here a native set out in a skin boat for Nome, and notwithstanding my warnings and a faUing barometer BiUy resolved to accompany him. But shortly after leaving us the pair encountered a furious gale, which swept them back to the Cape in an exhausted condition, nearly frozen to death after a terrible night in the ice. By the end of a week the latter had almost disappeared. A vessel could now anchor with ease off the settlement, but it seemed as though we should have to wait untU the autumn for that happy consummation. I had therefore decided, after consultation with the missionary, on risking the journey in a Baidara, when, on the evening of the tenth day, our longing eyes were gladdened by the sight of a smaU AN ARCTIC CITY 211 steamer approaching the Cape. She proved to be the Sadie, of the " Alaska Commercial Company," returning from her first trip of the year to Candle Creek,* a gold-mining settle ment on the Arctic Ocean, which had been unapproachable on account of heavy ice. Fortunatdy for us the Captain had suddenly resolved to call at Kingigamoot in case the missionary needed assistance, and on hearing of our phght at once offered the Expedition a passage to Nome City, whither the Sadie was bound. Bidding farewdl to our kind friends at the Mission, without whose assistance we should indeed have fared badly, we were soon aboard the dean and comfortable little steamer. A warm wdcome awaited us from her skipper, a jovial HeHgolander, who at the same time imparted to us the joyful news that the war in South Africa was at an end. Twenty-four hours later we were once more in dviHsation, for during the summer there is frequent steam communication between the remote although up-to-date mining city of Nome and our final destination, New York. Cape Nome derives its name from the Indian word " No-me," which signifies in English, "I don't know." In former days, when whalers anchored here to trade, the invariable answer given by the natives to aU questions put by the white men was "No-me," meaning that they did not understand, and the name of the place was thus derived. On Cape Nome, four years ago an Arctic desert, there now stands a fine and wdl-buUt dty. In winter the place can only be reached by dog-sled, after a fatiguing, if not perilous, journey across Alaska, but in the open season you may now travd there almost any week in large liners from San Francisco. It seemed Hke a dream to land suddenly in this modern town, within a day's journey of Whalen with aU its savagery and squalor, and it was some what trying to have to walk up the crowded main street in our filthy, ragged state. EventuaUy, however, we were rigged up at a wdl-stocked dothing estabHshment in suits of dittos which would hardly have passed muster in Bond * In the summer of 1901, $30,000 were taken out of this creek. 212 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Street, but which did very weU for our purpose. And that evening, dining at a luxurious hotel, with people m evening dress, palms, and a string band around us, I could scarcely realise that only a few days ago we were practicaUy starving in a filthy Siberian viUage. Handsome buUdings, churches, theatres, electric light and telephones are not usually associated with the ice-bound Arctic, but they are aU to be found in Nome City, which is now connected by telegraph with the outside world. And yet the first log-cabin here was only btult in the winter of 1898. This formed the nucleus of a town of about three thousand inhabitants by August of the foUowing year, which by the middle of July 1900 had grown into a colony of more than twenty thousand people. As some times happens, the first discoverers of gold were not the ones to profit by their lucky find, for this is what happened. Early in July 1898 three prospectors, one Blake, an American, and his two companions, were sailing. up the coast in a smaU schooner, when, abreast of Cape Nome, a storm struck their tiny craft and cast her up on the beach. The gale lasted for several days, and the men made use of the time prospecting in the vicinity of the Snake River, - which now runs through the city. At the mouth of Anvil Creek, good colours were found at a depth of one foot, the dirt averaging from fifty cents to one doUar the pan. Satisfied that they had made an important discovery, the men returned as soon as the weather would permit to their permanent camp in Golovin Bay, down coast, for provisions and mining tools, and thus lost, perhaps, the richest gold-producing property yet discovered in Alaska. How the secret got about was never known (perhaps " tanglefoot " was not unconnected with its disclosure), but three Swedes (one of whom was then a reindeer-herder and is now a miUionaire), got wind of the news, and quickly and quietly set out for Cape Nome, which they reached late in September of the same year. Ascending Snake River, they prospected AnvU and other Creeks, and in three days took out $1800 (nearly £400). THE BEACH, NOME CITY, DURING THE FIRST RUSH A STREET IN WINTER, NOME CITY AN ARCTIC CITY 213 After staking aU the daims of apparent value, the Swedes returned to Golovin Bay, and having staked their ground, were mfc afraid to corifinunicate the news of their discovery. It was, '; therefore, only after aU the good claims had been appropriated that poor Blake andiiis associates discovered that their anticipated golden harvest had been reaped by the energetic Scandinavians. . ;S?resh finds speedUy foUowed, notably of one rich spot about five miles west of Nome, where $9000 was rocked out of a hole twelve foot square and four feet deep in three days. Then gold began to appear on the beach. SmaU partides of it were found in the very streets, so that this Arctic township may almost be said to have been at one time literally paved with gold. In 1899 the seashore alone produced between $1,750,000 and $2,000,000. The presence here of a numerous and influential Press astonished me more than anything else. Nome City can boast of no less than three newspapers, and no sooner was the ^Expedition comfortably instaUed in the " Golden Gate Hotel " than it was besieged by the usual reporters. The rapidity with which the interviews were published would have done credit to a London evening paper, and I could only admire the versatUity of the gentleman who, only four hours after our arrival, brought out a special edition of the Nome Nugget, containing a portrait of His Royal Highness the Duke of the Abruzzi in fuU naval uniform, which was described as his humble servant : the writer ! The jealousy amongst these Arctic editors is as keen and bitter as it ever was in EatanswiU, and the next day the foUowing "paragraph appeared in the News, a rival publication : " One of our contemporaries has celebrated the rescue of some explorers from starvation by publishing the picture of Prince Louis of Savoy under the caption ' Harry de Windt.', But the. Italian prince is also an explorer, and probably all explorers look alike to the Nugget ! " Nome City impressed me at first as being a kind of squalid Monte Carlo. There is the same unrest, the same feverish quest for gold, and the same extravagance of life as 214 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND in the devU's garden on the blue Mediterranean. On landing, I was struck with the number of weU-dressed men and women who rub shoulders in the street with the dUapidated-looking mining element. In the same way palatial banks and prim business houses are incongruously scattered amongst saloons and drinking bars. Front Street, facing the sea, is the principal thoroughfare, so crowded at midday that you can scarcely get along. It is paved with wood, imported here at enormous expense, and a pave ment of the same material is raised about two feet above the roadway. Here are good shops where everything is cheap, for during the great gold-rush Nome was over stocked. Wearing apparel may be purchased here even cheaper than in San Francisco, and everything is on the same scale ; oranges, for instance, which two years ago cost one doUar apiece and which are now sold in the streets for five cents. Luxurious shaving saloons abound, also restau rants — one kept by a Frenchman who is deservedly reaping a golden harvest. In summer there is no rest here throughout the twenty- four hours. People wander aimlessly about the streets, eternaUy discussing quartz and placer-claims, and recent strikes, which here form the sole topic of conversation, Hke a run on zero or the cards at Monaco. Port Said is suggested by the dusty, flashy streets and cosmopohtan crowd, also by the fact that gambling saloons and even shops remain open all night, or so long as customers are stirring, which is generaUy from supper untU breakfast-time, for at this season of perpetual daylight no one ever seemed to go to bed. The sight of the principal street at four in the morning, with music halls, restaurants, drinking and dancing saloons blazing with electricity in the cold, grey light of a midnight sun was both novd and unique. At this hour the night-houses were always crowded, and you might re-visit them at midday and find the same occupants stiU out of bed, drinking, smoking, and gambHng, yet as quiet and orderly in their demeanour as a company of Quakers. For, notwithstanding its large percentage of the AN ARCTIC CITY 215 riff-raff element, crime is very rare in Nome. I frequently visited the gambling saloons, where gum-booted, mud- stained prospectors elbowed women in dainty Parisian gowns and men in the conventional swaUowtaU, but I never once saw a shot fired, nor even a dispute, although champagne flowed like water. These places generally consisted of a spacious and gaudily decorated hall with a drinking bar surrounded by various roulette, crap, and faro tables. The price of a drink admitted you to an adjoin ing music hall, where I witnessed a variety entertainment that would scarcely he re passed the London County Council. But gambling was the chief attraction, and it seemed to be fair, for cheating is clearly superfluous with three zeros ! Many of the frequenters of these night-houses appeared to be foreigners, chiefly Swedes and Germans, and a few Frenchmen, and the company was very mixed, Jews, Greeks, and Levantines being numerous amongst the men, whUst the ladies were mostly flashUy dressed birds of passage from San Francisco, only here for a brief space before flitting South, like the swallows, at the first faU of snow. There was a delightfuUy free-and-easy, laisser-aller air about everybody and everything at Nome City, which would, perhaps, have jarred upon an ultra-respectable mind. Most of the ladies at the Golden Gate Hotel were located there in couples, unattended, permanently at any rate, by male protectors. The bedroom adjoining mine was occupied by two of these Californian houris, whose habits were apparently not framed on Lucretian lines. For the manager appeared at my bedside early one morning with a polite request that I would rise and dress as quietly as possible, as the " ladies " next door had just gone to bed for the first time in three days, and rather needed a rest ! A stroU through the streets of Nome at midday was also amusing, although the sun blazed down with a force which recaUed summer-days in Hong-kong or Calcutta. It was then hard to picture these warm and sunlit streets swept by howling blizzards and buried in drifts which frequently rise to the roofs of the houses, untU their inmates 216 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND have to be literally dug out after a night of wind and snow. But when we were at Nome, Cairo in August would have seemed cool by comparison, and I began to doubt whether ice here could ever exist, for nothing around was suggestive of a Northern clime. The open-air life, muslin-clad women, gaily striped awnings, and Neapolitan fruit-seUers seemed to bear one imperceptibly to some sunlit town of Italy or Spain, thousands of miles away from this gloomy world (in winter) of cold and darkness. Only occasionaUy a skin-clad Eskimo from up coast would slouch shyly through the busy throng, rudely recaUing the fact that we were stiU within the region of raw seal-meat and walrus-hide huts. Most of the prospectors I met here had no use for the place as a gold-mining centre, but I should add that these grumblers were usuaUy inexperienced men, who had come in with no knowledge whatever of quartz or placer mining. On the other hand, fortunes have been made with remarkable ease and rapidity, as in the case of one of the first pioneers, Mr. Lindeberg, a young Swede (already mentioned), who arrived here as a reindeer-herder and now owns the largest share of Anvil Creek. From this about $3,000,000 have been taken in two years, and. the lucky proprietor has recently laid a line of railway to his claims, about seven mUes out of Nome. AnvU Creek has turned out the largest nugget ever found in Alaska. GeneraUy speaking, however, Nome is no place for a poor man, although when we were there five doUars a day (and aU found) could be easily earned on the Creeks. I invariably found men connected with large companies enthusiastic, and grub-stakers down on their luck. Lack of water in this district has proved a stumbling block which wiU shortly be dispelled by machinery. AnvU Creek wUl probably yield double the output hitherto extracted when this commodity has been turned on, and this is now being done at an enormous cost by its enterprising proprietors. But the days are past when nuggets were picked up here on the beach, for it now needs costly machinery to find them in the interior. Even during the first mad rush, when Nome AN ARCTIC CITY 217 was but a town of tents, many who expected to find the country teeming with gold were disappointed. In those days men would often rush ashore, after restless nights passed on board ship in wakeful anticipation, catch up half a dozen handfuls of earth, and finding nothing, cry, " I told you it was all a fake," and re-embark on the first steamer for San Francisco. It therefore came to pass that patient, hard-working men like Lindeberg, inured to hardship and privation, whose primary object in the country was totally unconnected with mining, have made colossal fortunes solely by dogged perseverance and the sweat of their brow. The general opinion here seemed to be that at the present time a man with a capital of, say, £10,000 could succeed here, but even then it was doubtful whether the money could not be more profitably invested in a more temperate dime, and one involving less risk to life and limb. Although epidemics occasionally occur, Nome cannot be called unhealthy. The greatest variation of temperature is probably from 400 below zero in winter to 900 above in summer,and the dry, intense cold we experienced in Northern Siberia is here unknown. Only a short time ago the sea journey to Nome was no less hazardous than the land trip formerly was over the dreaded ChUkoot Pass and across the treacherous lakes to Dawson City. In those days catastrophes were only too frequent in that graveyard of the Pacific, Bering Sea, and this was chiefly on account of unseaworthy ships patched up for passenger-traffic by unscrupulous owners in San Francisco. Nome City can now be reached by the fine steamships of the " Alaska Commercial Company " as safely and comfortably as New York in an Atlantic liner, but these boats are unfortunately in the minority, and even while we were at Nome, passengers were arriving there almost daily on board veritable coffin- ships, in which I would not wiUingly navigate the Serpentine. Shipping disasters have been frequent not only at sea, but also while landing here, for Nome has no harbour, but merely an open, shallow roadstead, fuUy exposed to the 218 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND biUows of the ocean. There is therefore frequently a heavy surf along the beach, and here many a poor miner has been drowned within a few yards of the Eldorado he has risked his all to reach. Intending prospectors should know that nearly every avaUable mue of country from Norton Sound to the Arctic Ocean has now been staked out, and before claims are now obtained they must be paid for. American missionaries have not been behindhand in the race for wealth, and in connection with this subject, the foUowing lines by a dis appointed Klondiker are not without humour : " Then we climbed the cold creeks near a mission That is run by the agents of God, Who trade Bibles and Prayer-books to heathen For ivory, sealskins and cod. At last we were sure we had struck it, But alas ! for our hope of reward, The landscape from sea-beach to sky-line Was staked in the name of the Lord ! " * That these lines, however, do not apply to all Alaskan missionaries I can testify from a personal knowledge of our good friend Mr. Lopp's comfortless, primitive Hfe, and unselfish devotion to the cause of Christianity. * " The Goldsmith of Nome," by Sam Dunham. (Neale Publishing Company, Washington, D.C.) CHAPTER XVI A RIVER OF GOLD The heading of this chapter is not suggested by a flight of fancy, but by solid fact, for there is not a mUe along either bank of the Yukon River, over 2000 mUes long from the great lakes to Bering Sea, where you cannot dip in a pan and get a colour. Gold may not be found in paying quantities so near the main stream, but it is there. From Nome to Dawson City is about 1600 miles, the terminus of the Yukon River steamers being St. Michael, on Bering Sea. When I was at this place in 1896, it con sisted of two or three smaU buUdings of the " Alaska Com mercial Company," a Russian church and ruined stockade, and about a dozen Eskimo wigwams. During my stay there, on that occasion, one small cargo-boat arrived from the South, and a solitary whaler put in for water, their appearance causing wUd excitement amongst the few white settlers. Although the civUisation of Nome City had somewhat prepared me for surprises, I scarcely expected to find St. Michael converted from a squalid settlement into a modern city almost as fine as Nome itself. For here also were a large hotel, good shops, electric light, and a 'roadstead alive with shipping of every description from the Eskimo kayak to the towering liner from 'Frisco. We arrived at 6 a.m. after a twelve hours' journey from Nome, but even at that early hour the clang of a ship-yard and shriek of steam syrens were awakening the once sUent and desolate waters of Norton Sound. St. Michael feeds and clothes the Alaskan miner, 220 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND despatches goods and stores into the remotest corner of this barren land, and has thus rapidly grown from a dreary little settlement into a centre of mercantUe activity. Seven years ago I journeyed down the Yukon towardsSiberia and a proble matical Paris in a smaU crowded steamer, buUt of roughly hewn logs, and propeUed by a fussy little engine of mediaeval construction. We then slept on planks, dined in our shirt sleeves, and scrambled for meals wliich a respectable dog would have turned from in disgust. On the present occasion we embarked on board a floating palace, a huge stern- wheeler, as large and luxuriously appointed as the most modern Mississippi flyer. The Hannah's airy deck-haUs were of dainty white, picked out with gold, some of the weU-furnished state-rooms had baths attached, and a perfect cuisine partly atoned for the wearisome monotony of a long river voyage. A delay here of twenty-four hours enabled me to re-visit the places I had known only too weU whUe wearily awaiting the Bear here for five weeks in 1896. But everything was changed beyond recognition. Only two landmarks remained of the old St. Michael: the agency of the "Alaska Commercial Company," and the wooden church buUt by the Russians during their occupation of the country.* A native hut near the beach, where I was wont to smoke my evening pipe with an old Eskimo fisherman, was now a circulating library; the ramshackle rest-house, once crowded with " Toughs," a fashionable hotd with a verandah and five o'clock tea-tables for the use of the select. And here I may note that tea is, or was, aU that the traveUer can get here, for St. Michad is now a mUitary reservation, where even the sale of beer or daret is strictly prohibited. My old friend Mikouline would have fared badly throughout this part of the journey, for from here on to Dawson City alcoholic refreshment of any kind was absolutdy unprocur able, and although the heat was tropical, iced water, not * The Russo-Greek religion is still maintained throughout Alaska, and nearly a hundred of its churches and chapels still exist through out the country and in the Aleutian Islands. THE FIRST LINER IN FROM 'FRISCO IN SPRINGTIME Photo T. E. Barrett A VILLAGE ON THE YUKON A RIVER OF GOLD 221 always of the purest description, was the only cold beverage obtainable at St. Michael or on the river. I was afterwards informed that the initiated always carry their own cellar, and having a rooted antipathy to tea at dinner (especiaUy when served in conjunction with tinned soup), regretted that I had not ascertained this fact before we left Nome. But although this liquor law was enforced with severity ashore its infringement afloat was openly winked at by the authorities. Soldiers were stationed night and day with loaded rifles on the beach to prevent the importation of spirits, and yet within half a mile of them, anchored in the roadstead, were four or five hulks, floating public-houses, where a man might get as drunk as he pleased with impunity, and often for the last time, especiaUy when a return to the shore had to be made through a nasty sea in a skin kayak. It was even whispered that "Hootch" (a fiery poison akin to " Tanglefoot ") was manufactured at the barracks, and retaUed by the soldiers to the natives, the very class for whose protection against temptation the prohibitive law was framed. " AU my men are intoxicated," the Commandant at St. Michael was said to have exclaimed. " So I suppose I had better get drunk myself." But there was little love lost here between the civil and mUitary element, and these were probably libels, for I have seldom seen a better drflled or disciplined set of men, although the hideous uniform of the American linesman is less suggestive of a soldier than of a railway guard.