In the uttermost East; being an account of investigations among the natives and Russian convicts of the island of Sakhalin

Preface

MANY books on Siberia have appeared during the last two decades, most of which fall into one of two categories ; the earlier, into what we may label "exile literature," and the later, " Siberian railway sketches."

The present work belongs in part to both of these classes, but deals chiefly with a portion of Siberia far beyond the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway — the little-known island of Sakhalin. Such a terra incognita has Sakhalin been in the history of exploration, that until the year 1849 it was believed to be a peninsula even by the Russians ; and six years later, in 1855, an English naval commander was outwitted owing to the prevailing ignorance of its insularity.*

It is therefore not surprising that, even as late as this twentieth century, I should have been the first English traveller to explore the northern interior. The sources of our knowledge of Sakhalin, even in Russian, are few, and in English, if little has been heard of the convicts there, nothing has been written about the Gilyak and Orochon natives. With the expansion of the penal settlements, and the future, though not impending, development of the resources of the island, must follow the decay of the

* See pos^ p. 100. vii viii PREFACE

native in the presence of the white man. Already the former is modifying or abandoning his religious rites and ceremonies. It therefore behoved me to place these on record before they became lost to the investigator or buried in tradition.

If in the course of the narrative faunal and floral species have been noted, this is only what every traveller owes to the scientist and the ever-increasing body of students. At the same time no one regrets more than I do, that I was so inadequately equipped for my task among almost unknown peoples and amid strange physical conditions.

Of the faulty state of the penal administration, and the unfortunate condition of the "exile-settlers" described in these pages, it is devoutly to be hoped that in any future investigations no trace may be found. At the same time a word of warning is due, lest the reader should found a generalization for Siberia upon this particular settlement. Sakhalin is the colony to which all Russia's worst criminals are despatched, and the very name of the island is banned in St. Petersburg. Moreover, it is a far cry to the capital — the sign-post in front of the post-office at Alexandrovsk says 10,172 versts (6752 miles) — and the threads of control cannot be pulled tight. Since the publication of Mr. George Kennan's two volumes,* great improvements have been made in the conditions of prisoners, throughout Siberia, not excepting Sakhalin ; but that island still lags, as ever, many years behind the average penal settlement on the mainland.

In Chapter VI. will be found a brief resume of the * " Siberia and the Exile System."

PREFACE ix

history and general features of Sakhalin. The rest of the book, including the notes on Korea and Manchuria, consists mainly of a personal narrative. It makes no claim to an exhaustive account of Sakhalin or the neighbouring regions, for the author's object has been to place before the reader pictures. Incidents, trivial in themselves, illustrate and bring home to the mind the everyday life of native and white man in this far eastern world, more effectively than any detailed statement of habits and customs.

The incognito of five or six persons who figure in the narrative has been preserved. Courtesy, if not fairness, to certain exiles and officials demanded this; and not to have done so could have served no good purpose, and perhaps embarrassed or injured them. Should this book find its way to Sakhalin or Eastern Siberia, these persons will be recognized, and, indeed, two or three of them are well-known in European Russia.

My thanks are due first of all to Mr. X., my interpreter on the island of Sakhalin, a man of rank and education and a convict, without whom these investigations could never have been made. A few days before these words were penned, I received a letter telling of his escape to Japan — after many exciting experiences — " packed up in a cupboard."

To Mr. Ellinsky, I am also deeply indebted, not only for the meteorological records of Alexandrovsk, but for many notes, which he had made on the subject of the natives.

In confirming my own observations of the fauna and flora of the island, I have derived assistance from the x PREFACE

work of two St. Petersburg professors, A. M. Nikolsky and Fr. Schmidt.

In the matter of illustrations, I have a like pleasant duty to fulfil. Those appearing in the text have been sketched from articles in my possession, but the plates are in all cases from photographs. For those not taken by myself I am indebted to Mr. A. von Friken, Inspector of Agriculture on the island of Sakhalin, to Mr. Kuznetsov and to Mr. Ellinsky. For seven out of the eight (the first was by the author) forming the remarkable and unique series of the bear fete, I can only here record my thanks to one whom I met on the island, but who wishes to remain anonymous.

Cambridge,

October, 1903.

