A Trip Through Siberia 



4 1 



and in an alluvial country 

 again. The river still holds 

 its great width. 



Wedjiesday and Thursday, 

 July 10 and ii. — Surroundings 

 similar to foregoing. 



Friday, July 12. — Reached 

 Blagovestchensk ; city a fine 

 one; good buildings, wide 

 streets, and excellent stores. 



Saturday, July ij. — Left Bla- 

 govestchensk at 8 p. m. 



Sunday, July if. — Evening. 

 The banks are again steep, and 

 low mountains appear on both 

 sides of the river. The cur- 

 rent runs very swiftly. 



Monday. July ij. — Noon : 

 Mountains bordering river on 

 the south side, prairie on the 

 north. Evening : Mountains 

 change to the north side. 



Tuesday, July 16. — The enor- 

 mous horseflies, fully an inch 

 long, have been exceedingly 

 annoying all day. 



Wednesday, July ij. — The most in- 

 teresting thing in natural scenery has 

 appeared today — the so-called White or 

 Tsaigon Mountains. They are uneven 

 hills of sand rock, at least 500 feet high, 

 bordering the river, and continually 

 breaking off and wearing away. They 

 show the strata, and layers are seen 

 which seem to be on fire. The smoke 

 is visible at points in the daytime, and 

 it is said that fire is seen at night. I 

 think that instead of being burning coal, 

 as claimed, it is discoloration from hot 

 springs, which exude vapor like the 

 mud springs of the Yellowstone. Flies 

 and mosquitoes abound. 



Thursday and Friday , July 18 and ig. 

 — River very shallow and progress slow. 

 Smoke from burning forests somewhere, 

 vefy dense, compelling us to stop. 



Sunday, July 21 . — Reached Albasin 

 and Reinovo. 



Monday, July 22. — Day delightfully 

 cool . The scenery .while not remarkable , 

 has been more attractive than before. 



Stuck on the Amur 



Tuesday, July 2j. — Reached Povrosk, 

 the junction of the Shilka and Aigun 

 Rivers. The character of the country 

 thus far can be somewhat judged by the 

 fact that though we have sailed the 

 Amur 1,200 miles nearly, we have not 

 seen a single waterfall on either bank. 



Evening : The Shilka thus far prom- 

 ises to be much more picturesque than 

 the Amur, the mountains higher and 

 banks bolder. The river runs in a 

 single course between high banks, the 

 views are far-reaching and the moun- 

 tains, though not grand, are beautiful. 



Wednesday, July 24.. — The scenery 

 still continues pretty, but not what 

 would be considered grand or magnifi- 

 cent. 



Thursday , July 25 . — Fenced land and 

 here and there a good farm can be seen. 

 We are evidently approaching a more 

 settled country. The scenery has been 

 good today, and all indications have 

 been those of a good hill-farm section. 



Friday, July 26. — Arrived at Stre- 

 tensk at 12.30. It is a small place of 



