friends to look out for me a suitable sphere of parish I
work. ‘ I
My Siberian experience, however, had fostered in I
my mind another idea, which, on the Pacific, came to I
maturity. I had taken notes to serve possibly fori
public correspondence, or for a book, and during the I
voyage between Japan and San Francisco, I read I
my experiences to some of my fellow-passengers in I
the saloon. Among these evening audiences was Sir I
Harry Parkes, K.C.B., then our Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan, who, seeing I
that my sto ry. was so different from that commonly I
believed respecting Siberia, thought that such testi-1
mony, if published, might do something towards
softening the asperity which then existed between I
England and Russia, and his Excellency further re-1
minded me that there are important means of doing I
good, and many “ missions ” in life, other than those I
of our religious societies. This thought reconciled me, I
on my return, to the expenditure of the inside oil
many weeks in writing my book, whilst on Sundays 11
officiated at a neighbouring church. When the book I
was finished, I was invited to the pastoral charge oil
a contemplated parochial district, and whilst this wa?l
under consideration, I was pounced upon to be editorl
in a proposed religious literary undertaking. Thus!
1882 dawned upon me, seemingly, with an open doorl
on either hand, whilst the desire to journey through!
Central Asia was smouldering in my breast. Neither!
the pastoral nor the literary undertaking was carried!
out, and it then remained for me to consider whether!
I should go to Central Asia.
I gave a day to weighing the question, and, taking!
the Russian kalendar and the post-book, elicited froni
fthem that a traveller passing from Orenburg by the
Ihost-road round Russian Central Asia (without entering
■iuldja, Bokhara, or Khiva) would traverse eight
ftrovinces, with a total population of 4,908,000,* and
«hat he would pass through upwards of 20 towns with
Ropulations varying from 1,000 to 80,000, besides 300
■ullages and post-stations. O f all these towns I knew
f t f only one (or perhaps two) to which the British and
Jf'oreign Bible Society had been able to send a consignment
of Scriptures, and, judging from my experience
in other parts of the Empire, I fully anticipated that
|he prisons, hospitals, barracks, and schools Would be
Insufficiently supplied, or not supplied at all, with the
¡Scriptures or other religious reading. It seemed to
mje, therefore, that a general distribution of such
literature would be a blessing to the people, and
^Remembering that, according to Russian law, no foreign
^■ssionaries may labour in the Empire, there appeared
to be the greater reason, from my point of view, for
spreading the written Word where the spoken word
Could not go.
^■Having thus made out a case of need, the next
question was, “ Am / the man to go ? ” Towards an
^■swer in the affirmative the following considerations
pointed : 1. My previous experience had been a
M ining, and I possessed certain preliminary advan-
Mges for such a work, because, having been five times
H a like holiday errand, and so become known to the
^■issian authorities, it might be that, though they have
^ t r a in e d others from going to Central Asia, they
f Uralsk .
furgaisk
i Akmolinsk .
iSemipolatinsk
I Syr-Daria
355»ooo
636.000
382.000
603.000
1,255,000
Semirechia . . 541,000
Ferghana . . 964,000
Zarafshan . . 172,000
5,000