hills on which the city stands, the lights shining brilliantly through the cold winter atmosphere. About 7:30 it was light and when 1 went on deck, it was to see a truly fine sight-a regular winter morning everything snapping with the frost, with the city spread before us all over the hills. The smoke rising from the chimneys and over all could be seen the hills crowned with the forts that make Vladivostok a regular
fortress.
About to o'clock the ice breakers came out and made a way for us into our berth and we moved slowly in. It was quite a struggle, for the ice persisted in blocking our passage and at last the ships officers gave it up and made fast to shore with a gap of fifteen feet of ice between us and shore. This did not materially hinder disembarkation though. That day only half our troops disembarked, two companies of the 260th staying behind. I got leave that afternoon and evening and went out through the town. Say did I see anything. I never saw in a few short hours so many outlandish things.
To begin with Vladivostok is in the East and was apparently stolen from the Manchurians by the Russians. The streets were crowded with the former and their funny little ponies and dog carts-a most picturesque combination. It is a long, long walk up to town but about three-fourths of the way up we came to the railway station, quite a fine building for a frontier town-and the sights it contained. Russians, Czechs, Japs, Americans, English etc. etc. Everyone in uniform whether rightly or wrongly. They may have been Russian deserters 0r Czechs as the latter wear the Russian uniform-a motley picturesque crew that stared hard at us-and of course emitted a characteristic odour. One individual of hard visage approached us and claimed to have been prisoner in Germany for over two years and a half. He spoke a little French [and] German but when I tried my Russian on him —govorite li vy po russkii?- you should have heard the volume of conversation he emitted, and finally he invited, nay pressed, me to a drink of vodka at my own expense of course. I got away as best I could. That night as
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