. Side-lights on Siberia; some account of the great Siberian railroad, the prisons and exile system; . welling amongst them in all humi-lity, and knew him not. 138 OHAPTEK V. ON THE M A K C H. DEPARTURE OF A COXVICT GANG FROM THE TOMSK FOHWAKUINGPRISON — THE PERESILNI PRISON AT MOSCOW — OVERCROWDING — THERUSSIAN MCJIK AT HOME — LODGING-HOUSES IN ST PETERSBURG— TIUMEN FORWARDING PRISON—A CONVICTBARGE—LIFE ON THE RIVER—ARRIVALAT TOMSK. It is a iDright morning towards theend of June. As our horses climbthe rising ground to the north-eastof Tomsk where lies the Peresilnior Forwarding Prison, a hea
. Side-lights on Siberia; some account of the great Siberian railroad, the prisons and exile system; . welling amongst them in all humi-lity, and knew him not. 138 OHAPTEK V. ON THE M A K C H. DEPARTURE OF A COXVICT GANG FROM THE TOMSK FOHWAKUINGPRISON — THE PERESILNI PRISON AT MOSCOW — OVERCROWDING — THERUSSIAN MCJIK AT HOME — LODGING-HOUSES IN ST PETERSBURG— TIUMEN FORWARDING PRISON—A CONVICTBARGE—LIFE ON THE RIVER—ARRIVALAT TOMSK. It is a iDright morning towards theend of June. As our horses climbthe rising ground to the north-eastof Tomsk where lies the Peresilnior Forwarding Prison, a heavy hazeenshrouds the lower quarter of thetown. Soon we liave left the lasthouses behind; but in front of us wecan now see the grim palisade, typicalof most Siberian prisons. It is com-monly, as here, some 15 feet in height,while the individual stakes composingit preserve their natural appearance,and are pointed or rounded accord-ing to the whim of the it, as seen from a distance, peer the dull red roofs ofthe low barracks that comprise the prison proper; but as we. / convict. PREPARATIONS. 139 approach nearer they gradually drop within, till there onlyremain visible the church tower, and the goodly edifice ofbrick—the natrholniks house—that intersects the palisadeat the centre of what is thus constituted the front in white linen tunics, cloth caps covered with asimilar material, and dark-green pantaloons tucked into tallboots, are standing about with bayonets fixed. A dozenloafers have gathered at the spot, and chatter to one another,or critically examine the tdifcgas that are employed for thetransport of political prisoners, the sick and aged, andthe belongings of a convict gang. The hum of suppressedexcitement is audible; even the stolid soldiers are not un-affected by it. A large iron-bound gate discloses itselfin the stockade at that point where it becomes continuouswith the wall of the governors house; in one of the w
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectsiberia, bookyear1898
