Excerpt from Oriental and Western Siberia: A Narrative of Seven Years' Exploration and Adventures in Siberia, Mongolia, the Kirghis Steppes, Chinese Tartary, and Part of Central Asia When the journey narrated in the following pages was under taken, it was not with the intention Of publishing either a book Of Travels or any other work. My sole Object was to Sketch the scenery of Siberia, scarcely at all known to Europeans. While thus employed, I passed out Of the Emperor of Russia's Asiatic dominions, having been provided with an. Especial passport by command Of his imperial majesty, Nicholas the First, which en abled me to cross the frontier, as well as to re-enter the empire at any other points to which my rambles might lead me. I have brought back faithful representations of the scenery, without taking any artistic liberties, preferring Nature in her own attractions to snatching a grace within the reach of Art. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.