United States or Argentina ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Such is the address of the telegram I found on the 13th of May when I arrived at Tiflis. This is what the telegram said: "As the matters in hand will terminate on the 15th instant Claudius Bombarnac will repair to Uzun Ada, a port on the east coast of the Caspian. There he will take the train by the direct Grand Transasiatic between the European frontier and the capital of the Celestial Empire.
High in the sky flew the vultures, bearded and unbearded, and amid the clouds of white vapor we left behind us were many crows and pigeons and turtledoves and wagtails. The day passed without adventure. At six o'clock in the evening we crossed the frontier, after a run of nearly two thousand three hundred kilometres, accomplished in four days since leaving Uzun Ada.
Travelers used to land at Mikhailov, a little port at the end of the Transcaspian line; but ships of moderate tonnage hardly had water enough there to come alongside. On this account, General Annenkof, the creator of the new railway, the eminent engineer whose name will frequently recur in my narrative, was led to found Uzun Ada, and thereby considerably shorten the crossing of the Caspian.
Do not think that there are no hotels. Among others there is the Hôtel du Czar, which has a good table, good rooms and good beds. But the question of beds has no interest for me. As the train starts at four o'clock this afternoon, to begin with, I must telegraph to the Twentieth Century, by the Caspian cable, that I am at my post at the Uzun Ada station.
"Six o'clock to-night." "And when does it get there?" "Seven o'clock in the morning." "Is that in time to catch the boat for Uzun Ada?" "In time." And the man at the trap-door replied to my salute by a salute of mechanical precision. The question of passport did not trouble me. The French consul would know how to give me all the references required by the Russian administration.
Taking into account the delay occasioned by the Ki-Tsang affair that will make thirteen days from the start from Uzun Ada. Thirteen days! Heavens! And there are the thirteen numbers in my notebook! Supposing I were superstitious? We remained three hours at Tcharkalyk. Most of the passengers did not leave their beds.
The desert extends up to the neighborhood of Uzun Ada, and the railway stations form so many little oases, made by the hand of man. It is man, in fact, who has planted these slender, sea-green poplars, which give so little shade; it is man who, at great expense, has brought here the water whose refreshing jets fall back into an elegant vase.
Word Of The Day