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

A KALMUCK PRIEST.

"The chief would then see for the first time the uncomfortable situation he would be in with the retirement of his ally; the stronger tribe would assail him, and be all the more bitter against him on account of his alliance with the Russians. He begged the Russians to stay. After some hesitation they consented, provided the management of affairs was handed over to them. They generally received what they wanted, and then proceeded to conquer the other tribe and make themselves master over both.

"Sometimes the Russians follow another policy; they establish themselves with the weaker tribe, make peace between the two factions, and then build a fort and coolly announce that they will remain permanently. The tribes find it useless to resist, and thus they become subject to Russia."

"Don't the English accuse the Russians of stirring up trouble among the Kirghese and Turcoman tribes, so as to have an excuse for interference?" one of the youths inquired.

"I believe they do," the Doctor answered. "The Russians indignantly deny that such is the case; of course they would deny it, even if confronted with unquestionable proof.

SCENE ON THE EDGE OF THE KIRGHESE STEPPE.