SNOWS***


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FROM PARIS TO PEKIN OVER SIBERIAN SNOWS.


[Illustration: THE MONASTERY OF TROITSA.

                         [_Frontispiece._]

FROM PARIS TO PEKIN OVER SIBERIAN SNOWS.

A Narrative of a Journey by Sledge over the Snows of European
Russia and Siberia, by Caravan Through Mongolia,
Across the Gobi Desert and the Great Wall,
and by Mule Palanquin Through
China to Pekin.

by

VICTOR MEIGNAN,

Edited from the French by William Conn.

With supplementary notes not contained in the original edition.

[Illustration]

With a Map and Numerous Illustrations from
Sketches by the Author and Others.







London:
W. Swan Sonnenschein and Co.,
Paternoster Square.
1885.

Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Limited, London and Aylesbury.




PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.


Embarrassed readers, who delight in books of travel, whether for the
recreation or the useful information they afford, are not relieved of
their difficulty when the title of the work, instead of indicating
the nature of the subject, only presents an enigma for them to solve.
How, for instance, is the reader to gauge the nature of the contents
of “Voyage en Zigzag?” It might mean the itinerary of some crooked
course among the Alps, or, perhaps, the log-book of a yacht chopping
about the Channel, or the record of anything but a straightforward
journey. Again, “By Land and Sea” might simply be the diary of a
holiday trip from London to Paris, or a _réchauffé_ of impressions of
a “globe-trotter,” who went to see what everybody talked about that
he also might talk about what he had seen. Then there are a host of
others, such as “Travels West,” “The Land of the North Wind”--which
one has to discover vaguely by ascertaining first where it does not
blow,--“Loin de Paris,” “Dans les Nuages,” “On Blue Water;” all of
which might be strictly applicable to the metropolitan area if the
water were only just a little bluer. But “Voyage Autour de ma Femme”
is still less intelligible. Is it a book of travel at all, or only
a romance, or a _comédie-vaudeville_? It may not be a _fantaisie_
like “Voyage Autour de ma Chambre,” nor even the record of a journey
necessarily performed within four walls, for--though I have not looked
at the book--it may be the narrative of an unsentimental journey, in
which the tourist had taken a holiday trip all around picturesque
Europe and his wife, leaving her at home; or it may be a sentimental
journey as touching as Sterne’s--a kind of circular tour _en petit_,
circumscribed by the ordinary length of the apron-string; in which
event, a very subjective turn of the _impressions de voyage_ would be
evident; and consequently would not suit readers who decidedly prefer
to regard what is presented from the objective side.

The reader will naturally discover from the title of this book the
traveller’s course, but he will at the same time, no doubt, desire to
know something of the character of the book.

It may gratify him to be told that essentially it is a personal
narrative, that cannot fail to interest those who like in a book of
travel a tale of life full of incident and adventure: it is one in
which his sympathies will be awakened and sustained in following the
traveller in his movements from day to day and from place to place, his
imagination being vividly stirred by the illusion that the participator
is, as it were, in the changing scenes and events passing before his
eyes like the tableaux of a diorama. And yet it must not be supposed,
because the writer’s chief object has been to give an interesting
personal narrative, that it is deficient in useful information: far
from it; but, instead of overcharging his book with minute details,
he has seized the more salient features of men and things. These are
presented from his own point of view as the result of intelligent
observation or discriminating hearsay.

The traveller, who is evidently a most genial companion, passes
lightly and rapidly over the well-known route from Paris to St.
Petersburg and Moscow in the short space of thirty pages. After taking
a glance at the wonders of the Kremlin and the monastery of Troïtsa,
probably the richest religious community in the world, with its heaps
of precious pearls and various gems, he passes on to the famous mart of
Nijni-Novgorod, along the frozen Oka and the Volga, through the country
of the Votiaks, and across the Ural Mountains into Siberia. Posting at
full gallop over the snowy way, sleeping, living altogether in fact, in
his sledge (for the luxury of beds is unknown in Siberian hotels), he
falls in with a series of adventures, sometimes amusing and sometimes
even tragic, in his progress over that vast territory that presents so
many strange races, and, in winter, so many remarkable scenes. At one
time he is in imminent peril of being lost in a snowstorm on the steppe
of Omsk, and at another on the frozen surface of the Baikal. He makes
an excursion on the way amid the wild Kirghiz, gets a peep at the life
of the Polish exiles, and at the gold miners and the people of Irkutsk
in their amusements and occupations. The grand scenes of nature,
particularly at this season, are all duly depicted with the emotion
of one alive to the beautiful and sublime: the wonderful atmospheric
effects of light at a very low temperature, the novel and changing
aspects of the steppes; the startling spectacle of the frozen Angara
and Lake Baikal, the grotesque aspect of the snow-capped forests, and
then, later, the picturesque, verdant valleys of China. In the course
of his journey through Mongolia, he enables us to get a glimpse at
those strange people the Mongols, their tent life, their city of tents,
their incessant prayer-turning as a chief occupation, and the fearful
character of some of their ceremonies. Then, after a caravan journey of
eighteen days across the trackless Desert of Gobi, he arrives at the
great Wall of China, and finally at Pekin, where he contemplates its
curiosities, its works of art, its people, their institutions and their
daily life.

