From Pole to Pole

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FROM POLE TO POLE

A Book for Young People

by

SVEN HEDIN

[Illustration: DR. SVEN HEDIN IN TIBETAN DRESS. _Frontispiece._]

The MacMillan Co. of Canada, Ltd.
Toronto

MacMillan and Co., Limited
St. Martin's Street, London
1914

Copyright
First Edition 1912
Reprinted 1914

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

This translation of Dr. Sven Hedin's _Fran Pol till Pol_ has, with
the author's permission, been abridged and edited for the use of
English-speaking young people.

CONTENTS

PART I

I. ACROSS EUROPE-- PAGE

STOCKHOLM TO BERLIN 1
BERLIN 4
BERLIN TO CONSTANTINOPLE 8
CONSTANTINOPLE 13
THE CHURCH OF THE DIVINE WISDOM 15
THE BAZAARS OF STAMBUL 20

II. CONSTANTINOPLE TO TEHERAN (1905)--

THE BLACK SEA 26
TREBIZOND TO TEHERAN 29

III. THROUGH THE CAUCASUS, PERSIA, AND MESOPOTAMIA
(1885-6)--

ST. PETERSBURG TO BAKU 34
ACROSS PERSIA 37
ARABIA 40
BAGHDAD TO TEHERAN 42

IV. THE PERSIAN DESERT (1906)--

ACROSS THE KEVIR 46
THE OASIS OF TEBBES 51

V. ON THE KIRGHIZ STEPPE (1893-5)--

INTO ASIA FROM ORENBURG 55
SAMARCAND AND BUKHARA 59
THE PAMIR 62
"THE FATHER OF ICE-MOUNTAINS" 66
A KIRGHIZ GYMKHANA 69

VI. FROM PERSIA TO INDIA (1906)--

TEBBES TO SEISTAN 72
A BALUCHI RAID 75
SCORPIONS 80
THE INDUS 82
KASHMIR AND LADAK 87

VII. EASTERN TURKESTAN (1895)--

THE TAKLA-MAKAN DESERT 89
ACROSS A SEA OF SAND 90
THE END OF THE CARAVAN 93
WATER AT LAST 97

VIII. THE DESERT WATERWAY (1899)--

DOWN THE YARKAND RIVER 102
THE TARIM 105
THE WANDERING LAKE 107
WILD CAMELS 109

IX. IN THE FORBIDDEN LAND (1901-2, 1906-8)--

THE PLATEAU OF TIBET 111
ATTEMPT TO REACH LHASA 115
THE TASHI LAMA 124
WILD ASSES AND YAKS 126

X. INDIA--

FROM TIBET TO SIMLA 130
DELHI AND AGRA 131
BENARES AND BRAHMINISM 134
THE LIGHT OF ASIA 137
BOMBAY 141
THE USEFUL PLANTS OF INDIA 142
WILD ELEPHANTS 145
THE COBRA 148

XI. FROM INDIA TO CHINA (1908)--

THE INDIAN OCEAN 152
THE SUNDA ISLANDS 153
PENANG AND SINGAPORE 156
UP THE CHINA SEA 157

XII. CHINA--

TO SHANGHAI 161
"THE MIDDLE KINGDOM" 164
THE BLUE RIVER 169
IN NORTHERN CHINA 172
MONGOLIA 176
MARCO POLO 179

XIII. JAPAN (1908)--

NAGASAKI AND KOBE 185
FUJIYAMA AND TOKIO 190
NIKKO, NARA, AND KIOTO 193

XIV. BACK TO EUROPE--

KOREA 197
MANCHURIA 199
THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 202
THE VOLGA AND MOSCOW 207
ST. PETERSBURG AND HOME 210

PART II

I. STOCKHOLM TO EGYPT--

TO LONDON AND PARIS 215
NAPOLEON'S TOMB 218
PARIS TO ROME 222
THE ETERNAL CITY 225
POMPEII 229

II. AFRICA--

GENERAL GORDON 236
THE CONQUEST OF THE SUDAN 247
OSTRICHES 250
BABOONS 252
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 253
MAN-EATING LIONS 256
DAVID LIVINGSTONE 261
HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE 275
THE DEATH OF LIVINGSTONE 282
STANLEY'S GREAT JOURNEY 287
TIMBUKTU AND THE SAHARA 297

III. NORTH AMERICA--

THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD 306
NEW YORK 317
CHICAGO AND THE GREAT LAKES 326
THROUGH THE GREAT WEST 333

IV. SOUTH AMERICA--

THE INCA EMPIRE 341
THE AMAZONS RIVER 351

V. IN THE SOUTH SEAS--

ALBATROSSES AND WHALES 358
ROBINSON CRUSOE'S ISLAND 362
ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN 365
ACROSS AUSTRALIA 372