* The heat at St. Michael was even more oppressive than at Nome, and it was impossible to stir out of doors at mid day with any comfort. We were therefore not sorry to embark on board the Hannah, of the " Alaska Com mercial Company," which contained one hundred state- * Permanent military posts of the United States have been estab lished as follows, throughout Alaska : Fort Egbert at Circle City, Fort Gibbon on the Tanana River, Fort Valdez on Prince William Sound, Fort Davis at Nome, and Fort St, Michael on the island of that name. 222 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND rooms, of which barely a dozen were occupied, for at this season of the year travellers are mostly outward bound. The White Pass railway has practically kUled the Yukon passenger trade, for people now travel to Dawson by raU, and to Nome by sea direct. They used to go by ocean steamer to St. Michael, and thence ascend the river to Dawson, for in those days the perUous ChUkoot Pass was the only direct way from the South into the Klondike region. Our feUow traveUers, therefore, lacked in numbers but not in originality, for they included a millionaire in fustian, who preferred to eat with the crew ; a young and weU-dressed widow from San Francisco, who owned claims on the Tanana and worked them herself ; a confidence-man with a gambling outfit, who had struck the wrong crowd ; and last, but not least, Mrs. Z., recently a weU-known prima donna in the United States, who, although in the zenith of her youthful fame and popularity, had abandoned a brUHant career to share the fortunes of her husband, an official of the " Alaska Commercial Company," in this inartistic land. I found the conditions of travel on the Yukon as completely changed as everything else. Even the technical expressions once used by the gold-mining fraternity were now replaced by others. Thus the " Old- timer " had become " a Sourdough," and his antethesis, the " Tenderfoot," was now caUed a " Chechako." A word now frequently heard (and unknown in 1896) was " Musher," signifying a prospector who is not afraid to explore the unknown. This word is of Canadian origin, and probably a corruption of the French " Marcheur." Various passengers on board the Hannah were said to be returning to their homes with " Cold feet," also a new term, defining the disappointed gold-seeker who is leaving the country in disgust. But a change which excited both my admiration and approval was that in the accommodation provided on board the Hannah and the reaUy exceUent dinner to which we sat down every day, although enforced teetotalism was somewhat irritating to those accustomed to wine with their A RIVER OF GOLD 223 meals. It is no exaggeration to say that an overland journey may now be made from Skagway to Nome City with as little discomfort as a trip across Switzerland, if the tourist keeps to the beaten track by rail and steamer. But the slightest deviation on either side wiU show him what Alaskan travel reaUy was, and he wiU then probably curse the country and all that therein lies. The tourist may even experience some trying hours on the river-boat, for although the latter is fitted with cunning contrivances for their exdusion, mosquitos invariably swarm, and the Yukon specimen is so unequaUed for size and ferocity that I once heard an old miner declare that this virulent insect was " as big as a rabbit and bit at both ends." But this is about the only discomfort that traveUers by the main route through Alaska need now endure. Otherwise the path of travel has been made almost as smooth as Cook's easiest tours. As the reader may one day summon the courage to visit this great Northern land, it may not be out of place to give a brief history of Alaska, which, only thirty years ago, was peopled solely by Indians and a few Russian settlers, and was practically unknown to the civUised world. It has always seemed strange to me that Russia, a country with a world-wide reputation for diplomatic shrewdness, should have made such an egregious error as to part with Alaska at a merely nominal price,* the more so that when the transfer took place gold had long been known to exist in this Arctic province. Vitus Bering discovered traces of it as far back as the eighteenth century. William H. Seward, Secretary of State under President Johnson, was mainly responsible for the purchase of this huge territory, which covers an area of about 600,000 square mUes, measuring 1000 mUes from north to south and 3500 miles from east to west. It is said that the coast line alone, if straightened out, would girdle the globe. The formal transfer of Alaska to the United States * The word " Alaska " is derived from the Indian " Al-ay-eksa," which signifies a great country. 224 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND was made on October 18, 1867, and its acquisition was first regarded with great disfavour by the majority of the American public. Although only $7,200,000 was paid for the whole of Russian America,* the general opinion in New York and other large cities of the Union was that " Seward's ice-box," as it was then derisively termed, would prove a white elephant, and that the statesman responsible for its purchase had been, plainly speaking, sold. It was only when the marveUous riches of Nome were disclosed that people began to realise what the annexa tion of the country reaUy meant, although even at this period Alaska had already repaid itself many times over. Klondike had already startled the civUised world, but this is, of course, in British territory. Nevertheless, between the years 1870 and 1900 Secretary Seward's investment had returned nearly $8,000,000, and within the same period fisheries and furs had yielded no less than $100,000,000. God and timber had produced $40,000,000 more, making a clear profit of nearly $200,000,000 in thirty years. It is sad to think that the once maligned pohtician who acquired this priceless treasure did not live to see his golden dream realised. A few days before his death the Secretary was asked what he considered the most important measure of his official career. " The purchase of Alaska," was the reply, " but it will take the people a generation to find it out." Alaska may be divided into two great south-east and western districts. Mount St. Elias, nearly 20,000 ft. high, marks the dividing line at 141° west long., running north from this point to the Arctic Ocean. The diversity of dimate existing throughout this huge province from its southern coast to the shores of the Polar Sea is naturaUy very great, and the marvellous contrast between an Alaskan June and * It is said that most of this was used in Petersburg to satisfy old debts and obligations incurred by Alaskan enterprises, attorneys' fees, &c, so in short Russia really gave her American possessions to the American people, reaping no direct emolument whatsoever from the transfer. (" Our Arctic Province," by Henry W. Elliott.) A RIVER OF GOLD 225 December has nowhere been more picturesqudy and graphically described than by General Sir WUliam Butler in his " Great Lone Land " : "In summer a land of sound — a land echoed with the voices of birds, the ripple of running water, the mournful music of the waving pine branch ; in winter a land of sUence, its great rivers glimmering in the moonlight, wrapped in their shrouds of ice, its stUl forests rising weird and spectral against the auroral-lighted horizon, its nights so stiU that the moving streamers across the Northern skies seem to carry to the ear a sense of sound ! " On the North Pacific coast densely wooded islands are so numerous that from Victoria in British Columbia to the town of Skagway at the head of the Lynn Canal there are but a few miles of open sea. Inland, almost as far as the Arctic Circle, mountain ranges, some of great altitude, are everywhere visible. There are also many .arge lakes, surrounded by the swamps, and impenetrable forests, that formerly rendered Alaska so hard a nut for the explorer to crack. Only a few miles north of the coast range fertile soil and luxurious vegetation are replaced by Arctic deserts. Here, for eight months of the year, plains and rivers are merged into one vast wUderness of ice, save during the short summer when dog-roses bloom and the coarse luxurious grass is plentifully sprinkled w.th daisies and other wUd flowers. In Central Alaska the ground is perpetually frozen to a depth of several inches, and in the North wells have been sunk through forty feet of solid ice. Alaska is fairly healthy, although the temperature in the interior ranges from 900 in the shade to over 6o° below zero Fahr. May, June, and July are the best months for travelling, for the days are then generaUy bright and pleasant and the heat tempered by a cool breeze. On the coast during the summer rain and fogs prevaU, and the sun is only occa sionaUy visible, for there are on an average only sixty-six fine days throughout the year. In 1884 a rainfall of sixty- four inches was registered at Unalaska. The rain seldom pours down here, but faUs in a steady drizzle from a hopelessly leaden sky, under which a grey and sodden 226 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND landscape presents a picture of dreary desolation. But this damp cheerlessness has its advantages, for incessant humidity sheds perpetual verdure over the coast-districts, where the thermometer rarely faUs as low as zero Fahr. Winter only sets in here about the ist of December, and snow has vanished by the end of May, whUe in the interior lakes and rivers are stUl in the grip of the ice. Near the sea the soU is rich and root-crops are prolific, while horses and cattle thrive well, also the ports as far north as Cook's Inlet are open to navigation all the year round, so that, taking aU these facts into consideration, coast settlements are preferable as a permanent residence to those of the interior, with the exception, perhaps, of Dawson City. It is said that the mUd climate of Southern Alaska is due to the Japan Gulf Stream, which first strikes the North American continent at the Queen Charlotte Island in latitude 500 north. At this point the stream divides, one part going northward and westward along the coast of Alaska, and the other southward along the coast of British Columbia, Washington territory, Oregon, and CaHfornia. Thus the climate of these states is made mUd and pleasant in precisely the same way as the shores of Spain, Portugal and France by the ocean currents of the Atlantic. Notwithstanding the society of pleasant feUow traveUers, life on board the Hannah became intolerably tedious after the first few days. The Lower Yukon is not an attractive river from a picturesque point of view, and only the upper portion of its two thousand odd mUes possesses any scenic interest. Grey and monotonous tundra roUing away to the horizon, and melancholy, grey-green shrubs lining the stream formed the daUy and dismal landscape during the first week. There is HteraUy nothing of interest to be seen along the banks of the Yukon from its mouth to Dawson City, save perhaps the Catholic mission of the Holy Cross at Koserefski, which is prettily situated within a stone's throw of the river, and consists of "several neat wooden buildings comprising a beautiful little chapd and school for native chUdren. The Hannah remained here for some A RIVER OF GOLD 227 hours, which enabled me to renew my acquaintance with the good nuns, and to visit the schoolhouse, where some Indian chUdren of both sexes were at work. French was the language spoken, and it seemed strange to hear the crisp, clear accent in this deserted corner of civUisation. An old acquaintance of my former voyage, pretty Sister Wini fred, showed us around the garden, with its smooth green lawns, bright flower-beds, and white statue of Our Lady in a shrine of pine boughs. All the surroundings wore an air of peace and homeliness suggestive of some quiet country vUlage in far-away France, and I could have lingered here for hours had not large and bloodthirsty mosquitoes swarmed from the woods around and ^driven me reluctantly back to the steamer. At Koserefski we bade a final farewell to the " Tundra " and its Eskimo, and from here onwards encountered only dense forests and the unsavoury and generally sulky Alaskan Indian. They are not a pleasing race, for laziness and impudence seemed to be the chief characteristics of those with whom we had to deal throughout the former journey. On this occasion we met with very few natives, who have apparently been driven out of the principal towns by the white man. The Alaskan Indian's once picturesque costume is now discarded for clothes of European cut, which render him even more unattractive than ever. Mocassins and his pretty bark-canoe are now the only distinctive mark of the Siwash, who is as fond of strong drink as the Eskimo, and also resembles the latter in his boundless capacities for lying and theft. But there are probably not more than 1500 natives in aU inhabiting the Yukon region, and these are rapidly decreasing. I do not think I saw more than fifty Indians throughout the journey from Cape Nome to Skagway, the terminus of the " White Pass " raUway. South of this, along the coast to Vancouver, they were more numerous, and apparently less lazy and degraded than the Indians of the interior. On board the Hannah the talk was all of gold, and every one, from captain to cook, seemed indirectly interested in 228 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND the capture of the precious metal. The purser had claims to dispose of, and even your bedroom steward knew of a likely ledge of which he would divulge the position— for a consideration. The Koyukuk and Tanana rivers on this part of the Yukon are new ground, and are said to be promising, but I could hear of no reliable discoveries of any extent on either of these streams. " Cities " on the American Yukon consist of perhaps a score or more of log huts, which Yankee push and enterprise have invested with the dignity of towns. " Rampart City," for instance, which the Hannah reached on the sixth day in from the coast, consisted of only about thirty one- storied wooden dweUings, the erection of which had been due to the discovery of gold in the vicinity, although during the previous year (1901) the claims around had only pro duced £40,000. And yet even this tiny township could boast of two hotels, five or six saloons, electric light and two newspapers' : the Alaska Forum and Rampart Sun. The circulation of these journals was not disclosed to the writer, who was, however, gravely interviewed by the editors of both publications. Just before leaving Rampart City news of the postponement of the coronation of his Majesty King Edward VII. on account of serious illness, reached us, and it was gratifying to note the respectful sympathy for the Queen of England displayed by the American inhabitants of this remote Alaskan settlement. |* Four days after this the hideous Yukon flats were reached, a vast desert of swamp and sand dunes, through which the great river diffuses itself, like a sky-rocket, into hundreds of lesser streams, lakes, and aqueous blind aUeys, which severely taxed the skiU and patience of our skipper. Here the outlook was even more depressing than on the dreary Lena. Before reaching Circle City the Yukon attains its most northerly point and then descends in a south-easterly direction for the remainder of its course. At the bend it is joined by the Porcupine River ; and here is Fort Yukon, once an important trading coast of the Hudson Bay Company, but now an overgrown clearing in the forest, of which a few A RIVER OF GOLD 229 miserable Indians in grimy tents disputed the possession with dense clouds of mosquitoes. But even the appearance of Circle City,* once a prosperous mining town and now a coUection of ruined log-huts, was haUed with delight by the hopelessly bored passengers in the Hannah, for it meant the end of another stage in this wearisome journey. \ There is nothing exciting or even picturesque about a modern Alaskan mining camp. Bowlers and loud checks have superseded the red flannel shirt and sombrero, and whUe missions and libraries abound, Judge Lynch and the crack of a six-shooter are almost unknown in these town ships, the conventional security of which 'would certainly have amazed and disgusted the late Bret Harte. When last I traveUed down the Yukon, Circle City (now caUed Silent City) was known as the " Paris of Alaska," and there was certainly more gaiety, or rather life, of a tawdry, disreputable kind here than at Forty Mile, the only other settlement of any size on the river, for Klondike was not then in existence. Circle City could then boast of two theatres, a so-caUed music haU, and several gambling and dancing saloons, which, together with other dens of a worse description, were now sUent heaps of grass-grown timber. In those days the dancing rooms were crowded nightly, and I once attended a ball here in a low, stuffy apartment, festooned with flags, with a drinking bar at one end. The orchestra consisted of a violin and guitar, the music being almost drowned by a noisy crowd at the bar, where a wrangle took place on an average every five minutes. One doUar was charged by the saloon-keeper for the privUege of a dance with a gaUy painted lady (of a class with which most mining camps are only too famUiar), who received twenty-five cents as her share of the transaction. The guests numbered about sixty, and about a third that number of dogs which had strayed in through the open doorway. When an attendant (in shirt-sleeves) proceeded to walk around and sprinkle the rough boards with resin, the dancers fairly yeUed with delight, for a hungry cur * In 1 90 1 the diggings around Circle Cityj?roduced_about ,£30,000, 230 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND dosely foUowed him, greedily devouring the stuff as it feU ! But although in those days the Yukon gold-digger was as tough a customer as ever rocked a cradle in the wUdest days of Colorado, there was a rough and friendly bonhomie amongst the inhabitants of Circle City which is now lacking in the Klondike metropolis. Between Rampart and Circle Cities we experienced an annoyance almost as great as that caused by the mosquitoes, in the shape of clouds of pungent smoke caused by forest fires. In these densely wooded regions a smouldering match dropped by a careless miner often sets hundreds of square mUes of timber ablaze. As the natives are also constantly clearing and burning the woods for cultivation, the air was seldom entirely clear, and often so thick as to cause irritation in the eyes, especiaUy after suffering, as most of us had, from snow bhndness and incipient ophthalmia. On stUl, sultry days the pain resulting from smoke and the glare off the river was almost as severe as that which I had experienced in the Arctic. Mosquitoes now attacked us in myriads, and the heat was insupportable, but the cooler air of the upper deck was rendered unattainable by showers of sparks which constantly issued from the funnels of the hard-driven Hannah. \ At Eagle City, consisting of about thirty log-huts, we reached for the first time the end of a telegraph wire,* and I was able to cable home the safe arrival in Alaska of the Expedition ; and none too soon, for the total loss of the latter had already been reported in London. How this baseless rumour was spread remains a mystery, but fortunatdy the wire announcing our safety was pubHshed in the London newspapers only three days after the public had read of a probable disaster. Eagle City, although even smaller than Rampart, also boasted of a newspaper, the enterprising owner of which made me a tempting Offer for the tiny sUk banner which had shared our fortunes aU the way from France. But " the flag which braved a thousand * This has since been extended and telegraphic messages may now be sent through from Europe to Nome City. A RIVER OF GOLD 231 years " was not for sale, and it now adorns the waUs of the author's smoking-room, the only Union Jack which, so far as I know, has safely accomplished the journey from Paris to New York by land. Above Eagle City the journey was rendered even more weary by frequent stoppages. Once we tugged for twenty- four hours at a stranded steamer, and finaUy got her off a sand-bank at considerable risk to ourselves. Every hundred mUes or so the Hannah would tie up to take in fuel at some wood-cutter's shanty, where the cool, green forest, with its flowers and ferns, looked inviting from the deck, but to land amongst them was to be devoured by clouds of ferocious mosquitoes. De Clinchamp was the happiest being on board, for his days were passed in developing the hundreds of photographs taken since our departure from Yakutsk ; and Stepan was perhaps the most forlorn, amongst strangers unacquainted with his language. The poor feUow had been as gay as a cricket amidst the dangers of the Arctic, but here he was as timid as a lost chUd, gazing hour by hour into the water, smoking endless dgarettes, and thinking, perhaps, of his wife and little " Isba " in now distant Siberia. On July 15 we passed the boundary into British North west territory, and shortly afterwards haUed the British flag fluttering from the barracks at Forty MUe City as an old and long-lost friend. This was the chief town of the Upper Yukon in the palmy days of the Hudson Bay Company when furs rather than gold were the attraction to these gloomy regions. In 1896 this was the highest point reached by the larger river-boats, and here, on that occasion, we left the tiny skiff in which we had traveUed for over a month on the great lakes, and boarded the steamer