Beasts, Men and Gods - Ferdinand Ossendowski

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he Project Gutenberg EBook of Beasts, Men and Gods,

erdinand Ossendowski

his eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no co

nd with

lmost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, gi

t away ore-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg Licen

ncluded

ith this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

itle: Beasts, Men and Gods

uthor: Ferdinand Ossendowski

ranslator: Lewis Stanton Palen

elease Date: May 13, 2006 [EBook #2067]

ast Updated: February 4, 2013

anguage: English

** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEASTS, MEN A

ODS ***

roduced by Donald Lainson; David Widger


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BEASTS, MEN AND GODS


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by Ferdinand Ossendowski


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EXPLANATORY NOTE

When one of the leading publicists in America, Dr. Albe

haw of the Review of Reviews, after reading thmanuscript of Part I of this volume, characterized the auth

s "The Robinson Crusoe of the Twentieth Century," h

ouched the feature of the narrative which is at once mo

ttractive and most dangerous; for the succession of tryin

nd thrilling experiences recorded seems in places toighly colored to be real or, sometimes, even possible

his day and generation. I desire, therefore, to assure th

eader at the outset that Dr. Ossendowski is a man of lon

nd diverse experience as a scientist and writer with

aining for careful observation which should put the stam

f accuracy and reliability on his chronicle. Only thxtraordinary events of these extraordinary times cou

ave thrown one with so many talents back into th

urroundings of the "Cave Man" and thus given to us th

nusual account of personal adventure, of great huma

mysteries and of the political and religious motives whicre energizing the "Heart of Asia."

My share in the work has been to induce D

Ossendowski to write his story at this time and to ass

im in rendering his experiences into English.

LEWIS STANTON PALEN.


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CONTENTS

EXPLANATORY NOTE


Part I: DRAWING LOTS WITH

DEATH

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IVCHAPTER V

CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VII

CHAPTER VIII


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CHAPTER IX

CHAPTER X

CHAPTER XI

CHAPTER XII

CHAPTER XIII

CHAPTER XIV

CHAPTER XV

CHAPTER XVI

Part II: THE LAND OF DEMONS

CHAPTER XVII

CHAPTER XVIII

CHAPTER XIX

CHAPTER XX

CHAPTER XXI

CHAPTER XXII


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CHAPTER XXIII

CHAPTER XXIV

CHAPTER XXV

CHAPTER XXVI

CHAPTER XXVII

CHAPTER XXVIII

Part III: THE STRAINING HEART OF

ASIA

CHAPTER XXIX

CHAPTER XXX

CHAPTER XXXI

CHAPTER XXXII

CHAPTER XXXIII

CHAPTER XXXIV

CHAPTER XXXV


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CHAPTER XXXVI

CHAPTER XXXVII

CHAPTER XXXVIII

CHAPTER XXXIX

Part IV: THE LIVING BUDDHA

CHAPTER XL

CHAPTER XLI

CHAPTER XLII

CHAPTER XLIII

CHAPTER XLIV

CHAPTER XLV

Part V: MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES

THE KING OF THE WORLD


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CHAPTER XLVI

CHAPTER XLVII

CHAPTER XLVIII

CHAPTER XLIX

GLOSSARY

There are times, men and events aboutwhich History alone can record the final

judgments; contemporaries and individual

observers must only write what they have seen

and heard. The very truth demands it.

TITUS LIVIUS.


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Part I

DRAWING LOTS WITH DEATH


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CHAPTER I

INTO THE FORESTS

In the beginning of the year 1920 I happened to be livin

n the Siberian town of Krasnoyarsk, situated on the shore

f the River Yenisei, that noble stream which is cradled

he sun-bathed mountains of Mongolia to pour its warmin

fe into the Arctic Ocean and to whose mouth Nansen hawice come to open the shortest road for commerce fro

urope to the heart of Asia. There in the depths of the s

iberian winter I was suddenly caught up in the whirlin

torm of mad revolution raging all over Russia, sowing

his peaceful and rich land vengeance, hate, bloodshed anrimes that go unpunished by the law. No one could tell th

our of his fate. The people lived from day to day and le

heir homes not knowing whether they should return to the

r whether they should be dragged from the streets an

hrown into the dungeons of that travesty of courts, th

Revolutionary Committee, more terrible and more bloodhan those of the Mediaeval Inquisition. We who we

trangers in this distraught land were not saved from

ersecutions and I personally lived through them.

One morning, when I had gone out to see a friend

uddenly received the news that twenty Red soldiers haurrounded my house to arrest me and that I must escape


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uickly put on one of my friend's old hunting suits, too

ome money and hurried away on foot along the back wa

f the town till I struck the open road, where I engaged

easant, who in four hours had driven me twenty miles fro

he town and set me down in the midst of a deeply foreste

egion. On the way I bought a rifle, three hundreartridges, an ax, a knife, a sheepskin overcoat, tea, sa

ry bread and a kettle. I penetrated into the heart of th

wood to an abandoned half-burned hut. From this day

ecame a genuine trapper but I never dreamed that

hould follow this role as long as I did. The next morning

went hunting and had the good fortune to kill two heathcoc

found deer tracks in plenty and felt sure that I should n

want for food. However, my sojourn in this place was not fo

ong. Five days later when I returned from hunting I notice

moke curling up out of the chimney of my hut. I stealth

rept along closer to the cabin and discovered two saddleorses with soldiers' rifles slung to the saddles. Tw

isarmed men were not dangerous for me with a weapo

o I quickly rushed across the open and entered the hu

rom the bench two soldiers started up in fright. They we

olsheviki. On their big Astrakhan caps I made out the re

tars of Bolshevism and on their blouses the dirty re

ands. We greeted each other and sat down. The soldie

ad already prepared tea and so we drank this ev

welcome hot beverage and chatted, suspiciously eyein

ne another the while. To disarm this suspicion on the

art, I told them that I was a hunter from a distant place anwas living there because I found it good country for sable


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hey announced to me that they were soldiers of

etachment sent from a town into the woods to pursue a

uspicious people.

"Do you understand, 'Comrade,'" said one of them to m

we are looking for counter-revolutionists to shoot them?"

I knew it without his explanations. All my forces we

irected to assuring them by my conduct that I was a simp

easant hunter and that I had nothing in common with th

ounter-revolutionists. I was thinking also all the time

where I should go after the departure of my unwelcom

uests. It grew dark. In the darkness their faces were eveess attractive. They took out bottles of vodka and dran

nd the alcohol began to act very noticeably. They talke

oudly and constantly interrupted each other, boasting ho

many bourgeoisie they had killed in Krasnoyarsk and ho

many Cossacks they had slid under the ice in the rive

Afterwards they began to quarrel but soon they were tire

nd prepared to sleep. All of a sudden and without an

warning the door of the hut swung wide open and the stea

f the heated room rolled out in a great cloud, out of whic

eemed to rise like a genie, as the steam settled, the figu

f a tall, gaunt peasant impressively crowned with the higAstrakhan cap and wrapped in the great sheepsk

vercoat that added to the massiveness of his figure. H

tood with his rifle ready to fire. Under his girdle lay th

harp ax without which the Siberian peasant cannot exis

yes, quick and glimmering like those of a wild beast, fixe

hemselves alternately on each of us. In a moment he too


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ff his cap, made the sign of the cross on his breast an

sked of us: "Who is the master here?"

I answered him.

"May I stop the night?"

"Yes," I replied, "places enough for all. Take a cup of teais still hot."

The stranger, running his eyes constantly over all of u

nd over everything about the room, began to take off h

kin coat after putting his rifle in the corner. He wa

ressed in an old leather blouse with trousers of the sam

material tucked in high felt boots. His face was quite younne and tinged with something akin to mockery. His whit

harp teeth glimmered as his eyes penetrated everythin

hey rested upon. I noticed the locks of grey in his shagg

ead. Lines of bitterness circled his mouth. They showe

is life had been very stormy and full of danger. He took eat beside his rifle and laid his ax on the floor below.

"What? Is it your wife?" asked one of the drunke

oldiers, pointing to the ax.

The tall peasant looked calmly at him from the quiet eye

nder their heavy brows and as calmly answered:"One meets a different folk these days and with an ax it

much safer."

