N o rt h e r n Hi g h w a y o f T he T sar BY AUBYN IREVOR- IjATTYE - r w - AUT HOR OF lcD BOUND 01! (014603? ” SAILOR. W ITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR N o rt h e r n Hi g h w a y o f T he T sar BY AUBYN TREVOR BATTYE fl- AUTHOR OF ICl -BOUND ON KODGUI V ” SAILOR. W ITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR b D W E STM INSTER ARCH IBALD CONSTABLE 8: CO 2 W H ITE HALL GARDENS 1 898 Sh i r t) BUTLER TANNB R. THE SELW D PRINTING W RK S OO O . FROMB AND L ND N . O O . INSCRIBED B Y G R A CIO U S PE R M ISS IO N TO HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF RUS S IA PRE FACE S OME o f the critics who reviewed Ice-bound on K ogmw were so kind as to express a wish that the author would write a sequel describing his subsequent journey through the tundras and forests o f high Northern f Russia, and many riends demanded the The s e n same. latter was as plea ing an u co rag e me nt as the other a pleasing surprise. Yet succeeding travels and much occupation have made it difficult before this to put into a readable form the events recorded in the f o . f diary that journey One word, there ore, about this account. There are five seasons in the year in vii PREFACE — f f Northern Russia our our, and a fi th , Ras tn a Ra s u n a pu y by name . p t y means “ o f literally the parting the ways, and is fo r w u used a period bet een aut mn and winter. Travelling by one o f the high northern trails is easy enough in summer when the ground f is dry and firm , is delight ul in winter when i w v the sleighs gl de over the sno , and o er the ice o f lake or river ; but in Rasputnya it is n o t f easy , it is very di ficult. and no one f f dreams o moving then . It is reezing one day and thawing the next, the ice charged fo r all rivers are dangerous boats , and the land is morass and swamp. During the whole o f October the Government postal o ff service is stopped , labour contracts are , and the keepers o f the stages are entirely freed from their usual obligation to supply T the traveller with horses or sleighs. his x e plains why, when an inquiry as to my PREFACE e fro m whereabouts was mad England, the inevitable answ er came that no new s could w m f arrive till the s a ps were rozen up. Certainly no Russian could imagine any person rash enough to try and travel then . But an Englishman is proverbially obstinate ; a I and me ntime , through these swamps was pushing on inch by inch by various shifts o f and devices . It is these that the story tells . The experience taught me more o f the ’ Russian peasa nt s character than could pos sib ly have been learnt u nder more favourable o f If chances travel . the reader will bear in mind that I was travelling in defiance o f all tradition, custom, and common sense , and that not one o f those I met was under any com ulsion p to lend me a hand , he will then ho w see good, on the whole, are the qualities f far- to be ound even among this away, isolated PREFACE ' as Of the R o cza ls I pe antry. ussian fii need T not speak. hey were, as I have always f m ound the , kindness , courtesy, and even f generosity itsel . I hope this little book will not be found uninteresting ; it rests its claims on Ras utn a Ras utn a . p y , and on p y alone As w A is well kno n , the late Emperor lex III w ander . al ays had much at heart the welfare o f the wild region here described ; f s there is, there ore, a double intere t in the acceptance o f the dedication o f this book by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Nicholas . It would ill become me not to add, u nder a loyal sense o f a characteristic kind ness, that this honour is directly due to the personal intervention o f His Royal Highness the o f Duke York. C O N T E N T S CHAPTER VII A TOWN or THE OLD BELI EVERS CHAPTER VIII RASPUTNYA CONTENTS PAG CHAPTER IX HEADING FOR HOME CHAPTER X HAP r DE T A C TER o ACCI N S . CHAPTER XI HARD FACTS CHAPTER XII OLD FRIENDS AGAIN CHAPTER XIII A FRAGILE BRIDGE CHAPTER XIV A TRAGEDY CHAPTER XV To THE WHITE SEA CHAPTER XVI ARCHANGEL CHAPTER XVII To VOLOGDA CHAPTER XVIII Ar rER NOTE IN prepa ring Me accompa ny ing M ap of Me r iver s t m o Nor M West Russia I Iza ve Mo u y s e f , g ltt it better to omit all but Me more im orta nt n p a mes. l e na mes of Me va rious sma ll tr ibuta ries ref erred to in Me a ccount w ould only spoil Me clea rness of Me la n a nd Me sa me ma be sa id o sto in p , y f pp g For sa me rea son I Iza ve omitted places. Me Me n e o b ill T[u se re v r low a Me b i /ze ra s s. a e t st g f y g . Tb e smaller rivers g enerally rise in sw a mp or lo w It is a lw ay s difiicuIt to know w lteMe r to spell ro er na mes a s Me sound to E n lislt ea rs o p p . y g , r Tnus no tra veller w ould reco n ise i correctly . g n ‘ Askino a villag e un iversa lly called Obs/tin by eo le Mere et Me ormer is corr ect B u Me . t p p y f , Me w /zo le it Iza s seemed best to kee as ne on , p a r Me R ussia n a s may be a nd I a m indebted to my riend M r B r le H od etts a n accom lis/ze . a d f , y y g , p R ussia n sc/zola r or kind overha ulin m R ussia n , f ly g y na mes . LIST OF ILLU STRATIONS “ ” THE AUTHOR A NORTH RUSSIAN TRADER A PEASANT GIRL A CORNER o r THE FOREST ON SOLOVETSK CAUGHT IN THE ICE A TARANTASS GATEWAY o r THE MONASTERY ON SOLOVETSK Fa ce pag e 1 68 PU SUE S AND PU SUED 7 R R R GALLERY o r THE FORTI FICATIONS OF THE MONASTERY ON SOLOVETSK — ARCHANGE THE CATHEDRA AND QUAY 7 L L A W INTER MARKET PLACE 5 At en d CHAPTE R I T H E BELL -SHAPED G ULF T is no w two years S ince I put down o f my pen, having finished an account a considerable stay on the island Of Ko l uev S f g , which is ituated in that part o the A ’ rctic Ocean known as Barent s Sea. My sojourn there , though happy enough, had f o f - been en orced by the set the ice pack, which made it quite impossible fo r a ship to reach the island . I had two English com : T panions the first my camp man , homas f f Hyland ; the other a aith ul old spaniel dog, a by name Sailor. Poor de r old Sailor ! death has removed him since then to other — hunting grounds, whether happier or not, f r I do not know. I doubt it ; o he was a o f true philosopher, and so enviable a dis position that nothing came to him amiss . 1 B A NORTHERN HIGHWAY OF THE TSAR Whether the island was inhabited or n u inhabited had been very doubtful until this v b ut f h isit ; I ound Samoyeds there, wit e —fift - in their wiv s and children, y nine souls all T . hey tended reindeer, hunted such sea as l a n bears came in winter, seals a so, and c s oc asional walrus, and killed many thousand o f s T f r wild gee e. hese they salted o winter f T ood . hey dwelt in movable wigwams, w m a hich they called y , but which are better Mo m o . known to us by the Russian name , L t S iving hus with them , haring their f dwellings, their ood and their pursuits, I became much attached to these S imple f people, and le t them with many regrets . at For, when the ice length moved away, — two Russians traders in a small way v f isited the island in their wooden cra t. The secret o f the existence o f Samoyeds on Ko lguev had been so well kept by these men that it was unknown even to the sharp f f T intelligence o the Russian O ficials .