Robert Neal Rudmose-Brown

“ The natives probably do not exceed one million.
There is much disease, particularly among the native tribes, although the climate itself is not unhealthy. In addition to goitre, leprosy occurs in the Lena and Amur valleys and elsewhere. Smallpox is endemic in many parts and tuberculosis is prevalent. Cholera is never absent in the Far East and occasionally assumes the proportions of an epidemic. Plague sometimes enters from Manchuria. Venereal diseases are rampant throughout Siberia. A curious nervous affection known as Arctic hysteria is common among the natives of the far north. ”

“ In western Siberia there is little trade in timber and the demands for home use and the havoc of forest fires are decreasing the available supply. The principal saw-mills are at Tobolsk, Tyumen, Omsk, Novo-Nikolaevsk and Tomsk. In eastern Siberia the timber industry is confined to the Amur and Maritime provinces except in respect of the demand for fuel for railway, industrial and domestic purposes. ”

“ At least 10,000 men take part in the fishery and the annual ratch is about 15,000 tons. On the upper Irtish Pavlodar and Lake Zaisan are centres of fishing. The fisheries of the lower Yenisei send S. about 3,000 tons every year. In Lake Baikal there are valuable fisheries both in summer and, through the ice, in winter. In the Lena and Kolima regions the natives live chiefly on fish but lack of transport facilities prevents export. Fisheries in the Amur, Okhotsk and Kamchatka regions steadily increase in importance. ”

“ Attempts to colonize Kamchatka have been practically abandoned and for many years Russian Sakhalin has failed to attract settlers. North of lat. 58° N. in western Siberia, and lat. 54° N. in eastern Siberia, there are very few Russians permanently settled. Total exemption from military service and other privileges which the State offered colonists in the lower valleys of the Yenisei and Lena did not succeed in attracting many settlers. The migration of Chinese and Koreans to the Amur and Ussuri valleys and the Transbaikal region was marked for many years. ”

“ The dairy industry has developed quickly, fostered by State encouragement and the export facilities afforded by the railway. In 1912 there were 1,060 coöperative dairies in the Tobolsk province, and 2,042 in the Tomsk province. The export of butter from western Siberia reached 35,000 tons in 1903 and 76,000 tons in 1913: in the latter year the home consumption accounted for an additional 75,000 tons. The industry is of less importance in eastern Siberia. ”

“ In 1916 there were about 400 steamers and several thousand barges on the Amur and its navigable tributaries. Practically all the vessels were Russian, although Chinese vessels have equal rights down to Khabarovsk. On the Sungari, the Manchurian tributary of the Amur, there is Chinese and Japanese shipping. The Ussun is navigable throughout its length. Steamers ascend the Ussuri and Sungacha to Kamen- Ribolov, on Lake Khanka, 500 m. from Khabarovsk. Navigation on Lake Baikal has become less important since the construction of the railway round the southern end. ”

“ Salmon-canning is a new industry: in 1913 the output from Kamchatka was over 500,000 tins, and from the lower Amur 100,000 tins. Attempts to send frozen fish from the Amur to Europe met with some success when begun in 1913. The fisheries of Russian Sakhalin are losing their importance. In the Sea of Japan the herring-fishing from Imperial and Peter the Great bays is growing in value.
Timber.—Siberian forests of commercial timber are estimated to cover about 470,000 sq. m. or about one-tenth of the total area of the country, but owing to absence of transport facilities only 150,000 sq. ”

“ Hunting.—The fur industry retains great importance and was much stimulated during the early years of the World War by the high price of skins. But decrease of game is causing hunting in many parts of the N. to take a secondary place to fishing and reindeer-breeding. ”

“ The number of settlers entering Asiatic Russia (including the Steppe provinces) from Russia in Europe rose from 141,000 in 1906 to 619,000 in 1909. For some years after there was a decline, due, it is said, to a succession of good harvests in southern Russia: in 1912 and 1913 the annual immigration was little over 200,000. ”

“ Mariinsk (13,000) , a mining centre on the railway and Achinsk (10,000) a little farther east. In eastern Siberia other important towns are: the great port of Vladivostok (95,000) ; the two Amur ports and agricultural centres, Blagovyeshchensk (76,000) and Khabarovsk (53,500) ; Chita (73,000) with growing agricultural and commercial interests; Krasnoyavsk (73,000) , the chief river and railway port of the Yenisei; Nikolsk-Ussuriski (34,700) , a rising industrial and railway centre 70 m. from Vladivostok; Nikolaevsk (12,500) , the port at the Amur mouth ”