ut the necessity for maintaining the
usual diplomatic forms, there is no necessity for delay in emergencies
of this description. If an ordinarily intelligent Englishman, with a
fair knowledge of English history and a grasp of the traditions and
mentality of his countrymen, cannot carry on, how are people miles away,
with no opportunity to visualise the actual situation, to instruct him?
Diplomatic methods and forms are all right for leisurely negotiations,
but are useless in urgent and dangerous occasions. If my work fails, as
even now it may, I shall be subject to severe criticism; but I shall get
that even if it succeeds, so what does it matter so long as in my own
mind I did the best in the circumstances?

My journey east was broken at Krasnoyarsk to enable me to interview the
new commander, General Rosanoff, who had taken in hand the suppression
of the revolt of the Lettish peasants north of the railway. South of the
line all hostile elements had been dispersed. The line cut through the
centre of the Bolshevik field of operations. The Czechs guarded the
actual railway, and while they prevented large forces from moving across
it, they took but little trouble to prevent miscreants from tampering
with the rails, as was evidenced by the scores of derailed trains in all
stages of destruction strewn along the track. This naturally involved
great material loss and, what was still worse, a huge toll of innocent
human life. One train, a fast passenger, accounted for two hundred
women and children, besides uncounted men. Fairly large Russian forces
were now placed at General Rosanoff's disposal, and by a wide turning
movement from Krasnoyarsk in a north-easterly direction, and with a
large cavalry force operating towards the north-west from Irkutsk, the
whole gang would, it was hoped, be herded towards the centre, and a few
weeks would probably liquidate the whole disturbance. The Krasnoyarsk
and the Ussurie movements of the Bolsheviks were under the direction of
able officers appointed by the Red Guard Headquarters at Moscow, with
whom they were in constant communication.

Passing Irkutsk, we again struck the Baikal--looking more glorious than
before. The warm south-west winds had cleared the snow from the western
hills and thawed the ice from that half of the sea. The other half was
still ice-bound. In the morning sunshine the snow-covered mountains in
the east pierced the heavens with the radiance of eternal day. The
disa