other of these groups was unfriendly to our western advance. It may have
been all, but of that I have no proof. The first incident was a stop of
four hours. After the first two hours a train passed us that had been
following behind; after another two hours, when slightly more vigorous
inquiries were being made as to the cause of delay, we were quite
naively informed that the station-master did not think we ought to risk
going farther. We soon informed him to the contrary, and again started
forward. The next stop of this character was at a fairly big station
about twenty hours from Harbin. This station-master held us up for seven
hours. This I thought the limit. At last he showed my interpreter a
telegram asking him to prevent us going any farther. It was not signed,
and when I demanded that we should be allowed to proceed, he said that
there were no engines. I had seen two standing idle outside. I rushed
on to the platform just in time to prevent the engines disappearing.
While the station-master had been parleying with me he had ordered the
engines to put on steam. I gave orders for my guard to form up across
the line at each end of the station and either bayonet or shoot anyone
who tried to take the engines away. I then forced the operator to tell
me if the line ahead was clear, and threatened to take the
station-master under military arrest for trial at Harbin unless he
announced my intention to start in that direction and cleared the way
ahead. I put a soldier with fixed bayonet on the footplate to see that
the driver held to his post and did not play tricks with the train, and
started on our journey. We made every inquiry possible, but no one could
give us the slightest reason for our stoppage, but seemed to think that
there was something wrong with the works which had allowed us to get so
far. From then on I took no risks.

There are no special features about Harbin. It is just a conglomeration
of houses of a more or less Chinese character thrown together in three