25th July.—We arrived at Blagovestchensk in the afternoon, and will leave to-morrow at dawn. The Governor and his family came to dine on board.
26th July.—It was about three o’clock in the afternoon when we arrived at Khabarovsk. A great crowd was on the quay to greet us. I was glad to find old friends and bowed and smiled from right to left, shaking hands with people as we passed. I received a whole harvest of flowers.
The railway between Khabarovsk and Vladivostock is opened. Vladivostock can be reached now in four days.
In September Sergy had to go up to Vladivostock, where he had some business to attend to. He sent me news regularly. On the 11th September, the anniversary of our sojourn at Khabarovsk, Sergy thanked me by wire for having shared his exile during a whole year.
The inauguration of the gymnasium for young ladies took place on the 30th August. The head-mistress and the architect who constructed the gymnasium, met us at the door at our arrival, followed by one of the youngest pupils, a pretty little girl, who recited an ode composed in favour of my husband, with a little complimentary address to me, after which the bishop performed a Te Deum before the image of St. Barbara, my Patroness, which was painted from my portrait.
There is a museum at Khabarovsk in which, amongst other local curiosities, I saw horrid busts of different murderers who had died at Khabarovsk during their penal servitude. The most repulsive bust is that of a convict who had killed and devoured his comrade. I could not have believed it possible to put such a thoroughly ferocious creature into wax.
A steamer has just come in, towing a large barge with about one hundred women sentenced to penal servitude, who are to be taken to the Island of Saghalien, where women are in a minority, in order to cohabit with the male convicts.
We were dreadfully struck and grieved to hear of my brother’s death, and soon after came a telegram from St. Petersburg announcing that our Emperor had departed this life. His Majesty fell dangerously ill during his stay in the Crimea, and died in October. The oath of loyalty to Nicholas II., who succeeded to the throne, was given in the cathedral by all the military and civil functionaries serving in Khabarovsk. The town is in mourning; there is not a yard of crape left in the shops. In November the betrothal of Nicolas II. with Princess Alice of Hessen, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, took place.
The “hounhouses” (Chinese bandits) cause a great panic amongst the officials serving on the railway line. Quite recently the brigands attacked a railway station, and murdered the station-master and his family. It was found out that the bandits were Chinese soldiers, by a standard that they had dropped at the station.
On Christmas Eve the village children came up from the nearest villages to sing their carols under our windows. On Christmas night a giant Christmas-tree was set up in our hall for the school children. It was sparkling from top to foot with decorations of fringed and coloured paper and glittering glass-balls; the dark green boughs were hung with gilded apples, pears, walnuts, etc. On the table round the Christmas-tree lay the gifts to the children, who walked into the hall by twos and twos. I handed out the presents to the girls, and Sergy to the boys. Every girl received a present adapted to her wants and her wishes. On Christmas Eve the head-mistress of the gymnasium had disguised her porter into Santa Claus, the children’s friend, who looked a real Father Christmas with a large white beard. The girls had to write a letter to the good saint, and to explain in it what they wanted Santa Claus to send them for their Christmas present. The pupils of the small classes asked for dolls, except one little girl, a premature coquette, who had chosen a looking-glass for her Christmas gift.