He began to drink tea very greedily, while his eye

ooked at me many times with sharp inquiry in them and ra

ften round the whole cabin in search of the answer to houbts. Very slowly and with a guarded drawl he answere


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ll the questions of the soldiers between gulps of the h

ea, then he turned his glass upside down as evidence

aving finished, placed on the top of it the small lump

ugar left and remarked to the soldiers:

"I am going out to look after my horse and will unsadd

our horses for you also."

"All right," exclaimed the half-sleeping young soldie

bring in our rifles as well."

The soldiers were lying on the benches and thus left f

s only the floor. The stranger soon came back, brought th

fles and set them in the dark corner. He dropped thaddle pads on the floor, sat down on them and began

ake off his boots. The soldiers and my guest soon we

noring but I did not sleep for thinking of what next to d

inally as dawn was breaking, I dozed off only to awake

he broad daylight and find my stranger gone. I went outsidhe hut and discovered him saddling a fine bay stallion.

"Are you going away?" I asked.

"Yes, but I want to go together with these

omrades,'" he whispered, "and afterwards I shall com

ack."

I did not ask him anything further and told him only tha

would wait for him. He took off the bags that had bee

anging on his saddle, put them away out of sight in th

urned corner of the cabin, looked over the stirrups an

ridle and, as he finished saddling, smiled and said:

"I am ready. I'm going to awake my 'comrades.'" Half a


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our after the morning drink of tea, my three guests too

heir leave. I remained out of doors and was engaged

plitting wood for my stove. Suddenly, from a distance, rif

hots rang through the woods, first one, then a secon

Afterwards all was still. From the place near the shots

ightened covey of blackcock broke and came over me. Ahe top of a high pine a jay cried out. I listened for a lon

me to see if anyone was approaching my hut b

verything was still.

On the lower Yenisei it grows dark very early. I built a fir

n my stove and began to cook my soup, constantstening for every noise that came from beyond the cab

walls. Certainly I understood at all times very clearly th

eath was ever beside me and might claim me by mean

f either man, beast, cold, accident or disease. I knew th

obody was near me to assist and that all my help was

he hands of God, in the power of my hands and feet, in thccuracy of my aim and in my presence of mind. However

stened in vain. I did not notice the return of my strange

ike yesterday he appeared all at once on the threshol

hrough the steam I made out his laughing eyes and h

ne face. He stepped into the hut and dropped with a gooeal of noise three rifles into the corner.

"Two horses, two rifles, two saddles, two boxes of d

read, half a brick of tea, a small bag of salt, fif

artridges, two overcoats, two pairs of boots," laughingly h

ounted out. "In truth today I had a very successful hunt."

In astonishment I looked at him.


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"What are you surprised at?" he laughed. "Komu nujny e

ovarischi? Who's got any use for these fellows? Let u

ave tea and go to sleep. Tomorrow I will guide you t

nother safer place and then go on."


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CHAPTER II

THE SECRET OF MY FELLOWTRAVELER

At the dawn of day we started forth, leaving my first plac

f refuge. Into the bags we packed our personal estate an

astened them on one of the saddles.

"We must go four or five hundred versts," very calm

nnounced my fellow traveler, who called himself "Ivan,"

ame that meant nothing to my mind or heart in this lan

where every second man bore the same.

"We shall travel then for a very long time," I remarke

egretfully.

"Not more than one week, perhaps even less," h

nswered.

That night we spent in the woods under the wid

preading branches of the fir trees. It was my first night

he forest under the open sky. How many like this I waestined to spend in the year and a half of my wandering

During the day there was very sharp cold. Under the hoo

f the horses the frozen snow crunched and the balls th

ormed and broke from their hoofs rolled away over th

rust with a sound like crackling glass. The heathcock fleom the trees very idly, hares loped slowly down the bed


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f summer streams. At night the wind began to sigh an

whistle as it bent the tops of the trees over our heads; whi

elow it was still and calm. We stopped in a deep ravin

ordered by heavy trees, where we found fallen firs, c

hem into logs for the fire and, after having boiled our te

ined.Ivan dragged in two tree trunks, squared them on on

ide with his ax, laid one on the other with the square

aces together and then drove in a big wedge at the bu

nds which separated them three or four inches. Then w

laced live coals in this opening and watched the fire ruapidly the whole length of the squared faces vis-a-vis.

"Now there will be a fire in the morning," he announce

This is the 'naida' of the gold prospectors. We prospecto

wandering in the woods summer and winter always slee

eside this 'naida.' Fine! You shall see for yourself," h

ontinued.

He cut fir branches and made a sloping roof out of them

esting it on two uprights toward the naida. Above our ro

f boughs and our naida spread the branches of protectin

r. More branches were brought and spread on the sno

nder the roof, on these were placed the saddle cloths anogether they made a seat for Ivan to rest on and to take o

is outer garments down to his blouse. Soon I noticed h

orehead was wet with perspiration and that he was wipin

and his neck on his sleeves.

"Now it is good and warm!" he exclaimed.In a short time I was also forced to take off my overco


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nd soon lay down to sleep without any covering at a

while through the branches of the fir trees and our ro

limmered the cold bright stars and just beyond the naid

aged a stinging cold, from which we were cosily defende

After this night I was no longer frightened by the col

rozen during the days on horseback, I was thoroughwarmed through by the genial naida at night and reste

om my heavy overcoat, sitting only in my blouse under th

oofs of pine and fir and sipping the ever welcome tea.

During our daily treks Ivan related to me the stories of h

wanderings through the mountains and woods ransbaikalia in the search for gold. These stories we

ery lively, full of attractive adventure, danger and struggl

van was a type of these prospectors who have discovere

n Russia, and perhaps in other countries, the richest go

mines, while they themselves remain beggars. He evade

elling me why he left Transbaikalia to come to the Yeniseinderstood from his manner that he wished to keep his ow

ounsel and so did not press him. However, the blanket

ecrecy covering this part of his mysterious life was on

ay quite fortuitously lifted a bit. We were already at th

bjective point of our trip. The whole day we had travelewith difficulty through a thick growth of willow, approachin

he shore of the big right branch of the Yenisei, the Man

verywhere we saw runways packed hard by the feet of th

ares living in this bush. These small white denizens of th

wood ran to and fro in front of us. Another time we saw th

ed tail of a fox hiding behind a rock, watching us and th


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nsuspecting hares at the same time.

Ivan had been silent for a long while. Then he spoke u

nd told me that not far from there was a small branch

he Mana, at the mouth of which was a hut.

"What do you say? Shall we push on there or spend th

ight by the naida?"

I suggested going to the hut, because I wanted to was

nd because it would be agreeable to spend the nig

nder a genuine roof again. Ivan knitted his brows b

cceded.

It was growing dark when we approached a hurrounded by the dense wood and wild raspberry bushe

contained one small room with two microscopic window

nd a gigantic Russian stove. Against the building were th

emains of a shed and a cellar. We fired the stove an

repared our modest dinner. Ivan drank from the bottnherited from the soldiers and in a short time was ve

loquent, with brilliant eyes and with hands that course

equently and rapidly through his long locks. He bega

elating to me the story of one of his adventures, b

uddenly stopped and, with fear in his eyes, squinted into

ark corner.

"Is it a rat?" he asked.

"I did not see anything," I replied.

He again became silent and reflected with knitted brow

Often we were silent through long hours and consequently

was not astonished. Ivan leaned over near to me an


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egan to whisper.

"I want to tell you an old story. I had a friend

ransbaikalia. He was a banished convict. His name wa

Gavronsky. Through many woods and over many mountain

we traveled in search of gold and we had an agreement

ivide all we got into even shares. But Gavronsky suddenwent out to the 'Taiga' on the Yenisei and disappeared

After five years we heard that he had found a very rich go

mine and had become a rich man; then later that he and h

wife with him had been murdered. . . ." Ivan was still for

moment and then continued:"This is their old hut. Here he lived with his wife an

omewhere on this river he took out his gold. But he to

obody where. All the peasants around here know that h

ad a lot of money in the bank and that he had been sellin

old to the Government. Here they were murdered."

Ivan stepped to the stove, took out a flaming stick an

ending over, lighted a spot on the floor.

