E-text prepared by Susan Skinner, Janet Blenkinship, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/c/) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original 40 illustrations. See 20709-h.htm or 20709-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/7/0/20709/20709-h/20709-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/7/0/20709/20709-h.zip) FROM POLE TO POLE A Book for Young People by SVEN HEDIN [Illustration: DR. SVEN HEDIN IN TIBETAN DRESS. _Frontispiece._] The MacMillan Co. of Canada, Ltd. Toronto MacMillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London 1914 Copyright First Edition 1912 Reprinted 1914 PUBLISHERS' NOTE This translation of Dr. Sven Hedin's _Fran Pol till Pol_ has, with the author's permission, been abridged and edited for the use of English-speaking young people. CONTENTS PART I I. ACROSS EUROPE-- PAGE STOCKHOLM TO BERLIN 1 BERLIN 4 BERLIN TO CONSTANTINOPLE 8 CONSTANTINOPLE 13 THE CHURCH OF THE DIVINE WISDOM 15 THE BAZAARS OF STAMBUL 20 II. CONSTANTINOPLE TO TEHERAN (1905)-- THE BLACK SEA 26 TREBIZOND TO TEHERAN 29 III. THROUGH THE CAUCASUS, PERSIA, AND MESOPOTAMIA (1885-6)-- ST. PETERSBURG TO BAKU 34 ACROSS PERSIA 37 ARABIA 40 BAGHDAD TO TEHERAN 42 IV. THE PERSIAN DESERT (1906)-- ACROSS THE KEVIR 46 THE OASIS OF TEBBES 51 V. ON THE KIRGHIZ STEPPE (1893-5)-- INTO ASIA FROM ORENBURG 55 SAMARCAND AND BUKHARA 59 THE PAMIR 62 "THE FATHER OF ICE-MOUNTAINS" 66 A KIRGHIZ GYMKHANA 69 VI. FROM PERSIA TO INDIA (1906)-- TEBBES TO SEISTAN 72 A BALUCHI RAID 75 SCORPIONS 80 THE INDUS 82 KASHMIR AND LADAK 87 VII. EASTERN TURKESTAN (1895)--