projects of history. It is a monument of what autocracy can perform in spite of public apathy and natural obstacles. By it the Russian Government anticipated the economic development of its eastern empire, and also strengthened its strategical position in the Far East.
(2) Projected Railways in Western Siberia.—The great trunk railway having been built across the continent, the next problem lies in the construction of branch railways to tap the most fertile districts, which the trunk line failed to reach. At present the waterways of the Obi, Irtish and Yenisei perform the functions of branch feeders. Steamship communication has developed of late years, especially on the two former rivers, along which all traffic to and from the Altai is now borne to the railway. But while the waterways are valuable for heavy traffic, such as grain and timber, they are nevertheless unsatisfactory as a means of communication for light perishable articles, such as butter, eggs and meat, and on the export of these three products the economic activity of Western Siberia and the Altai very largely depends for the present. The construction of branch railways, as feeders to the trunk line, is therefore indispensable to the development of Western and Central Siberia. It is most important for the Altai region, that the Biisk, Barnaul and Semipalatinsk districts should in the near future be linkedup with the Siberian trunk line. With this object in view, therefore, a railway has been sucveyed which will probably leave the trunk line at Novo-nikolaevsk, and traverse the fertile black earth belt along the north-west foothills of the Altai. Touching the towns of Barnaul and Semipalatinsk,