"Do you see these spots on the floor and on the wall? It

heir blood, the blood of Gavronsky. They died but they d

ot disclose the whereabouts of the gold. It was taken out

deep hole which they had drifted into the bank of the rivnd was hidden in the cellar under the shed. But Gavrons

ave nothing away. . . . AND LORD HOW I TORTURE

HEM! I burned them with fire; I bent back their fingers

ouged out their eyes; but Gavronsky died in silence."

He thought for a moment, then quickly said to me:


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"I have heard all this from the peasants." He threw the lo

nto the stove and flopped down on the bench. "It's time

leep," he snapped out, and was still.

I listened for a long time to his breathing and h

whispering to himself, as he turned from one side to th

ther and smoked his pipe.

In the morning we left this scene of so much suffering an

rime and on the seventh day of our journey we came to th

ense cedar wood growing on the foothills of a long cha

f mountains.

"From here," Ivan explained to me, "it is eighty versts he next peasant settlement. The people come to thes

woods to gather cedar nuts but only in the autumn. Befo

hen you will not meet anyone. Also you will find many bird

nd beasts and a plentiful supply of nuts, so that it will b

ossible for you to live here. Do you see this river? Wheou want to find the peasants, follow along this stream an

will guide you to them."

Ivan helped me build my mud hut. But it was not th

enuine mud hut. It was one formed by the tearing out of th

oots of a great cedar, that had probably fallen in some wi

torm, which made for me the deep hole as the room for mouse and flanked this on one side with a wall of mud he

ast among the upturned roots. Overhanging ones forme

lso the framework into which we interlaced the poles an

ranches to make a roof, finished off with stones f

tability and snow for warmth. The front of the hut was evpen but was constantly protected by the guardian naida.


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hat snow-covered den I spent two months like summ

without seeing any other human being and without touc

with the outer world where such important events we

anspiring. In that grave under the roots of the fallen tree

ved before the face of nature with my trials and my anxie

bout my family as my constant companions, and in thard struggle for my life. Ivan went off the second da

eaving for me a bag of dry bread and a little sugar. I nev

aw him again.


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CHAPTER III

THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE

Then I was alone. Around me only the wood of eterna

reen cedars covered with snow, the bare bushes, th

ozen river and, as far as I could see out through th

ranches and the trunks of the trees, only the great ocea

f cedars and snow. Siberian taiga! How long shall I borced to live here? Will the Bolsheviki find me here or no

Will my friends know where I am? What is happening to m

amily? These questions were constantly as burning fires

my brain. Soon I understood why Ivan guided me so lon

We passed many secluded places on the journey, far awaom all people, where Ivan could have safely left me but h

lways said that he would take me to a place where

would be easier to live. And it was so. The charm of m

one refuge was in the cedar wood and in the mountain

overed with these forests which stretched to every horizo

he cedar is a splendid, powerful tree with wide-spreadinranches, an eternally green tent, attracting to its shelt

very living being. Among the cedars was alway

ffervescent life. There the squirrels were continua

icking up a row, jumping from tree to tree; the nut-jobbe

ried shrilly; a flock of bullfinches with carmine breaswept through the trees like a flame; or a small army


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oldfinches broke in and filled the amphitheatre of tree

with their whistling; a hare scooted from one tree trunk

nother and behind him stole up the hardly visible shado

f a white ermine, crawling on the snow, and I watched for

ong time the black spot which I knew to be the tip of his ta

arefully treading the hard crusted snow approached oble deer; at last there visited me from the top of th

mountain the king of the Siberian forest, the brown bear. A

his distracted me and carried away the black though

om my brain, encouraging me to persevere. It was goo

or me also, though difficult, to climb to the top of m

mountain, which reached up out of the forest and fro

which I could look away to the range of red on the horizon.

was the red cliff on the farther bank of the Yenisei. There la

he country, the towns, the enemies and the friends; an

here was even the point which I located as the place of m

amily. It was the reason why Ivan had guided me here. Ans the days in this solitude slipped by I began to mis

orely this companion who, though the murderer

Gavronsky, had taken care of me like a father, alway

addling my horse for me, cutting the wood and doin

verything to make me comfortable. He had spent man

winters alone with nothing except his thoughts, face to fac

with natureI should say, before the face of God. He ha

ied the horrors of solitude and had acquired facility

earing them. I thought sometimes, if I had to meet my en

n this place, that I would spend my last strength to dra

myself to the top of the mountain to die there, looking awaver the infinite sea of mountains and forest toward th


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oint where my loved ones were.

However, the same life gave me much matter f

eflection and yet more occupation for the physical side.

was a continuous struggle for existence, hard and sever

he hardest work was the preparation of the big logs for th

aida. The fallen trunks of the trees were covered with snond frozen to the ground. I was forced to dig them out an

fterwards, with the help of a long stick as a lever, to mov

hem from their place. For facilitating this work I chose th

mountain for my supplies, where, although difficult to clim

was easy to roll the logs down. Soon I made a splendiscovery. I found near my den a great quantity of larch, th

eautiful yet sad forest giant, fallen during a big storm. Th

unks were covered with snow but remained attached

heir stumps, where they had broken off. When I cut in

hese stumps with the ax, the head buried itself and cou

with difficulty be drawn and, investigating the reason,ound them filled with pitch. Chips of this wood needed on

spark to set them aflame and ever afterward I always ha

stock of them to light up quickly for warming my hands o

eturning from the hunt or for boiling my tea.

The greater part of my days was occupied with the huntame to understand that I must distribute my work ov

very day, for it distracted me from my sad and depressin

houghts. Generally, after my morning tea, I went into th

orest to seek heathcock or blackcock. After killing one

wo I began to prepare my dinner, which never had a

xtensive menu. It was constantly game soup with a handf


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f dried bread and afterwards endless cups of tea, th

ssential beverage of the woods. Once, during my searc

or birds, I heard a rustle in the dense shrubs and, carefu

eering about, I discovered the points of a deer's horns

rawled along toward the spot but the watchful anim

eard my approach. With a great noise he rushed from thush and I saw him very clearly, after he had run about thre

undred steps, stop on the slope of the mountain. It was

plendid animal with dark grey coat, with almost a blac

pine and as large as a small cow. I laid my rifle across

ranch and fired. The animal made a great leap, ra

everal steps and fell. With all my strength I ran to him b

e got up again and half jumped, half dragged himself u

he mountain. The second shot stopped him. I had won

warm carpet for my den and a large stock of meat. Th

orns I fastened up among the branches of my wall, whe

hey made a fine hat rack.I cannot forget one very interesting but wild picture, whic

was staged for me several kilometres from my den. The

was a small swamp covered with grass and cranberrie

cattered through it, where the blackcock and san

artridges usually came to feed on the berries. pproached noiselessly behind the bushes and saw

whole flock of blackcock scratching in the snow and pickin

ut the berries. While I was surveying this scene, sudden

ne of the blackcock jumped up and the rest of th

ightened flock immediately flew away. To m

stonishment the first bird began going straight up in


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piral flight and afterwards dropped directly down dea

When I approached there sprang from the body of the sla

ock a rapacious ermine that hid under the trunk of a falle

ee. The bird's neck was badly torn. I then understood th

he ermine had charged the cock, fastened itself on h

eck and had been carried by the bird into the air, as hucked the blood from its throat, and had been the cause

he heavy fall back to the earth. Thanks to his aeronaut

bility I saved one cartridge.

So I lived fighting for the morrow and more and mo

oisoned by hard and bitter thoughts. The days and weekassed and soon I felt the breath of warmer winds. On th

pen places the snow began to thaw. In spots the litt

vulets of water appeared. Another day I saw a fly or

pider awakened after the hard winter. The spring wa

oming. I realized that in spring it was impossible to go o

om the forest. Every river overflowed its banks; thwamps became impassable; all the runways of th

nimals turned into beds for streams of running water

nderstood that until summer I was condemned to

ontinuation of my solitude. Spring very quickly came in

er rights and soon my mountain was free from snow anwas covered only with stones, the trunks of birch and aspe

ees and the high cones of ant hills; the river in place

roke its covering of ice and was coursing full with foa

nd bubbles.


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CHAPTER IV

A FISHERMAN

One day during the hunt, I approached the bank of th

ver and noticed many very large fish with red backs, a

hough filled with blood. They were swimming on th

urface enjoying the rays of the sun. When the river wa

ntirely free from ice, these fish appeared in enormouuantities. Soon I realized that they were working u

tream for the spawning season in the smaller rivers

hought to use a plundering method of catching, forbidde

y the law of all countries; but all the lawyers and legislato

hould be lenient to one who lives in a den under the roof a fallen tree and dares to break their rational laws.

