DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSIT 149 



with the cutting-out of accessible stocks, Russia will 

 have to draw upon her vast Siberian forests. When 

 all is said that can be said on the subject of past 

 destruction and so forth, they remain, if not inexhaust- 

 ible, at any rate of so vast a size that with proper 

 management they should prove an extremely valuable 

 asset and serve Russia's purpose for many years to 

 come. 



The fact that facilities for the export of timber 

 from these areas are bad or totally wanting has been 

 already alluded to. A certain amount of wood from 

 the Tomsk and Tobolsk Governments has been exported 

 within the last few years via Archangel and Petrograd, 

 but the material requires to be first class to pay for 

 the long transit. The following illustration on the 

 subject of export difficulties places the present position 

 in this respect in a nutshell : 



The export of wood by the rivers Ob and Enessey, 

 i.e. by water carriage, would enormously facilitate 

 and promote the timber trade in the Governments of 

 Tobolsk, Tomsk, and Enessey. Some ten or twelve 

 years ago an attempt was made by a private agency 

 to export timber from the Enessey district to London, 

 but it ended in failure, although a considerable portion 

 of the timber did reach Galchika, a village at the 

 mouth of the Enessey river. The late General Makaroff 

 undertook to place the timber on the steamer for 

 shipment to England, but his attempt was thwarted, 

 as ice prevented the ship from entering the mouth of 

 the river. A few years later a flotilla of ships, equipped 

 by the Ministry of Ways and Communications, suc- 

 ceeded in entering the Enessey, but were unable to 



