A Trip Through Siberia 



47 



Oriental languages are all under 

 construction, and its streets are 

 being regraded and adapted to 

 the city as it will be in the fu- 

 ture. The city is built on the 

 southern slope of a high bluff 

 stretching around a branch of 

 the harbor, which is appropri- 

 ately named the Golden Horn. 

 Good curbs and gutters in the 

 main streets and plank side- 

 walks throughout the city man- 

 ifest a proper public spirit, and 

 a most excellent opera which 

 we had the pleasure of attend- 

 ing proved that the esthetic side 

 of life is not neglected. In- 

 deed, as a people, the Russians 

 are passionately fond of music. 

 Few things are more inspiring 

 than to see a Russian regiment 

 march at swinging step to the 

 music of their own songs, and 

 I shall never forget the grand 

 chorus of the evening prayers, 

 in which the crew and passengers daily 

 joined on the River Amur, or the glo- 

 rious even-song of the choir of monks 

 at the Alexander Monastery at St. 

 Petersburg. 



The wearing of a 

 universal in Siberia 

 military life, and from the common 

 laborer to the governor at least seven 

 tenths of the men wear upon their cap 

 or belt a badge which indicates their 

 occupation, and respect is paid accord- 

 ingly. Wherever the picture of the 

 Emperor is seen, the cap must be doffed, 

 and always in the presence of an cikon 

 the cap removed and the sign of the cross 

 made. The marvelous frequency of 

 both of these objects, indoors as well as 

 out, and the continuous bowing and pos- 

 turing of the people becomes comical 

 rather than serious to the stranger, and 

 he wonders whether they are as pious 

 and reverential as they seem. 



I presume the governor in Vladivostok 

 outranked the postmaster, but his epau- 

 lets were not so large nor his uniform so 



uniform is almost 

 in civil as well as 



Opera House at Irkutsk 



gorgeous. My first purchase in Siberia 

 was a postage stamp, and living in a 

 country where officials are public serv- 

 ants, and where postmasters take off 

 their hats to the people, it seemed 

 strange to me to stand with hat re- 

 moved before a counter, behind which 

 a man sat with his cap on, dressed like 

 a major-general, and graciously con- 

 sented to sell me one five-cent stamp, 

 and I was then permitted to withdraw 

 and recover when at the door. 



But great as the postmaster is, he is 

 nothing compared to the army officer. 

 On one extremely hot day on the Amur 

 a wealthy merchant was lying on a sofa 

 in the cabin. He had removed his coat 

 in order that he might enjoy a comfor- 

 table nap. A lieutenant in the army, 

 traveling third-class as a deck passen- 

 ger, happened to go by the door, and 

 seeing him in his shirt sleeves, and just 

 above his head a picture of the Emperor 

 hanging on the wall, awoke him and 

 ordered him to put on his coat in the 

 presence of the Emperor. The man 