Gathering many thin birch and aspen trees I built in th

ed of the stream a weir which the fish could not pass an

oon I found them trying to jump over it. Near the bank I le

hole in my barrier about eighteen inches below th

urface and fastened on the up-stream side a high basklaited from soft willow twigs, into which the fish came a

hey passed the hole. Then I stood cruelly by and hit the

n the head with a strong stick. All my catch were over thir

ounds, some more than eighty. This variety of fish is calle

he taimen, is of the trout family and is the best in thYenisei.


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After two weeks the fish had passed and my basket gav

me no more treasure, so I began anew the hunt.


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CHAPTER V

A DANGEROUS NEIGHBOR

The hunt became more and more profitable an

njoyable, as spring animated everything. In the morning

he break of day the forest was full of voices, strange an

ndiscernible to the inhabitant of the town. There th

eathcock clucked and sang his song of love, as he sat ohe top branches of the cedar and admired the grey he

cratching in the fallen leaves below. It was very easy

pproach this full-feathered Caruso and with a shot to brin

im down from his more poetic to his more utilitaria

uties. His going out was an euthanasia, for he was in lovnd heard nothing. Out in the clearing the blackcocks w

heir wide-spread spotted tails were fighting, while the hen

trutting near, craning and chattering, probably som

ossip about their fighting swains, watched and we

elighted with them. From the distance flowed in a ste

nd deep roar, yet full of tenderness and love, the matinall of the deer; while from the crags above came down th

hort and broken voice of the mountain buck. Among th

ushes frolicked the hares and often near them a red fo

ay flattened to the ground watching his chance. I nev

eard any wolves and they are usually not found in thiberian regions covered with mountains and forest.


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But there was another beast, who was my neighbor, an

ne of us had to go away. One day, coming back from th

unt with a big heathcock, I suddenly noticed among th

ees a black, moving mass. I stopped and, looking ve

ttentively, saw a bear, digging away at an ant-hill. Smellin

me, he snorted violently, and very quickly shuffled awastonishing me with the speed of his clumsy gait. Th

ollowing morning, while still lying under my overcoat, I wa

ttracted by a noise behind my den. I peered out ve

arefully and discovered the bear. He stood on his hin

egs and was noisily sniffing, investigating the question a

o what living creature had adopted the custom of the bea

f housing during the winter under the trunks of fallen trees

houted and struck my kettle with the ax. My early visit

made off with all his energy; but his visit did not please m

was very early in the spring that this occurred and th

ear should not yet have left his hibernating place. He wahe so-called "ant-eater," an abnormal type of bear lackin

n all the etiquette of the first families of the bear clan.

I knew that the "ant-eaters" were very irritable an

udacious and quickly I prepared myself for both th

efence and the charge. My preparations were short.ubbed off the ends of five of my cartridges, thus makin

um-dums out of them, a sufficiently intelligible argume

or so unwelcome a guest. Putting on my coat I went to th

lace where I had first met the bear and where there we

many ant-hills. I made a detour of the whole mountai

ooked in all the ravines but nowhere found my calle


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Disappointed and tired, I was approaching my shelter qui

ff my guard when I suddenly discovered the king of th

orest himself just coming out of my lowly dwelling an

niffing all around the entrance to it. I shot. The bull

ierced his side. He roared with pain and anger and stoo

p on his hind legs. As the second bullet broke one hese, he squatted down but immediately, dragging the le

nd endeavoring to stand upright, moved to attack me. On

he third bullet in his breast stopped him. He weighed abo

wo hundred to two hundred fifty pounds, as near as I cou

uess, and was very tasty. He appeared at his best

utlets but only a little less wonderful in the Hamburg steak

which I rolled and roasted on hot stones, watching the

well out into great balls that were as light as the fine

ouffle omelettes we used to have at the "Medved"

etrograd. On this welcome addition to my larder I live

om then until the ground dried out and the stream raown enough so that I could travel down along the river

he country whither Ivan had directed me.

Ever traveling with the greatest precautions I made th

ourney down along the river on foot, carrying from m

winter quarters all my household furniture and goodwrapped up in the deerskin bag which I formed by tying th

egs together in an awkward knot; and thus laden fordin

he small streams and wading through the swamps that la

cross my path. After fifty odd miles of this I came to th

ountry called Sifkova, where I found the cabin of a peasa

amed Tropoff, located closest to the forest that came


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e my natural environment. With him I lived for a time.

Now in these unimaginable surroundings of safety an

eace, summing up the total of my experience in th

iberian taiga, I make the following deductions. In eve

ealthy spiritual individual of our times, occasions ecessity resurrect the traits of primitive man, hunter an

warrior, and help him in the struggle with nature. It is th

rerogative of the man with the trained mind and spirit ov

he untrained, who does not possess sufficient science an

will power to carry him through. But the price that th

ultured man must pay is that for him there exists nothin

more awful than absolute solitude and the knowledge

omplete isolation from human society and the life of mor

nd aesthetic culture. One step, one moment of weaknes

nd dark madness will seize a man and carry him

nevitable destruction. I spent awful days of struggle with thold and hunger but I passed more terrible days in th

truggle of the will to kill weakening destructive thought

he memories of these days freeze my heart and mind an

ven now, as I revive them so clearly by writing of m

xperiences, they throw me back into a state of fear an

pprehension. Moreover, I am compelled to observe th

he people in highly civilized states give too little regard

he training that is useful to man in primitive conditions,

onditions incident to the struggle against nature f

xistence. It is the single normal way to develop a ne

eneration of strong, healthy, iron men, with at the samme sensitive souls.


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Nature destroys the weak but helps the stron

wakening in the soul emotions which remain dorma

nder the urban conditions of modern life.


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CHAPTER VI

A RIVER IN TRAVAIL

My presence in the Sifkova country was not for long bu

sed it in full measure. First, I sent a man in whom I ha

onfidence and whom I considered trustworthy to m

iends in the town that I had left and received from the

nen, boots, money and a small case of first aid materiand essential medicines, and, what was most important,

assport in another name, since I was dead for th

olsheviki. Secondly, in these more or less favorab

onditions I reflected upon the plan for my future action

oon in Sifkova the people heard that the Bolshevommissar would come for the requisition of cattle for th

Red Army. It was dangerous to remain longer. I waited on

ntil the Yenisei should lose its massive lock of ice, whic

ept it sealed long after the small rivulets had opened an

he trees had taken on their spring foliage. For on

housand roubles I engaged a fisherman who agreed ake me fifty-five miles up the river to an abandoned go

mine as soon as the river, which had then only opened

laces, should be entirely clear of ice. At last one morning

eard a deafening roar like a tremendous cannonade an

an out to find the river had lifted its great bulk of ice anhen given way to break it up. I rushed on down to the ban


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where I witnessed an awe-inspiring but magnificent scen

he river had brought down the great volume of ice that ha

een dislodged in the south and was carrying it northwa

nder the thick layer which still covered parts of the strea

ntil finally its weight had broken the winter dam to the nor

nd released the whole grand mass in one last rush for thArctic. The Yenisei, "Father Yenisei," "Hero Yenisei," is on

f the longest rivers in Asia, deep and magnificen

specially through the middle range of its course, where

s flanked and held in canyon-like by great towering range

he huge stream had brought down whole miles of ic

elds, breaking them up on the rapids and on isolate

ocks, twisting them with angry swirls, throwing up section

f the black winter roads, carrying down the tepees built f

he use of passing caravans which in the Winter always g

om Minnusinsk to Krasnoyarsk on the frozen river. Fro

me to time the stream stopped in its flow, the roar begand the great fields of ice were squeezed and pile

pward, sometimes as high as thirty feet, damming up th

water behind, so that it rapidly rose and ran out over the lo

laces, casting on the shore great masses of ice. Then th

ower of the reinforced waters conquered the towerin

am of ice and carried it downward with a sound lik

reaking glass. At the bends in the river and round th

reat rocks developed terrifying chaos. Huge blocks of ic

ammed and jostled until some were thrown clear into th

ir, crashing against others already there, or were hurle

gainst the curving cliffs and banks, tearing out boulderarth and trees high up the sides. All along the lo


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mbankments this giant of nature flung upward with

uddenness that leaves man but a pigmy in force a gre

wall of ice fifteen to twenty feet high, which the peasants c

Zaberega" and through which they cannot get to the riv

without cutting out a road. One incredible feat I saw th

iant perform, when a block many feet thick and manards square was hurled through the air and dropped

rush saplings and little trees more than a half hundred fe

om the bank.

