Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1876-03-25

| uedreSb government UOWu, anu III uuo
time tried, found guilty, and sentenced
to Siberia for life. Ivan was not to be
found at the time of the arrest, and the
master naturally attributed it to the re-
vengo that his servant had promised to
obtain for the blow and kick he re-
ceived.
Dolaeff was ordered to be taken to
Siberia as rapidly as possible. He was
kept day or two in prison after his SEN
tence, and then placed in a telyGga, or
common country wagon, and started on
his long journey eastward. By his side
was a soldier, to whom he was chained,
while position sat on the box with the
driver, and allowed the latter to waste no
time. They halted at the stations only
long enough to change horses and OBJ
tain food. Occasionally the position
and the soldier exchanged places, so as
to allow the former to obtain the sleep
he could not easily get while sitting bolt
upright on the box. The teIyagG is an
ordinary wagon, mounted on wooden
springs, which have very little elasticity;
and. where tho roads are rough, the
| jolting is very uncomfortable. To ease
the motion little, the traveller generally
fills the vehicle with straw or hay, and
lies, half sitting and halfreclining, upon
it. The horses are driven at the best of
their speed, if the position demands it,
as he generally does. Most travellers
arc anxious to proceed as rapidly as pos
sible, in order that their journey may be
ended at the earliest moment. Whether
they are on pleasure or business, or 60
/ iotn 70
that their time on the road shall be
brief.
The exiles who 60 on foot rest every
third day, but those who ride make no
delay. Very often the pedestrian pris-
oners ask to be allowed to go forward
without these third days of rest, but the
request is not allowed on account of the
confusion it would make among the con-
voys of prisoners on the road. 1t is
quite desirable that proper distances
should be maintained among the travel
ing parties, so that no two of them shall
be ut the same station at once. The
stations are strong buildings surrounded
with palisaded fences, and generally q
little distance from the villages. They
are not very neatly kept, and in summer
the prisoners prefer to camp on the
ground and sleep in the open air. either
in the station yard or outside of it.
Dolaeff's guard showed him every at
tention consistent with his duties but,
as the guard is held to strict RESPONSE
bility in case of the escape of prisoner,
he could not allow him many privileges
or relax his vigilance toward him.
Sometimes at the station he prolonged
the halts more than was necessary for re-
freshment and the change of horses, but
he could not allow many delays of this
kind lest the increase of time over the
usual length Ct the journey should at
tract attention. The position looked
upon the journey much as his prisoner
did, aud often bemoaned his fate in be-
ing assigned to that duty. Poor
wretch that am," said he !; [ am 60
ing to Siberia as well as you, and it may
be months before 1 am able to return.
What ii should be forgotten, and al
lowed to stay there for years -
On and on they went among the
foot hills that every hour grew smaller
until thoy reached the great Barabinsky
steppe, which seemed to stretch away
limitless rs the ocean, and apparently
as trackless. Along the level steppe
they galloped, with little to vary the
monotony of their journey. Ferrying
the Irish and the Oh, those great rivers
of western Siberia, passing town after
town, and village after village, they
came at length to Irkutsk, the capital Of
eastern Siberia, when Dolaeff was de-
livered to the hands of the official, and
his weary position released from further
care.
The prisoner, after few days rest.
was appointed to settle as colonist q
thousand miles to the northward, and
once more his journey was resumed.
When this destination was reached, his
duties were assigned to him. With a
fellow prisoner-sentenced for the same
cause and to a similar period of exile-he
was assigned to the hard duties of q
farmer in q new country. A quantity of
land equal to about fifty acres was given
to them in the valley Of small river,
and they were at liberty to cut as much
wood and timber as they pleased from
hepublic domain that surrounded them.
They were supplied with axes aud all
other tools necessary for clearing, build
ing house, and tilling the soil. The gov
ernmont gave them food and clothing,
seed for planting their fields, aud every
thing absolutely necessary to their sub
sistence for the first two years of their
residence; at the end of that time they
were expected to take care of them
selves
Once week the two prisoners were
required to report to the StarUSt, or head
man of the village, four miles away.
They endeavored to plan an escape, but
could see no possibility of leaving the
country. The road was long; it was
more than three thousand miles to
European Russia, and at almost every
step there were difficulties to be encoun
tered. They had no passports, and
without them no one can travel in ST.
IBERIA; they could not pass in the disguise
of peasants, as their language would be-
tray them; they had no money for their
expenses on the road, and would be GER
tain of detection and severe punish
ment. So, after canvassing tho posi-
bilities Of escape, and finding the
chances altogether against them, Dolaef'
and his companion abandoned hope, and
in the sadness of despair pursued their
dreary labors as colonists in Siberia.
After the arrest of his master, Ivan
was drafted into the Russian service and
assigned to battalion of the army about
to move upon Warsaw. Dolaeff's estate,
like all the property of men convicted OF
treason, passed into the possession of
the government, and was managed in
the interest of the crown. Ivaa's bat
TALON was not long in finding active
anruicn and tnnl rnnrt In the haiti &c thnt