seemed to distinguish cocoa and palm trees, dark forests and waving
fields of cane, along the rocky shores, that were really below the
horizon. Then there were castles, with lofty walls and frowning
battlements, cloud-capped towers, gorgeous palaces, and solemn
temples, rising among the fields and forests, and overarched with
curious combinations of rainbow hues. The mirage frequently occurs in
this region, but I was told it rarely attained such beauty as on that
occasion.

Sakhalin island, which separates the Gulf of Tartary from the Ohotsk
sea, extends through nine degrees of latitude and belongs partly to
Russia and partly to Japan. The Japanese have settlements in the
Southern portion, engaging in trade with the natives and catching and
curing fish. The natives are of Tunguze origin, like those of the
lower Amoor, and subsist mainly upon fish. The Russians have
settlements at Cape Dui, where there is excellent coal in veins
eighteen feet thick and quite near the coast. Russia desired the
entire island, but the Japanese positively refuse to negotiate. Some
years ago the Siberian authorities established a colony near the
Southern extremity, but its existence was brief.

At three o'clock in the afternoon of September eleventh we entered the
mouth of the Amoor, the great river of Asiatic Russia. The entrance is
between two Capes or headlands, seven miles apart and two or three
hundred feet high. The southern one, near which we passed, is called
Cape Pronge, and has a Gilyak village at its base. Below this cape the
hills border the Gulf and frequently show precipitous sides. The
shallow water at their base renders the land undesirable for
settlement. The timber is small and indicates the severity of the cold
seasons. In their narrowest part the Straits are eight miles wide and