Having thus given an outline of the book and its contents for the
reader’s guidance, I will proceed to explain why I have thought it
advisable to depart from a close imitation throughout of the original,
and to present, in fact, a modified version rather than a strict
translation.

The style of the original, though simple and unadorned, is frequently
slipshod; and the author--contrary to many French travellers, who often
make, and perhaps still oftener attempt to make, the subject of their
narrative a vehicle for epigram and sparkling and spirited diction--has
evidently thought more of conveying a truthful picture to the reader,
than of the mode of expression by which this could be most effectively
done. In many novel and interesting descriptions, for example, the
effect they are capable of producing is almost wholly lost through the
want of a more just co-ordination of parts and subordination of minor
details, and, occasionally, through the want of sufficient expansion,
lest the reader should not have time to contemplate and realize a quick
succession of fleeting images.

These, consequently, are some of the chief points I have attempted to
correct; though in making the attempt, I hope I may not have exposed
myself to an unpleasant suspicion, in the first place, of having
assumed too much assurance in undertaking uninvited to revise the
writing of another, and, in the next place, in certain _tableaux_,
which would be unattractive if obscure or colourless, of having
indulged in a taste for fine writing, when the sole object has been to
place the matter before the reader as lucidly and vividly as possible.

But it will probably more concern the reader to be assured that
the truthfulness of these descriptions, such as represented by the
traveller, has not been distorted in this manner of treating them. On
this point he may readily satisfy himself on taking the trouble to
compare some of them with those in the original edition. He will find,
I hope, that my work has not been in vain, and that I have contributed
something towards rendering more attractive this interesting narrative,
chiefly relating to that land over which Madame Cottin, Xavier de
Maistre, and other writers have thrown a glow of romance.

            WILLIAM CONN.




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER I.

  FROM PARIS TO ST. PETERSBURG.
                                                                    PAGE
  _En route_ by rail--Berlin--Annoyances at the Russian Custom
    House--First aspect of European Russia--An evening on the
    banks of the Neva                                                  1


  CHAPTER II.

  ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW.

  Letters of recommendation for Siberia--M. Pfaffius, frontier
    commissary at Kiachta--Russian music--Arrival at Moscow           19


  CHAPTER III.

  MOSCOW--NIJNI-NOVGOROD.

  The Kremlin--Equipage and visits of the Virgin of Inverski--
    Origin of Christianity in Russia--A few words about Troïtsa--
    A travelling companion--Purchase of furs--Passage of the Oka
    in a sledge--Feeling of terror on first travelling in a sledge
    over a frozen river                                               30


  CHAPTER IV.

  FROM NIJNI-NOVGOROD TO KAZAN.

  The Volga in winter--Varieties of podarojnaia--What is
    necessary for a long sledge journey--Departure from Nijni--
    Posting relays--A momentary thaw--The snow--Arrival at
    Kazan                                                             51


  CHAPTER V.

  KAZAN--JOURNEY TO PERM.

  The Virgin of Kazan--Russian manner of expressing disapproval--
    Dining with a grandee--His description of the enfranchisement
    of the serfs--The Tartars--Journey in a sledge--Caravan of
    exiles--The Votiaks--Aspect of European Russia                    73


  CHAPTER VI.

  PERM--THE ROAD TO CATHERINEBURG.

  Hotel accommodation in Siberia--A councillor--Opinions and
    examples of Russian administration--National music--The
    passion for aggrandizement of territory--Entry into Asia          98


  CHAPTER VII.

  OUR PARTY ON THE ROAD TO TUMEN.

  Trade and manufactures at Catherineburg--Carolling cherubs--
    Christmas at Kamechlof--Grand gala at a posting stage--Tumen
    --Its situation--Its gipsies--Fruit preserved in ice             113


  CHAPTER VIII.

  A PERILOUS NIGHT ADVENTURE ON THE STEPPE OF OMSK.

  An ostentatious Siberian custom--The steppe--The cemeteries
    --Omsk--Its situation--Its society--The emancipation of
    the serfs related by a citizen--M. Kroupinikof--Visit to an
    encampment of Kirghiz--Masquerade at Omsk                        128


  CHAPTER IX.

  THE COLD ON THE WAY TO TOMSK.

  The intense cold--Its inconveniences--The fine effects of light
    at a very low temperature--The baptismal fête of Christ on the
    Obi--Tomsk--Its commerce--An evening on the banks of the
    Tom                                                              156


  CHAPTER X.

  THE GOVERNMENT OF YENISSEISK AND KRASNOIARSK.

  Wretched aspect of the villages of this province--The country
    at last becomes hilly--The night watchers at Krasnoiarsk--M.
    Lovatine’s three collections--A Polish exile’s ball              171


  CHAPTER XI.

