Stuart later noted on the original of the following letter that they had arrived at Vladivostok on I4 January; in that letter he had described his first venture into town. The railway station in Vladivostok, the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, provided shelter for countless refugees every night during the winter of I 9 I 8- I 9 when the city's normal population was swollen with the addition of I 50,000 ity.4 refugees who had fled to Vladivostok and its immediate vicinity.

VLADIVOSTOK, SIBERIA

JANUARY 18, 1919 Dearest Honey:-

Well here we are at last, dearest, at the beginning is it? or at the end of our long journey. On the day when I last wrote you I had a hunch it would be the last before we landed. That letter was posted to you yesterday and I hope is now on the way to Canada. I am not sure where I left off but believe it was the night after we sailed through the straits. That night it turned cold. I was ship's orderly officer and when I went on deck at seven everything was frozen up and the deck was covered with ice and snow. I nearly froze during the hour] stood in the aft galley waiting for the men's breakfast to be served. All that day my duties were decidedly unpleasant with that icy wind blowing from the north. got out my furs and kept them out. I was the envy of all the officers.

That night we all went to bed early. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, we sighted the coast of Siberia about 10 a.m.-a long line of ice clad

mountains stretching far to the north-tme an earnest and a symbol of this great silent land.

Everyone was expectant in the morning and about 5 am. I was on deck to see what was to be seen. We lay at anchor in the harbour with ice all around us and about a mile away on all sides could be seen the

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