File:Side-lights on Siberia (1898), page 264, Female convicts.jpg

Identifier: sidelightsonsibe00simp Title: Side-lights on Siberia; some account of the great Siberian railroad, the prisons and exile system; Year: 1898 (1890s) Authors: Simpson, James Young, 1873-1934 Subjects: Prisons -- Soviet Union Exiles -- Russia (Federation) Siberia Siberia (Russia) -- Description and travel Publisher: Edinburgh and London : W. Blackwood and Sons Contributing Library: University of California Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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Text Appearing Before Image: rformance of its task, and the freight-train comes to a haltimmediately in front of us. With a sigh the convict puts hisshoulder to it again ; but the loaded truck refuses to move, sohe creeps round by the other side to investigate the obstaclethat impedes his progress. He wears the short cloth jacket,trousers, and grey cap that form part of the winter costume—as well he might, for the cold in that gallery pierces to thebones; but he walks in the water with his summer shoes,and his face is the face of a man in sorrow. At last heclears the line, and again struggles forward towards the light.But we press on into the darkness: an unlucky drop catchesthe candle of the officer behind me, and it goes out witha fizzle. We grope on. Will it never end ? The noise ofour splashing feet betrays the fact that we are wadingthrough water. It rises and soaks through ones boots, anda chill creeps up ones back. Still on ; but at last the end,an open space, wider than the gallery, in which are crouch-

Text Appearing After Image: THE HARDEST LABOUR. 265 iiig half-a-dozen astonished convicts, who have ceased fromlabour to gaze at the intruders. The light of their ill-burningcandles, stuck on the damp quartzy rock in which they areworking, just makes the shadowy creatures visible in thecold hazy atmosphere. One tall man with a long red beard—how pleasant his countenance looks since one can only seethe outlines—stands, pick in hand, staring across in muteamazement at a smaller figure who leans thankfully upon hisshovel. This is the hard labour—this is the price of blood. As yet they had not reached the silver either by verticalshafts or horizontal gallery; and this long gallery in par-ticular was being tunnelled, as already stated, to lead off thewater from the main body of the pit. The convicts do notwork here in the afternoon at all: the few that were em-ployed were engaged for little more than forms sake. Thereasonable natchalnilc did not insist that the prisoners shoulddo useless work. Even Gottze, a po

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