282 THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 



The spirit of discovery of the sixteenth century— Yermak— The conquest of 

 Siberia— The treaty of Nertchinsk— Count Muravieflf— Need of com- 

 munications in Siberia — Early railway schemes- The Perm-Tiumen 

 line built— The imperial rescript of March 1891— The cost of the 

 Siberian railway — The price of a ticket — Western Siberia — The 

 settlement of Novo Nicholaewsk— Dairy-farming— The junction for 

 Tomsk — Deficiencies of the railway track — The monotony of the 

 journey — Irkutsk — Its origin — Its present position — Its chief 

 buildings — The gold-smelting laboratory. 



The sixteenth century is one which has left an indelible 

 mark in the annals of Western nations. The spirit of 

 unrest which had long lain dormant in the peoples of 

 Europe burst forth simultaneously in half-a-dozen 

 countries, impelling men irresistibly to leave their 

 homes and penetrate to the uttermost ends of the 

 earth. A veritable lust for discovery set in, fostering 

 in the hearts of the intrepid adventurers of the day 

 seed which was destined to give birth in due course 

 to the empires of the world. So it happened that 

 while the world was still marvelling at the discoveries 

 of John Cabot and Christopher Columbus beyond the 

 Western seas, and speculating on the possibilities 

 opened up by the successful outcome of the daring 

 voyage of Vasco da Gama in the East, there arose, in 

 a wild and lawless district bordering the banks of the 

 Volga and the Don, a man who was destined to set 



