| Show SIBERIA the asiatic afiafi e possessions ros sessions of 0 f russia between tile the ural mountain mountains the botill pacific ocean the korth north pole and chinese are generally called siberia this whole region is is divided for administrative purposes pir pores poses into two parts western and eastern siberia each with several counti counties cs or departments under the he control of a special governor genera siberia is watered by some large at e livers the artysh the oily olly the Jenn issy and lle lie the lina lena L ena all issuing from the th e altai mountains and debouching debou ching in the polar ocean they ere tre navigable neaily neatly through their whole extent but being beins frozen seven or eight mo months during ae the year and traversing traversia 9 red reg regions ons comparatively uninhabitable no great ue ule is derived frem frum facilities which they would otherwise carer the populate population kion tion scattered over siberia amount amounts s to over nearly six sevenths of which are russian the natives being bein of Mongo ilan liar anih anil 7 ana ani ems balkan descent the I 1 latter after c lied ya duji bath Ru russians siahs averse almost ah adl tc anic annc aric they ae aie nomadic hunters or fishermen the con cor conque siberia was made in the s sixteenth century by a band of cossacks of the volga and their motley adjutants ader the lead of a certain bromak Yr y omak omah and these equestrian tribes became its first european E european and russian settlers in the tee course of the seventeenth centory century and more especially of the eighteenth the czars azars began to transport thither convicts and cri crl criminal the first colonists of this character were the various dissenters from froin the russian orthodox church whole villages or communities were thus trans rece receiving iving in different parts of siberia vast tracts of land these colonists formed cities inthe in the same sam someway eway vay as they were or organized anizel in tile the mother country having equal equa privileges of i self seif with the crown peasant on paying a small smal tribute to the treasury their rett return irti to european russia is stroll strongly gly prohibited but they enjoy perfect liberty of worship hin hiD according to heir their doctrines and usages some of these sectarians sect arians live according to the communism some socialist theorists when the he riches of the altai mountains were first discovered transportation thither to the mines took the place U 0 capital punishment this punishment having been abolished in 1740 under the empress elizabeth disgraced favo favorites official defaulters default ers and finai final finally lv political ml of Tenders offenders i were sent thither tor for life or for the term of their punishment aang the first in n the he eighteenth eighteen century were Men nen chikoff and biron b both lh of i whom had bad ruled the empire arid and tle the fild field marshal marshai munich and several oti oil other e rf A ajl all pr present esert transportation to siberia is a penalty administered for all kinds of crimes anti anil of fences fence for burglary theft smug smuggling eggling and an d violations of i the he excise according to the russian penal code these condemnations are variously graduated the punishment is hard labor for life or fora for a certain number cf of year years after which the felon becomes a colo coio colonist tiit receiving land a house and some cattle and belna beina being attached to some rural community or borough and enjoying the ri rights lits of this class of inha dinha inhabitants smaller afren of fences s are punished wilh transportation for a lesser number of or years with the privilege of returning to russia serfs condemned for any offense offence whatever never neve return into bondage and thus siberia becomes to them at least a land anti of emancipation political offenders are distributed over siberia according to the decision of the sove sovereign rein and of the courts martial by which they are condemned condemned such offenders are kerle getie generally rally raily incorporated into battalions fa forming aming the corps of the siberian army hymy if the verdict does docs not define the exact number of gor jor years ear 8 of their heir service they the y remain in in the army 20 or 25 year and then resign to become colonists and members of some soult community such sucha a convict very seldom and that only through some sode orde aroe extraordinary exception can be promoted to the grade of a commissioned officer those not condemned to for life can after their term is expired return to their families after ilie insurrection in im SL st petersburg in 1825 and ahat ln poland in 1830 many vele wele sent to kieria fon for forline life ilfe their destination was pally to the baltai mountains where they were jn the mining districts into which this whole ol 01 e region i is is d divided i vided aided but no haid labor was imposed upon them they count or dr are inscribed a as s prisoners boners most of them however being suppa fed led by their relatives at home they look for means of paining gaining additional wealth to I 1 lie the cities asa As p general rule transportation to east erh ein siberia is considered a somewhat more severe punishment than to