Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-07-18

tie raised above the level of the sea. The
region to the west of the Yenise presents one
monotonous level, unbroken by hills Of any
sort, covered in its northwestern part by for
ests, though for the greater extent this prov
ince is steppe, or upland plain. Much of this
consists of dry sand, salt marshes, and bogs ;
but the Barabinskarii Steppe between the
rivers Itrish and Obi, has large birch groves
and is well situated for agriculture, while the
soil Of the Abakan Steppes which lie along
the river Abakan, a tributary Of the Yenisei
is 80 rich that it requires no manure. But
even where the soil is unsuited for crops, its
fine pastures afford abundance of food to the
countless herds of reindeer and cattle pos
sessed by the natives. Eastern Siberia is
more diversified, for in this part of the coun-
try the plains are intersCcted by oflshoots of
the Altai, Sagan, and Stanovoy ranges of
mountains. Much of it is suited for agricul-
ture, and the south is covered for the greater
portion of its extent with magnificent forests.
The nOrthen portion, extending to the Arctic
Ocean, is dreary moss-coyered tundra, or
flat, on which, however, can be pastured at
certain seasons of the year herds Of reindeer,
though the swarms of mosquitoes which dur
ing the warm weather inftst it render it al
most intolerable to men; and the pSti1is,
which attacks the deer, combined with the
recent disease which has broken out amongst
them, is rapidly reducing the Samoyedes,
Ostiaks and other tribes from affiuence to
poverty.
The country, from the time it was first
made known to Ivan tho Terrible by Vasseli
Hermak, an abscunded Cossack criminal, has
always had smack of the hulks about it
and indeed it was selected as penal settle
ment after the Russians had thoroughly sue
ceeded in wrestling it from the Tartar princes
1.
developed for a country so far from home
could have but little voluntary attractions for
the unenterprsing serf. even supposing his
lord cared to send him 80 far afield. With
the exception of the mines, its trades and
manufactures are few and unmportant
Spirits and leather are, however, produced
extensively sOap-boiling tallow- citing and
the making Of stearine candles find employ
ment for good deal of caDital while cotton
and wool are woven into coarse fabrics in
some Of the cities which like Irkutsk, Tju-
men, Omsk, and Tomsk, have from II 900 to
-, 900 inhabitants.
The fisheries on the great rivers and lakes
also afford occupation for many of the native
Siberians and at the fairs which are period
ically held business is done with the most
distant parts of Europe and Asia. Kiachta is
the meeting place Of the Chinese and Siberi-
an trader, and here is school for teaching
the young merchants the Chinese language.
Large sums are often made by mere peasants
in the gold mines and indeed the greatest
Russian fortunes have been accumulated by
this means. Silver, lead platinum, copper
especially that form called malachite), iron,
coal, tin. cinnabar zinc, bismuth arsenic,
sulphur, alum, sal-ammoniac, nitre, natron,
and naphIha are also found in these rich re-
gions The topaz, hyacinth, Siberian emer-
aid beryl, onyx, red and green jasper, chrys-
olite, red garnets, lapis lazuli, bakalte, and
opals exist in greater or less abundance in
different parts of this region. Most of these
gems are polished and cut in the country.
The Russian peasant has wonderful faculty
for initiating any one. He has only, it is
said, to be taken into factory and told to go
TO work-to be a blacksmith, a wood-carver,
copyist Of paintings, engineer or lapidary
and he will try his hand at the occupation
selected for him. lie will watch the next
workman to him using his saw, chisel, or file
he will cautiously initiate him, doing little by
little, nothing rashy. Next day he will show
more skill, until in q few weeks he becomes a
trst-class workman. Hence it is that in the
Granil,i Fabric the visitor is astonished to
find men in no way above the rank of peas
ant, and who, indeed, may be convicts under
police surveillance. executing the most beau
tiful carvings ON jasper, and porphyry vases,
or engraving beryl, amethysts, topaz and en-
eralds with skill which could not be exceed
ed, if equallcd, in Amsterdam Paris or Lon
don.
But though there are many free settlers in
Siberia. both in town and country. as well as
the native Siberian tribes, the "exiles' form
the most marked portion of the population
and if We take into account them and their de-
scendants, as well as convicts whose sentences
have expired, and who remain in the country,
they form the most numerous portion of the
population No traveller can have journeyed
along the post route leading from Nijnii-Nov-
gorod over the Urals, across Siberia by way
of Tjumen Tobolsk or Yeniseisk, without
meeting long strings of eXiles, some of whom
have been on the road six, eight, or ten
and sometimes-as in the case of
those destined for settlements on the Amoor
river and Kamtchatka-even two years. The
worst are chained but except in the vicinity
of the towns through which they may pass,
great leniency is usually shown to the ''un-
fortunates" as with kindly tolerance the ex-
lies are styled by the country people. The
women and especially when they
are the families of the cOnvcts, permitted to
accompany them-are usually conveyed in
wagon, or, farther north in reindeer or dog
sledges; while political prisoners of rank,
seen consorting with the officers of the guard,
and even sharing their meals in the block
houses along the route. Sometimes in pass
ing through fanRtical village the actual
sharers in conspiracy will be spat upon,
and even stoned, by the Loyalty ignorant peas
ants; but more frequently the simple minded
will bring them presents of food and other
and ask Heaven to forgive and
shelter them. At each station on the road
there are barracks for the accommodation of
the prisoners. These barracks are usually
outside the villages and are surrounded by
high stockades of pointed trunks of trees,
over which it is impossible to climb, though
the precaution is always taken of having the
exiles well guarded by mounted Cossacks
The daily march is not toilsome, and varies
according TO the nature of the road or the ac-
for man aud beast it is usual
ly about fourteen or fifteen miles. Neverthe-
less, on the long journeys many die by the
way indeed l have heard it affirmed by
Russians well acquainted with the system
that not over four-fifths of those sent to the
far North or to Eastern Siberia ever reach
their destination.
As soon as they arrive in Siberia the con-
yicts are divided in three classes. First come
those condemned for the foulest crimes known
to the Russian law. such as would in England
culhli ui lut NllhllhHl pOlAAi iNihuNiS AbA AAS
or for long term of years. These culprits
are doomed to work in the mines, and usual
ly have hard lot. Such exiles are called in
Siberia RdtOrShuiki. Next como the los
hnnyje rd rO6OtO, or exiles condemned for
shorter periods and for minor offenses Va
grants at large, rogues worthy of longer
term of punishment than Imprisonment, pris-
oners sentenced by the criminal courts, and,
in former days, serfs condemned as refractory
laborers, by the government, on application
by the proprietors of estates ON which they
lived as well as minor political offenders who
are well out of harms way, comprise the
bulk of these "unfortunates." The place
they are sent to is proportioned to their tur-
worst offenders being dispatched
farthest from the boundaries of Russia in
Europe-for instance TO the shores of the Arc
tic Sea and the eastern provinces, while the
lighter culprits are permitted to settle down
in Western Siberia, Immediately to the west
of the Urals This class of convicts are usu-
ally condemned only for short terms, and are
designed for colonists on the expiration of