VI. THE NORTH POLAR REGIONS--

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE 377
THE VOYAGE OF THE "VEGA" 386
NANSEN 392

VII. THE SOUTH POLAR REGIONS 404

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE

Dr. Sven Hedin in Tibetan Dress _Frontispiece_

I. Berlin 6

II. Constantinople 13

III. Oil-Well at Balakhani 36

IV. A Persian Caravanserai 43

V. The Author's Riding Camel, with Gulam Hussein 46

VI. Tebbes 51

VII. A Baluchi Nomad Tent 76

VIII. Srinagar and the Jhelum River 87

IX. Digging for Water in the Takla-makan 94

X. The Author's Boat on the Yarkand River 102

XI. Tashi-lunpo 125

XII. Simla 131

XIII. The Taj Mahal 134

XIV. Benares 136

XV. Tame Elephants and their Drivers 147

XVI. On the Canton River 159

XVII. The Great Wall of China 165

XVIII. Gate in the Walls of Peking 176

XIX. A Japanese Ricksha 189

XX. Fujiyama 190

XXI. The Great Buddha at Kamakura 192

XXII. A Sedan-Chair in Seoul 199

XXIII. The Kremlin, Moscow 208

XXIV. Paris 216

XXV. Napoleon's Tomb 219

XXVI. The Colosseum, Rome 228

XXVII. Pompeii 233

XXVIII. The Great Pyramids at Ghizeh 238

XXIX. A Hippopotamus 254

XXX. The Fight on the Congo 294

XXXI. A Group of Beduins 300

XXXII. "Sky-Scrapers" in New York 323

XXXIII. Niagara Falls 331

XXXIV. Canons on the Colorado River 339

XXXV. Cotopaxi 344

XXXVI. Indian Huts on the Amazons River 353

XXXVII. A Coral Strand 369

XXXVIII. Country near Lake Eyre 373

XXXIX. The "Fram" 393

LIST OF MAPS

PAGE

1. Map showing journey from Stockholm to Berlin 2

2. Map showing journey from Berlin to Constantinople 10

3. Plan of Constantinople 13

4. Map showing journey from Constantinople to Teheran, latter
part of journey to Baku, and journey from Baku across
Persia to Baghdad and back to Teheran 30

5. Map showing journey from Orenburg to the Pamir 56

6. Map showing journey from Teheran to Baluchistan 73

7. Map of Northern India, showing rivers and mountain ranges 82

8. Map of Eastern Turkestan 90

9. Tibet 112

10. Map of India, showing journey from Nushki to Leh, and
journey from Tibet through Simla, etc., to Bombay 132

11. The Sunda Islands 154

12. Map showing voyage from Bombay to Hong Kong 158

13. Map of Northern China and Mongolia 174

14. Map showing journey from Shanghai through Japan and
Korea to Dalny 184

15. The Trans-Siberian Railway 203

16. Map showing journey from Stockholm to Paris 216

17. Map showing journey from Paris to Alexandria 230

18. Map of North-Eastern Africa, showing Egypt and the Sudan 237

19. Livingstone's Journeys in Africa 262

20. North-West Africa 298

21. Toscanelli's Map 308

22. North America 325

23. South America 343

24. The South Seas 366

25. The North Polar Regions 378

26. The South Polar Regions 405

PART I

I

ACROSS EUROPE

STOCKHOLM TO BERLIN

Our journey begins at Stockholm, the capital of my native country.
Leaving Stockholm by train in the evening, we travel all night in
comfortable sleeping-cars and arrive next morning at the southernmost
point of Sweden, the port of Trelleborg, where the sunlit waves sweep in
from the Baltic Sea.

Here we might expect to have done with railway travelling, and we rather
look for the guard to come and open the carriage doors and ask the
passengers to alight. Surely it is not intended that the train shall go
on right across the sea? Yet that is actually what happens. The same
train and the same carriages, which bore us out of Stockholm yesterday
evening, go calmly across the Baltic Sea, and we need not get out before
we arrive at Berlin. The section of the train which is to go on to
Germany is run by an engine on to a great ferry-boat moored to the quay
by heavy clamps and hooks of iron. The rails on Swedish ground are
closely connected with those on the ferry-boat, and when the carriages
are pushed on board by the engine, they are fastened with chains and
hooks so that they may remain quite steady even if the vessel begins to
roll. As the traveller lies dozing in his compartment, he will certainly
hear whistles and the rattle of iron gear and will notice that the
compartment suddenly becomes quite dark. But only when the monotonous
groaning and the constant vibration of the wheels has given place to a
gentle and silent heaving will he know that he is out on the Baltic Sea.

