Show I SIBERIAN POST ROAD Captain Knoxs Description of an Arduous Journey From Irkntsk to St Petersburg by Sleigh Lieut Danenhower and bin comrades com-rades are about to leave Irkutsk tor St Petrraburg on their way to the United Stat38 and two officers of our navy have just been ordered to Siberia Sibe-ria to assist in the search for Captain DeLong and the missing men It has therefore been suggested to me that A brief description of the Siberian post road over which the parties will travel would be specially interesting at this time In November 18661 left Irkutsk for St Petersburg the tirminus of the railway was then at Nijni Novgorod S400 miles from the former city Winter Win-ter is the best for travel in Siberia as the roads are smoother than at other seasons of the year and one is not annoyed by dust and mosquitoes If you travel by the post vehicle belonging belong-ing to the station masters you mutt change at evrey station and a transfer trans-fer of yourself and baggage four cr fivo times a day with the thermometer thermome-ter below zero is the reverse of pleasant plea-sant Consequently most persons pref r to buy a carriage or a sleigh at starting and sell it for what it will bring at the end ol the route I became be-came the owner of a kibitka a half open sleigh which somewhat resembles resem-bles a New England chaise greatly elongated There was abundant room for two of us and we could lie at full length on our furs and baggage bag-gage or SIT HaLF UT ALL RIGHT with pillows enough to wedge closely in our places At night or in storm we could lower a hood at the top and fasten it to a thin apron from below so that we were fairly protected from severe weather Baggage is in flat valises of soft leather and spread over the bottom of the sleigh the cavities and chinks are filled with straw a layer of furs cr sheepskins covera the whole and on this you sit or lie at your pleasure It is judicious to lash it with ropes to prevent its tumb ing out on top of you in case of an upset The post stations are from ten to twenty miles apart and from Irkutsk to Nijni Novgorod I changed horees and drivers 209 times and was drawn by not far from a thousand horses altogether On arriving at a station you present your paderoynia or road pass to the elusionroaster and demand hOrSE it you pass is of a high order you will get teem at once but if there is no reason why he should expedite you he mar keep sou waiting several hou a or until you bribe bim into supplying your wants The read pass is only obtain able from the authorities and as horses cannot be supplied without it there is no chanca of an irregular person travelling about the country The pass states your name and residence resi-dence the number of horses you are entitled to demand and pay for and also states very explicitly your destination The ordinary team is I three horses and each horse is to be paid for at the rate of a kopeck and a half per verst about a cent and a half per mile The driver expects a small fee at the end of his course so that the expense of being drawn over a Siberian road is about FIVE CENTS A MILE for two persons If the roads are good you are carried along at fine speed especially if youjhint that a liberal fee I will be forthcoming It was not unusual I un-usual to make ten or twelve miles an hoar and not infrequently thirteen miles would be covered in that time The performance of a Russian drive is sometimes trying to a nervou person He descend hills at a breakneck break-neck pace and ia utterly regardless of staking you up Late in winter r the roads are full of hollows or hog wallows especially on the hillside and when a team is driven over them at a gallop the sleigh jumps in a manner a great deal more than ex hilarating As long as the vehicl preserves its integrity the drive pay it no attention This sort of thing brings on what the Russians call the road rever the puhe is high and every bound of the sleigh forces the blood through at a fearful pressure Your bead feels ready to burst and the feeling at each jar of the vehicle is very much as though somebody was trying to drive a railway spike into your skull Toe fever generally subsides in two or three daye but some times it is so severe that the traveler becomes delirious and moat take several hours oi rest at each stage I followed the Russian plan ir preparing for the journey I had fur ajcid over my ordinary ones fur stockings outside the socks and fur boOts enclosing all Over my ordin ary clothing I wore a sheepskin coat with the wool inside and fastened tight around the neck Outside of this was a deerskin coat that touched the ground when I stood erect and was large enough inside for a man and a boy its collar was a foot wide and the sleeveaaix inches longer than the arms inside were very incon venient when I tried to pick up any