There can be no question that ultimate surrender was due to the fact that the garrison was on the verge of starvation, while the officers’ diet was merely threatened with curtailment.  Witnesses state that private soldiers were seen actually to fall in the streets from lack of nourishment.  The officers are reported to have retained their private thoroughbred riding horses until the day before the surrender, when 2,000 of them were killed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Russians.  A Russian officer of high rank informed me that when he entered the town hundreds of these bodies of beautiful thoroughbred horses were to be seen with half-crazed Austrian and Hungarian soldiers tearing into the bodies with their faces and hands smeared with red blood as they devoured the raw flesh.

[Illustration:  Map showing the scene of action between Przemysl and Cracow and the Carpathian Passes.]

The Russians were utterly amazed at the casual reception which they received.  The Austrian officers showed not the slightest sign of being disconcerted or humiliated at the collapse of their fortress.

The first Russian effort was at once to relieve the condition of the garrison and civilians.  Owing to the destruction of the bridge this was delayed, but soon with remarkable efficiency distribution depots were opened everywhere and the most pressing needs were somewhat relieved.

The entire conduct of the siege on the part of the garrison seems wholly without explanation.  The Austrians had throughout plenty of ammunition, and they certainly grossly outnumbered the Russians; yet they made but one recent effort to break out, which occurred three days before the surrender.

Civilians inform me that they gladly welcome the Russians and that the first troops who entered were greeted with cheers, while the garrison was frankly pleased that the siege was over and their troubles at an end.

As an example of overofficering it may be stated that General Kusmanek had seventy-five officers on his staff, while General Artamonov, the acting Russian Governor, had but four on his immediate staff.

The removal of the prisoners is proceeding with great efficiency.  They are going out at the rate of about 10,000 a day.  The docility of the captives is indicated by the fact that the Russian guards attached to the prisoners’ columns number about one for every hundred prisoners.  They are all strung out for miles between the fortress and Lemberg.  The prisoners are so eager to get out and to see the last of the war that they follow the instructions of their captors like children.

All the civilians as well as prisoners I have talked with are unanimous in their praise of the Russian officers and soldiers, who have shown nothing but kindness and delicacy of feeling since their entrance into the fortress.  This consideration strikes me as being utterly wasted on the captured officers, who treat the situation superciliously and are quite complacent in their relations with the Russians.