222 .SIUKUIA. 



I'or Uiis ruasoii in 1890 a cij.stoffiliou.so inspeciion was establislied on the Inuitier bet- 

 WL'on Russia and westoni Cliinu williiii tin; liniiis of Ihe f,'ovi,'rnrnenl of Toiiisk and the 

 provinces of Soniirechinsk and SiMnipalalinsk. This extension of the cusloinhousc line was 

 duo to the desire of preventing Hie diversion of tea Heights from tlie luakhta route to a 

 direction less subjected to cuslonilmuse supervision. It was also discovered that the most 

 advantageous loule lor transporting l<.'a was not tiirough Urga and Kiakhta but through Ulia«!sutai 

 and Kobdo. 'Jliis rmiti' is nnicli sluirti-r tlian that of Kiakhta and at one end of it the goods 

 are delivered at Seini])aluliiisk and at the other at Biisk, from both of which towns there is 

 regular sleanicr service to Tiinicii, tin; freight by steamer or barge to Tiimen being about 

 2') kopecks. Finally, transiiorting tea by this route obviates the necessity of the expensive 

 l)rocess of sewing up the tea in skins, as the Chinese carry the packets in horsecloths or 

 in blankets, which they take back aftorw^ards, and on the steamers or barges it is not neces- 

 sary to take i)recautionaiy measures for preserving the tea. 



This is a brief account of the i)art played by Siberia in the Russian tea trade; it is 

 a very important, and when the Groat Railway Line is opened even as far as Irkutsk, 

 it will assume far greater proportions. 



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