western siberia wives and children tol lol following lowing the exilea exiles lose all their status and privileges enjoyed in russia J uhe the a bulk of the russian population in siberia b by aich which the rudiments of civilization have been 1 introduced I 1 dued consists of merchants trading thither ihl ther lher whose communities extend from the mal uial mountains to the mouth of the amour the they y are established in boron boroughs 1 bs and cities or i in n agricultural districts but perform military duties and internal police there are aiso also aso many cossacks with some mongolian cribs manchook Man Alan choos who have immigrated grala from china and who preserve their customs and manners iome lome some becoming christians others not these are called burcats by the russians the dissenters and descendants of convicts form the rest of the population the russian russians as we have said are traders merchants merc limits mechanics operatives miners and agriculturists I 1 but if the native natives of which the government takes es especial ecial care intend to devote themselves to agrico agriculture tuto into they are allowed to select the best test lands being considered consides 0 in principle the original om owners ners of the he country the distinction of the social organization of siberia iq ay iy that no kind cf of serfdom exists exist or can be introduced billere here O too the inhabitants enjoy comparatively more liberty and independence I 1 than those cf russia proper the requirements of the he government from the population are insignificant and its pressure alere fore fote is ii less heavy beary thus slowly but uninterruptedly cemented grain by grain araina a is is growing on political and social foundations wholly different from the mother country not only unstained ea by serfdom but even possessing a certain democratic equality almost the only distinction of classes is that cf the government officials nobility with its privileges vi 11 ii is there here unknown and no one oils toils and sweats for another the regulations between iriv triv private ate individuals are determined by supply and demand by capital and labor but tile the tty ity y barny of a master ove a serf the whole soil of siberia belongs to the crowd and it is already a fixed principle with the emperors not to surrender any crown land lands to serfdom lom dom on any pretense As far as siberia is concerned the azars czars are free no nobleman fah fan can migrate thither with his servants and saving ing some body servants of officials serfs are ui ut known the T he russians are arc the 1 f i oi 11 i I 1 the natives and nomads breed hor corf ri a and sheep but the principal weal wealth th of i eria cria lies lles in in mining and awl gold washing IV the altai mountains I 1 running aloa along i ios its southern frontier are subdivided into various c cams air as that of tile hie little altai the S aph skill doii doti he the Jablon noi Doi noi and the great ali ail all of them ahm containing in in thir their th thin ir bowels various ores ore considered by some r geologists to be the richest on the globe Al finds a great similarity b between I 1 been the altai re relon region ion lon and california and katra matra Au arraTia a ja the sparseness of the population prevents the thorough working of these hidden bidden treasures i thus far the earth bas ha danly il beep aein superficially y scratched crat ched the sliver silvery arnic arsenic and am lead imenes aws are almost wholly abandoned as dangerous dar virona to human life and as such reducing fhe ille crl cri chances ances of increase increase to tile the population pj stones even emeralds opal opals aquamarines aqua mannes marines 1 topaz are found freely freel and the last are of a ver very large larce size size gold golt washing is is the principal or rat rather har var er we ho ex elusive clusin e industry all AH the principal r river avers with most of their co afla e and tributaries tributa rles ries have their then sources in the altai altal and carry gold new and JA J A re producing gold washings are established every year the business is is conducted by government prisoners and by peitra private td persons person subject to a fax which is is not excessive as the existence exi sence pt p millionaires lion aires in in siberia shows generally gener geller ally aily the private establishments are the most prosperous 1 the gold product is carried to the acty of bar faoul situated in the government of in in western siberia in in the centre cf of the little altai altal chain therease there Ther eare are the furnaces the assap essays assays and the central mining administration the tile metals and especially the gold brought iry jpy y eriq irali vi duals are purchased pui pup chased by government for cash at t equitable and satisfactory prices and thence conveyed to st petersburg the valleys in in the altai are covered with ciui gorgeous or vegetation in in and varica vari iari aiu fiu naw nu bious grages graces as are the he plains of south southwestern western vestern 1 siberia in some pan wheat is cult but as long before the earth is is coveted w with the frost come cones with exceeding 7 intensity this important product products as well as fruit fr uit nit bo be cultivated on a large a rge scale rye R c oats