The Boy Travellers in The Russian Empire / Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey in European and Asiatic Russia, with Accounts of a Tour across Siberia, Voyages on the Amoor, Volga, and Other Rivers, a Visit to Central Asia, Travels among the Exiles, and a Historical Sketch of the Empire from Its Foundation to the Present Time

by Thomas Wallace Knox

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "The Boy Travellers in the Far East" (five volumes) and "The Boy Travellers in South America" (one volume). Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to and through Japan, China, Siam, Java, Ceylon, India, Egypt, Palestine, Central Africa, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, Brazil, and the Argentine Republic. New York. Harper & Brothers.

[2] Recently the Government decided to establish a Siberian university. It was to be opened at Tomsk in 1886, but there was great opposition to it by a large and influential party, who claim that a Siberian university would be a great peril to autocracy in Russia. They look upon Siberia as the source of many liberal, and therefore dangerous, ideas, and say the new university will greatly facilitate their development.

[3] "Free Russia," by Hepworth Dixon, p. 275.

[4] Referring to the battle between the Constitution and Guerriere, August 19, 1812.

[5] The fire occurred on July 6th and 7th, 1879. About thirty-six hundred buildings were destroyed, of which one hundred and more were of stone or brick, and the rest of wood. Six Russian churches were burned, and also two synagogues, one Catholic and one Lutheran church; five bazaars, the meat-market, museum, club-house, custom-house, and other public edifices were consumed. The loss was about fifteen millions of dollars, and many persons formerly in good circumstances were rendered penniless. The wealthy inhabitants who escaped loss or ruin gave liberally to relieve the general distress, and the Government made substantial provision for the unemployed.

[6] Since the above was written, the author has received a letter from M. Nicolai Ostrowski, Director of the Ural Railway, which says, "Since October 1, 1878, Perm and Ekaterineburg have been united by the Ural Railway. Since January 1, 1886, trains have been running regularly between Ekaterineburg and Tumen. A line is under construction from Samara to Ufa, which will probably be extended to Ekaterineburg or Tcheliabinsk, to form a direct line in the direction of Omsk, the capital of Occidental Siberia."

[7] In an article in Harper's Magazine for March, 1886, Mr. William Simpson, an English artist and journalist, who went to the Afghan frontier with the Boundary Commission, says it is only within a couple of years that the raiding was brought to an end. He frankly credits Russia with the suppression of the raiding system, and says she deserves the thanks of the civilized world.

[8] Marvin's "The Russians at the Gates of Herat."

[9] Early in 1886 the Central Asian Railway was completed to Kaakha, a distance of 590 versts (390 miles) from Mikhailovsk. The line was completed to Merv in April, 1886, and the echoes of the Turcoman oasis were awakened by the shriek of the locomotive. At the latest advices work was being pushed between Merv and Chardjuya, on the Oxus, and General Annenkoff had promised to complete the line to the banks of the historic river before the end of the year. The Emir of Bokhara has agreed to provide the material for a bridge across the Oxus, and the Russian engineers have completed the survey of the line as far as Samarcand. It is hoped that the railway will reach Bokhara and Samarcand by the end of 1887. The entire railway as planned will extend from Mikhailovsk, on the Caspian, by way of Kizil Arvat (245 versts), Askabad (445 versts), Kaakha (590 versts), to Merv (770 versts, or 510 miles); thence to Chardjuya, on the Amoo Darya (Oxus), and Bokhara to Samarcand, a total distance of 1065 versts (700 miles), of which no less than five-sevenths is practically now completed. All the rails, sleepers, and rolling material for the Trans-Caspian Railway are supplied from the Russian Crown depots. Apart from this, the total cost of making the line from the Caspian to the Oxus is estimated at 12,250,000 roubles, or about 16,000 roubles per verst.

The Russians have a grand scheme for another line of railway through Asia, which was originally proposed by M. de Lesseps. The first step would be to complete the railway connection along the lower Volga, between Tsaritsin and Astrachan. The Asiatic line would start from Astrachan, pass through Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand into Chinese Turkestan, where it would touch Tang-Kissar, Kashgar, and Yarkand, in addition to other cities and towns of lesser note. It would skirt the shores of Lake Lob, and after descending the valley of the Kan (Han) terminate at Hankow, on the banks of the Yang-tse-Kiang, six hundred miles above the mouth of the great river of China.