being desirable for
permanent habitation. Near one village there was a gently sloping
hillside about a mile square with a forest of oak so scattered that it
had a close resemblance to an American apple-orchard.

The treaty between Russia and China, fixing the boundaries between the
two empires, contains a strange oversight. Dated on the 14th of
November, 1860, it says:

"Henceforth the eastern frontier between the two empires shall
commence from the junction of the rivers Shilka and Argoon, and will
follow the course of the River Amoor to the junction of the river
Ousuree with the latter. The land on the left bank (to the north) of
the River Amoor belongs to the empire of Russia, and the territory on
the right bank (to the south) to the junction of the River Ousuree, to
the empire of China."

The treaty further establishes the boundaries from the mouth of the
Ousuree to the sea of Japan, and along the western region toward
Central Asia. It provides for commissioners to examine the frontier
line.

It declares that trade shall be free of duty along the entire line,
and removes all commercial restrictions. It gives the merchants of
Kiachta the right of going to Pekin, Oorga, and Kalgan; allows a
Russian consulate at Oorga, and permits Russian merchants to travel
anywhere in China. It annuls former treaties, and establishes a postal
arrangement between Pekin and Kiachta.

I presume the oversight in the treaty was on the part of the Chinese,
as the Russians are too shrewd in diplomacy to omit any point of
advantage. Nothing is said about the land in the Amoor. "The land on
the north bank is Russian, and on the south bank Chinese." What is to
be the nationality of the islands in the river? Some of them are large
enough to hold a population of importance, or be used, as the sites of
fortifications. There are duchies and principalities in Europe of less
territorial extent than some islands of the Amoor.

When Russia desires them she will doubtless extend her protection, and
I observed during my voyage that several islands were occupied by
Russian settlers for hay-cutting and other purposes. Why could not an
enterprising man of destiny like the grey-eyed Walker or unhappy
Maximilian penetrate the Amoor and found a new government on an island
that nobody owns? Quite likely his adventure would result like the
conquests of Mexico and Nicaragua, but this probability should not
cause a man of noble blood to hesitate.

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