in the Russian gold mines and grew rich, but they had a time
getting their gold out of Russia without being discovered. But their
cuteness is proverbial. Even Chinamen die, and they as well as the
Manchus must sleep their long sleep in their native land. In a certain
Russian city it is said that these Chinese were paying great attention
to the dead bodies of their kindred in preparing them for the journey
back home. The Russians became suspicious and peeping through a keyhole
at the embalming processes these policemen discovered that gold dust was
blown from a tube into the dead man's skull. This let the cat out of the
bag, for these Chinese were making the bodies of the dead the carriers
of gold, for as soon as the bodies reached home the gold was extracted.

CHAPTER VI

THE LAND OF SORROW--SIBERIA

Away yonder in eastern Siberia, on the banks of the Amur River, high on
the projecting cliff stands a huge iron cross which can be seen many
miles away. Upon this Christian emblem is inscribed one of the greatest
sentences in all the literature of the world. Here it is: "Power lies
not in force but in love." Strange it is indeed that such an emblem and
such an inscription should be found in the wilds of this country. But
many are the strange sights one beholds on a journey across this great
lonely, strange, and sad land. Having crossed this country it is my
purpose to recount some of the observations and experiences of the
journey.

But few people today realize the immensity of Siberia. You could take a
map of the whole United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, and add to
it a map of Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Italy,
Switzerland, Germany and Austria (before the war), Holland, Denmark, the
Turkish Empire, Greece, Roumania, and Bulgaria, and lay all these
together down on Siberia alone and have territory left. Nearly five
thousand miles of the main line of the great Trans-Siberian railway are
in this one country.

The building of this railroad was a gigantic undertaking and its
construction cost the Russian Government four hundred million dollars.
With all our boasted American hustle it took twenty years to build the
Canadian Pacific railway from coast to coast. The Trans-Siberian is more
than twice as long and was completed in half that length of time.
Before the war there was hardly ever an accident on this railway. Every
verst (about two-thirds of a mile) there is a little guardhouse a