Watching this glorious withdrawal of the ice, I was fille

with terror and revolt at seeing the awful spoils which thYenisei bore away in this annual retreat. These were th

odies of the executed counter-revolutionariesofficer

oldiers and Cossacks of the former army of the Superi

Governor of all anti-Bolshevik Russia, Admiral Kolcha

hey were the results of the bloody work of the "Cheka"

Minnusinsk. Hundreds of these bodies with heads anands cut off, with mutilated faces and bodies half burne

with broken skulls, floated and mingled with the blocks

ce, looking for their graves; or, turning in the furiou

whirlpools among the jagged blocks, they were ground an

orn to pieces into shapeless masses, which the riveauseated with its task, vomited out upon the islands an

rojecting sand bars. I passed the whole length of th

middle Yenisei and constantly came across these putrifyin

nd terrifying reminders of the work of the Bolsheviki. In on

lace at a turn of the river I saw a great heap of horse

which had been cast up by the ice and current, in numb


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ot less than three hundred. A verst below there I wa

ickened beyond endurance by the discovery of a grove

willows along the bank which had raked from the pollute

tream and held in their finger-like drooping branche

uman bodies in all shapes and attitudes with a semblanc

f naturalness which made an everlasting picture on mistraught mind. Of this pitiful gruesome company I counte

eventy.

At last the mountain of ice passed by, followed by th

muddy freshets that carried down the trunks of fallen tree

ogs and bodies, bodies, bodies. The fisherman and hon put me and my luggage into their dugout made from a

spen tree and poled upstream along the bank. Poling in

wift current is very hard work. At the sharp curves we we

ompelled to row, struggling against the force of the strea

nd even in places hugging the cliffs and making headwa

nly by clutching the rocks with our hands and dragginlong slowly. Sometimes it took us a long while to do five

x metres through these rapid holes. In two days w

eached the goal of our journey. I spent several days in th

old mine, where the watchman and his family were livin

As they were short of food, they had nothing to spare for mnd consequently my rifle again served to nourish me, a

well as contributing something to my hosts. One day the

ppeared here a trained agriculturalist. I did not hid

ecause during my winter in the woods I had raised

eavy beard, so that probably my own mother could n

ave recognized me. However, our guest was very shrew


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nd at once deciphered me. I did not fear him because

aw that he was not a Bolshevik and later had confirmatio

f this. We found common acquaintances and a commo

iewpoint on current events. He lived close to the gold min

n a small village where he superintended public works. W

etermined to escape together from Russia. For a lonme I had puzzled over this matter and now my plan wa

eady. Knowing the position in Siberia and its geography

ecided that the best way to safety was through Urianha

he northern part of Mongolia on the head waters of th

Yenisei, then through Mongolia and out to the Far East an

he Pacific. Before the overthrow of the Kolcha

Government I had received a commission to investiga

Urianhai and Western Mongolia and then, with gre

ccuracy, I studied all the maps and literature I could get o

his question. To accomplish this audacious plan I had th

reat incentive of my own safety.


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CHAPTER VII

THROUGH SOVIET SIBERIA

After several days we started through the forest on th

eft bank of the Yenisei toward the south, avoiding th

llages as much as possible in fear of leaving some trail

which we might be followed. Whenever we did have to g

nto them, we had a good reception at the hands of theasants, who did not penetrate our disguise; and we sa

hat they hated the Bolsheviki, who had destroyed many

heir villages. In one place we were told that a detachme

f Red troops had been sent out from Minnusinsk to chas

he Whites. We were forced to work far back from the shof the Yenisei and to hide in the woods and mountain

Here we remained nearly a fortnight, because all this tim

he Red soldiers were traversing the country and capturin

n the woods half-dressed unarmed officers who were

iding from the atrocious vengeance of the Bolshevi

Afterwards by accident we passed a meadow where wound the bodies of twenty-eight officers hung to the tree

with their faces and bodies mutilated. There we determine

ever to allow ourselves to come alive into the hands of th

oisheviki. To prevent this we had our weapons and

upply of cyanide of potassium.Passing across one branch of the Yenisei, once we sa


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narrow, miry pass, the entrance to which was strewn wi

he bodies of men and horses. A little farther along w

ound a broken sleigh with rifled boxes and pape

cattered about. Near them were also torn garments an

odies. Who were these pitiful ones? What tragedy wa

taged in this wild wood? We tried to guess this enigmnd we began to investigate the documents and paper

hese were official papers addressed to the Staff

General Pepelaieff. Probably one part of the Staff durin

he retreat of Kolchak's army went through this woo

triving to hide from the enemy approaching from all side

ut here they were caught by the Reds and killed. Not f

om here we found the body of a poor unfortunate woma

whose condition proved clearly what had happened befo

elief came through the beneficent bullet. The body la

eside a shelter of branches, strewn with bottles an

onserve tins, telling the tale of the bantering feast that hareceded the destruction of this life.

The further we went to the south, the more pronounced

ospitable the people became toward us and the mo

ostile to the Bolsheviki. At last we emerged from th

orests and entered the spacious vastness of thMinnusinsk steppes, crossed by the high red mounta

ange called the "Kizill-Kaiya" and dotted here and the

with salt lakes. It is a country of tombs, thousands of larg

nd small dolmens, the tombs of the earliest proprietors

his land: pyramids of stone ten metres high, the marks s

y Jenghiz Khan along his road of conquest and afterward


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y the cripple Tamerlane-Temur. Thousands of thes

olmens and stone pyramids stretch in endless rows to th

orth. In these plains the Tartars now live. They wer

obbed by the Bolsheviki and therefore hated the

rdently. We openly told them that we were escaping. The

ave us food for nothing and supplied us with guides, tellins with whom we might stop and where to hide in case

anger.

After several days we looked down from the high bank

he Yenisei upon the first steamer, the "Oriol," from

Krasnoyarsk to Minnusinsk, laden with Red soldiers. Soowe came to the mouth of the river Tuba, which we were

ollow straight east to the Sayan mountains, where Urianh

egins. We thought the stage along the Tuba and i

ranch, the Amyl, the most dangerous part of our cours

ecause the valleys of these two rivers had a dens

opulation which had contributed large numbers of soldieo the celebrated Communist Partisans, Schetinkin an

Krafcheno.

A Tartar ferried us and our horses over to the right ban

f the Yenisei and afterwards sent us some Cossacks

aybreak who guided us to the mouth of the Tuba, whewe spent the whole day in rest, gratifying ourselves with

east of wild black currants and cherries.


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CHAPTER VIII

THREE DAYS ON THE EDGE OF A

PRECIPICE

Armed with our false passports, we moved along up th

alley of the Tuba. Every ten or fifteen versts we cam

cross large villages of from one to six hundred house

where all administration was in the hands of Soviets an

where spies scrutinized all passers-by. We could not avo

hese villages for two reasons. First, our attempts to avo

hem when we were constantly meeting the peasants in th

ountry would have aroused suspicion and would hav

aused any Soviet to arrest us and send us to the "Chekan Minnusinsk, where we should have sung our last son

econdly, in his documents my fellow traveler was grante

ermission to use the government post relays f

orwarding him on his journey. Therefore, we were forced

isit the village Soviets and change our horses. Our ow

mounts we had given to the Tartar and Cossack wh

elped us at the mouth of the Tuba, and the Cossac

rought us in his wagon to the first village, where w

eceived the post horses. All except a small minority of th

easants were against the Bolsheviki and voluntar

ssisted us. I paid them for their help by treating their sicnd my fellow traveler gave them practical advice in th


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management of their agriculture. Those who helped u

hiefly were the old dissenters and the Cossacks.