Contents

PAGE

List of Illustrations xvii

Glossary xxi

Corrigenda xxix

Chapter I From Nagasaki To Gensan

Bound for the Russian Empire — A dangerous coast — Korea a land of mystery — Where are the 11,000,000? — Fusan — City gentlemen from mud-huts — The site of a great invasion — Gensan — A difficult arithmetical problem — 800 mung for a pair of hinges ... I

Chapter II

Russia, Japan, and Korea — Vladivostok — Siberian hotels — Search for an

ice-free port — Tariff imposition and its results — Difficulties of travel 15

CHAPTER III The railway journey — The Ussuri region — The terrible massacre at

Blagovestchensk — Stories of eye-witnesses — Khabarovsk . . 30

Chapter IV

A lonely post — On the broad bosom of the Amur — Village scenes — A 2000-mile sledge journey — Nikolaevsk — A visit to the prison — A night affray — "If he moves, shoot him" — Bound for Sakhalin at last 48

xi xii CONTENTS

Chapter V Nikolaevsk To Alexandrovsk Page

A treacherous passage — A lonely coast — Sakhalin at last — I am put under guard — Am I a spy? — Strange story of an ex-convict merchant — A drunken host to the rescue — The terrible deed of a student — Alexandrovsk — An interview with the Governor — A ride to Arkovo and a warning — Armed outlaws — The mail held up — Preparations for a 750-mile journey 74

Chapter VI The Island Of Sakhalin

History of the discovery of the island — Captain Vries in search of the "Gout en Silverycke eylant" — Believed to be a peninsula — The Jesuit Fathers' quaint reports — How the island got its name — La Perouse's discoveries — Captain Nevelsky settles the question of its insularity — Native legends of a deluge — Was it a peninsula ? — A forest-clad land, the home of the great brown bear — 55 below zero — Mails by dog-sledge across the frozen sea — A mystery of the ice-bound straits — Geology — Strange races — Who were the aborigines ? — Dwellers in pits — The Russian occupation . . 93

Chapter VII Alexandrovsk To Slavo

Into the interior by kibitka — A "Free-command" — Miserable crops — A tragedy by the wayside — The famous Robin Hood of Sakhalin and his escapades — On the track of brodyagi . . . .118

Chapter VIII Slavo To Ado Tim

A start is made on the 600-mile canoe journey — A settlement of ill-repute — So-called " civil marriage " — A terrible environment for children — Doubtful quarters . . . . . . . 135

CONTENTS xiii

Chapter IX On The River Tim Page

" Each facing our man with arms loaded " — A notorious thief and Ivan Dontremember — An ex-naval captain shot — A native's idea of measurement — A village possessing seven bears — Dug-outs in course of making .......... 148

Chapter X To The Mouth Of The Tim

" A departed spirit " — The big brown bear — Salmon for the spearing — Sun-dried fish — Eagle's wings to aid the flight of the soul of the murdered — We pass brodyagi encamped — I miss 5000 rubles — We join a bear in a seal hunt — A night in the swamps . . .163

Chapter XI

A curious coast-line — Gilyak huts and their origin — An interior — "Give something to the god" — The great bear fete — A unique band and artiste — The Cham's adjuration — The bear not a pious Gilyak — Signification of the festival 186

Chapter XII Chaivo Bay And Beyond

An Orochon village — Strange surroundings — A monopolist — Preparations for a great feast — The New Year's festival — Barter — Our host "the richest man in the world" — The value of a needle — Petroleum lakes — The tundra — An unwritten tragedy . . . 204

Chapter XIII With The "cham" At Chaivo

An "inter-continental" boat-race — The Cham and the Shaman — Exorcising the evil spirit — Why the Gilyaks are without written characters — The journeys of a soul after death— Strange rites at the funeral pyre ......... 228 xiv CONTENTS

Chapter XIV Nivo Page

The powerful Tol ni vookh — Avi fauna — The great sea-holiday — The Black Killer— Fish in " posts "—The Grand Old Beggar— A "great city" — The "Lord Mayor" — Polygamy — An elopement — Gilyak maiden's song — A scorned lover — Curious marriage ceremony — Causes of the decrease of the Gilyaks ..... 248

Chapter XV From Nivo To Irr Kirr *

An aristocrat — A party intent on buying a bear — Five brodyagi on our path — A memorable escape — A two months' campaign — Cannibalism — Migration of birds — Seal added to the menu — Tol ?ii vookh delivers us — Tracking a bear — A winter duel with Bruin — Reindeer hunting in the bur an . . . . . . .277

