ARCTIC ASIA.
ARCTIC seas and Arctic shores exercise a grand fascination over the born lovers of daring and perilous enterprises which have the uncertain waters of the great deep for their pathway. The mythical knight- errant disdained a road which was not beset by dangers of unknown intensity, and barred by obstacles which seemed insuperable. So the matter-of-fact and hardy mariner loves to face and overcome the ice, the tempests, the shoals, of the Northern seas, and become the pioneer of new tracks, leading through dread and desolation to the homes of men. Or he shows that the North-East, like the North-'West Passage, when proved to exist, is of no value for the pm-poses of commerce or ordinary intercourse, and does good service by limiting the area wherein man may work for useful ends. But it is the old heroic instinct which still impels the shipman to seek fer new paths between coast and coast, link together distant ports, and form a trading highway even through the frozen deep. Nothing but the spirit of noble adventure married to the spirit of beneficent trade could have inspired men with the courageous idea of bringing the products of seques- tered Siberia into the markets of the West, through the stormy gulfs and icy seas which lie between the North Cape and the reedy wastes of the mighty Lena. If Nordenskiold forced his way to Behrinds Straits, it was Captain Wiggins who preceded him in the Kara Sea, and showed how bold, persevering sea- manship could push a tiny craft many score, and, after- wards, a four-hundred-ton steamer twelve hundred miles up the Yenesei, who has made other voyages, and un- daunted by disappointment when so near complete success this very year, still believes as firmly as he did twenty years ago, that he can connect the ports of England, through the Arctic Sea and the rivers rising in the Altai Mountains, with the abounding products of Siberia.
The huge dominion east of the Ural Mountains which naturally fell into the hand of Russia, is in the painful position of having much to sell, and few external markets, because it has no rapid or easy communications with the outside world. Siberia has passed through the stage of a convict-prison, and, at least a great part of it, has become a flourishing settlement, towards which the steppe popula- tion of European Russia are steadily gravitating. The word has gone forth that land is readily obtained, and the peasants are selling their interests in the old to plant homes in the new domain. That tendency, of course, if it lasts, will quickly enhance the disposable wealth of the country, and force attention to the means of sup- plying or finding outlets. But already, before the fresh human tide had begun to flow eastward, the land had for export a surplus, actual or potential. The rivers swarm with fish, the forests yield not only fine timber but a wealth of fur, the southern fields are prolific in grain, and the mountains cover stores of precious and useful metals. The floods, in the season of melting snows, bring down and distribute rich gifts of alluvial soil, and. lying all around are vast resources of all kinds, which industry may develop, which effective demand. would realise. Even now, on the great streams whose course is measured by thousands of miles, scores of large steamers float, and bear to and fro the local traffic. But the wealth produced has no way out by sea, and no easy way by land. The merchants, the cultivators, the hunters, the fishermen, feel their relative isolation, and pine for prompt and. ready access to the big markets of the world. The Government of the Czar has not given them a railway, such as he has bestowed. on the Tekkes and Ilsbeks, and they have not yet displayed that inventiveness, energy, and daring which would enable them to build sea-going steamers, and find a road for themselves to trading Europe. Indeed, they have failed, or have not been allowed to succeed, in an attempt to reach the lower Yenesei through the big estuary or gulf where it joins the ocean. During the past summer, Captain Wiggins, in the Labrador,' successfully got through the Kara Sea, entered the Yenesei, and arrived at the appointed rendezvous. The river steamer sent down with a cargo which was to have been exchanged for that borne by the Labrador,' also arrived at the head of the gulf. Here were the vessels within two hundred miles of each other, yet they could not communicate, because the Russian craft dared not venture on the navigation, and the British ship had no tender to send up. The latter deficiency was not an oversight, but happened because funds could not be got to supply one. So the venture failed when within an ace of success, and the two ships returned whence they came. The cause of the failure, however, shows plainly enough that the enterprise so resolately followed by Captain Wiggins and his friends is well within the range of what is practical.
It would be interesting to know whether the Russian Government is anxious that Siberia should be opened up to sea-traffic. In the early papers of Captain Wiggins, we read of some aversion to the "foreign element" at St. Petersburg and Moscow, while in Siberia no such feeling seems to have arisen, as they were and are anxious for an outlet. Only vessels covered by the Russian flag can navigate the rivers ; and as the real difficulty lies in traversing the last two hundred miles, it would seem that the flag should fly on a craft capable of facing the winds and waves of the lower waters. That should not be beyond the compass of Yenesei boat-building ; but unless the Govern- ment is in earnest, as it may be, the thing will not be done. Perhaps, also, the contemplated railway, which M. Vishnegradsky cannot yet find the money for, may inter- fere to postpone, if not prevent, the accomplishment of an object upon which much treasure and so much more energy and. determination have been expended. At the same time, there is no reason why the varied productions of Siberia should. not be transported by sea as well as by land, or at least that the sea-transport—it can only go on for a few weeks in the year—should not be permitted and promoted until Siberia is stocked with railways. The sea-route to Siberia is round the North Cape, and thence to the narrow pass called the "Iron Gates," which leads into the Kara Sea, once, but apparently no longer, dreaded for its ice-floes. The navigator then has to pass to the north of the Samoyede Peninsula, cross the Gulf of the Obi, and turn southward into the Yenesei, where the multiplicity of channels and the utter lack of charts form the chief difficulty. It is a weird region. In the brief summer, the islands off the coast, so dreary in winter, are covered with flowers, sweet berries, reindeer, and flocks of wild fowl. "On the shores of these islands," wrote Captain Wiggins in 1877, "driftwood was piled up in monster heaps, which contained trees of the largest dimensions, some of which would make masts for our largest men-of- war. Most of them were as sound as the day they were lodged there, owing to the preserving power of the climate, and there is no doubt that most of these splendid spars have been lying there for centuries." Repeated visits to this region of wild and savage grandeur have shown how practicable it is to reach its waters ; and whatever opinion the Government may hold, there can be no doubt but that the people who live on the upper districts would. heartily welcome the regular arrival of traders. Nor is it surprising that they should crave for access to the ocean. They have much produce and superb water-ways,—all leading to the frozen North, which yields for three months to the summer sun. The Obi has a course of 2,700 miles, while the Yenesei is still longer, running from Lake Baikal to the sea near the great mouth of the sister-stream. These two rivers drain an im- mense area, and are navigable over the greater part of their track. The severity of the climate does not prevent the growth of profitable crops in the southern moiety, and in addition there are the valuable furs and the countless fish. The relative wealth of the richer population makes them crave for European commodities, and even the tea, everywhere required, might be carried thither more cheaply by the sea-route than it is overland from China. Here, again, perhaps, the contemplated railway might be used to supply tea as well as other things ; but as it is not and will not be constructed for years, until it is why should not the wants of Siberia be satisfied by traffic with the coast ? Formerly, the special territory now invaded or • sought to be invaded by ships, was called the "land of darkness." The darkness has vanished before the light of naval enterprise, thanks to Wiggins and Norden- skiold, and only a rigid prohibitive system can prevent commerce from spreading up to the central chain of Asiatic Russia.
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