44 



The National Geographic Magazine 



more fertile. Not much cultivation but 

 more grazing. This is the country of 

 the Kirghiz. They are cattle-raisers. 

 The prairie is splendid, as good as I ever 

 saw. Lakes and large ponds abound, 

 and in the absence of rivers receive the 

 drainage. 



Thursday, Augusts. — Awakened this 

 morning early by the tug of the cars on 

 the upgrade, and, going out, found that 

 we were climbing the eastern slope of 

 the Ural Mountains. An occasional 



An Oit-burninsf 



Locomotive 

 Railroad 



on the Siberian 



pretty view rewarded me for my early 

 rising. The Urals here are about like 

 the Berkshire Hills. Grass is cut al- 

 most to the top. The passage is not 

 difficult. We are now in Europe, hav- 

 ing passed the boundary post in the 

 night. The Administrative boundary 

 is some 200 miles eastward of Kurgan, 

 where, officially, Siberia begins. All 

 the morning we were running down the 

 valleys, with an occasional pretty, far- 

 reaching view. There is nothing spe- 



cially attractive about the scenery. In 

 the afternoon we came into a splendid 

 farming countty, with the peasant vil- 

 lages and large estates; splendid farms, 

 wretched huts ; wealth for the land- 

 owner, misen 7 and dire povert)' for the 

 land-worker. The density of popula- 

 tion is much more apparent. 



Friday, August g. — Today we are in 

 a country of no wood. As far as the 

 eye can reach, the steppe is brown and 

 bare after the harvest. The villages are 

 numerous, but so dry every- 

 where, and apparently dire pov- 

 erty. The houses are hardly 

 distinguishable from the grain 

 stacks. Roofs of straw, and 

 often mud walls, characterize 

 the houses. Bricks of peat, 

 piled in pyramids drying in the 

 sun, constitute the fuel for the 

 winter. 



Noon. — Have just crossed the 

 Volga, a magnificent river. 

 Later we suddenty ran into a 

 low, swampy section of coun- 

 try and at once splendid tall 

 pine trees appeared and the rest 

 of the day the woods prevailed. 

 Saturday, August 10. — To- 

 day the country is better and 

 more diversified. Apparently 

 few people live outside of the 

 towns and peasant villages. . 

 Vast tracts are farmed, enor- 

 mous herds of cattle roam the 

 grazing land, but the man be- 

 hind the hoe is in poverty and 

 hunger. 

 We arrived at Moscow at 7 p. m. 



RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT 



Whatever I have given of description 

 of Siberia may be applied in added de- 

 gree to Manchuria, which is now and 

 hereafter will be a part of Asiatic Rus- 

 sia. I say in added degree, because 

 of its more southern location and con- 

 sequent milder winter climate. Both 

 countries possess a fertile soil, abundant 