for St. Michael. Forty MUe then consisted of eighty or ninety log-huts on a mud bank, where numerous tree-stumps, wood-shavings, empty tins, and other rubbish littered the ground amongst the houses, adding to the general appearance of dirt and neglect. But now several neat, new buildings have arisen from the ashes of the old ; streets have been 233 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND laid out with regularity ; and a trim fort is occupied by a khaki-clad detachment of the North-west Mounted Police. Forty MUe is more of a mUitary post than anything else, most of its prospectors having left the place for the Klondike, although a few years back this was the chief rendezvous of Yukon pioneers. These, however, were mostly "grub- stakers," quite content if enough gold-dust was forthcoming to keep the wolf from the door. In those days a nugget of any size was a rarity, and fortunes were made here, not by the miner, but by those who fed and clothed him. For instance, in 1886 Forty MUe Creek yielded less than £30,000, but at this time the total number of prospectors in the entire territory of the Upper Yukon was under 250, and very few of these who could avoid it wintered in the country. At last, on the thirteenth day, we near our destination. " It seems a month since we left St. Michael," says the confidence-man as for the last time we watch the pine forest darken and the great river fade into a sUvery grey in the twilight. From the brightly lit saloon come the tinkle of a piano and the clear notes of Mrs. Z.'s voice. Her pathetic Httle melody is famUiar to the wanderer in every lonely land : " All the world am sad and dreary Everywhere I roam I " But, fortunately for us, the Yukon, like the Suwanee River, must have an ending, and I am awakened early next morning to find the Hannah moored alongside a busy wharf at Dawson City. - - CHAPTER XVII DAWSON f* r' " The Yukon district is a vast tract of country which forms the extreme north-westerly portion of the north-west territories of Canada. It is bounded to the south by the northern line of British Columbia, to the west by the eastern line of the United States territory of Alaska, to the east by the Rocky Mountains, and to the north by the Arctic Ocean. The district has an area of 192,000 square miles, or about the size of France. The region, as a whole, is mountainous in character, but it comprises as weU an area of merely hUly or gently undulating country, besides many wide and flat bottomed vaUeys. It is more mountainous in the south-east and subsides generally and uniformly to the north-westward, the mountains becoming more isolated and separated by broader tracts of low land. The Yukon or PeUy River provides the main drainage of this region, passing from Canadian into American territory at a point, in its course 1600 mUes from the sea. The two _hundred mUes of its course in Canada receives the waters of all the most important of its tributaries — the Stewart, Mac- miUan, Upper PeUy, Lewes, White River, &c, each with an extensive subsidiary river system, which spreading^out like a fan towards the north-east, east and south-east facili tate access into the interior." So writes "fmy friend Mr. O'GUvie, the Dominion Surveyor, who has an experience of over twenty years of this country and who is probably better acquainted with its natural characteristics and resources than any other living white man. ^ ^^];F3 ' . ~^ 234 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND On the occasion of my last attempt to travel overland from New York to Paris the spot upon which Dawson City now stands was occupied by perhaps a dozen Indian wig wams.* The current was so strong that we only landed from our skiff with difficulty and the timely assistance of some natives in birch bark canoes, the first of these graceful but rickety craft we had yet encountered. Just below the viUage a smaU river flows into the Yukon from the east, and the water looked so clear and pure that we fiUed our barrels, Httle dreaming that in a few months this apparently insignificant stream would be the talk of the civUised world.. For this was the Thron-diuck,f a word eventuaUy cor rupted into " Klondike " by the jargon of many nationaH- ties. Then we visited the vUlage, in search of food ; finding in one hut some salmon, in another a piece of moose meat, both of venerable exterior. Most of the braves of the tribe were away hunting or fishing, but the old men and maidens were eager for news from up river, the sole topic of interest being, not the finding of nuggets, but the catching of fish. Strange as it may seem the name of Klondike is to this day associated in my mind with comparatively clean Indians and a good square meal. But hardly a year had elapsed before I discovered that on that quiet, sunlit evening, I was carelessly strolling about over miUions of money without being aware of the fact. Dawson City stands on the right bank of the Yukon on a plain almost surrounded by picturesque and partly wooded hiUs. There are towns existing much further north than this notwithstanding aU that has been written to the contrary. Many a cheap tripper from Aberdeen or New castle has been a good deal nearer the Pole, so far as actual latitude is concerned, for Dawson is south of the Norwegian towns of Hammerfest and Tromso ; Archangel — on the White Sea — being situated on about the same latitude as the Klon- *, Dawson City is named after Dr. Dawson who first established the boundary between Alaska and British north-west territory. t An Indian word signifying " Plenty of fish." Onjold maps the place is marked " Tondack." DAWSON 335 dike metropolis. The latter was founded shortly after the first discovery of gold in 1896, and a few months afterwards seven or eight thousand people were living there in tents and log huts. In 1898 a fire occurred and the whole town was rebuilt on more businesslike lines, buildings, streets, and squares being laid out with regularity. The fire had not been wholly disastrous for before its occurrence typhoid fever was raging amongst the miners, chiefly on account of improper food, impure water, and the miasma arising from the marshy, undrained soU. But when the town was restored, these evUs were remedied, and, at the present day, Dawson contains about 30,000 inhabitants (probably more in summer), who, save for a rigorous winter, live under much the same conditions as the dweUer in any civilised city of England or America. Out on the creeks, the life is still rough and primitive, but aU the luxuries of Hfe are obtainable in town, that is if you can afford to pay for them, for prices here are, at present, ruinous. This is chiefly due to the almost pro hibitive tariff imposed upon everything, from machinery to cigars, by the Canadian Government. During our stay much discontent also prevaUed in consequence of the vexatious gold-mining regulations which had lately come into operation and which had already compeUed many owners of valuable claims to sell them at a loss and quit the country. An Englishman residing here told me that so long as the present mining laws exist prospectors wiU do well to avoid Cana dian territory, and this I could well believe, for while we were there, Dawson was, on this account, in a ferment of excitement which threatened shortly to blaze into open rebeUion unless the tension was removed. The natural charms of Dawson have hitherto been sadly neglected by writers on Klondike, and yet it is in summer one of .the prettiest places imaginable. Viewed from a distance on a stiU July day, the clean bright looking town and garden-girt villas dotting the green hills around are moie suggestive of a tropical country than of a bleak arctic land. An interesting landmark is the mighty landslip of rock and rubble which defaces the side of a steep cliff over- 336 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND looking the city, for this avalanche of earth is said to have entombed some fifty or sixty Indians many years ago, and is of course therefore, according to local tradition, haunted. Notwithstanding its remoteness Dawson may almost be caUed a gay place. Stroll down the principal street at mid-day and you wiU find a well-dressed crowd of both sexes, some driving and cycling, others inspecting the shops or seated at flower-bedecked tables in the fashionable French " Restaurant du Louvre " with its white aproned garcons and central snowy altar of silver, fruit, and hors-d'oeuvres aU complete. Everything has a conti nental look from the glittering jeweUers' shops to the flower and fruit staUs, where you may buy roses or strawberries for a dollar a piece. I recoUect discussing a meal of some what rusty bacon and beans (or Alaska strawberries as they were then caUed) when we landed for the first time amongst the Indians of Thron-diuck, and it seemed Hke some weird dream when one sultry afternoon during my recent stay I was invited by a party of smartly dressed ladies to partake of ices in a gUded cafe' with red-striped sun-blinds on the very same spot. But you can now get almost anything here by paying for it, on a scale regulated by the local daily newspapers, which are sold for a shiUing and sometimes more. Even in the cheaper eating-houses, where sausages steam in the window, the most frugal meal runs away with a five doUar note, while at the Regina Hotel (by no means a first- class establishment), the price charged for the most modest bedroom would have secured a sumptuous apartment at the Ritz palaces in PaU Mall or the Place Vendome ! On the day of our arrival I thought a bar-tender was joking when he charged me three dollars for a pint of very ordinary " Medoc," but quickly discovered that the man was in sober earnest. Nevertheless, only big prices are to be expected in a region almost inaccessible ten years ago. And what a change there is since those days. In 1896 it took us two months to reach Thron-diuck from the coast, and on the last occasion I received a reply from London to a cable within seven hours ! This new era of progress and DAWSON 237 enhghtenment seemed to have scared the insect creation, for, in 1896, " smudges " were Ht here to drive away the clouds of mosquitoes which mingled with our very food ; and now not a gnat was to be seen in Dawson, although the creeks around were said to be alive with them. |- This is essentially a cosmopolitan city, and you may hear almost every known language, from Patagonian to Chinese, talked in its streets. " First Avenue," about a mile long and fronting the river, is the finest thoughfare, and the high-sounding title is not incongruous, for several handsome stone buUdings now grace this street which in a few years will doubtless be worthy of Seattle or San Francisco. One side of the road is lined by busy wharves, with number less steamers ever on the move, the other by shops of every description, restaurants, and gorgeous drinking-saloons. A stranger here cannot fail to be struck with the incon gruity with which wealth and squalor are blended. Here a dainty restaurant is elbowed by a cheap American gar- gote, there a plate-glass window blazing with diamonds seems to shrink from a neighbouring emporium stocked with second-hand wearing apparel. Even the exclusive Zero Club with its bow window generally crowded with fashionable loungers, is contaminated by the proximity of a shabby drinking-bar, which however, does not impair the exceUence of its internal arrangements, as the writer can testify. For a LucuUian repast, of which I was invited to partake at this hospitable resort of good fellows of aU nationaUties, yet fingers in my memory ! But hospitality seems ingrained in the nature of the Klondiker high or low, and during its short stay here the Expedition was regaUy received and entertained. A wood cut, which appeared in the principal newspaper represent ing " Dawson City extending the glad hand of welcome to Explorer De Windt " was no mere figure of speech, for we were seldom aUowed to pay for a meal, whUe the refresh ments and cigars lavished upon me by total strangers at every moment of the day would have set up a regimental mess. My host here was the manager of the " Alaska 238 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Commercial Company," which has practicaUy ruled the country from the year of its annexation, and without whose assistance I should often have fared badly during my travels in the interior. Mr. Mizner, the agent, occupied one of the newest and finest houses in Dawson, but I was awakened the first night by a sound suggestive of a spirited wrestling bout in an adjoining apartment. The noise con tinued almost without cessation, and only ceased when the business- of the day recommenced in the streets. Then the mystery was explained ; my imaginary wrestlers were rats, which are not, I believe, indigenous to Alaska. OriginaUy brought to St. Michael during the gold rush by an old and patched-up barque from San Francisco, the enterprising rodents boarded a river steamer and landed here, where conditions appear especiaUy favourable to their reproduction. Scarcely a house in the place was free from them, and at night, or rather through its twUight hours, the streets swarmed with the disgusting brutes who seemed to regard human beings with supreme indifference. From latest advices this annoyance stiU exists and a fortune therefore awaits a good London rat-catcher in Dawson. Dissipation used to reign here supreme as it does to-day at Nome, but the Canadian authorities have now placed a heavy hed upon gambling-saloons, dancing-haUs, and similar establishments. And although the closing of these places has caused much dissatisfaction amongst those who profited by them, the measure has undoubtedly been for the general good of the community. Many a poor miner has come in from the creeks with gold-dust galore, the result of many months of hard work and privation, and found himself penniless after a single night passed amongst the saloons, dives, and dens of an even worse description which formerly flourished here. In those days the place swarmed with women of the lowest class, the very sweepings of San Francisco, and with them came such a train of thieves and buUies that finally the law was compeUed to step in and pre vent a further influx of this undesirable element. Dawson is now as quiet and orderly as it was once the opposite, DAWSON 239 for ladies unable to prove their respectability are compeUed to reside in a distant suburb bearing the euphonious name of Louse-Town. This place is probably unique, at any rate amongst civUised nations, although the Japanese Yoshi- wara, outside Tokio, where every dweUing is one of Ul- fame, is, although, much larger, almost its exact proto type. Crime in and about Dawson is now rare thanks to that fine body of men, the North-west Mounted Police, Picca- diUy is no safer than the streets here, which, during the dark winter months, blaze with electricity. The Irish ruffian, George O'Brien, who, a couple of years ago, buUt a shanty in a lonely spot and robbed and murdered many prospec tors, was arrested and hanged with a celerity which has since deterred other evU doers. For the system of police surveillance here is almost as strict as in Russia, and although passports are not required the compulsory registra tion of every traveUer at the hotels and road houses answers much the same purpose. . _T-I i Although rowdy revelry is discountenanced by the authorities Dawson City can be gay enough both in summer and winter. In the open season there is horse-racing along First Avenue, where notwithstanding the rough and stony course and deplorable " crocks " engaged, large sums of money change hands. There are also picnics and A. B. floaters, or water parties organised by a Society known as the " Arctic Brotherhood," who charter a steamer once a week for a trip up or down river, which is made the occasion for dancing and other festivities entaUing the consumption of much champagne. At this season there is also exceUent fishing in the Yukon and its tributaries, where salmon, grayling, and trout are plentiful. The first named run to an enormous weight, but are much coarser andfless delicate in flavour than the European fish. The Fourth of July is a day of general rejoicing, for there are probably as many, if not more, Americans than Canadians here. There is good rough shooting within easy distance of Dawson, and the sporting fraternity occasionally witnesses a prize fight, 240 PARIS TO NEW YORK^BY LAND when Frank Slavin (who owns an hotd here) occasionaUy displays his skill. '^gThe history of the Klondike gold-fields has so often been told that I shaU not weary the reader by going over old ground : how George Cormack^made his lucky strike on Bonanza Creek, taking out £240 of gold in a couple of days from a spot, which, with proper appliances, would have yielded £1000, or how the steamship Excelsior arrived in San Francisco one July day in 1897 with half a miUion doUars and thirty old timers whose tales of a land gorged with gold were almost universaUy discredited. But these were con firmed by the arrival of the Portland a few days later with over a mUlion dollars' worth of dust stowed away in oU cans, jam-tins, and even wrapped in old newspapers so desolate and primitive was the region from whence it came.* Then, as every one knows, the news was flashed over the world and was foUowed by a stampede the like of which had not been witnessed since the days of '49. Unfortunately, the simple and primitive way in which the gold was gained seemed suggestive of a poor man's " El Dorado," and con sequently many of those who went into the Klondike with the first batch of gold seekers were smaU tradesmen, raUway officials, clerks, and others, whose sedentary occupation had rendered them quite unfit for a life of peril and privation in the frozen north. The tragic experiences of these first pilgrims to the land of gold are probably stiU fresh in the mind of the reader — the deaths by cold and hunger on the dreaded Chilkoot Pass, or by drowning in the stormy lakes and treacherous rapids of the Yukon. The death Hst during the rush of 1897 wiU long be remembered in Dawson * In view of the eventual development of this region it is interest ing to note Mr. Ogilvie's report of his explorations in 1887 which runs thus : " The Thron-diuck river enters the Yukon from the east, it is a small stream about forty yards wide at the mouth and shallow ; the water is clear and transparent and of a beautiful blue colour, the Indians catch great numbers of salmon here. A miner had prospected up this river for an estimated distance of forty miles in the season of 1887. I did not see him." DAWSON 341 City, for many of those who survived the dangers of th« road were stricken down on arrival by typhoid fever, which allied to famine, claimed, in those days, a terrible percentage of victims. And yet if the risks were great, the rewards were greater for those blessed with youth, perseverance and, above aU, a hardy constitution. Perhaps the most notable case of success in the early days was that of Clarence Berry (then known as the " Barnato of the Klon dike"). When Berry left California his capital consisted of £20 which enabled him to reach the scene of operations and to take £26,000 out of the ground within six months of his departure from home. Mrs. Berry, who pluckUy joined her husband at Dawson, is said to have lifted no less than £10,000 from her husband's claims in her spare moments. About this period many other valuable dis coveries took place and amongst them may be mentioned MacDonald's claim on " El Dorado " which yielded £19,000 in twenty-eight days, Leggatt's claims on the same creek which in eight months produced £8400 from a space only twenty-four square feet, and Ladue, a Klondike pioneer, who for seven consecutive days took £360 from one claim and foUowed his good fortune with such pluck and -persistency that he is now a mUHonaire. Of other authentic cases I may mention that of a San Francisco man and his wife who were able to secure only one claim which to their joy and surprise yielded £27,000, and that of a stoker on board a Yukon river boat who in 1896 was earning £10 a month and who, the following summer, was worth his £30,000 ! But the foregoing are only individual cases which have come under my personal notice. There were, of course, innumerable others, for it was a common thing in those days for a man to return to California after a year's absence with from £5000 to £10,000 in his pocket. Take, for instance, the case of the lucky bar tender of Forty MUe City who joined the general exodus from that place which followed Cormack's first discovery. This man came out of the country with $132,000 in gold dust which he had taken out Q 242 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND of his stake, and after purchasing an adjoining claim for another $100,000 (all taken from his original claim), it is said (though I cannot vouch for this statement) that the fortunate cock-tail mixer eventuaUy sold his property to a New York Syndicate for £400,000. Of course at this time fairy tales were pretty freely circulated ; how, for instance, one man with very long whiskers had been working hard in his drift all through the winter and, as was the custom, neither washed nor shaved. In the spring when the whiskers were shaved off his partner is said to have secured them, washed them out in a pan, and coUected $27 as the result! This is of course absurd, but facts in those days concerning discoveries were so marveUous that they were easUy con fused with fiction. Thus Mr. OgUvie, the Dominion Sur veyor and a personal friend of mine, told me that he went into one of the richest claims one day and asked to be aUowed to wash out a panful of gold. The pay streak was very rich but standing at the bottom of the shaft, and looking at it by the light of a candle, aU that could be seen was a yellowish looking dirt with here and there the sparkle of a little gold. OgUvie took out a big