Sometimes we came across villages entire

Communistic but very soon we learned to distinguish them

When we entered a village with our horse bells tinkling an

ound the peasants who happened to be sitting in front heir houses ready to get up with a frown and a grumble th

ere were more new devils coming, we knew that this wa

village opposed to the Communists and that here w

ould stop in safety. But, if the peasants approached an

reeted us with pleasure, calling us "Comrades," we knet once that we were among the enemy and took gre

recautions. Such villages were inhabited by people wh

were not the Siberian liberty-loving peasants but b

migrants from the Ukraine, idle and drunk, living in po

irty huts, though their village were surrounded with th

lack and fertile soil of the steppes. Very dangerous anleasant moments we spent in the large village of Karatu

is rather a town. In the year 1912 two colleges we

pened here and the population reached 15,000 people.

s the capital of the South Yenisei Cossacks. But by now

s very difficult to recognize this town. The peasamigrants and Red army murdered all the Cossac

opulation and destroyed and burned most of the house

nd it is at present the center of Bolshevism an

Communism in the eastern part of the Minnusinsk district.

he building of the Soviet, where we came to exchange o

orses, there was being held a meeting of the "Cheka." W


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were immediately surrounded and questioned about o

ocuments. We were not any too calm about th

mpression which might be made by our papers an

ttempted to avoid this examination. My fellow travel

fterwards often said to me:

"It is great good fortune that among the Bolsheviki thood-for-nothing shoemaker of yesterday is the Govern

f today and scientists sweep the streets or clean th

tables of the Red cavalry. I can talk with the Bolshevi

ecause they do not know the difference betwee

disinfection' and 'diphtheria,' 'anthracite' and 'appendicitnd can talk them round in all things, even up to persuadin

hem not to put a bullet into me."

And so we talked the members of the "Cheka" round

verything that we wanted. We presented to them a brig

cheme for the future development of their district, when w

would build the roads and bridges which would allow the

o export the wood from Urianhai, iron and gold from th

ayan Mountains, cattle and furs from Mongolia. What

iumph of creative work for the Soviet Government! O

de occupied about an hour and afterwards the membe

f the "Cheka," forgetting about our documents, personahanged our horses, placed our luggage on the wagon an

wished us success. It was the last ordeal within the borde

f Russia.

When we had crossed the valley of the river Amy

Happiness smiled on us. Near the ferry we met a membf the militia from Karatuz. He had on his wagon sever


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fles and automatic pistols, mostly Mausers, for outfittin

n expedition through Urianhai in quest of some Cossac

fficers who had been greatly troubling the Bolsheviki. W

tood upon our guard. We could very easily have met th

xpedition and we were not quite assured that the soldie

would be so appreciative of our high-sounding phrases awere the members of the "Cheka." Carefully questionin

he militiaman, we ferreted out the route their expeditio

was to take. In the next village we stayed in the same hous

with him. I had to open my luggage and suddenly I notice

is admiring glance fixed upon my bag.

"What pleases you so much?" I asked.

He whispered: "Trousers . . . Trousers."

I had received from my townsmen quite new trousers

lack thick cloth for riding. Those trousers attracted the ra

ttention of the militiaman."If you have no other trousers. . . ." I remarked, reflectin

pon my plan of attack against my new friend.

"No," he explained with sadness, "the Soviet does n

urnish trousers. They tell me they also go without trouser

And my trousers are absolutely worn out. Look at them."

With these words he threw back the corner of h

vercoat and I was astonished how he could keep himse

nside these trousers, for they had such large holes th

hey were more of a net than trousers, a net through which

mall shark could have slipped.

"Sell me," he whispered, with a question in his voice.


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"I cannot, for I need them myself," I answered decisively

He reflected for a few minutes and afterwar

pproaching me, said: "Let us go out doors and talk. He

is inconvenient."

We went outside. "Now, what about it?" he began. "Yo

re going into Urianhai. There the Soviet bank-notes hav

o value and you will not be able to buy anything, whe

here are plenty of sables, fox-skins, ermine and gold du

o be purchased, which they very willingly exchange f

fles and cartridges. You have each of you a rifle and I w

ive you one more rifle with a hundred cartridges if you givme the trousers."

"We do not need weapons. We are protected by o

ocuments," I answered, as though I did not understand.

"But no," he interrupted, "you can change that rifle the

nto furs and gold. I shall give you that rifle outright.""Ah, that's it, is it? But it's very little for those trouser

Nowhere in Russia can you now find trousers. All Russ

oes without trousers and for your rifle I should receive

able and what use to me is one skin?"

Word by word I attained to my desire. The militia-man gmy trousers and I received a rifle with one hundre

artridges and two automatic pistols with forty cartridge

ach. We were armed now so that we could defen

urselves. Moreover, I persuaded the happy possessor

my trousers to give us a permit to carry the weapons. The

he law and force were both on our side.


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In a distant village we bought three horses, two for ridin

nd one for packing, engaged a guide, purchased drie

read, meat, salt and butter and, after resting twenty-fo

ours, began our trip up the Amyl toward the Saya

Mountains on the border of Urianhai. There we hoped not

meet Bolsheviki, either sly or silly. In three days from thmouth of the Tuba we passed the last Russian village ne

he Mongolian-Urianhai border, three days of consta

ontact with a lawless population, of continuous danger an

f the ever present possibility of fortuitous death. Only iro

will power, presence of mind and dogged tenacity broug

s through all the dangers and saved us from rolling bac

own our precipice of adventure, at whose foot lay so man

thers who had failed to make this same climb to freedo

which we had just accomplished. Perhaps they lacked th

ersistence or the presence of mind, perhaps they had n

he poetic ability to sing odes about "roads, bridges anold mines" or perhaps they simply had no spare trousers


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CHAPTER IX

TO THE SAYANS AND SAFETY

Dense virgin wood surrounded us. In the high, alread

ellow grass the trail wound hardly noticeable in amon

ushes and trees just beginning to drop their many colore

eaves. It is the old, already forgotten Amyl pass roa

wenty-five years ago it carried the provisions, machinend workers for the numerous, now abandoned, gold mine

f the Amyl valley. The road now wound along the wide an

apid Amyl, then penetrated into the deep forest, guiding u

ound the swampy ground filled with those dangerou

iberian quagmires, through the dense bushes, acrosmountains and wide meadows. Our guide probably did n

urmise our real intention and sometimes, apprehensive

ooking down at the ground, would say:

"Three riders on horses with shoes on have passed her

erhaps they were soldiers."

His anxiety was terminated when he discovered that th

acks led off to one side and then returned to the trail.

"They did not proceed farther," he remarked, sly

miling.

"That's too bad," we answered. "It would have been mo

vely to travel in company."


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But the peasant only stroked his beard and laughe

vidently he was not taken in by our statement.

We passed on the way a gold mine that had bee

ormerly planned and equipped on splendid lines but wa

ow abandoned and the buildings all destroyed. Th

olsheviki had taken away the machinery, supplies anlso some parts of the buildings. Nearby stood a dark an

loomy church with windows broken, the crucifix torn off an

he tower burned, a pitifully typical emblem of the Russia

oday. The starving family of the watchman lived at the min

n continuing danger and privation. They told us that in thorest region were wandering about a band of Reds wh

were robbing anything that remained on the property of th

old mine, were working the pay dirt in the richest part

he mine and, with a little gold washed, were going to drin

nd gamble it away in some distant villages where th

easants were making the forbidden vodka out of berriend potatoes and selling it for its weight in gold. A meetin

with this band meant death. After three days we crosse

he northern ridge of the Sayan chain, passed the bord

ver Algiak and, after this day, were abroad in the territo

f Urianhai.This wonderful land, rich in most diverse forms of natur

wealth, is inhabited by a branch of the Mongols, which

ow only sixty thousand and which is gradually dying o

peaking a language quite different from any of the oth

ialects of this folk and holding as their life ideal the tenet

Eternal Peace." Urianhai long ago became the scene


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dministrative attempts by Russians, Mongols an

Chinese, all of whom claimed sovereignty over the regio

whose unfortunate inhabitants, the Soyots, had to pa

ibute to all three of these overlords. It was due to this th

he land was not an entirely safe refuge for us. We ha

eard already from our militiaman about the expeditioreparing to go into Urianhai and from the peasants w

earned that the villages along the Little Yenisei and farthe

outh had formed Red detachments, who were robbing an

lling everyone who fell into their hands. Recently they ha

illed sixty-two officers attempting to pass Urianhai in

Mongolia; robbed and killed a caravan of Chines

merchants; and killed some German war prisoners wh

scaped from the Soviet paradise. On the fourth day w

eached a swampy valley where, among open forest

tood a single Russian house. Here we took leave of o

uide, who hastened away to get back before the snowhould block his road over the Sayans. The master of th

stablishment agreed to guide us to the Seybi River for te

housand roubles in Soviet notes. Our horses were tire

nd we were forced to give them a rest, so we decided

pend twenty-four hours here.

