Burton Holmes on the Trans-Siberian Railroad

Chapter 12: Streyetensk and the Shilka

But we did not fully appreciate the value of his good-will and eagerness to be of service to the strangers in a strange land, until after our arrival in Stryetensk at the conclusion of
Three of a Kind
THREE OF A KIND
the four-day journey from Irkutsk. Stryetensk on the Shilka River was the Trans-Siberian terminal in July, 1901; but since we passed by that way, the Manchurian Line which branches off some distance west of the town of Stryetensk has been practically

Mongolians
MONGOLIANS

On the Platform
ON THE PLATFORM

Beginning of the Manchurian Line at Kaidalovo
BEGINNING OF THE MANCHURIAN LINE AT KAIDALOVO

Streyetensk
STREYETENSK
completed, and over it the trains will soon be running direct to Vladivostok. Russia has abandoned the continuation of the line down the Shilka River to the Amur, and thence
along the Amur's banks to Khabarovsk, the northern terminus of the Ussuri line, from Vladivostok. The Manchurian agreement, enabling Russia to extend her railway across what is nominally a Chinese province, has rendered this longer route superfluous. In the summer of 1901, however, the tide of travel was still flowing down the waterways. As we soon discover, it is not flowing easily—there is both a boat- and a water-famine on the river. There is A Mendicant
A MENDICANT
Streyetensk on the Shilka
STREYETENSK ON THE SHILKA

Our Friend the Professor
OUR FRIEND THE PROFESSOR
Istvostchik
ISTVOSTCHIK
very little water in the shallow Shilka, and as a result no boats in port.The post-boat had left the day before our arrival, carrying off the friends who had not lingered in Irkutsk but had hastened on to make sure of the official steamer. We had taken our chances of catching it; and had lost not only the
steamer but also the receipt for one of our trunks; and here it was that the professor proved himself more than a friend and brother, for he devoted two days of time and all his skill and patience to getting that unhappy trunk from the official meshes of red tape in which it seemed inextricably entangled.

Illustrating the Novel Siberian Ferry System (Left)
ILLUSTRATING THE NOVEL SIBERIAN FERRY SYSTEM (LEFT)

Illustrating the Novel Siberian Ferry System (Right)
ILLUSTRATING THE NOVEL SIBERIAN FERRY SYSTEM (RIGHT)

This meant many wild-goose chases up and down the town, the signing of many petitions, declarations, affidavits, releases, and receipts; a call upon the Ataman or Cossack commander (for Stryetensk is not officially a town, it is merely a Cossack settlement), a parley with the station-master, gifts to all his underlings—in fact, an infinity of troublesome detail through which the kind professor glided unruffled, like the patient, polite Russian that he was. Fortunately, we could not express ourselves in Russian, or we should be still in Streyetensk, waiting for the authorities to forget and forgive what we had said, and to render up at last the captive trunk.

In Midstream
IN MIDSTREAM

To us the most interesting feature of Stryetensk was the ferry. Never shall we forget our initial crossing of the Shilka in the darkness of the night of our arrival. Sitting on top of our innumerable bags and boxes, piled high on two

Wagons Boarding Ferry
WAGONS BOARDING FERRY

Troika coming Ashore
TROIKA COMING ASHORE

barbaric wagons, we were whirled down a steep embankment, then out into the river, the water rising to the wagon-floor, then up a steep incline to the deck of an overcrowded barge, which slowly swung part way across the stream, and there discharged its cargo, the horses and wagons splashing through the shallows, and jolting over submerged boulders until the shore is gained. Experienced by day all this may be amusing; but in the pitchy darkness of a stormy night, when one cannot see ten feet ahead, it is, to tired travelers, an ordeal almost terrifying.


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