330 
tives which Jed me to. undertake and 
accomplish so arduous a journey, as 
wellas of the fidelityof my descriptions 
of it, Jofeel myself vealled upon’ to en- 
deavour! tocobviate!any such tendency, 
and this the: moresespecially, asthe re- 
sults of the journey in| question are 
likely to be*brought: before the: public; 
you will therefore ‘oblige ‘me by insert- 
ing im your! Magazine ‘the present reply 
to Captain 'C.’sobservations: 
In the'first place; however; I'beg ‘to 
remark, that Iccannot divine! the state of 
feeling? by ' which» Captain C2 was) actu- 
ated while writing the passage in ques- 
tion, which appears to be:composed of 
compliment and! sarcasm, mixed up with 
an affectation ‘of pity, and intimations 
that’ whatever ‘I might collect must be 
of a spurious’ character: 
Great‘as' my’ affliction may be, Mr. 
Editor;'I beg tovassure you, that I nei- 
ther'seek for nor require the pity of any 
man;‘and although I: by ‘no means reject 
the ‘sympathy. of ‘my friends, yet I feel 
that if it were'not-expressed with greater 
delicacy ‘of ‘sentiment than Captain C. 
appears to: possess, it would be more 
chillingto'omy heart: than the freezing 
blasts-of a Sibevian winter. 
Captain’ C) cannot conceive my ob- 
ject “ in’ going to Siberia.” A question 
of ‘similar’ import has frequently been 
put to me, with respect'to the motives 
that ‘induced that gentleman to under- 
take the same journey; and I must con- 
fess, I» have been equally at a loss to 
account for them—a fact which might 
convince the Russian Government that 
we. were not, as has been intimated, 
acting in concert. He adds, ‘however, 
I suppose by way of a reverse explana- 
tion, that’ ‘he may go there as well as 
any where else, for he will see just as 
much, but there is’ so little to be seen 
by those who have’ even ‘the: use of their 
eyes, that I cannot divine what interest 
he can ‘have to attempt it.” 
Now as Captain’ Ciadmits there is 
little to be seen, I think my prospects 
were likely to: be nearly,as good: as his 
own, | Ne 
_ Captain C. then: proceeds as follows : 
_ If his journal, which may be made’ in- 
teresting,’ be ‘composed of: hearsay, ‘as’ it 
certainly cannot; be of-ocular evidence, he 
will indeed have enough to do.to record the 
information he may receive, and which can 
only proceed from exiles and criminals, and 
consequently is riot implicitly to ‘be relied 
on, particularly situated as he is, possessing 
hardly sufficient knowledgé of the Russian 
language to duly appreciate the value’ of 
such hearsay information. This manu- 
Mr. Holman’s Remarks on his Journey to Siberia. 
[Nov. 1, 
script must become voluminous, and. of 
course too bulky to be sent by private 
hands,;.it. can, only,, therefore, be sent by 
post, where, without doubt, it, will, be sub- 
ject to the examination of those whose duty 
it is to Inspect documents of such a nature 
as_this is likely to be, and will be treated 
according to its merit. In évery country, 
even in England, we find ‘that foreigners 
should be careful of what they do, ‘as well 
as’ of what -they write; if they! wish their 
packets a’ safe arrival) at ‘their ‘destination, 
they should take care that nothing offensive 
to the government be: inserted, for fre- 
quently, as in. England, truth is.a, libel, and 
the greater the truth the greater the libel. 
Whether Mr, Holman has already learnt 
this useful, and to trayellers necessary, les- 
son, time will deyelope;,if so, he.may go 
where he will, and be received by every 
person in the empire with open arms and 
warm hearts. 
The barrenness of these observations 
every one willbe sensible of; they are, 
however, so’ ‘contradictory in their im- 
port, that I am at a loss: to: conceive 
what we are to understand from them. 
Captain C. asserts, for instance, that 
my information must be ‘hearsay, when 
he has just accused me of not knowing 
the language in which this ‘hearsay in- 
formation is to be communicated 5 surely 
this is paradoxical !' Besides, he adds, 
that “it can only proceed from exiles 
and criminals, sia consequently is "not 
implicitly to be relied on.” Are: we to 
infer that Captain Cochrane’s own infor- 
mation was derived from such ‘sources? 
And if so, what becomes of the’ veracity 
of his journal ?'T can‘only assure him, 
that the chief of my gleaningsthaye:been 
collected from the purest:sourees—the 
principal inhabitants of theocountries I 
travelled through, as well ‘as ‘somevof 
the most respectable officers. in*his:Im- 
perial Majesty’s'service..0' (sono0) 
Captain Cochrane’s' speculations»con- 
cerning the voluminous’ nature of: my 
notes, and the necessity’ and’ difficulty 
of concealing them’ fromo the =vigilant 
eye of the Russian ‘Government, ‘ate 
equally futile, and show how/improperly 
he estimates my judgment» and) expe- 
rience in travelling, and’also' the method 
by which I preserve from such viola- 
tions the materials I may happen'to’ col- 
lect’; the latter, it is true; FT effect «upon 
a principle which might not haveentered 
into his contemplation, ‘that of deposit- 
ing them, ina portable ‘and‘anvisible 
form, within the cavity of my cranium ; 
aplan which,’ however, did not suggest 
itself from ‘any sinister*motive, but’ ori- 
‘ginated “from the’ peculiarity ofmy 
situation precluding me from eommit- 
ting 
