The Most Remarkable Ride on Record.

Te Aroha News, Volume VIII, Issue 490, 19 July 1890, Page 3

The Most Remarkable Ride on Record.

It is a matter of astonishment to many that in this age of feats of endurance so little has been heard of equestrian feats of the Captain Burnaby order. Since the famous ride to Khiva, perhaps tho most notable achievement of the kind was that last year of Cornet Asayeff, who, ib will be remembered, rode from Lubeen (in Roland) to Paris. Few are aware, however, that both Burnaby’s and Asayefl’s foats are now being surpassed. A Siberian Cossack, Dmetree Pjeshkoff by name, is now on a ride from Blagovjechensk, in Eastern, Siberia, to St. Petersburg. Blagovjechensk is a Cossack station on the Amour, in latitude 50deg. N., longitude 127 deg. E., and the distance Pjeshkoff will have to cover before he reaches his destination is about 8,000 versts, or 5,400 English miles. The intrepid rider set out on the 7th of ber last, and on tho 27th of, February, l|H days afterwards, at two o’clock in noon, arrived at Omsk (55degs. N., 74degs. E.), having accomplished 4,900 versts, or nearly 3,300 miles, of his journey. On tho 3rd of last month ho resumed his task, and is expected to arrive in St. Petersburg at the end of this month.

The hero of this remarkable feat, a man of some education, is commander of a hun-_<« dred in one of the Cossack regiments stationed on the Amour, and has had therefore to obtain leave of absence from his i duties to enable him to carry out his j project. The ride is remarkable enough on i account of the distance to be covered, I the many dangers and difficulties of tho j road, and the trying nature of the climate I of the districts through which the road lies. J But more remarkable than any other cir- I cuinstance is the fact that tho same horse I will carry Pjeshkoff from one end of his ■ journey to the other. This animal, which ■ on its arrival in St. Petersburg will be as much an object of admiration as its rider, j is of the ordinary Cossack breed. It was born in Siberia, and was purchased by Captain Pjeshkoff for 150 roubles, or £ls. It is thirteen years old, and of light grey* colour. In height it is only 1 arshine 15* versaks, and is, therefore, much under the 7 average size. At Omsk ib underwent an examination at the hands of General Taube i and various officers of the staff, and was « reported to be in excellent condition, Bave a that the hair on its back had been l worn away by tho constant friction of the saddle. In the person of Captain Pjeshkoff it has only a light weight to j carry, that officer weighing only 3 poods J 221 b, but saddle, saddle-bags and ments, etc., bring up tho total weight to be carried to 4 poods 381 b. This weight in English measure, taking the pood as being equal to 361 b avoirdupois, would be about Histone. The food of the horse consists of oats and hay. Captain Pjeshkoff has , noted in the diary which he keeps the-*" weight of these consumed per diem, and has observed that the appetite of his steed increases as the distance travelled becomes greater. At the start 81b of oats and 101 b of hay per day were sufficient to satisfy it, bub by the time Omsk was reached 301 b of ~ the former commodity and 141 b of the latter were required. As for drink, for the greater portion of the journey, thus far, the horse has drunk no water in the liquid form, being obliged to bo content to quench its thirst by eating snow snatched up on the road. An English horse reduced to such necessity would not survive the ordeal, but most Cossack horses are used to ib, and receive no harm whatever. Tho lino of route from Blagovjechensk to Omsk lay through Strejtensk, Verchnevodinsk, Irkutsk, Atchensk, and Tomsk, and at each of these places stoppages were made, amounting in.all to 25| days. To obtain the exact time occupied in tho saddle between November 7 and February 27, ib will be necessary, therefore, to deduct this number of days from tho 113 days comprised in that period. Throughout the whole journey to Omsk, Captain Pjeshkoff states that he met with no untoward or unpleasant circumstances until he reached Tomsk, where he had the misfortune to excite the suspicions of the police,' and to be obliged for one night to put up with such accommodation as is usually accorded to suspected people. He was treated at first very rudely by his official captors, and was only released on ing sufficient evidence that he had no designs on the life or the property of tht> citizens. ■

Captain Pjeshkoffs dross consists of a short wadded coat, a fur cap, long fur boots, etc. As an extra protection from the cold he wears also a short fur overcoat,; and a bashalik or cowl which is diawn over his cap whenever it is windy. His arms are a sword, a revolver, and a ‘ Keenshal ’ or two-edged dagger. His saddle, which is of Moscow make, contains all the necessary conveniences for carrying fodder for his horse, his own changes of linen, horseshoe nails, hammer, and other such necessaries. He carrie? no provisions buying whatever he requires in the sinpe of food at the different stations and villages on the road.