arrival I called on Admiral Fulyelm, the
governor of the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Siberia. The region he
controls includes Kamchatka and all the seacoast down to Corea, and
has an area of nearly seven hundred and fifty thousand square miles.
He had been only a few months in command, and was busily at work
regulating his department. He spoke English fluently, and was well
acquainted with America and American affairs. During my voyage on the
Variag I heard much of the charming manners of Madame Fulyelm, and
regretted to learn she was spending the summer in the country.

The machine shops, foundries, and dock-yard are described in Russian
by the single word 'port.' I visited the port of Nicolayevsk and found
it more extensive than one might expect in this new region. There were
machines for rolling, planing, cutting, casting, drilling, hammering,
punching, and otherwise treating and maltreating iron. There were
shops for sawing, planing, polishing, turning, and twisting all sorts
of wood, and there were other shops where copper and brass could take
any coppery or brassy shape desired. To sum up the port in a few
words, its managers can make or repair marine and other engines, and
produce any desired woodwork for house building or ship repairing.
They build ships and equip them with machinery ready for sea.

The establishment is under the direct supervision of Mr. Woods, an
American citizen of Scotch birth. Mr. Elliott, a Massachusetts Yankee,
and Mr. Laney, an Englishman, are connected with the affair. Mr.
Elliott had become a permanent fixture by marrying a Russian woman and
purchasing a commodious house. The three men appeared to take great
pride in what they had accomplished in perfecting the port.

It was a little curious to see at the mouth of the Amoor a steam fire
engine from the Amoskeag Works at Manchester, N.H. The engine was
labelled 'Amoor' in Russian characters, and appeared to be well
treated. A house was assigned it, and watchmen were constantly on
duty. The whole town being of wood it is highly important that the
engine should act promptly in case of fire. The supply of hose was
ample for all emergencies.

Several heavy guns were shown me, which were hauled overland from the
Ural Mountains during the Crimean war and brought in boats down the
Amoor. The expense of transporting them must have been enormous, their
journey by roads to the head of the river being fully three thousand
miles.

I spent