We are by no means content, however, to lie down and doze. Scarcely
have the carriages been anchored on the ferry-boat before we are on the
upper deck with its fine promenade. The ferry-boat is a handsome vessel,
370 feet long, brand-new and painted white everywhere. It is almost like
a first-class hotel. In the saloon the tables are laid, and Swedish and
German passengers sit in groups at breakfast. There are separate rooms
for coffee and smoking, for reading and writing; and we find a small
bookstall where a boy sells guidebooks, novels, and the Swedish and
German newspapers of the day.

[Illustration: MAP SHOWING JOURNEY FROM STOCKHOLM TO BERLIN.]

The ferry-boat is now gliding out of the harbour, and every minute that
passes carries us farther from our native land. Now the whole town of
Trelleborg is displayed before our eyes, its warehouses and new
buildings, its chimneys and the vessels in the harbour. The houses
become smaller, the land narrows down to a strip on the horizon, and at
last there is nothing to be seen but a dark cloud of smoke rising from
the steamers and workshops. We steam along a fairway rich in memories,
and over a sea which has witnessed many wonderful exploits and
marvellous adventures. Among the wreckage and fragments at its bottom
sleep vikings and other heroes who fought for their country; but to-day
peace reigns over the Baltic, and Swedes, Danes, Russians, and Germans
share in the harvest of the sea. Yet still, as of yore, the autumn
storms roll the slate-grey breakers against the shores; and still on
bright summer days the blue waves glisten, silvered by the sun.

Four hours fly past all too quickly, and before we have become
accustomed to the level expanses of the sea a strip of land appears to
starboard. This is Ruegen, the largest island of Germany, lifting its
white chalk cliffs steeply from the sea, like surf congealed into stone.
The ferry-boat swings round in a beautiful curve towards the land, and
in the harbour of Sassnitz its rails are fitted in exactly to the
railway track on German soil. We hasten to take our seats in the
carriages, for in a few minutes the German engine comes up and draws the
train on to the land of Ruegen.

The monotonous grind of iron on iron begins again, and the coast and the
ferry-boat vanish behind us. Ruegen lies as flat as a pancake on the
Baltic Sea, and the train takes us through a landscape which reminds us
of Sweden. Here grow pines and spruces, here peaceful roe-deer jump and
roam about without showing the slightest fear of the noise of the engine
and the drone of the carriages.

Another ferry takes us over the narrow sound which separates Ruegen from
the mainland, and we see through the window the towers and spires and
closely-packed houses of Stralsund. Every inch of ground around us has
once been Swedish. In this neighbourhood Gustavus Adolphus landed with
his army, and in Stralsund Charles XII. passed a year of his adventurous
life.

In the twilight the train carries us southwards through Pomerania, and
before we reach Brandenburg the autumn evening has shrouded the North
German lowland in darkness. The country is flat and monotonous; not a
hill, hardly even an insignificant mound, rises above the level expanse.
Yet the land has a peculiar attraction for the stranger from Sweden. He
thinks of the time when Swedish gun-carriages splashed and dashed
through the mud before the winter frost made their progress still more
difficult and noisy. He thinks of heroic deeds and brave men, of early
starts, and horses neighing with impatience at the reveille; of
victories and honourable peaces, and of the captured flags at home.

If he is observant he will find many other remembrances in the North
German low country. Boulders of Swedish granite lie scattered over the
plain. They stand out like milestones and mark the limits of the
extension of the Scandinavian inland ice. During a colder period of the
world's history all northern Europe was covered with a coat of ice, and
this period is called the Ice Age. No one knows why the ice embraced
Scandinavia and the adjacent countries and swept in a broad stream over
the Baltic Sea. And no one knows why the climate afterwards became
warmer and drier, and forced the ice to melt away and gradually to leave
the ground bare. But we know for a fact that the boulders in northern
Germany were carried there on the back of an immense ice stream, for
they are composed of rocks which occur only in Scandinavia. The ice tore
them away from the solid mountains; during its slow movement southwards
it carried them with it, and when it melted the blocks were left on the
spot.

At last points of light begin to flash by like meteors in the night.
They become more and more numerous, and finally come whole rows and
clusters of electric lamps and lighted windows. We are passing through
the suburbs of a huge city, one of the largest in the world and the
third largest in Europe--Berlin.

BERLIN

If we spread out on the table a map of Europe on which all the railways
are indicated by black lines, the map will look like a net with
irregular meshes. At all the knots are towns, large centres of
population which are in constant communication with one another by means
of the railways. If we fix our eyes on North Germany, we see what looks
like an enormous spider's web, and in the middle of it sits a huge
spider. That spider is called Berlin. For as a spider catches its prey
in an ingeniously spun net, so Berlin by its railways draws to itself
life and movement not only from Germany but from all Europe--nay, from
the whole world.

