236 SIBERIA. 



also assumed laig<! tiirnonsions only from Iho momcni wlnu ih<' Volunteer Fleet estab- 

 lished regular commiinieutiori beiwet-n Odessa and Vladivostok, calling at several Chinese 

 polls oil the way. This iii^tiiiitioii, called into existence in JB78 during the last Eastern war 

 with the object ol' perlormJng Hk- duty (d cruisers in war lime and having commercial ohjects 

 in lime of peace, cerlainly gave a gi'cat impulse to the coniiecling of Euntpean Russia with 

 the Far East, and strengthened the influence of Russia in the waters of ihe Pacific Ocean. 



The Volunteer Fleet, whose ships are completely adapted to long ocean voyages, is 

 oveiy year increasing its activity in the conveyance of passengers and goods from the ports 

 of the Black Sea to Vladivostok and Nikolaevsk. The number of persons carried hardly reach- 

 ing 1,300 in 1882, in 1892 rose to 7,000, while tlie (niaiitiiy of cargo lor the same period 

 rose from 4,800 to 780,000 pouds. This is, in no small degree, due to the comparatively low 

 IVeights for a distance of over 10,000 English miles, a voyage taking about 40 days. The 

 cabin passenger pays 5CKJ roubles, includiug food for the voyage from Odessa to Vladivostok; 

 the deck passenger, 100 roubles for the same distance, also with food. Cargo is charged 30 

 to 40 kopecks a pond. 



Now the Volunteer Fleet disposes of nine steamers, with a total tonnage of 30,000 tons, 

 and nevertheless it barely satisfies the demands maile upon it. Thanks to its activity. Eastern 

 Siberia now receives a mass of necessary articles from European Russia and not from abroad, 

 and European Russia gets Chinese tea much cheaper than by land. 



The survey of the land communications must necessarily be short. In virtue of historic- 

 ally constituted circumstances but one road passes through Siberia, at all deserving attention, 

 this being the so-called Great Siberian Tract, joining Moscow with Irkutsk, or more exactly 

 with Kiakhta, as over it more than anything else are transported the teas going from China 

 through Kiakhta. Within the actual limits of Siberia it commences at Tinmen and passes 

 through Yalutorovsk, Ishim, Tiukalinsk, Kainsk, Kolyvan, Tomsk, Mariinsk, Achinsk, Krasno- 

 yarsk, Nizhiicoudinsk. In this direction also took place the principal- colonization of Siberia. Hence 

 one road goes to Kiakhta and contiinies further into the Celestial Empire, while another goes 

 to Baikal, upon which in summer there is steam communication, and in winter by sledge, 

 there is also a road round Baikal passing through an extremely irregular country. Further 

 on, the post road from Verkneoudinsk to Sretensk traverses very difficult places, where some- 

 times no snow whatever falls, in consequence of which in winter the driver is not seldom obliged 

 here to carry his sledge on a cart, or on the other hand to put the cart on runners. The 

 thinness of the population in the country along this road, inhabited mainly by vagrants, makes 

 the conveyance of freights extremely difficult and expensive. From this point to Khabarovka 

 the road follows the Amour, but few make any use of it. In summer, people prefer to take 

 advantage of the water communication, in winter they travel in sledges over the ice, and 

 only the break-up of the ice or some other hard necessity, forces them to turn to the nat- 

 ural earth road. The further communication with the terminal points of Siberia. Nikolaevsk 

 and Vladivostok, is carried on in summer by water and in winter on the ice. In autumn 

 and spring almost all communication is stopped here. 



From the route just mentioned, especially from the Great Siberian Tract, at various 

 points branch lesser tracts serving as feeders, but not one of them is distinguished by the 



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