CHAPTER II. 



Treparations for the voyage — Leave London for St. Petersburg in .April, 

 1900 — Professor Sliounine's report of Kamchatka — Leave Moscow 

 for the .Siberian frontier — Crossing the Ob — The Central Siberian 

 Railway — The Venissei bridge at Krasnoiarsk — .Arrival at Irkutsk, the 

 capital, with M. Isvolsky, Russian Minister in Japan — Poor accommo- 

 dation — The "Museum" — Professor Pershine's report on mountain 

 game — Start for Lake Baikal — The route described — Crossing the 

 lake — Myssovaia to Stretensk, the terminus of the line — On board 

 the Amur — Steamer aground — At Pokrovskoie — Proceed to Mokho, 

 a Chinese village on the .\mur River — .\ gold-mining district — 

 Arrival at Blagovestchensk — Departure for A'igun — Steaming down 

 the Amur to Radde— Two Cossack hunters — Their report of nati\e 

 game — Reach Khabarovsk, the chief town on the .Amur — Covern- 

 ment House and the Museum — The line to Madivostok, along the 

 Ussuri River, twenty-seven days from St. Petersburg. 



THE object of our trip having been decided upon, 

 and our preparation.s completed in April, 1900, we 

 secured in London the services of a photographer, Mr. 

 Tallent, who consented to accompany us on our long 

 journey, and to whom I leel much indebted tor the 

 excellent series of photographs due to his indefatigable 

 energy. These now appear as illustrations to this 

 volume, and I could hardly have secured a more 

 useful collaboration. Out of some six hundred nega- 