  KRASNOIARSK TO IRKUTSK.

  Social position and education of the country people and citizens--
    Uselessness of Siberian forests--Journey to Irkutsk--A pack
    of wolves--Cleanliness of the villages--Congelation of the
    Angara--The government of Irkutsk--The college--The prison
    --The fire brigade                                               184


  CHAPTER XII.

  IRKUTSK.

  The gold miners--Their luxury; their wealth; their wives--A few
    words about the clergy, and the code of religion--The Polish
    exiles--Travelling maniacs--A dinner _en famille_                202


  CHAPTER XIII.

  ATTEMPT AT ESCAPE BY A POLISH EXILE.

  Why the Polish exiles cannot escape--Narrative of an attempt by
    M. Bohdanovitch--Encounter with a bear--Sanitary arrangements
    in Siberia--Wolf hunts--A blue fox--Different values of
    furs--A few words on the passion for displaying riches           222


  CHAPTER XIV.

  IRKUTSK TO LAKE BAIKAL.

  The natives--The Olkhonese--Shamanism--The Buriats--The
    Tungus--The Samoyeds--The Carnival at Irkutsk--Pablo--
    Adieu to Constantine--Another perilous night on the ice of Lake
    Baikal                                                           244


  CHAPTER XV.

  LAKE BAIKAL TO KIACHTA.

  Observations on Eastern Siberia and its inhabitants--Their dream
    of independence--Motives that might contribute to independence
    --Example of the Chinese--The Yakuts and the inhabitants of
    Kamtchatka                                                       266


  CHAPTER XVI.

  KIACHTA TO MAIMATCHIN.

  The tarantass--Tea merchants--Their competition--The Sienzy
    --Aspect of Maimatchin--A dinner at the Chinese Governor’s--
    Preparations for crossing the Gobi desert                        285


  CHAPTER XVII.

  MAIMATCHIN TO URGA.

  First Stage in Mongolia--The Mongols--Their tents; their life
    --How they steer their way in the desert--The Caravan--A
    Sacrilege--The Russian Consul at Urga--The Koutoukta             304


  CHAPTER XVIII.

  URGA AND THE ENTRY INTO THE DESERT OF GOBI.

  Urga--Mongol religion--Praying wheels--Burial ceremonies--
    The Holy Mountain--My travelling companions in the desert--
    Departure from Urga--First halt--A Mongolian repast--Easter
    Eve                                                              321


  CHAPTER XIX.

  CARAVAN ACROSS THE DESERT OF GOBI.

  A Mongolian Prince and his Court--Prayer turning--Our life in
    the desert--The sandy plain--Want of water--Lunar mirage--
    Three executions--A traveller astray in the desert--Arrival
    at Kalkann and the Great Wall of China                           341


  CHAPTER XX.

  FROM THE GREAT WALL TO TCHAH TAO.

  First view of China proper--Last Russian hospitality--The
    Palankeen--The streets of Kalkann--Travelling along the Great
    Wall--The Secret Societies--Chinese art--How order is
    maintained--Origin of the tress--How the titles of Chinese
    nobility become extinct                                          362


  CHAPTER XXI.

  TCHAH-TAO TO PEKIN.

  An exciting incident--The Pass of Nang-kao--Picturesqueness
    of the gorge--A young married couple--The levy of taxes--
    Toun-cheh-ouh--The last solitude--Entry into Pekin--Arrival
    at the Legation                                                  379


  CHAPTER XXII.

  PEKIN--DEPARTURE.

  The Marble Bridge--The Tartar City--Objects of Art--Japanese
    lacquering--Interments--The Observatory--The Imperial
    Palace--The Temples--The four harvests--Kinds of tea--
    Departure from Pekin--Tien-tsin--The sea at last                 395

  NOTES                                                              417


[Illustration: MAP TO ACCOMPANY “FROM PARIS TO PEKIN OVER SIBERIAN
SNOWS.”

London: W. Swan Sonnenschein & Co.]




FROM PARIS TO PEKIN.




CHAPTER I.

FROM PARIS TO ST. PETERSBURG.

  _En route_ by rail--Berlin--Annoyances at the Russian Custom
    House--First aspect of European Russia--An evening on the banks
    of the Neva.


When I had quite made up my mind to pass my winter in Siberia and to
proceed in the following spring to Pekin by Mongolia and the Desert
of Gobi, my friends, hearing of my project, were incredulous of
the steadfastness of my resolution; they shrugged their shoulders,
quivering, perhaps at the prospect of frost-nipped limbs, and wondered
what could induce me to quit the comfortably warmed salons at this
season merely to brave the boreal blasts of so rigorous a climate. So
far as it concerned me, however, this anticipatory cold was not at all
catching, for, indeed, my resolution was then too firmly set to be
shaken by a quivering void of sympathetic influence, or to yield to the
allurements of the most inviting-Parisian _cercle_ or boudoir.

Having therefore already well considered my project, I had decided
on attempting to accomplish it for this reason: I had