We were drinking tea when the daughter of our ho

ried:

"The Soyots are coming!" Into the room with their rifle

nd pointed hats came suddenly four of them.

"Mende," they grunted to us and then, without ceremonegan examining us critically. Not a button or a seam in o


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ntire outfit escaped their penetrating gaze. Afterwards on

f them, who appeared to be the local "Merin" or governo

egan to investigate our political views. Listening to o

riticisms of the Bolsheviki, he was evidently pleased an

egan talking freely.

"You are good people. You do not like Bolsheviki. We welp you."

I thanked him and presented him with the thick silk co

which I was wearing as a girdle. Before night they left u

aying that they would return in the morning. It grew dar

We went to the meadow to look after our exhausted horserazing there and came back to the house. We were ga

hatting with the hospitable host when suddenly we hea

orses' hoofs in the court and raucous voices, followed b

he immediate entry of five Red soldiers armed with rifle

nd swords. Something unpleasant and cold rolled up in

my throat and my heart hammered. We knew the Reds a

ur enemies. These men had the red stars on the

Astrakhan caps and red triangles on their sleeves. The

were members of the detachment that was out to look f

Cossack officers. Scowling at us they took off the

vercoats and sat down. We first opened the conversatioxplaining the purpose of our journey in exploring f

ridges, roads and gold mines. From them we then learne

hat their commander would arrive in a little while with seve

more men and that they would take our host at once as

uide to the Seybi River, where they thought the Cossac

fficers must be hidden. Immediately I remarked that o


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ffairs were moving fortunately and that we must trav

long together. One of the soldiers replied that that wou

epend upon the "Comrade-officer."

During our conversation the Soyot Governor entere

Very attentively he studied again the new arrivals and the

sked: "Why did you take from the Soyots the good horsend leave bad ones?"

The soldiers laughed at him.

"Remember that you are in a foreign country!" answere

he Soyot, with a threat in his voice.

"God and the Devil!" cried one of the soldiers.

But the Soyot very calmly took a seat at the table an

ccepted the cup of tea the hostess was preparing for him

he conversation ceased. The Soyot finished the te

moked his long pipe and, standing up, said:

"If tomorrow morning the horses are not back at thwner's, we shall come and take them." And with thes

words he turned and went out.

I noticed an expression of apprehension on the faces

he soldiers. Shortly one was sent out as a messeng

while the others sat silent with bowed heads. Late in thight the officer arrived with his other seven men. As h

eceived the report about the Soyot, he knitted his brow

nd said:

"It's a bad mess. We must travel through the swam

where a Soyot will be behind every mound watching us."He seemed really very anxious and his trouble fortunate


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revented him from paying much attention to us. I began

alm him and promised on the morrow to arrange th

matter with the Soyots. The officer was a coarse brute an

silly man, desiring strongly to be promoted for the captu

f the Cossack officers, and feared that the Soyot cou

revent him from reaching the Seybi.At daybreak we started together with the Re

etachment. When we had made about fifteen kilometer

we discovered behind the bushes two riders. They we

oyots. On their backs were their flint rifles.

"Wait for me!" I said to the officer. "I shall go for a parlewith them."

I went forward with all the speed of my horse. One of th

orsemen was the Soyot Governor, who said to me:

"Remain behind the detachment and help us."

"All right," I answered, "but let us talk a little, in order thhey may think we are parleying."

After a moment I shook the hand of the Soyot an

eturned to the soldiers.

"All right," I exclaimed, "we can continue our journey. N

indrance will come from the Soyots."We moved forward and, when we were crossing a larg

meadow, we espied at a long distance two Soyots riding

ull gallop right up the side of a mountain. Step by step

ccomplished the necessary manoeuvre to bring me an

my fellow traveler somewhat behind the detachmenehind our backs remained only one soldier, very brutish


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ppearance and apparently very hostile to us. I had time

whisper to my companion only one word: "Mauser," an

aw that he very carefully unbuttoned the saddle bag an

rew out a little the handle of his pistol.

Soon I understood why these soldiers, excelle

woodsmen as they were, would not attempt to go to theybi without a guide. All the country between the Algia

nd the Seybi is formed by high and narrow mounta

dges separated by deep swampy valleys. It is a curse

nd dangerous place. At first our horses mired to th

nees, lunging about and catching their feet in the roots ushes in the quagmires, then falling and pinning us und

heir sides, breaking parts of their saddles and bridle

hen we would go in up to the riders' knees. My horse we

own once with his whole breast and head under the re

uid mud and we just saved it and no more. Afterwards th

fficer's horse fell with him so that he bruised his head ontone. My companion injured one knee against a tre

ome of the men also fell and were injured. The horse

reathed heavily. Somewhere dimly and gloomily a cro

awed. Later the road became worse still. The trail followe

hrough the same miry swamp but everywhere the road walocked with fallen tree trunks. The horses, jumping over th

unks, would land in an unexpectedly deep hole an

ounder. We and all the soldiers were covered with bloo

nd mud and were in great fear of exhausting our mount

or a long distance we had to get down and lead them. A

ast we entered a broad meadow covered with bushes an


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ordered with rocks. Not only horses but riders also bega

o sink to their middle in a quagmire with apparently n

ottom. The whole surface of the meadow was but a th

ayer of turf, covering a lake with black putrefying wate

When we finally learned to open our column and proceed

ig intervals, we found we could keep on this surface thndulated like rubber ice and swayed the bushes up an

own. In places the earth buckled up and broke.

Suddenly, three shots sounded. They were hardly mo

han the report of a Flobert rifle; but they were genuin

hots, because the officer and two soldiers fell to thround. The other soldiers grabbed their rifles and, wi

ear, looked about for the enemy. Four more were soo

nseated and suddenly I noticed our rearguard brute rais

is rifle and aim right at me. However, my Mauser outstrod

is rifle and I was allowed to continue my story.

"Begin!" I cried to my friend and we took part in th

hooting. Soon the meadow began to swarm with Soyot

tripping the fallen, dividing the spoils and recapturing the

orses. In some forms of warfare it is never safe to leav

ny of the enemy to renew hostilities later wi

verwhelming forces.After an hour of very difficult road we began to ascen

he mountain and soon arrived on a high plateau covere

with trees.

"After all, Soyots are not a too peaceful people,"

emarked, approaching the Governor.He looked at me very sharply and replied:


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"It was not Soyots who did the killing."

He was right. It was the Abakan Tartars in Soyot clothe

who killed the Bolsheviki. These Tartars were running the

erds of cattle and horses down out of Russia throug

Urianhai to Mongolia. They had as their guide an

egotiator a Kalmuck Lamaite. The following morning w

were approaching a small settlement of Russian colonis

nd noticed some horsemen looking out from the wood

One of our young and brave Tartars galloped off at fu

peed toward these men in the wood but soon wheele

nd returned with a reassuring smile."All right," he exclaimed, laughing, "keep right on."

We continued our travel on a good broad road along

igh wooden fence surrounding a meadow filled with a fin

erd of wapiti or izubr, which the Russian colonists bree

or the horns that are so valuable in the velvet for sale ibetan and Chinese medicine dealers. These horns, whe

oiled and dried, are called panti and are sold to th

Chinese at very high prices.

We were received with great fear by the settlers.

"Thank God!" exclaimed the hostess, "we thought . . nd she broke off, looking at her husband.


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CHAPTER X

THE BATTLE ON THE SEYBI

Constant dangers develop one's watchfulness an

eenness of perception. We did not take off our clothes n

nsaddle our horses, tired as we were. I put my Maus

nside my coat and began to look about and scrutinize th

eople. The first thing I discovered was the butt end of fle under the pile of pillows always found on the peasant

arge beds. Later I noticed the employees of our ho

onstantly coming into the room for orders from him. The

id not look like simple peasants, although they had lon

eards and were dressed very dirtily. They examined mwith very attentive eyes and did not leave me and my frien

lone with the host. We could not, however, make o

nything. But then the Soyot Governor came in an

oticing our strained relations, began explaining in th

oyot language to the host all about us.

