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OMSK AND ITS TRAIN OFFlCIAIvS : NEVER IN HASTE 



Photo by E. B. Eobdell 



to European Russia. This tea trade has 

 been pursued for centuries, the trains of 

 tea-loaded camels winding their slow 

 way over the rou^h trails which lead 

 hither from the remote tea-farms of in- 

 land China. Formerly they traveled 

 westward to Irkutsk and Omsk, but now 

 the railway displaces still further the 

 camel, who g-ave way in part to the Suez 

 Canal years ago. 



THE TRANSBAIKAE REGION 



The Transbaikal, a country of great 

 forests with extensive areas of arable 

 land interspersed here and there, 

 charmed all by the quiet beauty of its 

 varied landscapes and its attractive as- 

 pects. Although called a mountainous 

 country in comparison with the low 

 plains of western Siberia, where the 

 highest elevation does not exceed 400 

 feet, the Transbaikal is really a region 

 of moderate hills, like our own Catskills, 

 the highest point on the railway being 

 but 3,100 feet. 



The mountainous regions of Manchu- 

 ria are practically uninhabited, save by 

 wandering hunters and pastoral people, 

 so that the presence of permanent settle- 

 ments and signs of human activities were 

 welcome signs in the Transbaikal scenery. 



In the watershed of the upper Amur, 

 especially in the Ingoda Valley, and 

 within sight of the railway, were lumber 

 camps along and timber rafts on the 

 river, pioneer huts in the forest clearings, 

 small herds of cattle, newly broken land, 

 and quickly growing grain, which marked 

 the western limits of that vast immigra- 

 tion that is rapidly transforming unin- 

 habited Siberia into a land of wealth and 

 prosperity. The cloudless sky, pure air, 

 countless flowers, lofty trees, and lux- 

 uriant vegetation set off to great advan- 

 tage the new country that is passing 

 under the domination of Russian colo- 

 nists. 



Crossing the Ingoda, the thriving town 

 of Karimskaia was reached, whence a 

 branch railway of 177 miles extends to 



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