had said too little of my religious labours. Some o i l
my friends thought so. But I did not then set out to*
write a missionary’s report, nor am I doing so now,*
though I wish it to be clearly understood that the*
religious character of my journey was paramount. It*
heightened every pleasure, and softened what perhaps*
I may not call hardships, but my every inconvenience*
and fatigue, whilst, in reviewing the whole, it is incom-*
parably that portion of the expedition which affords*
me the greatest amount of present satisfaction. I
The object, then, of my journey, so far as the Bible*
and Tract societies are concerned, was fourlold
i. In 1879, besides distributing more than 50,000*
tracts and other religious publications, I gave to the*
authorities more than sufficient copies of the le u *
Testament and the four Gospels, to enable them to*
place one (sometimes more) in every room of ever*
prison and every hospital in all Siberia, so that, where*
my directions have been properly carried out, ever*
prisoner and hospital patient ought to have with *
reach at all times of the day, and without having tfl
ask for it from the library, a copy of some portion of the!
Word of God. In 1882 I wished to do the same fofl
the prisons and hospitals of Russian Central Asia, thu*
completing my work for the whole of Asiatic Russia. I
2. Besides supplying the prisons, hospitals, an*
other public institutions with religious literature, I wa|
anxious to do something of a similar character for thi
many thousands of Russian exiles, who are compulso j
colonists, or who, after a short term in prison, a j
released to colonize in remote parts of Siberia, wherj
it is all but impossible for them to procure religioj
books. I hoped to effect this by making some arrangj
ment of a permanent character, by which books migi
be distributed to these exiles as they pass through
Tiumen, the general depot, whence they are forwarded
toj their far-distant destinations.
*3 . As I should be passing through regions where
the Bible is all but unknown, and religious tracts
unheard of— where, moreover,, the people might not
have another opportunity of procuring them locally
for many years— I wished generally to sell and distribute
as many as possible.
My. route lying through new countries, I was to
inquire what need there existed for making new
translations, and to see what openings presented
themselves for promoting generally the objects of
the two societies.
■These were my religious aims; but if I had intended
to make them the boundary of my horizon, my
friends were determined that they should not remain
so. One asked me to make a collection of flower
seeds, botanical specimens, beetles and butterflies. I
replied that I should not remain long enough in the
different places for this, and that it would be a
curious telegram to send on ahead to a stranger,
‘IjPlease have in readiness for me, on such a day
and hour, half-a-dozen horses, the samovar for tea,
a j — a collection t^le butterflies, beetles, and plants
of! the neighbourhood!” My friend, however, urged
that the pursuit of the required game would be a
healthful recreation for the parties concerned, and I
accordingly gave a vague promise that I would see
what could be done. Then, my friend Mr. Henry
;^»worth, learning that I was going among his dear
^Hlongols,” of whom he has written so voluminously,
not only tried to interest me in them, but set on
me his friend, Mr. Augustus Franks, F .S .A ., who