EN ROUTE FOR SIBERIA 45 



One of the most striking features of this wonderful 

 country is its immensity. The Governments into 

 which it is divided for purposes of administration 

 must be imagined in terms of countries of the size 

 of France and Germany. Thus, the Government 

 of Tobolsk is four times the size of Germany, yet it 

 is only a little more than one-half of Western 

 Siberia, while Eastern Siberia is three times as large 

 again as the Western portion and twelve times the 

 size of Germany. The north-west portion of the 

 Asiatic steppes is the smallest, being nearly twice 

 as large as Germany, while the Amur-Littoral region, 

 which includes the Trans -Baikal and the convict 

 island of Sakhalin, is more than twice as large 

 again. 



The climatic conditions of the various parts of 

 Siberia vary more than those of Europe. On the 

 authority of a member of the Royal Geographical 

 Society the coldest place in the world is in Central 

 Siberia, where the temperature has been registered 

 at 83° Fahr. below zero. This is 30 degrees colder 

 than Mr. Harry de Windt's coldest place in the 

 world, north of Yakutsk. These figures are the 

 result of observations made over a considerable 

 period during the winter months by Mr. Cattley, 

 F.R.G.S. Contrary to the popular idea, it is one of 

 the hottest countries in the world in the summer. 

 Although it i^ a mistake to suppose that Siberia 

 enjoys an abnormal monotony of cold weather, it is 

 true that, latitude for latitude, it is the coldest country 

 in the world, and its rivers and lakes freeze to the 

 bottom from four to six months of the year, accord- 

 ing to the locality. By a beneficent provision pf 

 Nature the coldest days are also the calmest, so 

 that, the air being still and very dry, it is possible, 

 if sufficiently warmly clothed, to feel quite com- 

 fortable. Many of my Siberian friends asserted that 