barley harley and buckwheat thrive and in some come s sho 0 potatoes and other vegetables the capital of western siberia is Tobol sk 1 situated on the nv river er artysh it has som twenty thousand inhabitants and is the c commercial i oni mercia metropolis tro polis of the whole of Russi russian ali alf asia its irs trade carried tn on with the european interior of the empire and extending to china is and arid extensive some fifty miles north of the lale lake f ana aya A t i the city of situated at the of three rivers of which the au augora arl fot for forms the principal is is the capital of eastern the site f e sur surrounded rounded by elevated wooded hill hilr s is iery very ery cry picturesque c e s que haq has about five I housand u inbae inhabitant it and the governor generald cf the eastern territory resides hele there heie at af present hrs this his office is filled by gen a man of high cultivation and ability anil aril of in enterprising and energetic character ile he holds hodg greater powers than any other governor general suited to organize such a primitive country not lorg since since the country south of lake balka baikal embracing mb racing nearly the whole chain oain of the altai was organized organ zed into a government called the ih trans it iq is the richest country for mineral purposes in in northern Noi Noil hern thern asia is is the sea seat of the archbishopric for the whole region the natives are gradually converted and as far as possible the clergy selected from amon among them the rites of the church barr giper formed in in their own dialects various la languages git Sit aged agea greek for the poles latin russian mantches Mant cheo and so forth are severally employed for this purpose in in siberia these thee vast asiatic possessions hate haye been of late increased by the file annexation of a very extensive territory destined de tined to form the jewel of i russia has aken taken possession of the entre left bank of the amour amoun that is is from of the river and of the arann form the amour or Sag halien down to its month mouth at that part of the pacific called chelsea th the eLSea isea isca br lof i sometime some time since since we gave some par i thi thia portion of the russian empire an c we now cow add ome come further detail details a as well as a s the he mode in in which it was vi as taken laken possession of These facts fa als we denv dens d erive e from sources s burc es not easily accas accessible ib e to european w writers aters i the Marit narit choo country situated ed left side of the amour is is occupied by a few nomadic hards baras ct ci tartars Tar tars no fixed settlement or oraw ZW lod idd iod of cities existing there although i r abal I 1 v considered under the supremacy of chin it wal was in in fact a without a master tac the tha lanese chinese really never claimed it many vears years v ears ago russian rusia n descended the river river and some other streams running and the amour and visited he ilia chinese towns thereon the celestial authorities as well as 19 1 babl babi tants tan spoke of the left bank of this lui imi riveras iii s na belonging belon belor ging aing to russia I 1 i t i the regular occupation of the teri territory fo r v took fook place in in 1849 it was prepared with careane care and foresight two tuo tw 0 mall small iron steamers mers mera w e built bulit in in a m aning in establishment situate situated Z on the 1 niver river of the same name thein their U h air diori 1 i cupping cuplin nine nine months was divided chided bevcena a naval officer and an engineer havi ngat aj their j disposal only crude materials and ard rag raw rk men tr IT i jb J thase steamers laden with wilh gun guns arms ammu m 3 nilion stores and implements of all kinds serve e ed to convey the governor general his hii staff and ome some infantry soldiers they were accompanied d i by about one hundred rafts and barks filled wit cossacks the river carefully explored ali all ady any sounded bounded proved evely evert where navigable lo 10 rapids or any other othen serious incumbrance 9 lf at the endom end of thirty three days the he expedition reached the mouth cf of the river nver and a perm aMpt W establishment was planted there Indu itry itty and activity bei ibi afi A down on the opposite side is situated a chinese ton town anda anaa di gond god understanding g exists beewen the two bank banks s the natives native made no opposition whatever to the expedition nor northe corthe occupation the russians do not interfere with avith them nor does the government limit their roving life or exact p exact any kind kinddt f service the harbor is 13 very de epand deeland extensive being nearly shut out from winds by the island or Sag halien which was seized by russian navigators years before the expedition the whole land is iq cv covered ered with meadows ad land forests ful of ithe the best kind of lumber and excellent oak for naval bons constructions eruct ions lons the soil is capital hod nd fit for all afi kinds of culture hit bit hut is 14 yet untouched by py the creative lipior hand in all siberia amour amoun is spoken of as the land larid of promise and so if it will become when agriculture and industry shot shai wake it into genial life ilfe ife the thee iuar lutr amoun amour teems with fishes |
