ST. PETERSBURG 31 



singing the Russian National Anthens as they 

 marched. The Russian Customs officials have a 

 reputation for being unmercifully strict, and I was, 

 naturally, rather anxious as to what my experience 

 of their treatment would be. The Customs boat 

 came alongside and several officers took charge of 

 the luggage — ^and of refreshments, the latter being, 

 apparently, an indispensable part of the programme. 

 Our passports were handed by the captain to the 

 Chief Customs Officer. The latter carefully 

 scrutinised each passenger, and on our arrival at 

 Riga handed our pa;pers back to us. My bags were 

 then opened and everything pulled out. Besides my 

 personal luggage I had an Alpine outfit, including 

 a tent, an assortment of tinned foodstuffs, an aneroid 

 barometer, a prismatic compass, a Zeiss binocular, 

 a photographic camera, 30 spools of films, a revolver, 

 200 cartridges, and other things necessary for jny 

 expedition. I explained to the officer in bad Russian 

 that I was bound on a mountaineering expedition, 

 and he at once ordered my things to be put back. 

 In this manner my first impression of Russian 

 officialdom' left nothing to be desired. Driving jto 

 the H6tel de Rome, I had a good view of part of 

 the town. Many of the buildings are very old and 

 include a castle built by the Swedish kings — whose 

 domains once included Riga — some 700 years ago. 

 The remaining buildings are more modern and of 

 rather handsome architecture. They include a huge 

 cold storage warehouse large enough to store 8,600 

 tons of butter. The population of Riga (300,000) 

 consists of Russians, Germans, and Letts. 



A glance at the thermometer outside the hotel 

 windows helps one to bear the excessive heat 

 registered by the ones inside. Thermometers are 

 to be seen everywhere— both inside and outside 

 almost every window. In summer the climate is 