panful and started to wash it out, whUe several miners stood around betting as to the result. Five hundred doUars was the highest estimate, but when the gold was weighed it came to a little over $590, or nearly £120. This I can vouch for as a fact. A coach runs daUy out from Dawson to the diggings about fifteen miles away, but although the famous Bonanza and El Dorado Creeks are stiU worth a visit,* I fancy the good old days are over here when fortunes were made in a week and saloon keepers reaped a comfortable income by sweeping up spilt gold dust every morning. Klon dike is no longer a region of giant nuggets and fabulous * Professor Angelo Heilprin has reported that El Dorado and Bonanza gold generally assays but about $15.50 or $15.80 to the ounce. Dominion gold shows as high as $17.80, while the gold of Bear Creek, a minor tributary of the Klondike, is reported to give $19.20 to the ounce. DAWSON 243 finds, for every inch of likely ground has been prospected over and over again. Nevertheless many of the creeks are doing weU, notably that of " Last Chance," which may even eclipse El Dorado when machinery has been brought to bear. Almost any claim on " Last Chance " is now a sound investment, but this was about the only creek which, during our stay, was attracting any serious attention from outside. It is probably unnecessary to explain that, with one or two exceptions, the gold in Alaska is obtained by placer mining. This consists simply in making a shaft to bedrock* and then tunneUing in various directions. The pay dirt is hauled out by a smaU hand-windlass and pUed up until it is washed out. I am indebted to my friend Mr. Joseph Ladue, for the foUowing description of the various pro cesses which foUow excavation. " The miner lifts a little of the finer gravel or sand in his pan. He then fiUs the latter with water and gives it a few rapid whirls and shakes. This tends to bring the gold to the bottom on account of its greater specific gravity. The pan is then held and shaken in such a way that the sand and gravel are graduaUy washed out, care being taken as the process nears completion, to avoid letting out the finer and heavier parts that have settled to the bottom. Finally all that is left in the pan is gold and some black sand, which is generaUy pulverised magnetic iron-ore. Should the gold thus found be fine, the contents of the pan are thrown into a barrel containing water and a pound or two of mercury. As soon as the gold comes in contact with the mercury it combines with it and forms an amalgam. The process is continued untU enough amalgam has been formed to pay for roasting or firing. "It is then squeezed through a buckskin bag, all the mercury that comes through the bag being put into the barrel to serve again, and what remains in the bag is placed in a retort, if the miner has one, or if not, on a shovel, and heated untU nearly all the mercury is vaporised. The * The depth to bedrock varies from fourteen to twenty feet. 244 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND gold then remains in a lump with some mercury stiU held in combination with it. " This is caUed the ' pan,' or ' hand-method,' which is only employed when it is impossible to procure a rocker or to make and work sluices. " The latter is the best method of placer mining, but it requires a good supply of water with sufficient head or faUs. The process is as follows : Planks are secured and made into a box of suitable depth and width. Slats are fixed across the bottom of the box at intervals, or holes bored in the bottom in such a way as to preclude the escape of any particle of gold. Several of these boxes are then set up with a considerable slope, and are fitted into one another at the ends like a stove pipe. A stream of water is then thrown into the upper end of the highest box, the dirt being shoveUed in and washed downwards at the same time. The gold is detained by its weight, and is held by the slats or in the holes aforementioned. If it be fine mercury is placed behind the slats or in these holes to catch it. After the boxes are done with they are burnt and the ashes washed for the gold held in the wood." These methods seem simple enough and, no doubt, would be in more temperate regions, but the mines of the Yukon are of a class by themselves, and the rigorous climate here necessitates entirely new methods for getting the gold. It was formerly considered impossible to work after the month of September, but experience has now conclusively proved that much may be accomplished during the winter months. The working year is therefore three times as long as it used to be, and the time formerly wasted in idleness is now profitably employed. The difficulty of winter mining is, of course, enormously increased by the fact that the ground is frozen. Every foot of it must be thawed, either in sinking or drifting, by smaU fires. The shallower mines are worked during the summer in the open air, but when the gravel is more than six feet deep a shaft is sunk, and dirt enough removed to aUow space to work in. Thus the gold seeker with a log hut dose to the mouth of his Goetzwan BONANZA CREEK A MINER'S SHANTY ON THE CREEKS DAWSON 245 shaft and provided with plenty of food and fud may pass a whole winter in comparative comfort. About a ton of dead ground can be dumped daily, and a few hundred pounds of pay gravel. The latter is pUed up untU the spring when the thaw comes. It is then " panned " or " rocked " without difficulty, for here, unlike Western Australia, there is no lack of water.* Steam power has now supplanted these more or less primitive methods on the most important claims, but here again the enormous duty levied by the Canadian Govern ment on machinery of aU kinds, was, whUe we were at Dawson, causing universal indignation. A single visit to the creeks sufficed for me, for although Dawson was free from mosquitoes, the diggings swarmed with them. And, talking of mosquitoes, no one unacquainted with Alaska can be aware of the almost unbearable suffering which they are capable of inflicting upon mankind. Brehm, the famous naturafist, has furnished about the best description of a luckless prospector caught in the toUs. " Before a man knows," says the professor, " he is covered from head to foot with a dense swarm, blackening grey cloths and giving dark ones a strange spotted appearance. They creep to the unprotected face and neck, the bare hands, and stockinged feet, slowly sink their sting into the skin, and pour the irritant poison into the wound. Furiously the victim beats the blood-sucker to a pulp, but whUe he does so, five, ten, twenty other gnats fasten on his face and hands. The favourite points of attack are the temples, the neck, and the wrist, also the back of the head, for the thickest hair is of no protection. Although the naturalist knows that it is only the female mosquitos which suck blood, and that their activity in this respect is connected with reproduction and is probably necessary to the ripen ing of the fertilised eggs, yet even he is finally overcome by the torture caused by these demons, though he be the most equable phUosopher under the sun. It is not the pain * For further particulars anent gold-mining in the Klondike, see " Through the Gold Fields of Alaska," by Harry de Windt. 246 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND caused by the sting, or stUl more by the resulting swelling ; it is the continual annoyance, the everlastingly recurring discomfort under which one suffers. One can endure the pain of the sting without complaint at first, but sooner or later every man is bound to confess himself conquered, and all resistance is gradually paralysed by the innumer able omnipresent armies always ready for combat." Although the climate of Dawson is naturaUy severe a man may live with proper precautions through a dozen winters comfortably enough in Alaska. Many people are under the impression that the winters here are of Cim merian darkness, with no daylight for weeks at a time, whereas, even on the shortest day of December, there are still two hours of sunlight. 750 F. below zero is about the coldest yet experienced, but this is very rare, and here, unlike Canada, there is seldom the wind which makes even 200 below almost unbearable. Winter generaUy commences in October, but often much earlier, and the Yukon is generaUy clear of ice by the beginning of June. The snowfaU is not excessive, three feet being considered deep. In summer the temperature often exceeds 900 F. but the nights are always cool and pleasant. The Klondike district, had up to the time of the great gold strike, borne the reputation of being an arid ice-bound waste, incapable of producing anything more nutritious than trees, coarse grass, and the berries peculiar to sub arctic regions. On the occasion of my first stroU down First Avenue I was scarcely surprised to find aU kinds of fruit and vegetables exposed for sale, the transit now being so rapidly accomplished (in summer) from California. But ocular proof was needed to convince me that potatoes, radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, indeed almost every known vegetable is now grown around Dawson, and on the opposite side of the river. Strawberries and nectarines (Klondike- grown) were served at the restaurants, of course at stupen dous prices, as hundreds of acres of glass and costly artificial heat had been needed for their production. Hot-house flowers are now grown here and also sold at a ruinous cost, DAWSON 247 but the lucky prospector wUl cheerfully part with $5 for a rose, or five times the amount for a puny gardenia, and some of the market gardens around Dawson are almost as profitable as a fairly rich claim. High prices here even extended to the commonest furs judging from the price I obtained for a tattered deer-skin coat which had cost me only eighty roubles at Moscow. But although the garment was now almost unpresentable I sold it to a bar-tender for its original price, and heard, on the same evening, that it had again been disposed of to a " Chechako " from up country for over $200 ! Klondike is generally associated in the public mind with intense cold. We suffered from a perpetual and stifling heat which necessitated the wearing of tropical tweeds, a Sartorial luxury here where a summer suiting costs about six times as much as in Savile Row. Once there was a sharp thunderstorm and the rain came down in sheets, somewhat cooling the atmosphere but only for a short time, for when the sky cleared a dense mist arose from the swampy ground, and the air became as heavy and oppressive as I have known it during the hottest season of the year in Central Borneo. But the nights were always cool and deHcious, and these moreover were now gradually darken ing, an ineffable blessing which can only be duly appre ciated by those who have experienced the miseries of eternal day. The English tourist who in July races northwards in the " Argonaut " to behold the midnight sun should pass a summer or two in Northern Alaska. He would never wish to see it again ! CHAPTER XVIII THE UPPER YUKON AND LEWES RIVERS. THE WHITE PASS RAILWAY The steamer White Horse, in which we traveUed from Dawson City up the Yukon to the terminus of the White Pass RaHway was, although much smaUer than the Hannah, quite as luxurioudy fitted as that palatial river boat. There is now, in the open season, daily communication between Dawson and the coast, and the journey to Van couver may now be accomplished under six days. In winter-time dosed and comfortable sleighs, drawn by horses, convey the traveUer to raU-head. There are post- houses with good accommodation every twenty mUes or so, and this trip, once so replete with hardships may now be undertaken at any time of the year by the most inex perienced traveller. In a couple of years the Alaskan line from Skagway wUl probably have been extended as far as Dawson City, which wUl then be within easy reach of aU dviHsed centres. The three days journey on the Upper Yukon (or rather Yukon and Lewes for above its j miction with the PeUy River the Yukon is known by the latter name), was not devoid of enjoyment, for the scenery here is as mountainous and picturesque as that of the lower river is flat and dreary. Settlements are more numerous, and the trip is not without interest, and even a spice of danger when the rapids are reached. The last of these downstream, although insig nificant when compared with the perilous falls up river, arc suffidently swift and voluminous to cause considerable Photo FIVE FINGERS RAPIDS, UPPER YUKON H. C. Barity A'HJ IIHiMlifl 'IIIH/I. /.„,,, WH.IIlNI.I ','IAI,'I .III r/'lHMull M.I.IUMm '.-MM, MMNllVil jr THE UPPER YUKON RIVER 249 anxiety to a nervous mind. The five granite pUlars which here span the Yukon, at intervals of a few feet, from shore to shore, are known as the "Five Fingers," and here the steamer must be hauled up the falls through a narrow passage blasted out of a submerged rock. A sted hawser attached to a windlass above the falls is used to tow the vessel up the watery incline, and were the cable to snap, a frightful disaster would certainly ensue. At this spot, the biUows and surf raging madly round our tiny craft, the dark, jagged rocks threatening her on every side, and the deafening roar of foam and breakers were a novel experience which some of our passengers would apparently have cheerfuUy dispensed with. There was an awkward moment when the cable got foul of a snag, and the White Horse swerved round and lay broadside to the torrent, which for several minutes heeled her over at a very uncomfortable angle. " Something wiU happen here some day," cooUy remarked the pUot, a long, lanky New Englander, fighting a fresh cigarette, and viewing the wUd exdtement of men afloat and ashore with lazy interest, and although, on this occasion, we escaped a catastrophe, and got off easUy with shattered bulwarks, I have no doubt he was right. Going down stream steamers shoot these rapids, which entaUs a considerable amount of coolness and courage on the part of the steersman, for the slightest mistake would send the vessel crashing into the rocks on either side of the narrow passage. Six years ago the rapids of the Yukon formed one of the most serious obstades to Alaskan travel, and I retain a vivid recoUection of the " Grand Canon " and " White Horse " rapids during our journey through the country in 1896. These falls are beyond Lake Le Barge, and about two hundred miles above Five Fingers. At first sight of the Grand Canon I wondered, not that acddents often took place there, but that any one ever ran it in safety, for the force of the current through the dark, narrow gorge is so tremendous that the stream is forced to a crest about four feet high, like a sloping roof, in the centre of the river. 250 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND It is essential to keep on the summit of this crest, or be instantly dashed to pieces on the rocks. The strongest swimmer would stand no chance here, and no man who has ever got in has lived to relate his experiences. The Grand Canon is nearly a mUe in length, but our boat ran through it in less than two minutes. The first plunge into the White Horse Rapid, only a few mUes below the Grand Canon is even more abrupt and dangerous than that into the latter, and here the water dashes down with an appaUing roar. The foaming crest of the wave, following the first downward sweep is supposed to resemble a white horse's mane, which circumstance christened the fall. The latter was also formerly known as the " Miner's Grave," which seeing that at one time a yearly average of twenty men were drowned here seems a more suitable title. But these death-traps are now happily perils of the past, both being now avoided by the new raU and steamboat route into the Klondyke. Shortly after negotiating Five Fingers, we passed the mouth of the Nordenskiold River, which enters the Yukon from the west. This is an insignificant stream, although coal has lately been discovered in its vicinity, a fact which may shortly lower the now outrageous price of that com modity in Dawson. Above this the river widens, and occasionally expands into a series of lakes, studded with prettily wooded islands, perfect gardens of wUd flowers, but fruitful breeding-places of our implacable foes, the mosquitoes. A few hours of this, and the river narrows again, and is fringed by low banks of sand and limestone, riddled by millions of martin's nests, whUe in shore a vista of dark pine forests and grassy, undulating hUls stretches away to a chain of granite peaks, stiU streaked in places with the winter snow. Towards evening we tie up for fuel at the mouth of the Hootalinqua River, which drains Lake Teslin, the largest in the Yukon basin. The mountains at the head of Teslin form part of the now weU-known Cassiar range, where the rich mines of that name are worked. On board were two prospectors who hadjpassed several months THE UPPER YUKON RIVER 251 in the Hootalinqua district, and who predicted that its mineral wealth would one day surpass that of Bonanza and El Dorado. But this I am inclined to doubt, as the river was apparently little frequented, and my friends, although so sanguine of its bright future, were leaving the country for British Columbia. So far as I could ascertain, through out the journey up the Yukon, the immediate neighbour hood of Dawson City is about the only district in the North West Province where a prospector may hope to meet with anything like success. When this country is opened up, things wiU, no doubt, be very different, and new fields of wealth wiU await the gold-seeker, but the cold fact remains that at present there is no indication whatever that such fields exist, outside of Nome and the Klondike, with one exception. I know Alaska far too well to advise any one to go there who can possibly find any other outlet for his energy and capital, but if any man is bent on staking his aU, or part of it, in this country, then let him try the Copper River district, which up till now is practically unknown to the outside world. Mr. J. E. Bennett, of Newcastle, Colo. a passenger on the White Horse, showed me a nugget worth fifty pounds which he had picked out of a stream there the previous year. He is now in the district in question pro specting, and from his last advices had struck indications of very rich ground. Many have been scared away from this part of Alaska by reports of dangerous natives, but although the Indians here were formerly ugly customers, there is now little to fear on that score. There are very few people there as yet, and it is a poor man's country with boundless possibilities, one great advantage being that its chief sea-port is open to navigation aU the year round. At the newly buUt town of Valdes on the coast, stores of all kinds can be purchased at reasonable prices, the place being easy of access. I should add that the Copper River and its affluents are in American territory, and that it is therefore exempt from the now vexatious mining laws of Canada.* jj * Ocean steamers landing at Orca station, in Prince William Sound, give miners the chance of reaching Copper River, by a 30- 252 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Should any of my readers decide to take a prospecting! trip to this newly discovered northern El Dorado, it may not be out of place to furnish a description of the kind of outfit required for a year's residence there. Mr. Bennett was good enough to give me a list of requisites which an experience of two years in the Copper River district had shown him were essential to the comfort and health of the| prospector. They are as foUows : Clothing. Three thick tweed suits. Three suits heavy woollen underwear. Six pairs wool stockings. Two pairs fur mits. Two heavy Mackinaw suits.* Four woollen shirts. Two heavy sweaters. One rubber lined top-coat. One fur Parka and hood.* Two pairs high rubber boots Two pairs shoes. Two pairs heavy blankets. One fur-lined sleeping-bag. One suit oilskins. One suit buckskin underwear. Towels, needles, thread, wax, buttons. Mining Tools. One long-handled shovel. One pick. One axe (duplicate handles), Five lbs. wire nails. Three lbs. oakum. Two large files. Two hammers. mile trail over Valdes Pass, at a point above the Miles Glacier and the other dangerous stretches near the mouth of that stream. Rich placer regions have been found along the Tonsino Creek, which empties into Copper River about ioo miles from the sea. The route up the Copper River across a low divide to the Tanana and down that stream was explored and first followed by Lieutenant Allen, U.S.A., in 1885. * Procurabls at Valdes, Photo Bar'ey- WHITE HORSE RAPIDS riinin II, (', limit? TIIIUTV Ml 1. 1'. KIVI'.N THE UPPER YUKON RIVER 2^ One jack blade. One large whip saw. One hand saw. One hundred and fifty feet \" rope, A draw knife. , J Two chisels. One jack knife. One whetstone. Two buckets. Two miner's gold-pans. One frying pan. One kettle. One Yukon stove. One enamelled iron pot. Two plates. One cup. One teapot. Three knives Three forks. Three spoons. Food. Three hundred and fifty lbs. flour. Two hundred lbs. bacon. One hundred and fifty lbs. beans. '\ Ten lbs. tea. Seventy-five lbs. coffee. Five lbs. baking powder. Twenty-five lbs. salt. Five lbs. sugar. One hundred and fifty lbs. dried vegetables and meats. One hundred lbs. assorted dried fruits. Ten lbs. soap. Three tins matches. Armament. One gun (to fire shot or bullets). One hundred rounds shot and bullet cartridges. Re-loading tools. One large hunting-knife. Fishing tackle. Snow goggles, Camping Outfit. One canvas tent, 8 ft. by 10 ft., in one piece, with floor-cloth. Spare pegs and guy ropes. Mosquito netting.^ 254 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Medicine Chest.