GLIMPSES OF SIBERIA, THE RUSSIAN 'WILD EAST' 



519 



lovely flower is named 

 after the Virgin Mary 

 and the Loved Disciple. 

 Nature seems to have 

 planned a passing pano- 

 rama of blossoms to de- 

 light the outcasts and pio- 

 neers living in the thinly 

 populated wastes of Si- 

 beria. Every week, it 

 seemed to me, there was 

 another program of wild 

 flowers for the view from 

 my window ; all summer 

 and fall they suggested 

 ever-changing tapestry 

 wrought on a background 

 of verdure, hills, and 

 water. 



SIBERIA IS STEEPED IN 



THE COLOR OF THE 



EAST 



Siberia is, above all, an 

 oriental country. Out 

 there the traveler sees 

 every phantasmagoria as- 

 sociated with the East. 

 Oriental sunsets, equal to 

 any and inferior to none, 

 thrill the senses with 

 splendors of color rang- 

 ing from volcanoes of 

 rubies down to the my- 

 riad mysteries of the 

 kaleidoscope. Then one 

 sees all the peoples of the 

 Orient — Chinese, Japa- 

 nese, Tatars, Manchus, 

 Koreans — men and wo- 

 men of every color and 

 condition. 



For the most part, the 

 Russians have Russian- 

 ized the country. Even 

 so, one could easily be- 

 lieve the Tower of Babel 

 incident to have occurred 

 in Siberia, for one hears 

 so many languages and 

 sees so many different 

 national customs. Chi- 

 nese "sampans" and Japa- 

 nese "dambes'' ride the 

 roadstead of Vladivostok 

 along with Russian craft 

 and American motor- 