Chapter XVI A Ride Through The "taiga"

Irr Kirr — The bears' constitutional — A salmon for id. — Ado Tim — The difficulties of riding in a telyega — Miserable settlements — An exciting ride — The 19th of the month — Rikovsk prison — Sophie Bliiffstein — An extraordinary career — Refuge from a storm — A convict home ......... 300

Chapter XVII Scenes And Persons In Alexandrovsk

Plans for departure — A broken cable — Rumours of war with Japan — A reply telegram in nineteen days — Chief buildings of Alexandrovsk — Classification of prisoners — Flogging — The plet — Putrid prison rations — The painful story of Mrs. A. — Twenty years in the dungeons — " Who are you ? " — Arrival of prisoners — A tale of murders .......... 327

CONTENTS xv

Chapter XVIII Stories Of Prisoners Page

A show of arms necessary — A murderer with nineteen victims — I am warned — Black crosses by the wayside — "What do you think of Patrin?" — A fearful struggle — A saintly old prisoner — Eight years' hard labour for stealing a loaf — The "game" of the superintendent and the " exile-settlers " 355

Chapter XIX Stories Of Crimes In Alexandrovsk

Chinese prisoners — An armed escort — Church service — A night for deeds of darkness — Tunnelling and firing houses — An employer of assassins — Sakhalin ; the Utopia of no taxes — The power of the ruble 372

Chapter XX

The Russian priest — The prisoner's hope — Sister de Mayer — Her story — Heroic efforts — Her solution of the unemployed problem — Sakhalin coal — Farewell to the island — De Castries Bay — I am to cross Manchuria as a M book-keeper " ..... 388

Chapter XXI Across Manchuria

A brief historic sketch — Area and resources — Railway route — Scenery — Journey in a construction train — Kharbin — Difficulty of finding the train — The steppe — Approaching Tsitsikar — A poor railroad . 407

Chapter XXII

The river Nonni — Overtaking the train — A Chinese village — The Khingans — A two and a half days' stop — Six thousand miles of snow — Curious dwellings — Manchuria station — Tickets obtained under difficulties — Struggles at buffets — Chita .... 428

b xvi CONTENTS

Chapter XXIII Trans-baikalia To Moscow Pag

The Buriats— Nomads— Lamas— Gelung Nor Lamaserai— A "living god " — Mystery play — English missionaries — Lake Baikal — Irkutsk

Pictures en route— Boundary of two continents— The Ural

mountains — Isolation of villages 44^

4^5

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

An Orochon Woman Frontispiece

The "Bazar," Fusan, Korea 8

The Korean Post-office, Gensan 10

Korean Bureau Hinges. Korean Hat-box. Korean Bamboo

Members of the Gold Tribe 35

"Trenches were hastily dug around the Town" (Blago-

vestchensk) 38

Statue of Count Muraviev-Amursky and House of Governor-general Grodekov, Khabarovsk 44 ^

Striking off the Fetters 68

The Governor of Sakhalin 85

The " Pristan " (Jetty), Alexandrovsk 90

An Attack on the Post. Repairing the Bridge cut by the

" Brodyagi " 90

Alexandrovsk Prison and Offices 91

A Map of Sakhalin 93

Map by d'Anville, 1737. By the " Isle du Fl(euve) Noir," is

meant Sakhalin 98

Arrival of the Dog -sledge Mail from the Mainland . . 108 10,186 Versts to St. Petersburg. Departure of the Dog-sledge

Mail for the Mainland no

A Sakhalin Ainu Family at Home 114

Map of Northern Sakhalin 120 '

A Sakhalin Murderer 129

The Famous Barratasvili 129

Reading the Death Sentence 132 v

xvii xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A Sakhalin Murderess . . 141

A Gilyak Tracker of "Brodyagi" 154 /

Gilyak Wife and Maiden 158 v -

Gilyak Storehouses for Dried Fish J . 174 J

Gilyak Summer Hut 192 v

The Bear Fete 196, 198 ..

