ed by that autocrat to be
for a moment taken into consideration. His engineers were once
consulting him as to the expediency of taking the line from St.
Petersburg to Moscow by a slight detour, to avoid some very troublesome
obstacles. The Tsar took up a ruler, and with his pencil drew a
straight line from the old metropolis. Handing back the chart,
he peremptorily said: "There, gentlemen, that is to be the route
for the line!" And certainly there is not a straighter reach of
600 miles on any railroad in the world, as every tourist knows who
has journeyed between the two chief cities of the Russian Empire.
For instance, not very far beyond the Urals there is one magnificent
stretch of perfectly straight road for 116 versts, or nearly eighty
miles.

The traveller who expects that on the great Siberian route he will
speedily find himself plunged into semi-savagery, or that he will
on leaving Europe begin to realize the solitude of a vast forlorn
wilderness, will be agreeably disappointed. This great line is
intended to carry forward in its progress all the comforts of modern
civilization. Every station is picturesque and even artistic. No
two stations are alike in style, and all are neat, substantial,
comfortable, and comparable to the best rural stations anywhere in
Europe or America. In one respect Russian provision for travellers
is always far in advance of that in other countries. Those familiar
with the country will know at once that I refer to the railway
restaurants. The Great Siberian follows the rule of excellence
and abundance. There, at every station, just as on the European
side of the Urals, the traveller sees on entering the handsome
dining-room the immense buffet loaded with freshly cooked Russian
dishes, always hot and steaming, and of a variety not attempted in
any other land excepting at great hotels. You select what fancy
and appetite dictate, without any supervision. To dine at a railway
restaurant anywhere in the Russian Empire is one of the luxuries
of travel. Your dinner costs only a rouble--about two shillings,
and what a dinner you secure for the money! Soup, beef, sturgeon,
trout, poultry, game, bear's flesh, and vegetables in profusion
are supplied _ad libitum_, the visitor simply helping himself just
as he pleases. I mention these little details to prove that the
longest railway in the world is to push civilization with it as
it goes forward.

Readers who will glance at any map of the new l