Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-05-24
Y vAeRANT SIBERIAN coNvicTs.
One of tho Peculiar Institutions of the
Great Convict Empire.

The ''Taiga." the Siberian forests
which cover thousands of square miles,
are thickly peopled with "Brodiagas,"
unaways and Migrants, who slowly ad-
vance, like a continuous stream, toward
the west, moved by the hope Of finally
reaching the border line Of European
Russia. As soon as the cuckoo begins 10
cry, announcing that the woods are free
from their snow covering, 80 that a man
may be sheltered without the risk of be-
coming a motionless block Of ice during
the night, and that they will soon pro-
vide the wanderer with mushrooms and
berries, thousands of convicts make their
escape from the gold mines and salt
works, from the prisons and lockups;
thousands OF exiles leave the villages TO
which they are banished. the convIc set
Elements where they are starving, and
run TO the woods. Guided by the polar
star, by the moses ON the trees, or
by old Migrants who possess the
precious information about the RUNAWAY
paths and RUNAWAY stations" they
undertake the long and perilous back
ward journey. They pass around Lake
Baikal, climbing the high and wild
mountains on its shores, or they cross it
on RATS. When possible, they avoid the
highways, the towns and settlements of
the Bouriats-who are still numerous in
the province of Irkutsk-but freely camp
in the woods around the towns populated
by Russians. At the city of Chita, the
capital of Transatlantic, each spring can
be seen the fires of the Migrants lighted
on the woody slopes of the surrounding
mountains. They freely enter the Rus
sian villages, where they always find a
piece of bread and a can of milk in the
houses of the peasants,
The forests conceal and feed the wan
derers during the warm season, though
they are filled with clouds of small mus
quitoes-the ''moshkas." that Siberian
plague which pursues and maddens man
and cattle alike, sven among the clouds
of smoke that are spread around the vii
lagos in Siberia. The vaSrant when met
in the summer is horrible TO look at. His
face is but one swollen wound, his eyes
are inflamed, and can hardly be seen
from beneath the burning and swollen
eyeGds; his swollen nostrils and mouth
are covered with sores. Still he pursues
his march toward the border chain Of
Siberia, and his breast beats more strongly
and faster as he perceives the blush hills
Of the Ural on tho horizon.
Thirty thousand men are continually
living this life, and hundreds of thou
sands Of people have sought to ghin lib
erty in this way during the last fifty
years. Thousands have found their
grave in the ''TaiSa," and happy were
those whose eyes were closed by a de-
voted fellow traveller. Thousands have
returned of their own accord to the lock-
ups, when the mercury was freezing and
the frost stopped the circulation of the
last drop Of blood in their emaciated
bodies. They submitted themselves to
the unavoidable 100 lashes, they were
taken back TO the penal settlements Of
Transbaikalia, and the next spring they
tried the SAINT journey again, with more
experience. Other thousands have been
hunted down, seized or shot by the
Bouriats or some Siberian trappers.
Others, again, were seized a few davs
after having reached the soil of their
''mother Russia" after having thrown
themselves at the feet of their old parents
in the village they had left many years
before to satisfy the caprice of the is.
pravnik or the jealousy Of the local
usurer.
There is a touching trait in the char
acter of the common, u~neducated Rus
sian; q trait of love for his kindred which
makes life far away from the circle Of
his relatives almost unbearable to him.
The common Russian, exiled to Siberia,
and deprived of all civil and personal
rights, feels himself in his place Of ban
ishment as in a grave. He cannot read
or write TO keep up n correspondence
with his relatives in Russia. nor are the
latter in q position to send letters e him,
being equally unfamiliar with reading
and writing. In the course of years he
becomes homesick, and he undertakes
the long westward journey, hoping TO
reach his native place and see his loved
ones once more. As to the perspective
Of being arrested and bauished again he
cares little about it. He is accustomed
TO prison life, and knows that nothing
could keep him in his new place Of ban
ishment if the idea to visit his relatives in
Russia should again get into his head.
There are hundreds of Migrants in Siberia
who live thus continually from year to
year, M year tramping from Siberia TO
Russia, another year marching as con.
victs, under a military escort, back to Ir-
kutsk.
There is a sort Of tacit mutual agree
ment between the Migrants and the ST.
berian peasants. As long as nothing is
stolen, or nothing offensive done, by the
ramblers, they may be sure of not being
disturbed by anybody. Blu. as o as
any n OF them breaks the agreement
the Siberian peasant becomes pitiless, and
the crime Of n vagrant has a disastrous
effect on all The Siberian ''oblava"-
battue against the ~vagrants-is famous
for its ferocity. The peasants arm them
selves with axes and sticks and guard all
the roads leading out Of or into the viii
lagos; the hunters and trappers spread
through the forest; every suspicious
traveller is arrested; in a few days the
prisons and loclups Of the entire locality,
which often embraces hundreds Of square
miles, are filed with seized Migrants,
who, after receiving the 100 lashes pre-
800 - A. - - A. -