thing Fur clothing in such amount ia a personal encumbrance but with out it the traveller would sine from the severe cold The lowest tempera curs I experienced the on road 40 ° was below zero A bottle of cham pagne became perfectly solid the first day of tbe sleigh ride and I disc v ered a tendency to crystallization in a bottle of poor brandy that belonged i my companion Though the frost cauijijt peuetrnte 11 travellers furs it constantly assails his face and CONGEALS MOISTURE OF HIS BREATH Beard and furs frequently freeze tc ether and render sudden movement nconvenient i A moustache becaou A doubleended icicle in a short time and a lady will tell you that her veils veil-s soon coverted into a good counterfeit of a wire screen It was a season of fasting when I made my journey and the station could not be relied on fqr any provisions except bread md eggs unless we include hot water for making tea Russians drink vast quantities of tea while traveling and many who are addicted to stimulating drinks while M nome abstain from them altogether on the road and drink nothing but tea We carried j most of our provisions in a frozen Q state and thawed them out at the stations as we wanted them Soup was in cakes like small brioks and roast beef resembled red granite and we had a bag otpilmania a Russian I preparation of little meatballs covered cov-ered with an envelop of dough and this bag was our great reliance The contents were like walnuts from the effects of the frost A double handful dropped in a gallon of water and boiled for five minutes made a substantial sub-stantial soup or stew and we foaund this article of sustenance more convenient con-venient than any other Along the road there wag little change of scenery The country ie undulating but not broken and in some places there are plains tbat re eemble our Western prairies The landscape or rather snowscape is monotonous and wearisome except where it is crossed by rivers and the few ranges of hill along the route The villages containing the stetsons were from ten to twenty miles apart and generally built in a single tee Outside of nearly every village ne 4 ji blockhouse where exiles are lodfc lon l-on their way to the places of tutir banishment the movements of these involuntary emigrants are so timid r that only a given number are lodged in any one house at the same time not so much in consideration ot THE COMFORT OF THE EXILES as through fear of attempts at revolt j and escape While the horses were I being changed t the stations we had the option of t entering the house or staying outside we generally did the i latter excep at meal times as change from several degrees below zero to CO or 70 above ia not altogether agreeable agreea-ble The rooms of Russian bcuses are warmed by brick stoves and among peasants the top of tbe Stave is the favorite sleeping pace At night we used to stir the drivers out from where they were being slowly baked Their toilets were quickly performed as it only included donning don-ning a sheepskin coat and buckling a belt around tee waist and then they were ready for a drive of twc or three hours through unArctio temperature temper-ature The meat perilous part of the journey ia i aero s the Barnbinsky Steppe in Western Siberia a plain a thousand miles wide and often swept by severe storms The snow ia J whirled in blinding masse the wind if blowing from the north is bitter cold and not infrequently men and horses perish Travel ceases during these storms and sometimes those I who venture to brave them never reach their destination Wolves abound here and many stories are I told of their ferocity but they are less dangerous in western Russia where the population is more dense and game less abundant than in Siberia Si-beria even there they never attack men except in the severest winters 1 when hunger has made them desperate desper-ate A LENGTHY JOURNEY I A Siberian journey generally begins be-gins in the evening and is continued day and night till its end The government couriers will go from Irkutsk to Moscow in fourteen or fifteen days under favorable circumstances circum-stances but a more dignified and lesa fatiguing pace will cover the distance i dis-tance in twentytwo or twentyfive days The larger the party the slower will be its progress and it is not likely that Lieutenant Dan en abower and his comrades will arrive at St Petersburg in less than a month from their departure from Irkutsk They will be certain to receive all possible attention from the Russians along the route and it is by no means improbable that they may be detained de-tained a day or two in each of H half a dozen towns in order that the inhabitants in-habitants can have an opportunity of showing their sympathy for the survivors sur-vivors of the Jost Jeannette and their good will for all Americans THOS W Kxox |