PREFACE a 
When it seemed that we were in difficulties, Her 
Majesty’s Foreign Office and the Russian authorities used 
every effort possible in our behalf. The Royal Geogra- 
phical Society opened a subscription list, and more friends 
than I knew I had responded with wonderful kindness. 
The Committee of the Savage Club were active in making 
our position known in the proper quarters. The Press, 
too, most generously gave much room to our case. And 
in this connection I should like to thank my brother, who, 
from pleasant country pursuits, was called back to London 
and plunged into a merciless correspondence on my 
behalf. Fortunately the event proved these measures 
unnecessary. But I put these efforts on record not only 
because I am grateful, but because it is right that I should 
do so. There is much happiness in the fact that the 
idea of an Englishman abroad in danger is itself a 
claim sufficient upon the practical sympathies of all 
Englishmen at home. Mr. Henry Arthur Cooke, 
British Vice-Consul, who has proved himself often 
before a kind friend to any who visits the remote town 
in which he lives, not only undertook a voyage in the 
hope of relieving us, but showed us constant kindness 
during the whole of our stay in Archangel. I cannot 
thank him sufficiently. 
One of the great charms of travelling in Russia is the 
kindness of the Russian officials. From the highest 
