. The boy travellers in the Russian empire: adventures of two youths in a journey in European and Asiatic Russia, with accounts of a tour across BANISHED FOR THREE YEARS. LIFE IN THE MINES. 319 ries, the Government gives him a grant of land and aids him in establisli-ing a home. As long as an exile conducts himself properly, and doesnot try to escape, he does not find existence in Siberia particularly dread-ful, provided, of course, he has not been sent to hard labor, and the offi-cers in charge of him are not of a cruel disposition. Frank asked what work was done by those sentenced
. The boy travellers in the Russian empire: adventures of two youths in a journey in European and Asiatic Russia, with accounts of a tour across BANISHED FOR THREE YEARS. LIFE IN THE MINES. 319 ries, the Government gives him a grant of land and aids him in establisli-ing a home. As long as an exile conducts himself properly, and doesnot try to escape, he does not find existence in Siberia particularly dread-ful, provided, of course, he has not been sent to hard labor, and the offi-cers in charge of him are not of a cruel disposition. Frank asked what work was done by those sentenced to hard labor, andhow the men lived who were simply exiles and had not a labor sentenceattached. Those sentenced to katorga, or hard labor, are employed in mines oron roads, and in mills and factories of various kinds. Several years ago anorder was issued that exiles should no longer be kept at work in mines,but I am told on pretty good authority that this humane decree has beenrevoked since the rise of Nihilism. In the mines of Nertchinsk, in the. COLONIST S VILLAGE IN WINTER. latter part of the last centur}- and the early part of the present one, thelabor was fearful. The prisoners were in pairs, chained together; theywere often kept working in mud and water for fourteen or sixteen hoursdaily; their lodgings were of the poorest character, and their food wasnothing but l)lack bread and occasionally a little cabbage soup. The greatmortality in the mines attracted the attention of the Government, and theevils were remedied. Down to the end of the last century, criminals condemned to themines were marked by having their nostrils slit open, but this barbarityhas not been practised for a long time. Those sentenced to lighter labor are engaged in trades, such as makingshoes, clothing, or other articles. Tliose who- are simply exiled withoutlabor can work at their trades, if they have any, precisely as they would 320 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. do at liome. If tliey ar
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