If we could fly some hundreds of miles straight up into the air and had
such sharp eyes that we could perceive all the coasts and boundaries of
Europe, and plainly distinguish the fine lines of the railways, we
should also see small, dark, short forms running backwards and forwards
along them. We should see, as it were, a teeming ant-hill, and after
every ant we should see a small puff of smoke. In Scandinavia and
Russia the bustle would seem less lively, but in the centre of Europe
the ants would scurry about with terrible activity.

Whether it was winter or summer, day or night, the bustle would never
grow less. From our elevated point of view we should see innumerable
trains flying in the night like glow-worms in every direction.
Ceaselessly they rush between cities and states, between the sea-coast
and the inland districts, and to and from the heart of Europe. For
during the last twenty years Berlin has become the heart of Europe.
London is situated on an island, and Paris is too near the margin of the
Continent. But in Berlin several of the greatest railway routes meet,
and whether the traveller goes from Paris to St. Petersburg, from
Stockholm to Rome, or from Hamburg to Vienna, he has always to pass
through Berlin.

In the city which is "the heart of Europe" we must expect to find the
main thoroughfares crowded with foot-passengers of all nationalities,
and vehicles of every conceivable kind--motor cars, electric trams,
horse omnibuses, vans, cabs, carts, and so on. Yet in spite of their
endless streams of traffic, the streets of Berlin are not noisy--not
nearly so noisy as those of Stockholm--for they are paved with asphalt
and wood, and most of the conveyances have rubber tyres on their wheels.
As in other large cities, the streets are relieved of a great deal of
traffic by trains which run right through the town and round its
suburbs, either up in the air on viaducts, or underground in tunnels
lighted by electricity. At the Frederick Street Station of the City
Railway, which lies in the centre of the town, a train arrives or
departs every other minute of the day and of a good part of the night as
well.

Not far off is a square--the "King's Place"--where a monument to
commemorate the victory of the Germans over the French, in 1871, lifts
its spire above the city, with three rows of cannon captured in France
in its recesses. Close at hand, too, are the shady walks in the
"Tiergarten" (Park), where all Berlin is wont to enjoy itself on
Sundays. When we turn eastwards, we have to pass through a great
colonnade, the Brandenburg Gate, with Doric pillars supporting the
four-horsed chariot of the goddess of victory in beaten copper. Here the
German army entered Berlin after the conquest of France and the founding
of the German Empire.

On the farther side of this gate stretches one of the most noted
streets in Europe. For if Berlin is the heart of Germany, so is the
street called "Unter den Linden" (Under the Lime-Trees) the centre and
heart of Berlin. There are, indeed, streets which are longer, for this
extends only two-thirds of a mile, but hardly any which are broader, for
it is 66 yards across. Between its alternate carriage-roads and
foot-walks four double rows of limes and chestnuts introduce a
refreshing breath of open country right into the bosom of the great town
of stone, with its straight streets and heavy, grey square houses. As we
wander along "Unter den Linden" we pass the foreign embassies and the
German government offices, and, farther on, the palace of the old Kaiser
Wilhelm, which is unoccupied and has been left exactly as it was in his
lifetime. He used to stand at a corner window on the ground floor, and
look out at his faithful people.

It is now just noon. Splendid carriages and motor cars sweep past, and
the crush of people on the pavements is great. We hear the inspiriting
music of a military band, and the Imperial Guard marches down the
street, followed by crowds of eager sightseers. Keeping time with the
music we march with them past the great Royal Library to where Frederick
the Great looks down from his tall bronze horse on the children of
to-day. On the one side is the Opera House, on the other is the
University, with its ten thousand students, and farther on the Arsenal,
with its large historical collections of engines of war. We cross over
the "Schlossbruecke" (Palace Bridge), which throws its arch over the
River Spree, and follow the parade into the "Lustgarten" (Pleasure
Garden). The band halts at the foot of the statue of Frederick William
III. and the people crowd round to listen, for now one piece is played
after another. Thus the good citizens of Berlin are entertained daily.

There are several noteworthy buildings round the Lustgarten, among them
many art museums and picture galleries, as well as the Cathedral and the
Royal Palace (Plate I.). It looks very grand, this palace, though it
does not stand, as it should, in the middle of a great open space, but
is hemmed in by the streets around it.

Perhaps it would interest you to hear about a ball at the Imperial Court
of Germany. At the stroke of nine our carriage drives in under the
archway of the Palace. The carpeted staircases are lined by
"Beef-eaters," in old-fashioned uniforms, as motionless as if they were
cast in wax. They do not turn even their eyes as the guests pass, much
less their heads. Now we are up in the state rooms, and move slowly
over the brightly polished floor through a suite of brilliant apartments
glittering with electric light. Pictures of the kings of Prussia stand
out against the gilt leather tapestry. At last we reach the great
throne-room, which takes its name from the black eagles on the ceiling.

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