* Quinine pills. Calomel. Compound catharic pills. Chlorate of potash. Mustard plasters. Belladonna plasters. Carbolic ointment. Witch hazel. Essence of ginger. Laudanum. Tincture of iodine. Spirits of nitre. Tincture of iron. Cough mixture. Elliman's embrocation. Toothache drops. Vaseline. Iodoform.Goulard water. Lint.Bandages.Adhesive rubber plasters. Cotton wool. A few cheap knives, compasses, &c, may be taken as presents for the natives. AU these supphes wUl weigh, roughly speaking, 1400 lbs., and the whole outfit may be purchased at San Francisco or any other city on the Pacific slope, for about £60. Above the Hootalinqua the Lewes is known as the thirty- mUe river, that being about the distance from the mouth of the first-named stream to the foot of the lake. This is a dangerous bit of navigation, for the Thirty MUe rushes out of Le Barge like a miU sluice and the Httle White Horse panted and puffed and rained showers of sparks in her frantic efforts to make headway. Several steamers which have been lost here perpetuaUy menace the safety of others. It is impossible to raise the sunken vessels, the force of the current here being so great that it seemed when standing on the deck of the steamer as though one were looking down an inclined plane of water. The stream here * Best procurable at Burroughs and Welcome, Snow Hill, London. THE UPPER YUKON RIVER 255 runs through pine forests, ending at the river's edge in low, sandy cliffs, portions of which have been torn bodily away by the force of the ice in springtime to form miniature islands some yards from the shore.* A characteristic of this stream is its marveUous transparency. On. a clear day rocks and boulders are visible at a depth of twenty to thirty feet. I have-observed a similar effect on the River Rhone and other streams fed to a large extent by glaciers and melting snow. The afternoon of the third day found us entering Lake Le Barge.f a sheet of water thirty-one miles in length, which stands over two thousand feet above the sea-level, and is surrounded by precipitous mountains, densely wooded as far as the timber line, with curiously crenelated limestone summits. The southern shores of the lake are composed of vast plains of fertUe meadow land, interspersed with picturesque and densely wooded vaUeys, a landscape which, combined with the blue waters of Le Barge and snowy summits glittering on the horizon, reminds one of Switzerland. Le Barge has an evil reputation for storms, and only recently a river steamer had gone down with all hands in one of the sudden and violent squaUs peculiar to this region. To-day, however, a brazen sun blazed down upon a liquid mirror, and I sat on the bridge under an awning with a cool drink and a cigar, and complacently watched the glassy surface where five years before we had to battle in an open skiff against a stiff gale, drenched by the waves and worn out by hard work at the oars. To-day the White Horse accom plished the passage from river to river in about three hours, while on the former occasion it took us as many days ! There is, on portions of Lake Le Barge, a curiously loud and resonant echo. A cry is repeated quite a dozen times, * The fall from Lake Lindemann at the head of the lake and river system is about 800 ft. in a distance of about 540 miles. t Lake Le Barge was named after Mike Le Barge, of the "Western Union Telegraph Company," who was employed in constructing the overland telegraph line from America to Europe (via Bering Straits) in 1867. The completion of the Atlantic cable about this period put an end to the project. 336 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND and a rifle shot awakens quite a salvo of artillery. This is especially noticeable near an island about four miles long near the centre of the lake, which for some obscure reason is shown on Schwatka's charts as a peninsula. The American explorer named it the " Richtofen Rocks," but as the nearest point of this unmistakable island to the western shore is but half a mUe distant, and as the extreme width of the lake is only five mUes, I cannot con ceive how the error arose. Towards evening we reached the Fifty MUe River, noted for the abundance and excellence of its fish. A few mUes above the lake the Takheena flows in from the west. This river, which rises in Lake AskeU, derives its name from the Indian words, " Taka," a mosquito, and " Heena," a stream, and it is aptly named, for from here on to White Horse City we were assaUed by myriads of these pests. Indeed the spot where the town now stands was once a mosquito swamp in which I can recaU passing a night of abject misery. It was past midnight before the White Horse was safely moored alongside her wharf, but dectric light blazed everywhere, and here, for the first time since leaving Irkutsk, more than seven months before, clanking buffers and the shriek of a locomotive struck pleasantly upon the ear. White Horse City is a cheerful little town rendered doubly attractive by light-coloured soil and gaUy painted buUdings. There is a first-rate hotel adjoining the raUway station, which contained a gorgeous bar with several billiard and " ping-pong tables," the latter game being then the rage in every settlement from Dawson to the coast. I mention the bar, as it was the scene of a somewhat amusing incident, which however, is, as a Klondiker would say, "up against me." About this period a "desperado" of world-wide fame named Harry Tracy was raising a siege of terror in the State of Oregon, having committed over a dozen murders, and successfully baffled the police. We had found Dawson wUd with excitement over the affair, and here again Tracy was the topic of the hour. Entering the hotel with some feUow passengers, I took up a Seattle WHITE HORSE CITY H. C. Barley, Skagiuay WHITE HORSE CITY // C BarJey, Skagiuay THE UPPER YUKON RIVER 257 newspaper and carelessly glancing at the portrait of a seedy- looking individual of ferocious exterior, passed it on to a neighbour, remarking (with reference to Tracy), " What a blood-thirsty looking ruffian ! " " Why, it's yourself ! " exclaimed my friend, pointing to the heading, "A Phe nomenal Globe-trotter," which, appearing above the wood cut had escaped my notice. I am glad to be able to add that the portrait was not from a photograph ! As an instance of engineering skiU, the " White Pass " is probably the most remarkable railway in existence, and the beauty and grandeur of the country through which it passes fuUy entitles it to rank as the " Scenic railway of the world." In 1896, I was compelled to cross the Chilkoot Pass to enter Alaska (suffering severely from cold and hunger during the process), and to scramble painfully over a peak that would have tried the nerves and patience of an experienced Alpine climber. Regarding this same ChUkoot a Yankee prospector once said to his mate : " Wal, pard, I was prepared for it to be perpendicular, but, by G — d, I never thought it would lean forward ! " And indeed my recoUections of the old " Gateway of the Klondike " does not fall far short of this description. And in those days the passage of the White Pass, across which the line now runs, was almost as unpleasant a journey as that over the Chilkoot judging from the following account given by Pro fessor HeUprin, who was one of the first to enter the country by this route. The professor writes : "It is not often that the selection of a route of travel is determined by the odorous, or mal-odorous qualities pertaining thereto. Such a case, however, was presented here. It was not the depth of mud alone which was to deter one from essaying the White Pass route; Sturdy pioneers who had toUed long and hard in opening up one or more new regions had laid emphasis on the stench of decay ing horseflesh as a first consideration in the choice of route. And so far as stench and decaying horseflesh were concerned they were in strong evidence. The desert, of Sahara with its lines of skeletons, can boast of no such exhib tion of R 258 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND carcases. Long before Bennett was reached I had taken count of more than a thousand unfortunates whose bodies now made part of the trail. Frequently we were obliged to pass directly over these ghastly figures of hide, and sometimes, indeed, broke into them. Men whose veracity need not be questioned assured me that what I saw was in no way the fuU picture of the ' life ' of the traU ; the carcasses of that 'time were less than one-third the 'fuU number which in AprU. and May gave grim character to the route to the new ' Elt.Dorado.' EquaUy spread out this number would mean one dead animal for every sixty feet of distance ! The poor beasts succumbed not so much to the hardships of the traU as to lack of care and the in human treatment which they received at the hands of their owners. Once out of the line of the mad rush, perhaps una"ble to extricate themselves from the holding meshes of soft snow and of quagmires, they were aUowed to remain where they were, a food-offering to the army of carrion eaters which were hovering about, only too certain of the meal which was being prepared for them." It wiU be seen by the foregoing accounts that only a short time ago the journey across this coast range was anything but one of unalloyed enjoyment, and even now, although the White Pass Railway is undoubtedly a twentieth-century marvel, and every luxury is found on board the train, from a morning paper to " candies " and cigars, the trip across the summit is scarcely one which I should recommend to persons afflicted with nerves. The Hne is a narrow gauge one about no miles in length, which was completed in 1899 at a cost of about $3,000,000, and trains leave the termini at Skagw.ay and White Horse simultaneously every, day in the year at 9 a.m., reaching their respective destinations at 4 p.m. For a couple of hours after leaving White Horse the track skirts the eastern shores of Lakes Bennett and Lindemann, through wUd but pic turesque moorland, carpeted with wUd flowers,* and strewn * Lake Lindemann is about five miles, and Bennett, twenty-five miles in length. ^""" ,-ff --- '.____ -i > " -_¦• "-.e *••«_ !¦ * i ¦A-. Photo IT. C. Barley CON'STRUCTING THE WHITE PASS RAILWAY //. C. Barley ;' Skagway DEAD HORSE GULCH, WHITE PASS RAILWAY THE UPPER YUKON RIVER 259 with grey rocks and boulders. A species of pink heather grows freely here, the scent of which and the presence of bubbling fern-fringed brooks, and crisp bracing air, recalled many a pleasant morning after grouse in Bonnie Scotland. A raw-boned Aberdonian on the train remarks on the resemblance of the landscape to that of his own country and is flatly contradicted by an American sitting beside, him, who, however, owns that he has never been there! The usual argument follows as to the respective merits, climatic and otherwise, of England and the United States, which entaUs (also as usual), a good deal of forcible language. Shortly after this, however, the train begins to ascend, and its erractic movements are less conducive to discussion than reverie. For although the rails are smooth and level enough, the engine proceeds in a manner suggestive of a toy train being dragged across a nursery floor by a fractious chUd. At mid-day Bennett station is reached, and half an hour is aUowed here for lunch in a cheerful little restaurant, where all faU to with appetites sharpened by the keen mountain air, and where the Scot and his late antagonist bury the hatchet in " Two of whiskey-straight." Bennett is buried in pine forests, but here the real ascent commences, and we crawl slowly up an incline which grows steeper and steeper in proportion as trees and vegetation slowly disappear, to give place to barren rocks, moss, and litchens. Towards the summit (over two thousand feet high) the scene is one of wUd and lonely grandeur, recalling the weirdest efforts of Gustave Dore. Nothing is now visible but a wilderness of dark volcanic crags with here and there a pinnacle of limestone, towering perilously near the line, and looking as though a puff of wind would dislodge it with disastrous results. The only gleam of colour in the sombre landscape are numerous lakes, or rather pools, of emerald green, perhaps extinct craters, which, shining dimly out of the dark shadows cast by the surrounding cliffs enhance the gloom and mystery of the scene. Nearing the summit, the road has been blasted out of many yards of solid rock, a work entailing fabulous cost 260 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND and many months of perilous and patient labour. The Chamounix raUway in Switzerland was, at the time of its construction, considered the king of mountain raUways, but it becomes a very humble subject indeed when compared with the White Pass line. f^At Summit we cross the frontier into American territory, and here my thermometer marks a drop of 250 F. since our departure this morning. Although this rapidly con structed line is admirably laid, portions of the ascent from White Horse are anything but reassuring to those averse to high altitudes, but they are not a circumstance to those on the downward side. On leaving Summit station the train enters a short tunnel, from which it emerges with startling suddenness upon a light, iron bridge which spans, at a giddy height, a desolate gorge. This spidery viaduct slowly and safely crossed, we skirt, for a whUe, the mountain side, stUl overhanging a perilous abyss. Every car has a platform, and at this point many passengers instinctively seek the side away from the precipice, which would in case of accident, benefit them little, for there is no standing room between the train and a sheer waU of overhanging rock, the crest of which is invisible. Here the outlook is one which can only reaUy be enjoyed by one of steady nerves, for the southward slope of the mountain is seen in its entirety, giving the impression that a hardy mountaineer would find it a hard job to scale its precipitous sides, and that this raUway journey in the clouds cannot be reality but is probably the result of a heavy supper. Perhaps the worst portion of the downward journey is at a spot where solid foothold has been found impracticable, and the train passes over an artificial road way of sleepers, supported by wooden trestles and damped to the rock by means of iron girders. Here you may stand up in the car and look almost between your toes a sheer thousand feet into space. While we were crossing it, this apparently insecure structure shook so violently under the heavy weight of metal that I must own to a feding of relief when our wheels were once more gliding over terra fir ma. THE UPPER YUKON RIVER 261 The men employed in constructing this and other parts of the track were lowered to the spot by ropes, which were then lashed to a place of safety while they were at work. But although the construction of this line entaUed probably as much risk to life and limb as that of the Eiffel Tower only one death by accident is recorded during the whole period of operations here, whUe it cost over a hundred lives to erect the famous iron edifice in Paris. The gradient of this railway is naturally an unusuaUy steep one, and should one would think, necessitate the utmost caution during the descent, but we rattled down the moun tain at a pace which in any country but happy-go-lucky Alaska would certainly have seemed like tempting Provi dence, especially as only brakes are used to check the speed of the train. However, the fact that two passenger trains are run daily (also a goods train), and that not a single accident has occurred during the four years the Hne has been in operation, are sufficient proof that the officials of the White Pass RaUway know what they are about, and are not lacking in care and competence. I can speak from personal experience as to their civility and also punc tuality, for, towards three o'clock, the silvery waters of the Lynn Canal were disclosed through a rift in the mountains, and an hour later we were steaming into the town of Skag way, within half a minute of the scheduled time. CHAPTER XIX THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY— SKAGWAY— NEW YORK While on the subject of railways a few remarks anent the projected line from France (vid Siberia and Bering Straits) to America may not be amiss. As the reader is already aware, the main object of our expedition was to determine whether the construction of such a line is within the range of human possibUity. The only means of prac tically solving this question was (firstly) to cover the entire distance by land between the two cities, by such primitive means of travel as are now available, and (secondly) to minutely observe the natural characteristics of the countries passed through, in order to ascertain whether these offer any insuperable obstacle to the construction of a raUway. I would again remind the reader that the overland journey from Paris to New York had never been made, or even attempted, until it was accomplished by ourselves. This is the more necessary in so far as, before our departure from Paris, the project of an AU- World raUway was freely dis cussed in the English and French Press by persons with no practical experience whatsoever of either Siberia or Alaska. Their opinions would, therefore, have been equaUy valuable"~with reference to a raUway across the moon or planet Mars. From a humorous point of view, some of the letters published were weU worth perusal, notably those of a French gentleman, who, in the Paris New1 York Herald repeatedly drew my attention to the fact that he " claimed the paternity of the scheme to unite France NEARING THE SUMMIT, WHITE PASS RAILWAY H. C. Barley, Skagway Photo INSPIRATION POINT, WHITE PASS RAILWAY //. C. Bxrley, Skag-joay THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY 263 and America by rail," and this being so, apparently strongly resented my making a preliminary trip over the ground with dogs and reindeer. Having ascertained, however, that M. de Lobel had never visited Arctic Siberia, and had not the remotest intention of doing so, I scarcely felt justified in abandoning the overland journey on his account. This ridiculous, but somewhat amusing incident was therefore brought to an end by the foUowing letter : " To the Editor of the New York Herald, Paris. " Sir, — May I briefly reply to M. Loicq de Lobel's letter which appeared in your issue of November 23rd. Your correspondent has already violently attacked me in the Paris Journal, his grievance being that he ' claims the paternity ' of the projected Trans-Siberian and Alaskan RaUway. This fact is probably as uninteresting to your readers and to the world in general as it is to myself, and so far as I am concerned M. de Lobd is also welcome to annex (in his own imagination) the countries through which the proposed line may eventuaUy pass. " But this is not the point. According to his own show ing, M. de Lobel only ' conceived the project ' of uniting Paris and New York by rail in the year 1898. As I left New York in 1896 for Paris by land, with the object of ascertaining the practicabUity of this gigantic enterprise, I think, that I may, with due modesty, dispute the shadowy ' paternity ' of the scheme, which, after all, is worth nothing from a theoretical point of view. " The American and British Press of March, April, and May 1897 wiU fuUy enlighten your correspondent as to the detaUs of my last attempt, which unhappUy met with disaster and defeat on the Siberian shores of Bering Straits. But I trust and believe that a brighter future is in store for the ' DaUy Express ' expedition of 1901, which I have the honour to command, and which leaves Paris for New York by land on the 15th of next month. "If, as M. de Lobel writes, ' the Englishman thought 264 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND best not to answer ' it was simply because the former's childish tirades seemed to me unworthy of a reply. If, however, you will kindly insert this brief explanation, you may rest assured that, so far as, I am concerned, this correspondence is closed. " I am, yours faithfuUy, " Harry de Windt. "Royal Geographical Society, " London. "November 26, 1901." With regard to the projected raUway, let me now state as briefly and as clearly as I can the conclusion to which I was led by plain facts and personal experience. To begin with, there are two more or less avaUable routes across Siberia to Bering Straits, which the reader may easily trace on a map of Asia. The city of Irkutsk is in both cases the starting-point, and the tracks thence are as foUows : No. 1 Route. To Yakutsk, foUowing the course of the Lena River, and thence in an easterly direction to the town of Okhotsk on the sea of that name. From Okhotsk, northward along the coast to Ola and Gijiga, and from the latter place stiU northward to the Cossack outpost of Marcova on the Anadyr River. From Marcova the line would proceed northward chiefly over tundra and across or through one precipitous range of mountains, to the Siberian terminus, East Cape, Bering Straits. The second route is practically the one we traveUed, viz., from Irkutsk to the Straits via Yakutsk, Verkhoyansk, and Sredni-Kolymsk. From a commercial point of view, route No. 1 would undoubtedly be the best, for of late years a considerable trade has been carried on between Vladivostok and the Sea of Okhotsk. The latter, only twenty years ago was visited solely by a few whalers and sealing schooners, but a line of cargo steamers now leaves Vladivostok once a month throughout the open season (from June to September) THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY 265 and make a round trip, caUing at Petropaulovsk (Kam chatka), Okhotsk, Yamsk, and Ayan.