"I beg your pardon," the colonist said, "but you knoourself that now for one honest man we have ten thousan

murderers and robbers."

With this we began chatting more freely. It appeared th

ur host knew that a band of Bolsheviki would attack him

he search for the band of Cossack officers who were livinn his house on and off. He had heard also about the "tot


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oss" of one detachment. However, it did not entirely cal

he old man to have our news, for he had heard of the larg

etachment of Reds that was coming from the border of th

Usinsky District in pursuit of the Tartars who were escapin

with their cattle south to Mongolia.

"From one minute to another we are awaiting them wiear," said our host to me. "My Soyot has come in an

nnounced that the Reds are already crossing the Sey

nd the Tartars are prepared for the fight."

We immediately went out to look over our saddles an

acks and then took the horses and hid them in the busheot far off. We made ready our rifles and pistols and too

osts in the enclosure to wait for our common enemy. A

our of trying impatience passed, when one of the workme

ame running in from the wood and whispered:

"They are crossing our swamp. . . . The fight is on."In fact, like an answer to his words, came through th

woods the sound of a single rifle-shot, followed closely b

he increasing rat-tat-tat of the mingled guns. Nearer to th

ouse the sounds gradually came. Soon we heard th

eating of the horses' hoofs and the brutish cries of th

oldiers. In a moment three of them burst into the housom off the road where they were being raked now by th

artars from both directions, cursing violently. One of them

hot at our host. He stumbled along and fell on his knee, a

is hand reached out toward the rifle under his pillows.

"Who are YOU?" brutally blurted out one of the soldierurnin to us and raisin his rifle. We answered wi


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Mausers and successfully, for only one soldier in the rear b

he door escaped, and that merely to fall into the hands of

workman in the courtyard who strangled him. The fight ha

egun. The soldiers called on their comrades for help. Th

Reds were strung along in the ditch at the side of the roa

hree hundred paces from the house, returning the fire he surrounding Tartars. Several soldiers ran to the hous

o help their comrades but this time we heard the regul

olley of the workmen of our host. They fired as though in

manoeuvre calmly and accurately. Five Red soldiers lay o

he road, while the rest now kept to their ditch. Before lonwe discovered that they began crouching and crawling o

oward the end of the ditch nearest the wood where the

ad left their horses. The sounds of shots became mo

nd more distant and soon we saw fifty or sixty Tarta

ursuing the Reds across the meadow.

Two days we rested here on the Seybi. The workmen ur host, eight in number, turned out to be officers hidin

om the Bolsheviks. They asked permission to go on w

s, to which we agreed.

When my friend and I continued our trip we had a gua

f eight armed officers and three horses with packs. Wrossed a beautiful valley between the Rivers Seybi and U

verywhere we saw splendid grazing lands with numerou

erds upon them, but in two or three houses along the roa

we did not find anyone living. All had hidden away in fe

fter hearing the sounds of the fight with the Reds. Th

ollowing day we went up over the high chain of mountain


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alled Daban and, traversing a great area of burned timb

where our trail lay among the fallen trees, we began

escend into a valley hidden from us by the intervenin

oothills. There behind these hills flowed the Little Yenise

he last large river before reaching Mongolia proper. Abo

en kilometers from the river we spied a column of smoksing up out of the wood. Two of the officers slipped awa

o make an investigation. For a long time they did not retu

nd we, fearful lest something had happened, moved o

arefully in the direction of the smoke, all ready for a fight

ecessary. We finally came near enough to hear the voice

f many people and among them the loud laugh of one

ur scouts. In the middle of a meadow we made out a larg

ent with two tepees of branches and around these a crow

f fifty or sixty men. When we broke out of the forest all

hem rushed forward with a joyful welcome for us.

ppeared that it was a large camp of Russian officers anoldiers who, after their escape from Siberia, had lived

he houses of the Russian colonists and rich peasants

Urianhai.

"What are you doing here?" we asked with surprise.

"Oh, ho, you know nothing at all about what has beeoing on?" replied a fairly old man who called himse

Colonel Ostrovsky. "In Urianhai an order has been issue

om the Military Commissioner to mobilize all men ov

wenty-eight years of age and everywhere toward the tow

f Belotzarsk are moving detachments of these Partisan

hey are robbing the colonists and peasants and killin


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veryone that falls into their hands. We are hiding here fro

hem."

The whole camp counted only sixteen rifles and thre

ombs, belonging to a Tartar who was traveling with h

Kalmuck guide to his herds in Western Mongolia. W

xplained the aim of our journey and our intention to pashrough Mongolia to the nearest port on the Pacific. Th

fficers asked me to bring them out with us. I agreed. O

econnaissance proved to us that there were no Partisan

ear the house of the peasant who was to ferry us over th

ittle Yenisei. We moved off at once in order to pass auickly as possible this dangerous zone of the Yenisei an

o sink ourselves into the forest beyond. It snowed b

mmediately thawed. Before evening a cold north win

prang up, bringing with it a small blizzard. Late in the nig

ur party reached the river. Our colonist welcomed us an

ffered at once to ferry us over and swim the horselthough there was ice still floating which had come dow

om the head-waters of the stream. During th

onversation there was present one of the peasant

workmen, red-haired and squint-eyed. He kept movin

round all the time and suddenly disappeared. Our hooticed it and, with fear in his voice, said:

"He has run to the village and will guide the Partisan

ere. We must cross immediately."

Then began the most terrible night of my whole journe

We proposed to the colonist that he take only our food anmmunition in the boat, while we would swim our horse


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cross, in order to save the time of the many trips. Th

width of the Yenisei in this place is about three hundre

metres. The stream is very rapid and the shore break

way abruptly to the full depth of the stream. The night wa

bsolutely dark with not a star in the sky. The wind

whistling swirls drove the snow and sleet sharply againur faces. Before us flowed the stream of black, rap

water, carrying down thin, jagged blocks of ice, twisting an

rinding in the whirls and eddies. For a long time my hors

efused to take the plunge down the steep bank, snorte

nd braced himself. With all my strength I lashed him w

my whip across his neck until, with a pitiful groan, he thre

imself into the cold stream. We both went all the way und

nd I hardly kept my seat in the saddle. Soon I was som

metres from the shore with my horse stretching his hea

nd neck far forward in his efforts and snorting and blowin

ncessantly. I felt the every motion of his feet churning thwater and the quivering of his whole body under me in th

ial. At last we reached the middle of the river, where th

urrent became exceedingly rapid and began to carry u

own with it. Out of the ominous darkness I heard th

houtings of my companions and the dull cries of fear an

uffering from the horses. I was chest deep in the icy wate

ometimes the floating blocks struck me; sometimes th

waves broke up over my head and face. I had no time

ook about or to feel the cold. The animal wish to live too

ossession of me; I became filled with the thought that,

my horse's strength failed in his struggle with the streammust perish. All my attention was turned to his efforts and


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is quivering fear. Suddenly he groaned loudly and I notice

e was sinking. The water evidently was over his nostri

ecause the intervals of his frightened snorts through th

ostrils became longer. A big block of ice struck his hea

nd turned him so that he was swimming right downstream

With difficulty I reined him around toward the shore but feow that his force was gone. His head several time

isappeared under the swirling surface. I had no choice

lipped from the saddle and, holding this by my left han

wam with my right beside my mount, encouraging him w

my shouts. For a time he floated with lips apart and h

eeth set firm. In his widely opened eyes was indescribab

ear. As soon as I was out of the saddle, he had at onc

sen in the water and swam more calmly and rapidly. A

ast under the hoofs of my exhausted animal I heard th

tones. One after another my companions came up on th

hore. The well-trained horses had brought all their burdenver. Much farther down our colonist landed with th

upplies. Without a moment's loss we packed our things o

he horses and continued our journey. The wind wa

rowing stronger and colder. At the dawn of day the co

was intense. Our soaked clothes froze and became ha

s leather; our teeth chattered; and in our eyes showed th

ed fires of fever: but we traveled on to put as much spac

s we could between ourselves and the Partisans. Passin

bout fifteen kilometres through the forest we emerged in

n open va

Documents

Beasts, Men and Gods - Ferdinand Ossendowski