I'li.itu by !•:. i;. LobdfU 

 pione;e;rs awaiting their train : Siberia 



The vast crowds of immigrants are rapidly transforming Siberia into a land of wealth and 



prosperity (see page 1085) 



merchant, the silent Korean and com- 

 placent Japanese, the somber English 

 official and the active American tourist. 

 A 4-berthed compartment of our Sibe- 

 rian train received as occupants a Japa- 

 nese, a German, an Italian, and an Aus- 

 tralasian, no two of whom could speak 

 the same language. The Mukden route 

 is fast gaining favor, as from Harbin one 

 reaches Peking in two days at an ex- 

 pense of $29, first-class. 



OUT OE MANCHURIA 



After crossing the Nonni River near 

 Tsitsihar, the prairie soon gives place to 

 a hilly ascending country, where from 

 time to time there were interesting 

 glimpses of weird Bouriat camps. Occa- 

 sionally parties were seen on the march, 

 all mounted, as the women are expert 

 riders. Novel in costume and pastoral 

 in tastes, they yield slowly to Occidental 

 civilization. 



The country becomes more rugged 

 and the route more circuitous as we as- 

 cend the eastern flanks of the Great 



Khingan range, where the summit is 

 pierced by a tunnel two miles in length 

 at an altitude of about 3,500 feet. Dense 

 forests, wild torrents, narrow valleys, 

 and sharply uprising ridges are the sali- 

 ent features of the western slopes, wel- 

 come changes from the treeless plains of 

 central Manchuria. 



Between the greater and less ranges 

 of Khingan the railway crosses a corner 

 of the eastern Gobi Desert, which there 

 resembles closely the so-called desert of 

 our Rocky Mountain regions, with more 

 or less vegetation and an occasional 

 shrub or stunted tree. With the view 

 vanished childish illusions wherein the 

 Gobi Desert was pictured as the dreariest 

 and most desolate region of the world. 



The prolonged stay at Manchuria, the 

 customs station on the Russo-Chinese 

 frontier, was not without interest. The 

 accustomed tediousness of such exami- 

 nation was reduced to the minimum by 

 the marked courtesy of the inspectors. 



There were hundreds of small bales 

 of caravaji-tea awaiting shipment by rail 



1083 