* There is now a brisk, and increasing export trade in furs, fish, lumber, and whalebone from these ports, the imports chiefly consisting of American and Japanese goods. It has already been shown in a previous chapter that the natural resources of the Yakutsk district would probably repay an extension of the Trans-Siberian line to this now inaccessible portion of the Tsar's dominions. Indeed it is more than probable that in a few years the mineral wealth of this province, to say nothing of its agricultural possibUities, wiU render the construction of a line impera tive, at any rate as far as the city of Yakutsk. The prolongation of this as far north as Gijiga is no idle dream, for I have frequently heard it seriously discussed, and even advocated, by the merchant princes of Irkutsk. A raU way to Gijiga would open up Kamchatka, with its valuable minerals, furs, and lumber, and also Nelkan, near Ayan, where gold has lately been discovered in such quantities that a weU-known Siberian mUHonaire has actuaUy commenced a narrow-gauge raUway about two hundred mUes in length, to connect the new gold-fields with the sea. Even this miniature line is to cost an enormous sum, for it must pass through a region as mountainous and densely wooded as the eight hundred odd mUes which separate Yakutsk from the coast. But although this latter section of the Franco- American line, short as it is, would entaU a fabulous outlay, there is here, at any rate, some raison-d 'itre for a raUway, viz., the vast and varied resources of the region through which it would pass, whereas to the north of Gijiga on the one hand, and Verkhoyansk on the other, "we enter a land of desolation, thousands of mUes in extent, chiefly composed of tundra, as yet unprospected, it is true ; but probably as unproductive, minerally and agriculturaUy, as an Irish bog. The reader is already aware that tundra is impassable in summer, for its consistency is then that of a wet bath sponge. The foot sinks in over the knee * These vessels also carry passengers. 266 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND at every step, and a good walker can scarcely cover a mile within the hour. In winter the hard and frozen surface affords good going for a dog-sled and could, no doubt, be made to support a rolling mass of metal ; but even then I doubt whether the thaws and floods of spring-time would not find the rails and sleepers at sixes and sevens. This opinion is, of course, purely theoretical, for the experi ment of laying a line of such magnitude under such hopeless conditions has yet to be tried. Chat Moss in England is the nearest approach I can think of to these Siberian swamps, but the railway across the former is only four mUes long, and cost, I am told, some thing like thirty thousand pounds. At this rate the tundra section of the Bering Straits Railway would alone involve an outlay of twenty miUion sterling ; probably far more, for every foot of timber for the roadway would have to be imported into this treeless waste. And how is this expenditure going to be repaid by these barren deserts, in winter of ice, and in summer of mud and mosquitoes: Let another Klondike be discovered near, say, Sredni-Kolymsk and I have no doubt that surveys for a line to this place would be commenced to-morrow by the Russian Govern ment, but neither gold, nor any other mineral has yet been found so far north in anything like paying quantities. Draw a straight line on the map from Verkhoyansk to Gijiga and it wiU divide the southern (or productive) portion of Siberia from the northern (and useless) wastes about three thousand mUes in length, which a Paris-New York raUroad would have to cross.* A so-caUed prospectus issued by a syndicate, inviting the public to subscribe for a " preliminary survey " for a * " Around the North Pole lies a broad belt of inhospitable land, a desert which owes its special character rather to water than to the sun. Towards the Pole this desert gradually loses itself in fields of ice ; towards the south in dwarfed woods, becoming itself a field of snow and ice when the long winter sets in, while stunted trees struggle for existence only in the deepest valleys or on the sunniest slopes. This region is the tundra. Our language possesses no synonym for the word tundra. Our fatherland possesses no such track of Photo H. C. Barley, Skagway ARRIVAL OF A STEAMER AT SKAGWAY IN MID-WINTER THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY 267 Franco-American line, came under my notice the other day. Here is an extract : " Ten years ago the name Siberia caUed up a picture of wastes of snow and ice. To-day the same Siberia is a land fiUed with thriving villages, producing grain and various vegetables ; that great compeller of civUisation, the raU way has broken down the bars between the world and Siberia. Besides its countless resources of the soU, besides its rivers fiUed with valuable fish, and its forests inhabited by fur-bearing animals, Siberia is now beginning to show to the world its resources of gold, iron, copper, manganese, quicksUver, platinum, and coal, the yearly output of which is but a feeble index of what it wiU be when the deposits are developed." AU this is very true regarding certain portions of Siberia. The Amur, Altai, Yenesei, and even Yakutsk provinces. But although the writer goes on to enlarge upon the boundless possibUities which would be opened up by the construction of a raUway from Europe to America, he faUs to mention that it would have to traverse an Arctic and unproductive Sahara thousands of mUes in extent. Some enthusiastic visionaries mentioned in an earlier portion of this chapter have laid stress on the fact that the passenger traffic over this portion of the line would be enormous, that surging crowds of sea-sick victims would gladly endure even three weeks in a train in preference to a stormy passage across the Atlantic, and so forth. But I fancy a moment's serious thought wiU show the absurdity of this theory. In the first place a journey by rail from Paris to New York would certainly occupy over a month under the most favourable conditions, for whUe in summer time aU might be comparatively plain saUing, gales, snow drifts, and blizzards would surely, judging" from our own country, for the tundra is neither heath nor moor, neither marsh nor fen, neither highlands nor sand-dunes, neither moss nor morass, though in many places it may resemble one or other of these. ' Moss Steppes ' some one has attempted to name it, but the expression is only satisfactory to those who have grasped the idea of steppe in its widest sense. — Brehm. 268 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND experiences, seriously hamper the winter traffic, especiaUy along the coast. If this leviathan raUway is ever constructed it must, in the opinion of the ablest Russian engineers, depend solely upon (i) the transport of merchandise, and (2) the development of the now ice-locked regions it wiU traverse. The scheme has never been, as many people seem to imagine, simply to convey passengers and their belongings from one terminus to the other, for even Jules Verne would probably hesitate to predict the existence of this line as one of restau rants and sleeping-cars. But let us assume that the raUway has actuaUy reached East Cape at a cost of, say, fifty miUions sterling from Irkutsk, which is probably a low estimate. Here we are confronted by another colossal difficulty, the passage of Bering Straits, which (at the narrowest part) are forty mUes across. Here my friends the theorists have again been very busy, and all kinds of schemes have been sug gested for the negotiation of this stumbling-block, from a bridge to balloons. Both are equaUy wUd and impractic able, although the former has been warmly advocated by a Parisian gentleman, who never having been nearer even Berlin than the Gare du Nord, can scarcely be expected to know much about the climatic conditions of North-eastern Siberia. As a matter of fact, the mightiest stone and iron structure ever buUt would not stand the break-up of the ice here in the spring time for one week. A tunnel could no doubt be made, for the depth of the Straits nowhere exceeds twenty-seven fathoms, and the Diomede Islands could be conveniently utUised for purposes of ventilation. But what would such a subway cost ? And above aU, where is the money coming from to repay its construction ? In Northern Alaska almost the same difficulties would be met with as in Arctic Siberia, for here also spongy tundra covers enormous tracts of country. A company has, however, been formed for the purpose of laying a line between Iliamna on Cook's Inlet and Nome City which wUl, when completed, be really useful and profitable. Cook's THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY 269 Inlet is navigable throughout the year, and it is proposed to run a line of steamers from Seattle on Puget Sound to this port, where passengers wiU be able to embark on a comfortable train for Nome instead of facing a long and painful journey by dog-sled. I understand that this work has actuaUy been commenced by the " Trans- Alaskan Railway Company," but not with any idea of connection with a possible Siberian system. This wiU be merely a local raUway, which, judging from the increasing prosperity of Nome, and the fact that the line wiU pass through the rich Copper River country, should certainly repay its shareholders with interest. The extension of the White Pass Railway as far as Dawson City is only a question of time, but the idea of prolonging it to Bering Straits was not even hinted at when I was in Alaska. AU things considered I cannot see what object would be gained by the construction (at present) of a Franco-American railway. That the latter wiU one day connect Paris and New York I have little doubt, for where gold exists, the raU must surely foUow and there can be no reasonable doubt regarding the boundless wealth and ultimate pros perity of those great countries of the future ; Siberia and Alaska. But it is probably safe to predict that the work will not be accomplished in the lifetime of the present genera tion, or even commenced during the existence of the next. When, at the conclusion of the journey, I arrived at New York, I was asked by reporters whether I considered it possible to connect the latter city by raU with Paris. Most certainly it would be possible with unlimited capital, for this stupendous engineering feat would assuredly entaU an expenditure (on the Siberian side alone and not including a Bering Straits tunnel), of fifty to sixty mUlions sterling. It seems to me that the question is not so much, " Can the line be laid ? " as " Would it pay ? " In the distant future this question may perhaps be answered in the affirmative, but at present nothing whatever is known of the mineral resources of Arctic Siberia, a practical survey of which must take at least fifteen to twenty years. If reports are then 270 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND favourable, Russia may begin to consider the advisabUity of a line to America, but, notwithstanding the fact that an attempt has been made in certain quarters to obtain money from the public for this now extremely shadowy scheme, I can only say that all the prominent Russian officials whom I have met simply ridicule the project. Skagway is pleasantly situated on the shores of the Lynn Canal, in an amphitheatre formed by precipitous cliffs the granite peaks of which almost overhang the little town. A curious effect is produced here by rudely coloured advertisements of some one's chewing gum, or somebody else's cigars with which the rocky sides of the nearest hUls are defaced. But there is nothing new in this, for, as far back as 1887, the name of a weU-known American piU and ointment vendor met my astonished gaze on the Great WaU of China. The North Pole wiU soon be the only virgin field left open to the up-to-date advertiser. Skagway is now a quiet, orderly township, and a favourite resort of tourists, but shortly after it was founded, in 1898, a band of swindlers and cut-throats arrived on the scene, and practicaUy held the place at their mercy for several weeks. The leader of this gang was one " Soapy Smith," a noted " confidence man," whose deeds of violence are stUl spoken of here with bated breath. This impudent scoundrd (said to have been a gentleman by birth), was dever enough to become mayor of the town, and was thus enabled to commit robberies with impunity. Many a poor miner leaving the country with a hardly earned pUe has been completely fleeced, and sometimes murdered, by the ini quitous and ubiquitous " Soapy," who is said to have slain, directly or indirectly, over twenty men. FinaUy, however, a mass meeting was held, where Smith was shot dead, not before he had also taken the life of his slayer! Southern Alaska is the Switzerland of America, and every summer its shores are invaded by hordes of tourists. There was, therefore, Httle room to spare in the steamer in which we traveUed down the Lynn Canal, one of the grandest fjords on the coast, which meanders through Pl.oto AN INDIAN WOMAN H. C. Barley, Skagu-ay riwto H. C. Barley, Skagway A WAR-CANOE FIGUREHEAD THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY 271 an archipelago of beautiful islands, and past a coast-line of snowy peaks and glaciers of clear, blue crystal washed by the waves of the sea. Its glaciers are one of the wonders of Alaska, for nowhere in the world can they be witnessed in such perfection. According to a talented American authoress, " In Switzerland a glacier is a vast bed of dirty, air-holed ice, that has fastened itself like a cold, porous plaster to the side of an alp. Distance alone lends en chantment to the view. In Alaska a glacier is a wonderful torrent that seems to have been suddenly frozen when about to plunge into the sea," and the comparison, although far fetched, is not whoUy devoid of truth. Nearing Juneau we passed the Davidson glacier sufficiently near to distinguish the strange and beautiful effects pro duced upon its white and glittering surface by cloud and sunshine. This is the second largest ice-field in Alaska, the finest being its immediate neighbour, the Muir glacier, which drains an area of 800 square mUes.* The actual ice surface covers about 350 square mUes, the mass of it, thirty-five mUes long and ten to fifteen mUes wide, whUe surrounding it on three sides are mountains averaging 4000 to 6000 ft. in height. Vessels dare not approach the ice waU, about 250 ft. high, nearer than a quarter of a mUe, as masses of ice con tinuaUy faU from its face, and submarine bergs, becoming detached from its sunken fore-foot rise to the surface with tremendous force. The colour of the ice on the Muir glacier is as curious as it is beautiful, varying from the lightest blue to dark sapphire, and from a dark olive to the tenderest shades of green. Although the feat has been often attempted no one has yet succeeded in crossing the Muir from shore to shore.")" The captain of the Topeka informed me that glaciers and canneries are the chief attractions of this coast. I assumed that it could not be the climate, for rain drizzled persistently * The Jostedalbrae in Norway, the largest glacier in Europe, only covers 470 square miles. t See " Studies of Muir Glacier, in Alaska," by Harry Fielding Reid, National Geographic Magazine, March 1892. 272 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND from a grey and wooUy sky nearly aU the way from Skagway to Port Townsend, and this was regarded as " seasonable summer weather." With bright sunshine this journey through a calm inland sea, gliding smoothly through fjords of incomparable beauty, surrounded by every luxury, would be idyUic. As it is, cold, rain, and mist, generaUy render this so-caUed pleasure trip one of monotony and discomfort, where passengers are often compeUed to seek shelter throughout the day in smoke-room or saloon. Swathed in oU-skins, however, I braved the downpour, and visited one of the numerous canneries to which the Topeka tied up for a few minutes, and here I was surprised to find that Chinese labour is almost exclusively employed. And the ease and celerity with which a fish was received, so to speak, fresh from the sea, cleaned, steamed, and securely soldered in a smartly labeUed tin, aU by machinery within the space of a few minutes, was marveUous to behold. Before the days of Klondike, the fisheries of this coast were the chief source of wealth in Alaska, where sea-board, lakes, and rivers teem with fish, the wholesale netting of which seem in no way to diminish the number. The yearly output of these coast canneries is something stupendous, and they are, undoubtedly, a far better investment than many a claim of fabulous (prospective) wealth in the gold- fields of the interior. For the establishment of a cannery is not costly, labour and taxes are low, and fish of every description from salmon and trout to cod and hafibut, can be caught without difficulty in their millions. Codfish which abound in Chatham Creek are the most profitable, also herrings, of which six hundred barrels were once caught in a single haul, off KiUisnoo. But the number of canneries on this coast is increasing at a rapid rate, and five or six years hence large fortunes wiU be a thing of the past. The now priceless sea-otter was once abundant along the south eastern coast of Alaska, the value of skins taken up to 1890 being thirty-six miUion dollars, but the wholesale slaughter of this valuable animal by the Russians, and later on by the Americans has driven it away, and almost the only grounds THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY 273 where it is now found are among the Aleutian Islands and near the mouth of the Copper River. A good sea-otter skin now costs something like £200 in the European market. Juneau and Port WrangeU were the only towns of any size touched at during the two days' trip from Skagway to Port Townsend. The former was once the fitting-out place for miners bound for the Yukon, but Skagway has now ruined its commercial prosperity, and it is now a sleepy, miserable settlement which appeared doubly unattractive viewed through a curtain of mist. The rain poured down here in such sheets that Douglas Island, only a couple of mUes away, was invisible. Here is the famous Treadwell mine, where the largest quartz mUl in the world crushes six hundred tons in the twenty-four hours. This mine has already yielded more gold than was paid for the whole of Alaska. Fort WrangeU is more picturesque than Juneau, although perhaps this was partly due to the cessation (for exactly half an hour) of the rain, which enabled our hitherto cooped- up tourists to enjoy a stroU, and a breath of fresh air ashore. WrangeU was once, like Juneau, a thriving town, when the Cassiar mines in British Columbia were a centre of attraction. Between four and five thousand miners, passed through every spring and autumn, traveUing to and from the diggings, and the usual hotels, saloons, and stores sprang up on all sides. Then came a period of stagnation, tiU the last gold rush to Klondike, when it seemed as though WrangeU would rise from its ashes. But the proposed route into the country by way of the Stikine River was finaUy abandoned for the White Pass, and dealt the final coup de gr&ce to the little town, which is now merely a decaying coUection of wooden shanties and ruined log huts, tenanted chiefly by Indians, of whom we met more here than at any other point throughout the Alaskan journey. The natives of this part of the coast are called Thlinkits, a race numbering about 7000, and once numerous and powerful. But the Siwashes of WrangeU were a miserable- looking lot, the men apparently physicaUy inferior to the 274 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND women, some of whom would not have been Ul-favoured, had it not been for the disgusting habit of daubing their faces with a mixture of soot and grease, which is supposed to keep off mosquitoes, and which gives them the grotesque appearance of Christy Minstrels. Tattoing no longer pre- vaUs amongst the Thlinkits, but the men stUl paint their faces and discard ragged tweeds and bowlers for the picturesque native dress on the occasion of a dance, or the feast known as a " Potlatch." The Thlinkits are not hardy, nor, as a rule, long-lived, and diseases due to drink and dissipation are rapidly thinning them out. Shamanism exists here, but not to such an extent as amongst the Siberian races, and the totem poles which are met with at every turn in WrangeU, are not objects of worship, but are used apparently for a heraldic purpose. Some of the ancient war canoes of this tribe are stiU in existence, but they are only brought out on the occasion of a feast, when a chief and his crew appear in the gaudy panoply of war-paint and feathers. On July 28, Seattle was reached, and here we met with a reception worthy of far doughtier deeds than we had accomplished. In 1896, Seattle was a country town of some 30,000 inhabitants, and I could scarcely recognise this fine, modern city of over 100,000 souls wliich may shortly rival San Francisco as a commercial and social centre. This wonderful change is partly due to discoveries in the Klondike, but chiefly perhaps to the increasing trade of Puget Sound with the East. Fine Japanese liners now run direct every fortnight from Seattle to Japan, and on one of these a passage was obtained for my faithful friend and comrade, Stepan Rastorguyeff, whose invaluable services I can never repay, and to whom I bade fareweU with sincere regret. I am glad to add that the plucky Cossack eventuaUy reached his home in safety (via Yoko hama and Vladivostok) arriving in Yakutsk by way of Irkutsk and the Lena River early in the new year of 1902. Vicomte de Clinchamp also left me here, to return direct to France vid New York and Le Havre. Photo A "POTLATCH' If. C. Barley, Skagway >zmD o o za THE FRANCO-AMERICAN RAILWAY 275 There is little more to tell. Travelling leisurely in glorious weather through the garden-girt towns and smUing viUages of the " Rouge-River " VaUey, perhaps the most picturesque and fertile in the world, a day was passed at Shasta Springs, the summer resort of fashionable Californians, where the sun-baked traveUer may rest awhUe in a little oasis of coolness and gaiety, cascades and flowers, set in a desert of dark pines. A week with old friends in cos mopolitan, ever delightful San Francisco, a rapid and luxurious journey across the American continent, and on August 25, 1902, New York was reached, and the long land journey of 18,494 miles from Paris, which had taken us two-thirds of a year to accomplish, was at an end. APPENDIX I APPROXIMATE TABLE OF DISTANCES PARIS TO NEW YORK EUROPE ASD ASIA E. 11. Paris to Moscow (rail) i.Soo Moscow to Irkutsk (rail) 4.000 Irkutsk 10 Yakutsk (employed J20 horses) . . j.cvo Yakutsk to Verkhoyansk (employed So horses and 240 reindeer) 6^3 Verkhoyansk to Sredni-Kolymsk (employed 6c o deer) i.ooo Sredni-Kolymsk to Nijni-Kolymsk (employed S horses, 27 reindeer, 50 dogs) 334 Xijni-Kolymsk to Bermg Straits (started with 64 dogs, arrived at Bering Straits with 9) ... 