Feeding Bruin {p. 195) — " He emerges too readily " (p. 197) — "The Gilyaks proceed to muzzle him" {p. 197) — "Led to the Hut of his Owner" {p. 197)— "To the Strains of a Unique Band" (p. 197) — "Left tied up to ruminate over his Position " {p. 198) — " A Few . . . shoot Blunt, Woodenended Arrows" {p. 199) — "The Arrow had missed the Heart" {p. 200)

An Orochon Man (Mainland) 206 *

" Our Supper of Fish was spitted before the Fire " . . . 233 -

A Tungus "Shaman" 235 4

Setting out for an Afternoon Call 252

A Group of Tungus 257 /

An Unrecorded Tragedy (see p. 227) 259 '

Pillaniitsich, or the "Grand old Beggar" 259 ,

The " Lord Mayor " (on the left) and the two " Lady

Mayoresses " of Nivo 272 /

" By the cleared Track from Onor to Nay-ero "... 280

The Village of Hamdasa II 284 1

Vasiliv, " The Cannibal " 286 %

Off to the Bear-hunt 294

A Sakhalin Bridge . . . 312 /

A Gang of Murderers, of whom the Four to the Left were hanged 316 The Famous Sophie Bliiffstein, or "Golden Hand," being

Manacled . . 320

The Stockade of the Alexandrovsk Prison .... 324

A Gang from the " Testing " Prison Road-making . . . 337 The " Reformatory " Prison, Alexandrovsk. The " Testing "

Prison is in the Background 338

Convicts under Guard hauling Logs 339 .

Chained to Wheelbarrows Night and Day . . . . 340 The "Kabila" (Flogging Bench), "Rozgi" (Birch rods), and

the " Plet " at Rikovsk 34 * i

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix

Golinsky, the present " Palach," or Executioner, with the

" Plet," Alexandrovsk 342

Political Exiles, Rikovsk . . . . , . . . 344

The Arrival of Convicts from Russia 348

A Night Watchman, Alexandrovsk 358

A Desperate Character 363 /

The Dark Cells (or " Cachots Noirs "), Alexandrovsk Prison . 365 V " In the Market-place are several Ramshackle Shelters " . 386 y

Farewell to Sakhalin 400 „

Inhabitants of Kirin, Manchuria 412 \f

The Author 429

Chinese General at Tsitsikar receives the Russian Governor-general Grodekov 436

A Buriat 44 1 '

Buriat Family and "Yurta" (Tent) 447

Buriat Wife and Maiden in Festive Attire .... 448 y The Late Kan-po, or Grand Lama of the Buriats . . . 449 Taranatha, a Buriat " Khubilgan," or " Living Buddha " . 450 The Actors (Lamas) in the Mystery Play . . . .452

Summons to the Temple Service 453 ■

Baikal Station on the Lake, with the two Ice-breakers . . 456 At a Wayside Station, Trans-Siberian Railway . . .461 "An Obelisk bearing the Inscription on one Side Asia, and

on the other Europe " .461

Map of North-East Asia At end

An adequate transliteration of Russian words, giving their exact phonetic equivalents in English seems to me impossible, and the following is an admittedly faulty attempt; yet, such as it is, its value will be increased to the reader by a few words on the pronunciation of the transliterations. The following remarks may be taken to apply not only to the Russian but also to the Gilyak and Ainu words.

The vowel sounds have the value of the Italian

a is pronounced as in father.

e „ „ „ th^re.

i „ „ ee „ feed,

o „ „ „ cod.

u „ ,, oo „ food.

The letter i in the following transliterations, B/t, Gotovz, Isp/tuermkh, Ispztovat, Kab/la, Rzba and V/, has the sound of a shortened ui.

Double vowels are not diphthongs, but are pronounced separately, e.g. Due and Mamie (names of Sakhalin villages) are respectively Doo-e (like the French town Douai) and Ma-noo-e.

Of the consonants g is always hard, and s as in assess, but never like z; ch is pronounced as in chmch> and never as in German ; shtch as shed ch in famij'^? ^ild ; and finally zh as z in a^ure.

RUSSIAN WORDS.

Ale'n, plural attni . Deer, used in Sakhalin to denote reindeer. Arestdnt, plural / . Prisoner.

Artel .... A guild or workmen's association. Balshoy . . . Great.

xxi

XX11

Bdrin .

Blin, i .

Bog .

Bdyka .

Budet

Burdn

Chat

Chas

Chto

Dekdbr

Desyatina, i

Do

Dokha .

Dugd .

Etape .

Eto

Familiya Gilydkskiy Gorbusha

Gorod .

Got6ui .

Gre'cha .

Gubirnski Gusinoy