84 SIBERIA 



result in the line being blocked. Far from such 

 being the case, the whole stretch has worked very 

 well indeed. The bulk of goods, with the exception 

 of butter, was sent by the ordinary post road, as 

 in pre -railway days, but the authorities evidently 

 regard the butter trade as of the first importance 

 to the country and have never ceased to run seven 

 to eight trains per week during the whole period that 

 the war has been in progress, conveying enormous 

 quantities. Butter coming to the railway from 

 distances of five and six hundred miles reaches the 

 English market with little or no delay, and one pf 

 the most southerly towns of iWestern Siberia— 5emi- 

 palatinsk-^sent large quantities of produce to this 

 country. Although the British public has displayed 

 considerable sympathy with the Japanese in the 

 present struggle, British merchants have not lost 

 faith in the Siberian business man and Russian 

 trade, as they have opened credit accounts with the 

 banks in all the leading towns of .Western Siberia. 

 These banks have been conducted in a highly credit- 

 able manner, and the trade is rapidly acquiring full 

 confidence in them ; so much so, that "British buyers 

 do not hesitate to advance 90 per cent, of the value 

 upon butter bought by them in these remote parts. 



The territory of Semipalatinsk is well supplied 

 with lakes and riviers. The Irtish, which takes its 

 source in the Chinese Empire, flows through the 

 territory for a distance of 766 miles, and is navigable 

 throughout its entire course. Of the lakes, the most 

 important is Lake Balkash, which is situated at an 

 elevation of 500 feet and covers an area of 10,196 

 square miles. Lake Marka-Kul is 200 square miles 

 in extent and lies in a mountain hollow, surrounded 

 by high ridges, at an elevation of 5,700 feet. These 

 are two of the largest lakes, and as they contain 

 large quantities of salt in solution the salt industry 