1,500 Total English mils : Europe and Asia . . 11,263 (Employing SoS horses, SS7 reindeer, and 114 dogs.) AMERICA East Cape, Bering Straits to Cape Prince of Waks, Alaska 60 Cape Prince oi Wales to Nome City .... 140 Nome City to St. Michael's ..... 120 St. Michael's to Dawson City 1,200 Dawson City to White Horse Rapids . . 450 White Horse Rapids to Skagway no Skagway to Seattle 1,041 Seattle to San Francisco 1,000 San Francisco to Nevr York 3,110 Total mileage : Paris to New York . . . 16,494 APPENDIX II LIST OF POST STATIONS BETWEEN IRKUTSK AND YAKUTSK Irkutsk to Koulinskaya Koulinskaya to Jerdovskaya Jerdovskaya to^Ust-Ardinsk Ust-Ardinsk to Alzonovskaya Alzonovskaya to Bandevskaya Bandevskaya to Hagatovskaya Hagatovskaya to Manzourskaya Manzourskaya to Malo-Manzoursk Malo-Manzoursk to Katchugaskaya Katchugaskaya to Verkolensk Versts. 23 2121$ 31 25 2930 31* 244 28| 265i To Verkolensk, 3 kopeks a verst per horse. From Verkolensk to Yakutsk, 4$ kopeks a verst per horse. Verkolensk to Tumentsofskaya 25 Tumentsofskaya to Korkinskaya 16 Korkinskaya to Petrofskaya 19 \ Petrofskaya to Panamarefskaya 22 Panamarefskaya to Jigalovskaya 21 Jigalovskaya to Ust-Ilginsk .... 30^ Ust-Iiginsk to Grousnovskaya 26 Grousnovskaya to Zakamenska 19 Zakamenska to Shamanovskaya 16 J Shamanovskaya to Golovskaya 18 Golovskaya to Sourovskaya 16 Sourovskaya to Diadinskaya 15 J Diadinskaya to Basovskaya 22 Basovskaya to Orlinsk 21 Orlinsk to Tarasovskaya 17 ^ Tarasovskaya to Skokinskaya 22 Skokinskaya to Boyarsky 30 APPENDICES 279 Vonti. Boyarsky to Omolevskaya 23 Omolevskaya to Riskaya 18 Kiskaya to Bania . • i7i bania to Touroutskaya 16J Touroutskaya to Ust-Kutsk 16 Ust-Kutsk to Yakurimsk 18$ Yakurimsk to Kazarkinskaya 28 Kazarkinstkaya to Kokiskaya 2o£ Koki9kaya to Sukhovskaya . 252 Sukhovskaya to Nazarovskaya 25 i Nazarovskaya to Markovskaya 23 Markov9kaya to Oulkanskaya 21 Oulkanskaya to Krasnoyarskaya i7i Krasnoyarskaya to Potapovskaya 14 Potapovskaya to Makarovskaya 22J Makarov9kaya to Zaborskaya 15 Zaborskaya to Bezroukov 31 Bezroukov to Kiren9k .... 31 997* — 732i Kiren9k to Alexeieff .... 21 Alexeieff to Garbovsk . 21 Garbovsk to Vi9hniakov9kaya 28 Vishniakovskaya to Spalashinsk 25 Spalashin9k to Ilinsk 24i IUnsk to Darinskaya 22 Darinskaya to Itcherskaya . 28$ Itcherskaya to Montinskaya 22$ Montinskaya to Ivanoushkofskaya 28 Ivanoushkofskaya to Tchastin9k . 29 Tchastin9k to Pianovkovskaya 18$ Pianovkovskaya to Dulrov9kaya . I8J Dulrovskaya to Kirei9k 30 Kireisk to Solianskaya . 26 Solianskaya to Parshinsk i8i Parshingk to Rigingk 26$ Risinsk to Tchuskaya . . 26 Tchuskaya to Vitimsk . 22$ 1433— 435i 280 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Vitimsk to Polovinaya . Polovinaya to Peledonskaya Peledonskaya to Krestovskaya Krestovskaya to Peskovskaya Peskovskaya to Graditsa Graditsa to Khamrinsk . Khamrinsk to Kukinskaya . Kukinskaya to Terechinskaya Terechinskaya to Mukhtomskaya Mukhtomskaya to Murinsk . Murinsk to Batamaiskaya Batamaiskaya to Sadkolskaya Sadkolskaya to Niouskaya Niouskaya to Turuklinsk Turuklinsk to Jerbinsk Jerbinsk to Tinnaiya Tinnaiya to Kamenskaya Kamenskaya to Jeloiskaya . Jeloiskaya to Noktinskaya , Versts. 13 i5i 28$28 25 3ii2620$29422$ 2021$ 25$ i7i17417* 21 2330 i866i— 433* Noktinskaya to Gotclulnaya Gotchilnaya to Beresovzskaya Beresovzskaya to Inniakskaya Inniakskaya to Delgeskaya . Delgeskaya to Katchegarskaya Katchegarskaya to Naleskaya Naleskaya to Tcherendeskaya Tcherendeskaya to Birioutskaya Birioutskaya to Berdianskaya Berdianskaya to Dourdousovskaya Dourdousovskaya to Olekminsk Olekminsk to Solyanskaya Solyanskaya to Harialakskaya Harialakskaya to Namaminskaya Namaminskaya to Russkaya Russkaya to Tchekurskaya Tchekurskaya to BiUaya BiUaya to Hat-Tumulskaya 30 2217*2220 21 32$ 22$20 20 18 2IIlf— 245$ 26 22j 24 18 32$ 17 71 APPENDICES 281 Hat-Tumulskaya to Marhinskaya Marhinskaya to Marchihanskaya Marchihanskaya to Samatatskaya Samatatskaya to Elovskaya Elovskaya to Malikanskaya . Malikanskaya to Tchuriskaya Tchuriskaya to Isitzkaya Isitzkaya to Krestinskaya Krestinskaya to Jurninsk Jurninsk to Oimurdusk Oimurdusk to Ad-Dabausk Ad-Dabausk to Sinskaya Sinskaya to Batamaiskaya Batamaiskaya to Tit-Annsk Tit-Arinsk to Elanskaya Elanskaya to Tun-Arinsk Tun-Arinsk to Bulguniatatskaya Bulguniatatskaya to Bestiatskaya Bestiatskaya to Pokrovskaya Pokrovskaya to Ulak-Ansk Ulak-Ansk to Tektiurskaya . Tektiurskaya to Tabaginskaya Tabaginskaya to Yakutsk , Versts. 22$22$25i25 25i 22 I7i i7l i8| 26$ 16 19 27* 24i 2222 15 i5$ 23i 18$ 2l| 17 25 Total versts, 2813$. (A verst is two-thirds of an EngUsh mile.) 7013 APPENDIX III REINDEER STATIONS BETWEEN YAKUTSK AND VERKHOYANSK Yakutsk to Turatskaya Tcrxtskaya to Makarinsk Makarinsk to Hatastatskaya . Harcstatskaya tj Eleginiakskaya Ekgniiakskaya to Hagaraderdmsk Hagaraierdr^sk to Tarafekaya. Tarasskava to K_iatign.ak . Khatignak to Tandinskaya Tani_rskaya to Sanga-Afi (Per.) Sanga-Ah to Soxdonakia (Pov.) Satdonakia to Bete-Kul . Bete-K3 to Auna-Suk (Per.) . Vesssoyaxsk Pass. Anna-SiUsL to Kangerak ... Kangerak to MoUahoi ^Pot.) . MoUahoi to Stuuktatskaya StLmkretskaya to Surckrak (Pov.) . Suruktak to Siremskaya Stremskaya to Gak?\-a-Medvied ^P.tt.) GoJoTa-Medried to Tsissibas . Tsrssibas to Yuk-Tak (Pov.) . Yok-Tak to Knrinskaya . Kuiinskava to Verkhoyansk . Total versts P Jr . — Povarttia, Vesss. 3P 20 45 373»5- 5<> 5° 5* 40 656550 5500005«>7" 30 934 APPENDIX IV YAKUTE SETTLEMENTS LYING BETWEEN VERKHOYANSK AND SREDNI-KOLYMSK Versts- Verkhoyansk to Lang-Lor (Y.) 60 Lang-Lor to Batagai (Pov.) 45 Batagai to Aditscha (S.) . . . 150 v. — 45 Aditscha to Bur-Alii (Pov.) 45 Bur-Alu to Tostach (S. *) . . . 115 v. — 70 Tostach to Kurtas (Pov.) 85 Kurtas to Siss (Pov.) 45 Siss to Tiriak-Hureya (Pov.) 45 Tniak-Hureya to Sordak (Pov.) 45 Sordak to Kurelach (S. *) . . . 270 v. — 50 Kurelach to Sarok-Kalak (Pov.) 45 Sarok-Kalak to Ustin (Pov.) 50 Ustin to Bachaol-Buta (Y.) 30 Bachaol-Buta to Ebelach (S. *) 175 v. — 50 Ebelach to Khatignak-Kul (Y.) 60 Khaugnak-Kul to Haras-Kul (Y.) .... 50 Haras-Kul to Keni-Kul (S. *) 150 v. — 40 Keni-Kul to Ari-Tumul (Y.) 25 Ari-Tumul to Khatignak (S. *) . . . 100 v. — 75 Khatignak to Shestakova (Pov.) 80 Shestakova to Siss-Ana (Pov.) 50 Siss-Ana to Tsiganak (Y.) 50 Tsiganak to Sokurdakh (Pov.) 20 Sokurdakh to Andylakh (S. *) 250 v. — 50 Andylakh to Ultum (S. *) 60 Ultmn to Utchugoi-Kel (Y.) 40 Utchugoi-Kel to Malofskaya (S. *) .... 50 Malofskaya to Ehelakh (Pov.) 60 Ehelakh to Yatetsia (Y.) 30 Yatetsia to Sredni-Kolymsk .... 300 v. — 60 Total versts (*) — Change reindeer. (S.) — Station. (Y.)—Yurta.} (Pov.)— Povarnia. 1510 APPENDIX V SETTLEMENTS ON KOLYMA RIVER BETWEEN SREDNI KOLYMSK AND NIJNI KOLYMSK Versts. Sredni-Kolymsk to Botolakh 50 Botolakh to Silgisit 40 Silgisit to Olbut 60 Olbut to Pamaskina 60 Pamaskina to Yuguz-Tamak 40 (Horses) Yuguz-Tamak to Krest 30 Krest to Gornitza , 60 (Reindeer) Gornitza to Omolonskaya 60 Omolonskaya to Lakeyevskaya 40 Lakeyevskaya to Kimkina 40 Kimkina to Nijni-Kolymsk 40 (Dogs) — Total versts 520 APPENDIX VI A SHORT GLOSSARY OF YAKUTE WORDS Yakute. Turkish. Yakute. Turkish. I Bir Bir 8 Ahuse Sekis 2 Iki Iki 9 Too-oose Dokus 3 Us Utch io Ohn Ohn 4 Tar Dort 20 Shirbeh 5 Bar Besh 30 OlM 6 Ali Alti ioo S#s 7 Sekki Yedi A man — KehS The moon — Out A woman — Diak-Tar A mouse — Kugak Yes— Da A rat — Kutchas No — Sok A wolf — Bireh Good — Yutchingan A bear — EAa B ad — Koosahan A cow — Anakh Big — Lohan Beautiful — Utchingoi Little — A tchu-bui Ugly — Kouhahan A horse — AtU Dry — Kuranak A dog— Ut Wet — Nitchagai A house — D/tVft Dear — Garahan A Are— -Wat Cheap — Tcheptchiki A gun — Sar Far — Gurach Meat — £#e Near — Tchugoss Quick — Turganik To go — Sullar A door — Ana To give — B«f Water — Ou To speak — E#er The sea — Bayahel To ask — Orjitar A river — Uriakh To ride — Miner The face — Surei To buy — Atlahar The hands — IK To eat — Ahukka The arms — Khari To drink — /Atl/ta The feet — Atakh To smoke — Tardar Rain — Sammor A month — Ui Wind— T«2 A week — Nediflia Snow — Har A day — Boikun The sun — K«« An hour — Birlchas APPENDIX VII GLOSSARY OF VARIOUS DIALECTS IN USE AMONGST THE TCHUKTCHIS INHABITING THE COASTS OF N.E. SIBERIA Cape Shelagskoi to Whalen. East Cape. Oumwaidjik. There is : Warkin Warkin There is not : Winga Winga No : Winga Winga Naka Yes : Ee-ee Ee-ee Ah-ah All right : Metchinki Here : Utku I — my : Mori Wee Kwanga You — your : Turginian A deer : Korang Kashinat Guwiniak A house : Yarat Muntarak Muntarak Far : Yar By-and-bye : Yo-yo A walrus : Durka Ibok Ayivak Wood: Ut-Tut Naksiet To sleep : Zipiska Keep still : Deakarikti Sien Napire I don't know : Ko A dog : At-Tau Kokmarok Klikmak A man : Katowvak Yuk A woman : Nawonskat Aranak To drink : Megwesiak Mugwe A bear : Umhang Nanok Nanok A seal : Memet Nahksak Maklak A sled : Urgur Kaimukshik Kamiyak A steamer : It-Kowat Toroma Amakpawit A knife : Vallia Sinkat A duck : Gallia Tigumak Kawak Ice : Ilgil Sikok Siku Snow : Alash Ani Anio Wind : Yu-yo Anok Anokiva APPENDICES 28', Cape Shelagskoi to Whalen. East Cape. Oumwaidjik. Good-day : Ta-oom Taham Tanakhoom You lie : Eklang Eklima-Kotung The hand : Askak Eehit To smoke : Takwaigen Aptiok Meluktok i : Nerisha Atajak Atajak 2 : Irak Mailop Mailop 3 : Nerok Piniayut Piniayut 4 : Nirak Shtemet Shtemet 5 : Metch-Tinga Taklimat Taklimat 6 : No-Metch-Tinga Awindlit Awindlit 7 : N era- Ah Mara-Awindlit Mara-Awindlit 8 : Anger o-Utkui Pinia-Unlulut Pinia-Unlulut 9 : Onasinki Shtema-Unlulut Shtema- Unlulut io : Menitku Kullia Kullia APPENDIX VIII METEOROLOGICAL RECORD OF THE DE WINDT EXPEDITION Paris to New York, 1901-1902 Date. Place. Remaiks. 8 A.M. 6 p.m. Dec. 19 Paris Dull — some snow 40° 20 Berlin Nord Clear — sunshine 42° 50° 21 Warsaw - Ex Clear 41° 33° 22 Viazma press Dull — snow 20° 22° 23 Moscow , »_ 3, 22° 19° 24 Dull 17° 12° 25 „ snow - 2° 5° 26 S3 JJ - 8° - 5° 27 Fog and snow -10° 5° 28 Dull i4° 21° 29 Dull — snow 6° 15° 30 DuU n° 12° 31 Dull— fog 20° 22° Jan. 1 Dull 20° 22° 2 JJ 30° 33° 3 JJ 32° 33° 4 ») 37° 180 5 \ )) 30° 28° 6 i» 32° 29° 7 J) 19° 29° 8 , Trans-Siberian Railway Bright — some clouds 21° 25° 9 Bright sunshine 12° 0° 10 Fine -i5° - 9° n »> -I4° 2° 12 Dull — snow 7° 5° 13 / Irkutsk Fine 8° 15° 14 JJ Dull *"-¦¦ j!^*"«n. .«;:.»¦¦¦*;-- war ¦ - 2° 10° tOtOHHHHHHHH O VO OOVJ OMJl 4*. GO ti H O VO OOV1 O-iOl.Jl.G0 N JJ'go GO N to to N g. H O VO OOVJ 0\ tOtOtOtObitOHHHHr-Jp Ul ^- 00 N H O VO OO^l <^Ol g en w 3 *_¦ O w % 3 ri al 0 a ^, IB tr 5' cd era to 13 o : |ic|;~ C9 CO I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I *N SUWWB HU K> «0 GO .£ H H 4> O tO -(>. tO-fc-Ol-f^ OOOl O O N rt_-__-»_-__-»_-_r»_"i_"»ntlOOC I 1 I r1 CD P o opa. p 0 O . g m - 3 CD Qg>n a. ~q3£.F CD | ,2 3 e H. ° 3. C ft C/3 P_i Cfl g en 3 en 0 >Won w en i i Oi to Ol o to to to I I I H Ol GO H O H Ol Ol N> Oo o o o o o o I I I I I I I H Ol Ol ONOO H H O to O O Ol H N OOOl O O _-»_-__-\_"i_-__"__"»_"_r_r_in I I GO I ! I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Nt.£ &££££&& oxS'S 8=4, o. it 5oo.ooi too % o^> o i o o o o ooooooooooooo I I I I GO 00 H Ol Ol O^vflU I I I I HOOGOOOH H B H OOHHtOOOlOtyiHtOOl to 00 vO 290 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Date. Place. Remaiks. 8 A.M. 6 P.M. Feb, 22 Dull -12° -10° 23 Bright sunshine -45° -20° 24 31 3) -4i° -23° 25 Yakutsk » " -45° -300 26 \ to » " -42° -40° 27 Verkoyansk » " -75° -75° 28 Dull — snow -35° -37° Mar. 1 / \ Verkoyansk Bright sunshine -45° -63° 2 j> » -65° -50° 3 , , >j >' -40° -620 4 » >. >> -66° -65° 5 ._ » -73° -10° 6 >> " -30° -35° 7 !> " -30° -25° 8 Fog -10° -78° 9 Verkoyansk J) -30° -30° 10 ) to Sredni- Kolymsk )J -30° - 0° 11 Bright sunshine -55° -6o° 12 >. " -35° -400 13 .j >> -34° -25° 14 >i " -40° -30° 15 )) >' -25° -25° 16 >» JJ -10° -20° 17 Jl >> -15° 0° 18 J Sredni-Kolymsk Jl >> -15° -10° 19 >! >' >) " -20° -10° * 20 ), 3, Fog -10° -18° 21 J. >> )J -38° 25° 22 >> >' Bright sunshine -35° -30° 23 \ )> »> -40° -25° 24 Dull 0° -10° 25 Sredni-Kolymsk- Dull— gale S.W. -5° -15° 26 ' Nijni-Kolymsk Fine -20° - 5° 27 Dull— gale S.E. 5° -15° 28 J Nijni-Kolymsk Dull -20° -i5° 29 >> >> Fine -30° - 8° 30 33 s» Bright sunshine -35° -10° 3i 3, 33 ij j? -30° -25° APPENDICES 29I Date. Place. Remarks. 8 A.M. 6 P.M. April I Nijni-Kolymsk Bright sunshine -26° -30° 2 _> >> Fine — some snow -18° -20° 3 _> 3, Fine -20° -I4° 4 Sukharno Strong gale N. W -16° -20° 5 >, I) 33 31 -15° -22° 6 a 93 >J »» -20° -20° 7 Camp 1 Bright sunshine -16° -20° 8 Dull 0° o° 9* Strong gale N. 0° -2° 10 \ Snow 20° -10° n Strong gale N.W. -10° -10° 12 5° 15° 13 Poorga N.W. 12° 25° 14 J> JJ 12° : 9° 15 » )J 4° - 7° 16 S.E. - 2° 5° 17 >> »? 10° 5° 18 E. 0° 4° 19 Strong gale N.E. .0° 0° 20 „ W. ; - 5° 2° 21 Fine— N.E. light 6° 10° 22 \ Gale S.W. 0° 0° 23 Arctic Coast Snowstorms 30° '5° 24 » 25° 5° 25 Dull — snow 12° 19° 26 Strong gale N.W. 22° 15° 27 Gade N.W. 20° 15° 28 Light breeze N. 14° 10° 29 Dtffl 25° - 2° 30 May I Bright sunshine - 8° 10 Dull— gale N. 18° 16° 2 Snowstorms 22° 0° 3 Gale N. and snow 25° i*° 4 Strong gale N.W. 20° 20° It / ( „ „ N.E. 22° 20° * 400 below zero inside tent for three hours at night. f Dates from this must be set back one day on account of crossing !8o° long. 292 PARIS TO NEW YORK BY LAND Date. Place. Remarks. 8 A.M. 6 P.M. May \ 6 Dull 55° 24° 7 Gale N.E. 32° 28° 8 „ s.w. 38° 26° 9 Fog 26° 20° 10 Bright and clear 15° 28° II j? *> ?j 18° 25° 12 99 J> >> 23° I7° 13 ( Arctic Coast Dull — strong breeze S.W. 22° 25° 14 Dull — strong 22° 15° breeze S.W. 22° 15° 15 Poorga N.E. 15° 15° 16 Dull — strong gale N.E. 20° 18° 17 / Strong gale N.W. — snow 20° 18° 18 Snow 25° 20° 19 99 39 _> 32° 25° 20 99 » Dull— still 45° 25° 21 Whalen-Bering Straits >> > > 50° 34° 22 99 99 )» 99 >> 32° 3i° 23 >> 93 J) Snow 44° 45° 24 99 99 99 Fog 44° 39° 25 99 99 99 Strong breeze S. —dull 36° 40° 26 91 19 99 Gale S.E. and sleet 35° 36° 27 99 99 99 Fine 36° 39° 28 39 99 33 Dull— fog 42° 40° 29 39 39 93 >» 43° 40° 30 \ » 49° 34° 3i »> 38° 46° June i Bright and clear 34° 280 2 ( Bering Straits Gale S. 32° 32° 3 Dull — rain 42° 34° '4 Bright and clear 56° 5i°J 5 Clear 38° 52° 6 / Fine — hazy 56° 68° APPENDICES 293 Date. Place. Remarks. 8 A.M. 6 P.M. June \ 7 8 Clear 47° 65° » 46° 55° 9 .. 48° 88° 10 SJ 48° 6o° 11 J) 45° 38° 12* 13 Bering Straits Rain 46°46° 36° 40° 14* >_ 43° 40° 15 Fog 40° 42° 16 Clear 40° 55° 17 Still 53° 55° 18 / 99 5i° 50° 19 Gale S.— dull rain 42° 4i° 20 Cape Prince Strong gale S.W. 34° 40° 21. of Wales- >> >9 33° 36° 22 Alaska Gale N.W. dull 45° 42° 23 „ S.W.— dull 36° 38° 24 . „ S.W.— dull 38° 38° 25 Nome City Clear and bright 45° 65° 26 .. 9! 33 39 33 45° 62° 27 >> 3J 33 99 3 55° 70° 28 »> J) 3) )3 33 62° 64° 29 >. _> 33 33 33 6o° 64° 30 Saint Michael's 33 33 33 62° 73° * Sea ice opened. INDEX Abramovitch, M. et Madame, life as exiles 81-85 Abruzzi, Duke of the, portrait in the Nome Nuggel, represented as that of De Windt 213 Aditscha, see under Siberia. Aditscha River, abundance of fish in 92 Akatui, see under Siberia. Akimova, Madame, prisoner at Sredni-Kolymsk 115, 121 Alaska, see under U.S.A. Alazenski Range, see under Siberia. Aldan River, journey along 68 All-World Railway, see Franco-American under Railways. Allen, Lieutenant, Copper River explored by 252 America, see Canada and U. S. A. Anadyr Ostrog, see under Siberia. Anadyr River : Description of Tchuktchis living between coast and 172-192 Reached by Laptief 141 Andrfi, M., search by Mr. J. Stadling for referred to g4 Andylach, see under Siberia. Angara River at Irkutsk 14 Anna-Sook, see under Siberia. Anuchin, Governor-General, and Herman Schiller 89-91 Greater Anui River, ascended by Laptief 141 Anvil Creek, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Areni, see under Siberia. Atetzia, see under Siberia. Ayan and Nelkan Railway, see Nelkan and Ayan under Railways. Baikal, Lake, see under Siberia. le Barge, Lake, see under Alaska under U.S.A. le Barge, Mike, Lake le Barge named after 255 Bassarika, see Bolshaya-Reka under Siberia. Bear, s.s., description 197 Bear Islands, see under Siberia. Bears at Cape Kyber 157 Beketoff, Yakutsk founded in 1633 by 44 Belvedere, de Windt and Harding rescued from Siberian coast of Bering Straits by 4 Bennett, see wider Canada. Bennett, J. E. : List of requisites for Copper River prospecting trip given by 252-254 Nugget found by 251 Bereskine, Captain, members of expedition entertained at Oleminsk by 40-41 13ergmann, Professor, medical aid given to de Windt by 8 296 INDEX Bering Sea : Description of country between Kolyma River and 145 Laptief's attempt to travel by land from Kolyma to 140-1 Bering Straits : Crossing of 198-199 Crossing of on ice to Cape Prince of Wales 167 Discovery of in 1648 by Simeon Deschnev 200 Ice broken at 190 Members of first expedition taken prisoner by Koari, Chief of Oumwaidjik, on Siberian shores of 1 Named by Captain Cook in 1778 200 Bering, Vitus: Bering Straits explored in 1728 by 200 Gold found in Alaska in 18th century by 223 Bernardi, Mrs. : Eskimo school held by 202 Provisions supplied at Kingigamoot by 201 Bernstein, Exile, hanged for share in Yakutsk prison revolt 52 Berry : Clarence, gold discovered in Dawson City by 241 Captain, journey through Siberia 139 Mrs. , assistance given to husband in working gold claim 241 Bet£-Kul, see under Siberia. Billy : History of journey from San Francisco to East Cape 167-170 Return to United States 210 Blake, Mr., gold discovered at Nome City in 1898 by 212-213 Bolshaya-Reka, see under Siberia. Borneo, resemblances between Tchuktchis and Dyaks of 173 Brando, Vassily, meeting at Oleminsk with 40-41 Brehm, Naturalist : on Mosquitoes 245-246 North Pole regions described by 266-267 Buriats (tribe) : Description of 14-15 Oppressed by Cossacks 173 Butler, General Sir William, description of Alaska, in " Great Lone Land," by 225 Canada : Lake Le Barge, description 255 Bennett description 259-260 Dawson City : Arrival at 232 Climate 246 Description 234-240 Forty Mile City, description 231-232 Forty Mile Creek, gold at 232 Hootalinqua, production of mineral wealth 251 Klondyke : Climate 247 History of gold 240-2 Thinly populated 1896 1 Vegetation 246-247 Nordenskiold River, see that title. Summit, American territory reached 260 White Horse City, description 256 Yukon, descriptions 228-229, 233 INDEX 297 Chilkoot Pass, description 257 Chipp, Lieutenant, lost in wreck of Jeannette in 1884 78 Circle City, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Clifton, Talbot, meeting with at Vitimsk 37-39 Climate : Aditscha 91 Alaska 225-226 Dawson City 246 East Cape 189-90 Klondyke 247 Lena Post Road 25, 26 Nijni-Kolymsk 133-134 Nome City 217 St. Michael's 221 Sredni-Kolymsk 119 Verkhoyansk 84-85 Verkhoyansk Mountains 73 Yakutsk 47-48 Yuk-Tak 75 de Clinchamp, Vicomte : Fall into crevasse 147-148 Loss of use of limbs 147-148 Member of de Windt expedition 7 Return to France 274 Thrown out of sleigh 30 Coal recently discovered at Lake Baikal 21 Cochrane, Lieutenant, meeting with on Thetis 192-193 Cook, Captain : Bering Straits named by in 1778 200 Irkaipen named by in 1777 160 Koliutchin Island named Bumey Island by 163 Copper River, routes to and up 251-252 Cormack, George, gold discovered at Klondyke by 240 Cottle, Captain, meeting with at Whalen 190-191 Davidson Glacier, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Dawson, Dr., Dawson City named after 234 Dawson City, see under Canada. Deschnev, Simeon, discovery of Bering Straits by 200 Diomedes, see under Siberia. Dobell, on journey from Ustkutsk to Yakutsk 24 Dogdo River, journey along 97 Dogs : Procured at Sredni-Kolymsk 112-113 Siberian, description 155 D yaks of Borneo, resemblance between Tchuktchis and 173 Eagle City, see under Alaska under U.S.A. East Cape, see under Siberia. Ebelach, see under Siberia Elliott, Mr., description of characteristics and appearance of Eskimos 203, 207 Epidemics and Diseases : Among the Yakutes and Tchuktchis 58 Leper Hospital at Viluisk 47 298 INDEX Epidemics and Diseases — continued Cape Shelagskoi 152-153 Sredni-Kolymsk 1 19-120 Verkhoyansk 84 Ergin, Mr., murder of Ivanoff by 123-125 Erktrik, see Cape Shelagskoi, under Siberia Erman (Explorer), explanation of ice phenomenon 31 Ermine, expense of at Sredni-Kolymsk 91-92 Eskimos (or Innuit) : Description, 200-208 Enmity to white men 208 Influence of Dr. Lopp over 201-203 Excelsior s.s., arrival in San Francisco in 1897 with report of Klondyke gold 240 Exiles (Political) at Siberia : Insanity among 116-117 Oleminsk 41 Reports on : by Mr. Kennan 113 by Mr. de Windt 1 13-125 Sredni-Kolymsk 109-111, 115-125 Tiriak-Hureya 99 Verkhoyansk 79-87 Yakutsk 51-57 Fairway Rock, uninhabited 209 Fifty Mile River, arrival at 256 Fish, abundance in Aditscha River 92 Flour, price at Verkhoyansk 83 Forty Mile City, see under Canada. France : Former expedition to New York from Paris by land a failure 3-5 Franco-American Railway, see under Railways. Start of expedition from Paris 5 Franco-American Railway, see under Railway. Fiiff, Exile, killed for share in Yakutsk prison revolt 52 Goedets (Explorers), Siberian expedition, 1771 141 Gijiga, see tinder Siberia. Gilder, W. : Journey through Siberia 139 Yakute horse described by 106-107 Glaciers : Davidson, description 271 Muir, description 271 Gold : Alaska 223 False report of at Inchaun 165 Forty Mile Creek 232 Klondyke 240-242 Method ot mining 243-245 Nelkan 47 Nome City 212, 216 Rampart City 228 Vitimsk 39, 46 Gourievitch, Madame, killed in Yakutsk prison revolt 52 INDEX 299 " Grand Canon ' ' Rapids 249-250 Greely, Lieutenant, rescued by Thetis 192 Hatutatskaya, see under Siberia. Hannah, s.s., voyage up the Yukon River 221-223 Harding, George : Member of de Windt expedition- 7 Steamer sighted in Bering Straits by 192 Haussman, Exile, hanged for share in Yakutsk prison revolt 52 Healy, Captain : Anecdote on Kamitok 187 Members of expedition conveyed on Thetis by 198 Hedenstrom, Siberian expedition reported by von Wrangell 141-142 Heilprin, Professor Angelo : Description of White Pass railway route 257-258 Report on Klondyke gold 242 Herz, Dr., mammoth discovered by 41-42 Ignatiew, Issai, navigation of Polar Sea attempted by 139 Imperial Passports, privileges ensured by 20-21 Inchaun, see under Siberia. Indigirka River, crossing of and description of country near 103 Innuit, see Eskimos. Irkaipien, see Cape North under Siberia. Irkutsk, see under Siberia Iron, resources of Yakutsk 46 Ivanoff, Mr., cruelty of and murder of by Mr. Ergin 123-125 Jarvis, Lieutenant, whalers rescued by 197 Jeannette, s.s., wrecked in 1881 78 Jeannie, s.s., loss of 197-198 Jim (Tchuktchi), false report of gold at Inchaun 165 Juneau, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Kaleshnikoff, Serge, suicide of 122-125 Kamitok, account of 186-187 Kamtchatka, see under Siberia. Kangerak, see under Siberia. Katcherofsky, M. , members of expedition entertained by 78-81 Kennan, George : Anecdote about Herman Schiller and Governor-General Anuchin told by 89-91 Description of Siberia 24 Report on Siberian prisons referred to 113 Khatignak, see under Siberia. Kingigamoot, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Kirensk, see under Siberia. Klondyke. see under Canada. Koari, Chief of Oumwaidjik : Influence over natives at Cape North 160-161 Members of first expedition taken prisoner by I Koenigswerther, M. and Madame, members of expedition entertained at Irkutsk by 22 Koliutchin Island, see under Siberia. 300 INDEX Kolyma, see under Siberia. Kolyma River : Description of country between Bering Sea and 144-145 Disappearance of settlements between Tchaun bay and 144 Journey along, to Nijni-Kolymsk 128-132 Strange shapes of rocks in cliffs 142 Koserefski, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Kouniang, supplies brought to members of expedition by 163-164 Krasnoyark, see under Siberia. Krest, see under Siberia. Kurtas, halt at 96-97 Kyber, Cape, see under Siberia. Ladue, Joseph : Gold claims at Klondyke 241 Gold mining methods described by 243-244 Lansdell, Dr., favourable opinion on Siberian prisons 114 Laptief, Lieutenant : Attempt to travel by land from Kolyma to Bering Sea 140-141 Beacon erected near Sukharno by in 1739 138 Leggatt, Mr., gold claims on " El Dorado " 241 Lena River : Description 23 Journey from Yakutsk to Irkutsk along 35, 40 Leper Hospital at Viluisk 47 Lewes River : Description 250, 254-255 Voyage from Dawson City to White Horse City on 248-256 Lindeberg, Mr., mining operations near Nome City 216 Lobasmoie, see under Siberia. de Lobel, M. Loicq, newspaper correspondence with de Windt 262-264 de Long, Captain : Death of referred to 44 Escape from wreck of s.s. Jeannette, and subsequent death by starvation 78 Lopp, Mr. (Missionary) : Influence over Eskimos 201-203 Members of expedition welcomed at Kingigamoot 201 Lunacy prevalent in Siberia 102-103, 116-117 Lynn Canal, see under Alaska under U.S.A. MacDonald, Mr., gold claims on " El Dorado " 241 McElwain, Eugene, treatise on Eskimos 204-207 Malofskaya, see under Siberia. Mammoth discovered by Dr. Herz 41-42 Marsden, Miss Kate, Viluisk Leper Hospital founded by 47 Markha, see under Siberia. Melville, Admiral : Escape from s.s. Jeannette 78 Visit to Yakutsk 50-51 Mikouline : (Dog driver) Desertion of 153-154 Engaged as dog driver 128-129 Insubordination of, 134-135, 138 Milk, price at Verkhoyansk 83 Minor, Exile, killed for share in Yakutsk prison revolt 52 Mirak, (disease) account of 120 INDEX 301 Miskievitch, Mr. : Doctor at Sredni-Kolymsk 119, 120 Patience during exile 121 MoUahoi, see under Siberia. Mooflowi, help given to members of expedition at Whalen 171 Moscow, see under Russia. Mosquitoes : Alaska, 245-246 Plague between Rampart City and Circle City 230 Takheena River 256 Muir Glacier, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Nelkan, see under Siberia. Nelkan and Ayan Railway, see under Railways. New York, see under U.S.A. Nijni-Kolymsk, see under Siberia. Nome City, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Nordenskiold River, description 250-251 Nordenskjold, Professor, visit to Koliutchin 163 Cape North, see under Siberia. North Pole, surrounding regions described by Brehm 266-267 de Novikoff, Madame, appointment to report on Siberian prisons gained through 114 Obi River crossed, 12 O'Brien, George, hanged for robbery and murder at Dawson City, 239 Ogilvie, Mr. (surveyor) : Description of Yukon district and River 233 240 Gold pan washed out by 242 Okhotsk, see under Siberia. Oleminsk, see under Siberia. Olenin, Mr. : Account of exile life by 51-52 on Shamanism 95 Onman, see under Siberia. Oumwaidjik, see under Siberia. Outfit and Provisions : Light weight of necessary 5-7 List of for prospecting tour to " El Dorado " 252-254 Purchase of: Cape North 159-160 Owarkin 156 Sredni-Kolymsk 126-127, 156 Yakutsk 19, 60 Owarkin, see under Siberia. Oyurapok, visit to Whalen 174 Panteleyeff, General, interview with 20 Paris, see under France. Passports, see Imperial Passports. Population Statistics, see Statistics. Pik, Exile, killed for share in Yakutsk prison revolt 52 Polar Ocean : Navigation attempted by Issai Ignatiew 139 Navigation attempted by Schalarof 139-140 302 INDEX Portland, s.s. : Arrival at San Francisco with gold dust 240 Loss of 197-199 Post Houses, description of on Lena Post Road 26-28 Povarnias (mud Huts), description of 69 Prisons : Schliisselburg 114, 115 Siberian : Akatui 114, 115 Favourable opinion of by de Windt, Dr. Lansdell, and J. Y. Simpson 114 Report on by George Kennan referred to 113 Sakhalin, report on 114 Yakutsk, revolt in and description of 51-52 Ptarmigan seen near MoUahoi 74 Puk-Tak, see under Siberia. Railways : All- World, see Franco-American below, Franco-American : Routes of proposed and discussed 70, 262-2 70 Suggestion respecting construction over Bering Straits 209 Verkhoyansk Range a stumbling-block to construction of 70 Nelkan and Ayan, proposed construction of 47 Trans- Alaskan Railway Co., line from Nome City to Iliamna constructed by 268-269 Trans-Siberian, Moscow to Irkutsk, journey by 5, 9-12 White Pass : Description of 257-261 Destruction of Yukon River trade owing to 222 Extended to Dawson City 269 Rampart City, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Rastorgueff, Stepan : Appreciation of services 63 Dogs procured by at Sredni-Kolymsk 11 2-1 13 Employed as escort at Yakutsk 57-58 Names of places between VerkhoyanskI and Sredni-Kolymsk supplied by 97 Return to Yakutsk 274 Rats at Dawson City 238 Rivers, see under Place Names. Russia : Moscow : Arms and Ammunition bought at 8-9 Description of 9 Railway journey to Irkutsk from 5, 9-12 Schliisselburg political prison 114, 115 Purchase of Alaska from by U.S.A. 1867 223-224 Sabadei Island, reached by Schalarof 140 Sadie, Ship, voyage to Nome City on 211 Mount St. Elias, see under Alaska under U.S.A. St. Michael, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Sakhalin Island, see under Siberia. Salt Mines at Ust-Kutsk 32 Samoyedes, oppressed by Cossacks 173 San Francisco, see under U.S.A. INDEX 303 Schalarof, navigation of Polar Sea attempted by 139-140 Schiller, Hermann, and Governor- General Anuchin 89-91 Schliisselburg, see under Russia. Schwatka, Lieutenant, advice to Arctic travellers 63 Sea Otters, scarcity of in Alaska 272-273 Seal Hunting at Whalen 187 Seattle, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Seward, William H., purchase of Alaska through 223-224 Shalarof, see wider Siberia. Shamanism : Account of 94-96 Appearance of a Shaman at Tostach 93 Cape Shelagskoi, see under Siberia. Siberia : Aditscha : Climate 91 Stay at 91-92 Aditscha River, see that title Akatui political prison 114, 115 Alazenski Range, crossing of 103-104 Aldan River, see that title Anadyr River, see that title Andylach, horses used for sleighs instead of deer 106 Angara River, see that title Anna-Sook, halt at 72 Anui River, see that title Areni, expedition provisioned at 158 Atetzia, squalor of Povarnia 107 Lake Baikal : Coal recently discovered at 21 Description of by J. Y. Simpson 15 Bassarika, see Bolshaya-Reka below. Bear Islands, reached by the Geodets, 1771, 141 BeteXKul : Accommodation at 70-71 Departure from 72 Bolshaya-Reka : Arrival at 143-144 Description by George Kennan of 24 Diomedes, distances from Alaska 209 Dogdo River, see that title East Cape : Arrival at 166 Climate 189-190 Description 170 Journey from Sredni-Kolymsk to 126-166 Termination of Siberian part of expedition at 5 Whaler sighted 188 Ebelach : Arrival at 98, 100 Stay at 101-103 Erktrik, see Cape Shelagskoi below. Exiles, reports on : by Mr. Kennan 113 by Mr. de Windt 113-125 See also Prisons. Expeditions through : Geodets, 1771, 141 304 INDEX Siberia, Expeditions through — continued Mr. Gilder 139 Hedenstrom 141-142 Laptief 141 de Windt, see de Windt Expeditions. von Wrangell, 1820, 142 Yokelson 105 Gijiga, prolongation of Franco-American line to discussed 264 Governor-General, see Panteley^ff, General. Hatutatskaya, arrival at, 64 Inchaun, false report of goid at 165 Indigirka River, see that title Irkai'pen : Named by Captain Cook, re-named Cape Despair by de Windt 160 See also Cape North below. Irkutsk : Accommodation 13-14 Climate 15 Commercial and social future of 21-22 Departure for Yakutsk 22, 23 Description of journey to Yakutsk from 23-43 Life in described 15-18 Population 14-15, 24 Railway from Moscow, journey by 5, 9-12 Routes of railway to Bering Straits 264 Sleighs purchased at 18 Yakutsk to, third stage of first expedition 5 Kamtchatka, strange shapes of trees covered by snow 99-100 Kangerak, stay at, 74 Khatignak, arrival at 103 Kirensk : Accommodation 36 Arrival at 35 Description 35-36 Koliutchin Bay, crossed 164-5 Koliutchin Island : Arrival at 163 Hospitality of chief 163-164 Named Burney Island by Captain Cook 163 Winter spent at by Prof. Nordenskjold's ship Vega 163 Kolyma : Account of settlers 130 Description of by Admiral von Wrangell 139 Famine 105-106 Laptief's attempt to travel by land from to Bering Sea 140-141 Navigation of Polar Ocean to east of attempted 139 Starting point of the Geodet's expedition 141 Kolyma River, see that title Krasnoyark, passed 12 Krest, arrival at and departure from 131 Cape Kyber, bears chased at 157 Lena Post Road : Climate on 25, 26 Post-houses described 26-28 Lena River, see that title Lobasmoie, Laptief's arrival at 141 Lunacy prevalent in 102-3, 116-117 Malofskaya, description of country between Siss-Anna and 104 INDEX 305 Siberia — continued Markha, Skoptsi settlement at 53-55 Mollohoi, ptarmigan seen near 74 Natska, caravan met at 161 Nelkan, gold resources 47 Nijni-Kolymsk : Arrival at 132 Climate i33~I34 Description 132-133 The Geodets arrival at, 1771 141 Journey to Tchuktchi Settlement 136 Most remote Cossack outpost 20 Starting point of Laptief's expedition, 1741 141 Cape North : Arrival at 158 Description of country near 157 Food procured at 159-160 Scarcity of drift wood 158 Obi River, see that title Okhotsk : Communication with Yakutsk 46-47 Trade with Yakutsk 46 Oleminsk : Arrival at 38-40 Exiles at 41 Onman passed 163 Oumwaidjik, communication with Whalen 174 Owarkin, provisions purchased 156 Population statistics 24, 109 Prisons : Favourable opinion of by de Windt, Dr. Landsell, and J. Y. Simpson 114 Inspection of 108-125 Report on by George Kenna referred to 113 Puk-Tak Range sighted 159 Island of Sakhalin, de Windt's journey to report on prison 114 Scarcity of wolves 35 Shalarof, Island, named by von Wrangell 157 Cape Shelagskoi : Departure from 154 Epidemic at 152-153 Hostility of Tchuktchis at 152-154 Siremskaya, stay at 74-75 Siss, stay at 97-98 Siss-Ana : Description of country between Malofskaya and 104 Stay at 104 Sordonnakia, stay at 69-70 Sredni-Kolymsk : Arrival at 107, 108 Climate 119 Departure from 127-128 Description 58-59 Difficulties made by officials in 109-112 Diseases in 119- 120 Dog sleighs constructed at 113 Dogs procured at 112-113 Exiles' settlement 109-111, n5-125 306 INDEX Siberia, Sredni-Kolymsk — continued Expense of ermine at 91-92 Famine at 58-59 Journey from Verkhoyansk to 88-107 Journey to East Cape, Bering Straits 126-166 Population 109 Purchase of provisions 126-127, 156 Routes from Yakutsk to 63-65 Sukharno, stay at 137-138 Tandinskaya, accommodation 67-68 Tashayaktak Range crossed 97 Tchaun Bay : Arrival at 150 Disappearance of settlements between Kolyma River and 144 First examined by Schalarof 140 Tchorniusova, stay at 136 Tiriak-Hureya : Description of 98-99 Exiles at 99 Tostach : Accommodation 92-93 Departure from 96 Trans-Siberian Railway, see under Railways. Ultin, accommodation 107 Ust-kutsk : Accommodation 31-32 Arrival at 12, 31 Departure to Yakurimsk 33-34 Description 31, 32 Salt mines 32 Utchingoikel (Beautiful Lake) crossed 106 Variety of dialects in 189 Verkhoyansk : Arrival at 75-76 Climate 84-85 Departure from 86-87 Description 77-79, 84-85 Diseases at 83 Exiles at 79-85 Journey from Yakutsk to 63-76 ourney to Sredni-Kolymsk 88-107 Price and scarcity of food 83 Verkhoyansk Mountains : Climate 73 Difficulties in crossing 72-73 Exiles at 79-87 Viluisk : Leper Hospital at 47 Trade with Yakutsk 47 Vitimsk : Accommodation 37 Arrival at 37 Description 37-39 Gold mining 39, 46 Wankarem, passed 163 Whalen : Communication with Oumwaidjik 174 Description 170 INDEX 307 Siberia, Whalen — continued Description of Tchuktchis at 172-192 Hospitality of natives at 170-172 Stay at 170-192 Yablonoi Krebe't, crossed by Laptief 141 Yakurimsk, stay at 34 yakute : Description of horse of by Mr. Gilder 106-107 Sleighs : Description of 18-19 Discomforts of 24-25 Yakutsk: Amusements at 48-51 Arrival at 42-43 Communication with Okhotsk 46-47 Departure 61-62 Description 44-46, 53 Description of inhabitants 50-51 Description of journey from Irkutsk 23-43 Difliculty in leaving 57-59 Dinner given by Governor 48-49 Exiles at 51-57 Journey to Verkhoyansk 63-76 Mineral resources of 46 Prison revolt 51-52 Purchase of outfit and provisions at 19, 60-61 Routes to Sredni-Kolymsk 63-65 Shaman relics 95 Trade at 46-47 Yana River, see that title Yenesei River, see that title Yugetamil, arrival at 158 Yuk-Tah, climate 25 Zashiveisk, decay of city 89-90 Siberikoff, Mr., Nelkan and Ayan Railway proposed by 47 Simpson, J. Y. : Description of Lake Baikal 15 Favourable opinion on Siberian prisons 114 Siremskaya, see under Siberia. Siwash Tribe, description of 227 Skagway, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Skoptsi, exiled sect, description of 53-55 Sleighs : Construction of dog sleighs at Sredni-Kolymsk 113 Discomfort of Yakute 24-25 Mode of travelling by reindeer 64-65 Nartas purchased 59 Purchase of, at Irkutsk 18-19 Smith, "Soapy," leader of gang of swindlers and cut throats 270 Snake River, gold prospecting 213 Sordonnakia, see under Siberia. Sredni-Kolymsk, see under Siberia. Stadling, J., on Shamanism 94-95 Statistics : Gold, Nome City 212 Population, Siberia 14, 24, 109 Salt at Ust-kutsk 32 308 INDEX Strajevsky, Monsieur : Attitude during exile 121 Prisoner at Sredni-Kolymsk 117-118 Sukharno, see under Siberia. Takiieena River, derivation of names 256 Tandinskaya, see under Siberia. Tashayaktak Range, see under Siberia. Tayunga (Tchuktchi), personal appearance of 176 Tchaun Bay, see under Siberia. Tchorniusova, see under Siberia. Tchuktchis : Description of character and customs 171, 172-19 2 Epidemic among 58 Feared by Kolyma Russians 134 First settlement reached 151 Hostility of at Cape Shelagskoi 152-154 Journey from Nijni-Kolymsk to settlements of 136-151 Kindness to animals 162 Riot 191-192 Teneskin, Chief of the Tchuktchis : Agreement with for food supply at Whalen 171- 172 Description of hut 176-177 Thetis, Revenue cutter : Arrival at Whalen 192-193 Landing from at Cape Prince of Wales 198-199 Thirty Mile River, see Lewes River. Thlinkits Tribe, number and description of 273, 274 Thornton, Harrison B., memorial at Kingigamoot to 202 Tiriak-Hureya, see under Siberia. Topeha, s.s., voyage from Skagway to Port Townsend on 271-274 Tostach, see tinder Siberia. Tracy, Harry, murders committed in Oregon by 256 Trans-Alaskan Railway, see under Railways. Trans-Siberian Railway, see under Railways. Tunguses, Shamanism faith of 94 Ultin, see under Siberia. United States of America : Alaska : Anvil Creek, gold prospecting 216 Canneries 272 Circle City : Arrival at and description of 229-230 Plague of mosquitoes between Rampart City and 230 Climate 225-226 Copper River, routes to and up 251-252 Davidson Glacier, description 271 Distance of Diomedes from 209 Eagle City : Description 230-231 Telegram sent from 230 Gold known to exist in 18th century 223 History 223-234 Iliamna, railway line constructed to Nome City from 268-269 Indians, description 227 INDEX m United States : Aiaaita,- continued Juneau, description J73 Kingigamoot, stay at 200-203 Koserefski, mission station 226-227 Lynn Canal, description 270-271 Military posts, 221 Mosquitoes 245-246 Muir Glacier, description 271 Cape Nome, derivation of name 211 Nome City : Arrival at 211 Climate 217 Construction of line to Iliamna 268-269 Description 213-217 Gold prospecting 212, 216 Voyage to on Sadie 211 Cape Prince of Wales : Arrival at and description of 199-200 Stone erections at 208-209 Purchased by United States, 1867, 223-24 Rampart City : Description 228 Gold at 228 Plague of mosquitoes between Circle City and 230 Mount St. Elias, description of 224 St, Michael's : Climate 217 Description 220-221 Seattle : Arrival at 274 Description 274 Skagway, description 270 Snake River, see that title Unalaska, rainfall 225 Unexplored in 1896 3 Fort Wrangell, description 273-74 New York : Arrival at 275 Former expedition from Paris to a failure 3-5 San Francisco : Arrival of s.ss. Excelsior and Portland with reports of gold 240 Stay at 275 Unalaska, sec under Alaska under U.S.A. Ural Mountains, crossing and description of stations 12 Ust-Kutsk, see under Siberia. Utchingoikel, see under Siberia. Vega, winter spent at Koliutchin 163 Viluisk, see under Siberia. Vitimsk, see under Siberia. Walrus hunting at Whalen 187 Wankarem, su under Siberia. Whalen, see under Siberia. Whalers rescued by Lieutenant Jarvis 197 310 INDEX White Horse s.s. : Description 248 Journey from Dawson City to terminus of White Pass Railway on 248 White Horse City, see under Canada. White Horse Pass Railway, see White Pass Railway, under Railways. White Horse Rapid 250 White Pass Railway, see under Railways. Whiteside, Captain Joseph, De Windt and Harding rescued from Siberian coast of Bering Sea, by 4 William Bayliss, whaler, arrival at Whalen 190-91 de Windt, Harry ; Dream of 131-32 Expeditions of, see De Windt Expeditions. Illness of 8 Imperial passport of 20 Irkaipen renamed Cape Despair by 160 Meeting with Talbot Clifton 37 Meeting with Lieutenant Cochrane 192-93 Political cartoon purchased by 27 Portraits of : Dawson City newspaper in 237 Seattle newspaper in 256-57 Present of " Daily Mail Year Book " to exile at Verkhoyansk 86 Report on Siberian prisons 113-117, 120-125 Sleighs purchased by, 18 Snow blindness of 148 Telegrams despatched from Vitimsk 38 Thrown out of sleigh 30 De Windt Expeditions : 1896: Failure of 1-7 Route 4-5 1901 Route : Paris to Moscow 7 Moscow to Irkutsk 9-12 Irkutsk to Yakutsk 13-43 Yakutsk to Verkhoyansk 63-75 Verkhoyansk to Sredni-Kolymsk 88-107 Sredni-Kolymsk to East Cape, Bering Straits 127-66 Bering Straits to Cape Prince of Wales 197-99 Cape Prince of Wales to Nome City 211 Nome City to White Horse city 219-56 White Horse City to Skagway 257-61 Skagway to San Francisco 271-74 Winifred, Sister, meeting with at Koserefski 227 Wolves, scarcity of in Siberia 35 Wrangell, Admiral von : Description of inhabitants of Yakutsk 50 Description of Kolyma 139 On disease at Verkhoyamsk 84 Journey from Nijni-Kolymsk to Koliutchin Bay 142 On Mirak 120 Route from Yakutsk to Sredni-Kolymsk travelled by in 1820, 63-64 On Russian natives' fear of Tchuktchis 134 On scarcity of drift wood near Cape North 158 Shalarof Island named by 157 On shapes of rocks near mouth of Kolyma River 142 On the Tchuktchis 152 INDEX 311 Wrangell, Admiral von— continued Volume of travels quoted on expeditions of Issai, Ignatiew, Schalarof, Laptief, the Geodets, and Hedenstrom, 139-42 Port Wrangell, see under Alaska under U.S.A. Yablonoi, see under Siberia. Yaigok, guide to Inchaun 161-65 Yakurimsk, see under Siberia. Yakutes : Butter drinking 71 Description of 55-57 Epidemic amongst 58 Kindness to animals 162 Languages 57 Oppressed by Cossacks 173 Yakutsk, see under Siberia. Yana River : Description of country from Polar Sea to 88-89 Journey along 74 Yartsegg, Jacob, exiled to Nijni-Kolymsk 133-35 Yemanko, help given to members of expedition at Whalen 171, 177 Yenesei River, crossed 12 Yokelson, naturalist, meeting with 105-6 Yugelamit, see under Siberia. Yukon, see under Canada. Yukon River : Grand Canon Rapid, 249-50 Trade destroyed by White Pass Railway 222 Voyage from Dawson City to White Horse City on 248-56 Voyage from Nome City to Dawson City on, 220, 226-32 White Horse Rapid 250 Yuk-Takh, see under Siberia. Yukagirs Tribe, request of, for shelter at Tchorniusova 136 Zashiveisk, see under Siberia. Zimmermann, Herr, prisoner at Sredni-Koljrmsk 115 Zotoff, exile, hanged for share in Yakutsk prison revolt 52 Zuyeff, Captain : Hospitality of 44 Yakute language explained by 57 Printed by Ballantynb, Hanson <&• Co. London *• Edinburgh